Phoenix Martin's

I am in Phoenix today to see Lily and Colby. What a great day we had. We have been making great strides in terms of our relationship and Rebbecca seems to have realized that it is better to play along. So, we went to the Phoenix zoo. I will be posting pictures soon. I am still trying to get the correct cable for my video camera. Then I will be able to post some sweet video of the zoo.
Our favorite exhibits: Tiger's (heard him GROOOWWWLLING), meerkat's (they had cases of Dr. Pepper and Pepsi in the pen), the turtles (Colby almost went swimming with a couple), and the monkey's (who, had a Domino's Pizza box on the island). One of the monkey pens had the monkey's all over the place and they could even jump on you if you were lucky enough. Colby really liked the "STINGRAY" exhibit because he could put his hand in the water and touch them. I thought it was cool.

Rebbecca called during the visit and eliminated the time constraints for all future visits. Man I was confused. So, whenever we visit we can stay with the kid's the entire day if we chose. Coolest thing ever.

Sherri and Baby J stayed home. Man I miss them. This is the first non work trip Sherri and I have been separated in almost 3 years. I actually can't wait to get home.

Home at LAST!!

Guess what? Justin is here, in our house, and We love him. He is so cute and small. Everyone says, "now the real work begins." Ya but who cares? We don't have to drive to the hospital every three hours to feed him. He gets to eat here and is part of the famly. I have been taking care of him today, so Sherri could get some rest. The nurses at the hospital were so nice and the hugs went around. I guess after spending several hours per day with people that have complete control over your kid kind of makes you friends.

Anyway, We are glad he is here. What a great night this will be!!

Sleeping

Here we are at day 12. Still here. I spoke to the doctor last tuesday and again have not spoken since. Justin is doing well, and in some cases, better than a normal baby. So the question remains..."Why are we still here?"

The nurses here are sensational. We have not had a bad one. They are free flowing with information, in terms of their limits, but we cannot seem to get this doctor to wake up and see that our baby needs to come home. I have seen the numbers. I've also seen the numbers of healthy babies. Again, why are we here?

Today will be ultimatum day for the doctor that charges so much but is seen so little.

We need him home. Then we can all relax.

Cute!

Sherri was at the hospital today and Justin has a pretty bad rash. So, they put him in this thing I call the "bagel cooker," which is a warmer. not an incubater, but an actual heater. They put him butt-up and no pants on in order to dry out his bottom. Here is a picture of him sleeping.

After speaking to the doctor today, he actually put things in terms I could understand and promised that we should have Justin home within a few days. So we are hopeful. He takes the car seat challenge tomorrow. That is really good news.

So here we sit...

Still driving to the hospital everyday to see Justin. He has been there for a week yesterday. The nurses are fantastic and we are very apprecitive of the love and concern they have for him. On the flip side of that coin, we have been there seven days and have yet to speak to a doctor. Justin is eating 35 ml's on his every three hour schedule and the rest, 10 ml's, has to go down the tube. My issue is, he is doing nothing different than regular babies. His breathing is where it needs to be. However, the doctors continue to follow some mathmatical equasion saying he needs to eat more. 45ml's per 3 hours! Even the nurses think that is a lot. We have requested a meeting with the doctor so we can ask him several question's (not listed here) and find out exactly what is going on. I may tell him what is going on. So we shall see if he even calls. Evidently the rule is, Justin has to eat 45ml's every feeding for 2 days (no tube) before he can come home. I am calling "CRUD" on that one. That is one of my questions. I feel they are treating the "liability" rather than the patient. I understand how mathmatics fit's into medecine but Justin is not a math problem. He is our baby and we beleive he should come home. They are using the speech therapist everyday, probably will start on physical therapy (not sure why on either). I feel like they just want the "visits" so they can all have a peice of the insurable pie. Well, not on my kid. They need to go earn their money.

Baby Blues

So, here we are. The 8th of Feb. The stigma of Justin being in the hospital is weighing heavy. The hardest part was checking out of the Hospital on Wednesday and going home "1 man down." We both cried a lot that first day and still wonder around the house, or Wal-Mart, or Burger King, or wherever with tears welling up in our eyes. We know he'll be home soon.

He is starting the eat more and the tube they use to feed him is only being used ever 6 hours instead of every 3. We are bottle feeding him every other time with the "good stuff." So, we have some predictions that he will be home early next week. They are not official predictions but more or less optimism, which I am grateful for.

Sherri is doing well. Healing up as fast as she can. Pumping every few hours to keep that food supply going, and getting out of the house as much as possible. She is BEAUTIFUL and I love her. I have to go back to work next week, so I am trying to get her up to speed. Each day she is better. This is going to make her a "Super String Mom" to go with her "Super Sabbath" Baby.

Justin is here!

Justin Harrison Martin
Born Feb 3, 2008 @ 5:28pm (C-Section) YES, DURING SUPERBOWL XLII HALFTIME!
He Weighs 6lbs 4oz and is 19" long
He is currently in the "Special Care Nursery" (NICU)at St. Rose De Lima Campus.

Hi everyone. Actually, we would like to think of Justin as a "Sabbath" baby and bot a "Super Bowl" baby. So, "Super Sabbath Baby" it is. I have updated the pictures so everyone can see the progress we have made. I thank you all for the phone calls and e-mails and the feeling of concern you have given for our family. Of course, our plans did not work out exactly the way we wanted, however, he is progressing well. He has started eating and we have taken some note from a speech therapist, that's right, a speech therapist, on how to get Justin to eat and not get so tired. The main issue is that he is having trouble learning to suck, swallow, and then breathe. We think he is almost there. He can suck everything out of the bottle but not actually swallow any of it. So, with the therapists help, he has moved up another notch. Sherri is keeping the food supply going and is getting pretty good. The pumping is weird and I say if I can be re-incarnated I want to be a breast pump. Just kidding. I don't want to be re-incarnated.

Anyway, our schedule is now very busy. We are making several trips per day to the hospital to take care of Justin. The nurses let us do everything except for the major stuff, like moving IV's and changing tubes and things. But all of the normal stuff we do such as, diaper changes, bottle fillings, feedings, gown changes, pampering, spoiling, and all of the rest. We hope he can come home next week. We'll keep you posted.

The time has arrived.

In our family, we have started a traditon of counting the "sleeps" till Christmas morning. Tonight we have 1 "sleep" until Justin is finally here and I can't stand it. We are scheduled at the hospital at 7:30a and it just won't come fast enough. I know, I know, this is not something we want to rush. I am soooooooo very excited to have a wife that loves me for me and wants to have our baby. This is new for me.This will probably be our only child. So we have one shot at getting this parenting thing right. Sherri confuses me. Not in a bad way but one that makes me love her more every day. I am not even sure that is possible but that's the way I feel. There are ever so many times that she could tell me to get lost, or ask, "what the hell are you doing?" But she doesn't. That's what confuses me. She constantly forgives, forgets, and forgives and forgets again. I am undeserving of her and she knows it, yet keeps denying it. So, as a consequence, I love her more everyday. I suppose this is true love. As long as I am alive I will work to give her honor, respect, love, and the companionship she deserves. Sherri, I love you!! Let's go have a baby!!