DHS'ers Populating the Planet

[from Jen Sharpe] Hey, all! We hope that this finds you well. We have wonderful news to share: our first child, Jacob Axel Smith, arrived just three weeks ago today! Sorry for the delay in sending out this note. additional details follow! Jake is named after two great great grandfathers, one paternal and one maternal. Mom and Jake are doing well. Surprising us by arriving three weeks early, Jake was born on January 29th just before 10 p.m. and weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz and was 19-3/4 inches long. Depending upon who you ask, he looks like Jeff or Jen. ;-) OK, well at least one person thinks that he looks like Jen! We encountered a few minor, non-life-threatening challenges, which in part delayed this email, between his birth and now. We spent most of the first week in the hospital as Jake was jaundiced. We were originally discharged after 48 hours, but Jake was readmitted the next afternoon for an additional two days as they wanted him "under the lights" to help get rid of the jaundice. So, we stayed at the hospital a bit longer than expected! Jake was also a fussy feeder and Jeff and Jen spent most of the second week figuring out what to do about that, to include two necessary trips to the pediatrician's office. Jake is on track now, though, and gaining weight again!

Despite the challenges, we've enjoyed the past three weeks with Jake and are looking forward to the next 99 years. ;-) All the grandparents have been out for at least one visit. Jeff has been off from work since Jake was born, but is heading back to the office tomorrow. Jen will be home with Jake fulltime until early April, when she starts teaching again. So, Jen is certainly looking forward to receiving folks who want to meet Jake between now and then! So, give us a call if you'd like to visit.

We've put a few photos of Jake at http://home.comcast.net/~pennstater97/Jake. These are all from the first week; we'll try to post a few more recent pictures by next weekend.

Hope that everyone is happy and healthy! Drop us a note when you have a chance. Later!