Some Jackson Details

Here is a little update on some of the things we have going on.  Jackson was born on Wednesday, April 25th at 10:47am.  On Thursday morning the pediatrician (that we love) said everything looked great and even talked of sending us home.  We convinced her we wanted a full 48 hours to recover and so we stayed another night.

On Friday morning at 5:00 am another pediatrician came in our room to tell us she detected a heart murmur and that Jackson would need an EKG before being discharged.  She said she wasn't too worried, but wanted to be on the safe side.  He apparently passed all of his other heart tests, but they still wanted to check.  That morning, Jackson had an EKG which was sent to the NICU at ECU.  We then heard back that everything was ok and to just keep an eye on it, but we didn't need to travel to Greenville.

Since Jackson was a bit jaundice, we had a follow up appointment at our doctor's office on Saturday and Sunday with a traveling doctor (not our normal pediatrician).  Both days we were told that the murmur was gone.  Relieved that all we had to worry about was getting his jaundice down and his weight up, we went home.

On Monday morning our normal doctor detected the murmur again.  She said again she wasn't to worried, but heard a "squeak" in his heart.  So now we wait again.  We will have an echo test done on Wednesday morning and if that is ok, then the doctor said she won't worry anymore.  Needless to say - we are tired.  Between all the doctor's visits and Jackson wanting to party at night, we are certainly ready for some parts of this to slow down.

I will keep you posted with the results on Wednesday, but your prayers are always appreciated.  Again at this point, it doesn't seem that the doctors are too worried.  We do appreciate how thorough and cautious they are being.

On a side note - the jaundice seems to be going down and Jackson's weight has almost reach birth weight again.  What a little champ!

Introducing Jackson Wade

Ok guys, I'm going to admit...I'm exhausted!  My days and nights are a blur, but I do want to share our wonderful bundle of joy with you.  I'm just going to fill this post with pictures and I promise that I will give more details soon!  Thank you for all of your prayers, support, encouragement, and love.  I promise to give more pictures and information as we find a few quiet moments.

39 weeks and on our way to the hospital!

Here we go!!!!

The Best Dad Ever!!!  

Super speedy labor....not even time to break a sweat (Have I mentioned I love epidurals?!?)

Proud Papa Wade

Getting her Big Sister present

Our family is complete!

 I am so blessed

Hospital accommodations can make for long nights.

Going home in Jacob's baptismal outfit

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Elli got to hold Jackson

She was so proud of how well she held him, she was clapping for herself.  What a great big sister!

8 pounds, 2 ounces  20 3/4 inches long

Elliana

I just watched this tonight as I think about Elli's birth and prepare for our next child.  Elli truly is an answered prayer.  I can't believe how far she has come and I am so excited to watch her become a big sister.

Up in the Apple Tree

Elli loves this song, she learned it at dance class from Mrs. Mary.  She has also gotten into putting on her tutus and dancing around...by herself.  Everything now is "by herself" and this is something we are working on - knowing the difference between things she can do by herself and things that Mommy/Daddy have to help with.  Oh having a two-year old...

Anyway - here are the lyrics to Elli's song debut.

"Way up high in the apple tree

Two little apples looking at me

So I shook that tree as hard as I could

And down came the apples 

They were mmm mmm good!"

The "Little" Beach

I've been wanting to take Elli to the beach, but I waited too late and now I'm scared to go that far away from the hospital. So we improvised today and took Elli to the "little" beach - Flanner's Beach. This is on the Neuse River and is a little campground right here in town. We got the effect of the sand/water without the fear of driving an hour while in labor!

Elli loved it, but wasn't a huge fan of the "mud" as she called it (wet sand) and certainly would not sit in it.  I'm glad we had an afternoon together!

Summer is on the Way

Today we stopped by the Trent Woods Fire Department Open House and it really made me realize that summer is so close.  Elli loved running around and jumping in what she calls the "bouncy bouncy."  She was not interested in riding on the fire truck but was super interested in eating the ice cream sandwich and dancing to the live music.  

Downtown Springfest

Elli and I spent the morning downtown at the Farmer's Market Springfest.  We had a great time and walked all over downtown.  We saw various animals, Elli danced with the zumba demonstrations (I didn't - I didn't want to go into labor right there in front of everyone!), and we rode a little choo-choo train.  She asked to ride the pony so I went ahead and forked over the money but as soon as we tried to get her in the saddle, she screamed bloody murder...oh well, maybe next year (and if you're wondering, I did get my money back!)

She won't look at me - she is too scared to turn her back on the chickens!

Again...she will not turn her back on the animals!

She did love feeding him though!

Too scared to ride, but petting is always fun.

Snack break (and my feet just hurt!)

Chooo-Chooo!!!

Time for a little Zumba!

Just running her down in hopes of a long afternoon nap.

A Sleepover

In preparation for Baby Waller's arrival, Elli is practicing staying at Grandma's house.  Although we have left over night, this is the first time she stayed at someone else's house instead of having the sitter stay at ours.  I admit, I was worried, but Elli did fantastic.  I guess she really is a big girl!  She loves to pack her suitcase up and head out the door.

Elli gets to sleep in a "big girl" bed at Grandma's and she LOVES it!

New Camera and New Friends and New Toys!

Lots of new huh?  We did get a great deal on a Cannon Elph at Target.  It was already on clearance mark down and then we got the display one so we got another 10% off.  We got the camera for $100 less than its original price.  Good enough for me!

We also met a new friend today - his family went to our church but moved away before he was born.  We were so happy to meet him and get to hang out with his mommy.  It is always nice to swap mommy stories and just be able to vent in general.

 Our last "new" is a make it yourself water table.  Instead of spending money on buying an "official" table, I just bought a $5 bin at Big Lots and filled it with random stuff from around the house (except for the $3 octopus pool toys I got at Big Lots too!)  Elli seems to love it and I think it will keep being interesting as long as I keep changing out the random items I find.

 Oh yeah - this isn't a "new" but Elli discovered Daddy's sprinkler and ran into it before I could stop her.  As you can see...wet panties are uncomfortable!

Easter Egg Hunt!!!

We had such a fun time at the Easter Egg Hunt today, even though it was a little chilly.  

Our Easter egg tree out front

And she's off!

A little cupcake to top off the fun!