JJ's Thanksgiving Week!

JJ had a long, fun, and eventful thanksgiving week, that all began on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. JJ, his Dad, and Grandma drove from San Diego to Hollywood to have dinner with Cousin Grant. He then continued on the 5 freeway to arrive in the Bay Area at 0145 am on Monday morning.On Monday Grandma enjoyed a whole day with JJ. Monday night JJ had Uncle Dennis, Aunt Kit, Uncle T and Uncle Matt over as Dinner Guest. On Tuesday morning JJ and Daddy picked Mommy up from the airport after she got off of work at 1130am. JJ then enjoyed time a Nana T's(Jonnique's Mom) house on Tuesday where Nana T prepared an early Thanksgiving Feast for all of her children that were in town. JJ enjoyed spending time with cousins, Aunt's, and Uncles that Tuesday night. JJ then traveled on Wednesday with Momma,Daddy, Grandpa Jim, and Grandma Donna all the way to Ashland, Oregon to meet Daddys' extended family. JJ was the life of the party on Thanksgiving Day being passed from Cousin to Cousin! JJ then drove from Ashland, Oregon to Sacramento, California to meet some dear friends of his Parents for dinner. Later he returned to his Grandparents' to sleep from a day of travel. JJ then spent all day on Saturday back at Nana T's house. Last but not least, JJ met his maternal Great Grandmother Briggs for the 1st time on Sunday, before heading back to San Diego. With all this being written you would think JJ, Mommy, and Daddy were stressed out with the extensive and extreme traveling. To all of their surprise JJ was a happy and great traveler. Eventhough, he was entertained by Mommy, Daddy, and/or Grandma Donna in the back seat the majority of the time.

Mommy and Daddy was so Thankful this Thanksgiving to spend it with all of their family and with a Happy, Healthy, and Handsome Baby named JJ!

JJ's Dedication

In biblical time, it was a very big deal to bless and anoint your first-born child in front of many witnesses, especially if it was a son. In fact there were laws that required every firstborn male to be set apart to God because they were considered holy and therefore symbolically belonged to the Lord. When Jesus was dedicated the Bible says that Joseph and Mary marveled at what was said about him....

Our own little JJ was dedicated to the Lord at our church service in San Diego today. It was a proud moment for Wes and I. We presented JJ to the Lord and stood before a congregation of witnesses as a public declaration of our desire to raise JJ in such a way that is honoring and pleasing to God.

JJ, sweet baby boy...we pray the below scripture for you ....

("When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord they returned to Galilee...And the child grew, and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.")

Our JJ has finally been discharged from the Hospital!

It has been a long and scary week for our family. JJ was admitted to the hospital on September 12th for dehydration, vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss. Because he is so young and had not had his shots they had to test him for everything. All the test came back negative and the Doctors think that he just caught a virus. He is now eating a whole whole lot, keeping everything down, no more vomiting, and has gained 2lbs since he was admitted(we love the rolls that are forming on his thighs). This will be his first day home and we are just so thrilled to have him back and not have the hospital as our 2nd home anymore. The house seemed so empty without him.

After going through all this we are so thankful to have such a healthy baby boy. The Doctors and Nurses kept on stating that JJ was one of the strongest babies they have ever seen. We are so glad that we have a fighter and that through all the test and drawing of blood he is still smiling. The joy of the Lord is truly his strength.

A special thanks to ALL of our parents and siblings who were our number one supporters through this whole ordeal. Mom(Donna, Teri, Frances) and Dad(John and Jim) your presence, cooking, cleaning, prayers, and love really helped us get through this long week.
We also want to specifically thank Pastor Dave, The Colemans, Beverly Buffini, Sally Stance, Roxy Price, LaDonna, Maria, and Aunt Kit for your continual encouraging phone calls, hospital visits, and food that you guys blessed us with. These things touched our hearts so so much.
Thank you also to everyone else, our friends and family that texted, prayed, and called this last week it really meant a whole lot.

Please continue to pray for JJ's health we are awaiting for some metabolic test results to return next week, but we are believing they will also be negative. And we are claiming that we will not have to spend the night in the hospital until our next child is born :)

Our Story.... The Delivery of our Miracle!

Yes, our little champ has finally arrived! On July 21st at 0300p.m. Wes and I went into the hospital for a normal appointment to make sure our babies heart rate was doing good. As we were there his heart rate dropped twice and the doctor felt like it was best that we stay and be induced. The doctor thought that there could be a cord that was causing these decelerations in the heart rate. When we got admitted for our induction an ultrasound was conducted and it showed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around JJ's neck. This is not that uncommon and sometimes labor can be tolerated with the a cord around the neck, so we decided to stick with the plan and see if JJ would tolerate labor. Our induction started at 0800 p.m. and by 0500 a.m. I was only 2cm and the JJ's heart rate was still dropping at times and seemed to be getting worse and worse. The doctor, Wes, and I felt that it would be best if a C-section would be best route for our baby to enter into this world. At 0528 on July 22nd our little bundle of joy came out screaming and ready to be loved by his proud parents!

I have to say that Joshua James was worth the major surgery that was performed on my abdomen. Plus, I can now encourage my patients with my own experience(being that I am a L&D nurse) who have to get a c-section. By telling them that the most important goal of labor and delivery is a healthy baby.
We are so thankful and grateful that we have been blessed to produce such a wonderful, cute, and healthy little man. We just got home from the hospital and we are totally exhausted but so thrilled to be parents of a precious little baby!

We just wanted to say thank you to our Moms, who both got on a flight as soon as we called them and helped us the last couple of days(and are still helping us). And to Jim(Wes's Dad) who cut his fishing trip short and drove 15 hours to come see his grandson.

Can't forget about our great friend Jon who picked both our mothers up from the airport at different times. You have such a giving heart. Thank you,Jon.

We also want to thank my best friends (TQ and LaDonna) who made sure we were covered in prayers the whole time we were in the hospital by informing others.

Thank you to all of those that prayed, texted, facebooked, and called while we were in the hospital. We felt so loved and special that you all were so concerned and excited for us.

A special thank you to San Diego Kaiser Permanente Labor & Delivery and Postpartum. We had such a wonderful experience with all of our nurses and providers.

Lastly but not least, I want to say thank you to my husband who supported me(telling me how proud he was of me) the whole journey and made me feel so so loved during my stay at the hospital. Wes, you are adapting to fatherhood so well and I already think that you are best new Daddy in the whole world:)