Freakin'

Both Amy and I have major anxiety when Teagan sleeps. We're completely paranoid that she will have stopped breathing. So, we'll poke her, or pull on her swaddle, or rub her head until she grunts or moves, or we'll hunker down over the bassinet waiting to hear a breath (or a snore, she takes after her dad, at least according to Amy). This evening I almost lost it because I couldn't hear her, just a second before she had a start and scared the crap out of me. How on earth did those of you with previous experience with children get used to this?

Thoughts on 42 Hours of Fatherhood

• To clarify any uncertainty surrounding our daughter's name, it's pronounced, TEE'-gn. Several people have asked for phoenetic a spelling, so there you have it.
• In case you're wondering, we didn't make up her name. Depending on who you ask, it means either "beautiful" or "little poet," both of which we like quite a lot, thankyouverymuch.
• I'll never like changing a diaper, but it's no where near as bad as I thought it'd be.
• Teagan was born with a cleft soft palette. Of the different things which can be "cleft" on a newborn, we're told it's the least severe. She's been inspected by a couple of pediatricians now and they have given her an otherwise clean bill of health. Her soft palette will have to be repaired at some point, but it probably won't be done immediately. In the meantime, it's making nursing somewhat difficult, though she's figured out the bottle so she's getting nourishment.
• I need to work with Teagan on her burping skills. She's way too ladylike right now...
• My daughter is absolutely beautiful. I know that's what I'm supposed to think (one of the nurses told me that God makes babies so cute to their parents so that they'd survive into their teens) and say, but it's true. I just look at her and get all misty. I hold her when feeding her and it's just an awesome feeling. I watch her sleep, and I realize that I'm gonna need a shotgun to fend off all the boys by time she hits puberty.
• My wife is beautiful and strong. Those of you who don't know her as well don't know of her general distrust of all things medical. She hadn't been in a hospital, other than for a visit, since she was born. She's dreadfully afraid of needles. And her pain and "ick" tolerance is pretty low. But she was strong when they gave her the IV (which took three tries, BTW), was as calm as possible when they gave her the epidural (which she had been dreading since she got pregnant because it meant they'd be putting a needle in her spine), and was incredibly brave when they told her that she'd need to have a Cesarean. She never complained about it, even though she was so scared she was shaking, because she wanted what was best for her baby. If she's so willing to face her fears just to get that far, I have no doubt that she'll be a great mom.
• I've made my wife into a geek. We took Teagan to the nursery this afternoon so that Amy could check her email. I've even got proof!

In other news, we're going to be setting up a password-protected photo gallery for Teagan sometime in the near future. We've read about creepy people stealing pictures of infants or children, and either making crude and disgusting comments about them, or altering them in disgusting ways. So, to play it safe we're going the route of using a password-protected site. It will NOT be one that requires you to have your own account, you'll just need to know the password. We'll be happy to share the password with you once we've got it set up. Just send me an email to any of my regular accounts, and I'll be happy to send you the password once everything is in working order.

It's a...?

We're very happy to announce the birth of our daughter, Teagan Rae. She was born Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 3:00AM. Teagan weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz, and measured 19.5 inches. There was some drama around her birth, after 41 weeks and 3 days and a normal start to labor, she ended up being delivered Caesarean. Both Teagan and Amy are doing well. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes!

Also, there should be a picture somewhere on the hospital's website sometime in the next few days:

Hopefully....

... it maybe time. Heading to the hospital. We'll let you know :)

Post Thanksgiving Nap

Ahhh- too cute! The girls survived family visiting on Thursday and today. Guess it must be time for a nap.

Surprise - No, It's Not Bambino

So, Amy and I were sitting on The Couch today, minding our own business, waiting for Bambino to decide whether s/he wants to make an appearance on his/her own or wait for the eviction, when our doorbell stirred us from our slumb... errr.... deep thoughts. On the way to the door, I noticed that, parked in front of the house, was a delivery truck. Surprised, because neither of us was expecting any sort of delivery, I opened the door and accepted the package, which turned out to be from our friends, Bill and Kay. Inside was a card, a pretty picture frame, and this:

This has to be one of the cutest, cleverest ideas I've seen using diapers. Thanks, Bill and Kay, you made our day today :)

Eviction Notice

Went for the "you are late, let's check you out" appointment today. Ultrasound showed everything looking good. They did decide to schedule an induction if things don't happen on their own. We will be busy - November 29th. We were told to arrive at 5:30AM... the kid is already causing us to lose sleep!

Already Challenging Authority

It's 7:25PM on Bambino's due date. No Bambino.

WHAT?!!?

Did I say I was done with my former employer? You'll never guess what I got in the mail today. My employment termination packet, complete with information regarding COBRA, life insurance and 401(K) roll-over information. A full 19 months after I left.

I'm SO glad I got out of there...

Tour of Bambino's Room

At long last, we've finished (more or less) Bambino's room. And since you stopped by, you can get a tour, narrated by yours truly. Warning, the file is pretty big. Lemme know if you have problems viewing the video, we're new at this whole video thingy...