Drew's News: Drew's first week

We came home from the hospital on Friday, two days after Drew was born. We were ready to be back in familiar surroundings, but I will admit that I was holding out hope that we could bring a couple of nurses home with us to keep him at night and dole out the pain pills. No such luck. Although my Mom stayed for the first week and was a major life-saver. When John went back to work, she stayed up with Drew several nights so I could get some much-needed sleep.

Here's Dad dressing Drew for his trip home. I'm still amazed at how tiny he was.

Here is Drew in his going home outfit. I took three or four outfits since we didn't know how big he'd be. He ended up wearing the smallest outfit, which was actually preemie size. Notice the Baylor cap. Couldn't resist!

Here's the happy family ready to head home.

Here is Drew in his car seat. He just looked so tiny that I was a little afraid he'd slip right out. We had all the seat belts on the tightest settings. Yes, it was August and about 100 degrees outside, but I put the blaket over him in the hospital room because he looked cold.

Ready to leave the hospital. I rode in the back seat with Drew on the way home and probably only looked up once or twice. I'm sure it was the slowest and safest that John has ever driven.

The Slatons Visit

Dale, Gerre, Jim, and Jaclyn made the trek from Oklahoma City down to meet and visit Drew. They brought us lunch and took turns passing around Drew, who I think slept through most of the visit.

Gerre holding 4-day old Drew

Jim and Jaclyn meeting Drew

Dale meeting Drew for the first time

One more exciting adventure during our first week was a power outage on Monday night. Yes, with a 5-day old baby, in 104 degree heat, we had no power. For some reason, about 8 houses on our block lost power at around 5:30 pm. For a while, we were ok. The house was still fairly cool, and we left the doors and windows closed. By about 7 o'clock, it was getting noticeably hotter. We had been calling TXU all evening, and the recording said power should be restored around 8 pm. So, we called on our good friends, the Reynoldses, to go play at their house. We packed up the bare necessities, loaded up the car, ran through Taco Bueno for dinner, and went over to their house. At about 8 o'clock, John went back to our house to see if power was on. Nope. He talked to the TXU workers who said that it looked like a blown transformer and would take about 2 more hours. So about 10 o'clock, he made another trek home. Still nothing. The TXU guys seemed to have no idea why the power was out or how to fix it. By this point, we have figured out that it's only a few houses effected, and we've made it clear to the workers that we have a tiny newborn son and need power ASAP. I also figured out that I could call our house phone to see if the power was on. If the answering machine picked up, we would know that power was restored. We went to bed about midnight, still with no power. By then, the TXU message didn't have any information about when the power would be restored. Needless to say, it was a rough night. Mom and I slept downstairs with Drew and Sadie, John was on the couch, and sweet Damien and Christine were in the guest room. I slept with Drew up against me, and really didn't sleep much since he was still nursing every 2 hours and I wanted to make sure I didn't roll onto him or cover his airway. Sadie was the worst-behaved one of the bunch, because she could smell the Reynolds' dogs who usually slept in the room, so she was constantly trying to get down and sniff. At about 4 am, I called home and the answering machine answered! Mom and I figured we'd wait the two more hours til John had to get up for work, then head home. Right about that time, Sadie decided to pee on the bed. For me, that was the last straw. I woke up John and begged him to take us home. So, at 4 am, we re-packed (including the peed on quilt) and snuck out of the house. I am not sure what God was teaching us with the power failure, but maybe something about Him being in control and that we have such great friends.

First Bath

After the electricity debacle, I decided it was time for Drew's first bath. Since his umbelical cord was still attached, he got a sponge bath, and he did NOT enjoy it. I think it was the naked thing. One thing I love about Drew is that he calms down when he hears my voice. He can be screaming bloody murder, but when I talk in his ear, he'll reach out to feel my face and make sure I'm close by, then start settling down. Here's a picture of me calming him before we started the bath. You can see he's reaching up to touch my hair.

Here he is mid-bath. The pacifier was a help but did not mean he enjoyed it at all.

Now he's finally settling down after the bath. He must be a very modest baby because he's covering his boy parts.

Poor Drew, all wrapped up in his ducky bathrobe, has passed right out.

Sweet baby, still loving his pacifier.

We're not sure where he got his pout from, but it sure is pitiful!

First Doctor Visit

One week after Drew was born, we took him to see the pediatrician, Dr. Julie Olivo, for a check-up.

Since this was our first trek out of the house (except for the power outage), we were up early and ready WAY ahead of time.