So this is parenting

Harry's active, engaged, and eating like a fiend. At nearly three weeks, he makes eye contact and grabs our fingers with gusto. He has developed a healthy relationship with his pacifier, and shares his dad's love of mandolin music.

On the other hand, he hasn't gained any weight since his last pediatrician visit on Friday, and he still appears somewhat jaundiced. At the doctor's visit last week, Harry had blood taken for his PKU, a comprehensive test that looks at several crucial measurements.

It's clear that the people who designed this test are not themselves parents because it felt positively barbaric. The nurse stuck Harry's heel with a needle and then proceeded to "paint" his blood on a piece of cardboard. The test requires filling four half-inch diameter circles completely, a difficult chore when trying to draw blood from a tiny pin-prick in a baby's foot. The needle wasn't the hard part: the nurse had to squeeze Harry's foot for about 10 minutes to get all the blood she needed. Those 10 minutes felt like 10 hours to Sarah and me.

Since Harry is still jaundiced, we took him to the doctor today, who recommended that we have a blood test done to check his bilirubin levels. Unfortunately, this required another heel-stick and another 10 agonizing minutes of the most painful wailing we'd ever heard. For a 33-year-old man, I've seen my share of hospitals, doctors, and blood tests, but I did not know hell until Sarah and I comforted our son while they squeezed blood from his heel.

A newborn doesn't remember much from one minute to the next. By the time we got home, Harry was more concerned about getting a seat at the milk bar than any pinprick in his foot. His mom and I, however, will bear that scar for a long time. I drove us home realizing that it won't be long before Harry will have to absorb his own traumas, and wishing that I could bear the brunt of them for the rest of his life.

The good news: Harry's bilirubin levels tested at 7.7, which is well below the score that would cause concern. We now need to figure out why he isn't gaining any weight. Sarah's going to a lactation consultant tomorrow morning to double-check her technique. We'll also start pumping milk and bottle-feeding him to give Sarah a well-deserved break, and to monitor his feeding better.

The Labor and Harry's Arrival

So the first two hours of labor were really ok. I was pleasantly surprised. We managed really well. Dan was great and helped me remember to breath, relax etc. Mummy provided wonderful moral support. We were cruising along. But then one contraction was manageable and the next was the worst pain I had experienced in all of my life. We tried to tough it out for half an hour but at that point I was practically desperate for meds. So the anesthesiologist came and miraculously I was able to hold still so she could get it in. But once that happened, relief arrived. Thank goodness. Things progressed with a little help from pitocin. :-) At around 7am, I started pushing with Dan holding one leg and Mummy holding the other - the best labor coaches ever :-). At 8:04am our wonderful babe was born. He came out and Dr Thompson put him on my belly. There was this little being who we had been through so much to create and then waited for, for 9 months, who was finally here. He lay there and started making the same movements he did when he was inside of me. It was the most incredible, emotional, transformational experience of my life and there are not really any words to describe it. All I know, however, is that it really is true that life is never the same again.

The Big Day Finally Arrived!!!

So, you read in all of the pregnancy books about women being worried they wouldn't know they were going into labor. The books provide the reassuring mantra that "you will just know." I took this at face value and felt very reassured. Well, in the early hours of the morning on June 9th, we had a big thunderstorm come through. The night before we had been at a carousing dinner at Daddy's where those who were drinking imbibed heavily and there was much hilarity. We returned home late - after 11pm - and fell into bed. Queue storm at 1:30am and our nervous dog Zebby who doesn't like thunder and ended up sitting next to me shivering like there was no tomorrow. This woke me up and I lay there thinking - oh great, not going to be able to get back to sleep now - what with the dog and the storm. Now, in hindsight, I did have a thought pass through my head about "wouldn't it be funny if the babe were born on the night of a storm." But I didn't think much of it. I was more concerned about the fact that I had only been asleep for an hour and a half and had only gotten 4 hours of sleep the night before - because of waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. However, this time, I was lying there thinking, I feel a sense of pressure in my lower abdomen, maybe I need to pee - a state that is common in late pregnancy. Well, I get up to pee and low and behold there is blood. (Sorry if this is TMI. :-) ) So I call my OBGYN. She says that whilst this is probably nothing, I should go in and get checked out at the hospital. But that we should be prepared to come home again if need be. So at 2am, Dan, my mum (Who had arrived Thursday morning - yay! :-) ), and I pull together the planned provisions - bag for the labor room, bag of provisions for post labor, the bag of snacks for those that would not be in labor etc - and get in the car. It wasn't until we were on our way to hospital that it occurred to me that the "sense of pressure" I was feeling was coming at regular intervals. So we do the thing they trained us to do in the labor and delivery class - to time it. Turns out, they could be contractions! So I am not sure about always knowing. It didn't feel anything like I thought. But at least we were headed to the right place. When we got to Sibley - the same hospital that I was born in those many years ago - the nurse took a look at me and said "Yup, you are in labor." The Big Day had arrived! Yay! :-)

Welcome, Baby!

Sarah will provide details of Harry's birth and first few days with us. In the mean time, this video gives you the merest taste of how his adorableness has enslaved us and made us do his bidding. How else do you think he gets us to change his diapers?

Sarah at 39 weeks and a Weird feeling

Sarah - 39 weeks
Originally uploaded by brownorama.

Last night we were at my father's birthday party. So I dressed up for the occasion and thought that it would be a good opportunity for a picture. However, in the moment, I had a weird realization.....namely that it is likely that the next time we take pictures of me, we will be parents. A strange feeling.......a good one. But strange all the same. At this point it is just the two of us and soon, very soon, we will be three. The belly will be replaced by a real human being. I think both Dan and I worry that we can handle it and make the transition. We have been "two" for so long. But I have confidence that since we made "being two" work for so long, whilst it may be an adjustment, we will be able to make this next stage in our lives together work too.