Ian is recovering from surgery now. The operation went smoothly, and the doctor thinks he’ll breathe normally from now on. He’ll be recovering for about a week. They will keep him unconscious until Friday; active babies and fresh neck incisions aren’t a good combination. Then he’ll be in the hospital until about Monday or Tuesday.

Ian is in the hospital. It turns out he was born with a growth in his windpipe which has only recently gotten big enough to be a problem. He had been breathing through a pinhole, yet somehow he’s been able to get enough oxygen so far. On Thursday he had a tracheotomy, and he’ll be breathing through a hole in his neck until Monday, when the growth will be surgically removed. The surgeon says that although this is a rare condition (they see about one a year) the procedure is relatively simple and safe. He’s at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, which my dad says is one of the five best pediatric hospitals in the country.

Jordan spent the day with Ian, although he was asleep most of the time. I took care of Sylvia most of the day until my mom took her. Not long after I got to the hospital, Ian woke up crying silently. (The tube is below his vocal chords.) He was hungry. With a nurse helping to untangle the tubes and wires, Jordan was able to breast-feed him. He has a ventilating mask placed loosely over his neck to keep the air warm and moist, so she didn’t have to worry about suffocating him. I watched the computer screen with the heart rate, breathing rate, and blood oxygen levels. Afterward, Ian was all smiles.

After Monday’s surgery, he will be in the hospital for several days to recover. He might be home in time for Thanksgiving (which we were already planning on celebrating on Saturday instead of Thursday.)

If anyone asks on Thanksgiving what I’m thankful for, I’ll know what to say. I’m thankful I am surrounded by the best hospitals in the world, and I’m thankful I have health insurance. (Ian has a nurse assigned to him 24 hours a day for at least five days. I don’t want to know how much that costs.) I’m thankful I have parents in town who can help out. I’m thankful I have a job where I can take several days off to be with my family. And I’m thankful that we got a proper diagnosis in time.

It turns out that parenting two kids is more work than one. I’ve had dozens of blog posts in my head, but haven’t had a chance to post one.

Ian is now over two months old. He smiles frequently and is built like a body builder. He can support his own weight. In the past few weeks he’s started getting much more involved in the world: trying to grab things, or shifting around in his saucer seat. Until recently, he wasn’t happy unless he was physically touching somebody. (He still doesn’t like cars– which is unusual for babies.) He still has a hard time sleeping unless he’s on or leaning against someone.

Sylvia, meanwhile, just turned three on Sunday. She claims to have voted on Tuesday for Condoleezza Rice.

This is Ian’s first smile. I didn’t get to see smiles for several days after Jordan took this picture.

When making Bananas Foster, add and ignite the rum before you turn the heat from low to medium. Ah well, I needed a haircut anyway.

Jordan’s mom is back in town; she went down to Des Moines for the weekend for Chip’s (Jordan’s brother’s) wedding. Ian is still doing well, though he hasn’t slept as well at night as he was doing. (A few weeks ago, he slept 6 hours at night; now he’s down to 2-3 hours at a stretch.) Sleeps all day long, though. Sylvia had her first day of pre-school today;  9-11:30 two days per week. Jordan and I came home and took a nap.

3:30 AM

Jordan’s water breaks. She’s having mild contractions. We call the midwife, she tells us to go to the hospital once Jordan is having trouble talking through contractions.

4:50 AM

I call my parents. We had planned to wait until 5:00 AM, but decided this was close enough.

6:00 AM

We arrive at the hospital. Jordan is calm, so the nurses on duty don’t realize how far along she is.

11:00 AM

We both take a nap. Contractions have been slow and relatively mild. Afterwards, I go have lunch.

12:28 PM

I start timing contractions again. They’re strong, and only 3 minutes apart. Jordan and I are taking a walk in the hallway, and she’s holding onto a railing with both hands.

2:41 PM

Ian is born. That’s the official time recorded by the nurse. There’s a flurry of activity in the room, as I cut the cord, the baby is weighed and measured, the placenta comes out, and the midwife stiches up Jordan. (Nothing serious: Ian’s arm was over his shoulder as he came out. The same thing happened with Sylvia.) The baby was delivered by Ann Page, CNM, who also delivered Sylvia and is the sister of one of our friends.

3:18 PM

Things quiet down enough that I can start making phone calls.

Sunday morning

Jordan and Ian come home.

Jordan’s water broke a little while ago. The midwife says to stay at home until the contractions are strong enough that she has trouble talking through them. Throughout this time, she’s been having contractions that have been increasing in intensity.

Chances are, we’ll be going to the hospital before the sun rises.

Oh, and happy birthday, Dad!

No news on the baby. Jordan’s still getting contractions frequently. They are what’s called Braxton-Hicks contractions: they resemble labor, but they’re just the body’s test runs.

It turns out that you can sometimes tell Braxon-Hicks contractions from labor contractions by taking a bath. A good soak inhibits the former and induces the latter. Which is usually what you want, but I can imagine it might be trouble if you then have to jump out of the tub and get to the hospital.

So we’re still at orange alert: it could start at any point. We’re now six days from the due date, and we’re as ready as we’re going to be (I spent all weekend on the final cleaning and organizing.)

Jordan’s been having bursts of strong contractions last night and this afternoon.  She says she feels like there’s a head in her pelvis.  There’s a good chance she’ll go into labor tonight.