I remember when there was sleep.

There are a number of articles, books, web sites and accounts of first hand experience written which describe parenthood as the most wonderful, joyful, fulfilling experience any person could have. How having your own children grow up before your eyes is an experience cherished for a lifetime. That the experience is to be treasured.

What a crock. It is really all about survival.

It’s about not giving in to constant whining, endless diapers, sharp toys left in the hallway to be stepped on in the middle of the night while making your way to which ever offspring is currently expressing displeasure for one inexplicable reason or another. It’s about sleep – or the lack thereof – and adjusting the habits your adult body has become accustomed to, relished, and enjoyed to those of intermittent 10 minute naps, 2 hour nightly sleep sessions followed by an hour and a half of feedings, burpings, back pattings, consolings and more diaper changes.

Even without the ability to communicate with each other, Ella and Aidan have already formed a tag team and are honing their skills at keeping their parents up at night. First Ella will want to eat, again. It’s not as if she had just sucked down a bottle faster then a greek system participant at a local haunts last call – she’s burped, she’s spit up, she’s rallied and wants more. After getting an additional rationing of frothy goodness and calming down, off in the distance is the sound of a door and the pitter patter of sleep suit padded feet down the hallway and the eventual unnerving crying expelled by her older brother. Tag, it’s your turn brother. Oh joy. Just as the one appears satisfied, the other has decided that sleeping is overrated, both for him and his parents, and that 3:30am is a reasonable hour to wake up and demand attention and/or food as he doesn’t want to be left out. I’m not sure how Aidan knows that, clear down the hall, his little sister has just stopped fussing and it’s time for him to take the stage – but however it’s done Cisco should look into it as it is a remarkable wireless connection of some sort. Yes, an experience to be treasured indeed.

In the end the parents are left with blurry, red eyes, 3-4 hours of sleep (on a good night) and the knowledge that it’s only a few short survival hours away from that nocturnal tag team sounding the bell for that nights first round against the parents.

No News is Good News

I have to say, so far Ella's been a pretty easy baby. No constant crying or whimpering (she leaves that to her father), she's fussy only when she's hungry, needs a new set of drawers, or needs to put any sailor to shame with a good burp. That's about it.

Her 10 day checkup went without a hitch. She's only lost .1 lbs, not to bad, and is starting to eat like her big brother - lots and often.

Her eyes are always open, trying to look around, although I'm not really sure how much she can actually see in focus, but I hold her up to the colorful paintings and pictures we have around the house to at least give her a change of scenery from staring at the blankets she's continually wrapped up in.

Her short, dried up, basically gross looking umbilical cord stub has finally fallen off - leaving just a bit at the base, but at least it's not catching on everything any more.

Ella seems to already have far more friends then I do, although that isn't a real shocker - she's much cuter and has a better personality then her often compared to a door knob father. She's received a great many cards, well wishes, visitors and has been fortunate enough to have been presented with a great many gifts. The latest to arrive was a very nice set of soft, fuzzy items from the Ehrlich family. Elizabeth Ehrlich runs Snuggle-Up.com and produces some very nice, customized baby items. Ella now has a little blanket with her name on it and a series of little burp cloths (I hope that's what they are, else I'm really going to be embarrassed that I've used them for that).

In the beginning...

Ella Marie Stutz, named after her great grandmother Sara Ella Katherine Myers and great, great grandmother, has finally arrived.

Even before Ella's arrival she was the center of concern. Other then the fact that she was female and I had no idea how to go about obtaining a shotgun as a future suitor deterrent, Ella's last ultrasound results provided an indication that she was fairly small, in the 10 percentile range. The doctor floated the word 'Dwarfism' which sent everyone into an immediate sense of concern and, to be honest, dismay. The measurements taken during the ultrasound indicated that she was quite small, underweight, and that her limbs appeared to be a bit short.

To be fair, The Dr. did state that he was obligated to mention the possibility of Dwarfism, but also that ultrasound measurements are not known for their accuracy. Too late, the damage of planting the seed of great concern had already taken hold and would be hanging out there for the next few weeks until Ella's arrival. There really wasn't anything to do, other then wonder what Ella was going to come out like and do a little research. Apparently Dwarfism is a genetic condition passed down through the family tree, or by a fresh genetic mutation. Well, neither side of the family touted any such cases so we were down to the possibility of a a fresh mutation - which only really increased the sense of concern and dread. What would her life be like? What kind of special care would she need?

All the worry and concern was for naught as Ella arrived just before 5am on April 29th looking like a perfectly proportionate little girl. Unlike her big brother Aidan's fairly exciting arrival, Ella's was fairly uneventful. I was even able to cut the cord this time around which wasn't anything more then using a pair of scissors, but pretty memorable. I really should charge the hospital for that surgical service I provided, maybe they'll deduct my fee from the over all, new boat purchase hindering bill.

All was well in parent and baby world.... until (queue B class mystery movie plot point music)... little miss Ella decided to entertain everyone by spitting up some neon green residue. Yuck!... As it was the general medical opinion that something that color should not be coming out of a new born baby, we were back into concern mode.

The hospital neonatalogist, Dr NotSoFeelGood, didn't paint a very pretty picture and, I felt, was a bit of an alarmist. While she briefly stated that it may be nothing, she then went on in length about how it could be an underdeveloped digestive system preventing material from traversing the entire digestive tract, or a 'webbing' may be causing a blockage - either of which would require surgery to correct. She had some x-rays taken of Ella and, while she didn't see any real issues in the x-rays, still felt that there was something wrong and that Ella should be transferred from Overlake Hospital where she was delivered, to Children's Hospital where the surgeons resided. So little baby Ella, only a day or so old, was going on her first ambulance trip.

Arriving at Children's Hospital, Ella was placed in the IICU (Infant Intensive Care Unit) where she was hooked up to a number of monitors and associated wires. The surgeons, having looked at the x-rays sent along from Overlake, didn't see anything wrong, but ordered a test where they inject a dye and then watch where it goes.... and the dye went all the way through little Ella's system, indicating that there was, in fact, no blockage. Other then some additional observation and actually allowing Ella to eat and seeing what happened, all appeared to be normal again. Ella was released from Children's about 9pm Sunday, May 1st when her tired and emotionally frazzled parents were finally able to take her home.

So, in the end, all is well, Ella is just fine and her father is still wondering where to find a license for that shotgun I'm sure is going to need in the not too distant future.