Let me see if I can sum it all up:
Monday - Kristen couldn't sleep all night. Nervous, scared, detatched... She woke every 30 minutes worrying about everything from, "what if a serial killers work at the day care?" to "what Liam like day care better than home?" We dropped him off, spent a few minutes. And just went when Kristen started to lose it, we bolted. We didn't want to make the departure an emotional moment for Liam. There was no helping it with Mommy. When we picked him up later, he'd grown up. Seriously, in that short of a span, he found his hands, and even started learning how to use them. He was exhausted. He slept most of the night.
Tuesday - More of the same. Missing him, etc... The day care sent us some pictures throughout the day via a blackberry. Little blurry, but totally made us smile. When we picked him up, he looked at me for a split second before making the biggest smile I've seen yet. All of a sudden, my entire life was validated.
Wednesday - When we picked him up, he was in the middle of a walk. He looked so cute in the four-baby-stroller. All slouched in his seat with his lips puckered. So dang cute. Again, he slept all evening, ate, then swiftly went back to sleep.
Thursday - He was fussy. Sleep very little at day care. The afternoon teacher seemed frustrated when we picked Liam up. She kept pointing out that Liam had been very fussy. She was very business like and didn't offer much in the way of feedback how the day went, she was mostly concerned about establishing a sleep schedule. The schedule, we appreciated, but we didn't appreciate the frustration. Not sure if it was directed at Liam or not. Anyway, not too big of a deal, but we've taken note. Hope it's not regular. He slept all night. All week in fact, he's slept from 10:30pm to 5:30am.
Friday - When we dropped him off, the morning teacher offered a lot more info. The sleep schedule should help. The kids were loud again. She also told Liam that he was quickly becoming her favorite. Funny thing. The day care called Kristen in the morning with some very pointed questioning. They asked about the bruise on his arm. The answer was actually kinda funny. This morning, while we were getting ready, Liam was gettin busy with his arm. He gave himself a hickey. We all had a laugh. As I'm writing this, he's sleeping in Mom's arms. Over all, I'm loving the day care. I think he's loving it too.... Just wish he wasn't so sleepy when gets home.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Boys will be boys
Painting by Mike Altman. I made the frame out of reclaimed red oak salvaged from pallets. I had fun with this project because it took me back to childhood days when I would go into the garage and beat up, shoot bb's into, drive nails/screws into and spray paint random pieces of wood. This time, though, I was able to be constructive with my destruction.
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| From Boys will be boys |
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| From Boys will be boys |
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| From Boys will be boys |
Thursday, April 2, 2009
6 weeks and still rockin...
This past weekend, we drove to Indy to see friends and introduce Liam to all of his "aunts" and "uncles". Liam met, at last count, 60-some new people. That was enough to overstimulate dad, let alone his six week old son. It was great to see everyone. If it wasn't obvious before, our friends are why we miss Indianapolis.
Our whirlwind weekend started with Melanie Cinda Foulkrod's baptism. She was baptized at a beautiful Greek Orthodox church on the northside. The sanctuary was built of a huge dome, trimmed with gold. The shape of the room melded the priest's chanting into a chorus of voices. Loved it.
I used the baptism as an excuse to dress up in my one and only suit. I bought it for my interview with Scottrade and I must say, I looked damn good in it... That... was a year ago. On Saturday, for the first time, I discovered what it's like to put on pants and not be able to button them. My perfectly tailored suit doesn't fit anymore! I gained 25 lbs working at Scottrade... Probably a combination of sitting at my desk all day, commuting 40 minutes each way, eating terribly and way too much at lunch, and being too tired when I get home to run or play drums... So, the suit didn't fit well and the wearer didn't feel good in it. Things are changing. Now.
Later, back in street clothes, we introduced Liam to his new g/f, Simone. They were so cute together. He's been asking about ever since we left Melody's house. I think he's got a crush, even if he pretends to hate having Simone lay in his lap.
Simone and Liam's introduction was followed by drunken debauchery over at Brandon's place... Actually, the Wilson's were sober, but we debauched nonetheless.
We stayed with Amber and Scott (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!). Sunday, Amber made fajitas, so. dang. good. We then watched Sex in the City, the movie. Totally relaxing. We needed it. Liam, on the other hand, had other ideas. We had our worst night yet. He pretty much cried through the night and needed constant attention. Oh well, that's what we signed up for, right?
Monday, we visited the university and Liam met all the old co-workers/friends. It was good to see everyone, even if for only 5 minutes.
I'm hoping we get back up to Indy over Easter weekend for the April 11th bout... See ya'll then...
Our whirlwind weekend started with Melanie Cinda Foulkrod's baptism. She was baptized at a beautiful Greek Orthodox church on the northside. The sanctuary was built of a huge dome, trimmed with gold. The shape of the room melded the priest's chanting into a chorus of voices. Loved it.
I used the baptism as an excuse to dress up in my one and only suit. I bought it for my interview with Scottrade and I must say, I looked damn good in it... That... was a year ago. On Saturday, for the first time, I discovered what it's like to put on pants and not be able to button them. My perfectly tailored suit doesn't fit anymore! I gained 25 lbs working at Scottrade... Probably a combination of sitting at my desk all day, commuting 40 minutes each way, eating terribly and way too much at lunch, and being too tired when I get home to run or play drums... So, the suit didn't fit well and the wearer didn't feel good in it. Things are changing. Now.
Later, back in street clothes, we introduced Liam to his new g/f, Simone. They were so cute together. He's been asking about ever since we left Melody's house. I think he's got a crush, even if he pretends to hate having Simone lay in his lap.
Simone and Liam's introduction was followed by drunken debauchery over at Brandon's place... Actually, the Wilson's were sober, but we debauched nonetheless.
We stayed with Amber and Scott (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!). Sunday, Amber made fajitas, so. dang. good. We then watched Sex in the City, the movie. Totally relaxing. We needed it. Liam, on the other hand, had other ideas. We had our worst night yet. He pretty much cried through the night and needed constant attention. Oh well, that's what we signed up for, right?
Monday, we visited the university and Liam met all the old co-workers/friends. It was good to see everyone, even if for only 5 minutes.
I'm hoping we get back up to Indy over Easter weekend for the April 11th bout... See ya'll then...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Little Dude, Little Sleep
The last couple weeks have been as expected. Lots of new experiences and very little sleep.
We went for a walk in the park today for the first time as a family. We had our first beers as parents. First time someone besides myself peed on my hand. First time I've ever seen someone pee on their own face.
At first, Liam seemed to sleep mostly through the night. We were having to wake him up periodically to feed. But in his second week, he's sleeping less. Still, we had prepared for more severe sleep deprivation. We're still waiting for it.
We went for a walk in the park today for the first time as a family. We had our first beers as parents. First time someone besides myself peed on my hand. First time I've ever seen someone pee on their own face.
At first, Liam seemed to sleep mostly through the night. We were having to wake him up periodically to feed. But in his second week, he's sleeping less. Still, we had prepared for more severe sleep deprivation. We're still waiting for it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Happy Birthday, Liam!
These past few days have been unbelievable. It's gone by so fast. I'll try to recount the details, though it's all become a blur. The details are probably exaggerated... but that's the way it should be, right?
Monday, 2/16/2009
We woke up early enough to make breakfast and enjoy our morning before our scheduled induction. By the time we leisurely woke, showered, gathered some last minute things, and made breakfast, we only had like 10 minutes to eat.
Labor
We arrived at the hospital at 9am, checked in. Blood pressure had been high the past couple weeks and though not high enough to warrant an emergency, the docs felt it was time for the little dude to arrive. We induced around 10:30 or so. Started with cervidil. But made little progress. Tried another around 3pm. No noticable progress. At 6pm, we put in a Folly Bulb and started a small dose of Pitocin. The next two hours were really tough. Kristen not only started some strong contractions, but the pain from the Folly Bulb was even more painful than the contractions themselves. So there was no letting up of the pain. After a couple hours of "experiencing labor" she elected for the epidural. We no doubt expected to get it, just thought it might be later. Around midnight the folly bulb came out, K was dilated to 5cm, long and thick, and the bag of water broke. At this point we thought we would make some progress. All night we upped the pitocin, and continued to experience strong regular contractions. By 11am the next morning, we hadn't made any change. The uterus just wouldn't open up. Blood pressure was still high and the doctors said that if the uterus wouldn't budge after 10 hours of those contractions, it wasn't going to change. After 2 minutes of disappointment, we quickly changed the mood to excitement. They wheeled Kristen off to the OR.
The Wait
While the staff prepped Kristina and the OR, I had to wait in the labor room and change into my disposable OR scrubs. I rushed to change into my Beastie Boys jump suit, just to have to wait around for the nurse to come fetch me. Those 10 minutes might have been the longest of my life. Scared, overwhelmed, nervous, anxious, exited, repeat. Over and over again like 30 second contractions. Finally, "Dad, can you come with me..."
Delivery
I arrived in the OR, K was already strapped down, surrounded by what seem to be the best team of RNs, MDs, Anesthetists and assistants in the world. I sat in the Daddy chair. Which, I noted immediately that it's the only chair in the room without wheels and had a back. That OR room floor has seem countless tough guys fall to their embarrassment and I wondered what my fate would be. K was under plenty of meds and reassured me she couldn't feel anything. She had a smile on her face much of the time. I couldn't help but look over the curtain. I watched the entire procedure with the curiosity of a 10 year old. Liam was delivered within 10 minutes, it went by so fast. Dr. Parks put her arm, up to elbow, into K's uterus, found his napes and asked the assisting Dr. Laura to push on the top of K's stomach. She counted backward from 3 and in the blink of an eye, there he was. Perfect and beautiful. Dangling from Dr. Parks' hands. He cried a little and almost immediately opened his eyes. He had a huge cone shaped protrusion 5cm in diameter (the same 5cms that K was dilated) on the crown of his head. It wasn't for a lack of trying on his part that he couldn't navigate the uterus.
I walked to the exam table where they weighed, measured and printed him. I couldn't help but tear up. He was aware, calm, grabbing my fingers with his (his fingers are long enough to surround my index finger). He's perfect. 6 lbs, 9 oz, 21 inches long. He's tall and skinny just like his dad. Those moments that I spent with him right there, were the best of my life. All of the fear and anxiety I had just 20 minutes earlier were gone. I kept up the jokes with Kristen, making sure she was involved in all of those moments as much as she could be. She was stuck over on the table, the remainder of the procedure took an 45 minutes but it all went by so fast. I walked back over to Kristen to comfort her. Dr. Parks showed off her placenta, it looked great, or so she said. To me it looked like a bloody purple and red biological mass. I thought about cracking a "placenta recipe" joke at the time, but decided against it. Dr. Parks pulled out and examined her uterus, which again apparently looked good. To me, it looked the same as the placenta, until Dr. Parks pointed out K's ovaries. Those too apparently look good.
As soon as K was sewn up, the curtain dropped, queuing Liam and Mommy's introduction. I enjoyed that moment almost as much as my introduction. All of our worries were in the past. K looked relieved and proud. To this point, Liam made some noises, but hardly cried. Dad produced more tears than Liam.
Before we knew it we were back to our room. I got back into my street clothes and went to notify the grandparents. As expected the grandparents were excited and relieved. We all came back to the room to get acquainted.
Ever Since
We've moved up to the 9th floor. Where we've all learned to breast feed, jump out of bed at a moments notice, sleep in 45 minute increments and tolerate a barrage of researchers claiming we're great candidates, nurses, assistants and everyone else taking blood, BP, temp, etc... It's been a lot of work, but honestly, we're doing great. K's a great mom and frankly it's coming easy for me. It's early, and we both know it's going to be hard. But we can take it. And we will.
Monday, 2/16/2009
We woke up early enough to make breakfast and enjoy our morning before our scheduled induction. By the time we leisurely woke, showered, gathered some last minute things, and made breakfast, we only had like 10 minutes to eat.
Labor
We arrived at the hospital at 9am, checked in. Blood pressure had been high the past couple weeks and though not high enough to warrant an emergency, the docs felt it was time for the little dude to arrive. We induced around 10:30 or so. Started with cervidil. But made little progress. Tried another around 3pm. No noticable progress. At 6pm, we put in a Folly Bulb and started a small dose of Pitocin. The next two hours were really tough. Kristen not only started some strong contractions, but the pain from the Folly Bulb was even more painful than the contractions themselves. So there was no letting up of the pain. After a couple hours of "experiencing labor" she elected for the epidural. We no doubt expected to get it, just thought it might be later. Around midnight the folly bulb came out, K was dilated to 5cm, long and thick, and the bag of water broke. At this point we thought we would make some progress. All night we upped the pitocin, and continued to experience strong regular contractions. By 11am the next morning, we hadn't made any change. The uterus just wouldn't open up. Blood pressure was still high and the doctors said that if the uterus wouldn't budge after 10 hours of those contractions, it wasn't going to change. After 2 minutes of disappointment, we quickly changed the mood to excitement. They wheeled Kristen off to the OR.
The Wait
While the staff prepped Kristina and the OR, I had to wait in the labor room and change into my disposable OR scrubs. I rushed to change into my Beastie Boys jump suit, just to have to wait around for the nurse to come fetch me. Those 10 minutes might have been the longest of my life. Scared, overwhelmed, nervous, anxious, exited, repeat. Over and over again like 30 second contractions. Finally, "Dad, can you come with me..."
Delivery
I arrived in the OR, K was already strapped down, surrounded by what seem to be the best team of RNs, MDs, Anesthetists and assistants in the world. I sat in the Daddy chair. Which, I noted immediately that it's the only chair in the room without wheels and had a back. That OR room floor has seem countless tough guys fall to their embarrassment and I wondered what my fate would be. K was under plenty of meds and reassured me she couldn't feel anything. She had a smile on her face much of the time. I couldn't help but look over the curtain. I watched the entire procedure with the curiosity of a 10 year old. Liam was delivered within 10 minutes, it went by so fast. Dr. Parks put her arm, up to elbow, into K's uterus, found his napes and asked the assisting Dr. Laura to push on the top of K's stomach. She counted backward from 3 and in the blink of an eye, there he was. Perfect and beautiful. Dangling from Dr. Parks' hands. He cried a little and almost immediately opened his eyes. He had a huge cone shaped protrusion 5cm in diameter (the same 5cms that K was dilated) on the crown of his head. It wasn't for a lack of trying on his part that he couldn't navigate the uterus.
I walked to the exam table where they weighed, measured and printed him. I couldn't help but tear up. He was aware, calm, grabbing my fingers with his (his fingers are long enough to surround my index finger). He's perfect. 6 lbs, 9 oz, 21 inches long. He's tall and skinny just like his dad. Those moments that I spent with him right there, were the best of my life. All of the fear and anxiety I had just 20 minutes earlier were gone. I kept up the jokes with Kristen, making sure she was involved in all of those moments as much as she could be. She was stuck over on the table, the remainder of the procedure took an 45 minutes but it all went by so fast. I walked back over to Kristen to comfort her. Dr. Parks showed off her placenta, it looked great, or so she said. To me it looked like a bloody purple and red biological mass. I thought about cracking a "placenta recipe" joke at the time, but decided against it. Dr. Parks pulled out and examined her uterus, which again apparently looked good. To me, it looked the same as the placenta, until Dr. Parks pointed out K's ovaries. Those too apparently look good.
As soon as K was sewn up, the curtain dropped, queuing Liam and Mommy's introduction. I enjoyed that moment almost as much as my introduction. All of our worries were in the past. K looked relieved and proud. To this point, Liam made some noises, but hardly cried. Dad produced more tears than Liam.
Before we knew it we were back to our room. I got back into my street clothes and went to notify the grandparents. As expected the grandparents were excited and relieved. We all came back to the room to get acquainted.
Ever Since
We've moved up to the 9th floor. Where we've all learned to breast feed, jump out of bed at a moments notice, sleep in 45 minute increments and tolerate a barrage of researchers claiming we're great candidates, nurses, assistants and everyone else taking blood, BP, temp, etc... It's been a lot of work, but honestly, we're doing great. K's a great mom and frankly it's coming easy for me. It's early, and we both know it's going to be hard. But we can take it. And we will.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Liam is now cocked and loaded!
Yesterday, Kristina and I were ready to deliver Liam. We had prepared ourselves for a C section, mentally and physically. It wasn't ideal, but honestly we were ready to meet our son. We woke up early, dressed, left a couple bags by the front door for my mom to bring to the hospital with her in the next couple hours. Then we marched off to the hospital. Yep, that's right, we walked to the hospital. It's about a 20 minute pregnant walk. We took pictures. We talked like this was it. This was how delivering babies should be. Relaxed, happy, no painful drive to the hospital, none of that. We'll be done in 2 hours. How exciting!
We arrived at the the 5th floor and told the nurse we there for a scheduled C-Section. She looked in the scheduled folder but couldn't find our file. She then looked in the "possible C-section" folder and there we were. She announced, "Oh you're not schedule, just possible C-section." We responded, "oh he's been breeched for the last month, and he was head up in our appointment yesterday, we're here for a C-section." She then walked us to our room. She said, "This will be room you'll deliver your son!" Kristen said, "Not for a C-section, right?" Nurse, "Well no, but we'll do an ultrasound first."
2 minutes later we were looking at an ultrasound of Liam's head, inside K's pelvis. K and I looked at each other as if we both said, "oh no! Now what!??!" We thought about inducing. Beside the fact that it's against hospital policy to induce before 39 weeks, (we were 38 weeks and 6 days) being our first, it may be in upward of 48 hours of labor. We couldn't do any labor at home, and as long as she's at the hospital, she can't eat. None of that sounds fun.
So we walked home, heads down and little nervous. We've since been preparing ourselves for a vaginal birth. I think we're ready, but seriously, we don't know what to do with our time. We'd cleared our schedules for this little dude. What do we do now?
We arrived at the the 5th floor and told the nurse we there for a scheduled C-Section. She looked in the scheduled folder but couldn't find our file. She then looked in the "possible C-section" folder and there we were. She announced, "Oh you're not schedule, just possible C-section." We responded, "oh he's been breeched for the last month, and he was head up in our appointment yesterday, we're here for a C-section." She then walked us to our room. She said, "This will be room you'll deliver your son!" Kristen said, "Not for a C-section, right?" Nurse, "Well no, but we'll do an ultrasound first."
2 minutes later we were looking at an ultrasound of Liam's head, inside K's pelvis. K and I looked at each other as if we both said, "oh no! Now what!??!" We thought about inducing. Beside the fact that it's against hospital policy to induce before 39 weeks, (we were 38 weeks and 6 days) being our first, it may be in upward of 48 hours of labor. We couldn't do any labor at home, and as long as she's at the hospital, she can't eat. None of that sounds fun.
So we walked home, heads down and little nervous. We've since been preparing ourselves for a vaginal birth. I think we're ready, but seriously, we don't know what to do with our time. We'd cleared our schedules for this little dude. What do we do now?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Are we really ready for this?
Liam is still sitting in a breeched position. At the last ultrasound, he looked like he was stretching his quadriceps. So, if nothing changes between now and Friday, Liam will be born February 6th! Still, as excited as we are, Kristen is incredibly uncomfortable and constantly complaining about pains in various parts of her body. She has occasional contractions. They usually happen when she's pretty active.
A question that keeps replaying in my mind (and more so in Kristen's) is, "are we ready for this?" I think we're as ready as anyone ever is. I keep hearing that no matter how prepared you think you are, the first months are an incredible shock to the system. No one is more aware of this fact than Kristen. She's constantly nesting: cleaning, making lists, shopping, tell me to do lift, make and paint stuff. But really, I think we're ready. For about 2 months now, we've been in a position where we could bring him home to a house that's ready. His room has been in some state of ready, we have all of the necessities (or at least prepared to send the grandmas to Babies R Us with a credit card), house has been scrubbed clean a dozen times this month, etc... But still the question haunts us. I think being "ready" so soon is somewhat hindering, because in these last weeks, we're kinda stir crazy. We're probably wasting money on stuff we don't need, and most of all, the days are passing so so slowly. Any suggestions on how to spend the next 4 days?
So, today, while waiting on Liam to make his move, we took Lita to the park. Between the last month being quite cold and snowy, and K being barefoot and pregnant, we haven't given Lita and QT. So Lita got to run around off-leash, followed by a trip to Petsmart. I'm hoping a little extra attention this week will make next a little easier on Lita. Now what are we gonna do to make it easier on us?
A question that keeps replaying in my mind (and more so in Kristen's) is, "are we ready for this?" I think we're as ready as anyone ever is. I keep hearing that no matter how prepared you think you are, the first months are an incredible shock to the system. No one is more aware of this fact than Kristen. She's constantly nesting: cleaning, making lists, shopping, tell me to do lift, make and paint stuff. But really, I think we're ready. For about 2 months now, we've been in a position where we could bring him home to a house that's ready. His room has been in some state of ready, we have all of the necessities (or at least prepared to send the grandmas to Babies R Us with a credit card), house has been scrubbed clean a dozen times this month, etc... But still the question haunts us. I think being "ready" so soon is somewhat hindering, because in these last weeks, we're kinda stir crazy. We're probably wasting money on stuff we don't need, and most of all, the days are passing so so slowly. Any suggestions on how to spend the next 4 days?
So, today, while waiting on Liam to make his move, we took Lita to the park. Between the last month being quite cold and snowy, and K being barefoot and pregnant, we haven't given Lita and QT. So Lita got to run around off-leash, followed by a trip to Petsmart. I'm hoping a little extra attention this week will make next a little easier on Lita. Now what are we gonna do to make it easier on us?
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