New Topic

As I mentioned in my last post, we are indeed expecting a new addition to the family. I just figured that i need to keep this blog fresh after 18 months, and what better way than to incorporate a new topic of discussion.

With that said, I'd like to introduce Olivia Song, freshly birthed this past Monday morning, 10/12, at 5:34 AM.She's a little plump at 7 pounds 2 oz., born an ounce heavier than her big brother.

I'm a bit slow thinking right now now to write more, as we were all quickly reminded how new babies have that "must-eat-every-two-hours" rule. Mommy's been extremely tired on a 24 hour basis, while Daddy's been doing double duty during the day watching the original Baby, who is now more appropriately the Big Brother.

The two of them do get along fine so far, which is the most asked question since we've gotten home. We've been trying to get our first Baby used to being around other newborns, but those newborns always get returned to their original owners by the end of the day. But he's yet to exhibit any jealousy so far, and we do our best to spread the attention and hugs equally between babies.

Contraction Reaction

I'm sitting in front of the laptop, recovering from information overload from varying opinions on the whats, whens, and whys of contractions. For all you loyal readers who know me, you already know that Baby is not going to be an only child sometime soon. Seems like it's sooner than we thought, as Mommy is having those pains that hurt enough to keep her from sleeping, and coughing from acid reflux to boot.

What Daddy is trying to figure out is whether the pains are contractions or Braxton Hicks, and neither of us remember anything from this same situation 18 months ago.

What I've pieced together from many inconsistent sources including my own long term memory, which is the most unreliable source of all, are the following facts:

• Contraction pains are in the back, and false labor pains (a.k.a. Braxton Hicks) are in the front
• If they're inconsistent in duration and frequency, they're probably not true contractions yet
• 411 = a way to remember the best time to head to the hospital. 4=contractions less than 4 minutes apart; 1=contractions lasting for one minute; 1=all for at least one hour
• You can't speak a full sentence through true contractions because of the pain

To help with the timing, I found this site called ContractionMaster.com, which is coming in very handy. (Also available as a downloadable application, which is a bit easier than following your wife around with a computer to see when her contractions are beginning and ending.)

While we try to figure this out, here's a little preview of what's to come: