Photographic Evidence of Second Child Syndrome

We have fully documented evidence of Second Child Syndrome at our house. In this case, the evidence is the lack of photographic evidence of our second child. With Evan, it's almost as if we never put the camera down. First bath...we have fifty-three pictures. First drool, twenty-four pictures. First diaper...ok, just kidding.

Amy is now holding her head up quite well, grasping objects and pulling them towards her, and occasionally giving out cute coos, smiles, and laughs. Evan is learning more new words every day, and has started stringing words and phrases together to make 5-6 word sentences. We are thankful that he can communicate 95% of his needs instead of crying until we guess what it is he needs. Strangely enough, I think the arrival of his baby sister kicked his language development into gear. It's almost as if Evan is thinking, "Well, I better learn to talk, or they'll never have time to figure out what I want!"

With the arrival of Amy, we've reached "Hang on, it will get better" mode. Kudos to all of our friends who told us that having two is more than twice the work of one. I took Evan out on Thursday afternoon to go to Birdsong Nature Center and the public library, and let me tell you...just being responsible for one child is paradise. Thankfully, Evan is usually just fine by himself. He has started the rapid descent into the twos, which in our house means that he can amuse himself quite well, play well with us, and has a relatively predictable schedule. All of these highly desirable traits go out the window when Amy's needs supercede his.

Evan is being a predictable first child whose life has been interrupted by the arrival of a second child. He is being very sweet to Amy and not trying to hurt her, as I have heard some first children will try to do. Instead, he is working his torture on his parents. (Full disclosure: as a second child myself, I am sincerely sorry for being the root cause of any emotional trauma my older sister may have inflicted on my parents.) Evan's current psychological weapon is saying one thing, but meaning another. For example: dinner is over, Evan says "all done" and pushes the plate away. Picking up the plate and taking it away brings crying usually reserved for those watching "Untamed Heart." (if you've seen it, you know.) We're learning not to give in to this, and hope that it will stop soon.

Amy is being a typical second child. Her only trouble seems to be some acid reflux, which if you're thinking is the same as spit-up, is not. The fine line dividing the two seems to be multiple hours of gasping crying episodes whenever she is put into a horizontal position. We have some medicine for that, and it seems to be helping. Combine the acid reflux with her having to adapt to Evan's schedule, and one can reach new levels of "baby's upset." Because Evan and Amy are almost exactly two years apart, our friends say that all will be better when Evan is three and Amy is one. We're sure that is true, but right now...that is 287 days, 4 hours, and 55 minutes away. Suggestions until then?

We are home!

Christie and Amy were discharged from the hospital this morning. Christie is doing very well, and Amy is continuing to look cute and sleep a lot. She has to use her bili-blanket for another day or two to help with the jaundice, but at least we're home!

All is well

All is well here in NewBabyLand. Everyone got a great night's sleep. NewDad was declared the smartest man on the ward for having an Aero bed. Perhaps there could be a side business here...selling Aero beds in the waiting room? We woke up several times for Christie to feed the baby and for the nurses to check Amy, but we got excellent rest.

Several commendations are in order here. Thanks to the grandparents, Julius and Julia, for swooping in when Christie went into labor and taking care of Evan while we went to the hospital . Christie went into labor around noon on the 3rd, and we went to the hospital around 9 PM. Christie wasn't far enough along to be admitted, so we came back home to rest and wait. Around 1 AM, "not-kidding-around" contractions started and we went back to the hospital and were admitted.

Thank you to the nurses and midwife who helped with the delivery. They definitely studied up on bedside manner, as they made us feel like part of team that does this every day. The labor went without any complications, and Christie was the only person delivering a baby for most of the time, so we got lots of attention. This is in contrast to Evan's birth, when the entire ward was full of women in labor and Christie's doctor arrived in our room right as Evan was being born. I'm not sure of the name of the nurse we had that night, but let me tell you, she knew her stuff.

Thanks to Dad again, who came along to the hospital on the 1AM trip and sat in the waiting room. He brought his camera and computer equipment, and within thirty minutes of Amy's birth, had multiple pictures posted on his Picasa website.

Thank you also to Kevin and Stephanie, who hosted Evan's pre-birthday celebration last night. Kevin and Stephanie's son, Morgan, now shares Amy's birthday on July 4th. Christie had this great idea to get Evan's birthday (July 26th) celebration out of the way before her due date (July 19th). That way, we'd have the party done before she was 40 weeks pregnant or had actually had the baby. You see how well that turned out. =) I was able to go to the party for a while, and Dad and Julia brought Evan. Everyone had a great time!

Amy is doing well here at the hospital. It looks like we will be able to come home tomorrow, assuming that the results of some blood tests continue to go in the right direction. She is having some bilirubin/jaundice problems similar to the ones that Evan had when he was born, but so far, she's responding much better to the light treatment than Evan did. We may have to take the bili-blanket light home with us, but we'd prefer that over staying in the hospital for 4 days like we did with Evan. She is sleeping well, nursing well, and looking cute.

I've added a box at the top of the page. My email address list that I use to send out messages is getting unwieldy, so I'm experimenting with setting up a real mailing list. You can subscribe to the list, unsubscribe yourself from the list, change your email address, etc...without having to go through me. I will continue to send out the regular email list a few more times, but after that I will go to the user-managed list.

That's it from here. I'll post more after we get home.

Born on the 4th of July!

Amy Grace Ariail arrived on the scene at 7:23 AM. She weighs 7 pounds, 13 ounces. Christie was in labor for about 17 hours, but had no complications. Amy Grace started crying immediately upon arrival, but quickly settled in for a snack and was quite content. Now she is in the nursery getting her first bath. More to follow...

More pictures will be added at my father's photo site in the 2008-0704AmyGraceAriail folder.

Evan Goes Blueberry Picking

In an effort to give Christie some rest this morning, Evan and I went blueberry picking. He loves to eat blueberries, but has never seen them growing. When he got out of the car, he walked over to a blueberry bush and got a very excited look on his face. He pointed at the bush and proclaimed "Buberr!" I could not be prouder.

Check out the video of the morning's events.

Let the Waiting Begin

Christie finished week 34 on Tuesday, and reports that she is ready for this whole thing to be over. For those of you who are not oriented to pregnancy math, the end of week 40 = due date. Delivery before 38 weeks is "premature," but anything after 38 weeks is "normal." Anything past 41-42 weeks doesn't happen much anymore, because most doctors feel the need to "do something" at that point. Scientific studies are inconclusive on whether the "do something" need is caused by the 42-week pregnant woman grabbing the doctor by the collar and saying "DO SOMETHING!" or not. Although I think pregnant women might be able to survive past 42 weeks, I'm not sure their doctors would. More research is needed.

Christie has been busy nesting over the past few weeks. For you fathers-to-be out there, "nesting" is a polite term to describe how everything you thought about the way things should be for the new baby is wrong. Seriously, the quickest way to figure out the best arrangement for baby furniture is for the father-to-be to pick the arrangement. That way, the worst possible arrangement (WPA) is immediately seen and the mother-to-be can see clearly to the best possible arrangement (BPA). Note to fathers-to-be: The BPA can and will change...sometimes daily.

On a more serious note, Christie really does have things coming together here. The nursery is 90% put together, the car seat is in the car, and the hospital bag is packed. Newborn diapers are stocked (have they always been that small?), and the infant toys have been unpacked. Soon we'll start cooking some food to throw in the freezer. That's for the nights to come when achieving cold fusion looks easier than cooking dinner.

In other news, Evan is saying lots of things now. Our favorite is "stop" and "go." He knows what red and green traffic lights mean, so he is quite happy when he sees one while we're out and tells us what to do. Occasionally at a red light, he gets impatient and says "go," and thinks it is funny.

Evan's second birthday is rapidly approaching, and NBG's due date happens to be about a week before that. We're doing all we can to get things taken care of while being mindful that we could actually have a second child anytime before, on, or after Evan's actual birthday. To that end, we're celebrating his birthday a few weeks early with one of his friends whose birthday is on July 4th. Evan's only two, so I don't think he's got the actual date of his birthday pegged in his Blackberry just yet.

Christie has also set up a registry for Evan (and NBG as well). We're experimenting here and trying out myregistry.com. Please understand that we're not asking for gifts here...it's just a way to answer that question of what to get if you were planning on getting something but hadn't yet. On the main page, you just put in first and last name (Evan or NBG, Ariail) and the appropriate registry comes up. It's pretty neat, and Christie reports that it was very easy to set up.

Other than that, we're keeping busy here with Evan. We're enjoying the last few weeks of one of us being able to take a break while the other one plays with Evan. According to knowledgeable friends, that period of life is going to come to an end very soon. We'll take it while it lasts.

It's a Girl!

That's NBG (New Baby Girl) in the picture above. Christie and I went in to the doctor's office Friday afternoon for a 4-D ultrasound. If you've only seen the old 2-D ultrasound images, the 3-D/4-D images fall into the "medically unnecessary" category. You pay for it out of your own pocket, but those pictures are so amazing! I've posted a 3-D image above, but we got to see several 5-second clips of actual video (that's where the 4-D name comes in). We managed to see the baby yawn a few times, stick her fist in her mouth, and generally look cute. If you look closely in the picture above, you can make out a hand (close to the mouth) and a foot (level with the nose, but to the right).

We almost left the doctor's office without pictures and without knowing our new baby is a girl. The ultrasound technician was having trouble with the machine because the computer was crashing, so we didn't get very far the first time. As we were packing up, I mentioned that we just wanted to know the gender...so the technician kindly rebooted the machine and turned on the older 2-D technology (that didn't crash the computer). Within seconds, we confirmed it was a girl. If that hadn't worked, I was going to be convinced that we didn't need to know at all and that we should wait. To make a Friday night even better, the 3-D/4-D ultrasound worked this time and didn't crash. Both parents were ga-ga at this point. I'm quite relieved now, because we were having trouble coming up with boy names again.

Christie is about 30 weeks in now, and she's ready for week 40 to be here and have the whole thing over with. She has stopped sleeping well, can't breathe deeply, and is having back pain issues periodically. Thankfully, the back pain seems to be linked to the baby's position...so it does come and go as the baby moves around. We are currently in a good phase right now. I have no idea what it is like to be pregnant, but I do know what severe back pain is all about. If you've never had it, it isn't one of those "oh, suck it up" kind of things. I'm guessing that's what the whole pregnancy experience must be like.

Evan is doing very well these days. He is babbling a lot, and can say many recognizable words. At least, they're recognizable to us. He's signing and saying "more," which is a useful concept to understand. He also regularly uses:

• mama/dada
  
• yes/no
• juice
  
• milk
• blueberry (ok, it's "bu-bear," but we know what it means)
  
• choo-choo (too cute!)
• thank-you (it's tank-u)
  

Evan is running around, getting into all kinds of things, and generally being an outstanding 21-month old. We've avoided our share of major disasters lately, with the only notable exception being the inevitable discovery of fire ants. His hands and arms had about 20 bites each, so he looked pretty rough for a while. Still, if you ask him today where the ants bit him...he'll point to his hands. We think he learned that lesson well. Maybe he can teach his little sister to avoid that in the future.

Um, we have some news...

I'm guessing that by looking at the picture above, you can figure out what the news is. With my apologies to those of you that didn't know already, WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!! Woohoo! Christie is about 19 weeks in, and today was the first ultrasound. All went well there except for determining the gender. The baby was pointed in the wrong direction, was turned the wrong way, and was generally uncooperative as far as that important information was concerned. I'm convinced that it overheard Christie and me talking this week. You see, we were all decided that we wouldn't find out the gender until it was born. Then, earlier this week, we changed our minds...thinking it would be nice to register for girl clothes if we need them. NewBaby overheard that decision and immediately moved to stop that one. We know babies make life more difficult and can be frustrating at times, but this one is getting an early start. We have another ultrasound in two months or so, and hope to learn more at that point.

Christie has been progressing through this second pregnancy well. Somewhere in our conversations, we had briefly entertained the thought of three kids. During a hazy week of the first trimester, Christie emerged from the bathroom and said that plan was cancelled. The first trimester was predictable. It wasn't as bad as it could possibly be, but it did involve the typical symptoms on a daily basis. Yuck. Somewhere around 13 weeks, all that went away and the "good" trimester started. She has been able to feel the baby for a week or two now, and I was able to feel it moving yesterday. Having felt that and heard the heartbeat today, I am now convinced that this is really happening. Christie was convinced around week 1.

Evan is doing well and is growing fast. He is now 19 months old and is walking, climbing stairs, babbling, and starting to feed himself with a spoon. He's only using a few words at the moment, but we know that he knows more because he can listen and do simple things that you ask him to do. He still loves reading books with us, although we confess that we do occasionally "lose" the book that gets read 20 times a day. It usually turns up after a day or two. If you click on the changing photo in the upper right corner of this page, it will take you to my Google photo site where you can see more pictures of Evan and family. Below that link, there are three YouTube videos of Evan. Two are from earlier postings, but the top one is pretty new and features Evan "reading" one of his favorite books. I've still got something to figure out about the aspect ratio, b/c Evan looks a little squashed...but that's a project for another day. If you want to see what a more professional job looks like, head over to schmoopiebeta.com and watch the iPhone parody commercial made by some friends of ours with a baby just a bit younger than Evan.

In closing, we just have to pass along some thanks to Evan's grandparents. About three weeks ago, Evan came down with the flu. He got over it in a day (thanks, Tamiflu!), but Christie got it next. She went down hard for about a week. I had to work, so Dad and Julia came and picked up Evan, took him to their house and kept him for two days. That, however, was not good enough for them. When I went to pick Evan up, they also sent me back home with a casserole for dinner that night and a pound cake because it was Christie's birthday. How awesome is that? Baby-keepers that send you back home with food? That's like having a babysitter pay you. Thanks, it was delicious!

Attack of the BabyMonster!

While I've been beating myself up about not posting as much to this blog lately, I've come to realize one fundamental truth about babies. They take all of your time. Changing a light bulb has gone from a 1 minute task to a one-hour afternoon adventure. Yes, we have a toddler. As a friend with older children recently explained to me, we are in the midst of the "hands-on" phase of baby-raising. We've moved fully out of the "baby-on-the-blanket" phase where only has to clear a 3-foot radius around the baby to be safe. We haven't even thought of the day when Evan will be able to play independently for longer than 5 minutes in a non-baby safe room. You see, we're right in the middle of the "I can crawl faster than you think" and "I'll put it in my mouth, thank you very much" phases.

Evan has started walking over the past few weeks, and can now confidently make it across the room without falling. He only took one major spill into the coffee table, which has led to me not wanting to take him out in public b/c of the big bruise on his cheek. Thank goodness he learns fast. Currently, Evan's favorite activities include walking while carrying something (he thinks it is hilarious), opening and closing any drawers, doors, or cabinets he can find, and pushing his high chair around the room.

NewDad continues to learn and is constantly amazed by this principle: The cheapest toy is quite often the best toy. For example, Evan was having a major crankfest this evening that was brought on by waking up at 4:30 AM with "digestive issues" and was further provoked through the day by a canine tooth coming in. Around 5:30, he'd absolutely had it with everything. Just when NewMom and I were considering running for the hills, I handed Evan a magazine renewal card that was on the table. You'd think that was the best toy ever, because it completely cleared up the storm that had been brewing all afternoon.

In other news, the Yahoo photo site I had been using before has closed its doors, so for now I've set up at Google's photo site. You can get there at http://picasaweb.google.com/ariail24. There's not much there now but a few pictures from Evan's 1st birthday and a few recent shots, but it's there.

NewBaby Sells House, Buys House, and Gets Dad a NewJob

Well, not really...

The NewFamily has been busy lately in the move from one small south Georgia town to mid/large-size south Georgia city. I have been busy packing up the old house and moving everything to the new house (with help from an outstanding moving crew...thanks, guys!). Christie has been busy unpacking all of the boxes that I have been bringing over. You see, she was bold enough to stay in the new house immediately after closing on it, bringing only a pack-and-play, an Aero bed, and a high chair for Evan to sit in while eating his meals. Christie sat on the floor. After two weeks on the Aero bed, she was very happy when I showed up with the real bed.

The new house is about half unpacked. The rest is waiting for the painting crew to finish. Some members of the painting crew aren't painting at the moment, b/c I can't type and paint at the same time. Christie has been living the dream of picking colors for each room, and so far, she's doing great. I just put paint on the wall. NewGrandma Julia helped paint the dining room last week, and today helped on the living room. NewGrandDad Julius watched Evan during this time so that the rest of us could paint. During one of these times, he also managed to shoot this video of Evan...and I hope it works. This is my first venture into YouTube, so we'll see how it goes.



Evan's new amusement is pulling all of his books out of a box and "reading" each one of them. With that, he's pretty self-amused for about 10-15 minutes...which is awesome. Of course, we don't get anything done during that time b/c we're just sitting around wiping up our own drool...it's hard to stop, b/c he's so cute! But seriously, he's starting to figure out that there is something out there besides sitting on the floor. He wants to crawl, but he doesn't quite know how to go about starting that process. Ventures into this domain have ended unsuccessfully in face-plants, which are immediately followed by the dreaded breathless red-faced crying. Thankfully, that is short-lived and pretty soon he's back to playing.

Editor's Note: Christie reports that this is not my best blog post of all time...and I respond that gosh darn it, I quit my job, got a new job, bought one house and sold the other, AND packed and moved almost everything we own...what else does she expect?*

*Yes, I know...she had the baby.

Cuteness Phase II Commencing Countdown, Engines On...*

Well, I didn't think that it would actually happen, but it has. I've let this blog fall prey to the "Yeah, I'll update that page sometime soon" laziness. After editing a bunch of recent photos of Evan, I realize that you must be going out of your mind waiting for a new batch of cuteness to look at. You can see this picture and a few others at my photo website. Cuteness booster shots might be a good idea before viewing them, though.

The past few months have brought many changes. In no particular order, they include:

1. Solid food. NewMom has been diving right into this hippie-style, making most of Evan's food from scratch. So far, we've explored the culinary world of the sweet potato, acorn squash, and carrots. Ok, the carrots came out of a jar. The hands-down favorite so far, though, is rice cereal. Usually, this part of the meal results in food on Evan's face, hands, and all over his chair.
   
2. Daily baths. See #1.
3. Evan sleeps through the night for 8+ hours. We're pretty sure this has something to do with #1.
   
4. NewMom's improved sleep pattern. We're sure this has something to do with #3.
5. Sitting with some assistance. Dang, ain't that boy cute?
6. Reaching for toys, dropping them, and then reaching for them again. I could watch that for hours.
   
7. Teething. We check daily for the first one.

All in all, Evan is doing great at the 6.25 month point. Both NewMom and I are not quite sure where the first five or six months went. We have pictures to document the experience, so I guess it must have actually happened. It definitely is a blur, though.

*My apologies to David Bowie and Major Tom.

NewBaby Goes to the Movies, Both Parents Give Him Two Thumbs Up!

NewMom and I achieved a major milestone of parenthood yesterday. We took Evan out to the movies! Ever since we moved here, Christie and I have enjoyed going to a small movie theater in Jesup. The tickets are reasonable, the popcorn is outstanding, and the theater offers two major benefits:

1. The seats have built-in carseat holders.
2. If someone is talking near you, you can just roll up your window.

That's right, it's a drive-in. And you thought those had all closed! The owners of this place are dedicated to the drive-in experience. It's really only good in the fall-winter months, as summer nights can be a bit hot here. Anyway, NewBaby fell asleep on the ride there and snoozed right through the movie AND the entire 30-minute ride back home. And, as a closing act, he woke up when we got home, ate, and went back to sleep for the rest of the night.

NewMom is happy to report that she is now regularly getting 6+ uninterrupted hours of sleep on a regular basis, and this makes me happy as well. NewMom is becoming an expert at reading NewBaby's signals. She can see the early warning signs of a nuclear meltdown and launch a full-scale nap-attack and avert certain disaster. So far, she's only had one baby-meltdown while shopping. We're sure that more will come.

NewBaby has developed several new skills, some of which are on display at my photo site in the 2006-Oct/Nov folder:

• sticking his tongue out when you stick yours out
• drooling (I'm so proud!)
• lifting his head when he's on his tummy
• grasping toys and moving them around
• showcasing his ChubMaster3000 cheeks

The cheeks are quite a show...at least we have no doubt that he's getting enough to eat! We're not quite as techno-capable as our friends over at Schmoopiebeta.com, nor do we have a video camera...but if we were, we'd post a video to illustrate NewBaby's new vocal abilities. He is starting to make lots of baby sounds now. This is a good thing, because I was worried he was too quiet and would one day just start talking with fully-formed sentences. We're well into the coos, goo-goos, and happy laughs. Who needs sentences, anyway?

NewBaby Celebrates Two-Month Birthday

As of yesterday evening at 11:39PM, Evan is officially two months old. NewMom celebrated this by taking Evan to the doctor to get the most favorite baby treat of all...shots. NewBaby came home plastered in band-aids from the multiple shots he received. Apparently he is quite normal, because he put up quite a fuss during the shots. We dosed him up on some baby Tylenol last night, and he seems to be mostly better today.

I'll get right to the details, because I know that most of you could care less about the random blathering of a NewDad. Evan's new weight is 12 pounds, 2 ounces and his length is 22.5 inches. When you stop to consider that this is almost a doubling of his body weight in two months time, that's pretty impressive. NewMom is working hard feeding Evan around the clock, but she got some welcome news from the pediatrician this week...because Evan is gaining weight well, he can now go up to EIGHT HOURS a night without a feeding. If I could make "eight hours" flash on and off in neon green, I would. We usually only make 5 or 6 hours at the longest, but knowing that Evan isn't going to shrivel up if he's sleeping longer is a nice feeling.

You'll notice that the pregnancy "ticker" has been removed from the blog. In its place is a link to my photo page on Yahoo. There are few new pictures from this week there. NewUncle Jonathan (Christie's brother...it does get confusing) and NewAunt Nikia came down for a quick visit this weekend. Kudos to them for driving 8 hours here and back just to meet Evan for less than 24 hours. Those guys are dedicated. We look forward to longer visits in the future. Jonathan and I (that does sound weird) spent an afternoon installing new exterior lights on the house. We proved the second and third theorems of do-it-yourself projects this time, though.

Do-It-Yourself Project Theorems

1. Always measure twice, cut once.
2. If at first you don't succeed, then read the instructions.
3. A "one-trip-to-the-hardware-store" project is a figment of your imagination. It does not exist in reality.

So far, the lights work and we haven't burned the house down yet. I call that a success.

NewDad Receives AARP Card; Tries to File Retirement at Age 30

Here's one of the cutest photos we have of NewBaby so far. Evan's growth can be measured by how big his new double chin is. NewMom is celebrating that NewBaby is regularly going 5 hours between night feedings. Occasionally, the magical 6 hour sleep has been achieved. NewMom will be very happy when Evan is old enough to fix his own breakfast, but for now, she'll take six hours of sleep instead.

Our household has recently grown by two, as NewMom's father and stepmother recently came down for a visit. NewGrandpa Ken immediately helped NewDad tear down and rebuild a finicky toilet. NewGrandma Marti (she's much more than a stepmother...) has been busy cooking. She cooked so much today that I actually smelled the food before I came in the house this afternoon. The freezer is in the process of being restocked, and for this we are thankful.

Yesterday, we all packed up in the car and drove over to St. Simons to enjoy some crabcakes at Barbara Jean's (if you're in the area, they are about the best crabcakes ever made...they register about 99% crab, 1% veggies and whatever else goes in crabcakes). NewBaby Evan made the trip in fine form, not crying even once while we were in the restaurant. We know that this is beginner's luck and probably will not be repeated for some time to come.

I recently celebrated my arrival into true adulthood/parenthood when I checked the mail. In the mail that day was my very own AARP card. This happened the day we came back from the hospital with NewBaby. The fates are cruel. Just in case you're wondering, this was not a card with generic numbers and "Ima Member" as the name. This was a real card with my name on it, and a letter to accompany stating that I was now fully qualified to join. I know my hair is gray, but come on...

That's it from NewBaby Land, where all the parents are somewhat rested, all the freezers are full, and all the Grandparents are above average. *

*my apologies to Garrison Keillor and all the fine folks in Lake Wobegon.

NewParents Receive Abnormal Results of Medical Test: NewBaby is Abnormally Cute

We kept this one a secret from almost all of you, but NewMom and I have been sitting on pins and needles for a while. (NOTE: Everything is fine now. You can start breathing again.) You see, it all started back in the delivery room. NewBaby had just arrived and both parents were busy erasing everything out of their appointment books for the next 18 years. Enter the doctor, busy with all the post-birth stuff that goes on. Just like the car mechanic taking apart your transmission, the doctor said, "Hmmm. This doesn't look right." He was referring to the umbilical cord, which was shown during a lab examination to have only one artery carrying blood to/from NewBaby (known as Single Umbilical Artery, or SUA). I confess at this point to not having known that most babies have two arteries in their umbilical cords. My thoughts at the time were something like "Zero is bad, so one is good, right?" Enter NewBaby, still slightly gunky but 100% cute, and all thoughts of worry were gone for the next 96 hours.

Enter NewBaby's pediatrician, who upon hearing the diagnosis of SUA ordered an ultrasound of various body parts. In reading the various pages out there on the internet about SUA, it seems we escaped the more dramatic effects. Most babies born with SUA are completely normal, but it is associated with many more dramatic problems. Maybe I was trying to be overly hopeful, but a statistics lesson came back to me then...Correlation is not necessarily causation. If I am wrong about that, that SUA does actually cause defects instead of just occurring alongside them, I really do not want to know.

The ultrasound last week was to rule out any kidney/bladder problems. We got the results today, and apparently Evan is fine except for one thing. His kidneys are abnormally cute. We will be posting pictures of the cutest kidneys ever, but we will limit it to our refrigerator door. We figure that the one umbilical artery he did have must have been honkin' huge.

Now that that's out of the way, we are happy to report that NewBaby Evan is plumping up quickly. He is sporting a double chin and his arms and legs are developing a healthy layer of baby fat. How well he sleeps at night varies, but we're pretty sure that we're on the better end of that continuum. NewDad got lots of sleep during the past two weeks while NewAunt Elizabeth and NewUncle Joshua were here and took the monitor between feedings. They also cooked up a storm while they were in town. Their 1.75 year old son, NewCousin Benjamin, gave us lessons on how to toddler-proof a house.

Minor disasters have been few and far between. There has been some spitting up, but nothing major yet. Gas comes and goes. Thank goodness for whoever invented the baby gas medicine drops. In closing, both parents have gone through a rite of passage no one bothered to tell us about...being urinated on during diaper changes. NewMom hasn't been so fortunate, but I have been lucky enough to escape being pooped on so far. My diaper-changing speed has increased exponentially after the experience with #1. At least NewBaby isn't old enough to be able to gurgle and laugh after the fact.

Sleep is Good; Lots of Sleep is Great

To mark his one-week birthday, Evan gave his parents a most needed gift -- sleep. NewDad chalked up 9 hours in a 12 hour period, and NewMom got quite a bit too, although more interrupted for feedings. NewWatchDog Darwin got lots of sleep too, but he could sleep through a train wreck and not wake up. Some of you have been asking about the pets...Darwin is handling the transition easily, but still looks concerned when Evan is crying. Heidi (our cat) tries to avoid the whole affair, but shows signs of interest when she thinks we're not looking. Ginger (our other dog) spends most of her time outside, and hasn't really had a chance to meet the baby much. She's a bit hyper. Before anyone says it, all the animals are kept away from Evan if we aren't in the room. Evan's door is closed and Heidi is evicted from the nursery if Evan is in his crib. I love that cat, but she would be moving somewhere else if I ever found her in the crib with Evan.

As a humble NewDad, I want to thank each and every one of you for checking out the blog and for your enthusiastic feedback. I am wrestling with some issues that I think every blogger and NewDad goes through. One, how much information do people really want? To that end, the blog is going back to a slower posting style...maybe once a week or so for a while. The birth/hospital stay sped things up for a while, and I apologize if I overloaded your inbox with emails. At least I wasn't sending 50 MB of pictures directly to your inbox for you to download over a dial-up connection. =) The second issue is how much do you really want to keep up with this? Some of you are coming b/c you get my update email when it goes out. Others are getting forwarded emails (what, you don't forward this to everyone you know?). Still others are finding this site through other means. I hate to be that person at work who forwards everything to you, even the silly "deadly spiders in the bananas from Costa Rica" stories...so if in my enthusiasm over the whole pregnancy thing, I added you to the list but you want off...let me know. I promise not to take it too personally. If you're not on the list but want to be on, email me at guarding24-blogs@yahoo.com . That will go to my main account and I'll add you on. I only send a text email when an update is posted, so it won't blow out your inbox. The last issue is the size of the blog. I've changed the format so that only the last few posts are displayed. That makes the page load faster, especially if you're on dialup. All of the old posts are available by clicking the links on the right hand side of the page.

Thanks for your support of this NewDad/Blogger as he tries to figure out this new world of adventures. You should know that I just had a major typo as I brushed across the keyboard, and interestingly enough it spelled "poopf." A sign to get off the blog and check a diaper? You decide.

We Are HOME!!!!

I think the picture says it all. Evan had a lower bilirubin count Sunday morning, and an slightly lower one in the afternoon (we're down to 12.6 from an all-time high of 13.3). In short, he is on the mend. =)

We've had a good night at the house. Both parents clocked in with Mr. Sandman. NewMom claims five or six hours, but she's forgotten how to add numbers...so all bets are off. =)

Superstar awards go to NewGrandmother Julia and NewGrandfather Julius who spent Sunday cleaning our house, cooking us dinner and more food for the week, stocking the pantry and refrigerator, and doing our laundry. We probably would have gone insane by this point without their help. Thank you. If anyone needs a good tag-team duo to handle situations like these, I have their telephone number...

We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of NewAunt Elizabeth, NewUncle Joshua, and NewCousin Benjamin next week. We will be able to use the help. NewGrandpa Ken and NewGrandmother Marti will be coming sometime later in August or September. Your timing will be perfect, I'm sure...as we will have run out of food in the freezer. NewGrandmother Marti will probably find that her culinary skills are increased from an already incredible level to "Grandmother" status in the kitchen. NewDad and NewGrandpa Ken will probably find something to dig up, rewire, build, take apart, or break in the process of trying to fix it. A good time will be had.

NewGrandma Barbara will have to make it down at some point this fall too...or maybe we will be able to visit her. We're sure that she will have some books for NewBaby Evan. If you know Barbara, you know what I mean. She is a literature guru, lover of books, and her collection makes the Library of Congress staff take pause.

It's Time for a MegaNap!!

NewMom, NewBaby, and NewDad are doing pretty well after a very stressful couple of days. As previously reported here on this blog, Evan had a pretty good case of jaundice going on. Now as some of you have already found out, about 50% of babies have some jaundice...so it's nothing to get too alarmed over. But, if it gets too bad it can turn pretty ugly pretty quick. For a little while, our pediatrician was debating calling a bigger hospital about two hours away to see if we might need to take Evan there. At some point, it was revealed that the point of this trip would be to have a complete blood transfusion/replacement done on Evan. See below for the picture of what Evan thought about this idea.

Thankfully, the combination of light therapy, a little formula supplementing on top of the breast feeding, helpful nurses and doctors, and of course, lots of prayers has led to Evan's jaundice bilirubin blood levels leveling off this morning. He had a bilirubin count of 13 this morning, and to give you some perspective, we were told that 15 meant a call to the mega-hospital and increases beyond that meant an ambulance ride to the mega-hospital. His levels have plateaued (maybe it's the fact that I've had about 8 hours of sleep in the past four days, but that word looks funny), so that's good. As he gets older, his tolerance gets better and the high bilirubin levels become less of a critical concern. We are hoping and praying for a lower count in the morning, and all indications so far are that we will be happy when we get the results.

All this means that NewBaby has not been discharged from the hospital, so we're still at the hospital. NewMom is doing very well and has no complications or difficulties in healing after delivery. NewMom was discharged sometime recently (my brain is fried), but since no other NewMoms need her room, she is able to stay in her room for FREE. We have to arrange meals, etc. for her. I find this to be amazing in this day in age, but the hospital is very supportive of breast-feeding moms. It has been very "non-busy" in the maternity ward (I was told not to use a certain word that scores lots of points in Scrabble and means silence, lack of noise, etc... b/c that was bad luck). A very few other NewMoms have come through since we arrived, and so our NewMom has been able to keep her room.

Evan might get discharged tomorrow, but we are not getting our hopes up. NewMom is spending tonight in her room with Evan, and will rest between feedings. NewDad came home to do some laundry, bring some presents to the house, and get a good nights sleep on his own bed. That last one is coming real soon.

One last thing: Thank you to NewGrandfather and NewGrandmother from Lake Park for all of their support, help, and of course...photos (folder 2006-07-26). Thanks to all the people who were saying prayers for Evan and NewMom and myself. They were felt. Please continue on until we get Evan completely back to full health. Thanks to NewMom for being so wonderful and being a real trooper in the pregnancy/delivery/motherhood adventure. Thanks to everyone and anyone who I am forgetting in my brain-deadness. You are appreciated, I assure you.

That's it. Good night. If anyone calls me tonight with a wrong number...so help them.

--NewDad (who wonders how he is still able to type after all of this)

NBA Arrives on Scene; Decides on Name "Evan Jacob"

Hello everyone! Evan Jacob arrived on Wednesday, July 26th at 11:39 PM. He weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was 19 inches long. He was a little small, but he came two weeks early. NewMom and I want to thank you for all of your support, prayers, and thoughts over the past few days. We are getting along pretty well. NewMom is doing very, very well...she managed about 6 hours of sleep last night in-between feedings, and is up and about during the day. NewDad also got 6 hours of sleep last night, and those 6 hours rate very high on the "Best Sleep Ever" list.

Evan is doing well for the most part, but he does have a pretty good case of jaundice going on. The doctors think it has something to do with NewMom/NewBaby different blood types...don't ask me, I can't figure it out right now. Anyway, it's nothing to be seriously worried about, but he is on the "Bili-Lights" (a UV light treatment bassinet kind of thing) most of the time and had an IV for most of last night and this morning. Our pediatrician is handling the issue very professionally, and we expect to have this thing figured out in the next 24-48 hours. Unfortunately, even though NewMom will be able to leave the hospital tomorrow, Evan will definitely be staying through Sunday...and possibly later depending on how this goes. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Thankfully, NewMom will be able to stay in her room at the hospital until Evan is ready to go home...unless her room is needed for other NewMoms who just delivered. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as well...as it would be wonderful to be able to stay at the hospital with Evan until he comes home.

NewGrandfather has posted many pictures online, some of which you may have already seen . He will be updating his photo website (http://photos.yahoo.com/jariail) . Just find the folder labeled "2006-07-26" and the photos will be updated as he takes more and adds them. Kudos to NewGrandfather for being here yesterday and today to "document" the baby thoroughly.

Thanks to whoever had the blue wreath put up on the fence outside the house...I haven't had time to check to see if there is a note or anything. Thank you very much.

That's it from here for now. NewDad is wiped out, but he'll make it.

Pre-Game Show Wrapping Up; Nursery is Complete!

(Notice the Auburn Tigers mobile. It plays the Auburn fight song.
War Eagle, Baby!)

Yesterday, we were visited by the Angels from Lake Park. Julia (NewGrandmother-T0-Be) who made the bumper pad and mattress skirt seen in the picture above, came to deliver a matching set of curtains for the nursery window. We were informed that we had a problem with the nursery when my sister, Elizabeth (NewAunt-To-Be), made a visit a few weeks ago. Benjamin, the NewCousin-To-Be, tested out the nursery by sleeping in the Pack&Play. When it was his bedtime, we realized that the nursery window faces west and the setting sun lit up the nursery like it was, well, daytime. Hence, the need for curtains. Who should come to the rescue but Julia, Sewing Queen Extraordinaire! Not only did she bring curtains, but she also brought a home-cooked lunch, loaves of Julia Bread, and a pound cake. She gets infinity + 1 gold stars for that. =) Dad (NewGrandfather-T0-Be) came along and took pictures of the whole affair. The full set of pictures can be seen at Dad's Yahoo photo site in a folder marked "2006-07-16." The photo below shows Julia surrounded by her handiwork. Thanks!

(notice the changing table in the background. Thanks to Ken
(NewGrandfather-T0-Be) and Marti (New Grandmother-T0-Be)
for that!)

In other developments, the "going to the hospital" bag is now in the car, along with the car seat. We need to fiddle with the straps on it, b/c right now they're set so tight that NBA probably wouldn't be able to breathe (much like his father, NewDad, as he drives home for the first time). NewMom-T0-Be is doing well with the last few weeks of pregnancy, but is about to die of boredom. She's already put together most of the jig-saw puzzles we have, written most of the thank-you cards (they'll be in the mail soon!), and read almost every pregnancy/first-year book we have twice. With the temperature here reaching 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit every day, she tries to stay inside as much as possible. We haven't started re-watching season 1 of Lost just yet*, but it will probably happen soon.

* If you haven't watched season 1 yet, consider it a risk to your time-management skills. Seriously. The best warning I've heard yet went something like this..."Only start watching it when you have several days with nothing planned, lots of snacks in the pantry, and a full refrigerator." We vaporized our spring break last year watching the DVD set. We know nothing about season 2 yet, and don't want to until we can get the DVD set and watch it.