First Doctor Appointment

Waylon had his first visit with his pediatrician on Monday morning (06/25/07).

He did really good and the doctor said he was "perfect". He tried to find something wrong...and just couldn't. He said it was a matter of pride for him to be able to find something....but he just couldn't find anything wrong with our baby boy.

He probably say's that to all new parents...but hey...it feels great to hear it anyway.

Things are starting to settle.

This picture says it all. My brother Mike took this picture while Jess was on the phone with her dad Tim.

I think this one of those "a picture is worth a thousand words" moments. Mom and baby are assimilating just fine and Floyd is being very protective of our new edition.

First Family Visit!

So we were kind of napping...lightly...when there was a knock at our door. We didn't here it...but our other little one....Floydie-Dog did...and began barking as he ran to the door.

I followed him into the living room and looked out the peep hole to see who woke us up. All I saw was an orangeish blob. I almost just went back to bed but thought maybe I should see what was going on...so I opened the door.

Standing there with his hand over the peep hole was my brother Mike and his wife Jenn. What a complete surprise! They drove all through the night from Illinois to be with us and we couldn't believe it.

One of the tougher things about living out here in Colorado is we have NO family within 1000 miles. We have allot of good friends...and that is important...but nothing takes the place of family.

Jess's mom is coming out next week to stay with us and my parents are coming after and Jess's Dad and Gayle are coming right after that...but there was still a lag time before any of our family actually laid eyes on Waylon.

The added bonus is that Mike and Jenn just had a little girl just over a year ago...so they just went through being first-time parents and have been a HUGE help.

We ended up grilling out to celebrate and then they were going to get a hotel room to give us some privacy....but we insisted they stay with us...it was really nice for both of us.

They can only stay for a day or so...then have to make the grueling drive back home...but it has been nice having them.

Waylon Comes Home

What a Joy! Baby Waylon and mom were released from the hospital Saturday morning (6/23/07) almost 48 hours to the minute after Waylon was born.

We loaded him up into the Durango and drove to our apartment in northern Colorado Springs. We had everything set up and ready when we got there.

Needless to say we were both exhausted from the previous two days (especially Jess) and when we got him home we pretty much immediately took a nap. It was nice. Of course Waylon wasn't in the mood for a nap for long and let us know by politely saying "hey...if you guys don't mind...I would like to be looked at for awhile and maybe cuddled or something...and also...I left you a little present in my diaper."

I thought that was VERY considerate of our little man. Boy....this parenting thing is EASY.

;)

Of course I have provided a little translation here...but you get the picture. Read on in the next post to find out what awesome surprise woke us from our slumber...in a good way...

On the name...

How did we come up with Waylon Michael Hall????

Well...we are both fans of Waylon Jennings...to some degree...and thought it sounded perfect. It isn't too plain...like Bob (no offense to any Bob's reading this...Bob is a perfectly great name...) but wasn't too crazy...like Zanzabar. (no offense to anyone named Zanzabar reading this...Zanzabar is a perfectly great name...kind of...)

Now for the middle name. Both me and Jess love our brothers: Michael (Dave's only brother) and Matthew (Jess's younger brother). So we thought a friendly game of rummy would help decide who's name we would be using. We had played MANY games of rummy together...and we had a pretty even record (in Jess's mind) so it was a fair match. What Jess failed to realize is:

A) I was duping her the every time we played before...letting her win some for the obvious guy reasons and....

B) There was something SERIOUS on the line.

So we decided that we would play games to 500 and whoever won the most games before the baby was born would get the middle naming rights.

I won. No...I conquered! ha

By the third or fourth month Jess was behind 12 games...and conceded defeat. Now...some may think that I should have been a better husband than that...and let her win...but I am a BIG believer in equal rights. ;) That would have been chauvinist of me.

So there you have it. Don't hate the player...hate the game.

Day 2

The first night went well.... Jess began breastfeeding Waylon and they were an immediate team. Both mom and baby quickly learned the ropes...and all is going well.

The pediatrician for Waylon visited and circumsised our little man...poor guy...but he returned in good spirits and was none worse for the wear.

We have had several visitors and it has been nice. All of Jess's friends brought an assortment of goodies and baby things...and my friend Josh and I shared a GREAT cigar back at our apartment (Jess and mine...not Josh and mine....ha)

Jess was moved to a post-partum room and her and Waylon are down for the night. I have returned to the apartment to take care of our other baby....Floydie-Dog.

Me and Jess looked at each other in amazement today....we have a baby! We are both a little intimidated but are reassued by the fact that we are not the first people in the history of man to raise a child for the first time. So we feel we have at least even odds of being good parents. ;)

Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement and all of the many gifts Waylon recieved. We feel we have everything we need to get through this...Thanks!

Waylon's First Day

Waylon Michael Hall was born at 11:44 a.m. on 6/21/07 at Penrose Community Hospital in Colorado Springs, CO.

He weighed 7lbs. 0 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. His birth was a little difficult for mom (Jess) as he came out "sunny-side up" which means he came out face up.....not the more "normal" way of coming out face down.

This made it very difficult to get him out and he was in a state of shock at birth. He was taken immedietly to baby ICU and given fluids for dehydration and put into an oxygen tent to help him breath.

The hospital staff initially told us he would be in ICU for 12-24 hours or more....but 3 hours later he was totally recovered and allowed to stay in Jess's room.

Jess was in alot of pain initially but she is a trooper and is recovering quickly. They are scheduled to be released Saturday.