Splish, Splash...

Ok so we tag-teamed Mark's first bath on Monday. It was traumatic, for me and for Mark, so I hear that it was just about normal. Of course I had to hold him and snuggle him immediately following :)
Here are a few photos from that experience!

The Hiccups

And so here is the first video of Mark being posted to the internet. His mom took this video of his hiccups which he gets at least once a day. Hopefully that will lessen as time goes on. Enjoy.

The verdict is in...

As you know, the great name debate did not end for us when our son was born. We chose names that we both loved, but had not (as of today) determined 100% what we wanted our son to be called. We know it could be sometimes confusing to share a name with someone, and also confusing to go by your middle name. So, with everything else going on this week, we hadn't really discussed it further, and we - along with just about everyone else - defaulted to calling him David. Today we decided would be the day we chose something definite. So we actually changed his name entirely. JUST KIDDING! Haha. Here on out, however, we'll be calling him - **drumroll please** - Mark!

And of course, here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment -




In other news, today Mark slept in his crib for the first time! He's been sleeping in the bassinet part of the pack'n'play in our room because while recovering, I wasn't able to get out of bed and move around as much - or as quickly - as I wanted. Here's a picture of the little guy enjoying the crib -


Coming soon - "The Hiccups" - a special video selection for Aunt Nini :)

Mom Cam

So this morning I was greeted by a super-cute sight that inspired me to pull my own camera out again. I'd been snapping a few snapshots on the Nikon, and it seemed like the whole world had their cameras out, and I'd been too much in a daze to participate very much. However, my mom said she could tell I was starting to feel like myself again when I pulled out my camera to capture this sweet little moment :) I'm just bummed that it took me all week, because even though my hubby took some on our other camera, I don't have any on my own camera of anyone with baby David at the hospital, or coming home, etc. So fam - email me all photos that you have so I can have copies! :)


Here's mom, David and I -


Here's a fabulous image of David and Grandma - I love it!


David in a little onesie that his Aunt Nini sent him -


David in his "Little Racer" outfit (compliments of Joy Drake!), striking his touchdown pose, which he does often in his sleep.


Aunt Leslie with David in Blowing Rock


Aunt Leslie, David, and a spot for Aunt Nini (Lindsey) in Blowing Rock


Don't worry... there will be plenty more to come! :)

Baby's First Road Trip!

Today we took mom (grandma) to meet Leslie in Blowing Rock, NC. We got little David all decked out in a special outfit that Aunt Leslie would appreciate (although the bib was a gift from his other favorite aunt Lindsey, AKA Aunt Nini). We met Les at Kojay's in Blowing Rock and visited for a little over an hour. Then mom went home with Leslie and the Davids and I headed back to Johnson City.

We were so glad to have family around immediately following, for their company, their help and their encouragement. Everyone's left in stages - first Leslie, then Jeff, then Dad then Mom. Now we're on our own and feeling good! Thank you guys for everything! Can't wait to see you again. And Linds, can't wait till you can get down here!!

The rest of the first week!

So to give everyone an update on the rest of the first week home with little David...Every day has gotten progressively better. Our second and third nights have been a lot better. We are trying to preemptively feed him so that he doesn't have to cry. This means getting up every 3-4 hours but at least we know he is getting enough food and sleep. We are also managing to get enough sleep each night but only in smaller increments. So hopefully tonight will continue in the current trend of everyone sleeping.
Wednesday, Jeff and I golfed, which was the one splurge that I had wanted to do during the first week of my son's life. I thoroughly enjoyed it although I didn't end up with a better score. I am beginning to further understand and improve certain aspects of my game.
Thursday, Ali, David and I went back to the pediatrician's office. We remembered the diaper bag this time so we were off to a better start than Tuesday. The purpose of the visit was to follow up on the weight gain and jaundice. The nurse weighed David and he had gained 4 oz. The doctor said that we get an A+ with bonus points. Normal weight gain is around an ounce a day and we did two oz. in two days. The little guy is growing fast. The doctor also said that his jaundice was looking better(an assessment made across the exam room). And so David is doing great.
We are loving the time spent with him this week. He is making us laugh in ways we never expected. It truly is a miracle and a undeserved gift to be able to bring new life into this world. I only hope that we can be the best parents we possibly can.

More pictures will be on the way but I need to get some sleep before David wakes us up again.

Mama's little man!

Hospital Nursery Photo available now!

Hey friends,
Today baby David's nursery photo became available for viewing online.
For anyone interested, visit www.msha.com/webnursery
The Guest Login is GIBB7987-0573.
Feel free to check it out and sign the guestbook!

Coming home and the 1st night

So on Monday morning, the doctor told us that we can be discharged from the hospital. So we went through the discharge process and packed up what we had brought with us. We had the hospital take some photos of David Mark and then we cleaned out the drawer under his bassinet. We dressed little David in the clothes we had picked out for him to come home in, which was the first clothes other than his hospital shirts. And so with Ali's brother, Jeffrey, with us Ali and I walked out of the hospital and to the car.

So we made the drive home and Ali's parent were waiting for us as we pulled in the driveway and took our little son into his first house. It was really great to be able to be home and know that we don't have to go anywhere. But we do kinda miss the hospital staff who were such a big help to us while we were there. So we got the first real taste of what it will be like to be home with a newborn. We also realized that at the hospital we could get more rest than here. It was a really good day regardless.

So onto the first night in our house with no nursery staff to help us. It was long. For one thing, I kept hearing little David's noises and couldn't let myself sleep. Ali slept some but she was just so tired and achy that I couldn't let her get up. So I proceeded to stay awake laying in bed for quite a while. Little David slept for a while and then he woke up hungry. Now at this point being new parents, we didn't realize that this is what he wanted. So we spent the better part of a few hours, trying to console him and get him to sleep. Now we know what to do. So I got around 3 hours of sleep that night and Ali got a little more.

Tuesday morning, we had to go to the pediatrician's office. So miraculously Ali, David and I along with Ali's mom make it out the door and to the office almost on time. The problem...we forgot the diaper bag at home. So I had to make a quick run home to get it. The appointment went well. Little David has stopped losing weight. And his jaundice is not bad and getting better. After the he saw the doctor, Ali, David and I saw the lactation consultant. In a word, David has bad technique. But never the less, we are now making strides to resolve the issue. After the appointments, Ali and I took a nap and prepared for David's next event, a photo shoot for the Johnson City Press. As it turns out, David is going to be more of a celebrity than both of his parents. He will be on the cover of the next issue of Thrive, a local health magazine. And so while we were excited to have him get his picture taken, David cried through half of it. No big surprise. And so that brings us to the second night at home which is tonight. Hopefully it will go a bit better than the last.

Here is a picture of Jeffrey with Nikon and David. So far Nikon has been really good around David. Although David's crying does scare Nikon some. It is really quite cute.