Giant Monkey Feet!

When they were taking Conner's foot prints in the delivery room, they had to turn his feet to the side to get them to fit on the page. They also pressed his foot prints on my scrubs.

Big Foot baby spotted in GA! msw 3/09

I didn't realize just how big his feet where until I took this picture on the the car ride home! He also has an amazing grip with his toes and look at the space between his big toe and the rest of those little dactyls?

Going Home with Baby!

Nothing prepared us for leaving the hospital with a really real live baby. I mean, lets be honest here, who would give us a baby to take home? It all seems very irresponsible on the part of the hospital.

You know you're going to "have" a baby but I guess you just don't realize that you are actually going to have to take it home. Its like a surprise at the end an event, when they tell you, "and you can keep this". You smile and thank them, but in the back of your mind your not really sure what your going to do with it.

We were able to check out at around 6 PM on Friday since Anne and Conner were doing well. It all seamed a bit like a dream. It also felt like we had been at the hospital forever.

Conner wasn't too happy about all of the bright light or the car seat. His voice was very small so his cries were more of a dramatic facial expression with very little sound.

Driving out of the Hospital parking lot I was overwhelmed with a sense of contentment. I was driving my wife and new baby home. A car seat and diaper bag would replace the backpack and random camping gear that normally occupy the back seat of my jeep, but somehow that felt right.

Waiting two blocks away at our house, Jonathan, Kate , Graham, Sid and Wiggles awaited our arrival. It all became very real. Conner was now an actual member of our family and of Team Mzungu.

8.8 lbs, in the next hour, vaginally? I don't think so!

We begin where we left off...March 18 in the early AM Anne had had no change. When Nurse Talley gave her the exam she broke Anne's water. It looked horribly painful. She didn't warn Anne so she would be as relaxed as possible.

They started Anne on the second half of the induction drugs. Shortly after Anne began to experience severely painful contractions about twice a minute. They seemed to come in twos. I could see them start on the monitor then Anne would begin to tense up. After about 45minutes, it was obvious she would need an epidural. We had talked about natural birth but when they said Conner might be 9lbs + we rethought that idea.

Its interesting what pain will do to you. Anne had in her mind that the pain was somehow caused by being in the hospital. She would very clearly and very seriously say,"I'm sorry, I just can't do this." She would then say,"I've got to go." and would try to get out of the bed. One of my hands was being squeezed off while the other was trying to gently hold her down. I don't think she would have actually left the room but I think she would have gotten out of the bed dragging all of the IVs and monitors with her.

Once they administered the epidural, her pain subsided and she dozed off. We both slept for a couple of hours. It was a great calm before the storm.

After a while Nurse Talley came in and gave her an exam and said that she was progressing well. She told the other nurses to set Ann up and get her started. She was then called away for a set of twins being born next door. So begins the pushing process that lasted about 2 hours. About an hr and a half into it, one of the other Dr.s from the practice came in, looked at Anne and said, "I predict an 8.8 pound baby to be delivered in the next hour vaginally!" then he walked out. We were very excited not to need surgery. Anne continued to push. You could actually see the hair on top of Conner's head.

About 20minutes later, Nurse Talley returned. She spoke with the nurses who had been helping Anne. When she heard what the Dr. had said she looked a little confused. She gave Anne another exam and then asked if the Dr. had just looked or "put his hands in there." When the nurses said ,"he just looked," she laughed and said , "go get him, he needs to do an actual exam." A few minutes and an exam later he was apologizing. He said he misunderstood the nurses and thought Anne had only been pushing for 30min. He then explained that there was no way that baby was coming out that way. Anne was amazingly calm about the whole thing.

Then things got a little surreal. We were told someone would come in and bag up our stuff and take it to our recovery room and that we would never be separated. All of that went right out the window when they decided to do a C section. I was told I just had a few seconds to gather all of our stuff that was spread all over the room and give it to our folks waiting in the lobby...

...but we don't have anyone in the lobby? I quickly called Penny and Gretchen who were there in a flash. They had me run to the surgery room suit up then wait in the hall for what seemed like an eternity.

A nurse came out and said, "Lets go there daddy, mommy needs you!" and she rushed me to the surgery room.

When we entered, the nurse put her hand on one side of my face I am assuming to shield me from what was happening to Anne. She led me to her head. I guess they had started cutting and were not sure how I would react. Once at Anne's head I realized she was a bit out of it. There was a curtain up so that Anne and I could not see what was happening and there was an anesthesiologist at her head as well.

After a few minutes the Dr. said,"Mike...come over here. Just as I stepped around the curtain, a head popped out of an incision in Anne's belly. There were about 6-7 people standing around and everyone acted surprised. Someone yelled out, "Look at the size of that head!" Another said, "Well I lost, I said 9.1". It all happened very fast. I don't even remember seeing the umbilical cord. He almost immediately let out a little cry. I looked back at Anne and she heard him too. She kept asking, "Is he alright?" and finally the Dr. said, "he looks great." I don't think Anne heard him so I walked to her head and said he was perfect. They took him to a little station and a few people worked feverishly to clean him up and get all of the fluid out of his nose and mouth. He peed on one of them.

Once clean they brought him for Anne to see. She was trying to kiss him but couldn't really move.

I was told to go with the baby and that "mommy would be along shortly." When I looked over at Anne, she was getting sick and they were starting to put everything back in where it belonged. If you are faint of heart, it was not a sight you would want to see. There was a nurse who was counting bloody gauze pads that were hanging from a rack. I guess to be sure none were left inside? Anne started to cry and asked me to make them stop. It was heart wrenching. I was so torn, I didn't want to leave my wife on that table, but I had an new responsibility as well.

When they weighed him, everyone was surprised. 9lbs, 14.5 oz. That's a far cry from the predicted 8.8lbs!

The next few hours were a bit of a nightmare. I went with Conner to the NICU. They took him into a windowless room and said that he would be back in a couple of hours. They were going to need to monitor him and give him some glucose because he was so big. I guess big babies have a tendency to lose a lot of weight after birth which can be very bad. I wasn't sure where to go but a nurse finally showed me to the recovery room. They said Anne would be up in about 30min. She had to go to OR recovery for a little while to be sure she was stable.

3 hrs and a couple of visits to the nursing station later, I still had not seen my wife or baby! I was getting really worried. Penny and Gretchen came up to the room to wait with me. Sitting in the room I hear a familiar voice and it didn't sound happy. When I stepped into the hall, Anne was being wheeled along and she was furious. Apparently she had been left in a scary OR recovery room by herself for three hours. No one was checking on her, no one was comforting her, or telling her where her baby was. At one point the "transportation" person said, "Well ma'am... you're jus gonna have to get over it." Nice... there's some real customer service for you.

Once in the room the nurse was quick to get Conner to us and then all was well in the world.

It just so happened that Anne's brother Jonathan , his wife Kate and their son had just arrived. Anne had had her fill of strangers poking and prodding her. We asked that Kate (who is a nurse) come in to help Anne start breast feeding, instead of the nurse on call. It was nice to share that with family instead of a total stranger.

Anne was pretty tuckered out...although I can't for the life of me figure out why. The nurses were great. They would check in and take vitals on Anne and Conner every so often. I was able hold Conner all night except for feedings. I was also blessed with the opportunity to change his first few diapers (which isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be). He was absolutely beautiful.

I didn't think it possible that I could love anyone else as much as I love Conner's mom; until the first time he gripped my finger. At that very moment, nothing else in this world seemed to mattered.

Pre Game Warm-up

So Conner's due date was March 14. According to Anne, she had a talk with Conner and he had agreed to come on his due date. Of course in the back of our minds we were sure he would come early. Anne kept saying that Conner was such a good boy for listening to his mom...but then he came late!

At Anne's last Dr. visit she was discouraged to hear, "No change yet." For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, pick up a book on child birth. There's some stuff that has to happen before a baby can come out...

The nurse practitioner in charge of Anne's pregnancy set up an appointment for the following week to have her induced. We had hoped for a St. Patrick's Day baby but there were no rooms available on the 16 (you start the day before the delivery). On March 17, dressed in our best green, we showed up at the hospital for our 6pm appointment.

Anne, "I don't have any appointments available tomorrow because I'm havin' a baby, but maybe Friday."msw

We were a little concerned with the check-in process. The lady at the front desk seemed bothered by us. She told us to sit in the waiting room and she would call us when she was ready. Once she finally called us, her monotone questions and lack of eye contact was stifling our excitement. To make matters worse, when the nurses called us back to the delivery area, they realized that none of the rooms where clean. As we stood there the nurses all shrugged their shoulders and said, "I don't think there is a clean room....well 16 is partially clean..."

Partially clean! What! Is there some afterbirth on the sheets, maybe a placenta on the floor!How could they even consider putting us in a "partially clean" room. Luckily they didn't. Instead they asked us to return to the waiting room until there was a room available.

Strapped in and ready to go captain. msw

Once in the room, the story changes for the best. The nurses were so nice and helpful. The room was very comfortable. They got Anne settled in, called me into the room and began the process. Apparently the induction has two parts. The first night's IV would start the changes. The next day the second IV would start the contractions.

Penny, Gretchen, Anne and Conner.msw

I was able to stay the whole night and slept on a small pull out. Once settled in, our friends Penny and Gretchen came for a visit. It was all very calm and relaxed.

When the nurse attempted to put put Anne's IV in, she said she was having trouble. We assumed it was finding the vein, but she said she couldn't get the needle to pierce the skin. This started a whole rant about how Anne was secretly a super hero known as gator girl. She had the skin and special powers of a gator!

It all made sense. Like Bruce Wayne was afraid of bats and became Batman, Anne is terrified of alligators and crocodiles, so she assumed the identity of Gator Girl! Why else would she live in Kenya that is full of crocodiles then move to South GA that is full of alligators....because GA is her bat cave....Anne said I know way too much about comic book characters for my own good.

Mmmmm......Drugs.....msw

They had a number of IV bags hooked up. One was just to hydrate Anne. She wasn't to eat anything that night in preparation for the birth.

Drip.drip.drip...msw

She was hooked up to so many things. Between the IV drips and the fetal heart monitor, there were wires and tubes everywhere. It is amazing to think that women use to give birth in a field while working! Its even crazier to think how we (as Americans) forget that in many places in the world that still happens as a norm. Have we mechanized the whole birthing process? Has it become so unnatural that it couldn't be done without technology? In the state of GA it is illegal to have a home birth but legal for the hospital to charge you $30,000 for the medical care.

I think I am having a contraction! msw

If I understood right, the top line is Conner's heart beat and the number in the upper right corner is his heart rate. The bottom line measures Anne's contractions.

The economy is so baby even Conner is getting evicted from his apartment!

We had a pretty smooth night. All the nurses were great. Unfortunately in the morning when Nurse Talley came for the exam, "Still not much of a change."

The Babymoon!

Listen up first time fathers to be.....apparently there is this new thing called a "babymoon". Its like a honeymoon but different. I'm sure it can be found in at least one of the many glamour magazines your wife has laying around the house. The idea is that you take one last trip before your wife is too pregnant to travel. It's suppose to be the last trip you ever take when it is just the two of you. The idea is sound but the reality is you are both probably exhausted, you can't sit for too long, you can't walk for long, she is usually self conscious of her size so no beach trips....it really doesn't workout how you envision it but she wants it so your going to give it to her!

Lunch and Dinner at IKEA! msw

Anne had mentioned this babymoon a couple of times at the beginning of her third trimester, but we had both been feeling so bad, the thought of traveling wasn't that appealing. Finally we discussed going to Atlanta for the weekend, but just before we we went, we had a budgetary panic attack and bailed on the whole idea. Saturday afternoon, we began to have regrets but it was too late to leave on a trip that wasn't even planned.

As an insensitive man, I thought the issue was over. We missed the babymoon window and that was that. I couldn't have been more wrong. Once again I found us discussing "the babymoon". There was some crying, I used my man words such as "ridiculous" and "are you kidding me" (all big no no's in the man vs women heated debate arena) until finally it ended with no conclusion, and us both yelling, "Fine", "Fine".

The next morning was Saturday. Anne had taken one morning massage. I tried to act like I was still asleep when she left. She would only be gone for a couple of hours at most. I had to act fast. Little did she know that late the previous night after our argument I had decided that I was going to surprise her with everything she had hoped for in a babymoon. As soon as she left I was at the computer.

First priority: it had to be a surprise. Check. She had no idea.

Second priority: it would be an affordable but nice overnight trip. I pricelined a 4 star hotel in Atlanta for $80 that night. Check.

Third Priority: she wanted to see a show or something. I search through Ticket Master but didn't see anything of interest. I suddenly found myself thinking about the Cirque Du Soleil in Orlando. We had both always wanted to see Cirque but it is so expensive. After a search I found that miraculously Cirque had a new show that just opened in Atlanta in January! They were almost sold out but I managed to get two tickets! Done and Done!

Forth Priority: there should be candles, flowers and a card. Check.

Now Anne didn't lay these things out for me as it might seem. These were all things she had mentioned in passing when discussing the babymoon. When she had finished work, she called to see if I wanted to meet her for lunch. I told her she should come home first, then we could go out (something that neither of us like to do when we are already out and about.) When she did, she found a card on the dinning room table with the tickets and reservations. The card said, "The only person who is more ridiculous then you..." then on the inside it said "... is me. You have 20 minutes to pack!"

Life imitating art in ATL. msw

We had a great drive as we always do, and surprisingly my back felt fine. We checked into the hotel then drove ten minutes to our usual haunt in Atlanta, IKEA! We were of course looking for baby room stuff, had lunch when we got there, shopped,then had dinner there. It was funny and convenient. When Anne and I were dating and she would visit me in Northern VA, we often had breakfast at an IKEA. It's surprisingly good and cheap.

Looking up through the middle of the Marquis. msw

We stayed at the Marriott Marquis. It was amazing. We've found that if you wait to the night before or morning of , you can almost always priceline a 4 star in ATL for about $80.

A veiw from our room. msw

We ordered room service desserts. Had breakfast in the hotel restaurant that morning. It was an amazing hotel. My back was still feeling great! After we checked out at around noon, it was time to find the Cirque tent which was close to the IKEA.

When we arrived, you could see people wandering towards a bigtop tent. Walking through the parking lot I was overcome by a stabbing pain under my right shoulder blade. It dropped me to my knees. I couldn't catch my breath. It was different from any of the back pain I had been suffering for the last couple of months. Anne and I both thought that this might be the end of our hopes to see the show. Anne helped me back to the car where I had some pain medicine. I took the max dose and we decide to go to the show and hope for the best.

When we entered, I was surprised by how small the stage seemed. I expected it to be bigger. We quickly noticed that there was a kind of pre-show going on. Costumed characters were running through the audience chasing one another and stage workers in elaborate costumes performed slapstick while preparing the stage. Some characters were helping seat people..in the wrong seats or seats already occupied. It was very entertaining. By the time the "Ring Master" began to introduce the show, my pain killers had kicked in and I was feeling good.

As the show started, we began to realize what phenomenal seats we had. Right in the front about 10 rows back. We were also in a section-ending row, so no one was behind us kicking our seats or talking. We also had a seat open on either side of us in what appeared to be a sold out show. Could it be. Surly someone was going to show up late, spill a drink on us and smell of ham while pushing passed us to takeover our arm rests...but that never happened! God was truely at work here.

If you have never heard of Cirque du Soleil, it is a cross between a circus (with acrobats, contortionists, magicians, jugglers, and high wire act), a ballet, live world beat music concert, a play, a light show and some of the most bizarre and amazing scifi/fantasy costumes and imagery imaginable. This was by far one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. You are constantly on the edge of your seat, wowed by what you are seeing. The show never disappoints. Just when you think you have seen everything, something else blows your mind. I recommend to anyone - Spend The Money To See A Cirque Du Soleil Show. It is one of the most magical spectacles you will experience in your life time.

So the show was good.

I am so glad to have taken Anne on a babymoon. I highly recommend that you soon to be fathers make and effort to spend this quality time with you wife no matter what the cost. And if you are looking for ideas....psst,"priceline and Cirque Du Soleil..."

Help!!! A baby is coming and I can barely walk!!!

As baby day got closer and my back began to feel better, I realized how much just wasn't finished. If we were to be ready, we had to eat our pride and ask for help. Thanks to all of our friends and family that helped us move kayaks, put away Christmas decorations, feed dogs and put together the baby room.





My dad came down from VA to help us for a week. I think dad expected that I would be in worse shape then I was when he arrived. I had just started walking without a cane and was eager to get last minute baby stuff done. Thanks to dad, the shelves in the baby room aren't the death trap that they would have been if we had hung them. He also loaned me a paint sprayer that allowed me to paint all of the furniture in the baby room white. It really tied the room together.

Christmas in Georgia (Retro Blog to catch you up to Now)

Some might say that the greatest thing about Christmas in GA is the weather, but I still miss the snow. I just can't bring myself to spray white stuff on the windows and roll out sheets of cotton on the roof eve, and Chistmas lights on a palm tree? That only works in Corona comercials and RV parks.

It just seems stupid to run the AC and make a fire.

It was with heavy hearts that Anne and I decided not to travel to VA for Christmas this year. We went back and forth on the decision but ultimately decided it would be best to stay home. This was the first year since we've been married that we didn't travel at least for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is the second Christmas that we found ourselves in GA. Despite the longing to be with family, there is something about being in your own home for the holidays. You can go all out with your decorations, participate in the neighborhood illuminary, and spend time with our local friends.

Lois no doubt cleaning something.

As for family, the Shaws were on the back end of their stay in the US and would be heading back to Kenya for a 5 year appointment. We were blessed to be on their extremely busy itenerary. Unfortunately during their time in GA I was either rithing in pain or highly meddicated for my back problems.

Mark ponders the meaning and signifigance of a stocking stuffer.

None the less, Christmas is always best when shared with your loved ones. We especially savored this visit as it might very well be some time before we see them again.

The lion and the Lamb

Christmas is such a powerful time in our lives, and can be so transformative. Reminding us of the great love God has for us and the love we should share with those around us. It is a time when the lion can truely lay down with the lamb.

Anne White as seen on TV.

Its also a great time to fullfill Anne's need for gimmicy crap! All I can say is SHAM...WOW!