You a so stinking cute

You're gonna read this in a few years and I gotta say... I might be biased, but jeez you are cute. But everyone who sees you says it, too, so maybe it's not just me.

You have now survived three meals out almost flawlessly. At the first, Aloha, we had to feed you at the end, but that was no big deal. At Mo's, Scott came in to town and had lunch with us and you were quiet through the entire meal even though the place was incredibly loud, and then tonight at Mimi's, you were quiet again for the entire meal. You've also allowed us to spend several uninterrupted hours with our friends Heather and Jon. We really appreciate it.

You are, however, having more trouble sleeping through the night and you are preventing us from getting any sleep. We are thankful to be off work because you keep us up a lot. You were laying peacefully next to me just now but then your mom took you for a diaper change and now you're crying so loudly that Carol the cat has left the room.

Lying to the little ones...

I thought it was great when Kevin's brother would applaud and cheer on his little ones when they fail, thus assuring that there would be no crying-for-sympathy -- and that his children would all grow up to jump motorcycles over canyons and buses.

But that's nothing compared to Lori's brother who has his kids convinced that when the truck goes slowly through the neighborhood playing music that this is "The Music Truck" and whenever you hear it, you're to dance.

Classic.

Da Blues

Lori's mom went home today. She and Lori both cried as we prayed before she got in the car to leave. It was a really nice visit and I probably have no idea how helpful she was to Lori to have around all week while I went off to work each day. I'll probably take a sick day or two to help out this week.

Lori's felt some of the 'baby blues' and cried a couple of times. As her body returns to normal, the hormones are all out of whack. On top of that, her sleep is all weird and the feel sympathy tears when Rachel cries. I feel bad because I can't do anything about it.

On another note, I received Futurama Volume One today for Father's Day. Score! I watched some episodes while Lori and Rachel slept this afternoon, but I ended up falling asleep myself.

Let me tell you...

Having a baby is such a huge thing that it's only natural to want to give advice... because it feels like such a major accomplishment, and with the first one, because there are things you wish you had done differently, so you desire to help the new parents-to-be to avoid those pitfalls. Who can blame you?

But the new parent to be hears it from so many people... many are well-meaning, but some are just bitter about their own situation (like the lady at Toys 'R Us) and some are just plain mean, like Lori's brothers, who each have two kids and have done their best to make raising kids sound as scary as possible. Eventually the parents-to-be eventually become scared, or worn down, or jaded and it becomes hard to discern between the three.

Fortunately, we took it all with a grain of salt, ready to be knocked flat, but also determined to jump right back up and enjoy the experience as best we could.

Lori will take with her forever the woman she encountered at Souplantation about a month ago. We were there with friends of ours who have a 9 month old. Lori was in the bathroom and there was a short line. The woman in front of her, looked at her, smiled and said that Lori should go in front of her because she probably needed the bathroom more. And then later as we were sitting and eating, the woman walked by with her family and smiled at Lori and offered her good luck, promising that she was going to enjoy being a mom. It was just so wonderful that Lori pledged right then and there to try to do the same thing whenever she encountered other new parents to be. You need the cautionary advice, but you need the encouragement, too.

More photos...

I've uploaded all the pictures to date to the family picture site. If you don't have access to them, e-mail me for an invite.

You've Got Mail, Baby

If you want to write to our little monkey, send an e-mail to her full name at hotmail.com. No spaces, dashes, dots, just her full name as one long word, followed by @hotmail.com.

Don't expect a response anytime soon, though, since she's only 3 days old.

But, when she's old enough to understand things like this, we'll read them to her and transcribe her replies back to you. So, hang on to your e-mail address for a few years, or keep in touch with us so that when she's ready to tell you about her day, we'll have a current e-mail address for her.

Dad Irrelevant

Sometimes we joke and say our part of the process is over so quickly, at the very beginning of the 9 months.

In the hospital, you get to really feel like that. Not so much in delivery, but afterwards in recovery. While it's never really so articulated, it is so not about you. It is about mom's recovery from the ordeal and to watch the baby's first hours of life to make sure everything's ok. The dad is completely irrelevant.

The hospital I stayed at actually had a bed that folds up that the husband can use, and does give the husband 24-hour access to the building. And sheets. But it ends there. The wife's bed folds, moves up and down, has controls for the TV. The husband's bed -- if you're lucky -- doesn't just fold up when you sit on it.

All day long, people will enter. You can tell by their knock if you know them or not. If you know them, it sounds like "knock-knock-knock-silence." If you don't know them, it's like "Knock-door opens-Hi, I'm..." People enter constantly for more reasons that I can even remember. And rarely will any of them even recognize the husband's presence. It's amazing how invisible you become.

Then there's the food. It's cafeteria food, but it's delivered for the wife, who gets to pick from a menu. The guy is left to fend for themselves.

Here's what I propose... every so often, a nurse should take the husband's temperature and check the husband's blood pressure. Make them feel important there and they might be more involved later on.

But, as it stands, you aren't important. Mom and baby are an item, an important focus. Dad, you're irrelevant.

(Disclaimer: I don't believe I am irrelevant and am participating in my daughter's new life.)

Audio - Saturday, 5:40 pm

The recap

At midnight, June 11, I was watching "Awesomely Bad Videos", a show from VH1 that one of us had TIVO'd.. basically bad music videos criticized by comics.

Lori had gone to bed, but got back up because the contractions were too difficult to sleep through. We decided to watch a video and Lori had gone into the den to select a DVD.

She was in there for awhile and then suddenly races through the house to the bathroom exclaiming that her water had broken.

We got the last few items not already in the car and I raced for Huntington. I had to use the cruise control at 80 to keep myself from doing 90 or more. She held my hand tightly because the pain was increasing.

We were admitted to triage where the confirmed it and tested vitals and then after awhile we were moved to a delivery room. We worked with a nurse on paperwork forever and then Lori got an epidural. I had been banned from the room during the administration of the epidural, but when I returned, the nurse turned out the lights and suggested we get some sleep. (Lori could feel the contractions, but without pain.)

I laid down on the floor and probably got about two hours of sleep, but we're not sure if Lori got any. She thinks she faded in and out. At 6:30, a nurse came in and checked out Lori. Where she had been at 3 centimeters at 12:30, she was now fully dialated.

Skip ahead to 7:15, the doctor's arrived and Lori begins pushing. The epidural is turned off because the machine keeps saying there's a problem. After an hour, Lori's in real pain. They give her a bosix(sp?) which is like an instant epidural and someone shows them how to fix the machine. The pain's gone and Lori's back to pushing. But the baby's not coming.

The doctor suggests using suction. We ask the risks and she explains and then says that her first child was delivered that way. It was the difference between at least another hour of pushing or six more good pushes over two more contractions. So Lori opted for that.

As the baby came out, it was obvious why it had taken so long -- the baby came out with the head looking upwards, the most difficult way for a baby to be born. She came out hollering like a banshee.

But the baby was cleaned up, and soon in our arms. Words cannot describe our emotions, but we know that this is truly a miracle, an amazing miracle from God, that He's entrusting to us.

More later, but the stats: 7 pounds, 13 ounces. 22 inches long. Blonde hair. Very quiet, easy to calm down when she cries. Seems to be very alert, eyes often wide open and darting around. Recognizes our voices.

Photo - Rachel with Rich and Christi

Rachel with Rich and Christi 

Photo - Lori and Rachel soon after birth

Lori and Rachel soon after birth 

Photo - Lori, Dr. Teng and Rachel

Lori, Dr. Teng and Rachel 

Photo - Rachel with Grandma

Rachel with Grandma 

Photo - Rachel's Birthday

Rachel's Birthday 

Audio - Friday morning, about 9:40 am

Audio - Friday, 6:10 am

Audio - Friday, 2 am

Showtime

The Crying Wolf-Boy

We made another trip to the doctor's office today because we had the kind of symptoms that when we had them last time and didn't call right away, they got kind of upset with us.

Turned out to be nothing.

So we got sent home again. Then there were new symptoms, so we called again. They thought it was nothing and said it was probably a result of the exam and to monitor the situation and let them know if it changed.

So, probably nothing.

I think the lack of experience is what makes having the first child so difficult. You don't know what to expect and the symptoms can vary so much from person to person. The descriptions aren't always accurate or don't quite fit and you want to be cautious, but you end up feeling like you're crying wolf. But I expect that's a common feeling shared by many first-time parents-to-be.

Contractions are occuring. The pain is increasing and The Wife is now re-thinking the idea of trying to stick it out and see if an epidural can be avoided. KP told us that she had an epidural when she had D which allowed her to enjoy the process more and really share the moment her husband M versus just having to focus so much on the pain. So, the jury's out. Anyhow, the timing is being monitored and we're ready to go at a moment's notice. Car is all packed except the laptop because the battery is charging because I ran it down earlier today.

But regardless, if we're not up to speed by 9 am tomorrow, in goes the pitocin injection and contractions are sure to ramp up and soon, Baby.

If it all works correctly, I can phone in the announcement and have it appear here as soon as The Baby makes her debut. Otherwise, the silence will mean we're offline for a few days and you can reach us by cell phone.

Status No

The Wife was once asked in a game when her favorite time of the day was and her response? When she was asleep. Well, last night sleep set in and the contractions subsided. So, one more day of work for me.

Me, on the other hand, thought surely this time we must be going to the hospital so I stayed up trying to tie loose ends up at work and finishing a really awful movie I had TIVO'd earlier off a movie channel. More about that here...

Once more, for old time's sake...

We're going to try to get some sleep. If anything's happening, it will wake us up. Otherwise, one of us needs to be rested for work tomorrow.

T-minus nothing, baby

Hurrahs all around. Happy Due Date!

Contractions are happening, discomfort is setting in, in the sides and back.

My feeling of uselessness is growing.

The Wife wonders aloud if it would be possible to create some test to know if you were in labor, the way a test exists to tell you you're pregnant in the first place. There should be plenty of time to get to the world class hospital two towns away, but if not, there's a fire station a stone's throw away, and if you can have a baby that quickly, there's something to be said for that. MW gave birth to H on her living room floor because she only had 15 minute's notice. Her husband made it home, but the baby was out before the paramedics even arrived.

Solid... solid as a rock

Are we? Maybe? We might just be in early labor. Seems like we're having legitimate, regular contractions. But The Wife is saying that she's not experiencing much pain.

Baby? What baby?

Now, when someone asks "Still no baby, huh?" We say things like "No, we had the baby last night but I didn't want to take any time off from work." Or "actually, no, we're calling from the hospital.. can you hold for a second? contraction." Or "The Wife is in labor right now but I felt like coming to work instead." Or tonight, we told The Parents "Well, we had The Baby a few days ago and she's been napping for the past four hours."

T minus 6 - yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before

We've not yet been on time to one of our baby doctor appointments. Thought several times, it wasn't our fault, we had even factored in for traffic only to be foiled at the last minute by parking lot paving in progress.

Anyhow, now the word is that the doctor doesn't want us to go past the due date.

So, we have an appointment scheduled for this Friday at 9 am to induce. An appointment at the hospital. Scary.

We're really hoping we don't have to keep that appointment because we would really prefer to avoid pitocin.

Seriously...

Sorry, gotta digress for a second... would it kill them to do a traffic report that covered the 210 freeway?

Anyhow, still no baby. But we're find with that now, we've enjoyed the past few days just taking it easy. The Baby will arrive when she's ready. We have, however, walked every night. I think it's been good for me, too.