Week 4 Birthday

Look at that chubby face. haha
Today Caden uncelebrated his 4th week birthday. Is he now one month old or does that come on September 2nd? Weird how months aren't really 4 weeks. Anyway, he uncelebrated by crying a lot. He is doing this uninteresting thing where he gets so tired that he can't fall asleep. It would be great if he was staying awake more and being peaceful during that time, or even fun if that is possible. But no, lil' chubby likes to scream a lot when he can't fall asleep, even if it takes him two hours to do so. That's new to the last few days, hmmm, what else is new?

He is 10 lbs 5 oz now, so he has gained a full two pounds in the last 2 weeks. He is eating plenty and getting plenty of eating. Poor mommy, she hasn't slept much for awhile now. This very moment is the first time in two nights he has been sleeping peacefully during the evening hours.

I hope you can all hear the undercarriage of sarcasm and subtle grinning in my words. If you read them without a smile on your face then it might sound like Im complaining. Im staring at his fat face while Im typing this so its hard not to feel joyful even if Im talking about unjoyful things. Trying to think of something else thats new from Caden in the last week, ummmm.......nope, got nothing.

Work is awesome and intense right now. I have two new blogs that you can bookmark or RSS if you want to see what Im doing over there. The first one talks about cool online programs (for the most part) that Im trying to use for education although that was not their original intent (for the most part). Im encouraging my kids to get away from more traditional work and be more creative. First Day of Kindergarten

The 2nd blog is about my philosophies of education, online education news, things happening at my school. I Need to Rant
If you are bored and have time, check these out or RSS them for regular reading, they will give you a more holistic understanding of who I am and where I am going in my career.

As far as Sarah's career goes, she is a happy/tired/cranky/moody/loving/understanding mom (for the most part) for the next 3 months, then back to work.
c

Week 3 Update

Its been a very interesting week. Caden is going through a phase where he likes to cry for no particular reason. He will be well fed, fully rested, no gas (we think), not bored, clean diaper, warm, and burst into a wail. Its confusing. One of the baby books said that babies spend almost 10% of their day crying in order to strengthen their lungs. I had no idea, I thought they cried when something was wrong, not from physiological change.

I put up a new video and some new pics from this week.

Aunt Jodie and Megan drove up from L.A. to see him. That was very nice of them to make the trip.

Sarah is still losing weight, Im still gaining it. crap

Gotta run, spending all day on the computer for work.

1st Day Back to Work

Going back to work is sort of an unwanted blessing for me. Its hard to say, "yeah, Im sick of my vacation, I really wish I was working today." Thats not quite something I can bring myself to admit outloud, but I tend to get cranky towards the end of the summer when Ive been home a lot and dont have very much to do. This summer wasn't too different despite having the baby here. Caden sleeps most of the day so Ive been a little bored and feeling like I needed to get to work. yuck. So whatdoyouknow, I got back to work today and all day long I wished I was home with the baby. Ironic how that works.

I called around lunchtime to see how he was doing and he had been wide awake all morning and had just fallen asleep, thats backwards from normal. Maybe me leaving caused him to want to be awake more, no idea. Nevertheless, I missed him and spent all day learning a new software program instead. Hmm, sit on couch and play with baby or sit on computer and play with software. Seems like a nobrainer, right. Why did I feel so good all day then? Are human productivity and stimulation mandatory for happiness?

We took Caden to the grocery store for the first time tonight. He was pretty good. It seemed like he didnt appreciate the refrigerated sections. He got a little fussy while Sarah was picking out cheese, gave him his pacifier and he chilled out (pun intended). A few minutes later we were in the meat section and while Sarah was looking for the right dead animal Caden broke out into a little wail. We moved out of the meat really quick, avoided cold sections for the rest of our shopping, and never heard another peep out of him. By time we made it to the 2nd to last isle, the cereal section at our store, he was fast asleep. Our first shopping experience, success!

After we got home for the evening, Caden woke up and wanted someone to play with so we all hung out on the floor and I got some good face-to-face time with the little babyman. c

Good News

Yesterday I posted a video called Week 2 update. I mentioned we were going to the pediatricians to look at a few things: weight, bump on head, jaundice. We got good news on all three fronts. I did not know this before our first peds appt. but apparently babies lose weight right after being born then the docs want them to gain back that lost weight in the first two weeks to be "healthy." Caden has gained back all his birth weight plus an additional 9 ounces. He weighed in at 8.5 yesterday. That also means he gained 10 oz in the last 6 days so he is definitely eating enough and healthy on that front.
As for the jaundice, the doc said it was all but gone. There is a little bit in his eyes but she said that was the last place for it to hide and should be gone soon. So, no brain damage from jaundice in our future.
The bump on his head, which is large and fairly soft, was another concern OF Sarah's. Its nothing, just a broken blood vessel from pressure during the delivery, so that eased Sarah's worries.
I received an email from my Assistant Principal asking me to come in August 20th for some paid training. The extra money is definitely appreciated but that is 2 days earlier than expected so a little bummer on that note. Less time with the baby before summer vacation is over. So sorta good news.
Going into the hospital today for a PKU test, and over to Gary and Annette's for a bbq tonight. It will be Caden's first night out on the town(ish).
c

Into Week 2

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, Ive been uploading pics and videos instead. Things have been a mix of crazy and peaceful around here. For one, Caden doesn't do much. He sleeps a lot, doesn't play, and only has his eyes open a few minutes every day. He isn't fussy unless he is hungry or cold so he is pretty uneventful. For most of the last 5 nights, he has slept through the night and Sarah has to wake him up every few hours to feed him. There have been exceptions of course, like the other night when he threw up about 10 minutes after feeding. That soaked his entire bassinet and freaked him out so we had some work to do to get him back to sleep. He is still jaundiced so we have to take him to the pediatrician on Monday and get him tested again. The remedy so far is to sunbathe him twice a day for 10 minutes, and make sure he is going #2 a lot. He is. Speaking of that, its funny how changing diapers is not only not utterly disgusting, its something I look forward to. I know, Im a little crooked, and you moms are probably saying, just wait its still early. But prior to him being born, I was NOT looking forward to diapers, and my mind has done a 180 since then.
He has gained all his birth weight back so he is feeding plenty and packing on the ounces.
Donna is staying with us for a couple weeks and has been a big help around here. Sarah is up and moving more each day, but still sore and tired throughout so having her mom here had made both our lives a lot better.
I am not looking forward to August 22nd, when I go back to school. Its going to be hard to leave him, but I should be thankful for the 3 weeks I will have with him before then. Some of you may not know that I am taking paternity leave beginning in late November through February. Sarah will stay home with him until Thanksgiving.
Thanks to everyone who has come over, or made special trips to see the baby. Thanks for the cards, presents, flowers, and especially the phone calls. We feel very lucky right now. c

Baby Videos

I am uploading short video clips of Caden as we speak. They take awhile so there is only one up right now but will be more coming. I know Im over excited and posting lots of pics and vids, but I dont care. Its fun!

Click here to go directly to the first video I posted.

Click here to go the webpage on my website that will have a catalog of videos soon.

Click here to go to the home page of the website.

Click here to go to the Flickr pics (web photo album) of Caden.

You can bookmark any or all of the links above to make it easier to access.

Finally Free!

Those hospitals don't mess around. We got stuck there and wallowed in the mud of incompetence for an extra 16 hours, and one full night longer than we needed. Anyway, no more beeching, we are home with Caden and really, really happy to be here. He has been sleeping, of course, Sarah is finally asleep, and Donna, Leslie, and me are playing on our computers. I've uploading a web picture album of Caden's 2 nights in the hospital and the videos will come next. Thank you all for your support and kind words through this wonderful event in our lives.

Waiting

Its almost 7 and we are sitting here waiting for a pediatrician to show up and give us the 'okay' for discharge. Our nurses dropped the ball this morning and apparently forgot to tell our doctor, who was on rounds at 7 am, that we were her patients. They forgot about us, left behind by the system. For you Mccaw ladies who are coming here soon, avoid Rita, the Nazi Nurse. Caden is doing okay, he has been sleeping all day, and when he has been awake he is feeding good. He hasnt cried at all, and is really good at disposing of waste. He has a baby rash, so he looks like a squashed tomato, maybe a smeared radish. Looks like we are staying another night, the doc just showed and even though nothing is wrong, since him and Sarah have different blood types, he wants to keep him in case anything should go wrong on a Saturday. Gotta run, will upload pics tomorrow, cross my baby's fingers. c

6 Days Early

Happy Birthday Caden. Well, he decided today was the day he wanted to come out. After about 7 hours of labor, and only 40 minutes of pushing, Caden came out, a brand new purple baby. He has dark brown hair, lots of it. He weighs 7lbs 12oz, and is 19.5 inches. The baby came really fast, so fast that all the nurses and docs were really surprised. So fast, that the epidural didnt have time to work before Sarah had to start pushing. So, Sarah had a semi-natural child birth. Go Sarah! Donna, Sarah, ane me are hanging out with a sleepy, well fed, peaceful, little boy. I will add pics tomorrow, hopefully.

Well. Something Is Happening

We are just not sure what? That pain that I referred to in the earlier posting today, you know, the one that mentioned Sarah not being able to walk, well there was a reason. At first we thought it was just cramps due to the dilation test earlier this morning, but we started picking up on some regularity, and thought, wow, could this be labor? Then we started timing them and when they, the possible contractions, got to 2 minutes apart and 45 seconds long, we headed off to the hospital. Right now we are hooked up to a machine waiting to find out if this actual labor. Will keep you posted. From the delicvery room, 2:30pm

39 Long, Hot, Laborious Weeks

Well, we just had our 39th week OB appt and everything is still going, still going, still going well. Sarah is 2 cm dilated, with no other new changes. We have another appt. on Tuesday, one day before our official due date to discuss some options. If Sarah's cervix is in prime shape, then we might induce Wed. or Thursday, possibly, cross my fingers. If her cervix isnt ready, well then, we wait. Update you on that news come Tuesday.

Well if prelabor pain is any sign of whats to come on labor day, we are in for a long one. Caden has been making Sarah hurt all over, and as of this minute, she cant quite walk.

Sarah finished Harry Potter, so if anyone wants to know what happened and doesn't want to read the book, send us an email. cjplough75@gmail.com

As for me, Ive just been working on the computer and watching movies, typical stuff. Im getting ready to add a wiki page to thefamilyspot of a bunch of cool sites Ive been playing with. They are mostly social tools for sharing things with friends, family, students,etc.

Throw us a comment and tell us how you are doing.