"McNasty"

The DNC, the Democratic National Committee, really has to thank Gray's Anatomy for this little marketing morsel. I have to say, when I heard John McCain's new nickname, I laughed out loud. It's funny. And brilliant because it's bound to stick for the rest of this campaign. Another funny I came across yesterday was the title of this article in the New York Times, "McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch." Let's get a mental picture of that....

McCain is desperate and it's too early for all that. Look how quickly his campaign went negative. All his advertisements have been about Obama, not himself. "McNasty" is ringing true and it's ugly. I'm feeling really good about the election right now. McCain can't talk about the issues that are important to Americans. He's not Bush. He can't invoke 9/11 and get the same reaction. Americans are struggling with the high cost of everything in a tanking market where our money just isn't worth as much as it used to be. McCain doesn't know anything about the economy. That's why the New York Times article is so funny. It's beyond ironic that McCain, who is so obviously out of touch with what's on our minds today, wants to paint Obama as the one missing the boat. As I said, he's desperate.

The next phase of this campaign is running mates. McCain needs to pick someone who can jump start his rocky campaign. Obama needs to pick someone who isn't going to mess up a good thing. It's tricky in both camps. Word is that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is seriously considering the VP spot. I have to admit, I don't know anything about this man except that he's a Democratic governor in a state that usually elects Republicans. I think it's smart for Obama to look south for a running mate. I also think it's smart for him to pick a man instead of a woman. It's already going to be a historic moment when America elects a black man president. I think picking a female running mate would push the envelope. It sucks, but look at the way Hillary Clinton was treated. Sure, you can say it's because she's "Hillary." But the only reason Hillary was ever given such a hard time is because she's a strong, smart and opinionated woman.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again right now. The Democrats cannot afford to lose this election. Period. Another Republican administration will permanently put us in the toilet. So, pick a running mate that's going to get votes. Any Democrat who doesn't vote for Obama because he didn't pick a woman, specifically Hillary, doesn't care about this country or their party. Yes, I feel very strongly about it.

Bursting Thru the Racial Frontier on the Back of Sexism

Finally the Democratic primaries are over and we have a winner - Barack Obama. I feel so bruised from just being a spectator of this contest, I can't imagine how Hillary and Barack feel. This historic event brought out the best and the worst of our party, and our country. I'm thrilled we've nominated a person of color to be our Democratic Presidential Candidate. I believe it will move our country forward as millions of us consider voting for Obama. Many middle Americans will realize that race is not as important as they once thought it was. Many Americans are going to make their decisions based on whether or not they believe the next president will improve our economy. As they weigh their choices, they will listen to each candidate's proposals and make a choice. I believe that many Americans will realize for the first time that it doesn't matter if the candidate is a black man or a white man. This election will force many to reconsider old notions of race and discard them.

While I'm very hopeful that our country will advance on the racial frontier, I am truly saddened that we haven't come very far when it comes to gender. It's clear to me that it is simply more acceptable to our society to continue to devalue and demonize women. If women are automatically "bitches," why do men rely and expect us to raise their children? The Democratic primary demonstrated that in the men v. women dialogue, men still win most of the time and open hostility to women is okay.

Everyone, including "feminists," said it would be inappropriate for Hillary to be offended by the gross amounts of sexism she encountered on the campaign trail. She would be whining. But any hint of a racial slur toward Obama set everyone on fire! Why must women be expected to bear the brunt of hostility towards their gender? Hillary's fight was harder than Obama's. That's a fact. Sexism is the reason Hillary has been demonized since she was the first lady. She dared have an opinion. There was really no way Hillary could approach this race without being criticized. Women can't win when we allow sexism to flourish.

Nonetheless, Barack Obama is a great candidate and a far better choice for president than John McCain. Any Democrat who chooses to stay home in November and not vote is not a Democrat.

A New View

This morning I watched a documentary called Escape from Suburbia. It's a very enlightening film on energy and how we will need to approach the future. The saying "the future is now" takes on new meaning for me. This film came out a little while ago and in just a short period of time, some of its predictions are now true. They weren't so much predictions as they were hypotheses. It hypothesised that the price of gas was going to be $3.50 a gallon and never get cheaper. The price of oil would rise and rise and never fall again. It's all happening.

Maybe because I have a child, or maybe because Earth Day was a couple of weeks ago, I have been thinking about what I can do to reduce my energy consumption and help heal the environment. It's not that I haven't thought or done anything about it before, but the urgency is greater now more than ever. The issue has hit home, literally. Who can afford gas at these prices? It's insane. It almost doesn't make sense to own a car. Unfortunately, Baltimore is not the mass transit capital of the world. Far from it. Currently, the Light Rail has less than half its normal amount of trains running. Bad timing? To say the least.

I know there's many things I can do and whatever steps I take will make a difference. But it's about time our government stepped up and helped create a sustainable society. Stop building roads and start building better mass transit. Maryland is in need of better solutions, especially since BRAC is bringing so many people to the state within the next five years.

One of the solutions I want to mention is buying locally produced goods. Get your vegetables at the farmer's market. It's a lot of fun, the vegetables are less expensive and it's environmentally friendly. Check out the Waverly Farmer's market on Barclay and 32nd Streets on Saturday and the Baltimore Farmer's Market downtown under 83 on Sundays.

Jacob Update: Jacob is doing great! He's approximately 12 pounds and growing! He smiles all the time. He's a bit of a night owl ... most of his wakefulness occurs in the late afternoon through 10 or 11 p.m.! He does great with tummy time and holds his head up a lot. He's working on turning himself over, but hasn't made it yet.

TTFN, as Tigger would say.

Smiles and Giggles

Requests for videos haven't gone unnoticed. It does require some time with technology and time with 2 hands is rare. However, today we captured a moment with Jacob in the papasan, enjoying a few smiles. I think he sees himself in the mirror and has a little smiling game.



In this video, I sound a little silly trying to get smiles from Jacob, but he's still a cutie.

Life at home with Jacob is awesome! He's growing so quickly. His arms and legs are getting nice and plump. He makes all kinds of new noises everyday. He loves his noise-making stuffed animals and rattles. He's full of grins and sweetness.

There isn't much time that Jacob spends out of my arms. He sleeps in my arms or on my chest most of the day. When he's awake we play games with his rattles and smile at each other.

He's started drooling which is a precursor to teething. It's cute for now.

I'm acutely aware that this time with him is short and I intend to enjoy every moment.

The weather is beautiful. Time to go for walks and drink iced lattes. Enjoy.

LIfe at Home

Life at home has been great! I love motherhood. The first few weeks were really hard for me. Luckily, Caroline took time off from work while I recuperated from surgery. The first two weeks were particularly grueling. As some of you may know, newborns eat frequently. Every two hours we had to feed Jacob. And that time is measured from start to start so there wasn't much time to rest in between. Luckily, he slept most of the time so he wasn't very demanding.

Jacob has grown so much. He's almost 11 pounds now. He no longer sleeps most of the time, which is so fun. He doesn't play much, but it is so great just to spend time with him while he's awake. He smiles and coos and wiggles around. It's just so amazing to watch him change and grow. With his new wakefulness, I have less time to do stuff, so I'll just have to leave you with a picture.

Here He Is! Part II

The Hospital Stay, Continued

Since we had no idea when the baby would have to be delivered, Caroline stayed in the hospital with me every day. The baby was breech, so we knew there was a strong possibility he would be delivered by C-section.

After a week in the hospital, we had one false alarm. One of the many medical staff attending me freaked out about the swelling of my legs (which was pretty severe actually) and determined I might be getting worse. I was rushed back into Labor & Delivery. Everyone was saying this might be the day my baby is born. I was pretty freaked out. I wasn't mentally ready. I was still hoping we could cook him a bit longer. I was only 36 weeks and a couple of days. He was small already, so I wanted to grow him as much as possible. Eventually, the OB decided not to deliver and I was sent back to my room.

That false alarm told me I needed to get ready for my baby. He was definitely coming sooner than later. Good thing I decided to get real about it because sooner became the next day. There was a dip in my platelet count and finally the OB said she couldn't see a reason to wait any longer. The C-section was scheduled for that evening.

I was pretty nervous about the surgery. I was planning to deliver vaginally. I never thought about a C-section and what would be involved. I was nervous about the spinal. I don't know about you, but the thought of someone putting a large needle in my spine is pretty nerve wracking. I was scared of being one of the few who become paralyzed by accident. But mostly I was worried that I wouldn't have the emotional attachment to my baby the way I imagined I would after going through labor.

I needn't worry, though. It all went smoothly. Actually, Caroline and I watched the surgery with the help of a mirror. It was incredibly freaky seeing my body manipulated like that. But the most amazing moment happened when the OB pulled Jacob out of me. I can barely describe the amazement and joy I felt seeing him for the first time. I cried. The love was there instantly.

Because he was a preemie, the neonatal unit had to check him out right away to make sure all his parts were working. Caroline watched as they cleaned him, weighed him and did all the other stuff. Then Jacob was brought over to me as the OB was putting me back together. It was wonderful. His eyes were open and he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Then he was whisked off to the nursery for a thorough exam.

I was brought to recovery and placed on a magnesium sulfate drip for 24 hours. That stuff is used to prevent any of the preeclamsia symptoms from getting worse after delivery. They also gave me an IV pain killer. Little did I know how much pain I'd be in. The spinal started wearing off right away and I began to feel the incision. Thank goodness for pain medication. I had to stay in the Labor and Delivery unit until the magnesium was stopped. Another uncomfortable bed.

Caroline's sister, Katherine, flew in from San Diego that night. She planned to help Caroline get the house ready for the baby. But since I had the C-section, Caroline had to stay at the hospital with me around the clock. There isn't much one can do after their abdomen has been cut in half. So Katherine readied the house by herself. She ran around buying all kinds of things we would need that we hadn't yet bought ourselves. She cleaned, bought groceries, cleaned the litter boxes, took care of the cats, bought clothes for the baby, and on and on and on. I can't even list everything she did because I was pretty out of it most of the weekend.

Having a newborn and major surgery at the same time is a bit overwhelming. There isn't much sleep to be had when you have a newborn. You have to nurse him every 3 hours, start to start. And the first night was just so overwhelming, I forgot to sleep. Caroline was equally exhausted because I couldn't get out of bed. She was changing every diaper, taking calls, helping me with everything. She forgot to sleep the first night too. By the time 24 hours had passed, I was so tired I started to feel like I was going to black out.

And then the real pain began. After coming off the magnesium (which, by the way, every single nurse told me was a "nasty" drug), I was brought to the post-partum unit. I hadn't moved a muscle since before the surgery and now the nurse wanted me to get out of my bed and into the wheelchair so I could be moved. The first time I tried moving, I thought I would die. Now let me say, if you're ever going to have a baby, avoid the C-section at all costs. Really, take my word for it.

The next 96 hours I spent in the hospital was basically consumed by trying to breastfeed and waiting to fart. Really. I couldn't have solid foods until I farted. You'd be surprised how hard it is to fart after a surgery like that.

More difficult was the breastfeeding. Since Jacob was a preemie, there were all sorts of issues with his learning to suck. I won't get into it now, but let me tell you that Jacob was a champ. We got him on the breast and he amazed everyone in the nursery and the lactation station with how well he was learning. It was very challenging for me, but I was determined to give him breast milk no matter what I had to do.

Four days later, I went home. Here is one of the first photos of our son. He was 4 lbs and 8 oz when he was born.

Here he is!

Jacob Irving was born on February 21, 2008. It's been quite a rollercoster, but Caroline and I are feeling elated and loving life with our new son. Here's the how it all happened.

The Disappointing Ultrasound

On February 11, we had the 3rd trimester ultrasound. We were looking forward to seeing how big Jacob had grown and getting a more specific due date. What we learned was that Jacob was growing a bit too slow for my OB's taste. She put me on bed rest in the hopes that it would help Jacob get the much needed nutrients to grow. She also ordered twice-weekly nonstress tests for the baby.

High Blood Pressure and Spilling Protein, aka Preeclampsia

The following Thursday (February 14), we went to the hospital for a nonstress test. This is a test to show that the baby is moving around normally and his heart rate is strong while in the womb. While I was there, the technicians took my blood pressure and a urine sample. My blood pressure was pretty high and they found protein in my urine which isn't a good thing. Right away, I was sent to Labor & Delivery for monitoring. My OB said I had Preeclampsia. She ordered a 24-hour observation that involved constant blood pressure monitoring and a collection of my urine. Nice way to spend Valentine's Day. I was stuck in an uncomfortable birthing bed and poor Caroline was sleeping on a chair.

I had hoped to be going home from the hospital the next day. I felt fine and I wanted to complete my bed rest at home in a nice comfy bed. My OB had other ideas. Even though she ordered the 24-hour observation, she basically determined I had preeclamsia and I was going to be at the hospital until Jacob was born. He wasn't due for another 5 weeks.

The Hospital Stay

I was moved to the high risk pregnancy area and told to settle in. I was on bed rest with bathroom "privileges," meaning I was allowed to walk myself to the bathroom to pee. Apparently, I was lucky because there are lots of women who are put on bed rest without such privileges.

Let me say first that the staff at the hospital were mostly very nice and compassionate with both myself and Caroline. The high risk unit gets lots of long-term visitors. My days consisted of laying, getting my blood pressure taken every 4 hours, getting my sugar tested twice a day, getting blood taken daily and having my pee collected and tested for urine. The only treatment for preeclamsia is delivery of the baby. I wasn't full-term yet, so we were trying to avoid this. Therefore, my symptoms had to be monitored to make sure my health wasn't in danger. The 3 major symptoms being watched were my blood pressure, the amount of protein in my urine, and my platelet count. Don't ask me what the platelets have to do with anything.

Every day could be the day my son would be delivered.

Time to Nurse

I have to nurse my son now, so stay tuned to part two of the adventure...