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Jacob was born on June 21, 2002 via emergency C-section at 3:16 PM. This blog follows him through the NICU and the graduate nursery to his home—and we'll see where it goes from there!

Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Hello everyone! Jacob has a new batch of pictures up on page 59. He's been doing fine, he's growing every day! He's graduated from using the car seat in the stroller to just using the actual stroller seat, and very soon we're going to have to get him a new cat seat, as he's at the height limit for his current one. We have a 30-50 lb seat for him, so we need to get the intermediate level one.

We took Jacob to the Boulder Creek Festival last weekend, and we all had a good time. He really had a lot to look at there, believe me! He was very tired by the time we went home.

Jacob's been eating well and often. He likes just about everything but potatoes. He doesn't even like the Green Bean/Potato mixture. But he sure liked the french fry he gummed the other day! Jacob can combat creep wherever he wants, but lately he's been getting up on his knees and doing a full-fledged crawl. He's fast! His PT was here a couple of days ago and she's just thrilled with his progress. He can very nearly sit up by himself now, but doesn't really want to. Why bother when you can scoot around on your belly and get into trouble? I went in to his bedroom this morning to give him his breakfast, and found him up on his knees holding onto the bars of the crib! Won't be long until he's standing, I guess.

Jacob's surgery for hypospadias is this Friday, May 30 at 8:45 am. Please, keep him and us in your prayers and thoughts that everything goes well. Of course we're worried about it, but we know he's in the hands of God and a good doctor, so that helps! But we'll be so glad when it's over. One of the hardest parts is going to be holding back on his food and formula before the surgery. He's not going to be a happy boy when he doesn't get his bottle when he wants it! Say a little prayer for him and for strength for us on Friday morning! We'll post an update soon as we can. Meanwhile, enjoy the new pictures.
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 6:41 PM

Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Well, here it is, Jacob's 11 month birthday! Hardly seems possible, but here it is. . .

Jacob was weighed a couple of days ago and he's 15 lbs, 2 oz! He's got his own growth curve, and he's following that pretty nicely. He's eating like a little piggy, too. We tried him out on some 2nd food last night (oatmeal, bananas and peaches) and ate the whole jar and would have eaten more. He really seems to like the solid food, but he's still getting almost all of his nutrition from the Pregestimil, so we have to make sure he leaves room for formula.

We had a consultation with the pediatric hematologist on Monday about Jacob's prothrombin mutation. There's really not much to be done about it, just make sure that he remains hydrated all the time, and when he gets older, he'll need to be aware of certain things he can and cannot do. Soccer might be out, for instance. But we'll see, millions of people have had the same thing and haven't had any problems until they were much older, according to the doctor. We're just thankful that Jacob is doing as well as he is, there are so many things he could be having problems with. The hematologist is at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center, and sitting in the waiting room can be very humbling. There are always children and babies there, some bald from the chemo and attached to IV poles. It makes us realize how blessed we are, and how bad things can actually be.

Well, I'd better go check on the boy, he should be hungry by now! We'll post some new pictures soon, check back!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 1:52 PM

Thursday, May 15, 2003
Hey, people! New picture update, check out page 58.

Jacob's really growing every day. He's becoming very loud; he likes to yell at us from across the room and at his favorite toys. He's been trying new foods, and so far the only thing he hasn't liked has been the potatoes. He's had bananas, peaches, applesauce, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes and carrots—his next new food will be pears. And we haven't been able to find a "first food" squash yet, strangely enough. But he really has a good appetite, so we're hoping he's packing on the ounces! He'll get weighed tomorrow, so we'll post an update when we get home.

His physical therapist came by yesterday to work with him, and she's pleased, as usual. He still isn't sitting up on his own, but he'll get there soon enough. I don't know if he'll ever want to sit still though, he's really on the move now that he's got the "combat creep" down pat.

He'll have his first babysitter tomorrow night while Mom and Dad get out for a few hours. I'm sure we'll be worried about him the whole time we're gone, but it will be nice to have a quiet dinner and a movie for the first time in many months!

Until later...
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 5:10 PM

Sunday, May 11, 2003
Happy Mother's Day!

It's Debbie's first Mom Day, so we're pretty excited about it! It seems to mean more when you have a child yourself.

Jacob is doing great, he just ate a jar of peaches, which he loves. He's like a little shark, lunging his head forward to grab each spoonful. And he eats fast when he likes something! We're going to try him on bananas next, then pears. Then we'll start mixing the fruit with his cereal. He hasn't had any reaction to any of the food (other than the gag reflex with the potatoes!), but it might be kind of hard to tell with his eczema. But it doesn't seem any worse, at least.

That boy can scoot across the floor, too! He's so close to crawling! He's a little terror, too. He seems to make a beeline for stuff he shouldn't, like Daddy's dirty sneakers. We've babyproofed some, but need to keep an eye on him when he's on the floor. We bought him some cool toys (an Alphablock Sorter and some stackable cups) the other day, and he loves them. He's really starting to imitate us more; when we shake the rattle and give it to him, he really shakes it. He's much more coordinated. And his vocalizations are becoming more complex. He's rediscovered his electric swing, and delights in reaching out his little hand and grabbing the bar it hangs from to stop himself! He thinks that's hilarious. He's been waking up in time to see Teletubbies and Sesame Street as he has his first bottle of the day, and he really watches those shows.

Oh, almost forgot some big news—he's been sleeping in his crib in his own room for the past four nights! He doesn't seem to mind much, although Mom and Dad spent a good part of the first night listening to him breathe on the baby monitor. But he's been very good about it.
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 4:09 PM

Monday, May 05, 2003
Since our last post, Jacob has tried potatoes and peas. He seems to love the peas but really despises the potatoes. We snapped a few cute pictures of him making sure his dislike of the potates was completely understood. His eyes teared up and he gagged and made faces and even yelled out a few times to make sure we understood. We got it. So, he's done all of his veggies now, and can move on to the fruits next week. We're sure he's gonna love those!

He had a visit from his physical therapist, Becky and she continues to be pleased with his progress. He's getting closer and closer to crawling—we fully expect to see him scooting across the floor very soon. We still haven't put him in his crib yet for a night; we just can't bear it yet! But we'll give it a try in the next couple of days, most likely.

We took him to the Mall the other week to get his first real professional pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids. The pictures turned out great! You can check them out here. The username is geoffndeb, the password is cinder.

We finally heard back from the pediatric hematologist about Jacob's blood test. It looks like he did inherit the Factor II mutagen. We're going in for a consult in a couple of weeks, but there really isn't much to do about it, we just need to make sure if we fly or drive on long trips we take breaks so both he and Deb can stretch their legs. And if they have surgery, their doctors will need to be aware of it. That's what the consult is about—what they'll do to minimize clotting risks during his surgery at the end of May.

Well, that's about it for now! New pictures posted on page 57, check 'em out.
posted by Deb Shrieves at 8:52 PM