Amazing

We checked in to the hospital at 8pm on Sunday, 10/16/05. The plan was for The Wife to receive a cervadil equivalent at 10pm & 2am and then get pitocin at 6am. We started watching Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban at about 9pm. Apparently she was quite ready and just needed a little nudge. The 10pm cervadil equivalent started contractions about 10:30pm. She didn't get the 2nd. She got one dose of stadol (sp?) around 2am and that helped her sleep until about 4am. The second dose didn't help all that much, but she did get some rest. But it also made her groggy. She didn't get the 2nd dose of cervadil. She didn't get the pitocin. She stayed dilated to a 1 all night, but was making great progress in the effacing (thinning) department. At the nurse's shift change at 7am, all of a sudden she was dilated to a 5-6 and we had to decide about an epidural fast. So the nurse explained it to her. Then The Wife asked for the anesthesiologist to come explain it. He did and she decided to get one. It went well. One complaint I have is when he said she would feel a "zing", I didn't realize she would jump. So when she jumped, it kind of freaked me out. But everything turned out fine. By 8:15am, after she got the epidural, she was dilated to a 7. By 9:15, she was a 9. At 11:15, she started pushing. She ended up getting some pitocin at some point to strengthen the contractions. She pushed for 2 hours and 15 minutes, and The Boy was born at 1:32pm.

I wasn't going to watch. I wasn't going to cut. The nurse needed help holding The Wife's legs. So I helped. But I looked the other way. Except then I stole a peek. And then another. Then I was staring. Finally, I was ready to push the doc out of the way and pull him out myself. Okay, maybe not that much. But I did watch. I still can't believe how hard she pulled on him to get him out. It's a good thing his head is well attached. I'm still in shock at how big he is. The doc was surprised, too. She's pulling him out and there's just more and more coming. I couldn't believe how long he was. Then I cut the cord. I had no idea how much I would participate.

Then everyone started asking his name, but we weren't sure. One of the three could be eliminated right away, it didn't seem right. The other two were okay, but didn't quite ring true. So we held off. He is so strong, right away he was holding his head up for several seconds at a time, looking around. So I looked up names with "strong" or "strength" in the meaning. And when we got to it, it just sounded right. The funny thing is, it wasn't on our original list. Not even close. So we shocked everyone with our final decision.

Things went well and we came home Wednesday. One exception. He had some jaundice and the pediatrician said she'd send us home with a billi-blanket, a.k.a. wallaby. Only she didn't explain it at all. So when they brought it to us, it wasn't at all what we expected. But they explained how to use it. Told us to check his temperature when we changed his diaper. Said it might make him warm, but nothing about a fever. So we kept it on him constantly all night, like they said. The next morning, his armpit temp was 100.4. So I called the pediatrician and they directed me to take it anally. It was 101.1. They said come in. We freaked. At the office, it was 101.2. They also said he seemed a bit dehydrated. They checked us into Children's Mercy as a precaution. We totally freaked. His fever was gone by later that day and never came back. But they ran all kinds of cultures on him to be save. Blood, urine, spinal, etc. He had an IV. What a nightmare. All of the test results were good. So it was one of two things. A quick virus that came and went. Or the wallaby overheated him, the jaundice made him not eat as well, and the combo dehydrated him. We're super pissed that the pediatrician sent us home with that wallaby instead of treating it in the hospital since we were there. But on the other hand, it seems like it was all a blessing in disguise. We learned so much while we were in Children's Mercy that nobody else told us. Nobody told us we might need to supplement depending on how nursing was going. None of our classes, nobody in the delivery hospital, not the pediatrician, nobody. So when the fever fiasco hit and people started asking us what we were using to supplement (not IF we were supplementing, but what were we using), we were like WTF? Nobody fucking told us anything about this shit. So, we are so thankful to everyone at Children's Mercy. They were so helpful and so nice.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD, PARENTHOOD

Tired

This is really hard.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

The Boy

I have so much to type. I don't know where to start. I'll stick with the basics at first. If I have time, I'll go into the details later.

The Boy arrived at 9 pounds, 3 ounces, 21 inches long. Pretty damn big considering me and The Wife. We're now at home and getting settled in.

I've got so much more to say. But there's a lot of other things to do, like hold The Boy, and stare at him for no apparent reason. I wish I didn't have to go back to work.

This is amazing stuff.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

The Last Supper

Fuck. I just typed in a bunch of shit and accidentally deleted it.

Anyway. We had a date on Monday. Dinner at our favorite restaurant and then went to see The Corpse Bride. We had fun. We went out to dinner with friends tonight. (The one's that are 6 weeks behind us.)

We bought a few last things we wanted. A snugli backpack/frontpack. A Pack-n-Play. A Dr. Brown's bottle. I installed a dimmer light switch in The Baby's room. I tightened up the rocker we bought at the garage sale.

The Wife's sister had a baby boy on Friday. She told us by announcing she has a box of girl clothes for us (this is their 5th child). Since it seem unlikely that any of her sisters will have more kids, The Wife is happy about having the last baby.

21 hours. 13 minutes.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Police Brutality

The police made The Wife cry. Those bastards. We had an appointment to make sure the car seat is properly installed, but nobody was there that could do it. While we completely understand that people get called out on emergencies, you would think they'd have someone there dedicated for that if they actually make an appointment.

4 Days. 7 hours. 23 minutes. (until hospital check-in)

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Hockey, It's Good To Have You Back

Woo. And. Hoo. Hockey is back. All 30 teams played on opening night Wednesday night. And thanks to a free preview of NHL Center Ice, I got to watch a crap load of hockey. It would have been a shit ton, but we had a breastfeeding class from 7 - 9. (No, that's not a complaint. More on that later.) It was so freakin' cool. There was so much hockey on TV that I didn't know which game to watch. I was like a baby in a topless bar. I'm not even that upset that the Blues lost. Well, okay, yes I am. But the sheer volume of hockey I got to watch is easing the pain. The Wife was thrilled, too. If your definition of thrilled is "completely indifferent" or "couldn't care less". And I have to say, I was quite pleased with the way the refs were calling the games, based on the new rules.

The breastfeeding class was interesting. We learned quite a bit. I guess I don't have anything more to say about it. I'm glad we went.

FILE UNDER: SPORTS, PRE-PARENTHOOD

I is what I is

Stolen from KD

• Micah is a great looking guy who likes to play music, and we all like him
• Micah is being taken down by the man
• Micah is a George Bush
• Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah which means "Who is like unto the Lord?
• Micah is the 6th of the 12 books of Minor Prophets in the Old Testament
• Micah is a Word Divinely inspired from God
• MICAH is committed to strive for quality public education in the city of Milwaukee
• Micah is an independent producer, writer, critic, and radio host from Portland,Maine
• Micah is a 9 year old boy with mixed spastic dystonic quadriplegia cerebral palsy.
• Micah is the "man"
• Micah is free

I did 11 instead of 10, but what the hell. That was amusing.

Thirteen days left. Holy. Shit. Balls. I suppose we're as ready as we can be. Bags are packed. Car seat installed (inspection to follow soon). Birthing class complete. Newborn class complete. Breastfeeding class this Wednesday. List of names not finalized but narrowed. Every second consumed with thoughts of baby-ness. Here we go.

The Wife's rib-spreading pain is back today. Don't really know if that's what it is, but it's the best guess. Other than that, she's doing well. She's ready to be done.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Fortuitous Doggie Walk

Well, the hockey game last night was great. It was so good to see live, professional hockey again. What a great game. The new dimensions, the new trapezoid, the 2-line pass, the tag-up offsides, all of that seems fine. Really didn't seem to change the game that much. They've succeeded in reducing the number of icing calls by saying the team doing the icing can't do a line change. So that helped keep the game moving. However, and this is what I feared the most, they completely countered that by calling more penalties. If the NHL wants to keep the game at a fast pace and keep scoring high, that's great. But don't then turn around and start calling more penalties. Anyway. Regardless, it's hockey and I love it. DAMN I hope they bring me a NHL team to the new arena.

I took the doggies for a walk yesterday and found a glider rocker at a garage sale for $40. I'm practically dragging the dogs I'm going so fast to get back to the house and get The Wife. I call once, no answer. I call twice and get a confused, "Hello?". I guess she was napping.

"Put your shoes on, there's a glider rocker for sale."

"Huh? Uh, well, where? What?"

"Just put your shoes on, I'll be there in a second."

"Uh, Okay."

So we ran, errrr, waddled very quickly, down to the garage sale. It's not the best, but it's comfy and it works. So I offered the gal $35 and she took it. Fortuitous doggie walk, indeed.

Oh, and The Baby ate the part of The Wife's brain that stores her ATM PIN. Luckily I was with her and had my card and The Baby is not eating my brain, yet.

FILE UNDER: SPORTS, PRE-PARENTHOOD

Swimfan

The Wife really enjoyed swimming this weekend at the lake. She's going to check out the YMCA tomorrow. I scheduled her for a spa day next week. A massage and some other stuff.

We had the second birthing class. I didn't watch the graphic parts. Maybe I'll change my mind when we're there and it's my wife, but at this point, I still don't want to see. We're learning to breathe and about the different stages. We've got a newborn class this Thursday.

We meet with another pediatrician next week. Seems like it might be tough to pick one.

We had our hospital pre-registration and a tour. It all seemed good. The rooms are huge.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

7 Things

At KD's request (I normally can't do your lists, but I think I can do this one):

7 things I plan to do before I die:

1. Travel to Europe
2. Raise the best child(ren?) I can with The Wife
3. Worry less
4. Own NHL season tickets
5. Learn to play the harmonica
6. Own a house = no mortgage
7. Learn to be a better dancer

7 things I can do:

1. Play soccer
2. Fix computers
3. Play foosball
4. Water ski
5. Snowboard
6. Make the vein in my hand wiggle like a worm by moving my finger
7. Gleek

7 things I cannot do:

1. Whistle (well)
2. Sing (well)
3. Dance (well)
4. Differential Equations (Calc I - III was fine, but DiffEQ kicked my butt)
5. Lie to The Wife (my cheeks puff up like a squirrel hoarding nuts)
6. Barefoot water ski (never tried)
7. Levitate

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

1. Sense of humor
2. Common sense
3. Easy going
4. Red hair
5. Boobs
6. Nice Butt
7. Nice Legs

7 things that I say most often:

1. What the fuck?
2. Dude (in all it's various forms)
3. I'll ..... (repeating the last phrase said with a sexual overtone regardless of context. Ex. "I'll fluff your pillow.")
4. I'm like ...
5. Well, clearly (or, Obviously)
6. Riiiiiiiiiighhht
7. That's jacked up.

7 celebrity crushes:

1. Audrey Hepburn
2. Gillian Anderson
3. Nicole Kidman
4. Alyson Hannigan
5. Angie Everhart
6. Demi Moore
7. Mia Hamm

7 people I want to do this:

I don't have 7 blogs I read.

Baby Doctor / Baby Date

I had some mild panic attacks today thinking there's not much time left. Perhaps brought on by class last night. Pack. Schedule induction. Pick names. Pick a doctor. Circumcision. Only 5 weeks. Deep breaths. Calm. Woooo-saaaa.

Baby Doctor. No, not like Doogie Howser. As in "baby daddy", "baby momma", etc. You know, "baby doctor". As in, we're trying to pick one. I called one office today to set up a new mom visit. The scheduler was kind of cranky, which turned me off. But we'll meet with them and see how it goes. I stopped by another office and got some information about them as well. They have a "sick waiting" and "well waiting" side to their waiting room. Cool idea.

Baby Date. Well, unless this dude(ette?) decides to come sooner, we check into the hospital on 10/16/05 @ 20:00 Central. Induction will begin the next morning. I guess if between now and then something happens that determines it should be sooner or later, we'll adjust accordingly.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Baby Learnin'

Well, we got quite a bit of loot from her baby shower. More than what I expected. I guess we're just about as ready as we can be, as far as stuff goes. Now we're gonna go get our learn on tonight. We've got our first of 4 birthing classes tonight. And then next week we've got a newborn care class. Why do I feel like I'm back in college, cramming for a final exam?

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

5 weeks, 2 days -ish

The Wife has a Baby Shower today. After that, we'll be able to make our list of stuff we still need and go shopping.

Swelling of the hands and feet is now a regular problem. It's not as bad as her sister had it, but it's still annoying and painful. She's also got a pain in her foot, possibly related to the swelling or maybe just because The Baby happens to be pressing on a nerve that affects her foot. She told work that she's done either this coming week or next, but I'm not certain she'll be able to go that long if her foot doesn't get better.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

How About Wednesday, at 9:53am?

The last Doctor visit went well, everything seems to be normal. She said that the circumcision decision (if it's a boy) shouldn't really be based on any medical reason and is primarily a personal decision. So I guess we've got to think about that.

One thing she did seemed kind of weird, let me know what you think. She gave us some dates to pick from for a scheduled induction. One was the given due date, one was 3 days after, and the others were 7 days before and 4 days before. She said she doesn't like to go too long because of potential complications. I didn't know we'd actually be trying to schedule this, I thought it would just happen.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Experiment

So I've frequently been waking up around 4am and can't go back to sleep until 5:29a, just in time for my 5:30a alarm. Which makes me feel like I didn't sleep at all. So today I'm just getting up and seeing what happens.

FILE UNDER: THINKING

Dinner Conversation

Me: "Does it hurt your feelings or make you mad or anything if I decide I don't want to watch The Baby being born, or catch, or cut the cord, or anything? I mean, I might change my mind when we get in there, but at this point, I'm thinking no."

The Wife: "No, I just don't want it to be something you regret missing out on. You know, I don't really *want* to *have* it, but I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Man-Slave, Peel Me Some Grapes!

We're now to a point where The Wife gladly accepts help tying her shoes and has mentioned that shaving her legs might be in my near future. I've also made the suggestion that she sit down while drying her lower half after a shower. I thought that would be safest for all involved after watching her precariously balancing on one foot (after she was out of the shower, at least) and then strain to get her other foot up on the counter.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Letters To The Editor

The Wife has requested a clarification. "Quite a snore" does not mean an obnoxiously loud, keep-me-up-all-night, shake-the-walls snore. She's gone from almost never snoring, to snoring most every night. But it's not very loud, just something new.

She worked 4 days this week instead of 3 and that caused a little too much swelling in her legs, so she told them to cut her back to 3. The response she got was, "Oh, I didn't realize I started scheduling you for 4 days.". Right. Sure. 'Cause there are so many with the same name (only 1), and so many people to schedule, and you do it so far in advance (less than 1 week). Anyway, they cut her back to 3, so that's good.

Baby still moves like crazy. Still no name decisions. Not much else to report.

Something I have been thinking about. We love our dogs. They are our "kids". Neither were supposed to get so big according to the shelters, but we now have 55lb. & 75lb. dogs. Inside dogs. And they're clean. Well, as far as dogs go, anyway. But they get so much hair everywhere. And we brush them pretty frequently. I don't think I could ever bring myself to make them permanent outside dogs. But I sure wish our house was laid out where we had like a basement entrance, like a mud room type of thing that could be the dog room so the rest of the house wouldn't get so hairy. There are certain rooms they can't go in. Anyway, I'm just rambling.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD, THINKING

Sawing Logs

Testing the Blogger pic upload thing I just noticed.

Also, The Wife has developed quite a snore. Sometimes she wakes herself up.

Oh, and with my last post, I started receiving spam comments, so I had to add an extra step for those who want to leave a comment. Hopefully that will help. Sorry for the inconvenience for those of you with legit comments.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD

Baby Room Photos

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Originally uploaded by polesposition.

Here are the baby room photos. I don't use flickr much, so I'm not sure how this post will turn out.

FILE UNDER: PRE-PARENTHOOD