Wave Hello
Gonna Bust You in the Lip
August
Saturday, December 29, 2007
0 Days: Photo Shoot
A few photos from our guy's first day. Click images for higher-res photos.
Wave Hello
Gonna Bust You in the Lip
August
Wave Hello
Gonna Bust You in the Lip
August
0 Days: Name Game - Final Edition
August Watson Faulkner
Born Dec. 29, 2007 - 3:23 AM
8lbs, 7.6oz - 21" long.
Beautiful, strong, perfect!
Mother: also beautiful, strong, perfect.
Born Dec. 29, 2007 - 3:23 AM
8lbs, 7.6oz - 21" long.
Beautiful, strong, perfect!
Mother: also beautiful, strong, perfect.
Day 274: Day 1
He's here! He was born at 3:23 AM on Dec. 29. 8lbs 7.6oz. 21" long. He's strong, too. Really beautiful. Just perfect. Mary was a trooper, my god. More on that later. Pictures too. A great day!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Day 273: Still Working
So we've turned the corner and labor is underway. Watch this space for news, soon.
Day 273: In the Hospital
So Mary's water broke around 9:30 last night. We were returning from a filling and delicious ribs dinner at Redbones in Davis Square. We've spent the night in the hospital, but still no major contractions, even after steadily increasing dosages of pitocin.
Today would be an auspicious day for a birthday. December 28 was my mother's birthday, and mine is also a 28th (November). I'm hopeful because, though contractions haven't started in earnest yet, everyone says Mary has progressed very well already without them, and labor should be fairly quick after they do.
So we've been here all night, finally got situated in our very nice room around midnight. But since there's been no pain, we've been able to grab a few winks of sleep in between nurses and doctors coming in to adjust dosages and check vitals, etcetera. The reclining chair available to prospective dads is a device worthy of the learned torture specialists of the Spanish inquisition... or the Bush administration. Around 4 AM I transferred myself from that chair onto the cold, hard, linoleum floor so that I might get some real sleep. Which I did, for two hours or so.
Waldron's Hypothesis
While down there, I had time to speculate on the event which might have caused the water break. Since Mary's not permitted to eat, I was thinking how lucky she was to have just come from an enormous meal like the one we had before coming here. And it seems like every woman has a story about how the onset of labor followed some particular meal she ate. I'm pretty sure that it isn't Chinese food, or Indian food, or spicy shrimp, or delicious ribs from Redbones which triggers labor. Hell, the chances are pretty good that any random nine months' pregnant woman has just recently completed some notable meal or another.
However, maybe it isn't what they eat, but rather, the fact that they ate a big meal. In early human history, given the absence of medical assistance combined with the prospect of a lengthy labor, mightn't a woman who recently ate a large meal be stronger, better able to survive labor than one who hadn't? If so, wouldn't a propensity to delay labor until a large meal has been eaten confer a distinct survival advantage that would quickly spread throughout the gene pool? Seems to me that survival advantages directly tied to reproduction are the ones which would be the ones quickest to take root as an evolutionary change.
Just a thought.
Today would be an auspicious day for a birthday. December 28 was my mother's birthday, and mine is also a 28th (November). I'm hopeful because, though contractions haven't started in earnest yet, everyone says Mary has progressed very well already without them, and labor should be fairly quick after they do.
So we've been here all night, finally got situated in our very nice room around midnight. But since there's been no pain, we've been able to grab a few winks of sleep in between nurses and doctors coming in to adjust dosages and check vitals, etcetera. The reclining chair available to prospective dads is a device worthy of the learned torture specialists of the Spanish inquisition... or the Bush administration. Around 4 AM I transferred myself from that chair onto the cold, hard, linoleum floor so that I might get some real sleep. Which I did, for two hours or so.
Waldron's Hypothesis
While down there, I had time to speculate on the event which might have caused the water break. Since Mary's not permitted to eat, I was thinking how lucky she was to have just come from an enormous meal like the one we had before coming here. And it seems like every woman has a story about how the onset of labor followed some particular meal she ate. I'm pretty sure that it isn't Chinese food, or Indian food, or spicy shrimp, or delicious ribs from Redbones which triggers labor. Hell, the chances are pretty good that any random nine months' pregnant woman has just recently completed some notable meal or another.
However, maybe it isn't what they eat, but rather, the fact that they ate a big meal. In early human history, given the absence of medical assistance combined with the prospect of a lengthy labor, mightn't a woman who recently ate a large meal be stronger, better able to survive labor than one who hadn't? If so, wouldn't a propensity to delay labor until a large meal has been eaten confer a distinct survival advantage that would quickly spread throughout the gene pool? Seems to me that survival advantages directly tied to reproduction are the ones which would be the ones quickest to take root as an evolutionary change.
Just a thought.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Day 272: Random Updates
Took Mary to the obstetrician this morning. No major physiological changes since a week ago, which is disappointing because Mary is finally beginning to feel like something is changing. "I definitely feel more ready now than I did a few days ago".
While there, we discovered that the hospital had been expecting us for inducement on the 30th, not the 31st, so now we're scheduled for inducement on Sunday, if necessary. I still have the feeling we won't need to wait that long. But if we do, it's good to start Sunday, rather than on the 31st, because it improves the chances that the baby will be born in 2007, which would confer a considerable tax benefit to us. So that's good news.
Meanwhile, we may have come to some resolution regarding the name. Not sure yet. Stay tuned.
While there, we discovered that the hospital had been expecting us for inducement on the 30th, not the 31st, so now we're scheduled for inducement on Sunday, if necessary. I still have the feeling we won't need to wait that long. But if we do, it's good to start Sunday, rather than on the 31st, because it improves the chances that the baby will be born in 2007, which would confer a considerable tax benefit to us. So that's good news.
Meanwhile, we may have come to some resolution regarding the name. Not sure yet. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Day 271: A Symptom?
Finally, three days after our due date, a symptom. Mary complained of swollen feet last night. Unfortunately, that's all the news I have.
I was not permitted to publish a photo of the feet in question.
Still no other signals of pending action. But stay tuned, I'll try to keep posting with updates as events warrant.
I was not permitted to publish a photo of the feet in question.
Still no other signals of pending action. But stay tuned, I'll try to keep posting with updates as events warrant.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Day 268: D-Day
Today is December 23 - our due date. Mary's sitting here next to me on the couch enjoying a glass of juice, happy as can be. Not a twinge. I think we're destined for a post-Christmas baby.
Christmas day would be a good birthday. So would the 28th, which was my mother's birthday. Plenty of good birthdays left out there!
Christmas day would be a good birthday. So would the 28th, which was my mother's birthday. Plenty of good birthdays left out there!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Day 266: Scheduled
Two days away from our due date now, our doctor has scheduled Mary for inducement on Dec 31, at 8:30 AM. That's if it's needed, because the same doctor also says she doesn't expect us to make it that far. That gives us a chance at a Dec. 31 baby, which would be a good birthday, and gives us a likely Jan. 1 baby, which would OK, though not idea, from a tax perspective.
I was shooting for tomorrow because I like the idea of his having a birthday on Dec 22 this year, which is the winter solstice. The point of this would be that his birthday would be tied more to the celestial position of the sun, rather than our imperfect calendar. Also, to counteract the down-side of his having a birthday so close to Christmas, we've been thinking of celebrating his birthday half-way 'round the year, in June, instead. Having a winter solstice birthday would give us a tidy way to find the date for a celebration day that's exactly half a year away from the birthday (that is, we'd celebrate on the summer solstice).
So I've given Mary a deadline of midnight tonight to go into labor, in order to have a good chance at a winter solstice birthday (Dec. 22). So she's got eight hours to go. Just checked with her, and she's not feeling anything, so it doesn't look good for the solstice idea. Oh well... at least we're scheduled.
I was shooting for tomorrow because I like the idea of his having a birthday on Dec 22 this year, which is the winter solstice. The point of this would be that his birthday would be tied more to the celestial position of the sun, rather than our imperfect calendar. Also, to counteract the down-side of his having a birthday so close to Christmas, we've been thinking of celebrating his birthday half-way 'round the year, in June, instead. Having a winter solstice birthday would give us a tidy way to find the date for a celebration day that's exactly half a year away from the birthday (that is, we'd celebrate on the summer solstice).
So I've given Mary a deadline of midnight tonight to go into labor, in order to have a good chance at a winter solstice birthday (Dec. 22). So she's got eight hours to go. Just checked with her, and she's not feeling anything, so it doesn't look good for the solstice idea. Oh well... at least we're scheduled.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Day 265: Five Days Away?
Just a quick update: we're officially five days away from our due date now. As I mentioned last time, our doctor predicts we won't be going too far past our due date, however, apart from a few midnight "cramps", Mary feels that nothing is really happening. Mary's definitely big, but there have been no real early signs. She thinks we're a long way away, at this point.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Day 256: Ready
They say a couple is never "ready" to have a baby, that you shouldn't delay starting your family until everything is just right, because you'll never get there. I understand what they mean, but we're ready. We're ready materially, psychologically, and physically.
Materially: we've got a ton of baby-related property, there's nothing left to acquire. We've got brand new, top of the line stuff, from crib to stroller to wardrobe. We've at least four things in the apartment that can serve as a bassinet. He's a wealthy baby indeed, and he isn't even here yet.
Psychologically: I think we're as ready as we can be. We know our lives will change in a huge way, even if we don't understand the detail of that statement.
And physically: according to our doctor yesterday, it looks like Mary is getting "ready", as well. Our doctor predicts Mary won't go terribly far past her due date; seemed very certain there would be no need to induce labor.
That was good news to us because we've been worried. Mary's feeling better than ever, at a time during pregnancy when she's supposed to be feeling worst of all, impatient for the kid to just get the hell out already. Instead, her hack pain has mostly gone away, and that was really the only unwelcome symptom she was feeling, other than the occasional kick under the ribs. ("Your baby is a kicker!"). If anything, she may even feel better pregnant than not... she's had maybe two or three headaches this whole time, when she used to have that many each week. We're still trying to figure out if that's related to something she's stopped taking (e.g. caffeine) or started taking (those crazy prenatal vitamins & other healthy foods), or just some kind of good chemical in her body from being pregnant. Whatever the cause, we're hoping its effects will extend past delivery.
She's still walking to work, no late-pregnancy waddle at all. She still climbs up and down the stairs to our third floor apartment several times a day, with no trouble and no complaint. She takes late evening walks in the December air with me and the dog nearly every night. She doesn't act "ready", but the doctor says otherwise. Looks like he's going to be here in time to have a positive impact on our 2007 taxes... might be the only time in our lives this kid actually saves us money!
Materially: we've got a ton of baby-related property, there's nothing left to acquire. We've got brand new, top of the line stuff, from crib to stroller to wardrobe. We've at least four things in the apartment that can serve as a bassinet. He's a wealthy baby indeed, and he isn't even here yet.
Psychologically: I think we're as ready as we can be. We know our lives will change in a huge way, even if we don't understand the detail of that statement.
And physically: according to our doctor yesterday, it looks like Mary is getting "ready", as well. Our doctor predicts Mary won't go terribly far past her due date; seemed very certain there would be no need to induce labor.
That was good news to us because we've been worried. Mary's feeling better than ever, at a time during pregnancy when she's supposed to be feeling worst of all, impatient for the kid to just get the hell out already. Instead, her hack pain has mostly gone away, and that was really the only unwelcome symptom she was feeling, other than the occasional kick under the ribs. ("Your baby is a kicker!"). If anything, she may even feel better pregnant than not... she's had maybe two or three headaches this whole time, when she used to have that many each week. We're still trying to figure out if that's related to something she's stopped taking (e.g. caffeine) or started taking (those crazy prenatal vitamins & other healthy foods), or just some kind of good chemical in her body from being pregnant. Whatever the cause, we're hoping its effects will extend past delivery.
She's still walking to work, no late-pregnancy waddle at all. She still climbs up and down the stairs to our third floor apartment several times a day, with no trouble and no complaint. She takes late evening walks in the December air with me and the dog nearly every night. She doesn't act "ready", but the doctor says otherwise. Looks like he's going to be here in time to have a positive impact on our 2007 taxes... might be the only time in our lives this kid actually saves us money!
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