son, hero, legend

2885267801_f249272145_o, originally uploaded by bburbank.

So you’re two weeks old now, hurray! Unfortunately for your bragging rights, you are still this many [holds up zero fingers]. You are currently 8 pounds, 14 ounces (well, probably more by now), which is 1 pound 10 ounces more than your birth weight. I celebrated my birthday last night and you were super calm. Man oh man is it going to be weird having all of our family’s birthdays just three weeks apart, though. Way better than Christmas, to be sure.

By the way, this photo was taken by Melissa, Juls’ shutterbug better-half. I duplicated a few of her photos into my flickr account so the Families have an easier time seeing all this documentation that’s going on. You can always see all the photos of baby Jhojho here.

I have to say, Jhonen, you only have a couple hours of Interesting Time in you these days. The rest of the time, you’re just sleeping, crying, or eating.

But that’s a great opportunity for me to try and get some early education in…

P1010322, originally uploaded by bburbank.

Been snapping lots of pictures of the baby, as expected. Doing this with a combination cellphones and an army of low-grade digital cameras so far. But hey, if you people out there have any good pictures of Jho-jho please get them to me! I want this flickr album to grow and grow and really document this time (good lord, what a sentimental parent I’m becoming!). Check out the set so far here.

2859919113_f49db62a54_b, originally uploaded by bburbank.

Got a few awesome shots of Jess being pregnant, the baby shower, and the birth center. What a ride, huh? Check them out in this flickr set.

Here’s a quick video of Jess getting ready with some For Reals Contractions! Thankfully she didn’t snap at me and call me any bad names or something.

Thankfully for our younger viewers this post-birth video is not graphic! Jess did a great job working with Jhonen through this… This is literally seconds after 12:41am on September 12th. Say “hey!” Jhonen! That’s your mom!

Finally getting to use a computer again, hurray! Going through our enormous backlog of pictures and videos to put up on the site. Lots of stuff here from the 10th and the 11th.

Here’s us hanging at the hospital waiting to get an ultrasound to make sure everything was going well. We later discovered that Jess had actual entered labor and hadn’t noticed it yet.

Everything was fine and the midwife suggested we just head home for the night. The next afternoon we went in to have the midwife check on the progress and so I could check out the Birth Place.

But Jess still wasn’t in full on labor so we went home and tried some home remedies. Later that night we came back and this time Jess was so far dilated that they wouldn’t let us go home, although her contractions hadn’t started yet.

Here’s a tour of the place:

(part one)

(part two)

You arrived at 12:41am on September 12th, 2008 at The Birth Place in Winter Garden, FL. You were born at 7 pounds, 4 ounces, measuring 20 and 3/4 inches, with really dark brown hair and gray-blue eyes. You’re so adorable! See for yourself!

We’re going to update WAY more in the coming weeks. For now, we just wanted to tell you that you had a beautiful birth, you are a healthy, sweet, and happy baby and we love you!

awwww, originally uploaded by bburbank.

look it’s your mom and dad! They’re sharing a milkshake! How TWENTIETH CENTURY of them!

To our family and friends,

I wanted to share a little bit about The Birth Place so you know where Jhonen will (hopefully!) be born and where to find us when the time comes.  I chose The Birth Place because I really wanted to be able to feel that I could completely  trust my doctors to treat Jhonen and me exactly how I would want us to be treated during this entire process. I wanted to know that I wouldn’t have to fight for what I wanted or defend my preference for natural childbirthing if at all possible.  I just adore all of the wonderful women who work at The Birth Place.  I look forward to each appointment because, at each one, I learn something new and feel better and better about how Jhonen is doing. They patiently listen to each of my questions and answer them thoughtfully.

You can see where Jhonen will be born here. It is in Winter Garden right off the toll road 429  at Plant Street (bring toll money/a sunpass if you plan to come!)  There is a waiting room with a TV and a refrigerator. There are three birthing rooms with tubs, CD players, beds, rocking chairs, and all the comforts of home. I will probably not be staying there long after the baby is born. I am not required to stay overnight or anything. It sort of depends on how it all goes. I will have Ben make calls as soon as possible before, during, and after.

Thanks for all your support. i know many of you are nervous. Just know that I am concentrating on best-case scenarios, but feel confident that my midwives know what to do in case things don’t go as planned.  So no worrying!

I love you all and can’t wait to show you this adorable, healthy baby Jho-Jho!

Jhonen,

Somehow 37 weeks have now passed (your Dad and my favorite number!) and I have finally realized that you could be born any minute and probably in about three week’s time! I can’t believe it, but its true! I packed our birth center bags so we’ll be all set with everything we need when the big day comes. Your Dad and I have already been practicing our Hypnobabies program to help me have a comfortable and beautiful birthing time with you. We’re both going to really buckle down in the next three weeks so I can get everything really ingrained in my brain so that I can fully relax and not panic when the time comes. I have all your clothes and bedding cleaned and ready for you. I have an appointment with a possible pediatrician who sounds like he would be a great doctor for you. The appointment isn’t until the 15th, though, so you need to hold on until then, if possible. I feel good, though, and am still enjoying being pregnant with you, so you don’t need to hurry. I sort of like that I don’t know exactly when you will be ready, but you do! You’ll pick just the right time to see us and that’s comforting. I’m going to try my best to be completely ready for you, in return, when you decide it is time.