3.5 Months and Counting

We went and got Link's 3 month pictures taken today at Sears portrait studio in the Oakland Mall. Of course it took us like an hour since he was perfect for 10 minutes and then proceeded to scream for most of the rest of the time. The photographer was actually pretty good though. I have to give it to her, she definitely accomplished what I thought to be impossible.

Sorry about the resolution on these everyone. Sears portrait studio owns the rights to the pictures so when you go to look at them online, they only provide them in a very low resolution, small frame size and in order to steal them now and share them before we pick them up, I had to work with what was available...you get the idea. The link to the rest of the album is HERE.

We get them the second week of February, so I will scan them in at a higher resolution then and repost them on the same link. I am also working on getting a youtube video of him up tonight. We will see how that works out.

No new milestones to relay since my last post from last night. As you can see from the pictures, Lincoln holds his head up quite well. We did discover last night after I posted, however, that he can also hold his own bottle with little assistance. This is a 6 month milestone that our baby genuis has already begun to reach. Way to go Link!!

English language fact: “Underground” is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters “und.”

Word of the day: Abate (uh-BEYT) verb: to reduce in amount.

Sleeping in the waiting room...

Gena is getting a follow up and Link and I have fallen asleep in the waiting room. We probably look homeless except we smell better and have nicer clothes on! Hahaha!





There is a baby here that has even worse breathing problems than ours. At least it's common.

I will try to post Christmas pictures today...I make no promises.

-Posted from my mobile

Hard to Believe

I can't believe it is already December! Time certainly does fly. Link is over 6 weeks old now and we have recently been going through the pictures from the day we brought him home and realize how big he has gotten!!

If anyone gets the chance, look through the archive section on Picasa. It's crazy! Here is the link again if you can't find it...

Archive

We took some new ones recently so check out the slideshow! He got to meet grandpa on Satruday after Thanksgiving.

Halloween Plus

Halloween has come and gone and there are plenty of other pictures and events that have occured since. I carved a sweet pumpkin and Gena did too. Gena's took a lot more work than we thought it would so it never got finished, but I can put the stencil up for you all to see what it would have looked like.

It was in the 40 degree range so we opted to keep Link inside this year instead of trick-or-treating with the family. Brandon dressed like a Tiger and Bri went as a ghost at first, until she realized how cold it would be and changed into the kitty outfit. Julian was a 70s disco king with the big curly wig and everything. and of course Lincoln was the little boy from Where the Wild Things Are. Gena did an excellent job making his costume and we got the first taste of what the rest of our lives are going to be like around Halloween.

Baby took another bath with us and his belly button is finally fully healed. His little blue eyes are finally starting to show their true colors as well, though I don't know how well the camera captured that. We have actually gotten more sleep the past couple nights, although last night Link was very fussy in the middle of the night for no reason. Not sure what was up with that.

I'm posting more pictures here and on the slideshow now so take a look!

From Archive

Forgot!

Tomorrow is Halloween and for those of you who don't know, Gena and I are huge fans of this holiday. Check back after tomorrow to see what Lincoln will go as for his first Halloween.

Also, yesterday we gave him his second bath since we have had him home...pictures below...

So Fresh and So Clean

Time is Flying

Today is Friday, which means that Link is now one week and almost 2 days old. How crazy is that?! We are glad to be done with the hospital, but it feels like it was just yesterday that we were packing him into the car and driving him home at 25mph the whole way to avoid any potential risks!

A few new things have happened since we last posted. Angie, Shelby and Ben all came over to visit and bring delicious food. Others have stopped by with food and gifts, to which we say "Awesome!! and thank you all!" Grandma Gayle has been here a couple times to help out and to visit. She got us a neat new baby monitor yesterday to keep track of our little guy. We had a visit from our good friend baby North and aunt Polly. I got a haircut and danced in the livingroom with Link. Pictures form all of these events are in the album linked below. Enjoy!

Visitors

Take a Look

I have a feeling that I am going to be one of those crazy dads who is constantly taking pictures and video of the most inane parts of my child's life. But isn't that what dads are for?

I posted some new Lincoln pics today and moved the old ones to a new album called archive, which I will link in this post. The archive album will be where all older pictures now reside to make way for the newest of the new. I should be getting some video clips up soon as well so keep an eye out for those to be posted. The videos may be difficult for those of you with slower internet connections to view, but hopefully the picture albums are loading quickly. Please let me know if there are any problems looking at aspects of this blog and I will do my best to correct any issues that may arise.

Last night we got more sleep than normal, but we also slept on the couches downstairs because Lincoln was up and down all night. We found out today at the doctor's visit that he lost a little more weight and that he isn't getting enough milk when he feeds so we are taking steps to correct these issues. Keep your fingers crossed for us on Thursday because we go back in to get him weighted again and see if he will have to end up on formula instead.

He seems to be happier all around today and he isn't nearly as fussy as he has been, so we figure something must be going better. The pictures that are running on the slideshow to the right are from just before the walk we took him on yesterday. There are more with me and Link in the moby, but I will post those tomorrow.

Until next time!!

Archive

Leaving Time

Leaving Day!!

We just found out a bit ago that they are putting our discharge paperwork together right now. Gena got her staples out about an hour ago and Gayle is coming up to help us get home. We put him into the outfit we bought before we even knew he was a man child. It is toasty warm so he won't get cold on the ride home.

We are all ready to go, just waiting on the paperwork to clear us out of this place!

We're coming home kitties!

Happy Birthday!!

Lincoln Blake Harrison-Zdenek, born Oct. 21st, 2009 at 10:56pm. Weighing in at 7lb .5oz and measured 21 inches. Welcome to the world young man! It took a mere 18 hours of active labor, a bunch of Pitocin, 2 injections of Stadol, one epidural and several gross violations of our birthplan to bring you into this world...and we wouldn't trade any of it in cause you are so freakin' magnificent.

Below you can all see some pictures of our new member and of course there will be plenty more to come since we brought the laptop, our cameras and the card reader. Since we went C section, we will have to stay here until at least Saturday night. Plenty of time to take pictures!

Birthday

Pitocin Ho!

Uggghhhh...time flies when you aren't having fun!

We have been here all night, the midwife is here right now doing an exam and she says the baby has dropped down perfectly. It seems the Cytotech in combination with Gena's natural birthing abilities have worked together overnight. We started the Pitocin a little bit ago and Mary, our midwife, is bringing a birthing ball into the room for Gena to roll around on.

We didn't get much sleep last night, but luckily Gena had her own personal massage therapist in the room...

From Life with Lincoln

There is still a chance for us to end up in the ABC (Alternative Birthing Center). As long as Gena's blood pressure stays low and her blood tests come back clean, we still have the possibility of finishing the delivery in the ABC.

So in the end we didn't quite get everything we wanted, but everything is working out. We can be flexible and these are things we don't have control over, so we go with the flow and control the things we have control over, like how much intervention we receive or what Gena does in the room. This baby will get here one way or another!

Still waiting

Now they put Gena on oxygen to get the baby going and she is having some contractions, but we are still waiting for the main attraction. Here are some more pictures for you all!

From Life with Lincoln

Welcome to Triage...

From Life with Lincoln

So, today we went to the doctor for another non-stress test and while we were attached to the monitor it was decided that due to potential preeclampsia from high blood pressure, we would go in to the labor and delivery wing and be induced. Not exactly our birth plan, but what option do we have?

So now we are here in triage having blood work done and attached to an iv and pretty much hating life. The only thing that can console either of us at this point is the fact that Lincoln's heart rate and position are perfect and Gena is having some contractions.

I will update again in a little while after we get into the delivery room and I can either get to the computer or charge my phone.

Wish us luck!!

-Posted from my mobile in Triage.

One more new picture

Baby Stuff

Just took this one the other night...

Baby's First Post

Hello and welcome to the new blog for our new little baby, Lincoln Blake Harrison-Zdenek. What a long name, right?

So I started this blog for all of you who are inevitably asking the question "What is happening with Luke and Gena's baby?" I intend to keep this blog updated regularly (hopefully weekly, but I make no promises) to answer such a question. As you continually check this blog, you will find regularly updated picasa web albums of the newest pictures of our little guy as well as links to videos and obviously updated posts about how he is and what we are all doing.

Since we will be living in the Ferndale area from now on, I want to make sure that those of you who are far away from us are able to share in our baby adventure and offer any commentary you may feel is relevant as we go along on this journey as a family. Every post will be open for comments and I believe that even if you don't have a gmail or blogspot account, you should be able to leave a comment anonymously. I will check into that for you. Also, if you have any issues communicating here, I intend on linking my facebook to this blog as well so you will have several ways of contacting us if the mood strikes you.

As you will see on this first post, since Lincoln is not yet born, I am linking an album of his ultrasound pictures for anyone who has not yet seen them. They will be in chronological order and you are all welcome to comment as you see fit.

Thanks in advance for your support and remember to bookmark this blog so you can keep checking up on our progress!