Someone Get Me Off This Ride!

Ian was relaxing in his crib so nicely, that Dad decided some footage was necessary. Aparently Ian was so excited for the GU game later today, he couldn't contain it.

Bulldog Madness

As our entire family is a fan of Gonzaga, I had to include the clip of the day on our blog. Go Zags!!!

Tummy Time and the Hoegers

Jackie and Ian took advantage of some more tummy time. No one rolled over though. Like Dillon, Ian enjoys looking at the shapes on the blanket. It put Jackie to sleep.


The recently married Hoegers stopped by to check in on the little one. With Ian's arrival, we had to miss their wedding. We got the down low from the happy couple on everything and have seen the pictures. It sounds like everyone had a great time, but Ian thanks us for sticking close to the hospital.


Jackie and Ian enjoy a late night snooze.

Ian Waking Up In Swing

Here's a quick video of Ian waking up in his swing, and then falling right back to sleep.

Ian Video

When you have 10 fingers to chose from, it's often hard to pick just one to go in the mouth. When the hands fail, there's always Mom's arm.

Picture Slideshow

Here are a few more pictures of the little one and some of his visitors over the past two weeks.

Two Weeks

Ian passed his two-week checkup with flying colors. He's already grown 3/4 of an inch and put on 12 ounces. During some tummy time yesterday, he decided he had enough and flipped himself over. We thought this was an important milestone, but then he got up and walked into the kitchen.

Enough chatter, here are some pictures.

Looks great for not sleeping in two weeks!

Yeah, he looks like he hasn't slept in two weeks.

It's been snowing a lot since Ian was born. Clearly he will be a skier.

Whoa! Did you see that?

Thank You Grandparents

"A child needs a grandparent, anybody's grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world." - Charles and Ann Morse

We are so thankful for our parents that helped with Ian over the last 10 days. Ian has had a chance to meet all four grandparents, but more importantly, they helped ease all three of us into that unfamiliar world.

Our Moms have both been able to spend several days with us and were a world of help. Your support, advice, and helping hands were truly a blessing. We can't begin to thank you enough!!!

And so with grandparents comes the proper identification. Ian will follow the Shea tradition of calling Jackie's parents, Linda and Dave, Nunu and Pops. Andy's parents, Gloria and Kiel, will be Grandma and Grandpa.

Ian checking out NuNu.

Ian snoozing with Grandma.

Our fathers were also great even though their stays were a little shorter, we are thankful for everything you did as well Dads.

A proud father, Pops, and Ian.

Grandpa had a very long drive, but enjoyed some quality time with the little guy. Ian shows his enthusiasm with sleep.

Just the Three of Us

Linda's time helping out with Ian's arrival has come and gone already. Jackie and I are down to a zone defense. My Mom arrives on Thursday, but for now it's just the three of us. I've only got a couple of minutes before he wakes up, so below are some pictures.

Ian had his first bath yesterday and loved it. Granted it was just a sponge bath, but he didn't make a peep.

We don't have a lot of boy apparel, so we picked up a couple of stocking caps during a doctor's visit yesterday. Ian is resting up before cheering on the Zags tonight.

Where Does The Time Go

As my brother stated, life now travels in one 20 minute interval at a time. When you stop to look around, two days have gone by. In spite of not sleeping, dirty diapers, and baby spit up, we are having the time of our life! Ian is a true joy to care for as he is very easy to soothe and feed. We are blessed to have a great baby.

Until Jackie's milk comes in, Ian gets a bottle supplement at each feeding.


Ian getting some Nunu time.



Baby burrito.


Late night feeding.

Pictures of the Little One

First of all, please accept my apologies for not posting pictures sooner. We've been getting settled in here at home and are slowly coming back to normal life. We had an appointment this morning to double check on Ian's jaundice, but everything checked out OK and we were sent back on our way.

We've finally got some pictures...

Jackie on Wednesday morning at the very beginning of the induction.


As the induction didn't result in any activity until Thursday morning, we woke up in the hospital with the below view from our room.


Linda and Andy assisting as the pushing is under way.


Ian in the warming bassinet about 2 minutes after birth.

Andy trying to calm Ian down.

Andy, Ian, and Dr. Brown who delivered Ian. Great work doc!

Andy, Ian, Dr. Brown, and Linda.

Ian and Jackie saying hi to each other.

30 hours of labor? Worth every minute!

The little dude all swaddled up.

Dave and Ian getting to know each other.

The Watsons and the Van Inwegens.

The little guy napping in the hospital.

These are the booties that Linda's grandmother bought for her children to wear home from the hospital, and all four wore them home. Ever since, the tradition has been passed along for the same booties to carry home each of Linda's grandchildren. Ian makes the 10th person to be so honored.

Jackie and her son all cuddled up after lunch.

Ian napping at home.

Ian showing his pouty lips.

Its a BOY!!

Ian Charles Van Inwegen was born at 1:09 PM on Thursday, February 26th. Ian weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long. It was a very long labor (30 hours) but everything turned out great. We came home on Friday evening and are just getting settled at home today (Saturday). Ian is doing great and training us on to run on little sleep and lots of snuggling. We will post pictures as soon as we get them downloaded. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, calls, etc. We are a little slow to get back to everyone but we will shortly.

Now That's What I'm Talking About

The plan last night was to give Jackie some medicine to help her sleep and see how things look in the morning. Both Jackie and I got a great night's sleep, all things considered. Around 4 AM, her contractions escalated. Around 6 AM, her water broke on it's own. By 8 AM, the contractions were intense and she was really feeling some pain.

With all of the snowfall up here, a lot of this morning's surgeries were canceled. Our nurse rounded up an anesthesiologist from the OR and was able to get Jackie nice and comfortable by 9:15. After two minutes with the anesthesiologist, Jackie asked if he got a lot of marriage proposals or gifts from women. Clearly his magic was working.

She's resting now and gearing up for an exciting afternoon and evening. We'll keep you posted on our progress, but things are looking much better today than they did all day yesterday and last night.

Wait and See

After 14 hours' worth of pitocin, we've only seen moderate effects. Jackie is getting some rest tonight and will continue receiving the inducing medications. We'll check back in with the doctor in the morning at which point we'll either get a c-section or go home to try again in a few days. Wish us luck.

Baby Steps

Jackie is doing great and the contractions are getting stronger. It will probably be a really long night, but I'm told we can expect a lot of those over the next few weeks. Thanks for keeping her and Baby Van in your thoughts and prayers.

Settling In

We checked into the hospital this morning and are all settled in. We were told we were quite lucky to get in considering how busy the birthing center has been. Most call-in's on Wednesday wouldn't get a room until Thursday night, so we're very pleased to have been ushered in immediately.

Jackie is resting and feeling great. Contractions are kicking in now, but we've still got several hours before things get really serious. I'll try and keep updates coming when I get a chance.

Ready Or Not...

We call the hospital tomorrow morning at 6 AM to verify our induction time. As Baby Van is a week overdue, the grandparents are coming to town, and Jackie is slowly turning into an angry kung fu panda, let's hope the induction goes smoothly. Get ready for the thunder!

Due Date Plus 4

As the magic of childbirth continues to elude us, we've been walking. Our weekend consisted of endless walking, eating spicy food, and the other things one does to induce labor. Did I mention we went walking?


Below are a few shots from our walk in Snoqualmie on Saturday.


There are many punch lines to this one, so I'll list a few of them out.
1. I don't think this is what our doctor meant by pushing.
2. Jackie found a new tool for helping her during labor.
3. Pregnancy hormones clearly have given her superhuman strength.



On Sunday, we walked around Alki. Jackie doesn't really look pregnant, let alone 4 days past her due date.


A rowboat out in the Sound. This is the one thing Jackie didn't try to induce labor. Maybe next time.




A tug heading home.

Due Dates Come, Due Dates Go

We are due date + 1 and no baby. Apparently Baby Van decided it's comfy in there and no need to come out (like mother like child). As of yesterday, not much progress had been made to indicate that anything would be happening anytime soon. So we sit and wait. House is clean, nursery is done, bags are packed, car seats in the car. So we again sit and wait...and answer the phone, our email, and all our facebook questions that no baby has arrived.

A Look Back

With Baby Van's due date approaching quickly (Wednesday 2/18), I thought it would be a good time to take a look back.

September:

October:

November:

December:

January:

February: