First Outdoor Adventure

Tried to take Abigail for a walk outside today. The temps were in the mid fifties. The sun shining...

We didn't expect much.

We packed up the car with Gretchen and headed for the rail/trail.

Bundled Abigail all up. Put the stroller together and started to walk.

About five minutes went by before we had this.

Jen holding Abigail, wrapped up in her coat. She wasn't cold, but she wasn't happy in the stroller. It was her first time after-all.

We went about twenty minutes, then turned around and went back.

Maybe next time we'll try something easier like the mall when it first opens for the day.

- b

Poopin Ain't Easy

This was a week ago. Luckily poopin's getting easier with each week.

- b

The Hurt Diaper

Picture says it all.

- b

Silly Spammers

A while back I turned comment moderation on for posts 2 weeks or older.

Most of the time the spammer comments are just jibberish.

Sometimes the jibberish is entertaining like this one:

"Some may feel squeamish about eating it, but rabbit has a fan base that grows as cooks discover how easy they are to raise — and how good the meat tastes."

Or this one with some context thrown in:

"Hello. Great job. I did not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a great story. Thanks!"

It was posted for the Po Po post.

- b

Can't Leave Well Enough Alone

I added another filmstrip sequence to the previous set.

This one has Abigail stretching after a nap. It's a little faster then the others.

I also added manual forward and backward buttons to all of them. Maybe I should add a speed control?

See it all here.

- b

Love the Bath Shots

- b

Night XC Mud Ski

I knew there was mud.

I knew there was a downhill log drop.

I skied down the slope anyway.

I hit the log,

launched off the log,

landed my skis in the mud, where they stopped, but my face did not until it too was in the mud.

- b

New Hat

Abigail got a new hand knit hat. It's super cute.

Thanks to Sarah.

- b

Abigail Found her Hand Tonight

And put it right in her mouth.

- b

Abigail's Birth Story

My Mom's all about birth stories, though after 36 years all I know about mine was it was a Friday and storming.

Before it's completely lost in sleep deprivation forgetfulness, I better get Abigail's down on record.

To give things the most accurate time line, it all started 12:00am Feb. 3rd. That's midnight on Tuesday for those of us that think of midnight as the end of the day.

At this point false labor started for Jen. The contractions weren't consistent by any means, but were enough to keep her from sleeping well. By the morning when I got up, they'd subsided and remained that way for most of the day. Due to the lack of sleep, some new snow, and general feelings of being over-pregnant, Jen decided to work from home that day.

Skip ahead to Wednesday night. I went for a ride with Sean (his dog Yoshi), Rick and Rob at the Dtown trails. With some fresh snow, it was an awesome ride. Sean and I were ripping up the trails pretty well. The dogs had a blast keeping up, while Rick and Rob were glad not to be pummeled by the normal Wednesday night group.

After the ride we were off to the bar to get a bite to eat when I got a text message while waiting to be seated.

"Come home. I think it's starting." It read.

I showed the text to Rob, then ran out the door.

Time now is 8:30pm Wednesday night Feb. 3rd.

She had started her iPhone contraction tracker log around 8pm. Here's what we had so far.

Date/Time	Duration	Frequency
2/3/10 7:59 PM	00:26.0
8:04 PM	00:29.6	04:38.7
8:08 PM	00:24.7	04:32.3
8:19 PM	00:37.8	10:06.5
8:25 PM	00:19.6	06:25.8
8:28 PM	00:23.1	03:01.4
8:31 PM	00:23.9	03:09.3
8:35 PM	00:52.8	03:38.4
8:42 PM	02:18.0	06:42.1
8:45 PM	00:29.3	03:37.5
8:52 PM	00:38.3	06:21.5
8:54 PM	00:29.7	02:54.8
8:57 PM	00:31.1	02:36.6
8:59 PM	00:37.3	02:19.8
9:02 PM	00:23.9	02:38.3
9:04 PM	00:33.8	02:18.0
9:06 PM	00:29.1	01:59.7
Avg	00:36.9	04:11.3

The scene at home was a little chaotic. Jen was running around trying to get things ready, take a bath, and eat some food all the while having contractions. She hadn't gotten very far with any of it and had actually dropped her glass of water into the tub.

First thing to do was clean up the broken glass from under the water in the tub - not an easy task. After that, while she took a bath, I cooked her up some perogies and myself some frozen pizzas. Then I took a shower and we continued packing things.

Date/Time	Duration	Frequency
11:43 PM	00:38.3
11:50 PM	00:09.6	07:16.0
11:56 PM	00:45.5	05:44.7
2/4/10 12:02 AM	00:25.9	06:23.5
12:08 AM	00:16.4	05:36.2
12:14 AM	00:45.6	06:47.6
Avg	00:30.2	06:21.6

Beyond the time in the bath I'm not sure why the lapse in contraction logging was so long. You can see when we were tracking again things slowed down a little, so we went to bed shortly after midnight Feb. 4th.

3am. We were up again with more contractions, so we decided to try and watch a movie ("Knocked Up" of all movies). That lasted 15 minutes before Jen's contractions were distracting her from the movie.

Back upstairs we tried some contraction coping techniques, like laying on an exercise ball.

Again, there was a lag in starting the contraction log, but you can see the average contraction duration has nearly doubled.

Date/Time	Duration	Frequency
6:04 AM	00:57.6
6:09 AM	00:41.0	04:18.1
6:13 AM	00:49.9	04:40.3
6:20 AM	01:10.2	06:18.6
6:24 AM	00:46.6	00:01.2
6:30 AM	01:09.7	05:25.2
6:39 AM	01:24.8	09:56.1
6:48 AM	00:53.5	08:27.5
6:55 AM	00:52.2	06:42.9
7:08 AM	01:03.6	12:57.1
7:12 AM	00:30.0	04:22.3
7:16 AM	01:16.4	04:30.2
7:22 AM	01:05.0	05:51.9
7:28 AM	00:36.5	05:29.0
7:36 AM	00:02.3	08:10.8
7:38 AM	00:24.1	02:07.0
7:41 AM	00:42.3	02:52.6
7:46 AM	00:48.1	05:20.0
7:50 AM	00:41.0	03:35.3
7:54 AM	01:32.8	03:36.1
8:00 AM	01:00.4	06:08.6
8:06 AM	00:55.3	06:27.3
8:17 AM	00:24.2	10:41.7
Avg	00:51.6	05:49.1

I remember at some point we were back in bed around 7am thinking we'd be at the Birth Center before lunch to "get down to business."

Then this happened.

Date/Time	Duration	Frequency
8:32 AM	00:06.4
8:38 AM	01:14.1	05:44.3
8:42 AM	00:37.1	04:05.6
8:48 AM	00:53.6	05:50.1
8:55 AM	00:47.5	07:12.9
9:00 AM	00:20.3	04:39.6
9:11 AM	00:42.0	11:18.0
9:17 AM	00:45.2	06:20.8
9:27 AM	00:23.1	09:51.1
Avg	00:38.8	06:52.8

The average contraction duration fell back and the frequency got farther apart.

???

Jen called the Birth Center and explained the situation. We were now a little over twelve hours and the contractions seemed to be going backwards not progressing. The mid-wife considered it all false labor and said some good rest would be best. She prescribed some Ambien, which I went and got, in hopes that Jen could get a few hours sleep, then we'd see where things were.

She started the Ambien at 10am and this is how things went.

Date/Time	Duration	Frequency
10:21 AM	00:45.9
10:26 AM	00:21.2	05:01.3
10:33 AM	00:42.4	06:57.8
10:40 AM	00:40.7	07:01.3
10:48 AM	00:38.4	07:42.9
10:53 AM	00:18.2	05:06.9
10:59 AM	01:11.8	06:33.0
11:06 AM	00:49.7	06:49.4
11:13 AM	01:06.2	06:39.2
11:18 AM	00:42.6	05:27.8
11:28 AM	00:59.4	09:12.0
11:44 AM	00:55.0	16:44.6
11:52 AM	00:56.3	07:52.4
11:59 AM	00:44.0	06:19.5
12:10 PM	06:06.5	11:20.0
12:22 PM	01:26.3	12:25.8
12:28 PM	01:02.7	05:31.4
12:32 PM	00:46.6	04:01.6
12:33 PM	00:47.5	01:07.2
12:53 PM	00:30.9	20:03.0
12:54 PM	00:03.2	00:46.7
Avg	01:01.7	07:38.2

First and foremost, she didn't sleep. You can see the duration of the contractions went up, which is good, but the frequency got longer which is bad.

So we called the Birth Center again. They said come in and they'll "take a look."

To be continued...

- b

Mother Weather

Thursday night another storm rolled in. Snow and winds averaging 35mph with gusts near 50mph. We lost power twice.

What to do on a night like that?

Go XC skiing of course.

From the parking lot the wind howling through the trees sounded like a war.

As scary as it sounded, the woods was our destination and haven.

Exposed in the open, the blowing snow soaked and stung you quickly. The trees offered protection.

Though the conditions for skiing weren't so great (unless you were last in our group of seven), the night was beautiful and well worth the adventure.

- b

Can't Decide

We've been taking a bazillion pictures with the new camera.

It becomes very difficult deciding which ones to keep, post, print etc.

My technical solution is to create little filmstrips for the groups of pictures I like.

Here's the beginning of what I'm sure will be more.

Abigail Filmstrips

- b

Slung

Jen got one of those Moby Wrap thingy's and today we tried it out.

It worked great for her. She was able to make and eat breakfast while Abigail was wrapped tight against her chest.

Didn't work so well for me.

Not by any fault of mine or the wrap, but mostly because I'm still not mommy.

- b

Compu Trained

I gotta friend that owns a bike shop.

As the link points out he recently bought a second shop.

The new shop has an 8 bike CompuTrainer setup.

Besides hot, sweaty and painful what's an 8 bike CompuTrainer setup?

This.

It's sort of like a Spin class, but a little more sophisticated. We actually use our own bikes attached to stationary trainers and all kinds of electronics. The electronics do things like measure heart rate, rpm, wattage, speed, etc. The electronics also make it harder by applying more resistance to your wheel.

Apply resistance and make it harder?

Everything is linked to a computer and displayed on a screen, so it's a virtual race.

Yeah. A race.

If you look close at the top of screen you'll see the brown that resembles a landscape profile. That's exactly what it is. When the brown goes up, that's a hill and the resistance gets harder (theoretically, it didn't seem to work like that for all of us).

Pretty neat huh?

Uh-huh. Try it. The novelty wears off as fast as you realize you're getting dropped or busting your ass to stay out front of a bunch of guys that aren't actually going anywhere.

At least we had libations to dull the pain.

And a rabbit to chase.

Now if I could only figure out how to draft in this setup.

- b

Newborn Milestone

Abigail gained enough weight the first two weeks to go to feedings on demand at night and feedings no more then three hours apart during the day.

Hopefully this translates to more sleep for Jen.

- b

Today's Abigail & Vera Shots

Took 105 photos today. These are the 4 that were any good.




- b

Goes Without Saying

Meals no longer get finished in one sitting.



- b

The Humdingers

The hospital photographer snapped this shot.

Being in the age of digital, I guess we should have reviewed and definitely deleted this one before it made it to print.

- b

Milk Box Hero

Jen fed Abigail an average of 15 minutes each hour from midnight on last night.

That's nuts.

That fills a baby's tummy, but leaves a Mommy empty on energy.

They're sleeping now.

Hopefully the sleeping trend continues for a while.



ps. I've got Foreigner's "Juke Box Hero" looping in my head when I think about this. As you can tell I tried incorporating it into the title, but it's not quite the fit I wanted.

- b

Hey Abigail, Daddy's Home!

Do you want to spend some time with Daddy? He's had a hard day at work.


But Abigail, Daddy really wants to spend some time with you. He misses you and wants to know all about your day with Mommy.

Hmph.

Fine.

Daddy will just spend his time with Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale.

- b

First Bath

Today Abigail had her first bath.

and decided she preferred to be held my mommy over daddy.

That's alright kid. I'll remember that when want your first curfew extension.

- b

Pictures of Jen

Got a request for pictures of Jen and the baby.

Since I'm not going around shirtless, most of the pictures have mostly been me.

The cat's not so sure.

Like fireworks, the Grand Finale!

- b

Cooped Up

Jen's been inside for an entire week. She wants to see the snow, but I keep telling her it's not any prettier then what you can see from our windows.

The spectacle of watching dudes shovel snow off the roofs of department stores wears off pretty quickly.

Regardless, she wanted to see more, so I put together a little panoramic shot of our driveway.

She was so appreciative she took this shot of me while painstakingly piecing the pictures together.

Isn't she great?

- b

Gas Master

Nobody told me about The Invisible Killer of Calm.

Holy crap does gas make a fussy baby. When you're running on 4 hours sleep and the baby is screaming bloody murder for something you can't feel or touch, you'll think your whole world is coming apart.

The past few days have been nothing but Hapigail Vs. Abigassy.

It's taken a while, but I think I now have the pattern.

1. After feeding, baby will remain awake or awaken. Not fussy, just awake.
2. Wash hands.
   
3. Watch for gas clues - such as weird straining of the neck, tightly squeezed eyes, or odd mouthings.
4. Baby is now screaming at the top of their lungs and won't stop.
5. Attempt to hold them vertically and maybe burp. Lately this has been useless.
6. Do the gas dance with or without your finger in their mouth (comfort suck). Gas dance is cradling baby in your arms while bouncing on the balls of your feet and turning counter-clockwise. Should show results within 1 or 2 revolutions. If you typically have trouble chewing gum and walking at the same time, then I can only offer you prayers.
   
7. Continue gas dance indefinitely - doesn't matter how Fn tired you are and try not to fall down chump. If baby continues to exhibit the gas clue behaviors continue the dance. If baby repeats step 3, continue to step 8.
8. Walk laps around the house. Can probably be replaced with car ride, but who the hell wants to pack up a newborn at midnight and go for a drive - though it may come to this.





9. Continue counter-gas measures (steps 6, 7, and 8) until gas clue behaviors have subsided. This has so far averaged 45 minutes.
10. When gas clue behaviors have ceased, yet screaming continues, you're in the home stretch. Gas will usually conclude with a really messy diaper. Hold tight, cause you're approaching the finish line.

The Prize!


11. Clean hiney, replace diaper, and re-swaddle.
    
12. Wash hands. It may take a few minutes of the gas dance or some other variety to return to a calm baby. This may require more comfort sucking. When baby's eyes reach REM and/or comfort sucking ceases on your water-logged finger, baby is calm and gas attack has passed. Only if the eyes are closed can you relax. If eyes remain open, prepare for an immediate round 2.
    
13. Get some rest, because another one's coming. Expect new or different gas clue behaviors and longer gas attack durations.

ps. remember to love baby like there's no tomorrow.

- b

Two Sleep Shifts

Jen was really exhausted from yesterday, so I took two sleep shifts last night.

Normally Jen handles the feeding and sleeping at night, while I get to sleep.

Since Abigail was quite the food monger yesterday, there was more fussing then sleeping and little rest for Jen.

I've already forgotten the times at which the feedings occurred last night, but I do remember finally getting to bed myself at 3am.

It's not like I didn't sleep at all on my shifts. I actually had a nice little system that I used to insure both Abigail and I slept well together.

I'd lay on my back, then lay her on her back on my chest. I'd then lay my left hand (really just fingers) over her chest, just under her chin, and my right hand wrapped down around her butt. I was baby monitor, dad, vibration, and warmth all at once.

It's pretty tough competing with the services of mommy the milk machine, but I think I'm holding my own.

- b

Bring Home the Bacon

As much as I want to stay home another week from work, somebody's got to provide for this family.

- b

Belly Button

Besides Jen 's breasts leaking at the sound of Abigail's cry, we've hit another big milestone.

The umbilical cord (what was left of it) fell off.

I'll get a picture when it's all healed. Doc. says she'll have a nice little inny.

- b

Bamboo Tunnel

This is what I had to plow through the other night.

And the neighbors cleared the tenants driveway again.

I was so grateful I actually knocked on doors and personally thanked them.

- b

Appropriate Clothes

I got to dress Abigail this morning and decided today she'd look like a boy.

Not really. I did dress her. She did look like a boy, but that wasn't my intention.

I picked an appropriate blizzard outfit with the penguin sleeper, but it was all very blue.

Oh well didn't matter anyway. This was only one of three different outfits she wore today.

Remember that whole "SHE'S NOT PEEING!" bit?

She's peeing just fine now. Conveniently peeing all over herself and us when we change her diaper.

Cleaning her is no big deal, but the clothes get tossed to the hamper and a new outfit goes on.

I think the froggy sleeper was number two.


Lucky for us, she hasn't figured out how to pee on her hats yet. We only have a limited number of those.

- b

Snow Storm Part II - Second Installment

Headed out around 5pm to plow the driveway again. We had gotten around 5 and 1/2 inches since I plowed this morning.

This time the wind was blowing, it was dark and a little colder.

There was less snow, but took three hours to clear. I guess it was heavier. The fact there was no where to push it didn't help either. I swear I went the entire length of the driveway pushing a little to the side on each side (imagine tiny diagonals to each side of the driveway instead of long steady passes down each side).

At one point I had a mechanical. I Had to get a light and a cotter pin to get the plow to lift again. Laying in the cold wet snow under the tractor isn't exactly fun.


The bamboo provided an interesting obstacle/aid. The weight of the snow had it laying across about 40' of the driveway. Cool! That's 40' I don't need to plow, but that's also 40' of bamboo I had to drive the tractor through.

The first time was a little un-nerving. I couldn't see anything and had no idea how long it was. The thought crossed my mind I could suffocate in there from the tractor fumes, but I pulled through and went about my way.

I imagine there will be a third session tomorrow morning to clear away the few inches we get over night and all the drifting that might occur.

I also know we'll be getting a snow blower for next year. The plow is fun at times, but mostly too much work.

- b

Snow Storm Part II - First Installment

Opened the garage door this morning at 7:30 with Prodigy's "Firestarter" cranking in the iPod.

Took two hours to plow the 8 inches we got over night.


With all the snow we had already, it's a good thing I took some time yesterday to push back the piles that were already there. Even with that I still had to do a lot of "high plowing" (leaving the plow in the air, off the ground, pushing the higher parts of the piles back) this morning to make room for the heavy wet eight.

Gretchen had a blast. I'd periodically stop to throw snowballs for her.

The snow is a great work-out for her. She has to jump to get anywhere. Chasing snowballs goes, jump, jump, jump, then root. Throw another and it's jump, jump, jump, root all over again.

I've also been stockpiling water.

With forecasts of 40mph winds, our power is likely to go out; therefor, losing our well. In order to keep Jen's milk machine going, we're going to need water. The rest of us (Jen's Mom and I) can drink beer to survive if we have to.

- b

Real Parents

I thought when we got the big camera, we'd be more like real parents, but

I think it's the fact we've both been to the bathroom with Abigail on our laps that truly makes us real.

- b

Abigail's First Tuesday

If you haven't figured it out yourself already, you might want to skip this blog for a month or so if you're not interested in newborns, because I myself am a huge fan of mine.

Just some random shots from yesterday.

Our baby burrito

Gretchen's doing very well with Abigail

Ducky Feet

Go Go Booties

Asleep on Daddy's Chest - like there's anywhere better?

Hmmm. Maybe Mommy's where you can eat and sleep

And another video

- b