Sleep

Well, I can't officially call it sleeping through the night, because I did have to get up at 1:30 and re-swaddle and re-binky him (I worry that maybe we're forming a habit???). But he did make it from about 7pm until almost 6am until he needed to eat again. So we got some pretty good sleep for a change. He was very hungry and mom's boobs were very full, but that didn't stop him from eating.

Christmas was loud. It was good. There were 8 kids ranging from 9 years to 9 months. The Boy got a little over-stimulated a couple times, but for the most part it was all good.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

9 1/2 Weeks

I really just wanted to have a post with that title. I'll even go so far as to cheat and post-date this for tomorrow morning at 1:32 am.

Yesterday at the Doctor's office, he weighed 16 lbs. 4 oz. They were kind enough to just write >95% for his weight percentile. At this rate, he'll be out of his infant carrier by 4 months! Our friends who have the exact same carrier used theirs until 9 months!

He also got 4 shots. He wailed at the time, but he calmed down in just a few minutes and then just slept a lot the rest of the day. He was quite the trooper! Thanks to those that recommended we give him Tylenol before the appointment, that may have helped.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

It's Not Whether You Win Or Lose.

The Blues won a game!!! Oh, wait, it was against one of the other worst teams in the NHL. Nevermind.

FILE UNDER: SPORTS

I Want A Jet Ski

I actually had to stop watching this for a minute because I was laughing so hard. I love Whose Line Is It, Anyway. This is definitely one of their funniest moments.

http://www.squizzle.com/movieview.asp?id=2191

FILE UNDER: HUMOR

8 Weeks

The Boy is 8 weeks old today.

I'm embarrassed to say we've lost something of his. We lost his neck. However, we did find one extra chin. And before it's all over, there may be more than one extra chin. I think we're about to lose his knees, also. But he's got enough thighs for 2 or 3 babies. He weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long.

(Speaking of long, when do you officially switch from "long" to "tall"?)

He rolls over from his tummy to his back, to his right all the time. He's done it to the left once. When he doesn't immediately roll over when we give him tummy time, he looks straight out, sometimes even up. He seems pretty fond of a particular stuffed dog. It rattles and squeaks and barks and crinkles and all that good stuff.

He definitely prefers mommy at this point, but we still have good times together. We read and play and get tummy time and watch some sports on TV (but not too much TV). I'm still managing to stay calm when he's having a fit. But it's much much harder when I myself am over tired. So I'm focusing on not getting so tired.

Since he never passed the hearing screening in the hospital, we had several follow up tests, OAEs and ABRs and what-have-you. The audiologist has diagnosed him with mild hearing loss at low frequencies. So when speaking at a normal conversation volume, he probably hears vowels and "m" & "n" & such more like a whisper. Whereas, "shh" & "s" & "t" & such are probably more normal. It doesn't appear to be just fluid or wax buildup. She is recommending hearing aids. We've spoken t an ENT once, and will speak with him again. We're also going to get another opinion. Of course, we'd break the bank for anything he needs, we just want to make sure he really needs it and that it will be beneficial. I learned that hearing aids are not covered by our insurance.

The Boy and The Wife (a.k.a. The Mom) left today to visit grandma for a couple days. I was really sad to see them go. Luckily, I got to come home at lunch and play with him and we even took a little nap together.

There are so many little things I want to post about on a daily basis so I don't forget them, but I just never get around to it. Plus, some things are just better live than Memorex.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

Baby Blog

Yesterday, I got to sleep in a little with mommy & daddy. After breakfast, we played in my room for a while. I had some good tummy time. I finally decided to go ahead and show mommy that I can roll over. I did it 5 times before I got really tired. I thought maybe I was being a little too mean by only rolling over when daddy was around. I took a long nap and then had second breakfast. I sat in bouncy chair while mommy and daddy hung giant socks and put up this big green triangle thingy. It has neat lights and shiny round things on it. It all seems a little weird to me, but whatever. Then they put me in that stupid torture chair and then put me in that big box on wheels. That's the last thing I remember for an hour or so. I know we went somewhere else and I missed out on a lot of fun, but I just couldn't stay awake. Mommy bought me this bitchin' Tigger coat/onsie thing. All the other kids will be so jealous. Lunch was good. Mommy makes really good meals. At one point, we sat in front of this big box with lots of colors and movement. It seemed like there were people running back and forth with some kind of ball. It was neat. The people in red seemed the happiest. That's cool because the people in blue and orange seemed kind of dorky. I had second lunch and thirdsies and took another short nap or two. Daddy laid on the floor next to me and read me three books. I hit him in the face several times to thank him.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

Break On Through To The Other Side

I had a total breakdown last night. He was screaming and I couldn't stay calm, which just made him worse. So I handed the little bagpipe to Mom and went on to have a screaming, crying fit of my own. Then I did some reading on anger management as it relates to being a parent, etc. I wrote down all my feelings and my plan. I have a zero-tolerance policy for my angry fits. They won't happen again.

I had a total breakthrough this morning. He was crying and screaming and arching his back. I stayed calm by speaking calmly to him. Telling him I really wanted him to stop. And that it makes me sad and mad when he does this. And that Daddy has him and was trying to fix whatever was wrong. Of course, he understands none of this. But saying it out loud is the release I needed instead of letting it build up and get me angry. And saying it calmly helped soothe him. I knew he had recently been changed, so didn't think that was the issue. He didn't seem cold or hot. I wasn't quite sure about gas. But he did seem to be hungry. So I told him we'd go see if the Booby factory was open or if I needed to heat a bottle. We found out the Booby factory would open in a few minutes, so we binkied and pinkied and managed to stay fairly calm until then.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

Roll Over, Beethoven

Before this morning, The Boy had rolled over on 3 separate occasions. All 3 being more accident than anything. This morning, he was having tummy time and after about 5 minutes, he rolled over. I put him back on his tummy and he immediately rolled over again. So I put him back on his tummy. He rolled over AGAIN. So I put him back on his tummy. This time, he was tired, so it took him a little longer, but he did it AGAIN. HOLY and SHIT! 4 times. Four. 1, 2, 3, 4, FOUR.

Next week we're going to the DMV to get his learner's permit.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

4 Weeks

Yesterday, The Boy was 4 weeks old. Sometimes it seems like it's only been 4 days, other times it feels like it's been 4 months. Overall, it's gone by quickly.

He accidentally flipped himself over from tummy to back the other day. He was pushing up with his left arm and gave this kick that just flopped him over. I know it was an accident, but it was cool.

He's peed on himself, the walls, mom's hair, etc. He spits up a lot. We think it's normal, but it seems like a lot. The Wife's going to mention it to the lactation folks. He seems to like motion. Walking, riding in the car, etc. I really like the Snugli frontpack/backpack we got. He seems to like it too.

He seems to be doing well. I weighed him yesterday, I know the bathroom scale isn't the most accurate, but he was 12 lbs.

It's possible that he has some mild to moderate hearing loss in at least 1 ear. We don't know much more at this point. We'll follow up in 3-4 weeks to learn more.

Sometimes he's just cranky, and that's very hard for me to deal with. I'm trying to learn how to stay calm when he's screaming at the top of his lungs, but it's very hard.

We didn't do a very good job of giving him his first real bath. The little tub started overflowing, then he was just sitting in poopy water. We'll have to plan better for the next one.

We're starting to function more, get things done, get out and about. That's nice.

The Wife is doing better. She still has some ailments, but she is slowly improving. She is very good with The Boy. She doesn't realize how good she is. I knew she would be a great mom, but it just really impresses me. She has made an amazing transition into The Mom.

This is the hardest thing we've ever done. It's crazy hard. But it's so very cool.

Sorry for the terrible flow of this post.

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

This Just In

Just heard over the baby monitor (sung to the tune of...unknown):

Wake up, wake up. It's time to eat.
Wake up, wake up. Your fast asleep.
Wake up, wake up. There's a whole other Boob to eat.
[end of song]


Sometimes he's a little lazy about the eating. I think mom is just too comforting. Heck, I can't count the number of times I've fallen asleep with her boob in my mouth.

Editor's Note: The Wife just informed me that it's sung to a tune from the movie "Groundhog Day".

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

The Crying Game

Any advice for coping with the crying fits?

FILE UNDER: PARENTHOOD

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