National Lampoon’s Ohio Christmas Vacation

January 3rd, 2010

I’ve been putting off a bunch of blogging for some time, so I might as well get back in the swing with a Christmas wrap-up post.

Christmas 2009 Decorations

We got up at about 4am on Wednesday, December 23rd for our holiday odyssey to Ohio. The plan was to get on the road by 5am and we walked out the door at 4:59. That was to be our only lucky break that day.

So far, Katie had generally proven to be a good passenger, and I’d hoped she wouldn’t totally freak out on a long trip. So when I had to quickly pull off to the side of the interstate after she’d thrown up almost a whole bottle, I was starting to have my doubts. As gross and, unfortunate for Brenda (in the backseat), as it was, it was the only real gastrointestinal event of the trip. Other than normal spit-up, Katie didn’t get sick again.

Onward.

Around 9:00 or so, we made our first pit stop at a travel center with a McDonald’s. Not exactly the best first dining experience for Katie, but she did very well. Walking out, Brenda said, “Your tire is flat!” Sure enough, my rear driver’s side tire was almost completely flat. This was the same tire that CarMax had repaired a few weeks before. Seemed totally fine up until then. ‘Course, I hadn’t put that many miles on it since the fix. I aired it back up and hoped it would hold out.

Onward.

Around noon, we stopped for gas again and the tire was really low again. I simply couldn’t risk it all the way to Ohio; we were only in Elkin, North Carolina. So I asked the lady at the gas station where I could get a tire fixed, and she pointed me to a shop off the next exit.

Got to that shop, and they didn’t have my type of tire (don’t ask me what that is, I still don’t know). So he gave me instructions to another tire shop off the next exit. Sounded confusing, so I got out the GPS and typed in ‘Wal-Mart’. There was one off the next exit as well.

Got to where the GPS led us, and indeed there was a building that once was a Wal-Mart, but was totally abandoned. Luckily just up the road was the tire shop the last guy told us about. At first, they said it would be an hour to replace the tire, but apparently I looked desperate and frazzled enough they took pity on me. In about a half hour, they’d jacked up the car (with us in it) and replaced the tire. So, $106 later, we were on the road again.

Onward.

A little over an hour later, Brenda and I had switched places and we were in the mountains of Virginia. Soon we were in the middle of a long traffic jam that backed up for miles. At first we thought it was just an accident; there were three of them as we inched along. But actually, there is a place on I77 where it splits between I77 and 64, with the former going down to only one lane. And of course everyone wanted to go the way we were. It took over an hour to go 12 miles.

Amazingly, almost the entire time, Katie was awake and didn’t fuss too much. I had to work pretty hard to keep her amused, but she did really well.

And with traffic behind us….onward.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, just long. There was still some snow on the ground for most of the trip, but nothing major. A pit stop and Starbucks really helped. And then…we were in Ohio!

Amy and Katie

First stop was my sister, Amy’s. She was chomping at the bit to see Katie for the first time, and I believe I would’ve been murdered if we’d have passed her house and not stopped. Katie was no doubt happy to get out of that car seat for a while, but we couldn’t stay too long. Had to move on to the McCutcheon’s.

Christmas 2009

Our time in Ohio went as usual, half with Brenda’s family and half with mine. Very early on we told everyone we wouldn’t be doing presents for anyone but Katie, and asked that any presents only be bought for her. Not surprisingly, Brenda and I still got some stuff, but for the most part it was all Katie. She got all kinds of good stuff including dolls, teddy bears, clothes, books and about $200.

Christmas 2009

Katie started the visit pretty strong, but once we got to Mom’s in Newark, I think her schedule was really getting too far out of whack. Lots of new people, plus constant trips in the car, plus sporadic bedtimes really got things messed up. For about three nights it took forever for her to go to bed, something that was never a problem before. We’re just now getting her back in the swing of things.

Christmas 2009

As for Katie’s reception, of course everyone thought she was the cutest thing ever. And of course, we cannot dispute that. There were days when I barely had a chance to hold her myself. It was good for a break once in a while, but sometimes you just need to hold your baby.

Christmas 2009

I wish the visit could have been all good, but on Christmas Eve, my grandma Cooper developed pneumonia and ended up in intensive care. She was already in a rehab facility nursing a cracked pelvis from an earlier fall a couple weeks prior. We were in hopes she’d get out of rehab by the time we had our Christmas on Sunday, but then this latest development happened. Unfortunately, it also meant that she would not get to see Katie at all during our visit. Nobody under 18 was allowed in ICU, and I don’t think I would’ve risked taking Katie to a hospital in flu season anyway.

Christmas 2009

This was definitely a low point of our trip, as I think grandma wanted to see Katie more than anyone. She’s out of ICU and in her own private room as I write this, but it still remains to be seen what will happen. Mom doesn’t sound optimistic, and I’m afraid Katie may never meet her great-grandmother. I can only keep some optimism that she’ll battle through this as she’s done with everything else that’s come along. I was very happy, though, that grandpa Cooper and grandma McCutcheon got to spend some time with Katie.

Christmas 2009

All in all, though, we had a good visit, but it was time to hit the road the following Wednesday. We got on the road much later than the week before, around 9am. This was mostly due to the amount of time it took to pack the car. On the way up, my little Vibe was packed pretty full. Once we’d gotten gifts at Brenda’s folks, I realized we’d never get it all home without some help. So I picked up a rain-proof car top carrier at Wal-Mart (no choice in Marietta). It worked out really well and was totally worth the forty bucks. (I’m trying to get Brenda talking about minivans, but it’s a hard sell).

Once we’d gotten everything at mom’s though, I had to get a lot more strategic in my packing. Finally got everything jammed in there, it just took forever to do.

The trip home was fairly uneventful, but super long. The trip home is always longer, as we leave from Newark instead of Marietta. We got hung up by a ridiculously long line at a Burger King, and rush hour traffic around Lake Norman, NC. Once it got dark, it also started raining, so the whole thing seemed to take a ludicrously long time. All told, both the trip up and trip back clocked in at about 14 hours.

Christmas 2009

Did I mention Katie did really well in the car? Well, almost the whole time. About two thirds of the way home, she finally decided she’d had enough with this driving crap. She fussed and cried pretty much the rest of the way home. Can’t blame her really. I’m sure it seemed to her like every time she opened her eyes she was either in a new place with new people or still stuck in that stupid car.

My Girls

It was almost 11pm when we pulled in the driveway, and it was cold and sleeting. There were places we could see a dusting of snow. I really wanted to just get inside and collapse, but I had to unload the car and the carrier. In the freezing rain. Fun.

Long story short (too late), we had a good visit and I’m glad everyone got to see Katie. But I think we’d both decided before we even left Ohio that we simply can’t do this very often. Not while Katie is so young. Frankly, I think we probably had a screw loose even trying to do a 1200-mile, 7-day trip with a 2-month-old baby. But again, several family members would’ve had a posse looking for us.

While there’s a whole year ahead of us, at least for right now, I think we’re staying home next Christmas. Katie will be 14 months and we really want to have some family Christmases with just the three of us. We want to have memories of Katie running down our stairs on Christmas morning.

Christmas 2009

Plus, there’s the expense. There’s gas, food, and all the incidentals like new tires and car carriers that always come up. Plus, we have two cats and a dog to board. Those critters just cost us just shy of $900!! We’ll be months paying that off. Right now, with Katie’s expenses and Brenda only working part-time, we just can’t afford that kind of thing anymore.

Again, things may change over the course of a year. I’m hoping to make some changes that will lead to more income soon, but for now, everyone should start planning for plane tickets next December.

So that’s the big Christmas update. Special thanks to everyone that got something for Katie, it really helps a ton.

Also check out all the latest photos here, and videos here.

Katie’s First Giggle

December 19th, 2009

I was taking some photos of Katie today, trying to get her to smile with one of her little toys. All of a sudden, she started giggling! This may not sound extraordinary, but this is her first giggle ever! Once I realized what was going on, I put the camera down, leapt for my iPhone and was able to get about a minutes worth of heart-melting goodness!

Baby Recap, Part Two

October 8th, 2009

I’m kind of in a hurry to get back to the hospital, so this will be the short, short version. I got up Wednesday morning at 3:30am and got Brenda up at 4:00. When we headed out the door, an unbelievable thunderstorm was going on dumping sheets of rain. Had to go about 40mph the entire way to the hospital. Luckily there isn’t much traffic at 4:30, even in Atlanta.

We checked in shortly after 5:00 and didn’t have to wait too long to get into our room. Their birthing rooms are super nice. Big, with hardwood floors and actual furniture. They really go out of their way to make it a comfortable place. They promptly got Brenda hooked up to the monitors and they started the IV with Pitocin about 7:30. Small contractions seemed to start right away.

Nothing much exciting for the next four hours. We were both exhausted so we were taking naps between nurse visits. Reruns of Mythbusters episodes where on in the background all day.

About 11:30 our doctor came in and broke Brenda’s water. Shortly after, Brenda had reached as much pain as she was going to tolerate and they put the epidural in. Not long after, she was about 2cm dilated. Seemed like we still had a long ways to go, but only 2-3 hours later, the surprised nurse told us we were ready to go and she was calling our doctor.

Hard labor started around 5:30pm, about twelve-and-a-half hours after we checked in. I can’t tell you how incredibly well I thought Brenda did through the whole process. Yes, she had the epidural, but the entire day was pretty taxing. I’m very proud of her.

Kathedra (“Katie”) Eileen Jones was born at 6:42pm, October 7th, 2009. She’s 7lbs, 10oz, and 20 inches long. And she’s already sporting a full head of hair! Neither of us has been able to spend much time with her. We’ve held her for a grand total of maybe five minutes before they took her to the nursery. That’s a major bummer, but the previous post explains why. The main thing is we’ll be thrilled to finally get her home and all to ourselves for a while.

Thanks to everyone that followed the play-by-play. I know it’s difficult for the many friends and family that are so far away during a time like this. It’s hard on us, too, but we’ve always been 100% confident in our decision to move to Atlanta and consider this our home. And we can’t wait to raise our new daughter here. Just remember, Atlanta is a pretty short plane ride and we have plenty of space for guests :)

More Twitter and blog updates as we have ‘em.

Love y’all,

Andrew, Brenda and Katie

Baby Recap, Part One

October 8th, 2009

I’m home for a bit to shower, change clothes and look in on the cats (like they care). So I wanted to post a more detailed update of the last day and a half.

I should lead off by saying that if you saw the photos of Katie in the Special Care Nursery this morning, DO NOT let it freak you out. Soon after she was born, they noticed she had a breathing pattern they referred to as “grunting”. They took her up to the transitional nursery where they do all the usual post-birth stuff. After a while I got an update from a doctor who told me Katie had something called a “Pneumothorax“, which is air that has collected outside the lungs, making it harder for them to expand fully (the article explains this better than I can). The likely cause, for Katie, is the first deep breathes she took immediately after birth.

The doctor was pretty clear about the fact that this is not serious and not totally uncommon in newborns. There’s a chance that if it doesn’t get any worse, Katie will just work it out herself. And if not, they can easily remove the excess air with a needle. That said, they admitted her last night to the Special Care Nursery so they could continue to monitor and give her supplemental oxygen. So in the photos, I’m sure it looks a lot worse than it really is. She’s got an oxygen tube, a feeding tube and an IV for antibiotics. Everything else is just a monitor.

They took a couple more chest x-rays last night, but we’ve not yet spoken to a doctor today. When we visited about 10:30 this morning, she was visibly breathing better and sleeping very well. They’ll keep her at least 2 days, but as many as 6. That sucks, but it’s more important to make sure she has a clean bill of health. I’ll keep posting updates as we get them. Just trust me when I say….don’t panic :)

I’ll continue the recap in the next post….

Baby Watch Is A Go!

October 6th, 2009

UPDATE: I’ve created a new Twitter account just for “Brenda and Andrew” updates.

Well, this is it. Tomorrow (Wed, Oct 7th) we head to the hospital at 5:00am where they’ll induce Brenda! We had a visit with the Dr. today and since we’re now almost a week past the due date, she went ahead and scheduled us. We’ve had a bag packed for a couple weeks, so we’re ready. Just wondering how much sleep we’re going to get tonight.

I’ll have my iPhone on me the whole time, and will be posting updates to the blog, Twitter and Youtube as often as I can. Here’s where to look for updates:

Twitter (short text updates)
YouTube (videos)
Flickr (photos)
…and of course, right here.

Yes, I realize as a big-shot web developer, I should’ve come up with something way slicker to keep everyone updated. Time just kinda got away from me. But I’ll still keep you all updated :)

More soon!

Nursery Photos

October 6th, 2009

Just uploaded photos of the finished nursery:

And there it goes

October 1st, 2009

Woosh! That’s the sound of our due date passing us by. Yesterday, September 30th was our official due date. We met with our doctor the day before and unfortunately, Katie just isn’t ready to make an appearance yet.

Everything is going really well, though, and we’ll have an ultrasound on Monday just to take measurements and make sure everything is still cool in there. Then we’ll have another doctor’s appointment on Tuesday to discuss next steps. If she feels Brenda is ready, she’ll probably go ahead and induce.

That’s really all I’ve got right now. We’re just in a holding pattern until Katie is all packed and ready to move out.

More updates as soon as they’re available, and also new nursery photos!

Some Quick Baby Updates

September 7th, 2009

The BumpJust a few overdue updates. We’re now down to less than a month from our due date! Everything is on track and mommy and baby are doing just great. We have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow (9/8), and we’ll be going every week after that. I’ve posted a bunch of new photos from Brenda’s baby shower, moving into the new house, and progress on the nursery.

We’re mostly settled into the new house, although there are still some scattered boxes here and there. I’ve already fixed a couple minor things and we had our landscaping touched up (our HOA already sent a letter about the weeds). Today I get to fix our mailbox post that’s about ready to fall apart. But we absolutely love the house and I’m looking forward to Katie growing up here.

Nursery ProgressAlso still several things to finish on the nursery. We won’t have to paint the walls, but we’re putting up letters to spell out KATIE and I’m “supposed” to be drawing some cartoon characters on the wall. I only hope I have time to do it (and do it right). Brenda’s also working on some bedding and the window treatments. Last Friday was her last day at work, so she’ll be working on that as much as she can.

That’s about it for now. I’ll be posting more photos and updates as I can. We also should get one more ultrasound, but I’m not sure when.

Casa de Jones Walkthrough

August 1st, 2009

Here’s a complete video tour of our new house!

Our New House from Andrew Jones on Vimeo.

Now In Amazing 3D!

July 1st, 2009

Today we had another ultrasound and they “threw in” a 3D version for free. Below are the results. Apparently, getting good 3D images is a tricky thing, and many don’t come out well at all. I think we were lucky we had a couple good ones. This is the first time actually seeing Katie’s face, so it was pretty amazing. This was another good visit; she’s at exactly the right size for 27 weeks and is 2 pounds, 5 ounces.

3D Ultrasound

Note that a lot of the squiggly stuff on the bottom couple photos is just some of the gunk she’s swimming in at the moment. :)