Updated cast, in order of expected appearance
(bold=new/updated):

03/03/07 - Daniel Magix (#2, girl)
03/05/07 - vetman81 (#1, boy)
03/07/07 - WilliamLowe (#1, unknown)
03/15/07 - Jbrochu (#1, unknown)
03/29/07 - Stu Pidasso(#7, boy)
03/30/07 - CrazyEyez (#2, unknown)
04/05/07 - DesertCat (#2, girl)
04/06/07 - stan1541 (#1, boy)
04/15/07 - samjjones (#1, boy)
04/16/07 - SpeciesFlora (#1, boy)
04/18/07 - Nottom (#2, boy)
04/19/07 - DING-DONG YO (#1, unknown)
04/27/07 - kevstreet (#1, unknown)
05/13/07 - krazyace5 (#?, unknown)
05/15/07 - KennyBanya (#1 & 2, unknown twins)
05/25/07 - Uncle_Billy (#1, boy)
06/03/07 - Jeff P (#1, girl)
06/17/07 - Mermade (#2, boy)
07/07/07 - carpmentor (#2, unknown)
08/02/07 - kurto (#?, unknown)
08/25/07 - phiphika1453 (#2, unknown)


<font color="green"> Welcome to 2+2!
02/02/07 - moldman (#2, boy) 7 lbs 13 oz Edit: typo
01/28/07 - dcasper70 (#1, girl) 7 lbs 15.5 oz
01/23/07 - MuckerFish (#1, girl) 5 lbs 14 oz
01/22/07 - johnwit (#1, girl) 8 lbs 13 oz
01/11/07 - pauliewalnuts (#1, boy) 2 lbs, 9 oz
01/09/07 - Runner Runner (#3 &amp; 4, boys) 6 lbs. 6 oz./4 lbs. 7 oz.
12/22/06 - gharp (#2, boy) 8 lbs. 4 oz.
12/19/06 - JDVegas5 - (#6, boy) size unknown
11/29/06 - Knight Vision (#3, girl) 8 lbs. 8 oz.
11/04/06 - DrewDevil (#1, boy) 7 lbs. 10 oz.
10/27/06 - dlk9s (#1, girl) 6 lbs. 15 oz.
10/10/06 - ChipWrecked (#2, boy) 7 lbs. 12 oz.
09/30/06 - Rduke55 (#1, boy) 8 lbs. 0 oz.
09/23/06 - JoeU (#2, girl) 5 lbs 2 oz</font>

<font color="blue"> In Loving Memory
09/02/06 - poincaraux - Allan Frederick Lerner, 7 lbs. 0.9 oz. </font>

Sorry hate to the pediatric nurse wet blanket but you really should not give cold meds(even the infant stuff) to babies under 6 months without them being seen by the doctor. This is especially true of babies under 3 months. 12 weeks and under should be seen by the pediatrician, they just do not have the immune system to handle a lot.

It can mask symptoms of a bigger problem.

Most of the cold meds are not terribly effective and can cause irritability in a lot of babies.

Fevers are ok for kids(101 to 104F)-it helps them to burn off an infection if you will. If they are not uncomfortable, feeding ok, peeing , consolable, then you are doing ok.
Don't get too hung up on the numbers on a thermometer. I have seen kids running 104F fevers and smiling and running about and other kids with 101F fever who barely lift their heads. That is the kids I would be worried about.

Also sleep them sitting up buckled into their car seats. Helps with congestion. Use the bulb syringe and saline drops to clear their noses. I know they hate it but it helps.


Just my 2 cents- was a pediatric nurse for 9 years before moving to Labor and Delivery.

&lt;/warm fuzzy feeling&gt;

Thanks for the lecture.

We saw the doctor, did the propping of the crib/car seat/swing/humidifier routine, all of that.

Sorry. I did not mean to insinuate that you had not taken your baby to the doctor.
I was responding to your post script about having the medications on hand which are very tempting to give in the middle of the night before knowing what might be going on with your baby.

Hope you all are feeling better.

My update:

My wife has gestational diabetes, and has had to take insulin shots for the past couple of months. One complication with that is that the baby gets too big. With that in mind, the doctor is going to induce her a week early, next Tuesday!! We are both excited. Jill is very very ready for this to be over with so that she can move, bend over, and tie her own shoes.

Hopefully everything will go well and I will have a good update with pics early next week. GL/congrats to everyone else.

Hope you have a GREAT weekend!!!!

Expectant or new fathers, earn some points! A friend just got his wife, a new mother, an Easy Button.

She apparently bangs the hell out of it when she wants him to get or do something for her. Anyway, I thought it was kind of funny and she really likes it.

My little girl has arrived - and she is beautiful!!

Name: Gianna Renee
Birthdate: 2/22/07
Time: 4:43am
Weight: 8lb1oz
Length: 20"

Cliff Notes:
Wife's water broke at about 3:20am or so. Bad contractions started. Arrived at the hospital at about 4am. Wife was so far along, that an epidural AND any sort of pain medication through an IV, were NOT AN OPTION! She had no choice but to go all natural. It was a short but painful delivery - only 19 actual minutes of pushing, and I saw the baby's head as the doctor was running in putting on his gloves.

Now everyone is happy and healthy, and we just got home today. I've only been home a couple hours, and I can already see that life with a toddler AND an infant will be pretty hectic for a while. But it's a hecticness that I am happy to go through. Good luck to the parents-to-be and the new parents.

Congrats Daniel!!

We arrived at the hospital around 7:15 yesterday morning. They nurses put an IV catheter in Jill and started her on a drip of oxytocin. She then started having small contractions which eventually got bigger. Around 11:30 they broke her water, and after that the contractions were really starting to hurt her. At noon she took some IV pain meds which helped some, but at 1:00 she got her epidural and things were smooth sailing after that.

Once the epidural was in it was just a waiting game until she was dilated enough to start pushing. At 6pm she was at 6cm, and then at 7pm she was at 8. She finally got the go to start pushing shortly after 8pm. She had to push for a while, and the baby was starting to have alittle bit of trouble, so at 9pm the doctor told us we had half an hour or she was going to have to get a Csection. He was delivered at 9:15pm, weighing in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and 19inches long.

We didnt sleep much last night, and probably wont get a whole lot of sleep tonight, but he's a great little guy. He hasn't fussed or cried much; he's mostly just slept. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to my wife and me. I love him so much already and he's less than a day old Congrats to all new parents and GL to the ones coming up.

PS. Pics to follow.

Edit: Oh yeah, we named him Dylan Thomas.

You almost made me cry! Congratulations and I love the little guy's name btw.

I remember this feeling so well! Congrats!!

pretty cool, ain't it!

Congrats to both you and Daniel Magix!

Thanks dcasper

Cute baby.

Gets that from mom's side, right...

yep

Updated cast, in order of expected appearance
(bold=new/updated):

03/07/07 - WilliamLowe (#1, unknown)
03/15/07 - Jbrochu (#1, unknown)
03/29/07 - Stu Pidasso(#7, boy)
03/30/07 - CrazyEyez (#2, unknown)
04/05/07 - DesertCat (#2, girl)
04/06/07 - stan1541 (#1, boy)
04/15/07 - samjjones (#1, boy)
04/16/07 - SpeciesFlora (#1, boy)
04/18/07 - Nottom (#2, boy)
04/19/07 - DING-DONG YO (#1, unknown)
04/27/07 - kevstreet (#1, unknown)
05/13/07 - krazyace5 (#?, unknown)
05/15/07 - KennyBanya (#1 &amp; 2, unknown twins)
05/25/07 - Uncle_Billy (#1, boy)
06/03/07 - Jeff P (#1, girl)
06/17/07 - Mermade (#2, boy)
07/07/07 - carpmentor (#2, unknown)
08/02/07 - kurto (#?, unknown)
08/25/07 - phiphika1453 (#2, unknown)

<font color="green">
Welcome to 2+2!
02/27/07 - vetman81 (#1, boy) 6 lbs 6 oz
02/22/07 - Daniel Magix (#2, girl) 8 lbs 1 oz
02/02/07 - moldman (#2, boy) 7 lbs 13 oz
01/28/07 - dcasper70 (#1, girl) 7 lbs 15.5 oz
01/23/07 - MuckerFish (#1, girl) 5 lbs 14 oz
01/22/07 - johnwit (#1, girl) 8 lbs 13 oz
01/11/07 - pauliewalnuts (#1, boy) 2 lbs, 9 oz
01/09/07 - Runner Runner (#3 &amp; 4, boys) 6 lbs. 6 oz./4 lbs. 7 oz.
12/22/06 - gharp (#2, boy) 8 lbs. 4 oz.
12/19/06 - JDVegas5 - (#6, boy) size unknown
11/29/06 - Knight Vision (#3, girl) 8 lbs. 8 oz.
11/04/06 - DrewDevil (#1, boy) 7 lbs. 10 oz.
10/27/06 - dlk9s (#1, girl) 6 lbs. 15 oz.
10/10/06 - ChipWrecked (#2, boy) 7 lbs. 12 oz.
09/30/06 - Rduke55 (#1, boy) 8 lbs. 0 oz.
09/23/06 - JoeU (#2, girl) 5 lbs 2 oz</font>

<font color="blue"> In Loving Memory
09/02/06 - poincaraux - Allan Frederick Lerner, 7 lbs. 0.9 oz. </font>

I haven't clicked on this thread in a while, so congratulations to all the new parents out there. Julia is now 5 months old, and has already caught up to her big sister in # of surgeries before 2 months old.

She had pyloric stenosis (common in boys) and had to have emergency surgery to correct the problem. All she had for the pain was infant tylenol twice (I'd be screaming for morphine! ). She's goodnow, and starting to catch up in weight.

dcasper, now that the baby is here, can we come over and play cards again??? And the pic collage post is definitely POTY!

Here's an updated pic of Samantha and Julia to add. At 5 months, she's finally fitting into the 3-6 clothes, but at least she sleeps through the night!



Congrats to everyone again!

Joe

Totally forgot about this thread.

We had a boy on 2-19 5:45am - Ephraim Cloud

I went to bed around midnight on 2-18/2-19. Just as I'm laying down, my wife(Jessi) got up to go to the bathroom. I fall asleep right away and am awakened about 5 mins later by Jessi saying that she's pretty sure her water just broke. Not too many things in life will wake you up like that.

I immediately started running around getting stuff together and we made the five minute trip to the hospital. We got there and her water was, indeed, ruptured. However, she wasn't dilated at all. This was rather disappointing for us (her) as we(she) were dead-set on having a completely un-medicated delivery. The problem with the scenario is that once your water breaks, most hospitals will put you on a 24 hour clock for delivery as the risk of infection skyrockets the longer the baby is in the womb after rupture.

It's now about 1am and the nurse says that the will start pitocin at 3 if Jessi isn't making any progress. About 5 minutes later, contractions start coming...and none of this 30 second long, 20 minute apart stuff. They were pretty much constant.

Now, we were using the Bradley method for delivery. For anyone who knows anything about this, I(the husband) plays a big part in delivery using this method. Basically it's my job to massage/knead the hell out of her back while trying to talk her through each contraction. Generally, the guy can count on getting a little rest between contractions; not the case here.

The nurse walks in at about 3:15am with an IV of pitocin and goes to start it. We immediately stop her and ask if she is at least going to check and make sure there hasn't been any progress first. She gives us a "Oh, sure if you want me to" and we can totally tell that she is expecting to be putting a needle in my wife's arm in a couple minutes. She checks, and much to her surprise, finds that Jessi is 4cm dilated. No pitocin needed here.

The next two hours are pretty much a blur of trying to maintain some level of comfort for myself while making sure that my wife is as comfortable as possible. At 5am they come in a check, and she's 9cm dilated and they tell us that it's about time to start pushing. They spend the next 20-30 mins bringing all the stuff into the room and around 5:30 the pushing starts. About 10-12 mins in the baby's heart rate started to fall and the Dr. told us that he was going to have to use the vacuum on the next push; and that if the baby didn't come out then, he was going to have to go in w/ the forceps. Well, the vacuum worked and out came a 7lb 15oz boy. They spent about 20 minutes working on him as he had swallowed a lot of fluid on the way out(nurses said it was the most they'd ever seen). Meanwhile, my wife was getting stitched up. Since the pushing had been so short, she didn't have time to stretch enough and tore pretty badly. But she had done what she wanted, and made it through totally un-medicated. Let me tell you, I couldn't be prouder of her for this. It's great seeing other mother's faces when she tells them.

They kept us there for two days and then sent us home, only for us to return two days later as he had a pretty bad case of jaundice. Two days of him in an incubator under the super-duper tanning lights, and we had him home again.

He's two and a half weeks old now and is a pretty awesome baby. He generally only wakes up twice a night to eat, and I can think of 1 time when he wasn't in the hospital that he started crying that cry that makes parents want to rip their hair out. I know I'm only a little over two weeks in, but it's great to be a dad.

Pics for those interested are here:

peckfamily.myphotoalbum.com

Arrived this morning March 9. Healthy, happy, and promptly on the due date!

Madelyn Rose Brochu
6 pounds, 2 ounces
18.5"

I'll post a photo within a few days.

Quick update: well, he basically couldn't wait. Doctor discovered heartbeat abnormalities of baby at regular checkup Friday; wife immediately went in for emergency C-section. Of course, I was stuck at work in NYC and it took me over 2 hours to get home. Luckily, I got to hospital in time, was literally running through the halls and they got the gown on me and into the operating room in like 5 minutes.

Christian was born 6 weeks early at 2:12pm EST Friday March 9th, 4 lbs. 11 ounces, 18 inches long.

Wife is still in quite a bit of pain from surgery, but is doing fine. Baby is doing rather well so far, and we're all cautiously optimistic. Each day seems to be a little better than the last, and we hope to be able to bring him home in a few weeks.

p.s. He has a nice full head of Hollywood Hair.

Edit: Adding pic

Congrats, esp. about the hair!

Oh he's such a cutie pie! Hope both he and mom are doing okay this evening. Keep us posted.

Sam

Vrty sweet. Congrats to you!

Everyone:

This thread is absolutely adorable, thanks for contributing