Like father like son

Patrick's first day at Beal Bank was yesterday. Now that he is in coorporate America, he gets to wear a tie to work. Charlie told me that he wants to be just like daddy, so...

Austin Trip

We had a successful trip to Austin this past weekend. Hank and Charlie did great in the back seat together. They both just slept most of the way, except for our stops to feed and change diapers.



We intoduced Charlie to his great Grandpop and Grandmother.


And we relaxed in Spicewood.

One Month Appointment

Patrick and I went to Charlie's 1 mth. appointment this morning. As of today, his stats are: 8lbs 13oz (25 %ile) and 21 3/4 in. long (50 %ile). He's long and lean! Will he be a lanky lawyer like his Uncle Michael? Only time will tell.

Patrick and I are braving another road trip with the little man and our lab, Hank, this weekend. This time we are headed south to Austin. We are looking forward to introducing Charlie to his great-grandparents and for him to see where his grandparents spend most of their time. Should be interesting with both Charlie and Hank sharing the back seat... it will make for a fun car trip!

Charlie's one month old!

It's hard to believe that our little Charlie was born one month ago today! He's already changed so much. In appearance, we think that he is looking more like Patrick's baby pictures (a lot of people have said that he looks exactly like my dad up to this point). He is becoming more focused on things and will just stare at whatever grabs his attention. He is now feeding every 4 hours rather than 3. We are working on taking out the 2am feeding and will hopefully have that figured out soon. His little coos are so cute... I need to work on getting them on video. It has been so nice having both Patrick and I at home for this month. Patrick starts work on Monday, so it will be weird not having him around. We have truly been blessed to have this family time together. Here are pics from the past few days:

Charlie's 1 mth. old

Daycare Delima

I thought that I was being smart when I decided last August to get on the waiting list at our preferred daycare (which happens to be 2 driveways away from ours...literally, it's just a few steps away from our back door) for this upcoming August (a year in advance, mind you). Being the only one on the waiting list, I didn't put our name on any other list because I thought that we would for sure get in. They told me then that they give preference to siblings, but even still, I thought it would be fine. Well, when I called this week to make sure we were still good to go I find out that all four spots have been filled up by siblings... so, we are now on their wait list for when Charlie turns 1 yr. old. Great... we now don't have a place to send Charlie. I went today to tour another recommended daycare and will hopefully get a call mid-July letting me know that they have a spot available. They, too, give preference to siblings and then to employees of Presbyterian Hospital, where they are located. If anyone else has any suggestions on where I should put our name on the list, please let me know. I am also open to doing a nanny share with someone. Any ideas are welcome!

Video Feed from the Cousin Photo Shoot

A behind the scenes look at the cousin photo shoot:

Pictures from OKC Trip

OKC Trip

Charlie meets his cousins!

Patrick and I decided to brave the trip to OKC with our almost 3 wk. old yesterday. We left immediately after Charlie's 10am feeding thinking that we would time it perfectly and be able to make it to Norman just in time for his next feeding. We got just right outside of Denton and there was a wreck that happened just about 200 yrds in front of us. This wreck involved an SUV, a motorcycle, care flight and 2 hrs. of stand still traffic on I-30! Awesome. The good news is that Charlie did great... he just slept the whole time. And we were able to feed and change diaper while in stand still traffic. We finally arrived in OKC after a 6 hr. car ride! Charlie and his cousins are getting along really well. He is sleeping in their room and even though at least one of the triplets was up at all times during the night, he still had a goodnight sleep. We had a fun St. Patrick's Day photo shoot today with all of the babies. And we had a fun walk.. 4 parents, 4 babies, 2 dogs, 1 triplet stroller and a snap n' go... I'm sure we made quite a scene!

Two Week Appointment

We took Charlie for his 2 wk. appointment today and it went great. He is currently weighing in at 7lbs. 8oz. (we are up 5oz from our birth weight- yay!) and 21.5 inches long (1.5 up from birth). So, we are on the right track with the weight gain, figuring out his feedings, etc. We also got the OK from our pediatrician to go see the Leclercq triplets next week. Assuming that everyone is well and healthy, that is the plan. It should be an adventure traveling with an almost 3 wk. old. (Wish us luck!) But, we are excited to introduce Charlie to his aunt, uncle and cousins and for us to see everyone. Patrick and I haven't seen the babies since they were born.... I can't wait to see how big they all are!

Our First Night Out

Patrick and I celebrated our anniversary by having a few fun outings yesturday. We started off the day by having a family brunch at a new place close to us called Another Broken Egg. It is one that we will definitely go to again. Charlie did great... just slept the whole time. Then, last night Patrick and I got to have a date! We went to Neighborhood Services- kind of an upscale, down-home cookin place. Very good! It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary. Thank you to Babo and Pops for babysitting Charlie!

From Jen and Patrick

Three Years Ago Today...

Three years ago today Patrick and I became husband and wife. It seems like just yesturday that we were at Horseshoe Bay surrounded by our family and closest friends saying our vows. It is one of our most cherished memories.

From Jen and Patrick

Two weeks ago today we added to our most cherished memories by welcoming our son into our lives. It's crazy how time flies. How all of a sudden you turn into a family of three rather than two. Happy 2 weeks little man!

From Charlie at home

Our Two Boys

Many people have asked us how our black lab, Hank, has reacted to the arrival of Charlie. Hank has always been and still is a very needy little pup. He is a 3 yr. old rescue lab from White Rock Lake... he was left in a box there at 4 mths. of age and has been with us ever since. Hank loves us and always wants to be in our laps. With Charlie here he has done so great! He lays in Charlie's room if that is where we are and he licks Charlie's face when Charlie is fussy. Charlie doesn't seem to mind at all. I know they are going to be the best of buds as the years progress! Here are some pics of our two boys:

Hank, meet Charlie

From Charlie at home

Nap Time

From Charlie at home

Charlie finds a place to rest

From Charlie at home

More Pictures

What a Big Man!

Our plan worked! Patrick and I have holed ourselves up in our house for the past two days in attempt to focus on feeding Charlie so that he can start gaining weight. And guess what??? He is up 7 oz. from just two days ago!! He weighs 6 lbs. 14 oz. today. YAY! We have our 2 wk. appointment next Friday and are hoping that he will be back up to his birth weight by then. Patrick and I are so proud of our little Charlie!

A Big Thank You

We just wanted to give a big THANKS to Mrs. Jeanne (NahNah) for helping us out since we got back from the hospital. With Jenn's recovery from C-section coupled with the learning process of new parenthood, it was a HUGE help to have an extra set of hands around the house (not to mention 30 years of parenthood experience). Starting today, we are now going to go solo on the parenthood, but we appreciate the help and know that Charlie appreciates it as well. Here's a big thank you from the Allens!

From Charlie at home

We've got a plan!

We took the one week old back to the doctor yesterday to see about his weight. While he didn't gain any, he didn't lose any either. We consulted with the Lactation Consultant (LC) at our pediatrician's office for about an hour to see what we can do about getting Charlie on the "Gain Train".

The Problem:
Basically, I am not producing enough milk and Charlie is not sucking like he should. The lack of production can be attributed to the c-section, labor beforehand, me being a first time mom and me getting an infection and me still being on Lortab for the pain. Charlie's sucking can be attributed to him loving his paci so much and me not having the milk for him to suck down!

The Solution (or at least, The Plan as of today):
- Feed when he wants to or wake him up to feed around every 2.5 hrs. (we've been having to wake him up for every feeding.... little man is pooped after all of the feedings!)
- Get off the Lortab ASAP (the pain is the worst in the evenings, but I have gone from taking a pill every 4 hrs. to every 8 hrs. and am now working on just taking one just in the late afternoon.
- Have him feed from each side for 10 min. each. Then, have him take whatever I've pumped the session before (roughly 1 oz. each time). Then, have him take 1-2 oz. of formula (have been doing 1 oz. until last feeding where he took down 2 oz!... he's going to be chunky in no time)
- Stimulate milk production by taking Fenugreek herb pill and drinking Mother's Milk tea

Hopefully, both Charlie and I will be progressing soon!

The Untitled Post

I realized that I left out some vistors and some gift senders at the hospital on my last update... a big thank you goes to the Boyd's for their visit and to the Leclercq's for the yummy popcorn. It was a big hit with the visitors!

We have forgotten to mention this, but it was something that was really neat that happened in the delivery room. There was music on... random music that included adult contemorary hits from John Tesh and such. But, when Charlie was born, the next song to come on was "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" by Bad Company. This is the song that Patrick and I danced to at our wedding! I made sure to tell everyone in the ER about it. It was like it was meant to be!

We had our newborn check at the pediatrician's office today. It went really well, overall. The only negative thing is that he has lost a little bit of weight since leaving the hospital. He was 7 lbs 3 oz when born, 6 lbs 10 oz when we left and 6 lbs 7 oz today. We are now at a 10% weight loss, which means that if he doesn't gain weight by tomorrow than we will have to start supplementing with formula. This is really something I DON'T want to do, but, of course, will if that is what Charlie needs. My milk just came in yesterday afternoon, so on the 5th day... the nurse practitioner said that this is probably due to me being a first time mom and me having a c-section. So, the goal is to feed every 2 hrs. and try to get as much actual milk intake as possible. This is going just OK so far. He gets VERY tired between feedings and it's been hard for me to produce enough for him to get full every feeding. (TMI?- sorry if so!) But, we're doing the best we can and will continue to do so that he can start gaining weight.

Here are a few new pics:

Charlie Day 3 & 4

We're back!

I am so sorry it has taken us this long to get out an update, but we've had an eventful few days:

Hospital visitors: Thanks to everyone who came and visted us in the hospital. We have some great pics of my aunts, the granparents, Michael, Jay, Jess, Kathryn, Nat, Kasey, Hamiltons, and the Williams. And thank you to everyone who brought food and sent flowers. All of his was very appreciated! As was all of the phone calls, texts and emails.

Friday day and night: Charlie and I took a breastfeeding class, which was full of helpful hints. But, the instructor also made me feel guilty about not having Charlie "room-in" with us at night (during the days he was in our room from 6am-11pm). We hadn't been rooming in only because I was in so much pain. And I knew that in order to take care of Charlie, I had to take care of myself first, like being able to get up out of bed and pick him up... that would be step 1 and was something that I couldn't even attempt until Thursday night. So anyhow, Friday night was when Charlie got circumsized. Because of this (and because of the guilt), I felt like we could try and let Charlie "room-in" that night. Well, Charlie's curcumcision had some minor complications, so we had a nurse coming in every 15 min. to check it which lead me to think that maybe we should keep him in the nursery so that she can monitor him better. After much crying until about 2:30 am I gave in and let them take him to the nursery.

Saturday: We decided to come on home on Saturday, so that was a full day of sitting and waiting for the hospital to discharge both me and Charlie. We had our discharge class, Charlie saw the pediatrician, and Patrick and my dad packed up all of our belongings. We got home around 3:00 pm and immediately went to work starting to get Charlie accustomed to his new life at 9105 Aldwick. Patrick and I were both exhausted, so we didn't have any visitors come that day.

Saturday night: We had Charlie sleep in our room Saturday night, which went OK... not horrible, but not great either. Charlie was and is feeding like a champ (about an hour each feeding!), but the sleeping at night needs work. Saturday night he started off in his bassinet and then ended up rotating on and off of my and Patrick's chests. We figured that for that night our focus would be on getting him into a good feeding schedule, and we would work on the sleeping on Sunday night (and working on us not grabbing him every time he makes a peep. :)

Sunday: We had some TCU visitors who came and brought us lots of goodies. (Thanks Lukowski's and Greer's!) Shortly after their visit I started getting the shakes and my insides started REALLY hurting. We took my temp, and it was getting up to 101.4! So, we called the doctor and ended up having to make a trip up to the hospital. I, apparently have an infection on my incision and was given meds to help me out. Over night my fever broke and is consistently running around 98.4. I feel TONS better today.

Sunday night: Charlie slept with us again, since I was not completely mobile (getting in and out of bed REALLY hurts, but is getting better with time. So, he slept in a little bed bassinet in between us all night (thanks Jess for letting us borrow that!) He did great. We fed for about an hour each time and he would sleep between 2-3 hours between each feeding. And he would sleep in his little bed bassinet, not on our chests! Yay! I think he is slowly getting ready for his big boy bed.

Today has gone great. I am feeling much better, and Charlie is eating and sleeping so great. Patrick has been a HUGE help. He is definitely the more active parent right now. He brings him to me, I feed, he changes diapers, swaddles, cuddles, soothes, ect. We both agreed that at this time I need to focus on getting myself well, and he can take on Charlie duties! And, Hank came home today (thanks to the Allen's for keeping him for the last week). Hank likes to lick Charlie some but is mostly just intrigued with him. And, he's only jumped on my stomach twice! (We have lots to work on!).

OK- I'm off to another feeding. Here are some more recent pics: