The View From Drew

Michael Raymond Drew It's the first day back to school for me after taking a couple of days off to help Sue with Michael. Michael came home late Friday night after a jaundice scare kept him in the hospital a few extra hours. There's still some yellow in his eyes, but the doctor said that should clear up in about a week. In the meantime, I'm still freaked out, especially any time his eyes roll back and you get the full yellow effect. The first night home was rough as he seemed to wake up on the hour. It has gotten better though and now he's only waking about three or four times a night with at least one of those wakings after a four hour stretch. He hates to have a wet diaper (it never bothered Eddie). He hates to be changed. He hates to be naked. None of this ever bothered Eddie. Sue and I are hoping we have the same kind of luck with Michael when it comes to his infant/toddler years as she did with the pregnancy. With Eddie, the pregnancy was easy, the delivery was tough. As an infant, he was easy, but as a toddler he was somewhat difficult. Michael, so far, has proved to be the exact opposite - difficult pregnancy, easy delivery, and, again, I say so far, difficult infant. He has improved though and he's not crying through everything we do now. Oh, and he hates sponge baths. Eddie loved them. Today, I'm going to continue my SAT preparation for the juniors. They take the test on Saturday. The sophomores are giving group presentations so that should kill the rest of the day. ;) At this point, I'm ready for the end of the school year. There are only twenty-six more class days for the juniors and twenty-eight for the sophomores before finals. The juniors have their ring day and a class trip I've arranged this month, so I don't count them as actual class days.

...a boy! It's an eight pound, ten-and-a-half ounce boy! It's a boy named Michael Raymond Drew. (Last minute change. Sue couldn't go through with Patrick and we were debating between Thomas and Michael. As soon as we got one look at him, we knew he was a Michael.) It's a boy who was born at 2:11 this afternoon. It's a boy who immediately peed all over everything as soon as he was out.

Mother and son are doing well.

Pictures will follow.

In about thirty minutes, Sue and I will leave for the hospital. You know, it's funny, I'm more nervous this time than I was with Eddie. I can't explain it. It's possible it's because Sue and I never really thought out the full ramifications of having a second child. We had analyzed to death how much our lives would change with one child and there were really very few surprises, but in the last few days, I've had people telling me how much life will really change now. We really thought it was going to be more of an adjustment than a change in lifestyle yet again.

It's funny when you think about it.

- We like to think we don't spoil Eddie, but he has been an only child up until this point and there has been a certain amount of spoilery going on.

- Now we'll have to be more diplomatic in our dealings with the children. It was easy to blame Eddie when something broke. Now, we'll have to work things out.

- It's not just about what Eddie might like to do, it's about what the family wants to do.

- Finding the balance with the kids as there is a slight age difference (five years). And after spending so much time getting to know Eddie, he's going to have to be patient as we get to know the new member of the family.

Sue and I seem to do things in five year cycles though. We met and were married for about five years before Eddie came along. Now comes number two five years later. I figure the next thing will be moving up to a bigger house in five more years time. (Or perhaps a third one? Shhh. She'd kill me for even thinking it.)

So Sue is going to have her labor induced on Wednesday. She's had enough and the doctor says it's perfectly safe. The baby's due date is this Sunday, but after one false alarm and the doctor telling us over a week ago that it should happen within that week, Sue made the decision to go ahead with the procedure. Now I've got to get my coverages ready as I'll be out Wednesday for the birth, Friday for the baby's coming home, and Monday just to make sure everything is fine, including the baby's first pediatrician visit.

Baby Drewshi's room is now completed. It took me three days to spackle, tape, and paint the room. Now, some may say, "Why so long? Even if you were doing it yourself (which I was), it shouldn't take that long." The simple answer is I was taking my time, making sure I got it right this time.

You see, when I painted Eddie's room just before he was born, I raced through it, not because of timing, but because I was careless. Paint splattered everywhere and it just looked bad, despite what Sue said. Three years later, I painted his room again as he was getting out of the crib and into a bed. I did a better job, but there were still mistakes. I was never very good at painting.

Recently, we had a professional come in to paint the living room and kitchen. I watched as he knocked off both rooms, by himself, in two days. I watched and asked a lot of questions. The baby's room was the first I did since that job. I made sure I got it right.

And I'm proud to say, I did. It's a beautiful mint green with white trim - very soothing. I love mint and green is my favorite color.

We are now on mauve alert! Sue just came back from the doctor's office and we can expect something to happen within the week. Of course, this baby could be a stick in the mud and wait out the three weeks until his/her due date.

As I've seen other people doing it, I figured I'd give it a try.

My name John means...

"The name of John has made you serious-minded, responsible, and stable. You love the security of a home and family, you are fond of children, and, as a parent you would be fair and understanding. Although you have good business judgment, you are not aggressive in your dealings because you do not like to create issues. You would be successful in any position dealing with the public as you have a diplomatic and tactful manner and possess a charming, easy-going nature which puts people at ease. People are drawn to you because they feel that you are patient, kind, understanding, and responsive."

And for Eddie and the unknown baby Patrick or Rose:

( Read more... )

So Sue has been finding herself out of breath more and more lately. We chalked it up to her being older and pregnant, but she went in for a checkup anyway. Turns out she has a leaky valve. On the surface, this is not a major problem, but it can be for the delivery. She's going to a specialist next Wednesday. We may have to go the c-section route, which Sue wants to avoid. When it comes to myself, I don't usually ask this, but for Sue, if you could send prayers, good vibes, whatever her way, I would appreciate it.

Finally, I used this weekend to get some long standing projects done, including transferring Baby Drewshi's heartbeat from his/her ten week old sonogram. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the newest member of the Drew household!

Baby Drewshi - Live and Direct from the Womb!

It is with great pleasure that Susan and I announce that Susan is with child once again. The delivery date is April 29th, 2006. I will shortly post an mp3 of the baby's heartbeat which I just obtained this evening. It's strong and the baby's size at ten weeks is perfect. Will keep you up to date on the baby's progress.