For those interested in the details of the most recent addition to our family:
- 9:00 am – I get a call from my wife. She is calling as she is leaving her doctor appointment for a regular weekly check-up before her due date. She tells me that we have to go to the hospital. The doctor said to be there in an hour because we’re going to have the baby today, even though my wife isn’t feeling any contractions. We decide to wait until lunchtime or she feels contractions, whichever comes first.
- 11:45 – I get home from work and greet my sister, who is over to watch the kids while we’re at the hospital
- 12:25 – We get Alpha off the school bus. They had a half day, so now all the kids are together with some cousins.
- 12:45 – We leave for the hospital
- 1:05 – The nurse chides us for not arriving sooner. “I’ve been waiting since 9:00,” she says.
- 1:15 – They hook up monitors to see how contractions are going. There are some contractions – they’re just slight enough that my wife had been dismissing them or not noticing them.
- 1:30 – two students from a nearby nursing school arrive. It’s their rotation on the maternity floor.
- 2:20 – the doctor comes in and checks things
- 2:30 – the doctor decides she wants to deliver the baby soon, so she breaks the water. The nursing students get to help clean up
- 2:35 – contractions every 3-4 minutes, looks like the doctor will get her wish.
- 3:15 – parents arrive. I greet them and usher them to the waiting room. They do get to peek into the delivery room and say hi.
- 3:30 – epidural is in. Good thing, because the contractions are coming in waves now.
- 3:40 – the doctor checks things again. She brought a resident with her. There are a lot more people in the room this time than for the other 3.
- 3:50 – the doctor and resident get suited up and then the pushing starts
- 4:08 – baby is born. He is silent for the first few seconds, but then he starts crying like one would expect. It’s always amazing how the baby can go from not breathing air one second to breathing air the next second.
For those keeping track:
- Baby #1 – at least 90 minutes of pushing.
- Baby #2 – 20-30 minutes of pushing.
- Baby #3 – 6 minutes of pushing.
- Baby #4 – 5-10 minutes of pushing. I didn’t keep good track this time. Things progressed too quickly and I wasn’t facing a clock.
Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor.
Psalm 48:6
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If this is how your child looks when you take him to a gym and give him a ball:
then you’d better save up for cleats.
If this is how your child looks when you take him to a gym and give him a ball:
then you’d better save up for the bookstore.
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
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My family participated in a cancer walk last weekend. It was more like an anti-cancer walk, since that’s the goal of the deal – to raise money for curing cancer. My mother-in-law has had cancer longer than my wife and I have been married. That’s a lot of chemo over the last 10 years.
She was interviewed earlier in the week by a TV station. People are normally interested in her story because she shouldn’t be doing as well as she is, at least according to conventional wisdom. But the interviewer didn’t ask about that and kept to a list of questions that you would politely ask any stranger whom you’ve just met.
The morning of the event, the station scheduled a follow-up interview.
Live TV.
The goal was to be there in time for the interview (8:00). We woke everyone up at 6:30 and left the house before 7:00. At 7:30, we were a mile away from the stadium. At 7:55, we were a quarter mile from the stadium. At 8:00, we were still a quarter mile from the stadium.
But we texted my sister, so she watched on TV for us. At 8:10, we had parked and met up with everyone else. So close, and yet so far.
Okay, that’s enough of the details. Now here’s some random tidbits of the day.
Venue
Let’s start with the venue. The starting line (and finish line) was in front of the local baseball stadium
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Here are some things that might be helpful for those of you who have or will have a 2YO.
- You can always brush a 2-year-old’s teeth.
If he likes the toothbrushing process, then you’re good because he cooperates.
If he doesn’t like the toothbrushing process, then he cries. And when he cries, he opens his mouth and you are free to brush his teeth.
Now when he turns 3, he might learn to clamp his mouth shut to thwart the attempt at hygiene… But don’t tell him that yet, please.
- Don’t pour as much into a cup as you think he can drink.
Rather, pour as much into the cup as you want to clean off the floor.
- Don’t try to argue with him.
He will be more persistent than you.
Example:
2YO: Where bumblebee go?
Parent: It’s not a bumblebee – it’s a fly.
2YO: Where bumblebee go?
Parent: It’s not a bumblebee – it’s a fly.
2YO: Where bumblebee go?
Parent: He flew out the window. Look there’s a fly over there!
The goal is to redirect his attention.
Or outlast him until his nap time.
Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.
Jeremiah 17:23
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Long-time readers of this blog may remember that Alpha’s bottom teeth did not go willingly. He had his baby teeth and adult teeth together for a while. In electrical terms, it’s similar to a make-before-break switch, as opposed to the normal break-before-make switch everyone else has.
It turned out that his top teeth have the same propensity.
I hadn’t realized it before this happened, but I was looking forward to having a child with that adorable smile where the top two front teeth are missing. Sadly, I have been denied that stage.
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In case you’re interested in my child’s schoolwork:
100 Days
There was a big celebration of making it through 100 days of school. Here is one of the items from that time:
I like that he wants 100 books and 100 carrots. How many kids would say that?
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Let me set the background by saying that the last time the kids had a week off school, a couple of them got the flu. My wife had activities planned throughout that week that she had to cancel, since most of the activities involved seeing other families. So instead of a fun week of doing stuff, my wife had the joy of staying at home with sick kids.
That was months ago. Today is the first day of the next school break. Of course we were wondering if anything would happen to prevent this week’s lot of planned activities.
Sure enough, Beta woke up Sunday morning looking like this:
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This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
