Nathan's Parent's First Scare.

In our hospital Nathan stayed with us in the room. He was never taken away to a nursery or left our sides. He was eating regularly and everything seemed fine. As the day we were supposed to leave approached the doctors became concerned over his color and bilirubin level in his blood. Nathan had developed Jaundice, which now we know is common among newborns, and even more common among Asians. Nathan being half Korean was a prime candidate. Nathan was unable to leave on his scheduled check out date, he had to remain in the hospital in the ICU. According to WebMD Jaundice is:

"Jaundice is a condition that makes a newborn 's skin and the white part of the eyes look yellow. It happens because there is too much bilirubin in the baby's blood (hyperbilirubinemia). Bilirubin is a substance that is made when the body breaks down old red blood cells .

Jaundice usually is not a problem. But in rare cases, too much bilirubin in the blood can cause brain damage ( kernicterus ). This can lead to hearing loss, mental retardation, and behavior problems."

As new parent's never having been through this before we of course were terrified. We came home and napped for about an hour then returned to the hospital. We were lucky enough to have my wife's parents come to the house and stay a few days. If you have family around it is a huge help with any newborn, but especially helpful when your baby has to stay in the hospital for some extra time. We spent the next three days mostly at the hospital in the ICU watching Nathan in his tanning bed under his lights. A lot of coffee and newspapers later, Nathan got better and we were able to finally bring him home. The catch was we had to get what is called a Bilirubin Blanket. According to WebMD:

"Babies with jaundice who are otherwise healthy may be treated at home with a type of phototherapy that uses a fiber-optic wrap, usually a blanket or a band. These wraps usually reduce blood bilirubin levels more slowly than standard phototherapy, so generally they are used only for mild jaundice. Sometimes standard therapy and fiber-optic wrap therapy are used together"

The Bilirubin Blanket was delivered to the house and the technichen showed us how to use it. We had to plug it into the wall and wrap the blanket around him. The blanket had a slight claiming humming sound to it and would glow blue like the underside of a car in the Fast and Furious movies. While the home treatment was occurring we had to bring Nathan back to the hospital daily for blood work to see where his bilirubun levels were at. This is where I got my very first taste of being a new father. At the hospital they made us register in every time we went, I would hold Nathan and my wife would do the paperwork. The very first trip to the hospital while my wife was registering Nathan he had his first public blow out. I had to take him into the men's room and well we had to trash the outfit he was in. Twenty minutes later we re-appeared cleaned and ready to roll. After that first episode I knew nothing would ever gross me out again, it's funny as a parent how quickly you become non squeamish.

From the Beginning

It was a very cold February morning when my wife decided to take a random pregnancy test. She woke me up at 6 am that Sunday with the news of the positive test. Of course it was the last test in the house, so without warming up the car I jumped in it cold and drove over to our 24 hour Wal-Mart. Four different brands and sixty dollars later I returned home. We lined them up one by one and as + signs and double lines appeared we knew after almost two years of trying God had blessed us with our first pregnancy.

My wife, being the worry-wart and OCD beauty that she is, called the doctor first thing that Monday morning and the very next day we were at an afternoon appointment where the pregnancy was confirmed. For the next 3 months things changed: My wife was lucky, she didn't get sick, she did however feel nauseas quite a bit. She was fatigued all of the time which can be beneficial to fathers to be because the remote is suddenly yours without argument. I was able to watch a lot of sports and put in a lot of quality video game time. At about three months my wife got her energy back, but the emotions began to flow. There was no watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition or anything on Lifetime, a simple Hallmark commercial would turn on the waterworks. From six to nine months she got over the joy of being pregnant and could not wait for our son to arrive. The swollen ankles, feet and hands had a lot to do with that as well as one of the hottest summers on record.
 
After a 19 1/2 hour labor and over three hours of pushing our son, Nathan joined his family. At 9lbs 10oz he instantly made my wife my hero. I just stood there with a dumb look on my face in amazement that she was able to go through all of that and deliver a toddler, God bless her. With all of the technology these days, we were texting and Skyping, letting everyone know that our new addition had arrived. It made me wonder if babies will soon be delivered with a blue tooth in their ear and texting on their I-phones.

Little did we know that the actual birth was only the beginning.  No longer were we going to be able to eat a warm meal before 8 pm.  No longer were we going to be able to get ready to leave for anything on time.  This blog is not a parenting guide, but a sharing of parenting experiances.  Nathan being our first child makes this our first trip to the parenting rodeo.  He is now 8 months, but in future postings those first 8 months will be recapped and some fond and not so fond memories will come out.  I hope you enjoy reading.