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.

5 Weeks! Or is it 2 weeks? Or 7 weeks?

As of today, we have exactly five weeks to go until NBA's due date. According to all of the reading we've done and classes we've attended, anything from 37 weeks on is considered "full-term." Up to two weeks after the due date is also considered normal. So, that means that NBA could theoretically arrive as soon as two weeks from today or as late as seven weeks from now. We're not exactly on the edge of our seats just yet. However, NewMom-To-Be did wake me up the other night as she was tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. In my confusion, I thought she was going into labor and that we had to get to the hospital right then. Thankfully, calmer heads prevailed and I immediately went back to sleep. However, the "take to the hospital" bag has been packed and is sitting by the door. I am confident that I will grab everything else in the house on our way to the hospital, only to leave the all-important bag sitting by the door.

NewMom-To-Be is doing fine as she starts the ninth month of this fun-filled adventure. She thinks the baby has turned, as she is reporting frequent kicks to the ribs. Apparently, there is no longer enough room in there for NBA to swim laps. Sleep is going into a declining phase now, interrupted by kicking and frequent trips to the bathroom. She and I had a startling moment today when we both realized (OK, I realized...) that these last few weeks were the last time we'd get 6+ hours of sleep for quite some time. NewMom-To-Be is prepared for this, as we recently bought a chair to go in the nursery for her. While picking it out, I think one of the major criteria for NewMom-To-Be was "can I pass out at a moment's notice in this chair?" We picked a good one, and the saleswoman said that a NewMom would be comfortable snoozing in the chair while nursing the baby.

A few weeks ago, we went to the hospital's childbirth class to learn everything we needed to know for the delivery. We had to watch "the video." I don't think it was the most graphic version of the video, but it did leave us feeling overwhelmed with details. I think that by watching the video, we learned many things that we will not do. Here goes:

1) We will not have our entire families in the delivery room. We love you guys, but hey...you gotta draw the line somewhere. Some of those families in the video were NUTS!
2) An epidural will most likely be in the works. (This seems to be the 3rd-trimester question that NewMom-To-Be gets most often. 1st trimester = "When are you due?" and "It's gonna be a long, hot summer!" 2nd trimester = "Is it a boy or a girl?" followed by "Do you know what you're going to name him?")
3) I will not hip-chuck the OB out of position to grab the baby as he is being born. OK, it wasn't that bad, but there was something almost like it in the video. Honestly, I'm paying the doctor to deliver the baby and not drop him on the floor...I'll watch from the other end.

Other than the class, we've had a quiet summer here so far. I'm sure that things will get more interesting at our house soon. Just check back in two to seven weeks. =)

T-Minus 79 Days and Counting...

Well, all is mostly well in the land of the third trimester. Apparently from all the advice we've been hearing and reading, every woman's experience with pregnancy is different. Let me summarize NewMom-To-Be's pregnancy so far through my eyes:

The First Trimester
I refer to the first trimester as the "time of nausea." NewMom-To-Be's experiences there matched up with many of the things she had read or heard. Thankfully, her experiences in this trimester were of an average variety...she didn't get close to the extreme stories we heard of nausea. These were pretty scary and do not bear repeating here. Why any pregnant person who is currently experiencing the joys of nausea would want to hear these stories is beyond me. Many people were very eager to share their experiences, though. I have two hypotheses for why this might be:

1. Nausea/Pregnancy stories are the female equivalent of a "fish story," ie..."my nausea was so bad..." Really, how bad was it? "Well, since you asked..."
2. Women are competitive. My observations lead me to believe that there are two ways to win the pregnancy "competition." First prize goes to those who sail through pregnancy and sum it up with "Nausea? Oh, yeah...I felt pretty sick when I watched my husband cleaning the catbox." These women earn the jealousy of all pregnant women who are not so fortunate. I think that some of the women in the latter category would like to "share" some of their misery with those in the former category. Second prize goes to those whose nausea was so bad that it required all kinds of medical intervention. To them, goes everyone else's sympathy/empathy. It is well-deserved.

The Second Trimester

I will refer to the second trimester as the "time when clothes still fit." NewMom-To-Be had lots of cute maternity outfits. The most important thing about these was that they fit. NewMom-To-Be had a good time showing off her belly and enjoying the attention she was receiving. This time is now over, and with it goes the whole idea of clothes actually fitting. I will stop writing now before I get myself in trouble.

The Third Trimester

I think the current trimester could be described as the "time of the overprotective NewDad-To-Be." Maybe it is because I'm seeing NewMom-T0-Be's belly growing bigger every week, but I swear my whole attitude is changing towards protectiveness. For example, early in the pregnancy, I'd try to walk on the "outside" when walking with NewMom-T0-Be in a parking lot or on the sidewalk. Thoughtful? Sure. Probably not so effective when you're run over by a "crazy driver*" who is having a cell phone conversation that is more important than your life, but it's a nice thought anyway.

Now that we're in the 3rd trimester, things have changed. When walking into a restaurant today, we were crossing in front of some cars pulling into the parking lot. I felt like breaking out the blaze-orange vest, crossing-guard stop sign, and bullhorn. After getting cut off a few times on the highway and facing some more crazy drivers* trying to beat the left-turn light, I felt like putting strobe lights all over the outside of the car and one of those "student-driver" signs on the roof, only changing it to say "pregnant woman on board." It would probably be cheaper to stick with the "student-driver" text, though...everyone stays the heck out of the way of those people. =)

Perhaps I'll just start driving like those crazy drivers too. Maybe that will make everyone else stay far, far away from our car.

Oh, and I can already hear the fathers out there thinking..."He has no idea. Wait until he gets the job of driving NewMom and NewBaby home from the hospital." Hmm...two questions come to mind. First, can you rent a tank from the Army? Second, can you strap a car seat into one?

That's it from pregnancy-land. =)

*"Crazy Drivers" is a term coined by my father. I think he wrote the book on defensive driving. My take on learning to drive from him? Assume everyone else on the road is crazy. Thanks for the driving lessons, Dad. They're still paying off. =)