One more thing... I just added some more pictures that we took over the weekend. Some of them are pix when I am holding Sean.

Hope you like them!

~ Jack ~

This past Saturday I got to hold Sean for about an hour and a half, which went by way too fast! But I was so happy to have him in my arms for the first time. It's a feeling that I can't begin to describe.

Both, mommy and baby, are doing good. Jenny is still staying in Dallas with Sean where she can see him. She goes to see him at least once a day and when I'm not there she even goes twice a day.

The doctor told her that if he keeps up, they might just transfer him here by early next week!!! So far he is eating every 3 hours and gets 17ml of breast milk. He weighs 2lbs 7oz, he literally gained 3oz overnight! On Monday night he was 2lbs 4oz and the following day he was at 2lbs 7oz.

The doctor also removed the umbilical catheter and inserted an IV in his arm. We are still a little bit worried about the blood clot in the brain ventricule as well as the right side of his brain which is not as developed as the doctors would like to see it. But we won't be able to tell until much later when he will need his motor skills.

Until then I keep hoping for the best and I can't wait for him to be transfered back here, so that both, Jenny and I, can go there to see him everyday. It is getting to me not to be with them. I feel like my place IS with them and not here. But somebody needs to make some money and if possible, Jenny wants to stay home with Sean for as long as possible.

Anyways, that's it for the quick update.

TTYL
~ Jack ~

First the BIG NEWS: I would like to introduce to everyone Sean Westley, born May 10th 2006 @ 5:25pm. His weight at birth was 2lbs 1oz (935/945gm) and his length was 14.5 inches. He is tiny, tiny, but he's the most adorable and cutest baby! He was born 2 1/2 months early @ 29 weeks.

Jenny has been in the hospital almost since I got to Texas . Her blood pressure was going through the roof. The doctors diagnosed her with Preeclampsia and the baby's heart rate kept dropping for no apparent reason at first. So last Tuesday (May 9th) she was transported by ambulance to Baylor Hospital in Dallas. The following day the doctors there were able to diagnose what was wrong with the baby. The umbilical cord was not supplying the baby with enough nutrients and he was getting weaker by the day. So they opted for a c-section the same day. The prognosis was good due to the added stress the baby was exposed to, his heart was stronger than a baby of the same age that hasn't been exposed to the same conditions. The only worry we had was about the lungs. But over the weekend she received 2 shots of steroids to help with the development of the baby's lungs.

Needless to say we were NOT READY for this. May 10th was also my first full day at my new job and I had to leave early. But they were cool about it. I almost didn't make it to Dallas in time though. Originally the c-section was scheduled for 1:30pm. At that time we were on our way to Dallas but not there yet, actually we still had quite a way to go!   But Jenny called me about 2:00pm and she was still in her room, she called me again later about 3:00pm and told me the doctor had postponned the c-section until 5:30pm. I was so glad to hear that!

Well anyways, I did make it there so I was able to go in with Jenny. This was an experience I will NEVER forger!!! Jenny took the epidural very well considering the size of the needle! At one point the anesthesiologist tapped me on the shoulder and pointed over the drape to Jenny's belly, so I steched my head out to look and there he was, Little Sean just out of his mommy's womb and still laying on her. The first thing he did was letting out a little cry, very short and barely audible, but a cry nonetheless. At that very moment I knew he'd be okay. Even though I do not have a PhD, I know enough that if he was able to cry, his lungs are functioning well!

When Jenny was being moved from recovery to her room, the nurse asked me to help. But for what I didn't know,yet! Well what the nurse wanted to do for Jenny, since she wasn't well enough yet, she needed help to wheel her ENTIRE BED in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), there is no room in there for a full size hospital bed, but we managed . The first words out of her mouth were "Can I hold him?" But she would have to wait almost an entire week before she could do that, today was actually the first time she got to hold him. As soon as I know how it went, I'll update. And while I'm on this topic, I will post the few pictures I have of Sean as soon as I'm done posting this. Just go to my home page and go to "Photos"


Back to the topic... Jenny was released from the hospital on Saturday, she needed to be back here for her finals in college, which she took on Monday. Last night her and her mom went back to Dallas and today, actually as I'm typing this, she is moving into the Dallas Ronald McDonald's Foundation House. There she will be able to stay close to Sean and I will go there on weekends. I can't wait to be able to hold him myself! I guess the upside of having a preemie baby is that the father is able to bond even more, thanks to "Kangaroo Care". That is when the baby rest on you, close to your heart. But the immediate future is for Sean to be stable enough to be transported here and not 200 miles away. We already talked with the NICU head nurse here and she explained what we needed to do and believe me we are hard at work on this.

This morning I got a wake up call that I REALLY didn't care for. When Jenny called me she told me that she was in the hospital, she drove herself there at 4 this morning.

From what I can tell so far, she has renovascular hypertension. Just the previous evening, she had mentioned she had a pretty bad headache (which is one of the symptoms). She is doing okay under the set of circumstances, but she will spend the night there and maybe tomorrow night too.

Needless to say, this is NOT how I had envisioned our first meeting. But like I always say... as long as Jenny and the baby are okay, I won't argue.

Later,
~ Jack ~

Sure enough, I never heard a thing from the ex regarding Kitty. Somehow deep inside I was still hoping she would come thru and take her back, but nope!

So I did call the Humane Society and tonight they came to pick her up. Needless to say that we ALL were in a VERY sober mood after that. Do you know what it's like to sign something that says you are herby relenquishing any and all of your rights to this animal and that it is up to us to "destroy" the animal in question, if we so decide to do so???

I am holding her 110% responsible for this. This poor cat is the one that might have to pay the ultimate price. I can only pray that someone will see her and adopt her.

~ Jack ~

Poor Kitty, I have been taking care of this poor thing since the ex wife bailed out. And now that I am leaving California I needed to find her a new home, but to no avail. So I called the ex and told her what was going on and if she could look for someone that would be interested in taking Kitty.

Dang it, she had 2 damn years to find her a place!!! Anyways, she told me she MIGHT have someone and that she would come to pick her up. So I took Kitty and put her in a pet carrier and after a couple of minutes, she just went ballistic! I tried to hold her and calm her down but that didn't work. About the same time the ex shows up and sees how upset Kitty is and she decides that she can't have a cat like that and pretty much walks away from the whole thing.

In the first place IT'S HER DAMN CAT! She brought her in and used reverse psychology on me when she left so that I would care for her -at least until she found her a home- . Well now I am the one leaving and I exhausted all avenues regarding the Kitty. I let the ex know that if I don't hear from her, I will be left with no other choice but to call the Humane Society.

We'll see what happenens, but I am not holding my breath.

TTYL y'all
~ Jack ~

I am still alive !!! A lot has been going on and I haven't had the time to do as much as I wanted (HECK, I haven't done anything for a while in here)  But I promise that one day, I will update. (please note: I said "one day" not when) Sorry I couldn't pass that one

TTYL
~ Jack ~ 

OK where should I start? Website news... I just added the URL for the baby registry on my site and since Jenny is back blogging I also added her blogs URL on the Jenny page. Since these two blogs are not on the Bravenet network I can't add them on my friends list.

Well...I had some ranting to do but I got distracted and now it's like almost 2:00am, so I'll go nite nite and I'll keep the rambling for some later time.

See ya
~ Jack ~

Hello strangers! (oh wait, I AM the stranger LOL) just a quick note (okay noteS)

First: the baby registry is up and running. For those of you that would like to have a look, it is at walmart.com. Here is the basic info needed to get to our registry.

• First Name: Jenny
• Last Name: Harmon
• State:TX
• Expected Due Date: July 2006

Make sure you pick the registry in Longview TX in case there is more than one Jenny Harmon in Texas LOL and that should get you there.

The other thing I wanted to mention real quick (it's getting late) was the flowers Jenny got yesterday for her birthday. She loved them and from what she told me they smelled soooooo good! They were delivered to her work with a teddy bear and a bag of Hershey Kisses. I am so happy she liked them, eventhough she knew it was coming, her reaction when she was describing them to me was worth every penny.

I should go to bed now, gotta work in the tomorrow.

TTYL y'all
~ Jack ~

Helloooooo... I know I have been a stranger lately, but getting back to work and working 10 hour days, trying to get my junk sorted out (keep/sale/toss/donate), talking with Jenny and trying to get a little bit of sleep here and there hasn't given me much time to post anything. Well, maybe if I tried I could, but hey... life's a bitch at times and right now my priorities are Me & Jenny and getting my butt over to Texas.

So, as I said, I've been back to work, since last Monday. The circumstances of my return are actually very funny. You see my big bad boss thought he'd be ok after letting me go. Only to have him call me asking me if I could come over and do an SPC (Statistical Control Process) inspection on a shipment that needed to go out. I laughed so hard at first... I know, I should be glad to be back at work (which I am). The only reason though is that it will allow me to save more before my move and we do need the money BAD! But other than that, I'm not exactly thrilled to be back in that same childish, moronic, idiotic, immature work environment. I've spent the last 16 years of my life working there, but in the past 5 years I have seen this place go down the tube at a dizzying rate. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to make my exit. Exit stage right!

I've always considered my boss my friend, we were friends before he even became the boss. But I've come to the realization that he is more MY friend than I am HIS friend. Kinda sad and stupid at the same time.

Anyways, I just read what I just typed in here and I came to this conclusion --> WTF AM I SAYING??? but I'm too lazy to fix it. So if you had the courage to read this post, I salute you. And for those that bailed out before, I don't blame you! lol

Outta here for now. 'til later that is

~ Jack ~