Emily's First Morning

While at Jackson's birthday party last weekend, Brent Owen commented that the biggest adjustment for baby #2 was shifting back into a pattern of little or no sleep. After last night, I can concur. Although Angel and I feel OK today, last night was rough. For those of you who are not parents, I'll give you an idea of how things go in the hospital.


Newborns spend quite a bit of the first day in the nursery. However, this time is split up into many small chunks interspersed with vists to mommy and daddy. The attending nurses check vital signs and make sure the baby is getting nutrients each time they breastfeed which occurs every 2-3 hours at first. This means that every couple of hours you are feeding the baby, burping the baby, and probably changing their diaper. Luckily, after that is done the nurses want to see her again so you can catch a couple hours of sleep. However, just as you get comfortable it seems, the little one is back for the next round of feeding. Of course there is a separate nurse to make sure mommy is doing well, so they are coming in at various hours to draw blood, bring food, etc. Althought it is tough, Emily has been an outstanding eater and is sleeping very well. Up to this point, we feel very lucky that Emily is cooperating so well in order to get her the vital necessities she needs in these first critical days.

I also wanted to mention a few of the visitors we have had share this awesome experience with us. Angel's mom, Barbara has been here with us through the whole experience. Yesterday Roger, Angel's father, came by to meet his new granddaughter. He also brought some sweet BBQ from some place in Luling. Aw, man that is some good stuff! Thanks grandpa! We also had a visit from the Faraces before we snuck out of the hospital mid-day Wednesday. And, of course, Emily's big bro Jackson stopped by for a visit after a fun day at day care.

Emily's Arrival - Part 3 (12:38pm)

Emily Dakota Bateman entered this world at 12:38pm on Tuesday 5/23, 2006. She is a healthy baby at 8 pounds 11 ounces with a length of 20 1/2 inches.



Mommy is doing terrific and is currently talking on the phone and laughing out loud. Mamo (Barbara) was here for the joyous arrival, and Dr. Ronen performed a flawless delivery. Of course the real accolades go to Angel for being such a trooper through the entire pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

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See all of the pictures here:
SnapFish Album

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Emily's Arrival - Part 2 (10:54am)

Ah, relief…. The epidural has been administered. Mom is doing well and buckling down for the final hours of delivery. Despite having a sore hand from the nurse blowing out the veins in her hand, Angel is doing great. Dad is feeling great, too. Quite possibly this is in no small part due to the prenatal vitamin I accidentally took last night. It was easy to swallow compared to the Spurs game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Emily's Arrival - Part 1 (6:37am)

Well, we are sitting here in the waiting room….. Waiting…. We were supposed to arrive at Memorial Hermann hospital at 5:30am today, but we got here a little bit late. Upon arriving we found the waiting room already populated with other couples anxiously awaiting induction just like we were. After checking in, we settled in for what hopefully is a short wait while they get our room ready. Emily is kicking quite a bit, so we think she is as excited as we are to meet her mommy, daddy, and big brother.



To recap, we are planning for a 5/23 birth of Emily Dakota Bateman. Dr. Ronen recommended the date, and we thought it would be great if Jackson and Emily were able to share the same birthday. Under any scenario, their birthdays would have been a week or less apart, so we didn't see any reason to challenge the doc's suggestion. I also talked to some friends that had birthdays close to other siblings, and I think it will be something they will both grow to appreciate and cherish.

I am watching Angel (not my beautiful wife, but the TV show) for the first time ever. It is not bad as long as you are too tired to read something else and you don't have a remote control. It is a show about vampires and they are on some Nazi submarine that… no, I take it back. This show is really bad.

Jackson's 2nd Birthday Party

Yesterday was Jackson's 2nd Birthday party, and again we had his party here at the house. As Jackson grows, and the attention span of he and his friends grows shorter and shorter it is increasingly tempting to go to one of the popular BDay party places like Pump It Up, The Little Gym, or Gymboree. However, we opted for the home option and ended up having a great party with friends, family, and Jackson's new bouncy-house (Thanks to the grand-parents)!

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See all of the pictures here:
SnapFish Album

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The day was perfect, although it is Texas so it was pretty hot! Luckily we had some shade for the adults, and the kids didn't seem to mind much. Here is a picture of Jackson's new bouncy-house being put to use by the party-goers.

We also had Jackson's train table out since it was a Thomas themed party.

Before long, it was time to gather around for birtday cake. Angel's good friend Diane made an awesome Thomas cake for Jackson. Jackson was old enough this year to know about birthdays, and was really excited for everyone to sing happy birthday for him. He was practicing his singing quit a bit leading up to the big day.

Thanks so much to everyone for the great gifts that Jackson received. He will be busy playing with all of his new gifts this summer when he isn't helping out Mommy and Daddy to take care of baby Emily.

Well, that is all for the recap of Jackson's BDay. We've got to go finish getting ready for Emily's arrival this Tuesday (or before)! Thanks again to everyone who helped put on and participated in Jackson's birthday. Everyone had a great time, and now we've got a bouncy-house for permanent use!

The Pool Trick Didn't Work

Since planting a tree for Emily wasn't enough to bring her into this world like it was for Jackson, we thought there must have been something missing. For those of you who remember, Jackson was born after a day playing and planting in the backyard. You see, Angel's family was in town helping with some yard improvements. The highlight of these green additions was Jackson's tree. A Red Maple that we planted so that it could grow up right along side little J-Man.

We had the inflatable pool out and were enjoying the warm (not too hot) early summer in Katy. Once we had the tree in the ground, we barely had time to put the pool away before Jackson decided it was time to meet his family.



Fast forward 2 years.... stop. OK, now you're in 2006 again. We thought we'd bring out the ol' inflatable pool and have a repeat performance. We would go to bed on Saturday night, and Angel would calmly wake us up at about 1am saying, "Nobody panic, I just wanted to let you all know I am going into labor."

Although we had a great time playing in the sun, no sign of Emily yet. Here is a pic of Jackson and Mommy having fun in the pool:

However, we do have a pretty good idea when Emily will arrive. It is looking like next Tuesday (Jackson's Birthday!) if she can wait that long. We'll keep you posted. 

May in Houston

Well, it is mid-may and that time of year in Houston when it starts to get ridiculously hot. We have already had several days over 90 degrees, and I am beginning to remember how hot it gets in the summer. Heat or no heat, I am really excited to spend lots of time outside with Jackson this summer playing soccer, riding bikes, and going to the parks and pools in Cinco Ranch.

We are equally excited to meet Emily, and today Angel went to another appointment with Dr. Ronen. 2cm dilated as of today, so we're getting closer. Angel is hoping to finish out the school year, but if I were a betting man I'd say she ain't gonna make it. Sorry, babe :)

1 Centimeter!!!

Well, Emily Dakota Bateman has begun her journey into this world. On Thursday, May 4th, Angel went to go see her doctor and he mentioned that she is 1 cm dilated. We are all anxiously awaiting her arrival. Any guesses on what date she'll get here???