Stating the Obvious
 

Winter break makes me realize yet again how much I like being the working parent. And that my wife is a Saint.

aV

Stating the Obvious
 

Word.

(Except in my case, it's the babysitter who is the saint. I'm a bad, bad, working mother -- I mean, come on... "bad, working mother" is a tautology.)

Little Brother
 

Much to my surprise, it looks like #2 is a boy. It's too early to tell for sure, but that sure didn't look like a third leg we saw on the scan last week! ;)

On an unrelated note, I hate all my clients, everything to do with law, and did I mention, all of my clients? I am feeling rather dissatisfied this week.

-TL

Little Brother
 

Congrats! The added benefit is that you can share clothes, right up until they actually notice and start to fuss.

And I hate your clients, and everything to do with the law too. Solidarity.

Little Brother
 

Thanks. I figure with boys, I've got a whole lot longer before they care about clothes. Unfortunately, this one is due in July and the last one came in Nov., so we will have a plenty of clothes that can't be re-used.

I hate my clients a tad less today; one of them sent me money.

a four-year-old's take on MLK Day
 

L'il Ty explained to me last night that this weekend will be three days long instead of two days long because, before, there were bad rules, and then a man named Walter King came along and he fixed the bad rules.

Glad that's clear.

MLK day
 

Last week the lone Black child in my Mom's class of 4yos exuberantly told my mom that this was her most favorite holiday because, "it's when we celebrate all the brown people!" This guilted my mom into preparing a lesson on MLK day (instead of just sending home a MLK hand-out to color on their day off) which she has never done before. Hooray for progress - now they will all learn about Walter King!

MLK day
 

I can tell you that I went to High School with Walter King. I saw him at my reunion a couple of years back. He hasn't changed a bit from when I knew him. He walked into the hall, resplendent in his white suit and orange shoes. Walter King is one of the few guys I know who can pull this outfit off.

MLK day
 

I love orange shoes. Not that this fact has anything to do with the discussion at hand. Carry on.

Good Lord!
 

Romanian Woman, 66, Said to Be World's Oldest Mom

Jan 16, 1:22 PM (ET)

BUCHAREST, Romania (Reuters) - A 66-year-old Romanian woman gave birth to a baby girl Sunday after years of fertility treatment and was claimed by Romanian media to be the world's oldest mother ever.

Adriana Iliescu, a university professor and author of children's books, had been pregnant with twin girls. One died in the womb and doctors decided to perform a cesarean section in the 33rd week of pregnancy to save the other. "We wanted to wait until the 34th week of pregnancy, when the children's lungs would have reached full maturity, but we noticed Saturday that the heart of one of the little girls had stopped beating," Dr. Bogdan Marinescu, chief of the Giulesti maternity hospital in Bucharest, told a news conference.

"We decided to proceed with the operation to save the second girl," Marinescu added. Marinescu said both the mother and the child, who weighs 3.1 pounds and whose name is Eliza-Maria, were in stable condition but the little girl would have to spend up to six weeks in hospital to reach two kg in weight.

Iliescu, who will be 67 in May, became pregnant via in vitro fertilization and doctors said this was her third attempt at carrying a pregnancy to term.

He said the eggs and sperm used had come from "healthy young people."

"From a biological point of view, Ms Iliescu proved that she can carry a pregnancy to the end," Marinescu said. "We managed to solve a case which made us all very nervous."

Two years ago, a 65 year-old retired schoolteacher in India gave birth to a baby boy.

Inundated with Babies!
 

It's just really hit me that in ~5months I will have not one but two babies to handle while I attempt to work at home. I'm thinking this is not do-able, though I only do legal work a couple hours a day, max, now. I had a HS kid 2 days a week last summer and that worked fine, but she did need some supervision, though it was budget-friendly. I wouldn't be working at all if we didn't need the income, trust me. Anyone have any ideas that won't break the bank?

Has anyone used a Mother's Day Out program and been happy with it? Being in Texas, I am surrounded by churches, so there are probably some programs around. I suppose it depends on the location, but how preachy can they get with an 18mo old? This is a big concern for me since we are not religious people. I came home from my Baptist (my parents are not Baptist) kindergarten and at 4 years old told my parents they were both going to hell from listening to Rock-n-Roll (That would be ABBA and Barry Manilow, but what did I know - maybe you do go to hell from listening to them?).

Inundated with Babies!
 

I have to say based on my extensive babysitting experience that I got a lot less flak from Catholic and Jewish kids than from Protestant kids ("YOU DON"T GO TO CHURCH?????"). My nephews went to "Akiba" (an Akiba? an akiba? whatever) for preschool and, while I think they had activities around the fun Jewish holidays, it wasn't very indoctrinary, and I think that it was treated as a learning thing with acknowledgment that not all the kids were Jewish.

I don't know what all runs Mother's Day Out programs in your area, but I do sympathize with a desire to avoid having your kids become convinced Mommy and Daddy are going to burn in hell. I think that would be disturbing for them.

ETA I think that ABBA's pretty damn rock n roll, but it's more about feeling her TITS and dancing with her at weddings than any music she might produce.

Inundated with Babies!
 

Listening to me is generally conducive to retirement in a warm community so I don't think you were so far off.

I see fringy beat me to it.

Inundated with Babies!
 

I believe that the word that you are looking for is Akiva.

aV

Inundated with Babies!
 

Well slap my ass and call me Elsie, I bet you're right. I only ever hear the word, never see it.

So is it "an" or "the"? What does it mean?

Inundated with Babies!
 

Akiva is the name of a very famous Rabbi. According to history/tradition/legend he was a man from a very poor background who did not begin studying the Torah until much later in his life. He became a great teacher who wrote many legal (halachic?) opinions.

He was martyred when he was executed in a Roman hippodrome on Yom Kippur.

Many Jewish schools use his name as the name of the school because of his connection with learning. The school that your nephews went to was probably known as "The Akiva School" of X city that is (I would think) simply called Akiva.

aV

My son took a dive out of a Target shopping cart this evening and has a bump on his head the size and color of a Sacramento Kings commemorative golf ball. Which is bad enough, and the screaming and all has been fun, too, but I'm worried that he may have more seriously injured himself. Anyone know anything about subdural hemotomas, or infant concussions, etc.? Anyone want to tell me stories about their children's imperviousness to serious head injuries?

If you aren't going to go to the emergency room, at least talk to the damn pediatrician who is on call for your doctor's practice this weekend.

He wasn't asking you. He was asking Bilmore.

Ty, if it's any consolation, I gave my son a quarter-sized purple spot on his forehead when I accidentally bonked him while working on a piece of furniture this afternoon. Going to the hospital never occurred to me; those assholes are mandatory reporters.

My rule of thumb is probably the same as Bilmore's: loss of consciousness, or any difference in pupil sizes. Either of those symptoms present = hospital. Anything else = watch closely.

Crying= don't worry. *

* I think. A few un necessary ER visits are par for the course for new parents. why deny yourself the experience?

Good christ, I call the dr on a weekend for a goddamn uti.

Anyway, I'm sure, SURE, that Ty knows some dr he can ask.

Not a concern to f. for 2 reasons......
 

Okay, hospital horror story.......

Prelude

- we move from DC to Michigan, daughter born, wife breast feeds. At 4 months our ped (not really big breastfeeding proponent) says it is time to put her on solids. She was middle of the road weight etc.

Well, she takes to solids bigtime and is drinking less and less milk. but guess what? she keeps getting skinier and skinier. We're working with Ped and trying to figure it out.

The ER Story

-back to DC for a wedding, she's 7 or 8 months old- and has a hacking cough. This was the first time all our friends would see baby, and we were really looking forward to a festive weekend reunion.

We were staying in the hotel where the wedding was at, and so we drink abit much. Back to the room at maybe 11 or 12 because of baby. An hour or so later the coughing is much worse- after hand wringing, and fighting about whether to go, we get in a cab and go to the ER.

we wait the usual too long, but now we're half drunk and the festive reunion is clearly going away. then we see the ER doc who is with a young guy I assume is on rotation or whatever.

Doc- "she has a cold or virus. give her fluids and it'll go away. but let me ask you, why are you starving your baby?"

we explain we weren't but clearly he wasn't buying it and we had guilt hanging heavy over us.

Then, his young friend- "Maybe she has cystic fibrosis- that would explain the weight loss."

Hank was not equipped to web check CF and thus was fucked up the rest of the time until Monday when we coould check with her Ped and find out NNTW.

Epilouge

-We did fire our Ped and got to a pro-BF doc. As LLL will tell you milk fat = baby fat for the first year. She actually had a chubby phase so it all worked out. But point is, midnight shift at the ER, you don't know what you'll get.

That episode was as low a time as a parent as I ever had. I suppose that is fortunate.

Not a concern to f. for 2 reasons......
 

Jesus. Had he not heard of the AAP?

-T(breastfeeding nazi)L

We learned the hard way that calling your pediatrician and going into the ER anytime you have a concern is the better thing to do. Note to all: it is difficult to tell the difference between flu symptoms and appendicitis, even for a pediatrician. And some of those bonks can be pretty bad -- Atticus, if you're worried about hospitals reporting, worry about when they find a few fractures not properly cared for when they're looking for something else.

While I don't think every bonk on the head warrants an ER visit, the "watch closely" advice contemplated that if the kid is still miserable and in pain (as in, headache but doesn't know the word for it) hours and hours later, seeing an MD is in order.

I'm proud to say that neither the cops nor the ER nurses recognize us on sight --- yet.

As for appendicitis, I have a friend who, when in sixth grade, told his parents his belly hurt and he couldn't go to school. His parents thought he was malingering, so they sent him to school anyway. Boom --- ruptured appendix. He was in the hospital for three weeks and nearly died. We in his school all said Hail Marys for his recovery or, if necessary, his immortal soul, every morning for all three weeks. But when he got home, his parents gave him everything he asked for for like the next four years. He says it was worth it.

Hospital
 

UTI's warrant a call to the doc at any time on any day they are so painful. I was once out of state, looked up a urologist in the phone book, called him and got his covering doc at 10 pm, explained I wasn't even a patient but begged for (and got) meds to be phoned into a pharm where I didn't even have an account (these were the days when those drive-in medical centers weren't big). Ooh relief from the seering pain.

Anyway, my input for Ty Junior is to at least have everything ready for a hospital visit - I do this when I'm not sure if I'm going to bring the Babe. Have a bag of toys for the waiting room, health card handy, snacks, etc. Let us know how he is. I haven't had a bump-on-the-head yet (my dainty girl prefers roaring 107 temperatures to keep me on my toes).

Baby Surveillance
 

Anyone have a video monitor and like it? I just ordered one w/ 2 cameras (for 2 rooms) from Summer Infant and am hoping it gets decent reception. Thoughts?

The Lexling got his leg jammed so hard in the crib slats that we almost had to break the crib to get him out and I had no idea - I thought he just didn't want to nap and was letting him CIO.

Baby Surveillance
 

We have also considered getting one, but have yet to take the plunge. Everyone we've surveyed who has one doens't know how they ever got along without it.

In other news, along with just about everyone else on this board, the Sandwiches are expecting another baby. This will be our third.

It will be a planned C-section (we're not big fans of the VBAC), but we're not finding out the child's sex in advance.

Baby Surveillance
 

Actually, we're trying to wean ourselves off of the (audio) baby monitor entirely. Damn thing drags us out of our sleep (or whatever) and into his room with every whimper. Things run much more smoothly when the monitor is off - Trepidation Tot puts himself back to sleep just fine, and God knows the apartment isn't big enough that one can just hide from the sound of a determinedly crying infant. Unfortunately, Trepidation Dad has a new toy, a humidifier, in the bedroom, a nice noisy one because he likes background noise when he sleeps, and with that thing on we can't hear a damn thing. (Actually, I really should get my ears checked, because I truly can't hear a damn thing with that sort of background noise. Different complaint.) Anyhow, since he got it we've had to put the monitor back on "just in case," and, thanks to our new awareness of every toss and groan, Trepidation Tot is waking up routinely 2-3 times every night again, expecting bottles and hugs. Damn it! I'm trying to solve this by making Trepidation Dad get up to deal with all night time crying (hoping he'll decide he loves his sleep more than his humidifier), but to no avail.
Contratulations!

Baby Surveillance
 

I got one because it was cool. I don't use it much, but we got a mobile color one, which is pretty sweet. That means you can take it pretty much anywhere and set it up, like if you go to grandma's. It also has night vision, which is also super cool.

Baby Surveillance
 

Come on, we all know you keep yours in the au pair's room.

Baby Surveillance
 

Busted. That reminds me, I need to turn up the heat in that room.

Baby Surveillance
 

Just remember that the wireless ones generally aren't encrypted in any way -- so be sure you're not pointing it at anything you want want your neighbors to be able to see and hear.

We were happy to get off the audio monitor -- after I made the mistake of telling my wife that I was ready for her mom to go home -- while we were in the nursery and the MIL was next to the receiver.

No real harm done or offense taken, but we decided we didn't want to have to worry about someone else tuning into our happy home.

Baby Surveillance
 

I have this one.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...122643-5684604

And I like it. I keep the sound all the way turned down, so I can't hear anything on it, but like being able to turn the screen on and get an idea of what's going on in the Brazenette's room.

The reception isn't great, but good enough to see her and to hear her on the ocaissions that I've turned up the volume. I think it depends on how far apart you keep the monitor and the camera.

Baby Surveillance
 

Congrats!!!!!!!

I looked into VBAC very seriously - it turns out that the 2002 JAMA study concerning uterine rupture has some serious problems. What it boils down to is that given a transverse uterine cut, VBAC is no more dangerous than regular labor EXCEPT for those being induced. Given the size of #1 (would have been 11lb+ if allowed to bake to term) and the probable size of #2, it's either go full term with an 11lb baby (doable, I'm tall) or a planned c-s. Hmmmmm - what sounds even less appealing than major surgery??? Tentatively, we'll be snipping em out on 6/30. If it weren't for the size issue, however, I might try a VBAC.

You have far more willpower than I concerning sex. (Um, the baby's - obviously you have even less willpower than most when it comes to sex.) I am way too impatient not to find out.

Baby Surveillance
 

The one I got was that one, but with 2 cameras. I am concerned about the reception - we keep the baby upstairs while we are downstairs, but the house plan is pretty open, so the radio-wave thingies won't have to fight too many walls.

Baby Surveillance
 

I saw that one - it is very cool, but I was swayed by the 2 camera feature of this one - and the price. If given the choice, I'd prefer not to have to buy 1 for each kid. It does allegedly have night vision also - we'll see.

Why a daycare center might be the best choice after all
 

In case anyone was interestd in hiring a nanny, you can go ahead and cross THIS woman off your list. She'll be busy for about the next 15 years.

For a full range of hidden nannycams, click HERE.

Why a daycare center might be the best choice after all
 

Weird that we're discussing nannycams today. This guy's life is pretty much over thanks to one. {Spree: Wrong and sad, sick and sad, disgusting and sad. Maybe not something you want to read, but those of us who get the Chronicle didn't have a choice.} I mean, WTF?!?!

Why a daycare center might be the best choice after all
 

Good.

We have a far worse (is it possible???) case going on here involving a 6 monthold girl who is in critical condition due to organ failure and multiple fractures due to sexual assault. I physically want to beat the hell out of the parents every time I hear about it. I need to go hit something inanimate now.