July 17

Shea seems to have gotten over his jaundice and has an ever increasing appetite. He is one week old today!


Here are some photos of my sister's two sons, Daphne, and Shea:





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

July 16

Shea came home Thursday afternoon!

We are trying to get used to the routine of a newborn with a crazy 3 year old added to the mix. I'll share more anecdotes soon...

Here are some photos of his trip home:






Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

July 13

Jennie and Shea are still in the hospital due to Shea's elevated bilirubin level (jaundice). If all goes well, he is scheduled to be discharged on Friday morning.

While Shea's weight has dipped down to 5 pounds 0 ounces, he has begun to nurse really well.

Here are some new photos of baby boy Shea Aston Tilson on his 4th day of life...
















Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

July 10

Guess what? My son has arrived! Jennie's water broke at 4:30am yesterday.

Shea Aston Tilson was born at 7:59am CST.

Weight: 5 pounds 6 ounces
Length: 17 inches

He went to a transition area in the NICU department for a few hours of observation.

Afterwards, Shea was allowed to go to the regular nursery. He went under the lights of an Isolette incubator until he was 12 hours old. He is so itty bitty...

Here are some photos:








Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

July 7 (34 weeks pregnant)

Jennie had an ultrasound last week. Everything looks normal with baby boy (and he was slightly over 5 pounds and growing). He will be here before you know it!

More updates soon...

Here are some recent photos of Daphne:

Visiting Grandma


Storytime


Like my new dress?


Cheese!


I'm craaaaaazy!


Ride 'em cowboy!


Ferris wheel fun!


Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

June 29 (33 weeks pregnant)

We arrived home from our Florida beach mini-vacation safe and sound.

Daphne had so much fun digging in the sand with her little shovel and overfilling her pail. Destroying the sand castles with her tiny fists was Daphne's favorite thing to do. We rode a Ferris wheel after lunch one day and she could not stop giggling.

Here is a photo of Daphne serenading Mommy with "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star":



Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

June 21 (32 weeks pregnant)

Baby boy weighs approximately 4 pounds 1 oz and will be born in just a few weeks!

Great news! Jennie's doctor appointment today revealed that baby boy no longer has PACs (premature atrial contractions). His heart has matured and developed with no issues. Yay!

Daphne decided she wanted to make snowflakes from a slice of bread earlier this week. See photo below:



Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

June 15 (31 weeks pregnant)

I really don't know how Jennie can possibly get any rounder! She's toting around an extra large basketball of a baby boy in her midriff. She is tolerating the hot weather fine, but gets winded climbing the stairs. Only a few short weeks and baby boy will be here!

Meanwhile, here are some new photos of Daphne:

Hi, Daddy!


Cheese!


Pout, pout fish impersonation


A tasty corn dog!



Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

June 2

Happy birthday to PopPop (aka Jennie's Dad)! He is 2/3 of the way to the century mark...

Jennie's lab results from yesterday's visit came back today. She passed the routine diabetes test taken by all pregnant women. But, her iron levels are reading low. Oh well, she's preparing herself for increased iron supplements and the accompanying constipation. Yay!

Daphne talks to monsters and aliens in her room at night before going to sleep. I have to admit I was a little freaked out listening to her conversation the other night. "Hi monster! Why do you come into my room and watch me all night? I see you over there in the corner. Will you please leave me alone? Why don't you go eat a dog? Our neighbors have loud barking dogs. Are you going to take my bones and leave me squishy?"

What's the deal with Tilson babies and irregular hearts?

Daphne was born with a hole in her heart (common murmur) and it predictably sealed up by the time she was a few months old. She presently has no heart issues.

Baby boy has a consistently irregular heartbeat (fairly common). His heart rhythm is called premature atrial contraction. Basically, his atria (the top chambers in the heart which fill with blood) are contracting early and try to dump the blood into the ventricles (the lower chambers that do the pumping to the rest of the body). There is some irritability in the conduction system of the atria and the doctor can hear a pause as the conduction resets the beat. While it is occurring regularly, it is irregular overall.

Jennie has to begin coming in weekly to her OBGYN's office for a Doppler/heartbeat listen. They are monitoring the situation closely to see that the rhythm does not convert to SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) which occurs in only 1 to 2% of babies.

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

June 1 (29 weeks pregnant)

Jennie's round belly is ready to pop! Baby boy will be joining us in two short months.

I will update this post later today (Jennie is currently at two doctor's appointments - routine & pregnancy glucose test).

MORNING UPDATE: Jennie sent me an email stating that baby boy weighs 3 lbs 3 oz based on current ultrasound measurements. He is in the 64th percentile for his age.

Photos from today's ultrasound:

Frontal view


Profile



Until later,
Dave T.