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Sunday, October 28, 2001 Work from Home So far this telecommuting to work is workin great. Too bad I can't do it all the time :( ------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 Redline to Tampa Babies R Us mailed us our glider and ottoman set via UPS and the glider arrived with a great big split down the middle. After several hours of phone tag, the best response I got was that UPS should never have shipped it, and that I would have to return it to the store to make an exchange. So my dad and I spent the whole day in a car driving to Tampa and back. Highlights:
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Tuesday, October 23, 2001 The Pump So earlier today we were using our newly rented hospital grade breastmilk pump, sort of like an oil derrick the size of a breadbox. Kristin has successfully latched Parker on, I was expressing milk from the other breast, and then the phone rang. And I said, "I thought it was awkward when people called when you're having sex!" Getting Parker to feed the past few days was a task that even Hercules would have shied away from. But now he's getting back on task with a vengeance. For a while there, all I could see was Parker manacled to a table made of pure gold, while a giant breast hung menacingly over him. "Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Parker, I expect you to feed!" I think Parker could give Sean Connery's performance in Goldfinger a run for the money :) ------------------------------------------------
Leave 'em Outside in a Papoose A friend responded to the email we sent out about Parker's birth, congratulating us and asking us if we'd like to go out to dinner last weekend. Some people don't seem to understand 'major abdominal surgery' and 'newborn'. Well, you can't really blame him - he's a swingin' bachelor ;) ------------------------------------------------
Monday, October 22, 2001 Fussy Feedings So today we met with a lactation consultant - Parker had decided to go on strike this weekend and could only be fed with the bottle. The highlight of the meeting was when I handed the consultant a bottle with an improperly attached nipple. Glad to see her sofa (and Kristin's clothing) was so absorbent. But Parker went back to business later, so things are back to peachy keen. For the moment. And he likes to sleep in four hour stretches - another Godsend. ------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 20, 2001 The Weirdos Come Out At Night So tonight I went in search of some medication for breastfeeding mothers to give Kristin some relief. To my surprise - I could not find it in either our local store or at a nearby Publix. Instead, I had to go all the way to Gainesville and find an Eckerd's to obtain it. This is the final straw in a loft already short a few bales - finding any product for expecting mothers or recently made mothers is very difficult. I find this hard to accept, as it seems to me that many women will eventually need and seek out these products - it's a market not tapped enough in today's society. At Publix, I saw a girl of indeterminate age with the type of make up that makes 14 to thirty year olds seem the same age. Dressed in a next-to-nothing see-through outfit, she nearly caused a wreck in the parking lot as some guys in the truck heading towards me did their best Linda Blair impersonations as they passed her. Inside the store, I saw her date - dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. It must have been a full moon - between them, the teenage couple making out in the Wendy's parking lot, the woman in a purple shiny top with matching eyeliner going on and on about her haridresser of indeterminate sex (penciled eyebrows, bright red hair, and huge biceps), and the woman walking two immense Saint Bernards in the Publix parking lot, I think I saw a good cross sampling of the Alachua county looney bin. Add one semi-awake, scruffy looking newly-made dad to the list :) ------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 Happy Happy Joy Joy Remember that Ren and Stimpy episode where they joined the Army Tank Parartroopers? When Ren goes a little crazy and chops a bed into kindling, repeating the phrase "No sleep. No sleep. No bed, no sleep. No bed, no sleep!" ? I really know now what he meant. And Kristin has had even less sleep. And this is after two days. What kind of walking automatons will we be in one week? ------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 He's Here! Parker was born yesterday at 4:55 pm - he was nine pounds and four ounces and perfectly healthy! ------------------------------------------------
Monday, October 15, 2001 Here he Comes! Today will be Parker's B-Day! The doctor decided that we should go ahead with a c-section this afternoon for a variety of reasons (none of which were indicated by the non-stress tests). We're nervous and scared, but anxious to see Parker. Come 4:30 or so, we will. ------------------------------------------------
Friday, October 05, 2001 Stressing Over Stress Tests So yesterday Kristin had her second "non-stress" test at the Hospital. All of the concerns we had with taking them - from their high false positive rate to the steps that followed - nearly came true. Parker apparently is a cousin of Wally West, and puts his belief that he is the 'fastest baby on Earth' to the test. As Kristin was forced to lay on her most tender side, Parker moved more than usual. When she finally shifted out of the position the nurse had put her in, Parker's heartrate shot straight back to his normal baseline. To the nurse, this was a clear sign of heart deceleration. She told Kristin to be prepared for a c-section! Well, luckily our doctor came, and after spending forty minutes trying to figure out the hospital's ultrasound, determined that the baby was probably fine. We get to go back Saturday for another non-stress test. Joy. Could be worse, I guess. Someone at work told me his child was diagnosed as having no kidneys in the womb. The kid's twelve today and in perfect health. Science marches on! ------------------------------------------------
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Monday, October 15, 2001 Parker Alton Harrison Stevens 4:55 pm via C-section 9 lbs. 4 oz., 21" long 40w+5d gestation  ------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 13, 2001 Very Pregnant Three days after my due date.   ------------------------------------------------
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