Wednesday, September 28, 2005

New Max Update!

So as of this writing, Max has been home with us for about one week. Max fills his days with pooping, sleeping, eating and being adorable. Last night, Chelsa and I got some sleep, after Chelsa figured out that Max likes to sleep with the radio on. We theorize that this is because of his week in the nice but rather noisy hospital.

His last little strand of umbilical cord fell out this morning, which was nice...that thing was getting a bit gross. As we speak, he is napping with his mom, giving me a little time to write this post and update everybody.

Other pieces of Max info: He weighs a little over six pounds right now. He doesn't cry much, and he consumes roughly 300 to 400 ml of breast milk a day. Everyday he feels bigger and looks around at stuff more. Now some updated pics.



This is Max last week in his car-seat coming home from Sactown.



This is Max and Granny about a day after he got home.



This is Max and Grandma Tillman yesterday. Note the cute zebra blanket. No zebras were harmed in the making of this blanket.



This is Max and me yesterday.




And this last one is Max and his Mom.






That's it for now, with more to come later! Maybe even a video if you get lucky.

Ian (Dad)

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Even More, um, Latest Max update!

Okay, so I'm at work right now. Chelsa just called and said Max would probably be home tonight! New pics for all soon!

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Latest Max Update

Okay all, I just heard from Chelsa at the hospital that Max has all his wires and accessories off...Also no jaundice lamp. So it shouldn't be long now... I'm getting my hopes up a little bit I know... But tomorrow would be a nice day to get a baby! More later.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Max Update!




Chelsa and I just got back from a day at the hospital and thought you might like an update.

Max is doing great! He is breathing without any thingys in the nose and is eating/drinking lots of Chelsa milk. He still has a little bit of jaundice, but that should go away pretty soon.

Until we get him home, here are the latest Max pics. And yes, he is that cute.

Max





On Friday September 16th at 6:25 a.m. Chelsa and I had a son. This is his story.

Early Thursday morning (early for me anyway) Chelsa's water broke. This was cause for some concern, as the due date we had for Max's birth was more than a month away. Chelsa and I drove to the hospital. Upon arrival, the doctor and nurses decided that it was "pretty unlikely" that Max would be born in the next seventy two hours, but that Chelsa would have to stay for at least a few days for observation. To Chelsa and I, the prospect of a potential week long hospital stay was pretty lame, but we decided to make the best of it. Chelsa reported what she described as "mild cramping", but otherwise she was as comfortable as a woman in a one-sided paper gown could be.

Throughout the day, Chelsa and I watched some movies, we called some people, and we waited. Chelsa was continuing to experience “mild cramping”, but did not think she was having contractions. (I should say at this point that Chelsa is a bit on the stoic side. This will come into play later in the story.) Around 4:00pm or so, our doctor went home, still giving us a “less than fifty percent chance” of delivering in the next seventy-two hours. By six-thirty, Chelsa was describing her cramps becoming "more annoying". The nurse ascribed this to the baby’s head pressing on the cervix without the water cushioning it, and that she should just try to get some rest.

By 3:00am, it became clear to Chelsa and I that her ‘cramps’ were becoming suspiciously stronger and more regular. Chelsa got no sleep. I managed to sleep for about an hour in a chair. At 5:00am, I went on a mission to demand drugs for Chelsa. It is my belief that this started a bit of a tiff between the nurses on staff and the doctor. The nurses returned and said that in order to give Chelsa any pain medication, they would need to do an exam on Chelsa. They had not examined her until this point, because with no amniotic fluid, Chelsa and the baby were more vulnerable to infection. If Chelsa was in labor, this would be fine. If Chelsa was not in labor, then the doctor would be needlessly exposing the baby to infection. It was pretty clear to me that Chelsa was in labor at this point, but the nurses were less certain.

Finally at about 5:30, the nurse examined Chelsa. It took about two seconds for her to say “Well, not only are you in labor, but you’re ready to have a baby right now”. The next 20min was a mad dash to get the Doctor to the hospital. At about 6:00am the doctor showed up in jeans and a polo shirt and said “okay, let’s deliver this baby”. And twenty minutes later, without medication, without profanity or even an unkind word to anyone, Chelsa gave birth to Max. And that minute, 6:25 am on the morning of September 16, 2005, is the best minute of my life.

Oh and the stuff I wrote a couple weeks ago about it being gross, well I just didn’t know. When it’s your baby, it’s not gross at all.

As of this writing, Max is a day and a half old. He weighs five pounds and thirteen ounces. While Chelsa was up and walking around about an hour after giving birth, Max requires a little more time. After holding and playing with Max for a few hours, we had to let the doctors take Max to a larger hospital in Sacramento for roughly one week of observation and growth to make sure he is ready for us. Max is about five weeks early, and while he looks like a baby, he is still a tiny bit premature. Letting them keep Max in Sacramento was one of the most painful things I have ever had to do. It doesn’t feel good to come home from the hospital without my baby. But hopefully by next week he will be with Chelsa and I. I have included some pictures in this posting with more to come. I will post as many items and updates as time allows. Chelsa is staying with him during the day and I am visiting him at night.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Baby Room





Today, Chelsa and her expert team of painters will be painting the babys room, whilst I toil away at work.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Brand New Mattress Sale Today Only 6K!!!!

Okay so most people who will read this know that I sell mattresses. That's right...I am a lowly mattress salesman. Anyway, on my floor today...feast your eyes on this Chattam and Wells I just got.

This is the most luxurious mattress I have ever seen. The fabric is cashmere from Belgium. The double offset, flat-sided coils create a hinging action that provides contouring to the shape of your body. The top is a five inch layer of natural Talalay latex.

Anyway, it's about Six grand if you want one. Send me an Email...financeing is available.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Birth:Nature's Grossest Miracle


So Chelsa and I are taking a birthing class. Here are some of the things we have learned there:

1.Birth is cool, yet gross.

2.As gross as birth can be, "afterbirth" is grosser...with no cool new baby to look forward too, on account of you already got your baby during the real, placenta free birth.

3.Babies come out grey/off white...then turn yellow upon occasion.

Our birthing class is exactly the touchy-feeling kind of experience one would expect of our fair city. The class starts with a group discusion. The instructor askes a question "Has anyone had any weird dreams?". It never ceases to amaze me that in class with twenty two people (none of whom know one another) one person will share something personal and disturbing. Girl in class says:
"Sure, Ive had tons of dreams...weird dreams...strange sexual dreams with many partners..."ect.

Our instructor says this is totally normal. So far everything everyone has said has been totaly normal. Perhaps I will make up some stuff to find out if it is totally normal. Then again, it is very unlikely Chelsa will let me.

Despite some slow moments, I have learned some cool stuff.

1.Some drugs are bad, some are not so bad.

2.In the unlikely event that I am called upon to deliver my own child, I am to refer to page 14 in the "Your Pregnancy" packet, section 4.

3.Men have it so, so easy...ya we die sooner...but wow...we just don't have to do anything.

Max kicks during the whole class. Like his old man, he is driven to distraction when presented with the tedium of paying attention to others. I can really see us getting along.