Jackson Cole Smith

At 3:53 p.m. Nicole and I became the proud parents of Jackson Cole Smith. He was born at 36 weeks, weighing in at 5 lbs. 8.6 ounces and is 18.75 inches long. I'll be the first to admit that I always think photos of new born babies (I'm talking fresh out of the oven and haven't even made it to the plate yet) are a little gross. But today that changed, I don't care what was all over him I thought he was the most beautiful thing in the entire world! I'll also admit that a cried when his little head popped out.

Since Jackson was born @ 36 weeks he's considered preemie and with that comes a little complications. He's having a little trouble breathing regularly and as the doctors called it "grunting". It sounds a lot like someone having an asthma attack, you can tell he's breathing but he's having to really work at it. Since he needs special attention (he takes after his mom) he has to stay in the NICU, which means he can't come visit us. But it's cool, we can visit him 24/7.

When we do visit him I feel like we're being allowed into some top-secret government project. First you come to two large doors with "DO NOT ENTER. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" and must ring a bell. At this time they take a look at you through the cameras and if they don't recognize you they question who you are and you must prove your one of the parents. Once they let you into the staging area you must enter a room to the right where you scrub in just like on TV. Once you complete the 3 minute scrub you can then enter back into the staging area. Once you're back in the staging area you must then put on a gown over your clothes. Now that your properly sterile and dressed you can enter through the next set of double doors. That's when we get to the best part, seeing my son.

I'm not gonna lie, it kinda freaked me out that my little boy, 3 hrs. of age, was all taped up and under a hood. And quite frankly, I still am. I know that they handle babies that are in way worse condition, but it's my kid now, and it's very real to me. The poor guy just sounds like he's having the hardest time breathing. And since he can't be put under a lot of stress we can't hold him. Please join my family in prayer that he has a quick recovery and will be able to go home soon! More photos and updates to come...