For the last couple of weeks little Claire hasn't been gaining weight like she was supposed to. We started going to the doctor every day for a checkup and we started supplementing the breastmilk with formula to try to get her weight back to her birth weight. On monday we found out that she had gained 120 grams since Sunday, which is 4 times the normal dailiy weight gain! Apparently she isn't very efficient at the breast so we're working on that.
The bad news was that the doctor found a suspicious looking ear infection, and since Gretchen had tested positive for Strep B during labor, we had to take Claire to Emmanuel hospital and check her for Meningitis. This meant checking her in overnight for what might end up being a 10-day hospital stay.
They did a spinal tap (during which I was present, and shaky) and determined that in fact there was NO Meningitis and it was just an ear infection. Of course, since they cant give oral antibiotics to a 2-week-old, they gave her a hep-lock and administered IV antibiotics overnight.
Anyway, we checked got home from the hospital Tuesday; 23 hours from the time we left for the pediatrician's office: Whew!
Everyone was a little freaked out, but we're OK now. Claire is well on her way to being back to her birth weight and mom and dad just have a couple more gray hairs.
Sorry I haven't been able to update the website more frequently. When I get back to the office on a
daily basis it will be easier to update.
Living with little Claire has definitely been an adventure so far. 3am feedings and poopy diapers really aren't
as hard or disgusting as we thought. Obviously, it's a little hard to motivate yourself to get out
of your warm bed to be confronted with the contents of a dirty diaper, but actually, I'm loving it.
There are definitely some pros and cons to having a new baby in the house:
Pros
Baby breath
Cons
3am feedings
But really, we're enjoying it. I just hope she doesn't grow up too fast.
Here are some more pictures of the little cutie
On February 9th at 8:49 pm, Grant Hatton became a feminist.
Claire Elizabeth Hatton was born after about 8 hours of labor to a very tired,
but happy pair of parents.
Everything went just like it was supposed to, except that the doctor teased us at the last minute
by covering up the baby's goodies and asking "What do you think it is?"
Never before have I wanted to strike a doctor so badly.
I don't have a lot of time to go into much more explanation, since we are between feedings and
I need to get home from the office. However, just know that Gretchen and Claire are doing extremely
well. She looks just like her mother, even with blond hair.
...and we are the happiest parents in the world.
I'll post more later, when we have time. For now, click here for pictures.
We spent all weekend on edge thinking that the baby would just fall out any minute. Unfortunately
that wasn't the case. We even went as far as to time the contractions last night, but (per Murphy's Law: paragraph 1.1.2.4)
as soon as we started timing them, they stopped.
Gretchen is at her last day of work today and she'll be pacing around at home for the rest of the
pregnancy. How much ya wanna bet that she's going to get induced this week?
Otherwise, Gretchen is really feeling the effects of having 8 lbs of kid and another 20 lbs of assorted viscera pressing
down on her at all times. You should see her trying to roll over in bed, we're going to have to start using a pry-bar soon...
Herm didn't come this weekend and some of the urgency we were feeling on Thursday and Friday has faded. We had
a wonderful baby shower hosted at my mom's house. Steve, Patsy and Kristen drove down from Everett to
be there and it was lots of fun for all. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful time and all
the great stuff for Herm. He or she is going to be the swankiest little poop machine around!
WHOA NELLY!... We went to see the OB last night for the first of our "weekly" checkups. Lo and behold,
Gretchen is 2 to 3 centimeters dilated! For those of you keeping track at home, that's 30% of the way there.
Oh man, I'm not even packed yet...
I forgot to tell you that I got my nephew Ian one of these pacifiers for Christmas. I think it's pretty frickin' funny,
and so did my Dad, but I tell you... Grandma Marty was NOT amused.
In case you want to see more, you can go to www.bubba-teeth.com.
I guess when I drew a face on Gretchen's tummy, it could have been worse.
Herm has been having the hiccups (hiccoughs?) the last few nights. I wonder what it's like to not breathe and
still have the hiccups?
Anyway, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda... ah who cares, I just want this kid to show up!
Herm's really kicking up a storm lately and Gretchen and I are getting really excited to find
out more about our little munchkin: What do you look like? Whom do you look like? Are you a boy
or a girl? Whose eyes do you have? Gulp...do you have Grant's ears?
Gretchen's belly button is poking out now.
We've only got till the end of this month; then if Herm decides to show up, he or she won't be considered early.
I have a feeling that workdays during the month of February are going to be going by very slowly, waiting for the call.
I took some pictures of the nursery after I finished the new letter mobile. Here's a picture of
Gretchen and Herm's crib (actual crib, not affiliated with "MTV Cribs®")
Gretchen and I are really happy about how the room turned out! However, it seems to be missing something... hermmmmmmmmmm.
Welcome back to the office, school or whatever your particular idiom might be today! Gretchen and I had
a wonderful vacation and spent a lot of time with our families. We also took the last 4 days of vacation to
work on the nursery. We think it looks really good for only 4 days of work!. I'll be posting pictures soon.
We finished our labor class last night and scheduled ourselves for the labor class reunion. It's going to be
one of those rare reunions where you can be assured that all of the women have lost a lot of weight since the
last time you saw them...
Here's an example of how much fun you can have with some Crayola markers, a video camera and pregnant lady's bellybutton.
Note: File size is 501KB (about 2 min download on a 56K modem). You'll need an avi player such as Windows Video Media Player.
Happy Holidays from Grant, Gretchen and Herm! Be safe wherever you might be traveling this season
and remember to buy a present for your dog too.
We've decided that Gretchen's is a "textbook" pregnancy. At 7 months she's experiencing
all the symptoms she's supposed to: heartburn, shortness of breath, frequent micturation and fatigue. I
guess all that's left is hemorrhoids! Oh boy!
On the baby preparation front: we've bought a crib and have the paint for the baby's room ready to go. We will
be attacking the upstairs during the time I have off after Christmas. It should end up looking something like this.
Amazing, my nephew Ian is already showing musical ability!
Had another pre-natal appointment last night. Dr. Newhall got out the measuring tape and measured Grechen's uterus (from the outside, thankfully).
Dr. Newhall said, "Wow, you're huge!". Which, needless today, made Gretchen's eyes go really wide...
Herm is measuring about 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule. This means that the uterus is measuring 31-32 weeks when we are at 29 weeks.
Gretchen and I were contemplating what this means. Does it mean that Herm will pop out 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule? Does it mean
that Gretchen will go full term and Herm will be monstrous? What do you think?
Afterwards, we went to our labor class. We started 4 weeks ago with 11 couples, but we lost one due to premature labor, and another is going to be
induced next week. That's an 18% attrition rate! Statistically, our labor class is harder than Harvard Law!
Our labor class coach asked us to "draw what we thought labor would look like". Here's Gretchen's concept of labor, and
here's mine. Gretchen wanted to point out the depleted IV bag in her picture, that's for an epidural.
Gretchen's students are having just as much fun with our pregnancy as we are, except they call the baby "Igor"
instead of Herm. They left this little poem on her blackboard the other day...
Chalk up another "just-realized-I'm-becoming-a-suburbanite-middleclass-father-to-be" point. We got
a video camera today so I can document the baby when it pops out. I tried it out on cousin Ian and I can
confirm that it does work. Future viewers will be treated to a full half-hour of Ian getting his diaper changed
and getting a bath. This will be good blackmail fodder when he's about 15.
We registered at Babies 'R US today. What a trip! For those of you who have never been there: picture
a Home Depot for tots, except instead of playing BTO on the intercom, they play the soundtrack of "It's a Small World". Steve and I
were about burned out after an hour of wrestling with car seats, strollers and playpens, all the while being subjected to happy music. Made
me want to go medieval on a Teletubby.
Herm's first Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time at Gretchen's parents' house this week. We
ate a bunch of Grandpa Steve's barbecued turkey and it was great. This was the first Thanksgiving
in about ten years that Gretchen actually ate turkey. I think she forgot what it will do to you.
Gretchen has been able to take it easy at school the last 2 days. She's been teaching from an
office chair and has enlisted the help of some of her students to help keep her seated. As a result,
no more contractions! She should be able to tough it out until January for sure.
Meanwhile, we are starting to contemplate our life after the baby arrives, like what to feed him.
Gretchen's doctor asked her to take today off because she's been having more contractions than usual (see this article on Babycenter for "what is usual"). All this last
week, Gretchen has been having contractions at school while teaching, which isn't very conducive to
giving a smooth lecture.
As a result, we spent yesterday afternoon at the doctor's office with Gretchen hooked up to a monitor.
The results indicated that when Gretchen is lying down or sitting quietly, there are no contractions. When she is active, the contractions are at about 6 per hour.
It is just like the old joke:
Gretchen: "Doctor, it hurts when I stand up"
The good news is that, based on her exam, everything is cool and Herm isn't going to fall out just yet.
We'll keep you posted.
Just for the record, we will not be gettting one of these.
Happy Birthday Grandpa Steve!
Thank you to Steve Grey (Gretchen's Dad) for helping me install the new windows in the baby's room this weekend. It was something that I was dreading,
but went relatively painlessly.
We are now officially in the "nesting" phase. With the installation of the new windows, we are off and running on getting Herm's room
all decked out for occupation. It's lots of fun poring over books trying to find the best color to paint the walls. I had originally planned on painting a mural, but
I think that endeavor might have to wait until after the baby is born. We just have too much to do in the next 3 months (aaaaagh!) to get everything
ready for the baby to show up!
Yesterday's pre-natal appointment went off without a hitch. The doctor verified that Gretchen is indeed
still pregnant...
We also attended our first birth class. The good thing is that they serve cookies! The bad thing is that it's from 7pm to 9pm for the
next 5 Thursdays. I have a feeling that when we get to the "massage the pregnant lady" unit, we'll be hearing a lot of snoring.
Here's a picture of Gretchen with class supplies in hand. Note the tired look and the bag of free Similac©
Today is a baby day. We have a pre-natal appointment, then we are going to the first day of "get the baby out" class. I just need to explain
to Gretchen that getting a 4.0 doesn't really matter, it's how you do on the final that counts.
I must be in love. Why else would I clip my wife's toenails for her?
I've just passed a dubious milestone: I changed my first diaper last night (No, it wasn't my diaper, it was Ian's).
I was told that it would be simple... Ha!
Changing a newborn's diaper is like trying to hold down a spider monkey wacked out on Scooby Snax® while maintaining vigilance against the dreaded "peepee in your eye".
(By the way: what is it about a baby that causes one to start using words like "poopie", "peepee" and "doodoo"? Not more that three days ago I could recite at least
20 colorful metaphors for each of these bodily functions without using repetetive monosyllables.)
I did succeed, with the helpful input of 3 other people. I plan to practice diaper changing on Ian so when Herm is born, it will be second nature. Kind of like roping a calf with a pair of Huggies is second nature.
Gretchen and I really had a good time seeing our new nephew! We can't wait for our own baby to
be introduced. We're really excited to have Herm's cousin so close: they'll even be in the same grade.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Herm is kicking up a storm. He manages to kick Gretchen
in the bellybutton, the spleen, the kidneys and the bladder all at the same time. We might have to name him Jackie (Chan).
7:28 am My sister Lindsay is now at the hospital waiting to give birth to her son. She went in
last night at 11:30 (yawn) and started giving her pills that would start the ball rolling (so to speak) on labor.
We haven't heard anything yet as to how she's doing, but we'll keep you updated.
7:50 am Just got a call from my Mom saying that Lindsay's water broke. We'll be posting updates as they come in.
8:27 am Another phone call: Contractions are 5 minutes apart
9:19 am They put in an epidural and the nurse says that she should give birth before noon!
10:42am Got a phone call from Lindsay: The baby was born! I'll fill you in later after I visit the hospital... and oh, it's a boy!
12:05 pm Ian Thomas: Born October 29th, 2001 at 10:17 am, 8 lbs. 20 inches: Here are the pictures
For those of you addicted to CNN:
I've got to find Herm one of these pacifiers!
Alas, the saga continues. My sister Lindsay has still not given birth. She is now scheduled to be induced on Sunday! Keep your fingers crossed, at this rate, Gretchen's going to beat her to the punch.
It looks like Gretchen's bellybutton may soon go from an innie to an outie.
The whole family is waiting with baited breath for my sister Lindsay to go into labor. Her due date was
October 16th, and here we are, a week later and no nephew! Poor Lindsay has been doing everything she can to hasten
her labor, including walking around the neighborhood, eating pizza (a proven solution), bungee jumping... and that kid still
hasn't come out.
Since her doctor is going on vacation this week, they're going to induce labor on Wednesday. So now it's just a question of who
will win: science, or nature. Stay tuned.
Gretchen and I are really having a hard time picking names for Herm, but I did find a very helpful Baby Name Generator.
Congratulations to our friends Roger and Brenda, who gave birth to their baby girls, Logan and Carson, via Caesarean Section on Sunday, October 14, 2001.
The babies were very pretty, and well behaved when we visited... prompting Grant to whine, "I want one, I want one!"
I've added a page with some interesting statistics.
One of the less exciting parts of being pregnant is all the funny things that happen to the mother's body. One of
the weirdest is the "linea negra". Often, the mother will get a line of dark hair running up the middle of her belly.
As you can see here, Gretchen is suffering greatly.
According to the books, Herm should be able to hear us now. If we talk, read or sing to him, he'll be able to tell. I've forbidden
Gretchen from singing to Herm, however. I wouldn't want to subject any sentient being to that...
I've been staring really hard at these ultrasound pictures...and you know, I think Herm is going to look a lot like me.
I feel better now. I was finally able to feel Herm kicking for myself.
Today was the big day! We finally got to meet Herm for the first time face to face. Not since the Zapruder film has a set of pictures been scrutinized so carefully.
This was one of the most exciting days yet. It probably was more exciting because we were almost foiled... The stupid scheduling person at the hospital mis-keyed our
appointment time and they wanted to bump us another 10 days. Of course, this sucked.
Fortunately, our doctor's office was so kind as to get us another appointment at a different lab... on the other side of Portland... in 15 minutes... at 5:15pm.
After much driving, swearing and a few tears, we made it to the ultrasound and the rest of the day went well.
Herm was very active and we got to see him (or her) move arms, legs and other parts.
The technician was very helpful by not showing us any of Herm's naughty bits, lest we be enlightened as to Herm's gender. She made us turn away when she was scanning Herm's goodies. So
at least one person knows whether Herm is a pointer or a setter...
Amazingly, they can see right through the baby, letting you see the heart beat, and even measure the kidneys (11.5 mm in dia. to be exact)
Here's a profile picture, facing up, and another. The white line at the lower portion of the screen is Herm's spine. It looks like Herm has Gretchen's nose.
Here are a couple of Herm face on. At this point, he looks like an extra from the X-Files.
Finally, Herm flexing a little bitty biceps.
Herm is perfect in every way, as far as we can tell. Of course, since Herm is our progeny, was there any doubt?
Gretchen is able to feel the baby moving quite a bit now, in fact, she was able to feel it from the outside last night. I (of course) wasn't able to
feel it yet.
For now, I will wait.
Hmmm... Gretchen and I are debating the merits of breastfeeding.
When I think about breastfeeding, this is what I envision.
But when Gretchen thinks about it, this is what she sees.
We've been discovered! - Gretchen let slip with the fact that we are maintaining a
website to one of her "hi skool" students and within 24 hours, they had discovered
this address. While I didn't make it easy to find, this quasi-private site was still
available to many search engines.
Since Gretchen isn't really keen on having her students tracking the progress of her
pregnancy in such intimate detail, we've decided to add password protection to the site.
We went maternity clothes shopping this weekend. Ironically, at the Vancouver Mall, the maternity
store shares a wall with Frederick's of Hollywood. Makes sense... first you go to Frederick's, then you
go to the maternity store.
Here's a picture of "the belly" at 20 weeks
Stay tuned, we'll be having our first ultrasound this Thursday. I hope to bring back pictures...
Archive: June 12th - September 30th
February 28th, 2002
February 17th, 2002
Little fingers
Little toes
Seeing Gretchen as a mommy!
Being a daddy
Using the Baby Bjorn
Naps with Claire on my chest
Poopy Diapers
Lack of sleep
No more privacy!
Gretchen being even more anal about cat hair
February 12th, 2002
February 4th, 2002
January 31st, 2002
January 28th, 2002
January 25th, 2002
January 24th, 2002
Illustration by me! - with thanks to Roy Lichtenstein.
January 18th, 2002
January 14th, 2002
January 13th, 2002
January 7th, 2002
January 3rd, 2002
January 2nd, 2002
December 21st, 2001
December 19th, 2001
December 18th, 2001
December 17th, 2001
December 10th, 2001
December 7th, 2001
December 4th, 2001
December 3rd, 2001
GH will have to leave soon for her pregnancy
Our new teacher will be Ms. Hippi
She has to go have Igor
So our teacher will be with us no more
Welcome to our excessively loud class,
It will become a very hard task
You will encounter the good, the bad, the ugly,
and maybe you will even think we are funny.
We hope you have a good time here
Beause it will be half a year
Mrs. GH will name her kid Igor, maybe
Let's hope he's not a crack baby.
--Jake Smith
November 25th, 2001
November 23rd, 2001
November 22nd, 2001
November 20th, 2001
November 16th, 2001
Doctor: "Then don't stand up".
The bad news is that Gretchen might have to go on bed rest for the next three months...gulp.
November 14th, 2001
November 13th, 2001
November 9th, 2001
November 8th, 2001
November 5th, 2001
November 2nd, 2001
October 30th, 2001
October 29th, 2001
October 24th, 2001
October 23rd, 2001
October 22nd, 2001
October 21st, 2001
October 18th, 2001
October 17th, 2001
October 11th, 2001
October 11th, 2001
October 10th, 2001
October 9th, 2001
October 8th, 2001
October 4th, 2001
October 4th, 2001
October 2nd, 2001
October 1st, 2001
Last Update:
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
