Bathtime

Catching up on blog posts here...

When Jack was about 1 week old we gave him his first bath and he loved it! We try to bath him most nights, before his last feed, to create a little bedtime routine and it really seems to calm him.

A Baby Story: Cousin Twins

My sister Vanessa had her second baby two and a half weeks before Jack was born. The Sunday after we got home from the hospital, Nessa brought her girls (Michaela is 19 months old and Alexis 3 weeks old) by to visit. This was the first time the two littlest cousins had met. We call them the cousin twins.

How cute are these two together?!!


First photo together in their matching outfits (thanks Mrs Hoffer!)




Nana with her "grand-twins"!

A Baby Story: Visitors come calling

Our first days at home, several friends came by to see us:


Jack's older cousin, Michaela, came for a peek


Uncle Gary and Aunty Heather


With Aunty Hannah

A Baby Story: Getting settled

Ok, so I know it's really annoying when new parents post nothing but photos of their baby on the blog. BUT, we have relatives and best friends overseas who are requesting nothing but photos of the new baby! So every now and then, that's what you'll get on this blog :) Here are a few of our first few days at home with little Jack.


Modeling his little hat made by a friend from church...thanks Ashley!


Lots of sleeping going on here, thankfully!


Loves his bouncy chair...thanks Brittany!


He is still very cross eyed at the moment and tends to choose to be so whenever we have the camera out!



He was born tongue tied and had to have his tongue clipped, so struggled with latching on for breastfeeding. For the first couple of days I had to pump and we fed him through a syringe. Here's Andre taking a turn.

A Baby Story: Going Home

On the Thursday, we spent most of the day getting ready to leave the hospital. As much as we enjoyed the excellent care and help, I think we were all ready to go home and sleep on our own beds (especially Andre, as he'd been curled up on the pull out bed/chair in my hospital room!). It was really special to bring our little man home finally, after preparing for his arrival for so many months.


Jack's 'birthday' cake from Jack and Carolyn


Getting dressed to go home from the hospital


All buckled up in his car seat


A very proud Daddy bringing Jack up to our apartment


Mum had put a bunch of balloons on our balcony railing to welcome us back

A Baby Story: Visitors

*(Our internet has been slow for 10 days now so I'm only just getting caught up on blog posts from Jack's first days! Sorry for the delay)

Wednesday was a day of visitors for us, beginning with a visit from Jack's pediatrician, a friend from church, David Roe. Then my doctor came by, the lactation consultant, the maternity floor head nurse, the baby portrait lady and lots of nurses. And then the special visitors began!


Mum with her first grandson


My sister, Vanessa


My sweet friend Deborah stopped by too


Pastor Pete


Robin and Ellyn



Jack's "American Grandparents" Jack and Carolyn


Little Jack with his namesake, Jack: a pair of Jacks!


Our special Australian friends, Pip and Dave

A Baby Story: Now we are three

After being checked, bathed, injected (poor thing!) and all wrapped up, little Jack got to have his portrait taken with us. The whole process of getting him ready to leave the birthing room took quite a while, as there are 17 birthing rooms at Piedmont and all of them were full while I was in labor (it must have been that full moon this past weekend!). So the baby nurses where pretty busy that afternoon. We only got settled in our hospital room by about 6 pm in the end.






And here is the sweet nurse, Leena, who helped to deliver Jack. She was really great through the whole delivery.

A Baby Story: He's here!

After 2.5 hours of pushing (he got a bit stuck!), I was getting rather tired, Jack was getting stressed and the doctor was getting concerned. Eventually they had to use a vacuum to help him along and because he was so upset by the whole experience, a special baby stress team came in to deal with him. This meant that the doctor couldn't put him up on my tummy right away, but she held him up for me to see, which was the best moment ever!


Where in the world am I?!!


Jack Evan Yakovlev, born March 2 at 1:24 pm



Not too big, not too small!




First bath


Getting his reflexes checked


Daddy putting on the first diaper

Throughout the whole labor and birth, Andre was the most incredible support and encouragement to me. I couldn't have got through that without him!

A Baby Story: Off to the hospital

So here's a look at how Jack came into the world, for those of you who want to know :) This is G rated, so if you want the gory details, ask me in person!

On Monday night, I woke up at 4:30 am with my waters breaking, and we were able to be at the hospital by 5:15 am. Mum came with us, which was really sweet, considering she'd also only had about 4 hours of sleep. The nurses were great and I was hooked up to the monitors, IV etc and we settled in to wait. Since I was already 6 cm dilated when I got there, we were hoping it wouldn't be a long wait! Everything progressed well (including the contractions!), I got an epidural at 10 am (thank the Lord! I would not have wanted to continue without one!!) and by 11 am I was 10 cm dilated and ready for the hard work :)


Leaving for the hospital


Last belly bump photo


Top line is Jack's heart-rate and the bottom line monitored my contractions


Mum was knitting Jack a little sweater while we waited...she said it kept her nerves at bay!

Jack

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

We praise the Lord for the safe arrival of Jack Evan Yakovlev at 1:24 pm today. He weighs 7 lb 11 oz and is 20 inches long. Both of us are fine and photos will come when we can stay awake long enough to post some.

Nevermind

So, last night we ended up at the hospital because I was having contractions. We spent three hours there hooked up to the monitors but since I wasn't any more dilated, we were allowed to go home. The doctor wants to see me again on Tuesday morning to check my progress and my contractions have eased up now. So, no baby yet! I guess he's pretty snug and comfy in there :) Thanks for all the prayers and messages, friends!