Hoops

i forgot to write about October's big event. i presented my prospectus and passed that phase of my Master's program. yes, it is a little late in my program for a prospectus presentation, but my program hasn't followed a normal schedule. i changed my thesis topic, changed my courses and dropped one committee member in exchange for another. all that adds up to doing my prospectus late in my Master's program.

my prospectus presentation was a good experience overall - it cleared up a few things for me to do in my research and writing and my project got a little smaller; a little more focused. the most important thing was that i passed.

the next in line was my oral exam. i was thinking that i'd taking that exam the week before thanksgiving. then my advisor announces that she's scheduled my exam for the 13th of November. ¿!? okay... i guess that's alright.

one of the side effects of the slightly early scheduling meant that i got to stand up in front of my Community Ecology class to lead the question and answer period on Wednesday of this week. one of my committee members teaches Community Ecology and he wanted to give the class an example of what happens in oral exams. i was definitely glad that i hadn't slacked of on that day's reading assignments.

the odd part about having to lead the discussion this week is that i am the only student who has had to lead the whole class in discussion. originally the plan for the semester was to take turns leading the discussion every other day; trading off between students and the professor. after i was picked first and led a less than animated discussion, the professor decided to change the discussion days to small groups. at least a couple of other students have had to get up to draw a diagram on the board and describe that diagram, but it hasn't quite been the same as what i've had to do.

getting back to the scheduling... i made a mistake and didn't make sure i met with the final committee member to secure the schedule. i made some attempts to meet, but those meetings got delayed. this gave my advisor too much wiggle room.

on Wednesday of this week (the 5th - the same day as leading the discussion), i got an email informing me and the rest of my committee that there were scheduling conflicts so my exam was going to be bumped up to today (the 7th). ¿¡what!?

now we come to the best part. on Thursday, as i was on my way to finally talk to the third and final member of my committee, i was followed into the room by my advisor. as i asked about the scheduling issues with Friday, i found out that my advisor had forgotten that i was scheduled for NEXT week. she didn't realize that she had bumped my exam forward a whole 6 days. yeesh.

i could have been a little more comfortable this morning for my exam. 8:30am, there i was. some of the questions were good, some were out there. even if i wasn't as comfortable as i could have been, i don't think i was nervous. Laura asked me if i thought i was ready, and i said that it didn't matter at that point. if they failed me, then we'd just reschedule my exam and the next try would be a little more focused.

---

well... i thought i wasn't going to find out the results until late this afternoon because one of my committee members had other places to be right after my question-and-answer period. it turns out that the other meeting was cancelled and my committee was able to meet right after i left the room. i found out 20 minutes ago.

i passed.

one more hoop is behind me.

Voting quandry resolved

ever since the voter information packet came in the mail, i have had one question in my mind:

"¿can i vote for SUPERDELL?"

this may be my one chance to vote for this loony. ¿are there any oddball bragging rights earned for voting for Dell Schanze in the Governor's race?

then as i was looking through the information for the other candidates i can vote for, i pulled up Schanze's webpage just to see his platform... yeesh.

i think that Schanze is the only person in the world who could call Utah's current Governor an "anti-Christ socialist" and be serious about it. socialism and the Republican Party is an odd enough of a mix, but ¿the "anti-Christ" accusation?

Schanze has listed himself as "Christian" as his religious affiliation, instead of LDS (which he is unless he has changed his relationship with the LDS Church). i'm not sure if we should be grateful for that distinction. i won't be surprised if SUPERDELL announces that he has just revealed to himself, through his own divine intervention, that he is to start up his own fundamentalist christian church. if you know anything about this guy, expect to see the baptismal font right next to the gun range, WWDD billboards and commercials, and Schanze will be the only speaker at all of the services.

at least i have my answer. i can't vote for Schanze, even as a joke and even though my vote wouldn't have mattered in the race. i just can't be responsible for giving someone so unstable any sort of ground to stand on in order to justify his lunacy.

MONKEY!

a fellow master's student and co-worker pointed at a sticker on his lap top and said, "See, I put this on here for you."

it was a sticker of one of the chimp characters from the upcoming movie Space Chimps that he had pulled from off a banana.

"i've got a nephew who looks just like that," i said.

my co-worker calmly reflected, "Oh, the one who was at the baby blessing?"

sorry Daxon, the secret's out.

(Limb, put down the hands from behind your ears.)

Fixing what isn't broken

as i sat down to type up and edit a couple of blogs, i found a horrible fact.

!!!NERD ALERT!!!

for a solid fifteen years or so, i have been a regular user of some keyboard shortcuts using the ALT key and the number pad on the keyboard. it's a quick way to add symbols(¢£¥♂♀), or those handy diacritical marks when i would write stuff in spanish or french (éçêñ). but above all, it allowed for the quick use of "¿". i use "¿" so often, that when i write stuff for school or for my students i have to proofread to delete them all so i can appear more professional (or at least not so informal). it's just automatic to type these shortcut keys, and NOW...

the blog doesn't recognize all of these key strokes, and even interprets some of these key combinations as me trying to navigate away from the page i'm working on. i had to use Notepad to get the symbols that i put in this post, and even Notepad won't give me the degree symbol or the approximate sign (you know that wavy equals sign).

i use all these symbols all of the time, and if they don't work it's really going to wreak havoc on my typing skills if i have to slow down and remind myself to not hit those keys. the short cuts are so much easier than going through all of the mouseclicks and scrolling to insert a symbol. up until now practically everywhere you could type text accepted these shortcuts. somewhere someone is ruining a good thing.

¿who could i even complain to, to try and stop this horrible trend?

¿Recreation?

a few years ago, some friends of mine informed me that the second week of july is "National Nude Recreation Week".

i just don't think that i have enough sunscreen.

happy holidays

¿Where'd the Cheese Go?

Before it's too late...

Let's face the facts. They have disappointed you. It's time to take some action before they disappoint you again. Notify them that you are expecting a change in their behaviour with this notice of disadulation.

http://disadulation.com/

Click here for further clarification.

Final Results

Laura's been home for a few days now. After five nights in the hospital, Laura came home. Both Laura and i were nervous for her to leave the hospital with how hard it was for Laura to get around on her own. Surgery Thursday morning, on our way home on Tuesday at 1:00pm.

The doctor said that the cyst was easily the size of a football, but the biopsy came up with the expected benign result. There was some pancreatic tissue on the cyst, but i don't really know if that means the cyst originated from her pancreas or if it was just so close to the pancreas that the cyst started taking up some of that material too. i don't think the doctors know either. She'll get another CT scan later this summer to see if they caught everything.

Laur has done so well with the recovery. Bumps in the road (even the little ones) aren't fun, so she hasn't been away from the house much. We did take Maggie for her two-month check-up on Friday. For the first couple of days Laura couldn't get up off of the couch without some help. Yesterday and today, Laura has been getting off of the couch by herself while still holding Maggie. Laura doesn't look comfortable while she does it, but she's a little more self-sufficient each day.

Dr. Garry said that Laura might not feel like she's up to full speed until six weeks after the surgery. Laura says that she'd prefer 20 c-sections to having to go through this surgery again. It's just so crazy that Laura had that cyst and Maggie inside her all at once. Laura's really doing quite well, and Maggie and i both happy to have her home again.

Tales of Future Past

Laura said that watching a TV medical drama from a hospital bed was a little surreal. The program seemed much more three dimensional with Laura's own IV stand and other hospital equipment on the boarders of the television screen.

There is something to be said about what the environment adds to an experience. Even with the convenience of DVDs, i still prefer to see a movie in a theatre where you can see the film where it is presented in it's intended format. In addition, the experience is different because you're seeing the film with a group.

The connection between Laura's program choice and Laura's environment reminds me of a time when i watched a movie just for nature of the environment. i didn't really like the movie when it first came out and i'm not sure if i liked it this time through either, but the opportunity provided by the presentation format was hard to pass up. The environment for the experience was provided by several people's visions of the future of entertainment.

i saw the movie Tron (one of the first major movies to use computer animation) that was recorded on a Betamax tape that had been recorded from a Laserdisc. (they even kept the message to turn the disc over in the middle of the video recording.)

my roommate had a whole bookshelf full of Betamax tapes and two working players. i needed to watch at least one movie for the early 80s throwback. how could i pass up on seeing Tron?

like i said earlier, i'm still not sure if i liked the movie, but the experience was worth it.

(the image in this post came from http://www.benzilla.com/ and you can find ben's professional portfolio at http://www.trainedchimp.com/)

Sleepovers with Maggie

Maggie has had three nights with just me at home. we've done okay together. Maggie has been surprisingly good for me. she's been eating well when i feed her, sleeping a little longer than she was before laura's surgery, and only fussing a little for me as i try to take care of the night shift.

laura was worried to send maggie home with me. she doesn't trust me to play mom. all joking aside, i was worried about taking maggie home because i am a deep sleeper. our first night home, arriving after 3:00am, i was scared that i was going to have more problems than just waking up for maggie when she cries. i was sure that i was going to fall asleep in the middle of getting maggie ready for bed. during these three nights together i have drifted a couple of times while feeding her, but after a few tries at keeping the bottle in her mouth i usually wake up enough to finish the job.

Maggie starts out each night sleeping in her own space, but she ends up in my bed each night. she shares the bed well. i put her blankets over her, and then pull my sheet and blanket over top of that too. Maggie likes to keep arms out from under the blankets and free to wave around, so the extra covers on the rest of her are good to keep her warm.

Getting Better

yesterday was not laura's best. laura had a rough night as they tried to decrease her pain meds. with such a long incision, it was hard for her to breath deep enough and i don't think that she rested well all night. for most of the day yesterday laura felt nauseated, and achy. she said it was like she had a bad flu most of the day.

by lunch time they had approved laura to start eating more than juice and broth, but laura only had a little apple sauce and some jello. some of that apple sauce came back up.

laura did get out of bed three times yesterday and made at least one loop around the floor each time. in the late evening laura started to feel a lot better, even with the second review of apple sauce.

Maggie was on good behaviour by then too, so we got to stay until 12:30am, keeping laura company. at one point, all three of us had drifted off to sleep.

today appears to be a much different story. laura got up and did two loops on the floor, had her bandages changed (laura got to look at the her suture and the incision is LONG), and even sat in the chair for a while. laura ate some of her mostly liquid breakfast, she's not as achy, and she's started into her lunch for today. best of all laura was feeling well enough to hold maggie for a little while, once maggie and i came back to the hospital for the day.

One Long Day: back at the hospital

it's 3:25 AM and Maggie and i just got home from the hospital. this has been a very long day.

last night Maggie didn't let Laura get much sleep (only between 1:00 and 3:00am) and Laura was scheduled to be at the hospital by 5:30am.

once we checked in and were in the pre-op waiting room the nurse told Laura that she didn't know why the hospital didn't a call last night, because Laura's surgery had been bumped to the second time slot. Laura had been scheduled for the 7:30 surgery time, but now we had to wait for one surgery before us.

close to 8:45 (just past the three hour mark for us at the hospital) Laura was taken to the room where she'd get started with the anesthesiologist and i was sent down to the surgery waiting room where I'd have to guess on Laura's status for the next few hours.

i spent my time watching the hands move on the clock and waiting for the waiting-room nurse to give me updates on Laura's condition. this was interspersed with phone calls to Laura's parents and my mom. the first calls consisted of me telling them that Laura's surgery hadn't even started even though it was close to the time that we had expected that Laura would be out of her surgery.

i saw Laura's surgeon talking to the family of the previous operation just after 9:30am, but i was a little surprised when the nurse told me at close to 10:00am that Laura probably wouldn't begin until 10:20, because of the time it was taking to prep the OR.

two more hours of watching the clock hands and the nurse finally told me that Laura would be on her way out and going to the recovery room soon. now i was just waiting for the surgeon to come and talk to me to let me know how things went.

just after 12:15 i got to speak to Dr. Garry. Laura's surgery went well and they have no reason to suspect that the cyst was anything but benign. Dr. Garry ended up making a midline incision to open Laura up. the cyst was larger than a nalgene bottle and probably closer in size to a regular loaf of bread. the cyst wasn't really attached to anything, so they think that it had just formed as a bubble in the layers of membranes around the mesentaries. the top part of the cyst was close to Laura's pancreas so they had to be careful with that part of the excision, but they don't think that it was actually attached to the pancreas or anything else for that matter.

i was up in Laura's room before 1:00 and my mom and then Laura all arrived within the next half an hour. Maggie was good for me during the whole operation. being up all night may have been the reason she slept so much for me. Maggie was also very good for my mom. she fed well from her bottle and kept quiet or slept well in my mother's arms. my mom stayed until nearly 10:00pm, which gave me a little time to take care of Laura and i even went home for a nap of almost a two-hours.

this surgery is a lot harder on Laura than the c-section. not only did Laura have to go through her dreaded IV, but she's got the pressure cuffs on her legs again (to prevent blot clots, but unfortunately anchoring her to the bed and making her feel that much more helpless and claustrophobic.) the pain medication is taking more out of Laura, and the incision and surgery were much more invasive. Laura's even been hooked up to oxygen because of the way the pain medication makes her breathing so shallow. i don't know how long the incision is, but the dressing runs essentially the full length of Laura's abdomen, from sternum to waistline.

Laura has been tired, itchy and sore, and feels rather helpless when it comes to taking care of Maggie. after my mom left, Maggie was less pleasant. we walked the halls, and then walked the halls some more. Maggie wouldn't cry until we'd get back to the room. Maggie threw a couple of fits that were stressing us all out. i was tying to change diapers, take care of Laura a little and get Maggie to calm down and i wasn't doing well at any of them. Laura was completely spent. Maggie's crying and being tied down to the bed with a big sore spot where Maggie would usually lay is hard on Laura.

Maggie gave Laura a few moments to hold her, but finally i just had to pack Maggie up and take her home. mom and baby both needed some sleep and Laura wasn't going to get any with Maggie there.

It has a name

This week i learned a new word from the A Way With Words podcast: philtrum

Here's the definition that Martha Barnette, one of the co-hosts of the show gives at her website under her "Learn a New Word" tab.

philtrum
(FILL-trum)

The vertical groove between one's nose and upper lip.

The ancient Greeks' word for "love potion" was philtron, the source of English philter, which means the same thing.

Though no one's sure why, the Greeks also used philtron to denote the dent in one's upper lip. Some have suggested that it's because the shape of one's philtrum resembles the type of small vial used to carry such a potion. Another possibility is that it's the site on the body where such a potion was often applied.

Martha also noted an idea from Talmudic tradition with regards to this lip indentation. The tradition starts with the idea that all babies still have a perfect knowledge of God while still in the womb. (Other sources say that the unborn child has a perfect knowledge of all things in the world.) According to the Talmud (Niddah 30b) just before each child is born an angel is sent who touches the lip of each child to make the child forget. Thereby child will not be able to speak what it once knew. The indentation is there to remind us all that this life is meant for us to study and learn the things of God.

One more time

Today we went to the hospital so they could take some blood and review Laura's medical history before her surgery. i got to tend Maggie while Laur was getting poked. The bottle finally came off of Maggie's face and i held her up on my knee to give her a little air. The nurse looked over and said, "Look at that! Just like Daddy."

i was surprised how quick the nurse said the same thing i've been hearing from family and friends. To me, she just looks like Maggie, but i guess i'm going to have to accept that she looks like me. i hope Maggie is okay with it. Poor kid.

Too poor

Today we got our notification letter from the IRS with regards to the financial stimulus package that every tax-paying american is going to get. With me only working part time hours and Laura now working as a full-time mom we were looking forward to some extra money in the bank.

i opened the letter and read "$782". ¿$782? Last i heard it was $600 dollars for each adult in the household. ¿Why only $782 and why such an irregular ammount?

On the back of the letter i finally read that the possible amount was $1,200 >>OR<< our "2007 net tax liablity". We get back the money we were supposed to pay in taxes.

i did a lot of scattered work last year for more employers than i would have liked as i waited to get back into the school cycle (and employment). Basically, we're too poor to get the full $1,200. For some reson the Goverment doesn't want to refund more taxes that we paid last year. RUDE!

Maggie's Twin - !GINORMOUS!

well, we have the most definitive information so far.

one of the things i didn't talk about during Laura's first ultrasound was the extra surprise. after checking on Maggie, the ultrasound technician took a peek at Laura's innards to see if the ducts from the kidneys were kinked by the baby or if anything else was cramped. while you're in a doctor's office and someone is giving you an examination and they say, "oh", that's not the most comforting of situations. The "oh" was followed by an extended pause. then she typed "cyst" on the screen and pressed the button to take a picture of the display. this is how we were informed that Maggie had a playmate while she was growing inside of Laura.

right up to the ultrasound i had been teasing Laura that she was going to have twins. there they were. we definitely heard the jokes about how fun it was going to be that Maggie was going to have a little "cyster".

Laura had an MRI on the 3rd of December, just to make sure that the cyst wasn't a danger to mom or the baby. the MRI was suggested because the ultrasound tech couldn't tell if the cyst was coming from Laura's liver, her kidney or her pancreas. the proximity of the cyst to so many potential danger zones gave Laura an early trip to the hospital but nothing was found that made anyone nervous enough to do something before Maggie was born.

with Maggie born, Laura could have her CT scan without endangering Maggie. The CT scan was on Friday, April 18th, to see if the picture was cleared up with out a big swollen uterus getting in the way. still, no one said anything about what was up with the cyst. eventually Laura was told that she had an appointment with a surgeon on Tuesday, May 13.

Laura was getting her mind set for a surgery on the 13th, when we got a call they day before to let Laura know that she was going in for a consultation and not the surgery the next day. Laura's stress level bumped up a level or two because it was now apparent that the possibility of a "procedure" was being pushed aside by the likelihood of an "operation". Laura didn't sleep much that night. this fluid filled cyst was getting more complicated all the time.

Meeting with Dr. Thomas didn't do much to alleviate Laura's concerns. having one surgeon say that he wants to turn over the surgery to a liver specialist but he still hopes to be in on the surgery to see what is actually inside you is a little spooky. no one wants to be the interesting case that the other doctors want in on.

finally today, the 16th of May, we got to see the specialist. he did the regular consultation then the internet connection came through with the x-rays and we got to see the scans of Laura's guts.

This thing is Huge!

it was easy to see that there was an object inside of Laura taking up quite a lot of room.

the top of the cyst comes in behind Laura's liver and her intestines, even pushing the duodenum out of place a little. it does tuck around her gall bladder and the ducts from the liver but Laura is healthy (no jaundice or digestive disorders) and the doctor doesn't think that the cyst is malignant. the cyst at it's widest point seemed to push over to nearly the midline of Laura's torso, and it stretched down pressing Laura's kidneys to the back. it's crazy that Laura has something so big inside of her and that it was there for the pregnancy too. the cyst starts just under her rib cage and stretches down to the upper part of her pelvis. the cyst could come off of anything from top to bottom: off of her ovary, off the membranes around her guts, or off her liver or gall bladder etc.

i'm waiting to see how Laura feels once this thing is out. Laura has felt well, no jaundice or digestion problems. Laura had all of the blood tests during her pregnancy and even some extensive labs on her urine for a 24 hour period when she had some blood pressure issues.

between the multiple ultrasounds, the c-section and a CT scan it's all part of the grand tour through Laura's insides. Laura would be content if this tour is over soon. surgery will be next week sometime.

Good Words

there are some things i just can't pass up.

one of my favorite words to use is "the interweb". i try and be helpful and let people know when they can just find something on "the interweb".

just recently i've decided that i will add "genetical" to my vocabulary - e.g. just because i was born via c-section and my baby was born via c-section doesn't mean that it's genetical.

i love an awkward silence.

(even if it's only a stutter.)

Things not to tell your wife: the first in a series of helpful hints for the domestic lifestyle

First on the list for this week --

"Watch. If I press really hard on the baby's soft spot she'll sneeze."

(coming next week - "Things not to do to the baby")

Troubled child

Elementary school is a confusing place and an often terrible place to send children, and by terrible i mean something that instills terror. Kids at that age are burdened by the juxtaposition of the desire to reason things out for themselves and the lack of experience and judgement to not come to faulty conclusions. Then we put a bunch of them together all at once for eight hours, thank you very much.

From my own experience, i can remember walking up to a girl and basically saying, "you are chinese". She was probably of Asian decent, but she was quite adamant that she was in no way chinese. i was definitely confused. Why couldn't she tell that she was chinese? She looked just like "chinese". my friends had told me just what "chinese" looks like. For all i know, she could have been adopted, and as young as we were she probably had no idea about any other ancestry besides being from Utah.

The reason i've even been thinking about this is because of all the talk about my Maggie looking like me. i've heard it plenty of times already, and i hope that her looks won't be too heavy of a burden as she grows up. i look back at my pictures growing up and half the time i can only see my mouth weighed down by heavy cheeks and hanging open and my heavy eyelids giving me a perpetual drowsy look. i look like i've got downs syndrome. i'm telling you truth when i say that someone was serious when they told me that they wondered if i was a regular passenger on the short bus. (Then again, maybe that question was in their mind not based on my looks at all -- yeesh. It was my destiny to be an awkward child.)

Maggie does have some of her mother's traits. As i've said before, Maggie's dimpled chin comes from her mother. In addition to her chin it is obvious that Maggie's feet and her hands definitely belong to her mother. These exceptions are also a comfort because it's not just facial features that can supply a little childhood anxiety.

i remember being on the elementary school playground, sometime probably before third-grade, and having an older kid sitting in the swings give his assessment of who i was. i will admit that i could put on a pair of shorts and the bottom hem of those shorts seemed to easly reach down to eclipse the tops of my socks. i will also confess that i could put on grandpa's hat and the hat wouldn't fall down over my eyes, but i could not convice this kid on the swings that i was not lying when i said i was not a midget. Short little kid with a long body and a big head - to what other conclusion was that kid supposed to arrive?

good luck Maggie. i'm sorry.

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As long as were on the topic of poor logic, check out a couple of episodes of what might be my favorite radio program: This American Life.

Listen to the prologue (six minutes) on Kid Logic and the prologue and first Act (18 minutes) of A Little Bit of Knowledge. Each program is good as a whole, but not quite as light-hearted as the opening minutes.

Maggie is Home

Laura and little Maggie are doing well. Laura checked out of the hospital as early as she could and we were on our way home Friday afternoon.







here is a picture of Maggie sitting in her car seat wearing the outfit that Grandma Betts gave us for Maggie's trip home. Laura and i didn't realize how small Maggie is until we saw how oversize the newborn outfit is.





our first night with Maggie home went well. all three of us got some good, albeit interrupted, sleep. it's hard not to just let Maggie cuddle with you and fall asleep together.

Maggie's bilirubin levels were a little high when we left the hospital. today was a little cool outside, but the sun was out so we stripped Maggie down to her diaper and lay her in the sunlight on our bed. Maggie got a good hour of bright, warm sunlight shining on her little body.

we first put one of her socks over her face to shade her eyes, but in the end it seemed like her face was shaded enough to rest well in the sunlight.

watching her in the sun it was easy to see all of the little wispy hairs covering from her legs on up to where the wisps on her forehead fold into the hair on top of her head. the way she stretched and kicked in the sun was quite endearing.

look at the way she has spread those toes in the sun.

you can also see that Maggie was a breech baby with the way she holds her legs. she folds up into these little frog poses or this "little-Buddha" pose that we captured in the afternoon of her third day in the hospital.

Laura Stuttered

Once Maggie was born, i went with the nurse out of the Operating Room to get Maggie weighed, measured and cleaned up. Laur didn't come. I guess the doctors wanted to sew her up first.

Once Maggie was relatively clean and wrapped up, i got to take her back into the OR so Laura could see her. Laura's head and shoulders were secluded behind the make-shift wall of a big blue sheet for the whole birthing event. Maggie and Laura needed a chance to meet each other face-to-face.

i walk over to Laura holding Maggie in for her to see. Laura with her first look at Maggie says, "She looks like yo- Bum chin?!?"

Maggie's dimpled chin is hard to miss and i think it's the cutest. Laur was just a little suprised to see such a prominant version of that trait. i like the dimple because it's an easy way to know that Maggie's her mother's daughter.

Blood and Guts

it finally came down to the appointed hour. Laura of course didn’t sleep much more than a few 15 minute bursts during the night. she stayed up late and was up before 4:00am. i was rolling out of bed shortly after 4:30am. here is a picture of Laura on our way out the door to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

our hospital check-in at 5:30am was quick and soon enough the nurse was taking Laura’s vitals and Laura was getting prepped for the birth. the wait wasn’t exactly short, but the hospital staff was busy enough that we didn’t have much time to get antsy. Laura said that 7:30am is the first hour that the hospital schedules an operating room, and Laura was rolling down the hallway shortly after 7:15am.

all of the doctors and nurses were ready to go. i was wearing my nice white paper suit, booties over my shoes, a super-sized elastic-bound cap that must have been made for someone with two heads, and a face mask. white must be the choice to indicate that i was the one useless person with no medical knowledge in the OR: don’t ask me for help.

i wasn’t sure how i’d be during Laura’s c-section. i don’t think i’m particularly squeamish, but i wasn’t sure if i could handle seeing that it was Laura who was getting cut open. i held her hand until the first incision started and then i moved to the foot of the table to watch the operation. i kept checking with myself to make sure i could get a head start back to the chair stationed at the head of the operating table before i passed out, but i watched right on up to Maggie’s complete exit.

the early cutting involved an electric scalpel that cauterized some of the veins on their way in. Laura only had an epidural so she was alert for the whole birth. i wondered if the smell of burning flesh bothered her at all, knowing that it was her that was burning.

there wasn’t much blood all the way down to the uterus. i couldn’t really distinguish much between the different layers they were cutting through until they got down to the uterus. the nurse standing next to me told me that it was the uterus, but it was easy to tell that there was a solid, rounded surface that had been uncovered.

most of the c-section was uneventful. i did wonder how much Laura could feel when each of the two doctors grabbed a corner of the incision with both hands and leaned back with their body weight. it turns out Laura had no idea what was going on. she didn’t even know when Dr. Savage had both hands with a straight-armed-press onto Laura’s stomach to help force Maggie’s head out in the end.

Laura really liked the anesthesiologist because he gave the play-by-play and kept Laura updated on each of the steps of the operation and Maggie’s progress out of the womb. Laura wasn’t completely secluded behind the blue curtain hung across her chest.

with the uterus laid bare, the real action started. once they cut into the uterus there was enough blood flowing that they finally had to use suction. THEN they broke Laura’s water. Laura gushed. with all of the recent ultrasounds, you could see plenty of space around Maggie. The doctors with the ultrasound were looking for that sign of sufficient amniotic fluid when they wanted to try and turn Maggie so she could be born naturally. there was plenty of amniotic fluid, the suction was working over time and Laura still spilt out onto the floor.

there was so much to see in the remainder of the c-section that it is hard to remember exactly how it all happened. Maggie’s right foot came out first, and all alone. Maggie’s skin was gray and messy with a hint of purple, but what can you expect for someone living in those conditions. her little leg didn’t seem substantial enough to hang on to. she seemed so soft and squishy. the doctors used her leg and hip to help maneuver her bum, and finally her other leg out into the air. this was followed by more tugging and pulling to get the torso and arms of this rubbery mass out of Laura. i could see all of our baby except for the head.

at this point the surgical doctor, Doctor Jones, said that the umbilical cord was around Maggie’s neck. i think that ever since Laura heard that my mom lost a baby to a tangle with the umbilical cord, Laura has been nervous that our baby would risk the same danger. i can’t really remember much, but i do know that i saw the umbilical cord pulled flat against Maggie’s tummy and tightly tucked into the womb. it was just a few quick steps and the cord was cut and i was exiting the OR with a nurse carrying Maggie in her arms. the ICU call button had been pressed on our way out and before Maggie was fully settled in to the bassinette an ICU doctor and nurse were standing on either side of our baby.

i was nervous for our baby, but added to that i was worried that Laura was freaking out back in the OR. fortunately Maggie started to cry as she was laid down and pink flowed quickly under her skin from her head and chest down to her feet. Laura’s other fear about the birth was that Maggie wouldn’t be breathing when she was born and that we wouldn’t hear her cry. Laura even had nightmares about this. Maggie was crying, but on the other side of the OR door, so i was sure that Laura was in a panic not hearing her baby announcing her self to the world.

i almost told one of the nurses to go back into the OR to tell Laura that Maggie was crying. Laura had been wondering if Maggie was okay because the OR was so quiet. Laura had no idea that we had left the room. the anesthesiologist told her to listen carefully and Laura tuned in to the faint sound of Maggie’s screams. i was enjoying the unobstructed performance at full volume.

Maggie’s birth was a little bit of a scare for a moment, but it was easy to tell that she was going to be alright. Doctor Savage said that with the umbilical cord the way it was, a natural birth would have been a disaster. Maggie knew what she was doing when she wouldn’t budge when they tried to turn her a week ago.

Thanks to Drs. Jones, Groesbeck (the anesthesiologist) and Savage (Laura and Maggie’s Family Doctor) and the nursing staff at UVRMC. To the right is a picture of Maggie with Dr. Savage after she cleared Laura and Maggie to check out of the hospital.

She's my girl

i sent out some pictures of our Maggie in the evening after she was born. for one of my friends, Maggie's picture apparently cleared up the question as to whether or not this new baby belonged to me. he's only joking when he makes those comments about the questionable paternity, and i know he jokes because he's not quite sure why Laura puts up with me.

Laura is sure that Maggie looks like me. other family members, even on Laura's side, have made similar comments here and there on the pictures i've posted. i'm not so sure if she looks like me. if she were similar to my baby pictures, i'd think she'd look a lot more Downs Syndrome-y.

i'm not sure who she looks like. she doesn't have attached earlobes like her mother, but she doesn't have four earlobes worth like me. it'll be a while before we find out if she's got more of my blue or her mother's hazel. her fingers and toes look like they'll be long and slender like her mother's. newborn baby-noses are almost all the same little button just above the mouth, but she's got a fair amount of lip which Laura claims to be from me.

probably the most salient characteristic Maggie has is her dimpled chin, which is a Tanner trait. Laura has a slight dimple in her chin, as does Laura's mother. Laura's Uncle Jim and her Aunt Linda have more promenant dimples than Laura or Grandma Phyllis.

as for how i feel about this baby, i think that she feels like my little girl. we've all been in the hospital for two days, so this separation from our home might not let the fact that our girl is ours settle all the way in. nevertheless, Laura is so happy to hold her and take care of her, and i can't help but cuddle this child again and again. i think we've got a fair understanding that she belongs to us.

In Mamma's Arms

Laura is very happy with her new baby (and i am too).­ Laura seems to be recovering quite well.­ some of the nurses seem impressed at how well Laura is doing.­ once she was unhooked from the IV and other junk, Laur was immediately out of bed on her own to stretch her legs and back.­

Laura's pain levels have been really low.­ she's only been uncomfortable a couple of times and she has been taking low doses of pain medication.

Maggie knows how to let EVERYONE know that she's not content, but it doesn't take long for her mom to calm her back down.­ it's fun to see Laura take care of our little girl.­

Maggie's first visitors

With no immediate family closer than an hour away, and all of Laura's family in Canada, any visitor on the first day is an exceptional event. Grandma Betts left her after-work meeting early to make sure that she got her time in with little Maggie. Grandma was happy to hold her newest grandchild.

This picture of Maggie and Grandma is important because it shows you how much hair Laura had when she was... oh, let's say FIVE. Maggie has most of her cousins beat on the Evanson side when it comes to the hair that they were born with, but on the Betts side she might be on the low side of average.

Grandpa Betts knew his duties as soon as he came into the hospital room. He greeted everyone quickly and then got right to taking pictures of Grandma and Maggie together, and a few of Maggie and her parents.

Grandpa did get his turn with Maggie, but gave Maggie up early so Grandma could have one more cuddle from Maggie before her grandparents left. (Grandpa knows his place.)

Maggie's first visit went well. We know she's got plenty of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins eager to meet her.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Maggie Phyllis Betts
7 lbs 6 oz
19 in.
March 25, 2008; 8:00am
mom and baby appear to be doing just fine.

Maggie was born at 8:00am, via cesarean section. she wouldn't budge from her "heads-up" position even after an attempted turning the week before. she arrived one week early to the day. (i was hoping that she was going to be an April Fool's arrival, but i'm happy to have her here.)

i watched basically all of the delivery. laura had several ultrasounds over the last week and a half, so it was no suprise that all of Maggie's limbs were tucked up over her head. each one was a little struggle to pull out. she was out soon enough and crying well.

Happy Birthday Maggie!