Five weeks

Joel is now over a month old. He is beginning to stay awake more each day and seems interested in the world around him. Luke is also very interested in teaching Joel everything he knows.


Joel (5 weeks)


Joel (5 weeks)


Joel's little feet

Four weeks old

Joel is already four weeks old. The time goes by so fast! I thought I would write about Luke in this post, since he is such a good big brother. Some of the ways Luke shows Joel that he loves him:

• brings blankets for Joel in the morning to keep him warm
• gives him kisses
• tries to teach Joel how to play peek-a-boo
• tries to teach Joel how to play hide-and-seek (Joel and mommy are a team and we try to find Luke)
• helps give Joel a bath

Giving Joel a bath


All four cousins (Mark, Maddie, Luke and Joel)


Joel (4 weeks)


Joel (4 weeks)

Three weeks old

Joel is three weeks old today. It sure has not felt like three weeks; the time has passed so quickly. Joel is doing really well. He now weighs over 8 pounds, so he gained a pound in the past week. He is a master eater now and gets all his meals from me (so no more pumping after each feeding). Joel is also learning how to sleep during the nighttime hours. He did well last night: ate at 10:30 pm, 2:30 am, and 5 am. I almost feel rested for the first time since he was born.




Joel (3 weeks old)

Fun with the boys

Here are a few of Joel's "firsts":
1/29: first UP basketball game (against St. Mary's and UP actually beat them)
1/30: first time at church
1/31: first bath (after umbilical cord scab fell off)
2/5: first visit to OMSI (science center)


Our family


Fun at the sand pit at OMSI


Playing "store" at OMSI


First bath at home


Grandma and Joel



Joel and mom


Reading books

A second hospital stay

Our first week with Joel was quite an adventure. We were discharged from St. Vincent hospital on Saturday afternoon, two days after giving birth to Joel. He had lost 10% of his birth weight (which is on the high end), but we had the same thing happen to Luke. We went for Joel's check-up on Monday afternoon. He had lost even more weight and also had jaundice. So, Joel was admitted to the hospital. I also stayed in a room at the hospital, so I could feed Joel every three hours. Fortunately, everything worked out fine for Joel. The phototherapy brought his jaundice score down, as expected. However, the jaundice zapped Joel's energy, so he had little energy to eat from me. He ate what he could from me, I pumped, and then the nurse fed him the pumped milk with a bottle. Joel was discharged on Wednesday afternoon, so he and I could "come home" again. On Thursday, Joel had lost an ounce of weight, so we increased the amount of pumped milk we gave him each feeding. Finally, by Friday he gained over two ounces, so were were quite relieved that we had found the amount of milk Joel needs to grow. We had his pediatrician appointment the following Tuesday and he had gained nine ounces in four days (making us extremely happy and relieved). Now that Joel is two weeks old, he gets most of the meals from me now. I still pump when it seems like he has not eaten enough, but it sure beats pumping after every feeding. He is definitely making up for the first week; Joel loves to eat and he is packing on the ounces.

More photos of Joel

Here are more photos of Joel from the past two weeks. Enjoy.


Kisses for Joel


Our family of 4!


Getting to know Joel


Joel (4 days old)


Joel (12 days old)

Joel's Birth Story

Joel is 15 days old today! I thought I would write about his birth story before I forget everything that happened on January 20.

I woke up January 20 feeling normal (well, as normal as a 39-week pregnant lady). Tom and I took Luke to preschool and I drove Tom downtown and dropped him off at work. At the time, I did not think labor would happen that day and since Tom works downtown, I could pick him up after work on the way to choir rehearsal. I came home and noticed that I had some bloody show that morning. I did not think too much of it, since that can happen days before labor. I ate some yogurt for a mid-morning snack and started feeling some short cramps around 10:45 AM. They did not really hurt, so I did not get too nervous about it being the real thing. The cramps started happening more frequently by 11 AM, so I called Tom at 11:15. I asked him to take the bus home and work from home in the afternoon, just in case. He got home around 12:15. By that time, the cramps were happening every 3 to 10 minutes and started lasting a bit longer each time. I said we better go the hospital, just in case. On the way to the hospital, I had three or four contractions and they put pressure on my belly, but they did not hurt that much. We parked in the garage at St. Vincent's and walked to labor and delivery. We checked in and they admitted me to triage (about 1 PM). The doctor came in and checked for dilation...I was already at 8 cm! It was a complete surprise to me, since the contractions had not yet been very painful. On the way to the hospital, I thought it was even odds that they would admit me or send me home. They rolled my bed into a delivery room and even called a nurse in who had the day off (apparently, Jan 20 was a busy delivery day). I tested positive for strep B, so the nurse got my IV in right away to get me penicillin. I answered a bunch of medical questions and signed papers between contractions.

While all this was happening, I had Tom call my mom and my aunt Sharon. Sharon generously drove to Silverton to get my mom, so she could be at our house and pick up Luke from daycare that afternoon.

My water broke on its own with a strong contraction (probably around 1:40 PM). After my water broke, I was still at 8 cm. The contractions following my water breaking were very intense. I felt like I needed to push, but had to wait until I got to 10 cm. All I remember is closing my eyes and rolling to my side to get through each contraction. They were much more intense than any contraction I had during labor with Luke. I'm not sure how many of these I had (probably 3 or 4 of these contractions) until I got to 10 cm. The doctor came back in and said I was at the point where I could start pushing. I started pushing during a contraction, rested, and then pushed with the next contraction until the baby was born. I suppose the pushing part lasted about ten minutes (at least that's what the medical report says). Our baby boy was born at 2:23 PM.

I honestly do not remember delivering the placenta, since I had a baby boy on my chest and felt so much love and relief. I pushed quite hard and tore, so the doctor had to do some stitching. This may have been the worst part of the delivery for me...enduring all the poking and stitching with no pain medicine. (Like my delivery with Luke, I had no epidural or pain meds.)

Our baby boy was healthy and alert at birth. He was a beautiful baby and had a head full of dark hair. We were so happy to finally meet him.

That's my birth story with Joel. We are thankful that labor went so well and so quickly with him and I am glad we got to the hospital when we did.

Welcome, Joel Mark VanDeGrift

Our baby boy arrived at 2:23 pm on January 20, 2010. After about a day of getting to know him, we named him Joel Mark VanDeGrift. Joel seemed like an appropriate name ("God is willing") for our new addition. Deciding on his middle name was easy for us; we named him after Tammy's dad, Mark Williams. We can only hope that he becomes a kind and caring man like his Grandpa Mark.


Just born


First bath


Getting to know daddy


Getting to know mommy