Three Sigma?

OK, sorry about the missing blogs - we were really really busy. I am well aware that this blog may brighten your days. Well, now here's something else that may brighten it: Schardenfreude! My first draft was a huge blog that was really whiney, but to summarize, Delia's entire division at Kaiser was laid off on her first day back, she had a fever and chills for a few weeks, and more impressively, a colony of E. Coli bacteria decided to make its home underneath Delia's tailbone, where it grew to the size of a ping pong ball. Delia's been in treatment for a month now, and it's almost better, but we had make an emergency switch of Max to formula while she was under antibiotics (BTW: We found out Max will eat anything if he's hungry enough, thank God..)

Given Delia was so sick, I pretty much took care of Max by himself when I wasn't working. I have no idea how single moms do it. The only bright spots were: 1) Max was almost comotose for the entire week we had him on Similac formula, making him very easy to care for (we switched to some organic formula after we ran out of the Similac, which actually made him more animated), and 2) I survived 2 layoffs in 3 months but not the substantial across-the-board salary cut. During this time, my company asked me to work a 90 hour week if necessary to meet a deadline, making me marvel at the ensuing lack of adrenaline produced.


OK, that's out of the way. I took out the whiney stuff and am giving you some Max highlights.

4/7: Throughout the ordeal, the one person with good spirits was Max. Even if he's mellower, he's continuing to develop as a baby. This morning, at 4:30 AM, I fed him and put him back to bed. He was motionless, but then had a series of loud kicks on the mattress, and went silent again. Then he kicked again. He wouldn't go to sleep. I think I put him to bed too early last night. What's his deal? I changed his diaper and put him back. Same thing. He didn't want any more food. He wasn't crying but he was making plenty of noise to wake up Delia. So I put him on a mattress in our spare room and watched him. He kept up his intermittent kicking. I had no idea what his deal was. Until all the sudden he was on his side. Then he calmed down. That's new - he's been pretty much a beached whale until now. Then he fell on his back and started kicking again. After a while, he rolled on his side, but with just a little more momentum- he rolled over on his stomach! He looked up with a ton of pride. Then he got upset. He just gave himself tummy time. I put him back on his back, and before I knew it he was on his stomach again.

4/7: Delia's off antibiotics. But today is the big unknown. Our plan was to nurse Max once Delia was off antibiotics, and we did everything we could to help that happen - low-flow bottles, Delia pumping the last couple days when Max ate to get her milk supply up - but Delia apparently refused to breastfeed when she was 2 months old and we had no idea if Max would accept breastfeeding again. However, the pediatrician's advice - he'll eat if he's hungry - calmed me down. And thoughout this ordeal, I've noticed Max would eat regardless of the bottle temperature or his position - perhaps he isn't very fussy. We introduced Max to Delia again, and after a bit of astonishment, Max fed without a hitch. So far Max isn't a fussy eater. (Note to self in future: Yes, I know I just jinxed myself. Sorry.) Then Max stared at Delia with wide eyes. I just took a big step back in Max's eyes, which is fine. Since then, Max's intensity has racheted back up - he smiles wider and cries louder. I'm not sure how much is from the better nutrition and how much is due to hunger - Delia's body hasn't caught up to Max's appetite. We probably will have to use a bit of formula over the next few days and phase it out.

Some good things: First, Delia was wondering if she should quit her job anyway. Second, thanks to our intimate bottle knowledge, travel became much easier - we'll store breastmilk when we go out and use formula in a pinch. Max hates breastfeeding if Delia's wearing one of those covers in public, but he's fine with a bottle. Finally, the high intensity lifestyle got me to focus more. I read at least part of "Getting Things Done" and must say it has useful tips. I found time to buy and install a dishwasher, fix a leak in a pipe fitting in the dishwasher I put in, assemble a bookcase, re-fix the leak in the pipe fitting, cook a couple times, get the bike ready again, re-fix a leak in the pipe fitting, install a showerhead and re-fix a leak in the pipe fitting.

Where are the photos? The camera's somewhere else and Max is starting to cry, so they'll wait, but gosh, they are coming and they will even be in full color.