Saturday, August 09, 2008
I passed!
I'm an official Registered Nurse! I took my board exams on Thursday and found out this morning that I passed them! Yay! What a relief!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Four weeks old... tomorrow
So, does four weeks make a month? Or to call him a month old, do I need to wait until the 7th (since he was born on the 7th of last month)?
He is one month old, and he is thriving. I tell Rochelle that he is eating us out of house and home, but that doesn't really make any sense in this context I suppose. He has been a delight though. We have had a lot of fun with him. He is finally bigger than he was when he was born. He lost a pound in weight shortly after he was born. Although losing weight is normal, a pound was a bit much. We hypothesize that he was storing some water on him just like mommy was, and after he was born, he lost the excess. And for a little while, he didn't quite having the eating thing down. He wasn't quite sure how to get all of that going, and although he wasn't starving, he didn't gain quite a quickly as we would have hoped initially. However, as I said before, he is now thriving. He is gaining an ounce a day, and by my rough estimates, he is drinking a pound of milk a day. Rochelle feels at times that she barely finishes one feeding by the time he is ready for the next. But he sure is cute. We love him to bits. And it's a good thing too, because in our relative sleep deprived state we are in, who knows how we would take all the feedings, diapers, and the inexplicable way he seems to wake up every time we start to drift off. ;-) I don't think Rochelle and I have any complaints. He is a normal baby doing normal things, and yet we somehow feel like we have been blessed with the best baby there ever was. In short, we are proud and happy parents.
He is one month old, and he is thriving. I tell Rochelle that he is eating us out of house and home, but that doesn't really make any sense in this context I suppose. He has been a delight though. We have had a lot of fun with him. He is finally bigger than he was when he was born. He lost a pound in weight shortly after he was born. Although losing weight is normal, a pound was a bit much. We hypothesize that he was storing some water on him just like mommy was, and after he was born, he lost the excess. And for a little while, he didn't quite having the eating thing down. He wasn't quite sure how to get all of that going, and although he wasn't starving, he didn't gain quite a quickly as we would have hoped initially. However, as I said before, he is now thriving. He is gaining an ounce a day, and by my rough estimates, he is drinking a pound of milk a day. Rochelle feels at times that she barely finishes one feeding by the time he is ready for the next. But he sure is cute. We love him to bits. And it's a good thing too, because in our relative sleep deprived state we are in, who knows how we would take all the feedings, diapers, and the inexplicable way he seems to wake up every time we start to drift off. ;-) I don't think Rochelle and I have any complaints. He is a normal baby doing normal things, and yet we somehow feel like we have been blessed with the best baby there ever was. In short, we are proud and happy parents.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Coming home
Well, this has been an exciting week for sure. We are glad to be back in the comfort of our own home, and are excited to have baby Gabe. Let me fill you in on some of the details of the past week.
Rochelle has had pregnancy induced hypertension for the last few weeks. About a week before she had the baby, it was bad enough that they put her on strict bed rest, but not bad enough that they felt that they needed to do an emergency induction. That said, they planned an induction for Monday the 7th, and had her continue on bed rest. Rochelle was not wanting to be induced. We were hoping to go natural (using hypno-birthing), and being induced makes that very difficult. So we hoped that she would go into labor on her own before that time, but it was not to be. Sunday night she had a bit of a false labor, but come Monday morning, we were on our way to the hospital for the induction.
We arrived there around 7:40 in the morning, and she was hooked up to the pitocin by 8:30. For a while she continued to do the hypnobirthing techniques that we had learned, but as the contractions got stronger, she started to feel sharp pains in her back. The baby was turned, which caused Rochelle some heavy back labor. After about five hours of trying to relax and breathe, we decided that it was time for the epidural. The midwife was recommending the epidural on the account of Rochelle's high blood pressure, and the back labor was beginning to be unendurable. Rochelle was restricted to laying on her left or right sides, and was forbidden (again because of her blood pressure) from using other positions that might help reposition the baby and increase her comfort. So she got the epidural, and pretty soon was able to relax again. Hours came and went and Rochelle slowly progressed to completion. At times it seemed that she all but stopped progressing, but the doctor and midwife were patient and thankfully were not too anxious to do a c-section. It was determined that the baby was pretty nearly stuck- with his head turned sideways, a position more difficult to get out than if the baby were posterior (facing up) So around 11:30 at night they decided that it was finally time to get this baby out. He wasn't coming from pushing alone, and so it was going to be forceps or a c-section. The The doctor we had is very good with forceps, and decided that it was worth a go. He was able to turn the baby's head just enough that he thought that a c-section wouldn't be necessary. So everyone gathered around, and with some heaving pushing by Rochelle, and heavy pulling by the doctor, they finally got the baby out. Once out, we could see that the baby was fairly large, 8 lbs. 6 oz. We were grateful that the doctor was able to get him out with just forceps, even though the birth itself was far from what we had planned.
The baby was healthy from the start. He had quite a big cone head, but within a couple of hours, it was barely noticeable. He also had some bruising from the forceps around his right eye and his left ear. Otherwise, he was a happy and healthy baby.
Rochelle was also a bit battered and bruised from the forceps, but the doctor and midwife were more concerned about her high blood pressure that didn't seem to be reducing at all, which should have happened within a day of giving birth. So they had her stay an extra night at the hospital. She has been quite sore, but has been recovering steadily. We are all home now, and doing well.
Thursday afternoon Rochelle's mom came down from Portland and has been staying with us ever since. She's staying for a total of 10 days with us. We are grateful for her company as well as the advice and help she has given us already. We're glad she'll be here a while longer.
Below are some pictures. I'm sorry they took so long to get here, but we have had much to do, and are adjusting to our new lack of sleep. ;-) Thanks for your well wishes everybody. We are grateful for your support.
Rochelle has had pregnancy induced hypertension for the last few weeks. About a week before she had the baby, it was bad enough that they put her on strict bed rest, but not bad enough that they felt that they needed to do an emergency induction. That said, they planned an induction for Monday the 7th, and had her continue on bed rest. Rochelle was not wanting to be induced. We were hoping to go natural (using hypno-birthing), and being induced makes that very difficult. So we hoped that she would go into labor on her own before that time, but it was not to be. Sunday night she had a bit of a false labor, but come Monday morning, we were on our way to the hospital for the induction.
We arrived there around 7:40 in the morning, and she was hooked up to the pitocin by 8:30. For a while she continued to do the hypnobirthing techniques that we had learned, but as the contractions got stronger, she started to feel sharp pains in her back. The baby was turned, which caused Rochelle some heavy back labor. After about five hours of trying to relax and breathe, we decided that it was time for the epidural. The midwife was recommending the epidural on the account of Rochelle's high blood pressure, and the back labor was beginning to be unendurable. Rochelle was restricted to laying on her left or right sides, and was forbidden (again because of her blood pressure) from using other positions that might help reposition the baby and increase her comfort. So she got the epidural, and pretty soon was able to relax again. Hours came and went and Rochelle slowly progressed to completion. At times it seemed that she all but stopped progressing, but the doctor and midwife were patient and thankfully were not too anxious to do a c-section. It was determined that the baby was pretty nearly stuck- with his head turned sideways, a position more difficult to get out than if the baby were posterior (facing up) So around 11:30 at night they decided that it was finally time to get this baby out. He wasn't coming from pushing alone, and so it was going to be forceps or a c-section. The The doctor we had is very good with forceps, and decided that it was worth a go. He was able to turn the baby's head just enough that he thought that a c-section wouldn't be necessary. So everyone gathered around, and with some heaving pushing by Rochelle, and heavy pulling by the doctor, they finally got the baby out. Once out, we could see that the baby was fairly large, 8 lbs. 6 oz. We were grateful that the doctor was able to get him out with just forceps, even though the birth itself was far from what we had planned.
The baby was healthy from the start. He had quite a big cone head, but within a couple of hours, it was barely noticeable. He also had some bruising from the forceps around his right eye and his left ear. Otherwise, he was a happy and healthy baby.
Rochelle was also a bit battered and bruised from the forceps, but the doctor and midwife were more concerned about her high blood pressure that didn't seem to be reducing at all, which should have happened within a day of giving birth. So they had her stay an extra night at the hospital. She has been quite sore, but has been recovering steadily. We are all home now, and doing well.
Thursday afternoon Rochelle's mom came down from Portland and has been staying with us ever since. She's staying for a total of 10 days with us. We are grateful for her company as well as the advice and help she has given us already. We're glad she'll be here a while longer.
Below are some pictures. I'm sorry they took so long to get here, but we have had much to do, and are adjusting to our new lack of sleep. ;-) Thanks for your well wishes everybody. We are grateful for your support.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Update on The Baby and lots of pictures
Ok, so it has been a while since we posted an update on The State of The Baby Situation. I have spent some time at the hospital on a few different days this week because of borderline preeclampsia (or toxemia). This means that I am retaining water like crazy, my blood pressure is shooting up, and a host of other things that put me at risk for developing complications such as seizures (though unlikely at this point). This is a progressive condition, which means it just gets worse until the baby is born. Luckily, I haven't had to deal with this for most of my pregnancy, and the baby is doing fabulously. However, because of the changes they have detected in my bloodwork etc., if I don't go into labor on my own this week, I will be induced bright and early Monday morning. Many of you know that this is not exactly how I had hoped for things to go, but at the moment, I just feel ready for this baby to come, so I will take what I can get! I am hoping, however, that I will go into labor this weekend, thus precluding any need to be artificially induced on Monday. There isn't much I can do though... I am on strict bedrest (with bathroom and meal "privileges") to keep my blood pressure down. BJ has been very supportive during this whole thing, doing laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning etc. while I can't get out of bed. The bedrest situation has been really difficult for me... obviously it is boring, and there are tons of things I would rather be doing, working on stuff to get ready for the baby etc. But after being chastised by the doctor, I am following the instructions more closely...
Here are some pictures of Baby Gabe's progression!
Here are a few other albums that I meant to put up earlier, but am just now uploading from my camera!
Here are some pictures of Baby Gabe's progression!
Here are a few other albums that I meant to put up earlier, but am just now uploading from my camera!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Place your bets!
We want to know when you think the baby will come, and how much the baby will weigh, and how tall the little tyke will be.
Just so no one will have any advantages in information here, the baby is due July 13th according to the original dates, but last time Rochelle was in to the doctors, she measured two weeks early. However, they were also thinking that Rochelle might have extra fluids in her, and that could be the cause of the discrepancy.
So, write it in the comments, when, how much, and how tall.
Just so no one will have any advantages in information here, the baby is due July 13th according to the original dates, but last time Rochelle was in to the doctors, she measured two weeks early. However, they were also thinking that Rochelle might have extra fluids in her, and that could be the cause of the discrepancy.
So, write it in the comments, when, how much, and how tall.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Well, I have been meaning to post for some time now. We still don't have internet access at our place, but it was high time to post an update! So much has happened, so I guess I will just give a concise summary of events:
-I graduated. :D My parents flew out here to attend the graduation ceremonies and stay with us for a few days. I officially have my bachelor's degree. I am a nurse, although I won't be a registered nurse (RN) until I pass my board exam. That will (hopefully) take place at the beginning of July.
-We moved. I think BJ's posts about covered this one. We really like our condo, and we are mostly unpacked, although there are still some boxes to work on and we're still deliberating about where to hang our pictures.
-I went to Oregon to spend a week with my family. I attended the VPA (Voices for the Performing Arts) concert (this is my mother's non-profit organization brainchild). She is the artistic director for the foundation, and she directs the audition-choirs: an adult choir and a children's choir. My sister Cara sang in the adult choir, and Anna sang in the children's choir. Collin accompanied the children's choir on the piano, and Tayler manned the sound and light booth. My dad took pictures. Just about everyone was involved. They did a great job with their Broadway themed concert! It was great to have a little vacation and spend some fun time with my family. We all wished BJ could have come, but I am glad that he thought of the trip.
-BJ and I are teaching the 3-4 year olds (Sunbeams) class at church. They are quite energetic, and cute, and well, it is going to be quite an adventure.
-I started my first day of work at the health department today. I work in the well-child and birth control clinic on one day, and the cancer prevention clinic on the second day. I will be just doing training, observing, and practicing under supervision until I pass boards and get my license. It is going to be a lot of information to remember, but I think I will really like working there. We do physicals, and a bunch of other things. Lots of teaching.
-We are attending hypnobirthing prenatal classes. I know lots of people think it's a weird, cosmic, hippie idea, but I have found it to be mostly a very well grounded, logical, and scientific method. It is the method I am most confident in in helping me through natural childbirth. I will post a little bit later about what the method is all about and how it works. And I will let you know how it all goes afterwards.
That's all for now. I will post some pictures, and post about some other stuff, hopefully soon.
-I graduated. :D My parents flew out here to attend the graduation ceremonies and stay with us for a few days. I officially have my bachelor's degree. I am a nurse, although I won't be a registered nurse (RN) until I pass my board exam. That will (hopefully) take place at the beginning of July.
-We moved. I think BJ's posts about covered this one. We really like our condo, and we are mostly unpacked, although there are still some boxes to work on and we're still deliberating about where to hang our pictures.
-I went to Oregon to spend a week with my family. I attended the VPA (Voices for the Performing Arts) concert (this is my mother's non-profit organization brainchild). She is the artistic director for the foundation, and she directs the audition-choirs: an adult choir and a children's choir. My sister Cara sang in the adult choir, and Anna sang in the children's choir. Collin accompanied the children's choir on the piano, and Tayler manned the sound and light booth. My dad took pictures. Just about everyone was involved. They did a great job with their Broadway themed concert! It was great to have a little vacation and spend some fun time with my family. We all wished BJ could have come, but I am glad that he thought of the trip.
-BJ and I are teaching the 3-4 year olds (Sunbeams) class at church. They are quite energetic, and cute, and well, it is going to be quite an adventure.
-I started my first day of work at the health department today. I work in the well-child and birth control clinic on one day, and the cancer prevention clinic on the second day. I will be just doing training, observing, and practicing under supervision until I pass boards and get my license. It is going to be a lot of information to remember, but I think I will really like working there. We do physicals, and a bunch of other things. Lots of teaching.
-We are attending hypnobirthing prenatal classes. I know lots of people think it's a weird, cosmic, hippie idea, but I have found it to be mostly a very well grounded, logical, and scientific method. It is the method I am most confident in in helping me through natural childbirth. I will post a little bit later about what the method is all about and how it works. And I will let you know how it all goes afterwards.
That's all for now. I will post some pictures, and post about some other stuff, hopefully soon.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Closing
So, Rochelle and I were finally able to close on our condo. The funds transfer Monday, so thank goodness that it is over. I suspect that I will be spending the next couple of weeks doing things that we didn't want to do until we owned it, like putting nails in the walls, and getting the utilities in our name. We are going to be getting cable as soon as possible, but from the sounds of it, comcast is procrastinating, and hasn't even been to our complex yet to install the cables. So hopefully we can have internet in the next couple of days, but that is pending on comcast. So, for now, we are still just using my office and mom and dad's house for internet.
Rochelle is with her family this week. They are throwing a shower for her at home. But mostly, she is just excited to see family and friends. I imagine she will blog of her experiences at some point or another.
Work has been very busy for me the last couple of weeks. We are going through PCI compliance auditing this week, and have spent the last several months preparing for it, in addition to all the normal work we already do. It has been fun to learn many of the things required to be PCI compliant. And many of the things that we have done to be PCI compliant will be helpful for just general security anyways, and I plan on securing other servers (the non PCI ones) after the whole project is over. I have to say, I love learning new things. I love working on new projects. That part of my job is very satisfying to me. The parts I don't like are disagreeable people, and situations, but I think most companies have those.
Rochelle is with her family this week. They are throwing a shower for her at home. But mostly, she is just excited to see family and friends. I imagine she will blog of her experiences at some point or another.
Work has been very busy for me the last couple of weeks. We are going through PCI compliance auditing this week, and have spent the last several months preparing for it, in addition to all the normal work we already do. It has been fun to learn many of the things required to be PCI compliant. And many of the things that we have done to be PCI compliant will be helpful for just general security anyways, and I plan on securing other servers (the non PCI ones) after the whole project is over. I have to say, I love learning new things. I love working on new projects. That part of my job is very satisfying to me. The parts I don't like are disagreeable people, and situations, but I think most companies have those.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Minor update
We are not dead. We are just without internet. I'm doing this post from my office, and so it must be short. But we are moved into our new place, and it may be a while before we get internet there for various reasons. So until then, we will keep up with your blogs where possible, and post on ours when we get the chance.
Chow!
Chow!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Moved... kinda
So Rochelle and I have been very busy. Last Saturday, we moved. Rather, we moved out. We have yet to really move in. Our stuff is in our new condo, but our new condo isn't really ours yet. The inspection hasn't passed yet, so their is no certificate of occupancy, so we can't live there. So where are we? We are living with my parents until the condo is ready. And we haven't finalized our purchasing of the condo yet either because of the inspection and other things the builders haven't completed yet. Hopefully that will all be finished soon. But yes, our stuff is in our condo. The builder felt bad that he promised it would be done, when it wasn't, he gave us a key and told us to put our stuff in until it is all complete. Thank goodness for that. At least we won't have to pay for a storage unit and move twice! So at this point, we are waiting to get everything finalized. Waiting is painful, but it is made less painful by having parents to stay with for the interim. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Aside from that, we are looking forward to Rochelle's graduation, and for her parents' visit this week. Lots of fun stuff to look forward to!
Keeping up with the blogs
Hey all, here are some instructions on watching blogs in a very easy way.
http://sociolitics.blogspot.com/
http://sociolitics.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Poetry? or...
So, apparently April is national poetry month. In honor of that, I thought I would write a few verses about my life at the moment! Now, don't get too excited- this is not exactly high quality literature here! But since rhyming is kind of fun, I thought I would post this, and encourage everyone to write something back- rhyming or not! C'mon, it will be fun!
Roses are red,
violets are blue,
finals are here-
and moving day too!
I'm writing a paper
and packing a box;
applying for jobs
and sorting my socks!
...Washing the laundry
and scrubbing the tub;
doing the dishes
and cooking up grub.
...Knitting a blanket
and studying for boards-
checking the mail
to see what it affords.
I'm getting a bit tired-
but really, I'm fine!
I'll be glad when it's over
and victory is mine!
Roses are red,
violets are blue,
finals are here-
and moving day too!
I'm writing a paper
and packing a box;
applying for jobs
and sorting my socks!
...Washing the laundry
and scrubbing the tub;
doing the dishes
and cooking up grub.
...Knitting a blanket
and studying for boards-
checking the mail
to see what it affords.
I'm getting a bit tired-
but really, I'm fine!
I'll be glad when it's over
and victory is mine!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
A new blog
I looked far and wide, and have determined that there is no rule saying a man should have but one blog, and consequently I now have two. I will continue to post here, but my posts here will be family oriented, and more personal. My other blog will contain my more controversial posts regarding Sociology, Politics, Technology, and anything else I find interesting and controversial. Today I have posted my first post there, and you are all free to take a look. This blog will be open to the general public, and so it is entirely possible, if not likely, that complete strangers will be reading it and commenting. I will therefore have no references to my personal life on it, and no links to this blog or other family blogs. Due to the fact that I am somewhat more liberal than many of you, please do not be surprised if you happen to disagree with me. However, please feel free to comment and tell me what you think. I respect all of your opinions, and am happy to hear your thoughts on my blogs. I think that a lively conversation can be both invigorating, and educational, and that we should all take part. You can find my other blog here: http://sociolitics.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Loads and loads of fun
So, we have been packing for the last two weeks getting ready for our move on April 19th (if Rochelle tries to tell you it's the 20th, reminder her that it isn't). ;-) Our apartment has loads and loads of boxes everywhere. Full boxes on the bottom, empty ones on the top, stacks as tall as me. And I think we are only about half way done packing. I have been grabbing every box I can find at work, and some of them are big enough to pack an entire closet. It has been both fun and stressful to get ready to move to our condo. Yesterday, we locked in a rate of 5.5%, something that we are very happy about. I'm sure the rates will probably drop to 3 something just because we locked it in, but that's life. ;-) We have had a huge pile of shred-ables (credit card offers etc.) that we have put to good use. We shredded them, and they are now padding dishes and glasses, and breakable things. We have been packing everything that we don't use on a regular basis, and we have quite a system going. We have a master list of every box, and what it contains, we have every box labeled with a number, a color, and the contents of the box. The color represents the room to which it is to be delivered to upon arrival. We have already reserved our truck, and got a dolly. I guess it is official... we are moving. ;-) If you will be around on the 19th, you are welcome to come join us in our day of organized chaos. We are very excited about it all... and we hope to invite ya'all over once we get settled in.
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