Time has passed. We have a daughter!

Claire was born Aug 25 2009, 11:35pm at Oakland Kaiser. We were supposed to have her at Kaiser Walnut Creek, where I was being seen and where John was born. I went in, two days late, for a non-stress test and then an ob/gyn appointment to discuss if we should induce. At the test, the ultrasound showed I was seriously low fluid and my blood pressure was up. They were afraid I had pre-eclampsia (eclampisia is the cause of most childbed maternal deaths in the US). So, they wanted me monitored in a delivery unit. Unfortunately, the Walnut Creek unit was totally full. They told us to drive to Oakland and check in there. We had to go fast, and we couldn't drop by home and drop off John, who was with us! So we went. I didn't feel like I was dying, and I've has false high blood pressure before, but as we drove I started having mild contractions 5 minutes apart. I thought it was "false" labor. I went into triage and they hooked me up to fetal monitors and took my blood. I was there for several hours. They checked my cervix, 1 centameter dialated, which can be that way for weeks before birth. While there my blood pressure is perfect, but my fluid is low. I want to be induced and be done with it. my contractions get worse and closer together. Finally, I'm screaming through them, still insisting its false labour!
After hours I'm told my bloodwork is fine and I can go home. John has been runing around the hospital causing trouble, being loud and taking daddy away, leaving me laboring alone in the empty triage (empty except for a early pregnancy low class woman with a cough they think is TB, great, yelling and crying at her cell phone, and complaining if John is making any noise). I had been screaming through contractions 2 minutes apart so before I am discharged, I ask them to check my cervix again. 5 cm in 1 hour! They rush me to delivery as I am now in precipitus labour. I'm in lots of pain now, and they are delayed getting the anetheologist, he's in with a C-section. I'm screaming and john is passed out finally at 5pm, needing a nap. He slept until I finally got an epidural, then he woke up and got kicked out by the guy stabbing me in the back, and Charles has yo go with him. I get the epidural alone. I had a very kind nurse who let me lean on her while they tried to steady me. The epidural has to go in during very strong contractions and I can't control myself from writhing in pain. Finally, the epidural is done and I feel 90% better. My mom finally comes for John (we were supposed to call her, but Charles kept holding off, thinking we would be sent home). I was fine until about 9 when my light epidural wore off and I was screaming and writhing again, while the doctors were saying its not possible it wore off. Finally, a worried nurse runs and gets the senior anethelogist and he's a great guy.He asks if I think I can push with a complete epidural and I said I know I can, I did so with John. So he injects into my epi catheter tube (its very very thin and taped to my back). I'm numb to my toes. Perfect! I'm happy for an hour, and then

The phantom Puker

How did this happen? I was watching TV and mindlessly patting and burping Claire. She didn't burp. She didn't make a sound. I noticed I was cold. When I looked down and she had puke on her face, nose, ears, hair, the burp rag, the shirt under the burp rag, my neck my hair. She looks up and her eyes say, "what? who came in here and barfed all over us?"
How did I not notice?
Until the puke got cold. On my neck..

Things John Says That Confuse Me

Really, these are things for which I have no good explanation.

patootie: I am a patootie. So is mamma. How we got this status is beyond me. Neither of us use that particular word. I could see 'touchis' or 'backside.' we usually just say 'butt.'

ghosts / monsters: OK, I understand that he's going to 'see' monsters and ghosts and stuff at his age. He will look into a dark room and say 'there's a ghost in there.' I say 'is the ghost happy or sad or angry?' He'll answer 'happy' and I say 'no problem then. if it's a happy ghost then just say hi ghost.' He looks back in and says 'hi ghost!' I'm confused because I'm not sure what to do if he starts saying that the ghost is angry or sad.

Addendum to 'monsters': Sometimes John tells us that he has monsters in his eyes. We ask if they're happy or sad or angry. I'm not sure how he can tell, but he knows.

doodie: this is another one that he didn't get from us. He also seems to understand the word in context, as in: 'You have doodie in your butt.' My confusion is in two parts (1) how did he know and (2) why is that so funny.

mackers: for macaroni and cheese. I don't know where he learned it, but it's cute.

Working, I'm working!

So John keeps watching me (dad) working on my schoolwork. I sit at the desk in the spare room, typing away on my laptop, checking books and so on.

Watching me type is apparently better than playing with any of his toys.

He especially likes to come over and sit on my lap and try to grab the keyboard and mouse. After "the incident" (go ahead, ask me why my laptop is missing 5 keys... ) I don't let him type.

Yesterday I was working on a paper and got up to refill my coffee. When I came back, John was in my chair trying to make the mouse do something. I said "Hey John, come over here."

"I'm busy, I'm working. Go away."

They start so young these days.

Bug House

in progress

lawerence hall of science

in progress

Oh Mama!

I was watching the first prime-time presidential address one night (I tivo'ed it) and I decided to teach John about presidents. I pointed to the TV and I said, "John, do you know who that is?" and he said 'its OH Mama". I said, that's our new president, President Obama. and John said "President Omama" Now he says it whenever he sees Obama on TV.

saying "eeeeeee"

John was excited tonight when Daddy came home from work. He has been getting more anxious about us going to work/school lately, I guess because we are working 5 days a week again. I stayed home with John and Charles went to work.
When Charles came back, John started running around the house. He was running back and forth across the length of the living room yelling "eeeeeeh! eeeeeeh!"
It was getting annoying so I stopped John and said "What are you doing? (angry tone of voice)"
and John replied " saying "eeee." Then he went upstairs.
Charles said to me well, ask a stupid question...

#2's first photos!

We went in for our first gynecological checkup Monday. The blood work I took two weeks ago came out normal, including some screening tests for genetic problems. They took an ultrasound in the office, so its not that clear. I'll post the image when I get it scanned. The nurse measured the length of the embryo and it appears younger than my last menstrual period would predict by about one week. So, I must have conceived toward the end of my cycle, rather than the middle. The new due date is then August 23, 2009.

My next appointment is in 6 weeks, and they will test my blood again, this time for downs syndrome and neural tube problems in the fetus. I will also be tested for blood sugar.

March 29th, a Sunday, is my next ultrasound. This is the detailed one done with a special machine, and will hopefully show the gender.

Croup? Like for Chickens?

For the past week John has been sick. He has had a sore throat, very nasty thick nasal drip and a deep barking cough. The cold seems stuck in his larynx, giving John a deep raspy voice. The internet tells me this is croup. He's getting better now, but I had to cancel a playdate with Lily last Saturday, which disappointed John (and Lily). The cough was especially bad at night. For the first two night, it would scare him and he'd cry and then his cough would get even worse. Now he says Go away cough! Go away snots! He can blow his own nose now, but he doesn't like it.

Free day at the Academy of Sciences (is not worth the money)

This last Wednesday, we tried to get up early and go to the new California Academy of Science, which has been under construction for the past 5 years and just recently opened up. Its a new eco building, with a green roof, as you can see. Admission is $25 and $12 for children so we thought we would go on the once a month free day. It seems everyone in the Bay Area also wanted to not pay $25, as there was a line around the building and down the park, out of golden gate and down the road. We never did find the end of the line. It was literally the worst line I've ever seen.
We had already bundled ourselves and John up and drove down, paying bridge and parking, so we went the the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park instead. John ran around a lot and made friends with a girl his age. They tore around together and climbed inside the Zen Rock Garden exhibit, throwing rocks. That got John a time out and he had a temper tantrum (dad's note: the girl's mom and I watched them walk up a flight of stairs, and we started following them. When we got to the top of the steps they were GONE! We couldn't believe how fast they were! Finally after about 2-3 mins. we found them behind the barrier, as mom noted)
.

John liked climbing this bridge. He climbed it 3 times, with only minimal help from dad (mostly spotting to make sure he didn't fall).
After a few hours, it was time to go home. John had a nap to take and Charles and I had to go to work.
Next time I decide to go to the Academy, I'll plan to pay!