MIA...or maybe just busy!

Some would think I am MIA these days. As i was talking to my sister tonight, she pointed out it had been a while since my last blog post. Things have been a little crazy the last little while. My last post was on Collin's 2 week check up. A lot has happened since then. So on with an update of our eventful past 2 1/2 weeks, almost 3...

Justin took his USMLE Step 1 on June 28th. It is a huge relief to have it done and over with. He was so happy to have it done and to have an entire week with NOTHING to do. He didn't have any studying and could actually enjoy some time without the worries of school. He is not sure how the test went, he says thar is hard with an 8 hour test. He is anxiously awaiting his scores to arrive on July 16th...as we all are! He went back to school today. Though to me, the word school is mis-leading. It seems more like work to me...not a lot of sit and listen lectures, fewer tests, i don't know, maybe I am just really ready for reality to hit. He is so excited to hit the ground running tomorrow in the Family Med clinic. he will spend the next 2 months learning all the ins and outs of that, before moving on to Pediatrics and Surgery later this semester. We are all excited for him. He is now an upperclassmen and is less than 2 years from being DONE!


Collin is doing well. He is still an angel of a baby. i still wonder how we got so blessed. Maybe it was the rocky-near death arrival... But he sleeps almost all night. usually wakes up at about 5:30 to eat, then again at 8:30...yes we are blest!


Felicity turned 3!! I still can't believe it. We had a lot of fun with her on her birthday and she was in Heaven. For her birthday we got her a leapster and she got game from it from her Gram and Grand-Daddy Clayton, along with some Disney Princess jewelry. Jaicie was very adamant that she needed to get her sister a birthday present. So we picked out a new teddy bear and a bubble wand. Felicity was so ecstatic about both. She thought it was the greatest thing!

Jaicie turns five next Monday, July 14. It is hard to believe that she is already 5. She has recently hit a growth spurt and seriously seems like she has grown 5 inches. Maybe that is exaggerating things a little bit, we will find out at her next check-up, but she is now fitting into the length of her clothes, not just the waist. She is such a beautiful little girl and tries so hard to be grown up. she has taken a liking lately to cleaning. She gladly helps me clean the house...any room but hers if she is doing it alone. She loves life and is looking forward to starting school the end of August.

Last week we spent a few days in Alpine, TX visiting with Justin's oldest brother, Paul, his wife Karry and their three kids. It was so nice to get away and such a wonderful vacation. Thanks to them for letting us come and barge in on them right when they returned from their month long vacation. It was nice to see some family and get a little break from Lubbock and school, and everything else. The girls were great on the trip and aside from a little throw up problem with Collin, he was great too!

We had a great 4th of July and spent the late evening at MacKenzie Park watching the fireworks. The girls enjoyed it and Collin didn't mind being outside. Aside from the bug bites everyone but collin got, it was a great experience!

That is all as far as an update goes for now. Maybe I will come up with mroe to write later!

Collin's 2 Week Check up

We took Collin in today for his two week check-up. He is growing faster than a weed! Here are his stats!

Weight: 7 lb 8 oz
Length: 20 1/2 inches long

As a comparison for you, at birth he was 6 lbs 6 oz. and 19 inches long. Obviously he is growing well. The doctor was very happy with his development. Aside from some irritation from the umbilical cord, he is doing well. I can't believe he is weighing 1 pound 2 ounces more than he did when he was born. NO wonder he is eating and sleeping so well...he is growing really quickly.

I have been rather spoiled by Collin...So far this week...there has been only one night that he has woken up more than 1 time during the night. He has been waking up about 5:30 to eat and then goes straight back to sleep until about 8:00. We feed him right before we go to bed and then he just sleeps. He is the happiest baby I have seen. He hardly ever cries, except in the middle of the night. He is starting to look at me and he seems to smile a whole lot. He is a lot different than the girls, but we are noticing that he seems to resemble Felicity a lot...Here are a couple pics to compare!



The first one is Felicity (obviously, she has a bow on...) The second is Collin. I tried to find pics that really show that they have the same face. It is hard to see, but they really do look a lot alike! Collin even has a little dimple on one cheek just like Felicity...Someone told me once that dimples are from grandma kisses in heaven...Since Collin has a grandma in Heaven, I sure love that idea! It is a nice thought to think that Grandma gave him a little kiss before she sent him to mom and dad! And who knows, maybe Grandma Great and Aunt Shirley Anne did as well!

Anyway, that is a quick update on Collin and his appointment today! Hope everyone is doing well!

A Cute Smilebox Creation...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Clayton Family Update!

Wow! What a week and half it has been! I am so happy to report that Collin is home. We brought him home at about 12:15 on Wednesday afternoon. He is an amazing baby. The NICU did a great job getting him on a good schedule! He wakes up 2 times a night, eats and goes right back to bed. He stays awake for about 2 1/2 hours at a time during the day and is just a great baby! The girls love having him home and being able to play with him. The first thing they both say every morning is that they want to see their baby Collin. Justin and I love having him home as well. It has been such a wonderful thing to sit together as a family with our little boy.

As for me, I am recovering well. I have been amazed at how well things have gone for me. The lifting restrictions are killing me. It is hard on Felicity most of all that I can't pick her up, but she is adjusting well. I have moved from the Lortab to Ibuprofen for the pain and I am hoping that it is just as effective. Thus far it has helped a ton, my hips are FINALLY Feeling better. I am finally able to sit up from laying down by myself and I can lay on my sides comfortably. Life is slowly getting back to normal. At least I don't feel like I have to sleep sitting up. :) My incision is healing nicely from what I can tell. It is still tender but not nearly as sore as it has been. As far as other pains go...I am surprised that my stomach is all that hurts. I expected more pains like I had with my normal deliveries. But thus far the pain has been centralized on my incision points and hips. It has been nice to be able to sit without the donut.

Well, I have added pictures to Collin's Slideshow which can be viewed on my last post. Feel free to view the pictures at our online album .

Thanks to everyone who has helped us out over the past week and a half and the upcoming weeks. We really appreciate it more than we can say! We hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Updated Info and Slideshow

As an update for everyone, Jaidi is now home from the hospital. She arrived home this afternoon and is doing well. While she is still very sore and on lots of meds she is recovering well and improves everyday.

Collin is doing remarkably well. Both Blood cultures this far have come back negative which means as long as things continue as they are, he will be coming home on Wednesday about lunch time. He is breathing room air, so he no longer has the nasal canula on, and is maintaining his temperature so he does not have to be in on a warming bed. He has been moved to a standard newborn crib and is doing well. Both Jaidi and Justin have had a chance to feed him and Justin has changed a couple diapers and given him baths. We are so happy to say how well he is doing and to report how soon he should be coming home. We look forward to adding more pictures soon.

Jaicie got to go see her brother for the first time today. They let him hold her and let her ask all sorts of questions. She loves her baby brother and was happy to finally be able to see him and help take care of him. There is a picture of her holding him in the slideshow. WE have added tot he other slideshow I posted the other day, so please enjoy!

With that, here are some more pictures of Collin.



Or look through the album here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jaidiclayton/CollinWilliamClayton

Our New Arrival

I am so happy to report that our new little boy was born last night.



Or you can access the photo album at: Baby Collin

Contractions started on Tuesday at about 11. They then stopped at about 10 that night. I was able to lay down and get at least a littl bit of sleep. On Wendesday I woke up freezing cold. After snuggling up under some blankets, I took my temperature. I had a fever. I called the nurse and she said it wasn't anything to worry about, it was a sign of labor coming. So when contraction sstarted at 7 minutes apart at 10:05 I thought I might be going into labor. Contractions continued between 4-7 minutes the rest of the morning. I caleld Justin home at about 11:30 and once we got a sitter over for the girls, We headed to the hospital, arriving at about 1:00.

At this point the contractions had moved up to about 3-5 minutes. They checked my cervix and I was only a 2-3. About half hour later, I was a 4. Because of my Group B Strep issue and the fever symptoms, they admitted me right away. As contractions continues, the gave me some pitossin in order to help thigns a long. Baby did not like that at all. His heart was going all over the place, and dropping. So they stopped the petossin and and broke my water so that they could get in some internal monitors. I was stil only a 4 and so they decided that they would watch my progress for a couple of hours. Doc came in at 6 and checked me again, and I had made it to a 5. He decided to start the petossin to see how the baby reacts. Shortly after this, my fever again spiked, this time up to 103.4. With this and also the increased problems with Collins heart rate, the doctor told me that it would be best to do a C-section. The baby;s heart rate was shuttin gup to high because of my fever, and dropping with every contraction.at about 7:30, they began prepping me for a C-setion and Collin was born at 8:50. He started things a little rough, his first APGAR was a 2, but after a couple of minutes he was up to a 7, then an 8.

As of right now, Collin will be staying in the NICU at least 7 days. Because of my symptoms along with the Group B Strep, they have to give him 7 days of antibiotics through an IV in his belly button. He is actually doing wonderfully. He was 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 19 inches long. He looks great and I even got to hold him this morning. I think he looks like a Pierce, I see some resemblance to My nephew Kayden...but I am not sure. He has very dark hair and right now very blue eyes.

Just wanted to send some pictures. Like I said, he is in the nICU and is covered in tubes and stickers, and has oxygen in his nose. But he is doing great and breathing well on his own.

WOW! Twilight Scene

Oh wow!

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