Harry's Ruminations

Well, after yesterday's Miniature global stock market meltdown , looks like my options sale won't go forward after all. Something about chickens, counting, and hatcheries. :) Lesson learned: When God smacks you upside the head and says "SELL AT 70", listen.

Pediatricians would seem to be just like veterinarians: Their patients can't communicate with them to tell them where it hurts. Maria's developed a new trick--caterwauling between 6 and 8 pm. My impression of her thoughts: Ah, that was a great feeding...mmmm....look at that twirly thing up there. I'm so hap--WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! WHAT THE FREAK IS THAT?!!! WHY IN THE WORLD DOES MY BOTTOM HURT! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MAKEITSTOPMAKITSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (add 10 mins of that) [gush, plop. Crying abruptly ends] Ooooh...what's that? That's different. UGH! That's weird WHAT THE FREAK IS THAT?! WHY IS MY BOTTOM WET AND SMELLY?! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! [diaper changes] Wow, that's a cool baby in the mirror. When do I eat again, mummy? [grin]

link [Is it wrong...].......that I have to mention to my husband that "B-double E-double R-U-N, beer run" is NOT an appropriate lullaby?b :-) Lyrics!

In a phrase: Simplicity, capability, reliability, and efficiency.

It's Friday, I'm a new dad, the coffee has kicked in, I solved an issue for Porsche yesterday, and it's sunny outside. My Teleconference at 7am was cancelled today. Spring isn't far away, and the mercury hit 50 yesterday for the first time in 6 weeks of dull winter. My Dad called, and for the first time in awhile, I didn't vent at him for 15 solid minutes about being tired, fed-up, and depressed. May have a triple-boon coming up--tax return, company bonus, and sale of some stock options (if we hit a certain price!). I have spring fever for everything--a new car, a new house, a vacation, and gadgets galore, but I'll probably end-up saving most of it. Both the cars are going to need some massive refresh work this Spring, but I'm looking forward to doing most of it.

After a week of exposure, I can't get the smell of poopy diapers out of my nostrils. I think it's scent memory.

Well, looks like most of my team at work has my blog address now. :-) Oh well.

Maria's world is expanding a bit, including a preference for being awake with the lights on... ...which is a problem if she sleeps during the day, then wants to be awake last night. We had her up for her 4am feeding, and that was it. Her day started from that point, and she was UP, baby :)

What we've all been waiting for...PICTURES! Flickr link

Is it a requirement that a good labor and delivery nurse be a mother? Man, I'm tired.

Friday: 5:00 am - Alarm Clock rings 6:00 - arrive at hospital. One contraction in the parking lot 6:30 - Pitocin drip starts 5mL/hr. External fetal and uterine monitoring. 7:30 - Pitocin drip to 10mL/hr. Whitney and I take a 30 min nap. 8:30 - Pitocin drip to 15mL/hr. Mild contractions. 10 - Pitocin drip to 35mL/hr. Interesting contractions. Labor seems to be established. IV removed. Maria has significant heart-rate deceleration (a "decel") 12 - Contractions slow down. 2pm - Contractions stopped. 4:30 - Water broken by midwife. Better contractions 3-5 mins apart. 6:30 - No change in dilation or station. Pitocin augmentation begun again, at 15mL/hr, upped every 20 minutes. 6:30 - 7:30: Transition 7cm to full dilation. Contractions at 100+, 2 mins apart. Whitney breathes through them like a champ. 7:30 - "Get Melody! I feel like pushing" 7:30 - 9pm: Pushing, in various positions. 9pm - Whitney's exhausted, Maria transverse at -2 station. Her hea...

Maria Elizabeth Combs ( "mec" ) Born via Cesarean Section at 10:40pm February 10 8 lbs 5 oz 19 inches long APGAR score: 9.9 Mom and baby are doing well. I have never been more scared, elated, or tired in my life. Pics to follow

I love "Grey's Anatomy", but they Jumped the Shark many different ways last night. A very special... : On tonight's very special introduction to the three-episode story-arc from Hell, we concoct a ferry-boat hitting a container ship, turn thousands of characters you don't care about into hamburger so that we can beleaguer a metaphor for a central character who feels lost. Yay. Hair care... : We will have an entire, poorly shot elevator scene of uncomfortable actors trying to do material about an aging, balding black man's hair. The only female will cluck her hen-like, "Leave him Be!" Four more times that should be allowed by the Screen Actor's Guild. Not that there's anything wrong with it...(George) . The actor who plays George is gay. Which leads me to... . Marriage--Georget & Callie . It was a cute concept, but...now, really, what 's the deal here? This is a sub-plot that's going nowhere. On Shonda's Blog she does e...

"Man, you look on edge . You haven't even said anything and you just look totally stressed!" "My family tree isn't so much a tree as a climbing, criss-crossing trestle of ivy." "You ever wonder if Jesus told a lot of jokes? I have this vision of him telling all these blonde jokes then going, 'No, really...they're these people from up North. Scandinavia. Bah, what do you people know from comedy?! Oy Vey!'"

So, I'm set-up at my kitchen table, laptop open, totally "in the zone". Birds are singing, pregnant women are speaking, and kids are flying around everywhere (as kids are wont to do...) Whitney catches my eye and says, "Do you do that at the office, too?" "Huh?" W: "Do you randomly yell at your computer?" Had to think about that for a minute. "Yeah, I guess I do..." :-) * * * For the rest of the day, Whitney and Joey walked around me like people watching the gorillas at the zoo. I could see 'em thinking: What will he do next?...Wow, he's weeeeird!

Yeah, about that: Whitney's very strong, regular contractions just...stopped...right around 10 today. Then they went back to the irregular, 7-10-12-10 minute pattern they've been in for 2 weeks now. I've gone through the gamut today--excitement, concentration, benevolence, resignation, exhaustion, anger, disappointment, and now (post power-nap) resignation.

Contracting since last night. Moderate to hard contractions since 4am. Joey at a friends house since 6:30 this morning. Contractions in the 5-to-3 minute range. Waters intact, and no show yet.

Yeah...February of 78 was pretty bad That's when I was conceived. :-) * * * We're under a 'Heavy Snow Warning' for tonight. 3-5 inches expected. EVERYBODY PANIC. Okay, done? Good. Yeah, probably gonna pick-up a snow shovel today, somewhere.

I can only imagine, but what I'm feeling now is a nervous anticipation, similar to what I'd expect a paratrooper feels making his first jump. I've trained for this, but I've never done it before. Can I deal with having a daughter born on Groundhog Day? :-) (Short answer--sure...the nicknames they come a-plenty: Shadow, Weathergirl, Punxsutawney.) We had a bunch of snow this morning ("bunch" in Kentucky-ese is 1 or 2 inches), so I went down to work to grab my laptop and I came back home. Whitney's had semi-regular contractions last night after her acupuncture, so we'll see what happens. I'm attempting to stay calm, but I've got this dual thing going on--I'm very here in the moment, and I'm also distant from it. Can't REALLY believe I'm about to be a father. Guess everybody has that. Naturally, with the white stuff obliterating the grass and making for the BMW-doughnuts fun, there's no school today in Scott County.