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All tubes removed and the ladies are sleeping in their own beds!!!!



Here is a shot of Grace taken Thursday night.

Father Knows Something

Another day visiting Grace. I'm sad to report that no parent came to visit the baby mentioned in the previous post, although we overheard the nurse on the phone with the baby's father this evening. A good sign (like a bunt single).

Today was officially bodily fluids day at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Grace's catheter seemed to be leaking when I was holding her so I was soaked with urine at midday. No worries.

Then tonight, she inexplicibly vomited all over her father's jeans. Again, no worries. One thing I have learned this past year is that bodily fluids are no big deal.

(I will make on every important exception. When we were living on 35th Street, after a night of serious wine drinking with the Deacasper/Lauritsens, I was banished to the couch, whereupon I managed to vomit the entire contents of my stomach, which was essentially a bottle + of RED wine. It was so bad we had to order new cushions. And I'm happy to report I'm still married).

Back to the issue at hand. Grace is recovering well and perhaps we will be out on Saturday.

One of the things I have learned this week is something that many people have told me: Your love for your child(ren) grows exponentially. You think you love them when they are born. Hah! That's nothing. Wait a year. I can't wait until she's 10 years old. The nice thing is that your capacity to love also includes your wife. To steal the Grinch analogy, your heart (actually its the brain, but so what) grows to accomodate everybody.

Strange how hospitalization makes one optimistic.

Surgery Update

Well, the mission was not scrubbed and Grace was carried into the operating theatre at 8:40 this morning. If you have ever watched your child succumb to the anasthetic in the mask, you know that it is guaranteed to induce instantaneous weeping.

After the weeping portion of our day was complete, we commenced with the sitting around with people whose loved ones are far more fucked up than ours portion. We met a couple from India whose 23 year old son was having his spleen removed (again I wonder what a spleen actually does. Can't be much if they are removing it). They talked of their sons and extended family who are all here becoming doctors, computer specialists, & engineers. Basically the schools mentioned were Stanford, MIT, RPI, Michigan, & Carnegie Mellon. They were proud parents, even considering the spleen situation.

Dr. Hanna sauntered in after 2 hours to report all had gone according to plan, where he sprung it on us that she will have to come back in 3-4 weeks to have a stent removed. Again I am stumped. WTF is a stent exactly? At least he says the surgery was a success.

We get sent to our room, which if you work in the movie business, you will understand reminds me of a honeywagon room. Essentially we are placed in a room with 4 beds. There was an hispanic baby and his mother in one quadrant watching Univision at 100 decibels from the moment we arrived until when I left at 9PM. I tried a little counterprogramming with the MacNeil Lehrer News Hour to no avail.

In the other bed was a baby of 1 1/2 months who was alone all day, occasionally letting out the most helpless cries. She was subjected to several x-rays from a mobile unit at one point and all the adults were ushered out of the room. The technician didn't seem to worry about the babies though. Hmmm. I am desperately hoping to see a parent by her side in the next 2 days.

Grace, meanwhile began the long slow recovery, with the aid of 1mg of morphine and the tender touch of her mother (dad assists with a random game of peek-a-boo). She is hooked up to a catheter and a urine collection bag, some other blood/goop collection thingy, and an IV hooked to her left hand. She and her mother are attempting to survive their first night (I was kicked out as they only allow one parent to stay). I am constantly surprised by just how loud a hospital actually is. between the constant din of televisions (which in the pediatric ward are burned in to either Disney & Nick Toons channels) and the beeps and blips of machinery, the chatter of nurses, the toilet right next to Grace's bed always flushing, did I mention the eff-ing television, the flourescent lights that never go out, not to mention the vinyl chair that allegedly folds down into a bed. It's wonder anybody ever gets well there.

Time for bed as I don't want to miss my wake up. It would be bad form to stroll in at 10AM.

Surgery Tomorrow?

Grace is scheduled to have her Uninary surgery tomorrow, but she has been running a mild fever off and on for the past 3 1/2 days, most likely because of her teething. It's certainly possible the surgery will have to be postponed because of this.

Stay tuned to this station for the next launch window, should it arise.

Quick quiz

Since we took over Iraq, approx. how many suicide bombings have there been in that country?


A. 129
B. 200
c. 237
D. 400


Answer: 400

Hey Dick Cheney, take your "last throes" and shove them up your pacemaker!

Rocks n stuff

Grace ate her first rock today. It isn't actually fair to call it a rock, or even a stone, but more accurately a small piece of concrete which was in a small space where our non working fireplace is in our bedroom. There is a floor full of wonderful toys but she has to go for the mniscule crack in the corner of the fireplace to be interested in life. Luckily, I was paying a modicum of attention and she didn't swallow it, but boy was she pissed when I dug in her mouth to retrieve it. Much screaming, follwed by mum rushing in to the room to see if everything was ok. I am certain she was thinking "I'd never let her eat a rock." And she'd be right.

A short time later we went to the tot lot at the park and she killed her first centipede by ripping it in half. She made no attempts to eat it.

I am sorry that I ever wanted her to crawl.

Quiz Time

From a report on Yahoo:

Three weeks before London's bus and subway bombings, a Senate committee voted to slash spending on mass transit security in the United States, a decision sure to be reversed when Congress returns next week.

Quick, in what states are there mass transit systems?
New York
Massachusettes
Pennsylvania
Illinois
California
Washington DC
Georgia
New Jersey
Maryland

All of them, except for Georgia, voted for John Kerry in 2004.

Hey Senate, go fuck yourself.

Residing in the "Where are They Now" File

Why does nobody ever refer to the Devil's (aka Bermuda) Triangle any more?

When I was a kid, even a simple fishing trip in the ocean was a cause for concern.

Things were so much cooler back then.

London

Every pundit has been throwing around the phrase "stiff upper lip" with idiotic abandon. Well, if you want to know why they earned that title (aside from marrying one), then I suggest you read this book: London 1945.

The book's title is pretty accurate: it is about London during the last year of the war. Essentially, the city was living through a day like yesterday every single week. And this was after the Blitz. I began reading it a couple of months ago and work/baby fatigue has left it on the night stand. Time to get reading again.

I asked Sarah's aunt Audrey, who lived through WW2 in London, what it was like living through the Blitz. She was utterly matter of fact about it. You got through it because you had no choice. What else were you supposed to do? You had to live your life. Indeed.

I'd prefer the term "Tough Buggers." May I also refer you to Mayor "Red" Ken Livingstone's excellent statement yesterday.

Artificial Intelligence

According to Intelligent Design supporters, life on earth is too complicated to have simply "happened."

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that the folks peddling "intelligent design" seem to be missing one supremely important part of their argument. In their zeal to not look religious, they neglect to mention in their argumets that space aliens could have created life on earth. Sort of undercuts their argument IMHO.

My final thought on all this: Intelligent Design people misuse the word "Theory." Yes, evolution is a theory. But gravity is also a theory (except for Michael Jordan).

Time for bed. See previous post regarding Grace for uplift and cheer.

One Year Ago Today...

at 11:15PM, Things changed (actually they officially changed in October of the previous year when I wanked in a cup and Sarah donated more eggs than any fundamentalist could ever be comfortable with, at NYU, doing our part, but in a nod to conformity, I will honor the date that is generally considered the benchmark).


This child has made a shambles of our brains. One minute I think we must simply raise her in Brooklyn with all the city has to offer, then I look at our friends' vegetable garden and simply know she belongs upstate. Don't get me started on moving to New Zealand! As long as we are all together then I guess it will turn out right.
Current score: Upstate 3, Brooklyn, 1, New Zealand, coming to bat.

Please note she is in a crawling position. God Help Us!!!!!!!!