This time next week..... 38 weeks 3 days in utero

This time next week we'll be parents. Quite a thought. It's not often a person can make a flat statement like that, but with an induction scheduled for next Thursday, it's pretty safe to say that Pat will be here this time next week.

I've posted a series of photos I like of Pui as her pregnancy has advanced. You can see them if you click on this link. The first one is already posted in this blog, but I think only one other one is as well - most are new.

Yesterday we got to have a peek at normal childhood stuff when we went and saw my niece's science-fair project. I was really impressed with all of the kid's projects, though of course none of them were as nice as my niece's. She postulated that ice would melt at different rates when sitting out in the open depending on the surface it was sitting on. She made some predictions based on the hypothesis (namely, that ice on Styrofoam would melt slowest) and tested it out. Turns out, ice melts faster on Styrofoam than a piece of cloth - I would not have anticipated that. Nor would I have thought that it would take more than 2 hours for an ice cube out in the open to melt. Suddenly, those massive ice sculptures you see at parties and weddings seem a lot less transitory.

I can hardly wait until little Pat has a science fair. Though I also anticipate that he's going to have a hard time keeping his meddling father from taking over the project entirely. :-)

Today we also hung blackout drapes in our room. I was a little nervous - the last time I hung drapes (in my condo in Kirkland around 3 years ago) I totally botched the job. I had curtains hung, but I also had rows of holes - of various sizes and shapes - in the wall around them. That was bad enough - now I was going to do the same thing, only this time in a house I don't own. I drilled the holes and installed one set into a stud perfectly. But the next hole I drilled missed the stud. I had double-checked it with two different stud finders, but I still missed the stud with the drill. I decided to try another drill hole a little to the left, but as I tried to get back on the stool I was using to stand on, I lost my balance and stumbled back, hitting the wall with the drill and breaking the drill bit. I was not a happy camper - it was shaping up to be another fiasco like 3 years ago, and I still haven't heard the end of that one. We searched for the missing broken drill bit for some time, but never found it. It did give me time to calm down, and with a fresh drill bit I completed the rest of the two installations without any further problems. Whew! Putting together furniture doesn't daunt me, but ask me to hang a drape? Sheesh!

Pui and I also bought a copy of the game Guillotine, and played it this afternoon. (Don't tell anyone, but when she cleaned my clock playing the game, it was because I let her win. Really. I'm serious. I wasn't really trying. And besides, the sun was reflecting glare off the cards. It was!) We plan to bring the game with us to the hospital, to kill time when we have to wait around. Being crushed playing that game should be more entertaining than playing "I spy with my little eye..."

Time is getting short: 38 weeks in utero

Time is indeed getting short! In just over a week we will check into the UW, and after an overnight they will induce labor. We are to call and arrange a time to go in on Wednesday, March 4 (assuming Pat doesn't decide to arrive early) and that evening we will check in. They will get us set up in the delivery room, and give Pui a medicine to soften the cervix. There's a chance that will kick off labor, but if it doesn't they will give her a medicine called pitocin to induce labor. So the very latest Pat should arrive will be March 5.

Because they know that there are problems with his heart, but don't know the actual condition, we will not get much of a chance to hold him before he goes off for an in-depth examination. We were hoping for a chance to at least get a picture of him and Mommy "pre-IV", but it looks like we won't get the opportunity. Hopefully, he'll have only what we have diagnosed so far, and so will get a chance to hold and nurse him before his surgery early the next week.

Today we put together the stroller/carrier/car seat, and installed the fixed base in the car. It was actually easy. It's nice - we're both quite pleased with it. All of these things are supposed to be a challenge to put together. I guess everyone uses the "Writing Instructions for Dummies" book, so dummies like me can actually understand them. Ah, progress!

Visit with the Surgeon: 37 weeks 3 days in utero

Today we got up early and went to The Fetal Echo Center near Children's Hospital, to meet with the surgeon who will be doing Pat's procedure. Dr. Cohen very kindly took almost an hour to talk with us, even though most of what we talked about was provisional, based on what we know from the ultrasounds to date. After he's born, a much more detailed and extensive ultrasound can be done, and only then will the doctors be able to tell us with confidence what they plan to do.

Every time we talk to a person in the know, or read a more reliable source, the outlook brightens. Talking with Dr. Cohen continued the trend - after talking with him we both feel even more confident than we did before. And it's hard trying to find a more important source of information than the surgeon that will be doing the operation. We was factual and to the point. He wasn't super-friendly, but he didn't talk down to us or pull any punches. He was very clear about about what he did and didn't know, and what we could expect. And he was very confident. We liked the confidence a lot.

Assuming the diagnosis we have is correct and isn't changed with a closer scan after he's born, our baby will have about a 9 in 10 chance of coming home with us after a month or so. His surgery will happen 5 to 7 days after he's born, and we won't be able to pick him up or hold him for several days afterward. This initial procedure will be the most difficult of the three, and will take roughly four to five hours to perform. They need to induce hypothermia, and cool him off to 18 C. Then they begin the first steps that will eventually - after three procedures over several years - leave him with a functional two-chamber heart. When they are finished with this initial re-plumbing his little heart, they'll slowly re-warm him. Then it's up to him to hold on and recover.

It's not easy knowing that so much will happen to our little boy so soon after he's born. This is a serious exercise in trust. But the more we learn about the doctor, the team, the facilities, and all the knowledge and expertise being poured into this, the easier that trust becomes. Knowing in more detail what is going to happen is scary, but knowing also that everything is well understood and that the surgeon has such clear familiarity and comfort with the protocols is an even greater comfort.

We learned a lot in the meeting, and have a lot to wrap our heads around. But we do know that the take-away lesson for us is that we are all in good hands. Come what may, we can rest assured that early last December Pui and I made the right decision.

News Clipping

LOCAL WOMAN SOUGHT FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT MYSTERIOUS BASKETBALL DISAPPEARANCES

Local police are asking people to keep an eye out for a mystery woman thought to live in the area, in connection with a rash of basketball thefts in the area. The detective in charge of the case, Officer Rookie Newbie, has started distributing copies of this photo after a co-worker suggested that the woman in the photo might be a person of interest. According to Officer Newbie: "Well, to be honest, I think we can explain how these basketballs were transported out of the area. What remains is to find the people involved and discover their motive."

This is Officer Newbie's second case, his first being an unsolved kidnapping of someone named Prince Albert. "We know he's in a can", Officer Newbie said, "We just have yet to discover where. We WILL catch the perpetrators though, you can be sure of that!" Although several other officers attended the press conference, no other officer was able comment on either case, being busy either rolling on the floor or gasping for breath from what sounded suspiciously like laughing.

New Furniture! 36 weeks 6 days in utero

Yesterday and today were busy days. First things first: I got a call from my sister where she told me about some really good photography techniques for taking pictures of people. She very politely did not say "Rob, your pictures are awful!" That's the way I best take criticism - by being shown a better way, and past ... mistakes ... (See Pui's picture in the Feb. 14th entry) can be left in the past.

So I did what older brothers are never supposed to do, and followed my little sister's advice. I did the B&W thing on my own, but I think it worked. The result is a much nicer picture, and much closer to the actual person I see every day - and still can't get enough of.

Our main activity over the last two days has been putting furniture together. We got a crib from the couple across the street - Peter and Elizabeth, whose two very cute kids have outgrown it. Plus a changing table (which we bought almost as much for the shelf space as a place to change diapers), and a rocking chair billed as great for nursing mothers.

Construction was done by Yours Truly ... with a little help from my mother. OK, a lot of help from my mother. And my Dad. And Peter from across the street. And Pui. But except for that help I did it all by myself.

As You can see from the first two pictures, they all had some piecing together to do. But as the last two photos show, we got everything together, and built correctly. No need to sell Pui on the benefits of a crib with uneven legs (It's like a rocker AND a crib!) or that having a changing table that wobbles unsteadily is a good upper-body workout for the person trying to both change the baby and keep the table from falling over, or that the rocking chair wasn't meant to actually, you know, rock. It's all stable, firm, and the only parts that move are the ones that are supposed to. Better yet, there was no blood shed or pieces broken.

Tomorrow we have a visit from my cousin (that we are looking forward to) and a visit to the doctor (that we are not looking forward to so much.) We need to see the doctor as part of the immigration process, to verify that Pui has no chronic horrible diseases. Having seen as many doctors as we have recently, this should be mostly just boring - and expensive. Nothing to be done about it though, so we'll go and get the required boxes ticked off our application and then go back to focusing on the baby.

We are now both reading about how to raise bilingual children. Here in the Seattle area, that usually means English and Computer, but we are going to try to raise Pat bilingual in English and Thai. There's always time to learn Computer later. ;-)

Happy Valentine's Day! 36 weeks 4 days in utero

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone reading had as good a day as we did. I gave Pui a card I spent some time picking out, and she cried. I'm hoping she cried because it was so sweet and wonderful she couldn't help herself, and not because she realized she was saddled with an idiot for a husband. She tells me it's the sweet and wonderful one. I'll take it. Pui got me two cards, and I almost cried because they were so sweet and wonderful. But to maintain my macho pose I told Pui I was trying not to cry because I stubbed my toe on the blanket. (I don't think she bought it. To be honest, a blanket was probably a poor choice for toe-stubbery.)

My father, though, won the sweeps for best Valentine's gifts. The first picture is what he gave Pui. A flower (an orchid!), candy, and a little teddy bear. I would have been jealous and upset, but he got me some chocolate, so I didn't complain.

Poor Pui is really feeling the effects of being very pregnant. I took this picture just an hour or so ago. She has sciatica something fierce, and is generally achy and uncomfortable. At least she can sleep laying down: a number of her friends and relatives told her that they could only sleep sitting up in a chair the last few weeks. I just can't see Pui getting enough sleep that way - it's bad enough as it is with her needing to go to the bathroom every couple of hours because Our Little Angel is pushing on her bladder.

A couple of days ago we got rid of the sofa that had been in our room, so now we can start putting the room together in the way we expect it to be when Pat comes home. I get to put together a crib, a changing table, and probably a rocking chair. I like putting together puzzles, and really enjoy the 3D puzzles. These will be just like a puzzle, with the result being a usable piece of furniture.

We'll see how happily optimistic about putting them together I will be after the first one is finished. I predict one of two outcomes: it goes smoothly and I am eager to get started on the rest, or I will be nursing wounds and a grudge against the manufacturers while trying to convince Pui that, yes, the changing table is supposed to have uneven legs and trapezoidal cribs is the latest fad.

Pui was very impressed when we - my mother, father, and I - were able to get the sofa out of our room and down to the living room. Not only did we get the monster - which was longer than the hallway is tall - out a doorway that was narrower than the ends, but we got it around two very tight corners AND down a flight of stairs with no injuries, accidents, or broken objects or people. The sucker was heavy too. We moved it to the living room so the Salvation Army movers wouldn't take one look at the task ahead, shake their heads, and drive away without the sofa. Instead, two burly guys came in, picked it up, lifted it over the piano, and neatly tucked it into their truck. Bye bye sofa! Hello lots of space for baby!

Thank you! 36 weeks in utero

There are a lot of people that have been a huge help to us - huge - that we haven't mentioned in the blog, and I'd like to thank them here.

My sister Katy and a group of her friends have been enormously helpful. Whenever we have a question, we ask my sister and before the day is out we have answers, suggestions, and experiences from several people. Much of what we have bought, the pediatrician we want to use, and all sorts of practical advice have come from this great group.

The medical people we've dealt with - everyone associated with Children's Hospital has been great, and the staff at the UW has been great also. The financial person we worked with at Children's - Gary Ostendorf - helped us figure out how to be able to get all the fabulous help we've been getting. The DSHS people we have dealt with have also been terrific. and our High-Risk Pediatric Nurse with the county - Sue Borgstrom - is amazingly helpful as well.

Then there are the support groups. Hope For HLHS and Seattle CHD are a couple of support groups that have been good sources of information already, and are clearly going to play a large role in our lives in the next several years. Seattle CHD is a local group, with knowledge and experience about things here in Seattle, and Hope For HLHS is a much larger international group with a huge pool of experience and knowledge about all things HLHS.

To all these people and all the others I haven't named ... THANK YOU!

Induction day - March 4: 36 weeks in utero

Today there's not much going on - yesterday we saw the doctor again, and she said that she was going to schedule inducing labor on March 4th. Pui's body seems to be getting ready to deliver - Pat is head down and beginning to drop - so we are just hoping that he'll be patient enough to last until then.

when we got home, we had a letter from Immigration: they want Pui to go down for her Biometric scan on Feb. 27. We decided that it would be a bad idea for us to say we'd be there when there is a real chance that she may be in the hospital delivering Pat, or worse, have her water break there. So we've applied to have the meeting rescheduled. Either before Feb 19 or after March 20, when we hope the baby with either be home or at least out of danger.

Now we plan to spend the rest of the day chilling out, with me drinking many liters of water to help this gout attack become history!

Friends and Family: 35 weeks and 5 days in utero

We've been continuing to prepare for Pat's arrival - we want to get rid of the couch in our room and replace it with a rocker, a changing table, and a crib. We have a changing table, and as of today we have a crib lined up. Now we only need to get the rocker and take care of the minor issue of getting the couch out. When they moved in, Mom and Dad had some professional movers bring the couch up: after finally getting it in the room, they said that couch is never leaving that room. So, naturally, we want it out.

Today we also had a visit from my cousin and her family. We really enjoyed seeing Cori and David again, but the star of the visit was their 13-month-old daughter, Talia. They are in the first picture.

Talia is a lot of fun - she is walking very well, just beginning to speak (Her "hi" is very cute), very curious about everything around her, and very sweet-tempered. A real cutie. The second picture is Talia laughing at a wind-up dancing toy.

My gout is still a problem, so I'm limping about and trying not to complain about it. Too much. OK, I'm trying to keep from waking the neighbors with my complaints. Very often.

The last picture here is of Pounce, my Dad's cat. He has the softest fur I've ever felt on a cat - like rabbit fur. He's quite large, and by large I mean fat. I think he's proud of his fine feline girth: when he's feeling good he shows off his vast expanse of a belly so the world can see. I wish I could relax that much.

Rob is limping: 35 weeks, 2 days in utero

Alas, my gout is acting up again, and so I haven't been doing a lot of walking around. I have been able to work with some pictures, though. If you want to see some photos from the the shower, you can follow this link to Baby Shower pictures. I think I have everyone that came in at least one photo, but maybe not.

Pui and I did some more preparation for the baby as well. After sorting through all of the great stuff we got in the shower, we updated our list of things to get and went shopping. One major gift, from my mother and sister, was the travel set - a combined carrier, car seat, and stroller. It came in a huge box, and between that and the other things we bought Mom and I had to unpack and repack the car 3 times, while Pui patiently sat in the car. No doubt rolling her eyes and laughing. But we did get it all in, and didn't have to leave someone standing in the parking lot.

The next day I went to the doctor for my foot - I hardly got any sleep that night because it hurt so much. Since I have no insurance, I had to pay out of pocket: ouch. That hurt almost as much as the gout. Dr. Chaput was awesome, as usual, and helped me find the most cost-effective approach to dealing with this.

Today - pictures. I did the baby shower pictures, changed the wall-paper on my computer (a sunset from our Bangkok condo - the same place I took the picture at the top of this page), and did quite a few puzzles. Actually, it was nice to be able to slow down for a day and shirk all responsibilities. :-)

Next Appointment: 34 weeks 6 days in utero

Today we went back to the UW for another NST and check-up with our doctor. It was fairly uneventful, though the nurse again used the joy buzzer on the baby in the NST. All it did was give him hiccups which made the measurements the wanted unreadable. That's my boy - already making it known what he does and doesn't like.

According to the doctor, he's doing very well. Boring and routine, that's how she likes our visits, and we agree completely. No more surprises would suit us just fine.

It was a beautiful clear day, but cold. The mountains were all visible going to and returning from the UW, standing out in all their snow-capped majesty. Cold-looking snow-capped majesty. You could almost feel the arctic air swirling past those glacier-bound peaks. We were quite glad to get home and get warm.

Tomorrow we are planning on going shopping, to fill in the areas the shower didn't fill. I hope to have some pictures of the shower in a day or two.