Airplanes and Air Fresheners.

Apollo's Chariot

   Arguably one of mans greatest achievements is the ability to fly.  There is something sacred about harnessing the power and energy of gravity, wind, speed and atmosphere, to leave the solid ground that we stand on and take flight. As kids, my siblings and I were fortunate enough to have a dad that was a private pilot, and that owned his own airplanes. We grew up around airplanes, and even had the body of an old Cessna in our yard to play in as kids. My favorite time period in life, thus far, were the four years I spent skydiving. There is nothing that compares to the feeling of jumping out of an airplane with your closest friends, using your body to control your rate of decent, position, and attitude, in a choreographed ballet of sorts, in a sixty second free fall of 130 to 180 mph, only to break off and deploy your parachute, rapidly coming to a peaceful near stop, amongst the scattered white puffy clouds. The loud rush of wind in free fall is contrasted sharply by the serenity of a soft breeze and occasional flapping of nylon parachute fabric, while suspended under a canopy two thousand feet above the ground. For me, this was paradise...life at its absolute best. I have touched an unparalleled beauty that cannot be expressed in words nor pictures, but must be experienced to fully understand how full of life you feel, flying amongst the clouds, feeling the suns warmth and glory, while breathing in the smell of ozone and fresh air.

Apollo in a helicopter

 Apollo loves all things flying and moving. I cant say for sure whether he inherited the love of flight from me, but I love that we have this in common. I took Apollo to his third air show this past weekend. We live two and a half miles from Santa Rosa airport. I loaded up Apollo into his chariot, hooked it to my bike, and the two of us headed off to the air show. The only thing lacking was a bull whip for Apollo, to lash at my backside while he was yelling, "Faster dada! I want to go faster!" Let me just clarify that I was going plenty fast enough, however, Apollo felt that I should be able to keep up with the passing cars. Yes, I am still superman in his eyes.

  In the three and a half weeks since Orion has been home, I have become Apollo's favorite. Hooray for me! I think Mel and I were tied for the most part, but depending on the day, it would be one or the other. We have been very careful to make sure Apollo has received the same amount of attention, and made to feel just as special and important as the newborn, but there is no hiding the fact that Orion needs constant attention from his mom. Its not easy being the only one in the spot light for over three years, and suddenly you have to share it. The first thing out of Apollo's mouth in the morning, has been "Where's dada?". When I come home on my lunch hour, Apollo starts telling me, "You have to stay home dada. Don't go to work." This pleading is topped with some water works. It has carried over now to bed time; "You have to stay here now, dada. Don't go to work tomorrow". This definitely pulls at my heartstrings.  I am enjoying my new status as 'favorite', however, Melanie is annoyed by the whole thing and has vowed to buy back Apollo's affections with toys and treats. As if he is not spoiled enough. 

  Thanks to Dora (the Explorer), along with some reinforcement from Melanie, Apollo can count to five in spanish and is working his way up to 10. He knows no less than five colors in spanish along with 20 to 30 words and phrases. Thanks to his Yiayia, he knows 20 to 30 phrases in greek as well.

  My favorite Apollo-isms for the month are; "Anaconda squeeeeeze" as he gives you a random hug, and squeezes you tight, and "Let's pet baby brother!" Apparently Orion is on the same level to Apollo as his dog Remi.

Orion being entertained by Apollo

    Orion is on the 'Eat, sleep, and poop' plan, and often does all three at the same time! I think he goes through the same amount of diapers in a week that Apollo used in a month at this age. He will often go through three diapers in 10 to 30 minutes, a few times a day, not to mention his hourly diapers. I am nothing short of appalled by this. Knowing that I am putting my life in jeopardy by saying this, I am certain that Orion inherited this from his mom. It reminds me of the early days in my relationship with Melanie, when I would take her, with Ian and Aden on a road trip.

You cant make me smile!

 No sooner would I pull out of the rest stop, and merge back onto the interstate, than one of the three of them would have to use to the restroom again. I wouldn't even have a chance to turn off my turn indicator. That is how I feel now; no sooner will I start to put the first strap on the new diaper, than Orion starts to work on filling it up.  I will be looking for a night job just to pay for all the diapers, baby wipes, and air fresheners.

  Besides the plethora of diapers used by this little guy, I have to say that he is pretty easy compared to how Apollo was. Orion has been redeeming himself by trying on his smile the last few days. He mostly smiles at his mom, but I have managed to catch a few from him under my watch. 

  Orion was born four weeks ago this night. It feels like he has always been here now, yet, at the same time the excitement of having a newborn in the house has not worn off.

  With the exception of Apollo (and possibly one of our parrots), I think we are all adjusting just fine to having an infant in the house again. 

  As for me; I am basking in the glory of my new found status of 'Favorite Parent', and will seize upon every opportunity to gloat about it in front of Melanie. 

My piece of Heaven

Yiayia and Papa arrived a day after Orion was born. They spent two weeks with us. Apollo is sure that they come here just to be his own personal servants and playmates. As parents, it is such a treat for Melanie and myself to watch Apollo interact with his grandparents. Everyone gets to play cars...whether they want to or not. 

Yiayia, Papa, Apollo, and Orion
8/14/2011

Apollo is actually a funny kid. He knows how to solicit a laugh when he so desires. He spontaneously finds things funny, and has the ability to laugh whole heartedly at himself, when he is involved in a bit of carnage (that leaves himself relatively unscathed, that is). He thrives on the attention he gets for singing

the Alphabet song and the Fish Head song, along with his own repertoire of silly phrases.

Overall, Apollo is a very happy young man. I know I have used the term 'charming' to describe him and his personality in a couple of my past blogs, but it certainly is the best term I can  think of at this point; he really is charming. You have to experience him for a few days to get the full effect.  Apollo insists that everyone should "Be happy!" In fact he demands it. If he even suspects that someone is less than happy he will interject with; "Be happy Yiayia!!" He also likes to check in on your well being from time to time; "How you feeling Papa?"

Apollo's mad face

Be happy!

 Yiayia and Papa were pretty blown away at Apollos extensive vocabulary and his nonstop chatter. They talk to Apollo a few times a week via Skype, however, they were not prepared for the barrage of talking that they experienced during their visit with us. The icing on the cake for Apollo's grandparents, was the "I love you" and "I love you so much" phrases that were freely offered up.

 We seized the opportunity to spend this past Sunday out doors in the perfect weather. It was my plan to gets some pictures of Apollo and Orion with their Yiayia and Papa. I went into this photo session knowing full well that I had a 1 in 10 chance of getting any descent pictures, as the quality of the photo's is directly related to Apollos mood at the time I am taking the pictures. He was definitely in rare form and it was a real task to get him to sit still  long enough to snap a couple of pictures. Apollo really enjoyed making faces at the camera and running off every chance he got. Fortunately, we were able to kick back for a couple of hours in this little park, which afforded me enough time to get a couple shots worth keeping.
  Orion is doing well. He has been making his way through the residual jaundice, and has really perked up. He spends longer periods of time being awake and very alert. He is making up for lost time with frequent feeding frenzies that leave Melanie threatening to switch him to formula.
 Orion graduated out of his size 1 newborn diapers, the day we got home from the hospital and fits nicely in the size 2's. He has already outgrown his newborn size clothing as well.  His remaining umbilical cord, or his "crunchy" as Apollo called it, fell off when he was around 10 days old.  He has also filled in all his wrinkly skin now.
                   The nights have not been too bad yet, at least not as bad as Apollo was by 5 days old.

Apollo and his Mickey Mouse back pack

Don't get me wrong, Orion is waking up and eating about every hour to hour and a half, but the difference is, that he will fall asleep while feeding and stay that way until he wants to eat again.
  Apollo, on the other hand, stayed up late, took a long time to go to sleep and then cried for thirty to forty five minutes after each feeding... all night long! Melanie would pass him off to me and say, "Okay, I did my part, now its your turn...and you need to leave the room with him so I can sleep." Yup, kicked out of bed, and my room, to walk to floors with a crying baby, two to four times a night. Then up at 6:00am to go to work. I would gladly do it all again with Orion, but Melanie and I are both hoping it doesn't come to that. Orion is also a lot more cuddly than Apollo was at this age. He is perfectly content curled up in the fetal position with his ear pressed to your chest. Apollo, in contrast, was always a thrasher.
  I am still in disbelief that we have a new baby. I find myself awake at night, leaning over Orion, listening to him breath, and watching even the tiniest movements. I settle back into bed with the biggest smile on my face with only the twilight of the room to share it with. For a brief moment, all the worries of the world around me are gone. The soft sounds of Orion cooing, and Melanie and Apollo breathing, serenade me back to sleep. I have found my piece heaven here on earth.

Home at last

  We take for granted how the miracle of modern medicine and technology have enhanced our lives. We are so dependent on the technology that surrounds us, that we can't even begin to imagine life with out it. I am simply talking about, electricity, water, housing, not to mention t.v., internet, cellphones, cars, etc. At the risk of sounding too philosophical, we would cease to function as a society if lost something as simple electricity.
  With the birth of Orion, and during our stay in the hospital, my eyes were really opened to how spoiled we are. I watched my son enter this world surrounded by a staff of people specially trained for this one event, in a climate controlled room full of computers, heart monitors, medical equipment, and every creature comfort you can imagine. We had at our disposal, medications and procedures designed to reduce or eliminate most of the pain that accompanies labor and delivery. As soon as the baby comes out, there is a whole team of people waiting to step in if anything goes wrong with the baby. The mother is tended to and doctored up after delivery and is offered pain medications, ointments, and anything else that you can imagine to aid in their recovery. It is nothing short of impressive if you stop and look around the delivery room at all it has to offer.
  I then think about my grand mothers, and great grandmothers, and the conditions that they endured during and after delivery, and the pain that they must have suffered, yet they never felt sorry for themselves, because none of these conveniences were available too them. They did what they had to do to survive and to ensure that their child survived as well.

   Orion developed jaundice after he was born. 20 hours after delivery, his bilirubin count was higher than they like see at this age. The pediatrician made the decision to move Orion to the Intermediate Care Nursery and start phototherapy on him to stave off the build up of bilirubin's and the associated effects of Jaundice. On one hand, you are heartbroken that your baby is going to be separated from you, and on the other hand, you are immensely thankful for the available technology designed to address this very issue. With the use of lights at the right spectrum,  the bilirubin's are broken down to aid the liver in processing and passing them out of the body. Our stay at the hospital was extended by two extra days, while Orion basked in his own private tanning bed. 

  After spending 18 hours in the ICN, they put Orion in an incubator along with his light blanket and light hood, and returned him to our room for the remainder of his stay. We were thankful to have him with us again, even though we could not hold him. He spent three hours at a time under the lights, then we were allowed to take him out for 40 minutes to feed and burp him, and then it was back under the lights. As annoying as this was, the results were undeniable. All of Orion's exposed skin remained pinkish, while the areas covered by his face mask and diaper, had the distinct yellow tones indicative of jaundice. 

  One additional piece of technology that I was impressed by, is the little GPS, alarm bands, that are placed on the ankle of the newborn baby. This allows the baby's location to be tracked anywhere in the hospital. If the band if removed or cut, it triggers an alarm. If the baby is taken near an elevator or stair way, an alarm sounds and security is dispatched  to the infants location.

  Friday morning, Orion was given the green light to return home. We packed our bags, paid our deductible and headed home. Melanie and I were so glad to return home. We missed our family and our bed. We were equally happy to rid ourselves of the nurses that walked in your room 24 hours a day, the minute that you fell asleep.

" I missed you so much"

   I have to say that for myself, the best part of coming home, was being greeted by the sweetest toddler in the world. "Are you home now dada?" Apollo asks. "Yes, we're home now lil' guy"I reply. Home at last.

  

Welcome Orion Cyphus Miles

  Whoa! What a whirlwind! Orion Cyphus Miles was born at 11:32pm on August 1st, 2011. He weighed in at 8 lbs 14 oz, and 21 1/2" long. Fast and furious was the name of the game in the hours proceeding the delivery. I will try to sum up the events of the last week the best I can with out getting too long winded.

The moment of victory!
Orion..fresh out of the oven

    I have to say that Melanie has been amazing throughout this pregnancy. There has only been brief moments of hormonal mood swings, but she has breezed through the months with ease. Even her OB/GYN, Dr Klekman (who's looks and mannerisms are reminiscent of Gene Wilder) told us at our last visit, that her pregnancy has been "text book" and that she should be a role model to show other "at risk" women, that they can have a healthy pregnancy. By "at risk" I am talking about having gestational diabetes, late 30's, and a history of miscarriages. Mel attributes some her healthiness to the near perfect Northern California weather, ample sunshine, and an abundance of fresh produce. Still, no mater your physical state, barring any complications, you will ultimately find your self in labor and delivery.

Proud Parents

  The week prior to delivery brought an increase of contractions coupled with strong nesting hormones. Melanie had an insatiable desire to pick black berries every day and make jam and pie filling. Nine months pregnant, tromping around through thorny blackberry bushes,with Apollo in tow...yup, definitely nesting.
  Friday evening, the contractions were regular enough and strong enough that it warranted a trip to Kaiser to get checked. Melanie was 4cm dilated and 80% effaced. The labor and delivery staff was pretty sure that Melanie would be going into active labor in the next 12 hours. We should have bet money on that one. After a recheck an hour later, we were sent home. By Monday afternoon, the contractions became fairly regular and stronger, but they were not totally consistent, still, they were strong enough that we decided to head back to Kaiser to be checked. 4cm and 85% effaced. We were a little disappointed, especially considering the amount and intensity of the contractions Melanie was having. Melanie disconnected the monitors and got dressed and was letting me know in no uncertain terms how ridiculous this was, while we awaited a consult from the midwife on staff.

   Our mid wife, Loren, a very happy, bubbly blonde lady in her early thirties, entered the room and introduced herself. Looking surprised, Loren said; "Wow, you are already dressed. I wanted to talk to you about something that might make you want to stay in your gown".  Loren explained that they would give Melanie the option to induce, since she was in her 39th week and has had a normal pregnancy. She showed us the graph charts from the monitor that Melanie had been connected to, showing the baby's heart rate and Melanie's contractions. She pointed out an area on the graph where Melanie had a cluster of three contractions, during which the babies heart rate dipped slightly lower than they would like to see. She explained that the baby was not in danger, just that he was slightly stressed during the contractions.

  After an extensive conversation on the pros and cons, protocols and procedures, it was decided that we would stay and we would start off the induction very slowly and naturally. The preparations were made and the paperwork was completed. At about 9pm, the midwife returned and as agreed upon, she started to strip Melanie's membrane. "Wow" Loren proclaimed, "that just pushed you past 5cm." Loren had not even finished the process when Mel's water broke on its own. "Yeah, you were definitely ready to deliver". Melanie was instructed to walk around a bit and then rest, and to repeat the process for the next 2 hours, at which point they wanted to reconnect the monitors and check the baby's heart rate. Melanie's contractions were instantly about 4 minutes apart. We made a few laps around the 3rd floor, and then Melanie got back into bed. After a quick rest, it was back up for two more laps. Contractions were about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes apart. The irony here is that we passed one of the nurses that check us in. It was 10pm and she said, "Look who's going to have a baby on August 2nd." Mel and I were both thinking the same thing; "I wouldn't bet on it!" The contractions at this point were intense enough that we barely made it back to the delivery room. I no sooner connected Melanie to the monitors, than she had a massive contraction that went off the charts. It surprised us both.

  We called the nurse and asked her to recheck Melanie. 5cm and 95% effaced. "That's all" I thought. The contractions were coming fast and hard now. 10 minutes passed, and they checked her again. 7cm and 98% effaced. "Okay" announced the nurse, " I will tell Loren not to go too far, your going to deliver pretty soon!" I think we were both relieved to hear that, however, we knew the worst was yet to come.
  It was now the phase that they refer to as "transition". I have never seen Melanie in this much pain. It was not even close to this bad with Apollo. Mel had her bed adjusted at a pretty steep incline. The contractions were so excruciating that she turned to her side and was literally climbing the bed. I did my part by keeping her cooled off with wet wash clothes and offering her comic relief in between contractions. I tried to appeal to Melanie's competitive nature, by giving her a play by play of the lady in labor in the room next door; room 6. I knew what her progression was since all the rooms monitors are on one screen in each room. The lady in room 6 was in active labor when we checked in and was still in labor when they transferred us to the maternity ward, at 2:30am.
  Transition was really tough. I can only equate the pain Melanie was in with the pain I feel whenever I open my insurance bills from Kaiser; excruciating! At one point, I thought Orion would pop out before the nurse and midwife made it back to our room. Just when I was about to hit the call button, the door opened and in came Loren with a whole team of nurses and equiptment. Loren was dressed in a suit that looked like she was headed outside in a rainstorm. It was go time...From this point onwards, I was overwhelmed with emotions. On one hand, you are empathetic to the pain your partner is in, and you want to burst into tears for them, but on the other hand, you are fascinated with the miracle that is unfolding before you.

Mel and I were both impressed with what an amazing team Loren and her nurses made. They were so supportive, and upbeat through the whole last part of the delivery. They stood there smiling and passed on words of encouragement. "Your doing great! Your body knows what to do. If you feel like you need to push, go ahead and push." It was a very refreshing approach. At 11:32pm, Orion emerged. His head was so coned shaped. All I could say was, "Melly you smooshed his head!" (Is 'smooshed' even a word) He was extremely cone headed, enough that at birth, his head circumference measured 13cm, and he measured 21 1/2" long. 18 hours later, his head was 13.75cm, and his length shrunk to 20 1/2".
  There is nothing more rewarding than taking this new little life into your arms and pressing him close to your chest for the first time; to feel the warmth of his skin, his breath, and the beating of his heart against your chest. I was instantly in love. Welcome to the world Orion!