Why can't a woman be more like a man?

A friend was lamenting about the temperament of his young daughter. I really liked his email and thought I'd share a snippet.

" ... (she's already stubborn, which bodes poorly for her teenage years (I truly understand teenage boys, but have no skills for understanding the teenage females mentality--I find it to be quite peculiar, mostly because it has no semblance of concrete conceptualization or rational reasoning (clever alliteration here), sometimes older female's also suffer from this thought disorder, which I have termed feminine thought dyscrasia, another form also exists which I call feminine mood dyscrasia--a woman can have both conditions simultaneously, a condition which I have termed feminine compound dyscrastic disorder (FCDD)--mostly it has to do with making irrational decisions based on too little data too quickly and without consideration for the male's natural level-headed and rock-solid state, which I refer to as "normal")). I also figure since you're good at math you'll understand my generous usage of parentheses ..."

Bryan

Time Conundrum

Last night was a long night. It was longer than the night before. Today
was a very long day. Seems like if the night is longer the day should be
shorter ... maybe I'm just tired.

Bryan

Pearl's first bath

A couple days ago we gave Pearl her first bath. It turns out that she hates it. Well, she likes having her hair washed, but she hates the rest of it. Anything to do with naked skin and getting wiped really ticks her off. She doesn't like baths. She doesn't like having her diaper changed. She really doesn't like getting weighed at the pediatricians office. Use the following link to see the pictures.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59438&l=e4402&id=573592525

Bryan

Hairy Back ...

Our little girl has a super hairy back! She might rival my bro Danny. You'll see pictures of it if you click on the link below. Nat and I are now completely in the enamored stage. We keep the camera out at all times and take pictures of her endlessly. We are just trying to ensure that she has an adequate amount of vitamin D ...

We love to show her to people. She is like our little trophy and we hold her up and say, "look at what we did. Isn't she great!"

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58756&l=76f07&id=573592525

Bryan

Life Has Just Begun

When I was pregnant I had begun to have serious doubts that all the suffering of pregnancy and the looming responsabilities of parenthood might not be worth giving up many of the freedoms of adulthood that I enjoyed. I began to look at my delivery date as the day when life would be over as I knew it and as such, tried to "live it up" as much as I could hanging out with friends and savoring my hobbies, etc. But now that I have met Pearl and have had the pleasure of her company for the past 4 days, I have concluded that life actually began for me when she came out. I have felt more intense love and complete peace from parenthood than ever in my life. My love for Bryan has been augmented and she has found a place in our family that seems like it was always there for her. I think I can finally begin to understand what parents mean when they say that raising kids is the greatest of life's joys.

On a different note, my delivery was definately unexpected and the c-section was not what I wanted, but I have come to terms with it and am just glad to not be pregnant, even though it feels like my abs are on fire when I try to use them for anything. They extracted little Pearl from my stomach and weren't able to show her to me until just before they wisked her away to the NICU to treat her underdeveloped lungs. This didn't even bother me because I felt so much overwhealming peace that she was safe and all was relatively well. They laid her next to my head so I could see her and kiss her good-bye and I began to cry from happiness. The docs who were sewing me up all popped up in surprise thinking I was in pain, but the nurses calmed them down reassuring them I was just emotional. When I kissed her, I thought her skin was the softest thing I had ever touched in my life. The word precious doesn't even do her justice. Here is a pic with Pearl wearing her "going home" outfit from the hospital when she tried out her carseat for the first time:

I have had a great time taking daddy-daughter pics since Bryan loves to snuggle with her so much.

Just to be fair, here's one of me looking slightly bedraggled after my fist day home.

The most beautiful girl ever ...

Here she is ... miss Pearl Burningham. I'm in love. She is the most perfect thing I've ever seen.

Last night Natalie had her water break at 11:20 pm. The midwife told us to come into the hospital. Pearl was still breech, so we knew that we were going to have a c-section. Two hours later we had baby Pearl. She initially had immature lungs and had to work very hard to breath. She was wisked away to the NICU where they put her on a CPAP machine, gave her a dose of medicine in her lungs to help them develope and started an IV. A couple hours later she had shocked all the nurses by her recovery rate and was off of everything except the IV. After proving that she was able to nurse a couple of times, they discharged her from the NICU and she is all ours. What a day ...

Nat is doing great in her recovery as well. The nurses have christened her the "Model Mom," because of her exemplary recovery.

Pearl is 6 pounds and 7 ounces. She is 19 3/4 inches tall.

Use this link to see some pictures of her first day:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57812&l=65770&id=573592525

Here is a video of how we have spent this, the longest and best day of my life.

Bryan

First Trial Run Passed

Well folks, we are not parents yet although you could say we passed our fist trial run of delivery. We went to the hospital yesterday fully expecting to get induced, but were sent home after spending the morning there getting a test done (amniocentesis) to see if the baby's lungs were mature enough for her to be safely taken out. She didn't pass the test to all of our shock and surprise, so we were told to maybe come back in a week, maybe 2 weeks, depending on her lung development. We were both quite disappointed because although we only had 2 days notice to get ready for the induction, we were really geared up and excited for it when it came time to get it done. We spent the day before running around like chickens with our heads cut off getting last minute errands run and buying preemie baby clothes. The day ended with a nice dinner at Maggiano's which was absolutely lovely- it was my first time.

We have some not-so-convenient dichotomies going on with this pregnancy. We need to get the baby out as soon as possible because of the cholestasis, but can't until her lungs are ready. She is also still breech so I have been told to lie down with my butt elevated as much as possible, but that is almost impossible sometimes when my heartburn is acting up. I have also been told to stay off my feet as much as possible this week because I have been having contractions, but I need to walk around to make the itching in my feet bearable. Fun stuff.




I had to take a picture of one of the preemie outfits I bought because it is just so cute and little! I hope she still fits into these when she finally does come out. Otherwise I wouldn't mind just keeping them to show off to guests when they come as an adorable novelty item.


- Nat

AAAHHHH!

Today we found out that Nat is being induced (or having a c-section) on Sunday ... but wait ... we aren't ready .... AAAHHHHH!

Bryan