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After nearly a week at the Hospital, Jarem, Jamie and I are home safe and sound. It was a heck of week and my poor little thumbs hurt like crazy from pounding out blog entries from my phone. I'm so glad to have a full keyboard and a normal sized screen so that I can make typos REALLY 5x as fast!

There is so much to talk about, but more importantly, there is a LOT to show you. So without any further ado here are the photos of our experience welcoming Mr. Jarem Xavier Bailey into the world. (click on a photo to see it full size)

5/1 2:30 A.M. "Grammy" and "Grandma-to-be" lightly sleeping to the swooshes of baby's heart monitor. They were both so wonderful staying and staying up with us all night.

8:42 A.M. Daddy and Mommy getting ready to leave the Labor and Delivery room and head over to the OR to meet our son. (this picture was taken just after I update the blog with "C Section")



9:05 A.M. Daddy going BERZERK in the waiting room. They had just taken Jamie back into the OR to prep her for surgery and said they'd get me when the room was ready. Can you imagine everything running through my head at this point?! I'll work on uploading the video that I took... because I was NUTS!



9:10 A.M. Can you believe that there are 8 hands inside of her stomach right now? Has there ever been a more beautiful woman? Let alone a woman on a surgical table! At this point she was having a conversation with the OB Dr. Ference about the fact that her husband used to teach at Seton Catholic High when Jamie went there! In fact, he used to coach basketball with Karen, just like Jamie does now!
Nothing like the typical light conversation while your undergoing MAJOR SURGERY. Pay attention doc - and DON'T MOVE JAMIE!


9:13 A.M. Welcome to the world Jarem. (I don't know if you noticed the timeline... but I was waiting for them to get prepped at 9:05, and met my son at 9:13. That's some good doctorin'!

Jarem was born with about 1.5 inches of swelling at the top of his head due to being in the birth canal for hours. I specifically uploaded THIS picture instead so that he wouldn't get teased when he's older ;)

9:15 Our first family photo. You can sort of see the large amount of brains that our son has. But seriously, this was one of the most amazing feelings I've ever had. I was holding him so gently, because this little man depended on me and Jamie for EVERYTHING! He is so beautiful and even though I'm still getting to know him, I can't imagine my life without him. Jamie did so well. Look at her still smiling! She got a little nauseous after this photo due to the meds, but that only lasted a few seconds. Then she was laughing and making jokes to all of the doctors and nurses in the room, she's wonderful.

9:20 A.M. As they finished the procedure with Jamie in the OR, the nurses let me accompany Jarem to the nursery for a little showin' off (and I guess take some vital measurements). This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire process. The nurse saw what was going on and picked up my camera... How wonderful to catch the first reaction of Grammy and Grandma through the nursery window. They really do love their Jarem.

9:22 A.M. The good news is that he was on the "low" spectrum of the ultrasound guesstimate of 9 lbs 8 oz. Our baby's official weight at birth was probably 8 lb 12 oz even, but as soon as he hit air, he let out a couple squirts as if to say, "This 'Earth' place is all mine"
9:25 A.M. Finally some pure boy time. I can't believe how much I can just love on this kid. But seriously, look at him; he's beautiful!

9:30 A.M. Baby's first bath. So he loved everything about this first bath except the whole water/soap/rubbing thing. Once they took him out from under his heat lamp, he got pretty fussy. But MAN, let me tell you it's fun playing with all of that hair!

10:09 A.M. You know, at this point in the process, I've had 1 hour of love for baby Jarem. I thought that nothing could rival the amazing feelings that he gives to me. Then I saw Jamie hold him for the first time and I was floored. To see her so happy and full of love after all of that she had just been through over the past 30 hours; It was truly like looking into the eyes of God. For everyone that knows Jamie, give her love and thanks, because she went through a lot to bring Jarem into this world and I know that he will bring joy to many people hearts.

5/2 6:00 P.M. Please take a good look at this picture. Please notice that our son (just 31 hours old) is supporting his own head, opening his eyes and focusing on the camera. When he looks at you, you can tell that he sees you (if only as an amorphous blob) and tries to distinguish you from the contrasting colors around you. He tries to figure out where your voice is coming from and why he can feel it through your chest. He even seems to contemplate the findings of his research. DID I MENTION 31 hours old!?! Don't worry, I already have a Mensa application filled out.

5/3 9:22 A.M. Doctor Elizabeth Jarem (our OB) sharing some love with our little man. (Are you putting together the connection yet?) Yes our son shares a name with our doctor. Besides inviting wonderful knowledge and wisdom, the name comes from the biblical city "Kiriath-Jearim" where the arc of the covenant was kept for 120 years before King David transported it 8 miles south to the city Jerusalem.

5/4 8:45 A.M. Tammy, the nurse who I'm sure you read about in previous blog entries, came in this morning to say goodbye to the Bailey family. Since she was charge nurse on the day shift and didn't have any patients, she spent a good 30 minutes with us just hanging out. Again, Mercy Gilbert has such a wonderful staff, we can't hardly wait to be back for baby #2.

(Before you start think-shouting horrible phrases at me for saying that - I was just kidding, we can wait - and we will wait ;)

1:15 P.M. We're finally on our way home... You know, someone mentioned to me that the drive home from the hospital with the most precious of all cargo would be the longest trip of your life. I can't decide whether they were right or it was a case of the self-fulfilling prophecy and It was only horrible because I thought that it would be... EITHER WAY, there are some BAD drivers out there... there are still grip marks at "10 and 2" on my steering wheel. I do have to say that driving a postpartum woman (who gets carsick easily) drugged with Percocet, in the back seat is not fun... I'm just glad that everyone got home safe and sick free! Although he didn't like getting in the car seat, baby Jarem certainly liked the car ride!

Throw yo hands up if you love to ride in the car!