James Benjamin - 1 Month Old!

Little James Benjamin is one month old!  It feels like just yesterday I was writing out his birth story, and now I'm already preparing his first month update.  What a month it's been - obviously a very fast, exciting, and sleepless month... :)

JB's Measurements:

• Weight: 9lbs 2 oz (37th Percentile)
• Height: 20 5/8 inches (18th Percentile)
• Head Circumference: 14 3/4 inches (65th Percentile)

He's still a pretty little guy; however, his current growth rate is quite impressive - he is consistently gaining 2 ounces a day!  The pediatrician is very happy about this, and always remarks  that she loves how chunky he is getting.  

At 1 Month Old, JB...

...Eats every 3 hours, like clockwork.  You could set your watch to him.  Fingers crossed that he begins to stretch out his nighttime feedings this month.

...Sleeps 1.5 - 2 hours at a time, after each of his feedings.  He is a good little sleeper who can nap just about anywhere (crib, rock-n-play, bouncy, swing, pack-n-play cradle, car seats, and someone's arms.)

...Wears Newborn size clothes, and Newborn size diapers. (Speaking of diapers, he goes through about 16 - 18 a day!)

...Loves stroller rides around the neighborhood, car rides around the ATL, breaking out of his swaddle, eating, swinging, listening to Mama read, and when Daddy walks and bounces him.

...Does not enjoy a dirty diaper, diaper changes or wardrobe changes, putting on or wearing pants, when Mama is slow and he wants to eat right this very second.

...Has mixed emotions about baths, kisses from Enda, and wearing hats. 

First Month Milestones:

• Birth
• Meeting friends and family
• First Outings (Doctor's office, Costco, Yogurtland, Pig-n-Chik)

JB has been a very easy-going, content, consistent baby.  Now, he has his fussy moments, a little witching hour around 8PM, and an ear-piercing shriek if he is not happy with the current situation...but these moments are few and far between.  Most of the time, he's sleeping; chillin' in his bouncy, swing, or someone's arms; or being wheeled around the neighborhood in his stroller.

First month down, and we're loving life! 

iPhone Photos, Weeks 1 - 2

And Weeks 3 - 4

Pumpkins!

I really love Fall.  It's probably my favorite season (until it's still cold in March and then I claim that Spring is my new favorite season.) This past Sunday was full of Fall activities involving pumpkins.  Because how can you get through the month of October without them, seriously.  

I totally wanted to jump on the BIG pumpkin patch experience now that we finally have a youngin', but the idea of driving up to North Georgia with a 3.5 week old was just a little too much for these first time parents. Next year, we're there.  This year, we opted for a little community pumpkin patch at the local church up the street.  It still served the purpose of buying a pumpkin AND getting some cute pictures with our little punkin'.  

We then made very good use of that pumpkin as we battled it out in the (now) annual Pumpkin Carving Contest with our neighbors.  If you recall from last year, we were a bit rusty on how to carve but managed to come out with some good looking jack-o-laterns.  This year, we left the power tool at home (although we still brought the Henckel boning knife again - it carves really well!) and brought a fairly simple design with us.  We also brought a batch of chili.  Thank goodness for strollers that double as carrying carts...

Everyone got into the carving festivities (especially JB)...

And, once again, they looked pretty good!

In case you were wondering, the one third from the left is the pumpkin that James and I carved.  (Well, I traced the pattern and James did everything else, for full disclosure).

Ah, Fall - I dig it.  

EKGs, ECHOs, and BBQ - All Good!

Let's see, three weeks old and this little guy continues to keep us on our toes.  Or God just uses him to remind us of how blessed we are and how we can't take good health for granted! 

At another pediatrician visit earlier in the week (for a stubborn little rash on JB's bum that no cream has been able to conquer) she casually mentioned to us that she could hear a heart murmur.  She was quick to say "now, don't panic!!", but, seriously, a heart murmur?! Doesn't that sound really terrible?! She assured us that this is actually not uncommon to hear in newborns, and that it could be caused by something unrelated to a defect or an actual problem.  And that an actual defect or problem would most likely be highly correctable.  As she was writing out my referral for the pediatric cardiologist at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, she again said, "now, don't you leave worrying about this, Mama".  (I do really, really love our pediatrician, but she was crazy if she didn't think I was going to worry a bit!) 

The Heart Center at CHOA has a policy to get infants under 6 weeks of age in within 72 hours. This meant we didn't have to wait too long until our appointment last Friday.  From the beginning, the nurses and staff were fantastic - putting our minds at ease, being super sweet to our little guy, being patient with him (and us) as we did an impromptu feeding to try and keep JB as content as possible while he lay naked on a table (no small feat!!) 

Not only did JB stay content, he pretty much chilled out the entire 2 hours. After getting really mad at the blood pressure cuff (causing the nurse to retake it several times because the numbers were so far off), he showed everyone his laid back attitude and rocked his appointment. 

He seemed to think the ECHO was a baby massage, and stretched his arms and neck so the sonographer could get all the images she needed.  

Although I was super appreciative of his calm behavior during the appointment (I had been stressing about an unhappy infant!), we were even more grateful for a great report from the doctor. As suspected, what they heard as a murmur  is actually Peripheral Pulmonic Stenosis (or narrowing of the teeny tiny arteries that take blood from the heart to the lungs.). Super common in little babies, and something that will resolve on its own as he grows.  What a relief and prayer answered! 

Big James decided we should celebrate the good news about Little James with some BBQ, so we took our (still chilled out) baby to Pig n Chick. 

We feasted on smoked wings and enjoyed some "dessert" (homemade pork skins).

So, week 3 of life: JB's first of many BBQ experiences, and hopefully his last EKG and ECHO. A great week. :) 

Craftin' - Americana Art

For two whole weeks, my parents stayed with us here in Atlanta to help take care of JB, love on their new grand baby, and keep the household chores under control (cooking, laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc).  It was GREAT.  Not only because they kept us clothed and fed, but we also just had a good time hanging out!

When we weren't subjecting them to chores, James and my dad found some time to tackle a DIY project that James has wanted to do for a long time.  (I know I titled this "craftin", but we're talking large scale crafting here, folks.)  There is this eccentric restaurant in Buckhead called R. Thomas Deluxe Grill, and among the various pieces of artwork, plants, and rare (live) birds on the inside and outside there is a rustic flag made out of reclaimed wood.  Every time we walk by it, James says "I could make that..."

And, after a few days and trips to Home Depot, they did!  My dad was equally excited about this project, and brought over some pre-cut reclaimed wood from his workshop to kick it off.  They came up with a plan; did some measuring, cutting, painting, and drilling; and then...

We now have some fantastic Americana art on our deck!

It turned out great - maybe even better than the R. Thomas original.  Very proud of these guys.  And love our new piece of art!

(Note: These boys are very aware of the number of original colonies and the number of US States.  They took some creative liberties in the pursuit of art, and are very sensitive when all the ladies in their life ask "shouldn't there be more stripes and stars...?")   :)

More About JB

First, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who left such sweet words and thoughts on or in our blog, Facebook, email, phone, and mailbox since the arrival of JB.  Our friends and family showered our family with so much love!  I have been meaning to update this blog every day...but...where in the world does the time go when you have a newborn?!  Between feeding him and staring at him to make sure he is still breathing, every single second of the day is accounted for.

But, there are a few very important things I wanted to note as everyone gets to know our new son:

His Name
I realized that we announced JB's name upon his arrival without going into much detail around the meaning behind it.  And, there is a lot of meaning behind it.

We started with James' initials - JBS - as we both thought it would be neat for father and son to have the same initials.  James is actually a Jr., but we wanted something a little different for our son. It was extremely easy to come up with a name starting with B - Benjamin.  My dad's name is Benjamin, and I felt it an honor to use his name for our son.  The beginning J was a bit harder, but we realized that James is an important one to carry on.  Not only would father and son have the same name, but James' father was also named James.  We quickly settled on our son's name including both of his grandfathers' names.

However, we also felt like we should call him something other than James.  It could get a little confusing in the house with two James (nor do I think our house could survive two James's....kidding, of course...) We went through the normal nicknames - Jim, Jimmy, etc - or toyed with calling him by a middle name.  But, none of that seemed right.

Finally I asked James what his father went by as a child, which is when he said JB.  We both knew immediately how special it would be to use that for our son.

James and his Daddy - 31 hours old

His Looks
We can all agree he's a super cute baby, right?  I guess a big question is which one of his cute parents does he take after.  It honestly depends on the day, but below you'll find some comparison pictures.  I'll look to everyone for their thoughts and opinions.

First, let's compare him to his Daddy...

James and his Mama

JB and his Gia

And now his Mama...

Jennie (scowling, 'cause life is tough at 1 day old)

JB (scowling like his Mama)

I thought he looked more like me in the beginning, but he is looking more and more like his Daddy.  Sasser traits run strong (but I think the Kerr personality might be stronger, so look out world.)   :)

Some Firsts (plus Likes and Dislikes)
Although the past few weeks have really been spent figuring out parenthood (us) and  how to be a newborn (him), there have been some milestones that I wanted to get down:

Lots of Friends and Family visiting - LIKE! And this is not even all of them. Just the ones that we managed to find the camera for.

First Bath  - DISLIKE!!  Sadly, JB has only had 4 baths in his nearly three weeks of life.  And one of those was in the hospital.  Can you blame us!?

Neighborhood Strolls - LIKE!! Yea for beautiful Atlanta weather that we can enjoy outside.

First Bottle - LIKE!  Thank goodness, because Daddy has been looking forward to participating in feedings for a while.

And these are only a few firsts that we captured on film.  I mean, when every single thing you do is "for the first time", I feel like each day is monumental.  We are loving it!  

JB's Birth Story

Little JB has been in our lives for a little more than a week, and it's still hard to believe it's real.  That he's really here, and that he's really ours.  We are now a family of three! 

First Family Photo

I have a thousand things I want to write and share about the past 10 days, mostly so everyone can get to know the newest member of the Sasser family (and also so I'll remember it one day when I'm not running on 2 hour naps here and there.)  Before I get to that, though, I wanted to take some time and share this little guy's birth story:

Now, I know due dates don't really mean that much, but, for reference, his due date was October 12th and he always measured right on track for that date.  Despite the little scare at 30 weeks (and the fact I had tons of Braxton Hicks contractions every day after that), I remained very convinced that we would have an October baby.  Poor James had been wishing and hoping he would arrive every single day since I hit full term at 37 weeks, but Mama....well, she was just not "ready" in her mind. 

Our anniversary was September 26th, and James and I celebrated with lots of great couple time together:  Mexican food and bubble tea (a craving) on the actual day (Thursday), a very nice dinner at La Grotta in Buckhead on Friday (no, I didn't eat eggplant parm), and then a casual Saturday just lounging and chatting and cuddling, watching lots of football.  Saturday night we made a long list of things we needed to accomplish on Sunday, starting with a trip to Krispy Kreme before church so we could get free coffee (September 29th was National Coffee Day) and pumpkin spice donuts (yet another craving). 

I woke up really early on Sunday and could not sleep.  I remember walking around the house at 3AM, drinking some milk, thinking about the pregnancy, and all we've been through to get to this point.  Looking back, it was such a reflective way to start out what would become his birthday, although I sure didn't know that at the time.  James also woke up very early, so by 6AM the whole house was up and going. That's when I started to suspect that maybe - just maybe - I was leaking something.  Ironically, my Braxton Hicks contractions had totally stopped, so I decided to monitor....until there it was again.  So then I did the most logical thing ever: I jumped in the shower, shaved my legs, washed and deep conditioned my hair, exfoliated my face, put on my make up, blew out my hair (like, with a round brush and everything), and THEN I called the on-call doctor.  Although I wasn't 100% sure what was going on (it wasn't as obvious as they say in the books or on Google), I was pretty darn sure they would ask me to go up to Labor and Delivery and I needed to feel perfectly put together.  Plus, I thought I might be overreacting and we'd leave the hospital and go straight to Krispy Kreme. 

Sure enough, the on-call doctor, Dr. Lee, suggested I come in for a quick check, and we were at the hospital by 7:30AM.  Because we were those people who didn't think a hospital tour was necessary, we got totally lost and had to actually get directions once inside.  As they were checking me in, my blood pressure went very, very high (I suffer from "white coat high blood pressure" syndrome), so now I was admitted for both the fluid and my blood pressure.  For the next couple of hours I was very closely monitored by our wonderful nurse - Lara - until the doctor could see me.  (My BP dropped back to normal within that time, thank goodness.)

After a quick exam from the doctor, she was unable to tell conclusively if I was leaking amniotic fluid.  Because I was Group Strep B positive AND was 38 weeks + 1 day pregnant, she matter-of-factly said to us "why don't we just deliver this baby today?"  EXCUSE ME!?  Cue the BP spike again, DELIVER TODAY!?  We listened to her rationale and tuned into what was best for the baby.  That was obviously our priority, despite the fact it was not on our planned Sunday agenda.  As soon as I came to grips with the fact I would not be leaving the hospital (nor eating anything until he arrived, even scarier for me), my water fully broke and there was no question - it was baby day!

Well, maybe, as the doctor was quick to point out this could be a 12 - 18 hour process.  I was not dilated at all, not contracting on my own (where were my Braxton Hicks friends!?), and showed no other signs of labor. She said a Monday baby was more likely, since it was already noon by this time.  "Just for fun" she said we could walk the halls for an hour or two to try to start laboring on our own.  Which is exactly what we did while repeating over and over "WE'RE HAVING A BABY?!" 

Around 1:30 or so, Nurse Lara started the Pitocin to jump start some real contractions.  Because I tend to be totally irrational about these things, I wanted to ride out contractions as long as I could to "see what labor was like".  Pretty quickly I started to realize that - GOOD GRACIOUS ALIVE - labor hurts.  Like, really REALLY hurts.  With contractions coming every minute and a half, I could barely catch my breath.  At 3:45, James called out to Lara, "Jennie is tapping out, can she get that epidural?"  (If I was in better shape I might have reacted to the "tapping out" comment...)

The epidural process was easy, painless, and then WON-DER-FUL.  It allowed James and I to spend the next few hours alone together in relative calm - texting family and friends, getting excited about what was about to happen, sitting and chatting about random things.  Things we rarely get to do in our really busy lives.  I think we'll always remember it as some of the sweetest time of our relationship.

I was feeling great, despite the fact I could still feel some contractions and pressure.  I could also feel JB's little bum go up into my ribs each time I had a contraction, almost like he was scurrying up in my belly and saying "I'm not ready either, Mom!!"

And in case there might be a question as to my son's heritage, we also strategically placed the following...

...because a child that is half Kerr deserves to be born over Texas soil.

Around 6:30PM, Lara came back for a routine check and surprised us with the fact that, lo and behold, it was time to start pushing.  I don't think any of us believed it, and there went my blood pressure again.  The doctor gave me 30 minutes to come to grips and allow the contractions to continue to move JB into position.  I proceeded to get my game face on and my hair out of my face, until James let everyone know that "Rocky is ready".

Sadly, Lara's shift was over at 7PM, after she had taken such great care of us the past 12 hours.  She wanted to stay for one push before turning me over to my new L&D nurse, Connie, who was equally as great.  I will now have a special place in my heart for L&D nurses and OBs - they are so dedicated and supportive! 

Nurse Lara

I'll spare all the pushing details, but it went pretty quickly and effortlessly (um, it was pretty darn difficult).  It was clear from the first push that the little guy was now ready to come out, and Dr. Lee stayed with us the entire 40 minutes until we heard that sweet cry.  James Benjamin arrived in the world at 7:48PM, was put on my chest, and - I swear - spent the next few minutes looking at me and James with almost as much awe as we were of him.  It was such a beautiful moment. 

The little guy then proceeded to ace his APGAR and pass all other inspections in the incubator.  James stayed with him, captured some of his first pictures, and texted videos to the grandparents, siblings and other family.  After Dr. Lee tended to me and James brought JB back over, we had nearly 30 minutes alone as our new family of three until the pediatric nurses came back to get stats (6lbs 9 oz, 18 3/4 inches long), do footprints and heel pricks and all that other necessary stuff, plus give his first bath - which took a while because he had so much hair to wash! 

From that point on, it was really all a blur.  JB's Gia (James' mom) and Aunt Wyllene were at the door waiting to meet him, Nurse Connie - bless her soul - yelled at the closed cafeteria that they better find some food to bring up to me ASAP, and at some point we said goodbye to Connie and Dr. Lee as we were wheeled into our hospital room. 

JB and Gia 

JB and Aunt Wyllene 

Dr. Lee

Nurse Connie

I vaguely remember the nurses showing us where diapers, wipes, etc were stored, and then it hit us - they are leaving us in here - ALONE - with this baby!?  But we survived the first night, and then the second night, and very soon we were being kicked out of Piedmont Hospital to manage on our own at home.

Day 1

Watching Morning Joe with Daddy

JB's Welcome Wreath on the Hospital Door

Going Home!

HOME! 

I'm very happy to report that we have done just that (managed and survived, that is).  We've been blessed with great friends who have dropped by to say hi and bring food, both James' mom and my parents who, between them, have made sure we have 24 hour support the first three weeks, and - if I can brag a bit - a pretty laid back little boy who is being patient with his Mama and Daddy as we learn how to be parents.

So that is his birth story!  How James Benjamin joined our family!   Although I'm glad to have it written down, somehow I doubt we will ever forget the details of that very special day when I became a Mama, James became a Daddy, and JB became our son.

JB's Official Piedmont Hospital Portrait

I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of 

Him.  1 Samuel 1:27