Baby Talk

¿What's more fun than listening to an 18 month old say, "Ahhhh, Shirt"?

Well, having her tell you that she wants to "sit" with her soother still in her mouth is at least a close second.

Astonomy Hiatus

I was too tired, too lazy, and too unorganized to go out and watch the Perseid meteor shower tonight. Even Google had said that it was a good idea to go watch.

Instead, I put in a DVD of Deep Impact. Stuff falls out of the sky in that movie.

Turns out I was too lazy to watch a movie too.

Well, maybe next year -- for the movie. (Maybe in two years or so I can work up to watching real meteors -- don't pressure me.)

We'll never get their names right

The Baby = Maggie
Chloe = The Baby
Chloe = Maggie

We will never sleep

When you have a sixteen-month old and a two-week old, you should not still be losing sleep because of the sixteen-month old.

There's always someone who'll do it

Nothing says "Sunday Evening in Provo" quite as well as shorts, dark dress socks and flip flops.

There is nearly always something extra to see at the botany (duck) pond.

A Different Experience

While this visit to the hospital didn't exactly feel new… we're only 16 months removed from the last c-section… this visit was definitely different.

Unfortunately for Laura some of the differences were not so pleasant. For example, receiving the epidural was much less comfortable. Less comfortable isn't quite right. The epidural was beyond uncomfortable. Laur was quiet, but I saw a long chain of her mouthing "ow, ow, ow, ow" as the doctor jabbed a needle into her spine. And this epidural didn't block out as much of the feeling as the epidural for Maggie. Laura felt much more of the work done on her in her c-section. With Maggie, I had to tell Laur that people full-on yanked with their body weight on her stomach. This time, she was much more aware. This extra level of sensation wasn't so good for getting sewn back up.

Adding to the discomfort of the surgery, our new baby girl is a big one. Chloe was measured at 9lbs6oz and 21 inches, and there was some major pulling to drag her out. The doctor even took the salad spoons after her. I'm amazed at how durable a baby is; the way they are yanked out into the world. The doctors pulled pretty hard on Maggie's legs to drag her out, and they lifted Chloe by her head and neck and she's still in one piece.

I watched both c-sections, although the anesthesiologist this time started out trying to tell me to stand at the head of the operating table. I did eventually move down to the foot of the table to watch like I did for Maggie's birth. This time, I had the camera. We didn't even think about bringing the camera in last time. Last time I wasn't sure if I was going to watch the whole operation or not, or how much help Laura would want from me. I got a few pictures and a few video clips of Chloe's exit.

Laur's anesthesiologist didn't give her the running play by play like the last one did, but he did pull down the curtain so that she could watch Chloe's exit. Between that and the video, Laur has seen a lot more than last time.

I don’t think that there was as much fluid with Chloe, but there was still a lot. Chloe's exit was less stressful (from the point of view of the baby) than for Maggie. Maggie had her cord around her neck, and was zipped right out to the NICU doctors to make sure things were okay. Chloe came out and had plenty of time to start yelling in the OR. What a screamer. I didn't follow Chloe immediately out, so I had time to check up on Laur for a minute and to see the placenta get pulled out. The placenta was a huge, lumpy, uneven, red mass. Between our giant baby, the copious amounts of fluid and the mass of placenta, Laur is easily down 20 pounds. Yeesh.

Fortunately Laur's recovery seems to be easier this time. She seems less sluggish, and getting out of bed for the first time seemed earlier and easier.

Chloe, being big, gave the doctors a few concerns. There was a lot of fluid to expel from her lungs, in part because she was a c-section delivery, and she was breathing a little fast when we got to the nursery; nothing too serious, but just enough to make them watch. They tried an oxygen tent for 15 minutes but eventually we went up to the NICU for a CPAP. Again, nothing too serious, but they just wanted to get her lungs expanded fully so they wouldn't have to worry the whole day long.

Probably the worst difference with this delivery was the waiting. For me, it seemed like the c-section with Maggie was so quick after the arrival in the OR. This time, I felt like I had to keep getting out of the way to wait some more for the initial incision. Laura had much more waiting time than me. Chloe was born at 1:21pm, but by 2:30 or so we were in the NICU. The NICU was supposed to be a one to two hour visit. The CPAP was supposed to be on for an hour. I visited Laur in recovery for a few minutes at 3:30, but it was a while before I really got back to her. There were a ton of births at the hospital yesterday, including at least two sets of twins, so everything was delayed. I sat in a rocker with Chloe for close to an hour waiting for the nurse to come and do the final check out from the NICU. We left the NICU around 6:00pm, and had to go back to the well-baby nursery to get all the stuff done that they didn't do in our last visit. I got to wait there for the nurses too. Laur didn't get to hold Chloe until almost 7:00pm. Laur could have been happier.

Above all, Chloe is a different baby. She looks like our baby, but she's not Maggie's clone. Chloe might have a chin dimple, but if she does it will be like Laura's: mostly hidden, but there if you look for it. Chloe does have big cheeks and a tiny chin, but she has more of a double chin than Maggie did. Chloe has a small mouth, with thinner lips – AND she closes it. Chloe has hair; maybe not as much as Maggie did, and not as much of a curl on top, but some wave to it. Chloe's hands and fingers seem different, and Laur thinks that Chloe is going to have Grandma Phyllis's nose. Chloe's nose does seem pretty distinct.

It's hard not to compare a little here at the beginning, but I think I've always had in mind that our two girls were going to be different; different looking, and different experiences. It will be fun to see how Chloe's temperament will develop. I'm excited to see her personality. It's good to have our baby here. Chloe has had lots of cuddle time with her mama, as they've caught up on some rest after their hard work yesterday. Laur is happy for this baby to be here.

"I can't believe it's all over… there was a lot of baby in there." -- Laura Dee Betts, 1:31am Jul 28, 2009

Chloe Dee Betts

Chloe Dee Betts
9 lbs. 6 oz., 21 inches
1:21pm, July 27, 2009

Not a good day

yesterday was a bad day. i'm just going to list two of the symptoms.

first of all, it was Saint Patrick's Day, and i ended up on campus without a single green article of clothing. if you know me you know that not wearing something green even at random is somewhat of a feat -- not one of my multiple pairs of green shoes, not one of my green ball caps, not even my green belt. no green from this little fish.

the second symptom requires some mental imaging: two giant spoonfuls of Life cereal through the nose (along with the rest of the cereal and milk that came out of my mouth). that's what i get for eating too fast and having a bit of a cough in the middle of gulping down the milk from my bowl. Life cereal is a little reluctant to leave your sinuses. cleanup wasn't the best.

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?