Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Jericho Tonight

Jericho was admitted to the hospital today. It does not appear to be anything serious, though the name of the problem sounds dramatic. He has hyperbilirubinemia, with some jaundice. Basically, that means that his body has too much bilirubin, which is a normally-occurring substance that the body creates in the process of getting rid of old red blood cells. Apparently, this isn’t serious and is a common occurrence. The resolution isn’t too dramatic, other than the actual admittance to the hospital in the first place. Basically, Jericho has to spend most of a 24-hour period under a bluish light, which helps his body to break down the red blood cells and reduces the bilirubin to a normal level. Heather and Gabriel are in the hospital with Jericho, Heather so that she can nurse and attend to Jericho and Gabriel because he loves his mom’s company.

I went to visit the three of them at the hospital tonight. I brought Heather and Gabriel our favorite Papa John's pizza (pineapple and ham with extra black olives). Gabriel loves that pizza! He usually eats more pizza than Heather, but he is so active, he burns it off in a hurry. We were watching Curious George and Aladdin, while Gabriel was busy writing on the dry erase board. He drew a picture of the waves in the ocean with a blue dry erase marker and then made sure that we all not only saw but also heard the sound of the waves that he created. His imagination is definitely active, and that is a good thing!

Jericho has been nursing frequently, almost hourly tonight. His feedings will be reduced to every two hours now, so that he is not trained to see it as a method to be pacified. You know, we want him to come looking for mom when he is hungry! Everything is showing improvement for Jericho tonight. Along with being more active and awake longer, his increased appetite is a good sign. So far, it looks like Jericho will be home sometime tomorrow. The house is too quiet without my family, and I am looking forward to everyone coming home.

Proud Father Shows Off His Sons. Film at 11.


This picture was taken this weekend. Aren't my boys about the most beautiful thing you have ever seen? Let me tell you: They have changed my life in countless ways, and so much for the better. I am a lucky man!

Jericho, one day old



Jericho is already making faces and showing his sense of humor at one day old. I guess he is a chip off the old block then. I try, I really do. Thank goodness Jericho looks like Mom. Lucky kid.

Jericho George James



15 minutes old in this picture, Jericho George James: 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and 19 inches long.

A Star is Born

In brief, on Thursday, we added a new member to our family: Jericho George James. The name George is in honor of Heather’s uncle George, who was in large part responsible for finding the surgeon who saved her life when she was a child and had a rare brain tumor. The name James recognizes our close family friend, coincidentally also named James (but going by the name of Jim).

Jericho was born July 19, weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces. He is 19 inches long and has the thickest chocolate brown hair imaginable. The oddest thing about his birth might be that before the anesthesiologist could get to the room to administer an epidural, the nurse checked on Heather and found out that there was no time for pain relief. That is, after 14 minutes of hard labor, Jericho was born. That is not a typo… 14 MINUTES of labor. Heather and Jericho left the hospital on Friday, with the nurses in awe and calling her a superwoman. Apparently, babies are not typically born like that. Who knew? Jericho obviously did not read the manual of instructions for babies about to be born. Go figure.