We wish to congratulate KonThaak, and wish his child the greatest of success in the future. We are with you all the way.

Since it's officially the 11th here... Happy birthday, Julian!

Happy Birthday Julian!!!

happy birthday kiddo.

Happy Belated! ^___^

Since Lex is carrying our second child right now...I've been doing a lot of reflection on Julian's first week of life...

I remember the day he was born quite clearly, despite that it was over a year and a half ago, now... I remember the excitement, fear, and nervousness as I stopped getting ready for work and started getting ready to take Lex to the hospital... I remember the half-coherent phone calls... I remember the blood-curdling scream, and my anger at not being allowed to help calm Lex when they inserted the hypodermic... I remember the screaming, the cajoling...

There was a nurse in the room, according to Lex, that I never remembered seeing... I didn't see her come in, I didn't remember her being in the birthing room, and I certainly didn't remember her leaving... Lex described her as having "short, dark hair", and she couldn't remember anything else, but every time Lex felt like she might pass out from pain (despite the anesthetics), she heard and saw this nurse yelling at her to breathe, and she did...

That was on a Wednesday... October 11, 2006... That first night, Julian was taken care of by wet nurses... He was taken care of for us the following night, too, 'cuz Lex wasn't sure she was comfortable breastfeeding him by herself, just yet... We both had concerns about that, because Lex had major reduction surgery done in high school... We brought these concerns up to every nurse and lactation consultant that walked in our door, but they brushed aside our concerns, and pushed hard for Lex to breastfeed, stating and re-iterating the importance of breastfeeding, and how it was so much healthier for the baby...

For what it's worth, Julian did exactly as they told us he would... He latched on properly, suckled for 10-15 minutes, let go, and drifted off to sleep, just like they told us... I was changing the right number of diapers in a day (they didn't tell me that a certain number had to be soiled, and Lex assumed that some of the ones I was changing were)... We were new parents, so after we took him home on Friday, we failed to notice, within 24 hours, the signs of dehydration and malnutrition setting in quickly...

Julian crashed hard on that Sunday, less than 48 hours after we got him home. We rushed him back to the ER, where he was admitted... The doctors suspected us of intentionally starving him, I think, until they saw how little milk Lex was producing... Their doubts about us were fully banished when his initial blood tests came back, and he'd tested positive for MCAD...

He nearly died, though. Twenty minutes more, and we would've lost him. We were terrified. Terrified doesn't even begin to explain it.

While Julian's vitals were still alarmingly low, a priest from the hospital came and prayed with us... Lex isn't a particularly religious person, but even she said she felt something from the prayer, and not long after, Julian's condition started stabilizing...

He was admitted into intensive care from the ER that night, and he stayed in intensive care for a week. They had to do so many blood tests, the soles of the poor kid's feet had more holes than a full block of swiss cheese...

After they allowed him to come home, he's been healthy ever since, and happy... The doctors right now say he's behind, mentally, but I don't buy it. I think he's lazy... He seems to understand what we're saying, and Lex and I know he's capable of doing the things other kids his age are capable of doing, but usually, the problem is getting him to *want* to do those things, which he almost never does...

I guess I'm relating this, 'cuz now, with Lex carrying our second, due to be born late this summer, I'm nervous. They say every kid has one major disaster... Our first child almost died. Now we know what signs to look for, to make sure our second child doesn't suffer from the same problem...but what is our second born's disaster going to be...?

Maybe I'm just worrying needlessly... We are blessed beyond description to have Julian. The angels watched out for us and him when he was born. I know I shouldn't dwell on my concerns and worries, but...they keep nagging at me, anyway.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling, now... I need to get some sleep.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than when a little kid goes through something that terrible. I mean, he couldn't have done anything to deserve that, and you guys certainly didn't do anything to, either. Bad shit happens to good people (and good babies) and sometimes all we can do is pray for the best. But they always say the second child is easier than the first, so I'm wishing you all the best.

Thanks, Hannah, Angel.

Of course, I wish I could remember how I helped the other night. I'm still not really clear on all of those events. ^^;

Quick update: Next kid's gonna be a girl! Lex is due sometime around August 1, though she has the feeling she's gonna come early... We're working on a name.

Heh, congratulations. Though don't be too certain about the sex of your baby, though. Not unless ultrasound showed everything.

Doctors can be wrong, too.

Ethan Skinner wrote:Heh, congratulations. Though don't be too certain about the sex of your baby, though. Not unless ultrasound showed everything.

Doctors can be wrong, too.

Oh, trust me. The ultrasound photos showed *everything*. ^^; First time around, she kept her legs crossed the whole time. This time, it was her face she kept covered, and it was like she was trying to moon the camera. So yeah, we know for sure it's a girl. ^^;

Had a lot of suspicions before... It's a totally different pregnancy than with Julian, a lot of the old wives' methods of figuring it out said girl, and even my runes were very blatant in the gender, so we were fairly certain it'd be a girl... The ultrasounds just confirm it.

Oh, that's just NASTY!!!! Thank God we live in a technologically advanced society. I'm not touching anyone's chicken guts unless they're deep fried with seven herbs and spices.

That's an old practice... It dates back to the augurs of Rome, wherein priests would foretell the future through dragging out animal entrails and reading signs in those entrails--by the way they fell, the general internal health of the slaughtered animal, abnormalities in colorations or deformations in the entrails, and so forth...

The old wives' methods I was speaking of involved...I dunno, I wasn't there for it, but it involved something about a coin in the palm of her hand, or something to that effect.

Hannah wrote:Hi Sue,

The animals were being slaughtered for food anyway, so someone was gonna have to reach inside and yank the guts out. The difference is this time they get to take the time to see if anything interesting is there.

Hannah

PS: I guess it's something city folk wouldn't really know about.

You're right on that, Hannah. Most city folks wouldn't know the first thing about it. But it comes in handy when surviving on the land.

Congratulations again, KonThaak. Hopefully, everything will go right.

My fingers are crossed so tight, my fingertips are turning blue... We won't let the same thing that happened to Julian in the first few days of his life happen to her as well.

Now "she" just needs a name... Lex and I like the name Evey for the first name, but we haven't found a middle name we can both agree on...

On July 24, 2008, at precisely 6:00AM, CST, Victoria Skye was born to us by unplanned non-emergency C-section. She decided she wanted the 24th instead of the 26th all on her own, and took it upon herself to take the steps necessary to ensure that it would happen. Both Victoria and Alexis are doing well, but as we were all up all night last night, we're a bit exhausted.

Y'all take care!

Shortly after I posted this morning, Lex informed me that our baby wasn't a Victoria after all. She seemed rather distraught over this fact, and we put our heads together for a new name.

Our baby's name is Valerie Skye.

Unfortunately, I haven't had good enough reception to manage to come on and inform anyone of this change until now.

And thanks, Hannah!

Valerie Skye, daughter of KonThaak.

May Amaterasu always light your path, the might of Susano'o protect you, and may Sarutahiko Ohkami guide you for all of your days, little one.

When I am near a mail facility again, I shall send more appropriate items than mere words for the children.