My Daddy started writing this journal soon after I was born. He doesn't write in it as much as he used to, but I keep bugging him about it. Maybe he'll start writing again.
Added a lot more pictures for March 2005. Included is a video showing Jimmy's first experience with peas. His second experience proved more favorable.
Finally up-to-date! I have all the latest pictures online now, and quite a few more videos as well.
The pictures for today feature some good shots of Jimmy's new lower front teeth.
I took Jimmy in the shower with me today for the first time. He liked it a lot.
Also, after some further performance testing, I have removed the dual links for video clips. My testing showed that HTTP can stream nearly as well as MMS so there just wasn't a need for both protocols. The videos should be viewable as long as you have TCP port 8080 open on your firewall.
I'm making progress getting more pictures here. I've got a good selection from September through December and now I'm working on January.
I also have put up some video using my new streaming media capability. You can find clips on the November page for Thanksgiving, on the Ultrasound page, and at Christmas in the Park in December.
Note that the videos all have two links. The first link is for the native Windows Media protocol, the second is for the HTTP protocol. The Windows Media protocol gives slightly better performance, but it may not go through every firewall (I know it doesn't work from my work). The HTTP protocol works in more places at the expense of a little performance. So try the first link, and if that doesn't work try the second one.
My parents came over this weekend and we spent Sunday and part of Monday with them. It was good to see them and they enjoyed spending time with Jimmy. My Dad, especially, has not gotten a chance to see his grandson since Christmas. Jimmy has changed a lot since then.
I finally got Jimmy's website running. I've been sitting on it for some time. I registered four domain names for Jimmy last August, a full month before he was born, the same evening we found out for sure he was going to be a boy. I registered jimmypowell.org (this site), jamesmpowell.com, jamesmpowell.net, and jamesmpowell.org. The last three are still idle and nothing is being done with them at this point.
I tore out the entire back end of the server, moving from a Linux server to a Windows server. That meant struggling to get all the scripting working. It's now fully functional, except for the streaming video, which is broken for some reason. I'll have to work on that tonight.
I redid the structure of the site as well, changing all references to Jimmy to the first person and renaming the pages.
I'm going to work this weekend on the monumental task of putting up pictures from the last several months. I put up two new pictures to hold everyone over until I'm finished, two on the Pictures page and one on Jimmy's main page. You may also want to check out the pictures on my site of Claire's grandmother's 80th birthday celebrations on December 2-5; there are plenty of pictures of Jimmy there. I won't duplicate content by reproducing them on this site.
I'm back!
After a too-long hiatus I have finally gotten the site up to date. My computer crashed at the end of September and it took me a week to get it up and running again. After that the sheer number of pictures we were accumulating put me off. I've been procrastinating about it ever since. Well, your complaints have been heard. All the pictures takes since the end of September are here. The Newborn Page is now somewhat of a misnomer, but the pictures will continue to reside there until Jimmy's new web site is finished. That's my other big project. Enjoy the pictures, and I'll make regular updates now.
Notable happenings in the last month:
October 1. Jeff's parents came to visit for the first time.
October 2. Grandma & Grandpa Coughlin are back, with Uncle John.
October 5. Grandma & Grandpa Coughlin are visiting again.
October 15. Claire's childhood friend Ishmal came to visit.
October 22. Jimmy is one month old!
October 31. Happy Halloween! We went Trick-or-Treating to our friends' houses. Mommy was an angel and Jimmy was a devil.
Today Jimmy took his first long trip. We went to visit his great-grandmother Coughlin (Claire's father's mother) in Santa Rosa. She will be 94 in October. On the way we stopped for a break at the Marin Headlands and had lunch. We had a nice visit and came home that evening. As usual, pictures are on the Newborn page.
Today Jeff's parents, his Aunt Sharon, and his Great-Aunt Bea came to visit. Aunt Sharon had never visited our house before, although she and Jeff's late Uncle Ken had driven by and seen the outside just after we had bought the house but before we had moved in. Aunt Bea enjoyed meeting her great-great-nephew. Bea celebrates her 87th birthday tomorrow, the 30th. We had a nice lunch. Pictures are on the Newborn Page.
Jimmy's paternal grandparents came to visit. I put new pictures up on the Newborn Page.
Jimmy had his first follow-up appointment today. He is a healthy little boy, nearly back up to his birth weight. We don't need to continue the milk supplement the hospital gave us. He is doing great.
We seem to have the routine down. Jimmy feeds every two hours, change his diaper 30 minutes later. We can do this. We now measure our day by feedings.
Jeff's parents come tomorrow; the elder James Powell will get to meet his namesake grandson. Grandma Powell is totally excited to meet Jimmy. Let's hope their car doesn't break down on the way from Newport Beach; my mom would pull a muscle running all the rest of the way to San Jose (and she'd do it too).
More pictures added to the Newborn Page, including ones for previous days.
Home at last!!! Both Claire and Jimmy were given a clean bill of health and they let us go. With the help of some supplement, Jimmy's weight was up again and is now eating properly. Yea!! We took him for his first car ride (home) then gave a tour of his new home, pausing to take some pictures at important locations (like the computers downstairs). We think he'll really like his room (formerly referred to as "the nursery") when he's old enough to care.
We're going to stay an extra day in the hospital, coming home on Sunday. They are concerned about Jimmy's weight loss. Last night he was down to 9.7 pounds, which amounts to about a 9% loss. We had been having trouble getting him to feed properly-- he had trouble with his latch and sleeps so soundly. Claire said that an angel came in the form of a lactation consultant. She quickly pinpointed the problem. Turns out Jimmy is a very smart little boy and had figured out to pacify himself by sucking on his tongue. Unfortunately, the solution he came up with had his tongue in the wrong position. We were given the option of leaving today but she was so helpful working to retrain him and because of his weight and Claire's condition we elected to stay until tomorrow.
Claire is a new person (literally) after her blood transfusion. They took out her catheter and IV's and now she can get up on her own and walk around. Maybe we'll get to go home tomorrow.
In case you haven't been checking, I've posted a few new pictures every day. See them on the Newborn Page. Today's picture: Now that Claire is well, she has finally gotten a chance to bond with her son. Today's picture captures a warm moment.
My final comment for today: I have to say that until now I had not fully comprehended the true meaning of the term "bundle of joy" until I held my son in my arms.
Now it's back to the hospital, via McDonald's to pick a cheeseburger and fries for Claire.
Claire continues to rest and recover. She received a blood transfusion (two pints) today to replenish what she lost. She is feeling much better, and tonight she was able to get out of bed for the first time since giving birth. Claire was so excited to be out of bed and said that the trip to the bathroom felt like going to Disneyland. Tomorrow if her blood count is OK we may be discharged.
Jimmy continues to do great. He is one special little boy. His weight was down 11 ounces to 10 pounds even, but weight loss is normal in large infants. He is opening his eyes more and is more alert. He expressed interest in the window; I observed him opening his eyes and moving them around when his bassinet was placed near the window. He cried when I moved the bassinet. I think his eyes will be blue. Watching him is amazing.
I changed my first diapers today. The nurse asked me if I would like to try it. I was game, so I went at it. I opened his diaper, wiped his bottom off with the wipes, and prepared to install the replacement diaper I had ready-- no big deal. But he was too fast for me-- before I could get it on, he started going again-- both ways. I fought down panic as I cleaned up the new mess with the new diaper-- one-handed, of course, since I still had his ankles in my other hand-- and got a second diaper which I rushed onto him. Then I had to get new sheets for the bassinet and change his shirt. Meanwhile, Claire was struggling to contain her laughter. When it was all done I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. If I can handle this the very first time I change a diaper, I have confidence I can handle anything (of course, I'll probably be proved wrong about that). Back to the hospital now. Next update we should be home!
Baby arrived yesterday! As you can see above, we named him James Michael after his paternal and maternal grandfathers, respectively. He is just adorable. For more pictures, see the Newborn Page. He's big, weighing in at 10 lbs 11.2 oz.
It was a dramatic delivery, topped off by the fact that the placenta did not come out on its own. Ouch! The detail might be too graphic for those sensitive. Claire lost a lot of blood.
After a while, things calmed down a bit. I had gone home to take a shower. Claire had developed a pulse of over 200 bpm. She went into shock and started fading. Her father fetched the nursing staff and soon she was on oxygen and the room was filled with nurses tending to her. They did an EKG and some blood work and put extra bags on her IV pole along with an extra IV in her right hand. Claire's Mom stayed by her side through it all and also managed to call me at home to sound the red alert. After I rushed back, I worked on getting our baby back from the nursery. Things calmed down again. Claire was able to nurse Jimmy and breathe without the oxygen. About 2 AM they transferred Claire from Labor & Delivery to the Postpartum Unit via gurney.
Claire is at the hospital. Nothing dramatic yet. We appear to have gotten in on a slow day. They are attempting to induce labor. She was admitted at about 8:30 this morning. We lucked out and got the best labor & delivery room in the hospital (# 7) -- it has its own private bath and shower and is larger than the others.
I have come home briefly (4:30 PM) to fetch a few things that Claire wants in the hospital; when I left a few minutes ago there had been no change since we were admitted. The medication (Cervidil) was given about 11, and at that time they expected to see results in about 12 hours. We're hoping that the medication they have given her - which is supposed to have milder effects than pitocin - is effective. She is having mild contractions much like the ones she has been having for weeks. They do not cause any big discomfort. She's gotten from 1 to 2 cm so far and has been sitting up in bed (they want pretty much constant monitoring) chatting, watching TV and eating the meals the hospital staff keeps bringing her along with big cups of crushed ice and water.
I'm just anxious to see my boy. It's a waiting game now. More later.
Went to the Dr. today and he decided to schedule Claire for an induction if she doesn't deliver by 9/20. Let's hope things happen on their own soon. Either way, within a week we should have our new baby!
More ultrasound pictures! We had a fourth ultrasound to get an idea at how big the baby is. Right now he's about 8 1/2 pounds. The pictures are on the Ultrasound Pictures page.
We also got 100% confirmation that it is indeed a boy.
I registered domain names for the baby today. Now he'll be able to have a nice e-mail address and web site! Well, it may be a while before he cares about that, but I thought he'd appreciate my thoughtfulness later.
Finally, I posted pictures from our post-shower: Jeff's aunts Janet and Sandy came over with Jeff's mom and we had an informal shower where they gave us gifts from themselves and also from Jeff's other relatives that we don't see very often (i.e., Jeff's cousins). Afterwards we went out to lunch.
Claire and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary last Sunday, on the 5th. For old times' sake, I have put our old wedding site back up. Click here or go to my Home Page to see it.
At the prenatal exam today the doctor confirmed that Claire is 1cm dilated and 75% effaced. He said that she is at full term and if she goes into labor now that they won't stop her. The baby came right up to to Doppler to show off his strong heartbeat. Grandma and Grandpa Coughlin were there to hear. This evening Claire will teach her 5th water aerobics class this week.
Added new pictures of the nursery. We have furniture now, so it looks like a baby could actually live there.
Also, I added a FAQ page to answer some of the common questions we get asked. See the link bar above.
Our last baby shower. This one was given by Jeff's co-workers at Valley Services Electronics. Pictures are available on the Showers page.
More pictures of the nursery, see the Nursery page.
Another shower today. This one was given by Claire's students from the water aerobics class that she teaches. Pictures on the Showers page.
At our prenatal exam today the doctor confirmed that the baby has dropped a bit, is in a head down position and Claire is 50% effaced. He also said that the baby looks to be about 6lbs already. We'll see him again in two weeks. The doctor may do an ultrasound at that time to more have a more accurate estimation of our baby's size.
Baby shower today, given in Newport Beach by Jeff's mother's friend and former next door neighbor, Donna Phebus. Pictures are on the Showers page.
Still hanging in there. The baby continues to do well. He kicks a lot now, especially at night. Jeff can feel him sometimes too. Active little guy. He has Jeff's sleeping habits: late to bed, and Claire's: early to rise--he's gonna keep us busy.
I've uploaded the pictures from our first baby shower, on 7/3/04 in Willits. It was given by Claire's Mom and her Sister-in-law Melissa. There are lots of cute pictures of our nephew, Martin. See the link above.