Sweet Baby Jake ~
Jake's been at home for a week now and he's such a wonderful baby. He only cries when I change him. And when he’s hungry he makes this cute squeeking sound. This is called the “honeymoon phase” – you know when they sleep for hours and only wake up to eat. (It only lasted 3 weeks with Henry, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts.) The pediatrian is very happy with Jake’s progress this week. He gained 5oz. in 4 days! I think he’s going to be a good eater like Henry. He seems taller too. (Or should I say longer?)

My mom stayed with us all last week and through the weekend, so I've only officially been home with Henry and Jake by myself for two days and we've actually gotten out of the house both days. Unfortunately Henry caught a cold so yesterday I had to take him to the doctor. Besides the fever, snotty nose and a cough, the dr. said he had an ear infection in both ears. He's on antibiotics now. Henry hasn't been on antibiotics for over a year, which is pretty good for a 2-yr-old in Mother's Day Out -- just bad timing with a newborn.

In case you haven't popped in for a visit, here's Jake's nursery. Both his grandpas are into small, sporty covertibles. So the 3 pics above the crib are of his Grandpa Bob's Honda S2000; Pop's new little Pontiac Solstice; and the convertible MG Matt had in college. The bigger print is Grandpa Bob's 1950's MG. Jake's Meme made the fuzzy crib bumper and curtains. It all came together just a week before Jake arrived. And yes, that is Jake propped up in the corner of the crib.

Oh and XOXOXO to my sweet honey bunny. Matt's such a great dad helping so much with Henry, around the house and with Jake. He's taken the midnight feeding so I can get a few extra hours of sleep. I love you Matt! Here are new pics of my beautiful boys. I am so blessed ~

Hello Baby Jake!
Greetings everyone, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Jake Matthew Bryarly. He was born on January 28, 2008 at 1:24 pm, weighs 5 lbs and 11 oz and is 19 ¼ inches long. Jake was born five weeks early and the story goes like this…

Early Morning Surprise
So my parents were in town this past weekend visiting on Saturday and of course rather than staying one night as originally planned, the lure of hanging with the cutest 2 year old this great state of Texas has ever seen (a little biased I’m sure), they decided to hang out through Monday morning. A nice little stroke of luck, because little did we all know that Jennifer’s water would break Monday at 5:30 am in the morning. I thought maybe she peed her pants or something, but no, upon further review, it was clear liquid and it trailed her all the way to the bathroom. After a frantic call to the OB/GYN, and subsequent calm advice received from the other end of the line, it was time to pack up and get to the hospital. I woke up my parents and told them the news and good thing they stayed an extra night…they stayed back at home and let Henry sleep and keep a normal day and schedule until the baby was born. Back to Jen, apparently, the OB/GYN was so reassuring that Jennifer decided to do her hair and take her time in getting to the hospital. Notice how great she looks on the operating table.

We arrived at the hospital at 7 AM, went to Triage room and then pre-op room, and hung out for a while. Turns out that Jen was having contractions about 8 minutes apart (she didn’t feel them) and was 1 CM dialated. So she was officially in labor and we had to have a C-Section that day. Her OB/GYN, Dr. Lombardi came in and scheduled the C-Section for 1 pm.

Hello Baby Jake
The C-Section went great and Jake albeit a bit early, looked great, sounded great (we thought what great lungs he has) and of course is now the cutest 5 week premie this great State of Texas has ever seen.

My parents, Jennifer’s parents and Henry met Jake just minutes after he was born and two of our favorite pictures were taken…One of Jake (without any wires attached to him…more on that in a minute) and the picture of where Henry meets Jake, a true classic.

Jennifer was released to her private room and Jake was in the nursery. All seemed great, we thought…

NICU
As we were gladly receiving family, guests and general well wishes, I noticed that the activity around Jake in the nursery was increasing, there was a full-time nurse tracking his every breath, then two, then three, then an X-Ray machine was brought in to see what his lungs were looking like. By 5 pm, they had Jake in an Oxygen tent and then at 6:30 pm, he was going to be transferred to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Turns out that Jake’s lungs were not as developed as we thought and needed to be under 24 hour surveillance.

In NICU, Jake was hooked up to a big breathing machine pumping pure Oxygen into his lungs that not only helped him breathe better, but also helped to inflate his lungs (it would be a disaster if his lungs collapsed). This breathing treatment worked for a day, but then we had a setback. Jake developed a hole in his left lung called Pneumuthorax. They changed the treatment from that big breathing machine to an Oxygen Tent. It was less obtrusive and helped Jake heal better on his own.

After 48 hours, the hole in the lung healed and Jake progressed dramatically and was off all breathing tubes. The only tube in him was a feeding tube. The great news is that Jake hit the best case scenario in every account and is very healthy and looks great. Now we need him to come home… By the way, the nurses on staff in NICU are amazing people, always willing to answer questions, provide advice, give kind words, etc. We even were allowed to help out by taking Jake’s temperature, change his diaper and just hold him.

Henry’s Take
Henry is very excited to finally meet Jake in person, other than the quick meet as pictured above, Henry was not allowed in the NICU and thus unable to hold, touch or even see Jake. That upset Henry very much as he wanted to “See Baby Jake” and “Give Jake kisses”. It got so bad that after Jennifer finished feeding Jake and then it was my turn to go to NICU to see him, Henry clamped on me like a spider monkey and kept saying “Daddy Stay, Daddy Stay, I see Jake, I hold Jake” and then proceeded to throw a crying tantrum that was so pitiful and sad that it choked both Jennifer and me up.
I was surprised by the strong emotional response by Henry. One of the great NICU nurses, saw and heard the whole thing, detached Jake from all his monitors, put Jake in my arms and told me to go to the NICU window and let Henry meet and talk to Jake. Henry instantly stopped crying, said “Hi Jake, I love you”. He continued to say (with a little help from mom), “Get better Jake, come home soon”…then he asked to play with his favorite toys Iron ‘Arry and Bert, from Thomas the Tank Engine Series. He loves his trains and since he got satisfaction of meeting Jake, problem solved and back to the trains.

By the way, from Tuesday to Friday when Jennifer was still in the hospital, Henry stayed at Cousin Taylor’s house and was having a great time -- like a kid at summer camp.

Jennifer Update
Jennifer is doing great. She is taking the entire episode in stride, never gets too high or too low, got lots of rest (as much as you can get) and has recovered nicely from her C-Section. Her strength continues to amaze me. Her patience is so strong and she is just a great mom.

Power of Prayer & Thank You
Essentially to go home, Jake had to #1 breathe on his own; #2 Increase Feeding and latch to Mommy;#3 get off antibiotic treatments; and #4 Stave off Jaundice. The doctor called us on Tuesday afternoon, just one week after going into the NICU, saying all 4 items are in check and we're welcome to take Jake home at anytime. YEA!!!

As I mentioned, Jake is doing great and has progressed at the best case scenario rate. I truly believe that all the thoughts and prayers from everyone had an impact on the overall situation: My older brother told me today that one of Sunday’s masses at his Church in St. Petersburg, Florida was intended for Jake (essentially said in his honor); My Mom’s church choir offered prayers for him; my co-workers sent me countless e-mails with well wishes and prayers; my personal friends, Jennifer’s personal friends; the St. Thomas Mothers Association and CRHP team; and of course all of our immediate family and extended family offered prayers for Jake. My favorite prayer was from Henry “God please help Jake.—Amen”. I cannot thank everyone enough for all the support we received. Jake will be coming home soon and I have not only the Doctors and Nurses, but all of you that offered up your prayers.