Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 1

2003-11-11 08:00: The baby's cleaned and APGARed, and fine! He has big almond-shaped eyes that are blue on the outside shading to brown on the inside. He has perfect little fingers and toes. He has a full head of light brown hair. He weighs 7 lbs. 10 oz. and is 21 inches long. He's the most beautiful baby in the world.

2003-11-11 08:30: Jamie takes his thumb out of his mouth long enough to learn to nurse.

2003-11-11 09:00: Kristen and Jamie move across the hall from the recovery room to their own room, and start taking a long well-deserved nap.

2003-11-11 10:00: Chris and Ren take Laraine home.

2003-11-11 10:28 The NSA gang writes: "We are watching baby coverage as intently as any championship. More fun, though! Know your Greenport family is there with you. We send our strength and love -- Jane, John, Joe, Cindy, Patty, Sara, Theresa and Andrew"

2003-11-11 12:00: John's parents Jack and Hisae bring Kristen's sister Jennifer to take over looking after K, take John home to update web site and take a nap. Phew!

2003-11-11 15:57 Debbie Ohi writes: "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! Congrats! Many hugs from Debbie (who got all teary-eyed reading jjc's birth report)"

2003-11-12: Kristen and Jamie are doing fine. I've posted another dozen photos today, and he's even more photogenic than before. I won't be posting minute-by-minute details anymore, but will update this page daily for as long as my energy holds up. Last night, my parents came over to meet the baby and feed everyone else. My godson Daniel and his family came too, and Daniel got to hold the baby and warn him about what a strict dad I would be. I spent the night on a cot at the hospital, and got a good solid four hours' sleep and a few hours' naps, so I feel much better. Kristen and Jamie are trying to settle into a 2-4 hour schedule, with increasing success. Jamie spends the last 15 minutes or so of each nap making increasingly noticeable lip-smacking motions, but has to wake up to latch properly. I've changed his diaper twice so far (the rest of the changes have been by nurses or K's sister). And I like taking him for a walk afterward so that I can sing him to sleep.

Kristen is fully unplugged today, and is celebrating by going for walks to help her abdominal wall knit properly. She should be able to go home on Friday morning, and we ask that friends let us quietly rest until then. Her mom Laraine drives back to Ottawa Friday afternoon, but her sister Jennifer says she'll stay the weekend to make sure Kristen settles in at home okay. Thank you all collectively for your phone calls, e-mails, gifts and flowers. We'll respond individually as soon as we can. I was going to write more, but I'm running into my own nap time. More tomorrow!

Oh, and we won't be at the Scrabble club tonight. Thanks, Lisa, for looking after it in our absentia.

2003-11-13: Gary and Ayami drove me back to the hospital after my afternoon web update and nap yesterday, and met Jamie. Gary looked like he was contemplating fatherhood, Ayami better watch out. Ayami was nervous about holding Jamie; I think I got over that at about minute three. I've gotten the hang of the one-handed grip suitable for administering a Heimlichesque burping technique, and finally figured out how to pick up a newborn without inflicting discomfort (knees, then back, then neck). Our retired-nurse tenant Chihoko came along too, and I don't know which she enjoyed more, holding a newborn again, or going on a tour of the excellent new birthing centre at TEGH.

[Kristen's sister] Jennifer made Kristen bleed from her staples from laughing so hard by making sound effects to accompany a retelling of what happened when the surgeon discovered mid-Caesarian that the scalp clip was still attached to Jamie's head. I leave it to your imagination. My parents came by and brought dinner for everyone again. I don't know what I'd be doing without them now. Being hungry, I guess. :) After everyone went home, I spent half an hour reading to Kristen (she was busy with Jamie) every single piece of e-mail we received since the baby was born, and we were both very moved. Thank you all very much for your kind wishes. All three of us feel very loved.

Kristen had the dressing on her staples removed today, to help things air out, and was told that she can go home tomorrow as soon as they come by with a staple remover. I did mention that we have a staple remover at home, but apparently the hospital has one that's more appopriate for post-op use.

Kristen did the late night diaper change (her first one!) last night to let me sleep, and Jamie is getting the hang of nursing when he's hungry, thanks to good advice (never the same) from just about everyone who walks in the door. He/we still has to learn about not nursing when he's not hungry. I'd rather he spent his other waking hours more productively, say by studying his two-letter words or Peano's axioms.

Well, I'm off to hit the shower, and then I've got to get the place cleaned up for tomorrow. I'm so looking forward to everyone being home.

2003-11-14 00:00: I got back tonight (thanks for the ride, Tom and Michelle, and the offer of the ride, Gary and Ayami) from an eight-hour shift away from the hospital (thanks for coffee, Alison, and dinner, Tami) to find the room full of flowers (thanks, Ted and Alissa and Ian and Amy, Ruth and Kaarel and Sara and Annie, Millie, Terry, Hisae) and baby gifts (thanks, Millie, Hans and Eliane and Dieter and Erik, Hisae and Jack, Millie again). Thanks, Laraine and Jennifer for looking after Kristen and Jamie while I did some housework and webwork. I know I've just missed thanking someone.

Over dinner at Michelle's, Jamie's 5-year-old godbrother Ross came to the table to find everyone staring at the day's slide show of pictures on my laptop, and exclaimed "That's SO wonderful!"

Jamie was in an interesting mood. He's losing his fear of eye contact, and will maintain gazes for several seconds now. He's decided that he must look at me when I sing him lullabies, pushing off my shoulder when I start to sing. After about fifteen minutes though, he started to make sucky faces, and I thought he was hungry so I passed him off to Kristen. He rejected her milk in favour of her finger, and we've figured out that he's just looking for some entertainment now: first a little music, then a little finger-sucking without the effort of having to swallow and burp. Life's pretty good.

Time to start packing for the great caravan home tomorrow.

2003-11-14 12:00: Briefly, we're home, all is well, and I have a lot of running around to do before I can update the web site later this afternoon. Jennifer and Laraine did a great job of cleaning up after the labour, but the baby's room is only half set up, and some of it involves fetching furniture from Daniel's house.

2003-11-14 23:30: I packed for the great caravan home late last night, and it was a good thing I did. Jamie decided to wake up every hour to either nurse, suck finger, or get his dad to sing. Kristen and I were a little tired when we finally gave up on sleeping.

2003-11-14 23:30: Obstetrician Dr. Perry Phillips came by to okay our release and to offer all manner of useful advice. A nurse came by with a staple remover, and Kristen did not seem to find the procedure too uncomfortable. We bundled Jamie up in a Maggie-Simpson-esque snowsuit against the cold, and all happily headed home in Laraine's car.

Once home, a frantic burst of activity ensued. Kristen was installed in her nursing chair, I ran around moving furniture (the change table was still at Michelle's house), and Jennifer did useful things like washing and organizing the contents of the change table and dresser. Laraine got ready for her drive back to Ottawa. I went over to my mom's to help make dinner and bring it over to our house. Kristen says that Jamie is beginning to smile at her, and enjoys our ceilings as much as the hospital ones. Phew. I hope he smiles at me too though.

The high point of my day though was helping Jamie take his first bath. I got in first, then got Jennifer to undress him, swaddle him in a thick towel and pass him to me. I started singing the one verse of Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" that I can remember, and he let out a querulous squawk as his feet hit the warm water. As his body became immersed he quickly calmed down, no doubt flooded with happy amniotic memories, and he floated in the tub looking as serene as the day he was born. It gave me a nice warm feeling to see him looking so happy.

I'm off to bed. Tomorrow morning, I'll leave Kristen and Jamie with Jennifer and go do the week's grocery shopping at the St. Lawrence (farmer's) Market, and start planning my work schedule for next week. Good night, all.

2003-11-15 22:00 I've split the photos into batches of 25 for easier viewing of the 'all photos' pages, at Michelle's request. Today's report won't be too long, as I have to finish getting ready for the UK NSC coverage at http://www.poslfit.com/uknsc. It also won't be very long because what with the UKNSC and my regular Saturday shopping, I didn't get to spend much time with Jamie. I'll tell you what I know. Kristen says that he's starting to smile a little. Or maybe he's developing a little smile, like mine.

He's pooing and peeing more frequently than expected, which is good, because he was behind the curve until yesterday. He's happy, he's relaxed, he cries only when he needs his diaper changed. He reminds me more and more of Kristen in his placid demeanor.

Jamie was introduced to several important people today. My best friend from high school, Justin Bur, dropped by and was the only one surprised that he could hold Jamie for several minutes with nothing but rapt interest on Jamie's face. Jamie does rapt interest well.

Our neighbour, Rosemarie De Lisi, dropped by with roses, a gift and a card for the boy, was surprised to find Kristen downstairs chatting with her sister, and very thoughtfully left after five or ten minutes so that K could get some rest. This is apparently good newborn visiting etiquette, with good reason, we're learning.

We took Jamie out for his first walk in the evening, in his brand new Zooper Buddy (stroller). Halfway down the block, we met our neighbour Hans Doering and his son Dieter, and we learned the harrowing story of Hans' birth in Dresden in 1943.

Dinner was courtesy of my mom (miso shiru), Tom (chicken katsu and rice) and me (traditional chopped cabbage side for chicken katsu, ice cream and store-bought organic pumpkin pie).

2003-11-16 09:45 Well, the UK NSC Coverage is a wrap. I did a good deal of it with Jamie on my lap, reasoning correctly that if I looked after him for the first half of the evening and let Kristen get reasonable sleep, she wouldn't mind doing diapers later on when things really got hectic. All the same, I'm looking forward to going to bed soon.

Soon turned out to be around 17:00, but I'm feeling not too bad. Just got out of Jamie's second bath, which he took to even better than the first one. Into the hot water and out stretch his arms and legs, and away goes all the tension in his face. How can a baby have tension in its face?

Jennifer claims that Jamie has giggled for her three times and smiled at her six times today. I think she's just trying to make me jealous.

Visitors today: Andy Beaton and his daughter Elspeth, Karen Whitehorn and her daughter Alexandria, our student midwife Ren Barrett. Nice to see everyone and show off Jamie, nice also to have a quiet evening in. Tomorrow I have to figure out how to work at home with a newborn.

2003-11-17 11:00 One of our original and favorite tenants, Chie Inoue, called from Japan today to extend her congratulations. She apparently hasn't lost much English fluency, though I was shocked that her Internet access was still so restricted there that she hadn't been able to see the baby pictures yet. Especially the Dr. Evil Mini-Me shot that I took just for her!

We got a good night's sleep last night. Jamie woke up at 01:00, 04:00, 07:00 and 10:00, but it's surprising how much sleep you can get in between. I woke up feeling refreshed at 09:00, and took Jamie out of bed so that (1) he wouldn't wake up Kristen, and (2) I could get some quality dad-son time before he was stolen away by his hordes of admirers. Jamie helped keep my lap warm as I worked at the computer.

2003-11-17 17:00 Today's my dad's 80th birthday, last Monday was my mom's 70th, so today we're having a small family party at our house. Which I would have thought would be ambitious enough on its own, but since we had to run down to With Child (a baby store) anyway, we decided to pick up birthday cakes and extra presents too. Kristen got tired along the way (well, we all did, but we stopped when she said she wanted to sit down), so we took Jamie to his coffeeshop (a Starbuck's, to my mild mortification).

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