JOSS! IS! HOME!!!!

5 weeks and six days after he was born, Joss finally came home!! Paul was thrilled to meet his brother, hailing him with a hearty "Hi Joss!"

Our first real family picture. (Note how already Joss can't keep his eyes off of Paul.)

Paul gently rocking Joss in his car seat. . .
Gently!! Gently rock the baby!

Happy Two-Weeks, Joss!

Wednesday with Joss - III

Yummy Mommy kisses.

Trying the bottle again. . .

OK, enough with the pictures today, huh?

Wednesday with Joss - II

I left the womb so fast - did I turn off the oven?
Daddy took some lovely beauty shots with his fancy schmancy camera:

Wednesday with Joss - I

Sleepy Joss - time to wake up!
Joss is not impressed with the neo-natal physical therapist (even though she was very nice).

Mommy and Joss.

I swear, I caught a fish thiiiiiiis big!

Silly baby!

Joss - Day 4

Hi everybody!
So far - so good. Joss is off his IV, and blood sugar is holding stable. He's been doing well maintaining his temperature, and the big news is that he's been eating more of his meals with a bottle than with the feeding tube!

Joss also loves nursing, and although it's still a little taxing for him, he seems to enjoy the initial effort.

Joss also loves to dance - check out the gams!

He is also a trouble maker - stealth poops, pulling out his feeding tube repeatedly, getting caught up in his wires. . .

And a little video:

When Grandmothers Attack!

They came from BEYOND. They cause terror wherever they go. They are...

GRANDMOTHERS!!!!!

Just kidding. They just brought love and red ribbons (kinahura poo poo poo) to keep the evil eye away. And they're taking very good care of Paul while we're distracted with all of the other things we need to do. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Beren had some quality post-lunch time with Joss.Hi there, Joss!

Joss' First Photo Shoot

Some cuddle time with Mommy.
Nose to nose with Daddy.

Trying to explain the pre-natal football pool in which he was participating, and how he had been elected to check the scores tonight. . .

. . .and finding out there was no TV in the NICU. Sorry, kiddo.

Flashing signs - peace out, word.

SURPRISE!!!

This morning, as Daddy was sitting on an airplane waiting for take-off, Mommy decided the funny cramps she was having were contractions! Yes, it was 6 weeks, 1 day early for contractions, which is why Daddy was thinking this last trip to CA would be no problem.

Mommy called the doctor, and Mommy called our good friends Kara and Brendan (Georgia's parents) who came right over.

In the meantime, Mommy changed Paul's very dirty diaper - while in labor. Mommy is hard core.

After Georgia and Kara arrived to play with Paul, but before Brendan drove Mommy to the hospital, Daddy managed to sneak in one more phone call before actually taking off (wa-hoo for airplane delays!). Mommy told Daddy to get off the plane, and he did. Daddy actually made it to the hospital before Mommy did.

After establishing that this was indeed labor, and that Mommy was 4cm dialated, Mommy was moved to a delivery room where she was reunited with her best friend, Epidural. This is Mommy hanging out with Epi:
After some resting and phone calls, Mommy began to feel pain through the epidural. The anesthesiologist gave her a little more medicine, and said it would take about 10 minutes to really kick in. Well, that was 8 minutes too long, because Mommy felt the urge to push, and about 90 seconds later, at 1:29pm on Sunday, February 7, 2010, Joss Nathaniel joined us, apparently in quite the hurry.

Joss was 5lbs, 4.8oz and 18.5 inches long, and had Apgar scores of 8/9. He was very blue the moment he arrived, but pinked up quickly, and cried very nicely until the NICU nurses got him all wrapped up and warm.

Once Mommy could feel her feet again (that extra dose of medicine did kick in. . .too much too late, but there you go), she and Daddy got to go to the NICU to visit Joss. We couldn't pick him up yet, but he was breathing all on his own.

First (almost) Family Picture!!

Because he is a festering blizzard of germs and destructive capability, Paul will not be able to see his baby brother until Joss is out of the NICU, but he will be able to visit Mommy, who misses him already.