Welcome, Little Clayton!

 OK, I know I have been missing in action for a while....even my postman has put my mail on a vacation hold twice, on his own! I flew to Memphis on August 23 to work in Allison's nursery and spend time with her while she was on bed rest. Well, it seems that she was having contractions and I went directly to the hospital, arriving there shortly after she did. The doctors put her on magnesium sulfate to try to stop the contractions as she was only 31 weeks into the pregnancy. The magnesium did not help and on Friday, August 26, Clayton Finch Collier came into the world! He weighed 3 lbs, 1 oz and was 15 inches long. His breathing was actually very good once they got him stabilized after the C Section.

 Craig, Allison, with Craig's Dad and grandmother....below, Jim surprises Allison by showing up in Memphis. She did not know he was coming. He waited to go to see Clayton until that evening when he wheeled Allison down to the Neonatal ICU.

 I was amazed by the size of the diapers they put on Clayton. All the plumbing works great!

 Clayton is already setting fashion trends. Below, he sports mint green booties and hat. You can tell he is a little jaundiced in the photo below, so his next fashion statement was his billi-light and shades to protect his eyes.

 The shower for which I made the invitations, hosted by teachers that Allison works with, was still on a week later, so Craig's mother, Allison and I made an outing to go to the shower.

 Allison and Craig both graduated from the University of Memphis so they go lots of cute little Memphis Tigers apparel. One of the teachers made a beautiful quilt for Clayton.

Clayton was put in an antibiotic for three weeks. They predict he will be in ICU for 4-6 weeks and I plan on returning to Memphis to help Allison when he comes home. I was able to get the nursery painted while there, and the furniture was all put together and set up. Clothes are being washed and everything readied for Clayton's coming home.

Allison has begun a blog, The Early Bird, where she will post updates if you are interested in checking that out. It is amazing how many people we talk to were premature or know people that were and we are always encouraged by the wonderful outcomes. The nurses and staff at Methodist Women's Hospital in Germantown have been wonderful.

On the way home (Jim came back to pick me up), we stopped off in Huntsville, so I had some Jackson time also. I will post some photos of him. He is at such a darling age now. I also need to make room at the top billing spot for Clayton once I have a photo I like. It will be a while before I get a photo of them together.

I guess it is a good thing that I did not insist on going on the trip with Joyce to the Northwest in August! Though Clayton was not due until 10/27, he decided to be born at 10:27 but on 8/26! Guess we need to work on the whole date thing and time telling skills!! Welcome little Clayton!! On this tenth anniversary of such a terrible event, it is nice to have something wonderful to celebrate.