Thanksgiving "Vacation"

I knew going into Thanksgiving this year that things would be different. We had a kid now, which meant no more lounging by the TV watching the Lions lose another Thanksgiving day game, less time to enjoy the feast, and no time to fall asleep on the couch in the traditional post-dinner coma. Wow, did I underestimate the "fun" we'd have on Thanksgiving.

Owen still manages to smile through the pain

Don't get me wrong. It was great to see everyone, especially my nieces who change so much in a year and Sam, my newest niece, who I was meeting for the very first time. What I wasn't prepared for was Owen being sick the ENTIRE TIME.

We got in a little past Owen's bedtime on Tuesday night and so we attributed his foul mood that evening to him being overly tired. On Wednesday he was still a bit out of sorts, but we figured he was adjusting to a new environment and was a little off of his schedule. However, by Thursday, something was definitely wrong. Our little guy, who is usually very pleasant and thoroughly enjoys life, was crying all the time, sleeping way more than normal during his naps, and not eating his normal amounts.

Fortunately for us, Ali, our sister-in-law and our hostess for the weekend, is a pediatrician. Talk about being lucky when you finally decide your kid is sick and it's Thanksgiving Day. Ali took a look at his ears and said he had an ear infection in his right ear. First ear infection. Great.

Needless to say, we spent Thursday through Sunday dealing with a baby who had an ear infection, a runny nose that wouldn't stop, and a developing cough. Throw all that together with him being in a new house, sleeping in a Pack 'n Play instead of his normal crib, and meeting 30-40 new people and it was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember.

On Sunday evening, after we arrived back home, Owen seemed to be getting much better. But he wasn't done yet as we found out on Monday when at 4:30 he started shrieking in pain. We ended up at the pediatrician 90 minutes later where we were told that the ear infection had moved to his left ear and was more inflamed than the right one ever was.

Finally, today, Thursday, after 7+ days of being sick, Owen returned to daycare and seems to be feeling much better. Bridget and I were able to have a normal day at our jobs, which was also quite welcome after the last week.

Funny thing is it that after all everything that happened I still had a great time at Thanksgiving with Owen. Even when he's sick, he's still on hell of a kid and I'm already looking forward to next year (of course if he decides to be healthy next Thanksgiving that is fine with me).

An Afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch

I'm pretty sure this is an obligatory post for all parents with young kids. Today, we took Owen to his first pumpkin patch and I'm almost positive that he had a better time than his mom. While Owen's mom was sure that the horses and ponies would eat Owen as a snack he was busy taking in all the sights and sounds (and smells!) at the farm that hosted the pumpkin patch.

Needless to say Owen did not, in fact, get eaten and we ended up with some great pictures of the event. What made it even better was the cold front that passed through here on Friday. No, we did not dress him warmly so that he'd look cute in his pictures. It was mighty chilly here today (in the 60s!). For you northerners, that's downright cold in Orlando.

Here's the slideshow of our pictures. If you want to see the photos in our Picasa Web album, click a picture in the slideshow below or click here.

It Fits!

Bryan and I had a wonderful anniversary. We celebrated with a fancy meal, popped a bottle of fancy champagne at home, and cuddled on the couch for a while. A pretty wonderful day for new parents. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that I got out my wedding dress - and original sash, shoes and earrings - and tried it on. And it fits! Two years, one baby, and I-don't-know-how-many-bottles-of-beer-and-wine later, and it still fits! I walked around the house in it and contemplated a run to the grocery store, but only managed to take a few photos before Bryan shamed me into taking it off. He didn't seem to think I needed to be wandering the house in a ball gown, and I guess he had a point, but it was fun to wear my beautiful gown for just a little while and remember what a lovely night we had two years ago.

The Labutta Boys

I love this picture...Bryan was giving Owen a bottle, and happened to have a bottle of his own nearby. Classic Saturday afternoon in the Labutta household! Owen is looking up to his Dad in awe. which I think is super cute. We have another great photo of Owen sucking on the bottom of a cold beer bottle, to help with teeting pain, but I didn't post it because I don't want DCF to take my baby away. ;)

Owen tried his first veggie on Friday, and the peas were a big hit! I wish I had video proof, but you'll have to take my word for it that later on, Owen grabbed the spoon out of Bryan's hands and started to feed himself peas! Such coordination..such hunger!


Not surprisingly, Owen loves to play with any object that is not intended as a toy, especially computers. Bryan let him fool around with the wireless keyboard one day, and Owen had so much fun! I like to think that Owen is typing a nice email to mommy in this photo.

So high! Owen loved his first ride on Bryan's shoulders. He was a little concerned that he was up so high, but he made the most of it. We also just bought Owen's first forward-facing stroller, and went on an adventure to the Orlando Science Center museum. Although he can't touch anything or really understand what's going on, Owen still had a great time strolling around, people watching, and looking at the cool exhibits. He's such a curious fellow!

Sweet September

It's been a great month so far at the Labutta household. Owen is growing like a weed...at 5.5 months, he's already into some 9 mos. clothing. No teeth yet, but he has all the signs that suggest we don't have long to wait. He's rolling over from his back to his stomach, although he hasn't figured out how to go from his stomach to his back (the easy way!). He's almost sitting up on his own. And he's staying on a daily schedule in preparation for moving into the "big kid" room at school.

I had another birthday this month. It was very odd, though...I am one of those people who loves birthdays. I get excited weeks in advance and count down the minutes til the big day...presents...cake...phonecalls and birthday wishes... But this year I wasn't as excited about it all. Maybe I'm just sick of getting old, but I really think my lack of excitement was because my priorities have totally changed. I'm not so excited about my own issues; I'm more excited about Owen's issues! Just wait til early next year - I'm going to be bursting with excitement over Owen's birthday!

At the end of the month, Bryan and I celebrate our second wedding anniversary. I am fairly excited about that; unlike birthdays, I haven't had many anniversaries, so each one is very special and I hope it's always that way. We've started to celebrate big events with special lunches, so that we don't have to leave Owen with a sitter just yet. So I'm sure our anniversary will be celebrated with a lovely lunch at a lovely restaurant. I can't wait!

5 months!

Owen is nearly 5 months old! Today we went to have some family portraits taken and it was a blast. It was a little tough to get Owen to smile for the camera, but at least he wasn't crying or throwing a tantrum. The prints will be ready in a few days, so here's a little preview.

Rice Cereal

I bought a video camera before Owen was born. A nice one. I decided to splurge on the 1080p Canon since I knew that I'd have it for a long time and wanted to be sure that the quality was as good as possible.

Since then I've been pretty good at taking videos (not great, but good) but horrible at posting them (I've posted a total of 0). Today I present my first video, a compilation of the first couple attempts of Owen eating rice cereal. To be truthful, they're mostly being posted for the grandparents because I don't picture many other people sitting down for 7 minutes to watch Bridget and Owen battle over a rice and formula mixture. I hope to continue the trend and get better about posting new videos more often. Enjoy!

The Flu and The Failure of Urgent Care

On Sunday I got sick. It started pretty tame. I could tell that I had a slight fever but it was only registering around 100 degrees, nothing major. I was also starting to get a bit achey and had almost no energy to go and cut the grass (I cut it anyway and now I'm glad that I did since it would have looked like a jungle right now otherwise.)

Not a good idea

I took some Tylenol and felt good as soon as the fever broke. Fortunately (I know now), Bridget allowed me to rest and since I was having some flu like symptoms I stayed away from Owen as much as possible on Sunday. By Sunday night I still wasn't feeling good so I called in sick for work on Monday so I could get more rest, hoping this would be a quick thing like the multiple colds I've had since Owen has started daycare.

Monday came and I wasn't getting any better. Bridget "recommended" that I go and see a doctor. I imagine that Bridget and I are like a lot of people in our age range in that we don't have a Primary Care Physician (PCP). Before Owen (and more importantly, daycare) came along Bridget and I hadn't been sick for years. To try and see a doctor right away I decided to go to Florida Hospital Centra Care, their urgent care facilities. Little did I know at the time that this would end up being a very bad decision.

"Urgent" Care = All Around FAILURE

I got to Centra Care at 2PM and thought everything was going well when I was checked in quickly and saw the four people ahead of me get called into the exam area at pretty regular intervals. During my time in the waiting area there were a couple, additional people that came in after me and got called back almost right away, but I still figured everything was fine.

The Wait

At 3:05PM I was called back and put into an exam room. The nurse told me, "There are four other people ahead of you." While I didn't like hearing that it seemed like a good sign that it only took an hour to get into an exam room. Besides how long could it take for a doctor to see four people and get to me? 45 minutes? An hour? That's when it all went downhill.

For the next 90 minutes I sat in the exam room. No doctor. No nurse checking on me. Nothing. I don't want to think about what could have happened in that 90 minutes if I was really sick. I was there because I was sick, after all. Eventually, after 90 minutes of waiting, I went outside my room and asked the nurse what the status was. She said that they had received some emergency patients since I was brought back to the exam room, that they had been taken care of, but that there was still another person ahead of me. So not only did the nurses fail to check on me in an hour and a half they also didn't feel the need to practice any common courtesy and let me know why I was waiting so long. And my biggest issue of all (at this point):

I went to Urgent Care because on their website they state, "...an affordable alternative to a busy hospital emergency room. We offer fast, convenient, urgent, NON LIFE-THREATENING, care to adults and children." Why is my exam being delayed due to emergency patients showing up at urgent care? How is this fast, convenient, urgent, or any different than a wait at the emergency room? At least at the ER I have faith that I would see a competent doctor...

The "Exam"

Finally, at 5:00, three hours after I arrived, and two hours after getting into an exam room, the doctor entered. I told him my symptoms and he said that he was going to give me a flu test. Sounded like a good idea since I figured I had the flu based on the symptoms. I don't know if people know how these flu tests are done (they didn't have these 20 years ago when I last had the flu). They take this plastic swab and stick it up your nose so far that it makes your eyes water and you feel like it's trying to pop out through your ear. It's definitely not pleasant but not completely horrible. After a total of about 4 minutes with the doctor he leaves to get the flu test processed.

10 minutes later the doctor returns. He proceeds to tell me the flu test is negative (good news, right?) I ask him what I have if I don't have the flu. He calls it an "upper respiratory infection" which is basically a generic term for saying that I'm just sick. I specifically ask him if the flu test being negative means that I do not have to worry about having H1N1 (Swine) Flu. He tells me yes, that I do not have swine flu. I take that as good news and head home to try and let everything run its course.

But...It Is The Flu

Monday night I felt pretty good (Tylenol rocks) and still felt good Tuesday morning. Thinking that the doctor at urgent care was right, I figured I had turned a corner and so I went back to work. Everything was good until Tuesday afternoon. At that point, my fever came back and this time it wasn't just a 100 degree fever. By 5:00 on Tuesday my fever was at 102. And it stayed there. Finally, at 8:30 I took some Tylenol since the fever wasn't going anywhere. By 10:00, the fever broke and I was able to sleep.

When Bridget woke up to feed Owen at 5:30 Wednesday morning, I knew the fever was back. Checking my temperature it was already at 101.5. Calling in sick for work, I spent the morning in bed drinking a ton of water. But, again, the fever wasn't going anywhere. At noon, it was 102.5 and hadn't dropped all morning. Bridget and I decided it was time to find a doctor at a practice and try to see him.

I got really lucky when I called Dr. Shaw's office at Winter Park Family Health Center. I called right after someone cancelled their appointment so I was in seeing a doctor by 3:30 Wednesday afternoon. It took Dr. Shaw about 15-30 seconds to diagnose me with the flu. No flu test needed. And, yes, it probably was the Swine Flu. When I told him that I had a flu test on Monday that came back negative he proceeded to tell me that that flu test can't diagnose Swine Flu. What the?! I had asked the doctor at Florida Hospital Centra Care specifically about that and he was completely wrong.

Within 15 minutes of seeing Dr. Shaw I had a prescription for Tamiflu and am hopefully on the road to recovery. All I can hope for now is that I don't pass this to Bridget and Owen.

Lessons Learned

• Florida Hospital Centra Care was not any faster than the Florida Hospital ER. In fact, it was probably slower since Florida Hospital just opened a brand new ER a couple months ago and tout no wait at the ER.
• The doctor at Florida Hospital Centra Care misdiagnosed my illness, trusted an unreliable flu test over the symptoms that I had, and sent me home to a 4 1/2 month old who could be in real trouble if he gets the flu. I actually found articles from early August on several major websites (including U.S. News and World Report and New York Times) stating:

The [rapid flu] tests have a severe limitation: They may fail more than half the time to detect swine flu infections, according to newly published studies and to experts in medical testing.

The low sensitivity of the tests is becoming a concern to health authorities because a false negative reading might prompt a doctor not to prescribe antiflu drugs. (New York Times)

• If it feels like the flu and acts like the flu, it probably is the flu.
• Have a PCP that you trust even if you haven't been sick in a while. You'll appreciate it when you get sick like I did. Plus, you won't have to press your luck going to urgent care.

Catholics Part 2

Godmother Aunt Kristyn, Mama, Dad and Owen, Godfather Uncle Ted.














Baptism.














Fire! Owen and his godmother, Aunt Kristyn.














Owen and Mama before church.














Grandpa and Owen.














Owen loves Cookie Monster.














Owen and his cousin Colin.














Owen and Colin.

Catholics

Owen was baptised last Sunday, August 9. I can tell you the whole story in words - like how he stared-down the baptismal candle because he has a scary obsession with fire, or how he was doused with water three times and smiled the whole time, or how he looked so darn cute in his Strasburg jon jon, even though it was blue - but it would be better with pictures, wouldn't it? I agree. Too bad we are at the mercy of Bryan on this one. The family camera is some humongous, fancy thing with a footlong lens and too many gadgets for me to be able to figure out how to download photos onto the computer. We're lucky I can take a picture with the thing (my birthday is coming up; perhaps someone will be so thoughtful as to gift me with a nice little rectangular digital camera, maybe a pink one?). But I didn't want another day to pass without mentioning Owen's big day. We are so proud of him, and so thankful to all our families members who went out of their way to celebrate with us in Orlando.

A Good News/Bad News Post

So funny...now that Owen can regularly pull his feet up and grab them with his hands, he's started to fart a lot more! I guess rolling up into that position and putting pressure on your belly will do that.

So sad...I have a client who sends out weekly email "newsletters" to promote her company's scrapbooking products. She starts each newsletter with a personal story, usually a cute anecdote about what her little kids did that day or a business trip she took to a new city. Today she stated that she went to a funeral yesterday. Her friend and her friend's family (mom, dad, kid) were at the beach this weekend, and they blew a tire on the drive back home. Car flipped. Dad died. In a matter of moments, due to a freak accident, her friend is a widow and single mother. It was the saddest story I've heard in a long time, and it made me pause and give thanks for all that I have - my husband, my son and all of my extended family. I love you all.

A 4-Month Update

Owen is 4 months old on Saturday. I can't believe how time flies. He's been such a great little guy for the past few months and Bryan and I are having a blast watching him grow and learn. I feel so sheepish when I think back on those first 6 weeks with Owen and how I used to call my mom and my sister-in-law (a pediatrician), concerned about how angry and inconsolable our child was...they must have been laughing at me on the other end of the phone ("Doesn't Bridget know that's what babies do?!") It's nice to be in a phase now where Owen can interact with and enjoy his world!

An historic day yesterday - Owen found his feet! We've been helping him along for the past week by curling his legs up towards his head in a playful way, and yesterday he decided all on his own to pull his legs up and start grabbing his toes with his hands. It's such a simple task, but Bryan and I were immensely proud. I may have teared up. I don't know what I'm going to do when he actually starts walking! *sniff* Owen also tried to get his toes into his mouth - everything goes into his mouth these days - but ended up bonking his nose with his fist after he lost his grip on his toes!

Has anyone seen the toy I was playing with?

Owen's also started to babble quite a bit. I think he likes to hear himself speak, just like his dad. ;) Anyway, his "talking" is a bit random still, he's not actually responding to anything we say, but I'm sure that's only a matter of time. My favorite time of day is oftentimes when Owen is waking up. He'll wake up, squirm around a bit in his crib and "talk" to himself. We can hear him and see him on the monitor and it really is adorable.

Owen is finally healthy for the first time in a long time. For a while there, I thought I'd never see him again without a runny nose. But his congestion is gone, as well as his stomach bug. We go to the dr. on Monday for his 4-mo. shots, and hopefully it will go as smoothly as the first set and there'll be no fever.

Finally, Owen can hold his own bottle. Probably because he has some underlying fear that we'll take it away from him! He's a strong little guy - 7 ounces ain't light - but he's got such an appetite that it shouldn't surprise me how strong he is. Honestly, though, I've yet to see him hold his bottle. His teacher, Ms. Ana, and Bryan both tell me he can do it. Maybe I just need to stop babying my baby and let him hold his own bottle, too.

The Mohawk

Owen has funny hair. It sticks up in the back, sort of like Alfalfa but it's much more than just a little strand. Some people have asked if we style his hair that way...um, no. It's actually been like that since birth! Check out the 2-day old photo (with Grandma Heff) versus the 3-month old photo. Same funny hair, just a little longer over time. Owen's teacher told us that we should take lots of photos because we need to have them to embarrass Owen when he's a teenager! Smart woman.

I Miss Owen

It's been nice being back at work, but I have to admit that I open my picasa web album at least once a day and check out photos of Owen! He's so darn cute and it's becoming more difficult to be away from him during the day. I thought it would get easier over time, and yet I was fine at first and am just now starting to dread leaving him. That might have something to do with our daily routine...

Bryan and I both wake up around 5:30am (on a normal day; we haven't had many of those lately, though, with all Owen's illnesses) - he gets Owen fed and back to sleep for another hour or two, and I go for a run to try to work off the baby weight. After I'm done showering and getting ready for work, Owen is usually still sleeping and I have to say goodbye to him on the baby monitor. Bryan gets him dressed and takes him to daycare. I get to work fairly early and am able to pick up Owen at daycare before 5pm each day, and then spend the early evenings with him while Bryan finishes up at work.

It's a good routine for us. Except I don't get to see Owen until 5pm! He's way too much fun to only see him for a few hours at night. So sad, but that's the life of a working mom, I guess. I can only hope it truly does get easier (less horrible?) over time.

Medical Challenge #2

I ended my last post with the statement, "What does Owen have up his sleeve for his next trick?" I wrote that on June 25 and it didn't take long to find out. Last Friday night, Bridget packed suitcases for her and Owen to fly up to North Carolina for a couple days to hang out with her family on the outer banks. The flight was early Saturday morning so just like usual we woke up Owen around 6 for him early morning bottle. Everything seemed fine until he made it about halfway through the 7 oz bottle. All of a sudden our son, who had only spit up maybe twice in his entire life, threw up. Thinking it was a one time thing we cleaned him up and continued feeding him. Five minutes later he did it again.

So now we have a three month old throwing up just two hours before he and his mom are supposed to get on a plane. We got him cleaned up again and laid him down in his crib hoping he might be able to get some sleep. A couple minutes later, I looked at the video monitor and something wasn't right. I went into his room only to find that he had thrown up for the third time all over his clothes and this time his mattress (fortunately, Bridget always keeps a waterproof sheet on top of the mattress).

At this point, we begin to worry. What is wrong with Owen? What do we do since it's 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday? What about the flight? We hop in the car and start heading toward the hospital. We call the doctor's office since they open at 8 on Saturday's and talk to a nurse. Since he was not only throwing up but was also extremely lethargic they said we should continue on our way to the hospital. Fortunately, we live very close to the children's hospital in Orlando. That provides two benefits. One, they are used to new parents like us coming in with a sick baby and acting frantic. Two, it means that we don't have to go to a general ER and expose Owen to a bunch of other sick people.

It was in the ER where we quickly found out that it wasn't as bad as we thought. You can always tell those things in the ER when they take you to a room and don't come back for 20-30 minutes. They checked Owen out, gave him some pedialyte, and, in what may have been one of the fastest ER visits ever, I think we were out of there in an hour. While in the ER, Bridget talked to a great agent from Southwest, who was quickly able to change her flight to Wednesday without any problem.

A week later Owen is still having "intestinal issues" and has only been eating about 50-70% of his normal amount of formula but other than that he seems relatively happy and healthy.

I think I'm going to stop thinking about what challenge he may pose to us next and just start enjoying the days that don't involve doctor's visits.

BTW, I posted some new pics of Owen, including some of him hanging out with grandma, on Picasa. Even created a new album since the previous one was getting a bit big. Here's the link to the new album: http://picasaweb.google.com/bryanlabutta/Owen3Months

Query

What is worse? A sick husband or a sick child? Bryan caught Owen's cold (which went away about a week ago, but is now back) and now I've got two sickos to deal with. If they both weren't super cute, I might be more upset about this.

The Cold

I've learned that babies are remarkable beings. It is as though they know when mom and dad have conquered the most recent challenge and dig into their bag of tricks to present a new one. Owen did just that two weeks ago. As soon as he had started sleeping pretty consistently from 8:30 until sometime between 4 and 5:30 he discovered a new weapon to throw everything back into a state of disarray...

A cold.

Of course we knew Owen would get a cold eventually. In fact, we expected it to happen sooner than later since he had just started going to daycare about a week and a half prior. When you walk into a room of screaming kids every morning and each one that looks up at you has what appears to be the Colorado River of snot running out of their nose it's pretty inevitable that your kid will not be safe for long. What we were not prepared for, however, is how a cold progresses and just how long it can stick around.

June 12 it all began. It started as most colds do with a sniffle. Nothing major and so we figured he'd get congested and it would all be over in a couple days. That was a Friday. The next couple days passed and Owen became more congested. However, he was still sleeping relatively well and outside of having to use the dreaded nasal aspirator every once-in-a-while things were OK.

Last Friday, the cold took it to a whole new level. Thursday night Owen developed a cough. We sort of figured this would happen since we've all had colds and they usually start to drain and turn into a cough. That night, Owen didn't sleep well at all. The kid who had been sleeping through the night woke up in the middle of it. To make things worse we checked and he was starting to develop a temperature. Nothing too serious, 101, but enough to worry two new parents enough to call the doctor as soon as the office opened at 8:00. Bridget's previous post described that adventure so I'll move the story along.

From Friday until Wednesday, we learned all about what a nasty cold really is like. It involves things

• A baby who had never spit up in his life vomiting half his bottle on your clothes.
• Waking up at random times of the night with 15 minute coughing fits that won't stop.
• Parents unable to sleep because the baby coughs once every 10 minutes and the monitor makes sure you hear it.
• Having to switch from 6oz of formula at a feeding to 4oz and eating every four hours to every three hours because the baby can't eat more than that at a time.
  

Finally, on Wednesday, the congestion started to go away and by today the cough is much, much better so much so that last night Owen slept til 4AM when I woke him up for his bottle. In a way, we're glad we've gotten through cold #1. It's another obstacle cleared and we'll be that much more prepared for cold #2, which I'm sure will be here sooner than later.

Now the only question remaining is...What does Owen have up his sleeve for his next trick?

Life with Owen

I love Owen. He's a cool kid. Tomorrow he'll be 12 weeks old and he's just started to do some really neat-o things. Life is still hectic; in fact, life is so hectic that I fell asleep in the dentist's chair today. How crazy is it that getting your teeth scraped is the most relaxing part of your day?!

Anyway, back to Owen. He's been sucking his thumb for a few weeks now, but just recently he's been able to do it with some degree of consistency. I can't tell you how frustrating it was for me to watch Owen bring his hands to his mouth over and over again, only to miss his thumb completely and start crying about the whole fiasco. The thumb really soothes him and I'm glad he's able to find it regularly.

Just recently he also started to grab toys and bring them to his mouth, too. Bryan or I have to hold the toy in front of him, but he knows how to use his opposable thumbs to grab on. And it must be instinct for a baby to put everything in his mouth, because the toys went straight in. FYI, it appears Owen is a lefty.

The coolest thing (next to sleeping through the night) is that Owen can now find mom's face in a crowd of people. We found this out the hard way (story below), but it's the most incredible feeling when your son finally recognizes YOU and wants to see your face above all others.

So Owen got his first cold at daycare. He had some congestion and sniffles for a few days, but we finally decided to take him to the dr. when it sounded like he had some chest congestion and he was running a fever. Bryan sent me in alone, thinking it would be a routine exam...how wrong we were. The first thing I hear is "pneumonia" and the second thing I hear is "blood draw". Eek. To put your minds at ease, it turned out to be just a cold, but that diagnosis only came after we did a flu test (giant cotton swab up Owen's nose), a blood draw (yes, a giant needle into my little son's arm) and a urine sample (a plastic bag taped - taped! - to my son's crotch - crotch!). Luckily, all those tests came back normal, so the dr. didn't require us to do the chest x-ray she originally scheduled. The only good thing out of this whole story is that during the blood draw, Owen was able to find my face amonst the other 3 people (nurses) in the room, and he looked to me for comfort and immediately calmed down when I picked him up. Cool.

"School"

It's been a while since I blogged, but rest assured I am alive and well! The first 6 or so weeks of Owen's life were rough for Bryan and I, as I suspect they are for all new parents, but we seem to have hit our stride around the 8th week. I just read the book "Home Game" by Michael Lewis, (hilarious!) in which he wisely noted that we love our children all the more because we do all that dirty work in those first weeks/months. We are truly grateful for Owen; he is the best kid ever and we are having a lot of fun seeing him grow in all the ways that babies do.

Since I'm returning to work on June 15th, and Bryan isn't keen on the whole Mr. Mom idea, Owen has to go to daycare. I like to call it school, because, well, just because. I sort of feel that sending your child to school is perfectly normal and healthy, but I feel guilty about sending my child to daycare. Probably because I was fortunate enough to have a mom who stayed home with me and my brothers when we were growing up. So we just won't call it daycare.

We started to take him for partial days this week, so hopefully we can have some sort of schedule in place when I go to work. The first day was rough. I cried. Okay, sobbed. Owen's teacher, Ms. Ana, had to hold me. I stayed with Owen for about a quarter hour, but left when he started to wimper. I don't think I could've handled seeing him cry and knowing that someone else was going to sooth him. I picked him up from school a few hours later and he was happy and smiling, thank goodness. Owen went back on Thursday and Friday, and it's going well. He doesn't realize what's going on (phew!) so the only real adjustment for Owen is getting used to his school schedule. One great moment today - Owen managed to poo during the 3 minutes it took to get from the house to school and Ms. Ana changed the diaper. Niiice.

Made It. Two Months.

Owen is two months old!

It's June 1, which means that Owen is two months old! That's the good news. The bad news is that since he's two months old he had to go to the doctor's office today and get his first round of immunizations. Wow, that's a lot of shots. Four shots, two in each leg, and one vaccine taken orally. He actually handled it really well. He cried, but Bridget and I are pretty sure that he cried because we put him down and he wanted to be held and not because of the shots themselves. With myself being someone who avoids doctors mainly because of the risk of getting shots, I think he did fantastic.

In other news, Owen has undergone quite a transformation in just the last week and a half. For the first 7 weeks, Owen was unhappy unless he was being held to our chests, being fed, or if he was asleep. About 10 days ago, however, he decided it was OK to just hang out and soak in the world. He still can't take too much stimulation at one time, but he's usually good for anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes after each feeding of the day. Of course, this change had all of our visitors over the last two weeks thinking we were crazy for saying Owen was such a handful (if only they had visited a week earlier!)

Owen sitting in his Bumbo seat for the first time

As far as sleep is concerned, he is getting better and better at sleeping in his crib at night. He's now going for 6-8 hours at a time after being put down at night, which is super since Bridget is heading back to work in 2 weeks and neither of us were looking forward to getting up every night for nighttime feedings. During his daytime naps we haven't pushed him too hard to sleep in his crib so he struggles with that. We'll see what happens when he starts going to daycare part-time this week. Something tells me they'll be better at training him to nap in his crib that we are. (As long as they don't just let him cry it out. Just one of my many fears about sending him off to daycare.)

It's amazing to think back on the first two months and see not only how far he has come but how far we have come as parents. Those first couple weeks were brutal and while things are not exactly sailing right along yet we have a much better handle on the situation. Now it's on to the next set of challenges. Monitoring for complications from vaccines, waiting for him to get sick at daycare, the beginning of toothing, etc. As long as I get a smile from him each day I think I'll be OK.

New pictures are posted in our Picasa Web Album. Check them out!

Getting Owen To Sleep In His Crib

I'm writing this post at 10:40PM, which is something that just two weeks ago I would not have been able to do. Why? Because I would have had a four week old baby sleeping on my chest. See, the only place Owen would sleep for the first five weeks was on our chests. Sometimes he would lay on his back but only after he was sound asleep and even then we had to put him between our legs so that he felt our legs next to him. The crib was simply not an option.

Last week I decided it was time to make a concerted effort to Owen to sleep in his crib. The first night took a while. I laid him in his crib four times and picked him up four times. But, finally, on the fifth try, he fell asleep. The next night it took two times, a marked improvement. Finally, by the fourth night of putting him in his crib it only took one try and he was out.

Things have gotten even better since then. At first, when I would lay him in his crib I would have to keep a hand on his chest until he fell asleep. But, the last couple nights, I have laid him in his crib and he has put himself to sleep! It doesn't hurt that he's twitching a lot less these days so he doesn't wake himself up as often after he's already sleeping.

There were three keys to getting Owen to sleep in his crib. First, he likes to sleep on his side. He hasn't taken to sleeping flat on his back yet. We have one of those infant positioners so we just prop him up on his side on that. Second, he likes to fall asleep in a position where he can see his nightlight. He stares at his nightlight until he can't keep his eyes open anymore. Finally, white noise. Right now I just put my iPhone in his crib and turn on one of the white noise apps (I use Easy Relax). Eventually we'll get a CD player and a white noise CD so I don't have to give up the iPhone at 8:30PM each night.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in comments to a previous post telling us that it was just fine to practice a little co-sleeping while he was so young. It eased our minds knowing that others had gone through similar experiences. Now we get to enjoy the hum of the baby monitor as we blissfully fall asleep in a bed, not a couch, and without a baby on our chest.

Owen Is 1 Month Old. And He Smiles!

Owen with a huge smile up at mommy!

What a wonderful day! Not only is Owen officially one month old, but he is learning how to smile and had some of his first real smiles today. Not smiles while asleep, not smiles because he's a little gassy, but real smiles! Sure, he needs some prompting by dad and mom right now to follow our example, but, wow, this is awesome!

I've posted his most recent photos including some from today in our Picasa Web Album. Enjoy!

Owen At 3 Weeks Old

We've heard things from people saying that the first few weeks are the hardest. We're not sure if they mean the first 3 or the first 52, but I can tell you that the first 3 are something else. Owen is different almost every day. One day we'll think he's becoming more pleasant only to be faced with a 2 1/2 hour nonstop crying spell the next day.

Owen on his 3 week birthday

Overall, though, looking back at the first 3 weeks, it is easy to see signs of him maturing. For example:

• His cord finally fell out! It took three weeks, but it is gone.
• We had to move him to Size 1 diapers because he had grown out of the Newborn size. I was wondering when we'd know to switch him. Now I realize that it's pretty obvious. When you have to struggle to get the tabs at the back to meet the tabs at the front, time to switch.
• He focuses really well on our faces. A couple weeks ago, he would sort of look at us, but it was a dazed stare. Now when he is in his swing he can follow us as we move around the room.
• He has better control over his hands and arms. It's not perfect. They still flail around most of the time, but he is doing much better with not scratching his face even with his razor blade finger nails.

The one area where we may have made a mistake from the beginning is in not getting him used to sleeping on his own either in his playpen or crib. Most of the time he falls asleep on one of our chests, which works really well when trying to get him to sleep, but it also means that if we try to get him to sleep on his own, he screams bloody murder. I know they say you can't spoil a newborn, so maybe this does not fall into the realm of "spoiling" him, but he does learn patterns quickly and this is a pattern that we're having trouble breaking. If anyone out there has run into the same thing and has some advice (i.e. let him keep sleeping on his chest for now and he'll tell you when he doesn't want to anymore, put him in his crib and let him cry a bit, etc.) we'll take it.

Now it's off to the pediatrician for Owen's circumcision. Pretty sure that guarantees a couple rough days. But, hey, better to do it now over when he's 16 years old, right?

P.S. A couple new photos have been posted to our Picasa Web Album. Enjoy!

12 Days In. Still Surviving. Barely.

As this entry is posted, Owen has just turned 12 days old. I've said it a million times already, but I will say it again. He is an awesome kid. However, at the same time, wow, he is a challenge. Everyone warns you going into parenthood that the first few weeks are rough, but I don't think anyone understands how rough those first weeks are until you are thrown into the middle of them.

Bridget and I are relatively laid back people. I like to think that we lived a pretty low stress lifestyle. Well, throw that out the window. This kid has our stress levels at a maximum and from what I can tell he's not even a challenging kid! He's is easily consoled simply by holding him, changing him, or feeding him, and he sleeps most of the day. Still, we don't get more than a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time and we know that will not change anytime soon. Combine the lack of sleep with a baby who can only tell you what he wants through crying and fussing and you have an ultimate recipe for stress.

One victory that we do like to claim is the battle for the correct choice of formula. We've been supplementing Owen's meals with formula since just a couple days after his birth. At first we gave him normal formula. We were using standard Enfamil Lipil and he seemed to be doing OK. However, when he started to take more at each feeding, all of a sudden our sleepy, content baby was fussy almost every minute he was awake. After about 48 hours of this, we thought it might be because of the formula. One thing pointing us in that direction is that I was lactose intolerant as an infant myself. In those days, it took 6 months of my parents being unbelievably patient with me and working with doctors to find out why I was never content. But in 2009, all I had to do was look at our pantry and find a sample of Enfamil Gentlease Lipil, specially designed for babies with fussiness and gas. We switched him to that and within 12 hours we were back to a content kid. Chalk one up for the new parents!

So, yes, life is one big ball of stress right now. But, we're making it and we both know that at some point soon that little guy is going to look up at us and give us a genuine smile and make all of the first few weeks of stress melt away in an instant. In the meantime, we're getting better at this parenting thing. Hey, even as I write this, Bridget has managed to put him down in his bassinet for over a half an hour to nap! Another small victory! We'll take whatever we can get...

Owen Thomas Labutta

Owen Thomas Labutta. Born on April 1, 2009 at 1:28PM ET. 8 lb. 14. oz. 21 1/2 in.

This tiny little guy has completely captured the hearts and the attention of Bridget and I. Sure, we haven't slept much since he was born. We knew we wouldn't. But every time I'm awake at 4:00AM changing a dirty diaper, I look at his little face, with his little eyes, perfect little nose, and those pouty little lips, and just smile. Why would I want to be asleep and miss these moments? It's hard to believe that he's already 5 days old. He's amazing.

Of course, the lack of sleep and attention to Owen has prevented me from updating this blog and posting videos of Owen as I had hoped to do. I have, however, posted a bunch of photos of Owen in my Picasa web album, which you can view here. I hope, as we become better at this parenting thing, that I'll be able to put together a couple videos and show our little man in motion.

Bridget and I would like to thank everyone for all of their notes and flowers and gifts over the past week and really throughout her pregnancy. It was great to know that there were so many people out there supporting and celebrating Owen's birth with us!

Follow The Saga on FriendFeed and Twitter

It's just about time to leave for the hospital. Inducing starts this evening at 8. Writing blog entries takes a while so I'm planning on providing updates mainly through FriendFeed and Twitter. I am on both of those services as "bryanlabutta". You can use the links below to go directly to my profile on each.

FriendFeed

Twitter

He's Not Born Yet, But He Sure Is Photogenic

Well, today is our due date. 40 weeks. 280 days. Alas, still no baby. But we did get to spend some quality time in the hospital today where they did an ultrasound to check the level of amniotic fluid (it's at 10.9, which is apparently good) and they did a stress test to make sure the baby's heartbeat is OK (it is supposed to be between 110 and 160. He was right around 135-140, which is perfect).

The best part of the day, though, was the ultrasound. Our ultrasound nurse was awesome and took some great pics of the baby including some 3D pics, which she wasn't even supposed to take! I've posted the three best pics below. He sure looks like he is ready to go!

He's looking right into the camera!

His Alfred Hitchcock pose


An awesome shot of his face!

The countdown is on! Any day now we'll have a son!

Yes, I Still Have a Smile on My Face

39 Weeks! Wow. The hubby and I just went back through our photo album to see how much I've grown since The Bump first appeared back around 14 weeks or so. I remember thinking that I was so big back then! I loved to wear cute tops and dresses to show off The Bump, not realizing that no one could probably tell I was even pregnant - I was unfortunate enough to look like I just ate too much Italian for dinner. Now, those same cute tops are barely covering my lower belly and you can't mistake The Bump for anything other than what it is!

The doctor told us at 38 weeks that The Bump contained a 7.5 pounder, so we are expecting a big little guy. Still, I'm feeling very comfortable and have been able to stay somewhat active. Which is a good thing since I am nowhere close to giving birth; in fact, the doctor already scheduled my induction for a week from Monday. It's nice to know that at the latest, we'll get to meet our little guy in 10 days!

Still Pregnant.

Just in case anyone was wondering.

Someone Remove The Basketball Under That Gal's Shirt

We'll be at 36 weeks tomorrow and it's time for another belly shot! If belly size is any indication the little guy is still growing at a rapid pace. He's super active, which is both good and bad, I guess. On the good side, it tells us that he's still in there growing away. On the bad side, according to Bridget, he's ALWAYS active. Needless to say, nighttime has not been too kind to Bridget (and me to a lesser extent) over the last month or so. Maybe this is some sort of practice for the sleepless days and nights we have to look forward to once he's born.

Just about 36 weeks!

Bridget has been doing really well so far with the whole pregnancy. Over the last week she has started to be a little more tired but what can be expected when you're working full time as a lawyer, you're not getting great sleep at night and you have this little person inside that continually gives you kicks to the midsection?! We're just both anxious at this point for him to be born! We have a crib, diapers, a car seat, and all the other "stuff" we need. Now we just need a baby!

Erin is Funny

I signed up for a pre-natal breastfeeding class that took place at my hospital last night at 7pm. Since I work really close to the hospital - and I couldn't convince my baby daddy to come with me - I decided it would be easiest to go to the class straight from work. It was only once I was printing out the course information around 6pm that I realized I was supposed to bring a doll or stuffed animal to use during the class as a prop. Still not wanting to drive all the way home and then back to the hospital, I decided to stop in at the Target next to the hospital to purchase a new stuffed animal or doll.

My thought process was that I needed a prop that would actually be reused by my son, so I immediately ruled out any of those life-like girly dolls, which made up the majority of the selection at Target. I was left to decide between a variety of Disney character dolls and Sesame Street dolls. So many choices!

I ruled out Big Bird because I couldn't bring myself to fake-breastfeed a bird with a disturbingly long beak. Oscar the Grouch was too mean. Aladdin was out, too, because, well, he's too old. I had narrowed down my selection to a Handy Manny Disney doll - which to me looked like a cute little baby boy - and Cookie Monster. Thank God my girlfriend Erin (schoolteacher and baby-lover) happened to call at just the right moment. I explained my choices to her, and she immediately ruled out Handy Manny for me. She explained that although his show is wonderful for little kids, he is actually a grown man! Yikes. That left me with Cookie Monster, a choice that met with Erin's full approval.


Fast forward to my class, and the introduction of the students' various props. I was hoping that Cookie Monster would not draw too much attention - for pete's sake, other women had brought in stuffed chihuahuas and Care Bears - but, alas, no luck there. The teacher immediately called me out for bringing in Cookie Monster. Rather than get shy or embarrased, I simply repeated to the class what Erin had said to me - everyone likes a little milk with their cookies!

Planting Some New Bushes

Last year Bridget and I decided to spruce up the back of the house with some flowers. We chose impatiens since we were told that they'll grow pretty much anywhere. And they did. They grew. And grew. And grew. By the time fall came around the impatiens were about 18 inches tall and had stems that looked like small tree trunks. They looked more like bushes than flowers.

We went back to the Apenberry's Nursery and talked to them about our options. They said that we could cut the impatiens back and that they would start to grow again. We tried that, but it was an utter failure. A couple of the plants died and the ones that did survive never looked right again.

Two weekends ago I removed the impatiens and decided to go with a longer lasting, lower maintenance approach. I went back to Apenberry's and David came up with some great options for bushes that would provide a bit of color, would be low maintenance, and again, would grow pretty much anywhere. I just got done planting the 14 new plants and putting down new mulch and wanted to share some pictures. I'm not great with plant names and I usually forget them. I do know that the nine little plants are annual varities called Coleus.




And, yes, if it seems like I used a two-tone mulch it's not my fault. I purchased five bags of Scotts Nature Scapes mulch, the same mulch I used all last year. Two of the bags ended up having a much lighter shade of red than the other three accounting for the difference. I think as the mulch starts to see sun and rain the colors should even out.

My First Trip to the Toy Store

I haven't been to the toy store since...well, I don't know the last time I was in a toy store. But I'm about to have a son and I hadn't bought any toys for him yet. It was time. I decided I didn't want to go to Toys R Us. I was hoping that Orlando had some local toy store run by a person that had been selling toys for the last 40 years.

I didn't find that. But, I did find a store called Learning Express Toys. It's a chain but it was not the mammoth Toys R Us and having the word "Learning" in its name made me want to check out what they had in stock.

I hopped in the car, drove over, and walked into the store. Wow, so many toys. I don't know that they could have crammed more toys into their little space if they wanted to. After a couple minutes of wandering around I found the baby toys. That's when it hit me that there are not a ton of choices for newborns when it comes to toys. I suppose that could be because they spend all day sleeping, eating, and crying. That didn't stop me, though. I'm this kid's dad and what's the most important thing to every American boy? That's right, sports.

I walked out of the store the proud owner of an All Star Sports Bag (below). Sure it's marked for kids six months and older, but I fully expect to have an advanced kid. I'm sure by three months he'll be playing with these nonstop as I fill him in about the finer points of each sport.

Updated Nursery Pics - It's Complete!

We're one step closer to being ready for our little guy to arrive with the completion of our nursery! The last pics that we posted showed the furniture being assembled and put into place. Two weekends ago that furniture took on a new look as Bridget's parents came into town and helped us put on the finishing touches.

Bridget's mom, Joy, was gracious enough to make the crib skirt, a blanket, curtains, and pillows for the baby. They are all in the color scheme of the rug we put in the baby's room and it looks like something out of a Pottery Barn Kids catalog!

I've posted a short 5 picture slideshow below. If you want, you can click on the link below the slideshow to go to our Picasa web album to view the pictures in full size.

View Album

What a Scam!

Bryan and I received the following email from a concerned resident in our neighborhood. I'm really surprised to hear that we are being scammed like this by kids. Last year, I made a donation to the local high school band, who sent a couple kids in band hats to my door. I didn't ask them to show me their school id...the really dumb band hats convinced me that they were legit.

Dear Neighbors,

It has come to our attention that young adults have been soliciting residents in the neighborhood for donations to go on a trip. I have confirmed with the Principal's office at [the local] High School that these young adults are NOT students from [the school]. Please remember that students are required to always carry school ID or wear a team/band uniform if they are soliciting donations for school-related activities. Of course we like to support our students and their activities. But please be cautious! If they do not have the proper school ID or uniform, then we have been asked by the Orlando Police Department to call [and] report them. Please do not hesitate to contact OPD immediately if you feel something is suspicious. Thank you for helping to keep our neighborhoods safe.

Nearly 8 months.

I'm huge.

Green Thumb?

This photo was taken last April when I was motivated to plant flowers along the back side of our cute little house.

Bryan and I bought a variety of impatiens and they ended up looking great. It was difficult to keep them alive over the past few months; I'm not ashamed to admit that I do not have a green thumb and I don't strive to acquire one. Bryan ended up doing most of the work - watering and pruning - and at one point, our flowers were at least 2 feet tall, I swear to god.

Although Bryan might disagree, I did my fair share of watering these flowers because I did want to see them thrive. So it is with great sadness that I must report that all the flowers are dead. I'm not bothering to post an "after" photo because the space is just a pile of dirt now. We're pretty sure the culprit was a deadly combination of over-pruning during the cold spell that recently hit Orlando. The important thing to note, though, is that it was not my fault. I will take the blame for the near-dead Easter lily in our family room...

It's Florida, but it's still cold

A couple pictures from our house this morning. In Orlando. Florida. Where it is supposed to be warm. We had one of the coldest nights in over five years last night. We had to cover our shrubs, use the heat all night, and yes, that is frost in both of the pictures. Had some on the grass too, but it didn't show up too well in the photos.

But don't worry too much about us. The temps should be back into the mid 70s by the weekend...

The Ford Focus does not like being covered in frost

Even a nice covering of frost on the grill cover

New Poll! When Will The Baby Be Born?

I have posted a new poll in the sidebar. Take your guess at when the baby will be born! If you want to make a guess at a specific date and time leave a comment and you can point back at your prognosticating skills after the baby is born.

Be forewarned...anyone predicting that the baby will be born over a week past the due date will not be on Bridget's good side...

Good Grief

ABA Journal: Law School, Debt, and Divorce


Luckily, only one person in my marriage has law school debt.

Mmm...Peanut Butter

At the start of my pregnancy, I received a long list from my doctor of all the foods I was now banned from enjoying. The expected items were on there - sushi, caffeine, alcohol - but some unexpected items were also on there, including a major shocker: deli meat. Supposedly, deli meat can easily be contaminated with listeria, which can 'cross the placenta' to Baby Labutta and do a whole lot of damage.

I've spoken to a lot of other pregnant and formerly-pregnant women and not all of them have been banned from enjoying deli meat. Initially, I ignored the ban and continued to make turkey and swiss sandwiches for lunch . However, two things happened that officially ended my turkey days. First, I mentioned to my doctor that I was still eating deli meat, and she gave me a look as if I had just said I was eating razor blades for lunch. Not good. Second, during my vacation in Canada, the country just happened to have a massive outbreak of listeriosis, and a widespread recall of a major label's brand of deli meat was conducted. Really not good.

Not to worry; I found a great alternative in peanut butter and jelly. I would estimate that I have a PB&J sandwich for lunch at least 4 times a week. Jif and Smuckers...yum. Unfortunately, I'm now reading about a massive recall of peanut butter products in the U.S. due to salmonella contamination. I've heard that salmonella is also bad for an unborn child, so I've been frantically reading every article on the topic to make sure my Jif is safe. So far, it appears so and I hope it continues to be so. I've already lost my turkey, and I don't know what I'll do if I lose my peanut butter, too.

The Baby's Nursery - A Video Tour

In our previous post we gave you a slideshow of the new baby's nursery as it all came together. Well, for Christmas I received a new camcorder and so we thought we'd take you on a video tour of the new nursery.

I apologize for the quality of the embedded video. Click this link here, YouTube High Quality) to go to YouTube and watch a better, yet still far from perfect version of the video. The camcorder shoots video in full HD (1920x1080) but not even the software that came with the camera does a good job of converting the video into a format that is easily uploaded to YouTube and one that looks good once it is uploaded. Once I invest in some better software the videos should start looking much better. In the meantime, enjoy!