Baby log, day four...

[Konrad in Lincoln]

Ok, I just got shit on today. :shock: For the love of God, let this be the last time THAT happens.

Baby Log, Day 4: Learned to treat baby as a loaded weapon, that can (and sometimes does) go off at any moment without warning. :!:

And you know what? I wouldn't trade it for the world. All those coo's and grunts and million-dollar yawns... Priceless.

[TexasPhil]

Never let that part of the body go without covering!!!!

Anytime you want an instant fountain... open it. As soon as cool air touches it... thar he blows!

Seriously, he WILL spit up if not burped properly! My secret, which my wife could not figure out, is to put pressure just above the stomach.... worked everytime.

Good Luck!

[Mike Pennington]

Congratulations Dad! One good thing about A Vacationer, it makes a great play pen Mike

[Craig]

We took the oldest in to the Doctor one time when he was very small. Had to have a rectal temp taken so old Dad says here, let me have him. Layed him over my lap and he promptly wet the entire front of my Class-A Blues. Had to walk out of there with my whole front wet!

Two weeks into this and you will think nothing of being wet upon from all the orifices. Some times it comes from all three at once! That is always a big day... Enjoy them while they are little. It lasts but a very, very short time.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Congratulations Konrad, It is a wonderful time. I'm just facing as a new grandpa with my youngest son. New boy is just a month old and I've had all three experiences already. Forgot for a moment how to deal with all that new baby stuff.

Cherish all of it, because it will be gone all too quickly. :wink:

[Frank Hagan]

Never let that part of the body go without covering!!!!

Seriously' date=' he WILL spit up if not burped properly! My secret, which my wife could not figure out, is to put pressure just above the stomach.... worked everytime.

[/quote']

Here's a fun trick when the baby is a bit older. Right after he nurses, lay on the couch and hold him in the air above you, and play "airplane" with him. They really enjoy that. He'll giggle and coo and your wife will laugh and you will turn to look at her and he'll puke in your ear.

There's just SOOOOO much experience around here!

[Bruce S Kershaw]

uck...

[Russ Sylvester]

So how do I check all four boxes plus a couple that aren't even listed? Welcome to parenthood! I can still remember changing that first diaper and thinking that I if I have to clean up that mess that I was going to lose my lunch. After the first hundred or so it becomes second nature. :wink:

From now until two years old are the best, remember every minute.

BTW, thanks for finally letting on that the kid is a boy.

[TexasPhil]

Russ,

Come on... it was in the picture that frank posted... and the subject of the title: "Announcing Konrad's Son!"

Take a peek

[Konrad in Lincoln]

Yeah Russ, check the photo.

I'm holding a blue sign that says "Boy" on it.

Not even a week old, and already I see changes in him. He focuses his eyes much more, and turns his head to look at me when I'm holding him. In a selfish way, I'm wishing he'd stay like this forever. But there's a religious phrase that goes something like: "Children are a temporary loan from God."

How true.

But thanks for letting me share all this, it's fun to show him off, and I'm trying to get as much in as possible before he's in high school.

[TexasPhil]

I guess pictures with the word "BOY" and the "he/him/his" pronouns are just too subtle for some people. What's it gonna take?

Just kidd'n you Russ

[Frank Hagan]

Proving that we are all men, I mentioned this thread to my wife and she absolutely is aghast that we have not gotten the right information. She wants the "stats".

To women babies are like baseball players. Gotta' have the stats. So what's his ERA? Hits? Runs?

Oh, wait, I think its vital statistics at birth she wants: length, weight, time of birth. And if you know it, APGAR Score. That one's important, I guess. If you don't know, ask your wife (she knows, and will be able to recite these the rest of her life).

[Guest]

REAL STATS for men:

1.how many diapers in a week?

2.How much weight gain in the first checkup?

3.How many hours of wake time in the night?

4.Have you found out how many dishes you really do dirty up, from having to do the kitchen?

5.How much a diaper costs in a hospital?

Several items to keep in mind for the future stats:

1. How many rolls of film did you take and they all look like the kid next door? Keep in mind, start putting the date on them, when you get them back.

2. On your next kid, keep track of the rolls of film you take of the second one.

[Konrad in Lincoln]

What the hell is an apgar? That sounds like some communist propoganda thing to me. :shock: Similar to that "no epidural for me" thing. What a load of crap THAT is! The epidural is man's best friend, so to speak.

He's 8 1/2 pounds at birth, but I don't know all that other stuff. He's my baby boy, who loves to be held and fed and poops his pants, and that's all I know.

[Guest]

DON'T PANIC!!

The Apgar score is the very first test given to your newborn, and it occurs right after your baby's birth in the delivery or birthing room. Developed in 1952 by an anesthesiologist named Virginia Apgar, the test was designed to quickly evaluate a newborn's physical condition after delivery and to determine any immediate need for extra medical or emergency care.

The Apgar test is usually given to your baby twice: once at 1 minute after birth, and again at 5 minutes after birth. Rarely, if there are serious problems with the baby's condition and the first two scores are low, the test will be scored for a third time at 10 minutes after birth.

Five factors are used to evaluate the baby's condition and each factor is scored on a scale of 0 to 2:

heart rate (pulse)

breathing (rate and effort)

activity and muscle tone

grimace response (medically known as "reflex irritability")

appearance (skin coloration)

Doctors, midwives, or nurses add these five factors together to calculate the Apgar score. Although 10 is the highest possible score, babies almost never receive it because the hands and feet of healthy newborns are usually still slightly bluish and not yet pink at 5 minutes after birth. (A baby has to have normal coloration all over - including pink hands and feet - to get the full score of 2 for appearance.)

Apgar Scoring

Apgar Sign

2 1 0

Heart Rate

(pulse)

Normal (above 100 beats per minute) Below 100 beats per minute Absent (no pulse)

Breathing

(rate and effort)

Normal rate and effort Slow or irregular breathing Absent (no breathing)

Grimace (Responsiveness or "reflex irritability")

Pulls away, sneezes, or coughs with stimulation Facial movement only (grimace) with stimulation Absent (no response to stimulation)

Activity

(muscle tone)

Active, spontaneous movement Arms and legs flexed with little movement No movement, "floppy" tone

Appearance

(skin coloration)

Normal color all over (hands and feet are pink) Normal color (but hands and feet are bluish) Bluish-gray or pale all over

A baby who scores a 7 or above on the test at 1 minute after birth is generally considered in good health. However, a lower score doesn't necessarily mean that your baby is unhealthy or abnormal. For example, a score between 4 and 6 at 1 minute indicates that your baby needs some special immediate care, such as oxygen to help him breathe or suctioning of his airways. A newborn with an Apgar score of less than 4 generally requires advanced medical care and emergency measures, like assisted breathing, administration of fluids or medications, and observation in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

At 5 minutes after birth, the Apgar score is recalculated, and if your baby's score hasn't improved to 7 or greater, the doctors and nurses will continue any necessary medical care and will closely monitor your baby. Some babies are born with heart or lung conditions or other problems that require extra medical care; others just take a little longer than usual to adjust to life outside the womb. Most newborns with initial Apgar scores of less than 7 will eventually do just fine.

It's important for new parents to keep their baby's Apgar score in perspective. The test was designed to help health care providers assess a newborn's overall physical condition so that they could quickly determine whether the baby needed immediate medical care. It was not designed to predict a baby's long-term health, behavior, or outcome. Very few babies score a perfect 10, and perfectly healthy babies sometimes have a lower than usual score, especially in the first few moments of life.

Keep in mind that a slightly low Apgar score (especially at 1 minute) is normal for some newborns, especially those born after a high-risk pregnancy, cesarean section, or a complicated labor and delivery. Lower Apgar scores are also usually seen in healthy premature babies, who usually have less muscle tone than full-term newborns and who, in many cases, will require extra monitoring and breathing assistance because of their immature lungs. If your doctor or midwife is concerned about your baby's score, he or she will let you know. Your doctor or midwife will explain how the baby is doing, what might be causing any problems, and what care is being given - so try not to worry until then. Relax and enjoy the moment!

[Frank Hagan]

Yeah, the apgar score. I had one baby who was a "4", and one that was a "10." I'd take another "4", but that "10" ... wow! What an active baby!

Anyway, never fear Konrad. You should learn the stats, because some day a few years from now your lovely wife will look at you with wonder in her eyes and say "I can't believe you don't remember how long he was!" It is not a good defense to say "But honey, I never KNEW it, so how could I REMEMBER it!"

Women also have another baby stat, but they don't talk about it among us men.

[Guest David Dore]

Konrad,

Enjoy these moments. So that you will under stand, after four children and 21 years, we have finally ended our involvement with the secondary school system. This feat has taken only 28 years of our lives.

Now to the topic. To see how quickly a child can grow, do the following. Place the baby in the crib and you spin around in place three times. They are in school. Repeat this action and they are graduating from high school. Repeat this action again and they are out of college and married. Warning!!! Do not attempt this actin again or they move back in with you! :cry:

David

[Russ Sylvester]

My apologies for missing it in the picture.

[TexasPhil]

Russ,

Just kidding you!

I think there were a few others that missed it too (you know who you are), so, don't feel too bad. You're in good company, and everyone needs a laugh.

[Wild_Dingo]

Konrad you forgot the worst... all the above at the same time.

and another for those with multiple babies {in our case twins} double whammies of the lot!... :shock:

and mate girls are just as bad as boys! actually since Ive got 6 girls those critters are flamin worse! the times of supposed gentle loving bonding missus me and twinnies layin on the bed together quietly sharing a few minutes... one twin would look at the other and mate I swear those two had the most devious of minds! a quick gurgle from one to the other then all flamin heck would break loose!! gooo and wets everywhere and once over and mum and dad suitably unsettled theyre back huggin each other and giggling together! :? clever little monkeys babies are... devious but clever!

boys are great with grammys... when our eldest boy was about 5 months or so me mum came to visit for her first viewing of her second grandson {we lived up north and some many miles from her} and so as grammys will do she decided she needed to "check the little buggar out" and she did plopped him on the table stipped him naked and checked everything was as it should be and sitting back with one of those superior grammy smirks was about to say something when Aaron let fly got her a bobby dazzler right in the dial just as the missus was about to warn her to cover the nither regions!!... laugh mate it was a hoot!

our last boy was a little big squirter from day one and loved "surprising" those lovely people who love helping big families like ours out... you know the ones who seem to get it into their heads that with 8 kids you have no idea and they simply must help... by changing the babies nappies of course... Josh adored those people sorta like open the nappy and open the floodgates and just when they sort that lot out its whooooooops chocolate doodoos!

oh yeah... kids are awesome!! our eldest the twins have reached 19 and a half ones left home but attends home for meals and her sister left home for what we now call her sabbatical but has decided that home is good cheep rent with everything done cant beat that!

oops better stop about here :oops: ... aaahhh hoons eh can yammer about them all day we parents can! 8)

aahhh one day let freedom ring until then Im about to get my new shed and then its off to find some tools to fill it with 8)