Precious cargo

So, after much "encouragement" from the husband, Yohan's mom is finally taking a stab at writing on his blog. So far I've hidden behind the excuse of sleep deprivation and a eternally-hungry, gassy son who demands my time. But when Ranjit pointed out that my evenings are pretty-much spent watching reality TV, I kind of squirmed and decided that now's a good time as any.

Today after one month and one week of Yo making his appearance, I finally drove with him in the car. It was all of a 15-minute drive to the grocery store, Trader Joe's. But it was a long 15 minutes - mainly because my co-passenger, Amma, decided not to talk so I could "concentrate" on the driving. If you know Amma, you know that that was off-the-charts unusual. You could have hacked the silence with a chainsaw. Finally made it to the store only to be confronted by the monumental tasks of maneuvering a 7-pound car seat with an 8-pound baby out of my Golf, mounting it on a shopping cart and rolling it to Trader Joe's without being able to see over the cart mounted with the carseat. Don't tell anyone I said this, but HOW does Ranjit make it all look so easy? Thankfully, Amma did all the baby-handling. and we managed to pick up all our essentials like French truffles and olives (ooh la la) and make our way back home.

A Watchful Eye

Pia and Sujan gave us a super cool gift. We'll, its really for little Yo, but I don't think he's quite ready to appreciate wireless gadgets just yet. I'm quite happy to be excited on his behalf.

This is a baby monitor - but its got color video! I've been wanting to get one ever since we found out Susan was pregnant, but these little gizmos are rather pricey.

The unit (Summer Infant Quiet Sounds Handheld Video Monitor) arrived from Amazon this evening, and we've only briefly tried it out - so far, I've been very impressed. It has a 2.5" color screen, and the picture quality is surprisingly good. When it's dark it switches to 'night vision' mode with a very usable black and white picture. Its also got an RCA output for hookup to a TV!

It has the usual audio baby monitor features too, which I haven't tested as yet. I'm pretty sure it will be more than satisfactory. Thanks so much for this great gift, guys!!

Happy Birthday, Cousins!

Joshua turned a grand ol' 1 yesterday, and big brother Zephan turned 4 today. Wish you both a very happy birthday, guys! God bless you both very specially this year.

Appa, Pia, and the kids will be arriving over the weekend for a couple weeks, with Sujan joining us a bit later. We're going to be a full house pretty soon, and we're really looking forward to spending some time together with everyone. It will be the first 'Meet the Cousins' between the Thomas and Narjala families.

Sweet Stuff

(More pics are up here.)

We've had quite the packed weekend. Fri evening we had a PDXGang potluck at Bharani's house. These are typically noisy events given that there are usually 15+ folks, but the little guy slept through most of it. Good training for subsequent PDXGang events, I say.










Amma has been quite the photo journalist with her latest grandson over the past week. Some samples... especially like the ones where he shows his different hand poses.

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Yesterday (Sat) was the boy's one month birthday! We thought we'd celebrate with lunch out and some shopping time (for the ladies, really). The plan was brunch, but by the time the household got ready, we decided to call it lunch. We got some burgers and sandwiches at McMenamins.

Some shopping was attempted, but after one stop we decided that only one activity per outing is currently feasible. Both boy and momma were a little tired (the previous night was another long one), so we came back home to rest. In the evening, while dadda and son took a nap, Susan and ammama got some much needed girl-time with an hour of shopping.

This morning we went to church, and then out to lunch at Whole Foods. They had some great-looking desserts there, and Susan offered a tempting preview to Yo.

4 Weeks and Counting

Is 4 weeks equal to a month? If you average it out over the year, it turns out a month is 4.33 weeks. (Tuck that fact away for the next Jeopardy session.)

So he's not quite a month yet, but these first few weeks have been quite exciting for the Narjala household. We've had long nights (or is it short nights?), poopy sessions, projectile throw-up, and fussy feeds - in short, regular newborn stuff (as we now know). He's been a joy to just hold and cuddle. Its quite cool to see him smile, even if its only in his sleep now. He's been giving us a few sneak previews when he's awake now too, which is super to see. The boy also makes the cutest faces through the day, and he's quite the stretcher when he wakes up.

We took him to the doctor on Monday since he was getting quite fussy when awake, and seemed to be dealing with a lot of gas. The doctor assured us that he was gaining weight normally, and even if he was fussing and straining at meal-times, he was apparently getting enough. She was quite nice and kind to us paranoid parents. He's now at 7 lbs 13 oz, which is on track for weight gain. He's been a lot less fussy recently, though - perhaps it has to do with the Mylicon that we shove down at the first sign of gassy-ness! He also slept quite a bit last night - Susan only had to get up once in the night to feed him. One can hope that this becomes a trend.

Videos on GoogleVideo

This is just a administrative post to save the links to the earlier videos we've stored on GoogleVideo.

Burping and bathing
Playmat
Baby's Day Out
Pre- and post-birth
Jammin' with Yo

Jammin' with Yo

Yohan has been getting a little fussy over the past 4 days... think its gas-related. We're giving him some gripe water, but we don't really know if its helping or not.

Susan has been taking up the brunt of the night shift this past week- she's giving hubby the chance to get some sleep before work the next day. Going from 3 hours to 6 hours of sleep a night is great!

Susan and I decided to give the boy a little taste of the family's musical inclinations this morning. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part :)

Like Father, Like Son?

I'm a bit older in this pic than Yo is right now, but lets see if the boy shows any resemblance...

Mo Yo

A few more pics from weeks 2 and 3. Week 3 saw his first outings to the duck pond, New Seasons, and church.

Embedded slideshow

Pre- and Post-birth videos

Its 3:30am, and the boy has kept his parents up for 2 and a half hours now. Been the longest we've had to stay up so far. Tried feeding (twice), checking if its too hot or too cold, burping, binkys, rocking, the works. He seems awake, so perhaps he just might have slept too much during the day. We were planning on taking him to church for the first time today, but we'll have to see how we feel come morning.

Anyway, now that we're up, heres a chance to upload some more videos. There were all taken around the time of his birth (right before which one could actually sleep through the night...). Chetan graciously loaned us his video camera, and our neighbor David helped in ripping it from miniDV. One of these days I need to get us our own video camera - waiting for the Canon flash-based cameras to come out.

Pre-birth, in the maternity suite at the hospital.

Right after Yohan was born - he was given a bath, and then taken to his mom in the recovery room.

More hospital footage, taken over the 4 days we were at the hospital.

Leaving the hospital, and getting back home.

Baby's Day Out

Today was a beautiful, sunny day - very welcome after the overcast, rainy weather we've been having here recently. As always, all of Portland was out enjoying the sunshine, and we were no exception. We decided to bundle up the boy and take a drive to the neighborhood duck pond. Other than one trip to the pediatrician this past week, this was his first outdoor experience. Amma and Susan have also been cooped up at home for awhile now, and it was high time we got some good ol' fresh air.

And of course, we have to have some video!

Instruction manuals... for feeding bottles

We broke out our stack of feeding bottles this evening, to clean and get them ready for use. One expects a bottle to be composed of the following parts:
- Cap
- Bottle body
- Nipple

We were rather shocked to see that these bottles require an engineering degree to disassemble, and if you're really lucky, you may be able to put all 7 parts back together again in a shape that resembles a bottle. For assistance to the bottle-challenged, the manufacturers have graciously included an instruction manual in 6 different languages. Wonder what happens when the manual gets misplaced (it will), and the baby is hungry.

Floored by his playmat

Welcome Anika!

Sam and Ramya's baby daughter Anika was born Apr 4 2008. She's a darling little girl, and Susan and I think she looks like her mom. Will be very cool to see these two grow up together. Lots of baby-swapping stories to be had.

It's a Multiple Choice Quiz

The little guy is generally a happy fellow - he is quite content to eat and sleep, and when he's awake he looks around inquisitively (he seems fascinated by the yellow curtains in our bedroom when he's on the changing table). He's also started smiling in his sleep, which is real cute. Susan and amma have also seen him giggling away a couple times - he's probably reliving the great times in the womb :)

When he does get fussy and starts crying, then we get into his 'guess the right answer' game:

• Is my diaper wet?
• Do I need to be burped?
• Am I hungry?
• Am I sleepy?
• Can you please carry me?

We're told that eventually we'll be able to tell just based on his type of crying. Right now, if the reason isn't obvious (its been 3 hours since I've eaten, take a hint people!), it takes some going through these options before we hit on the correct answer. Last night it took a while for me to stop giving him his binky and realize that what he really needed was a burp. Once he was picked up and burped, he slept, shall we say, like a baby.

He tried out a couple fancy swing-type gadgets over the weekend. Think he much prefers the "carry me" option.



Last night the boy had a small projectile throw-up session while in dad's arms. Susan and I immediately started to get worried, but amma calmly took over and said there was nothing to worry about. Apparently babies tend to do this now and then. She also took charge of the clean-up operation. Did I mention we are so glad to have amma around (just one of the many things she does, apart from the wonderful meals she whips up)? We wouldn't have been able to manage without her expert help.

Dad got back to work full-time today. Mom and amma had to deal with a projectile poop session in the morning; dad got to see a sweet, freshly-cleaned angel sleeping when he got home for lunch.

Happy Birthday Gama!

(Apr 5 2008)

The First Videos...

Yohan and his 'burp expressions'.



His first sponge bath.

Yohan - Week 1

The little guy had his first sponge bath on Mon Mar 31. He's been getting better at sleeping more at night, and giving his parent's some time to catch some shut-eye as well. We've had a couple throw-up incidents when we didn't burp him enough, and lets just say lessons have been learned! Week 1 also saw the first projectile poop session (thankfully while dad was asleep!).

Mom has been getting stronger, and changed a poopy diaper for the first time today. Lots of tips from the dad who's been working from home. Says mom: "Dad insists that someone is with the baby every minute - that means caregiver can't take a loo break till sub arrives! Mom wonders how long this will last :)"

Yohan has a great "Do Not Disturb - I'm Burping" look:


Here are links to a couple albums:
- Yohan Philip Narjala - The Arrival
- The first week

Yohan's Birth Story

This is a recap of Yohan's birth and first few days, upto the time we were discharged from the hospital.

March 26 2008, Wed

4:30am: Susan thinks her water might be broken.

6:30am: Wakes me up, says her water is broken. No contractions yet. I help her a bit, and then say we can go back to bed since she's not contracting. She says we need to go to the hospital. We call up WHA, Dr. Stull is on call. Slight pains started by now, Stull asks her to go to the hospital. We quickly pack and head out.

7:30am: Arrive at the hospital. 2 contractions on the 10 min car ride over. Nurse Mary takes us to Triage room 382. Checks her out, says she's contracting about 4 mins apart, lasting a min each. Doesn't think water has broken yet. Inserts placeholders for IV in her veins. Nurse is very nice and motherly. Susan gets hooked up to some very cool equipment; one sensor measures the baby's heartbeat (140bps right now), and another measures the contractions. Graphs of both are drawn on the monitor screen as well as continuously plotted on paper

9:00am She checks with Dr. Karlsson, wants us to walk around the maternity ward for 90 mins, and then will re-check. Susan walks around, accompanied either by amma or myself. I also went down to the car to get our bags back to the room.

10:30am: Nurse checks her again. Water has definitely broken, but she's not dilated. Said we will be admitted and moved to a birthing suite.

11:15: Moved to birthing suite 330. Quite the large room. We get settled in, and after a while I go down to the 2nd floor cafeteria to pick up some lunch for amma and I. Susan can't eat anything, and can only have water/ice chips now that she is in labor. Dr. Karlsson comes in after a while, general check up. The contractions are very regular, and Susan is in pain but bearing up well. Not dilated much (~1cm), so can't do epidural yet. Either amma or I are her breathing coaches during the contractions, which are about 3 mins apart now. Baby's heartbeat is regular at 140bps. Susan alternates between walking around the room and lying down. It starts snowing - quite the treat for a late March day!

2:00pm: Dr. Carlsson checks again, dilated to 3cms. Says epidural can be given now. Susan is glad! She has to remain in bed once the epidural is given. The nurse starts her on a drip to make sure she is well hydrated before the epidural is given. Takes about 45 mins for 2 bottles of the drip to be given, during which time Susan is definitely hurting from the contractions.

3:00pm: Marc the nurse anesthetist comes in. Very nice guy, puts her at ease, keeps making small talk and cracking jokes while he preps her. Susan has to sit up in bed, and I am told to sit down next to her and not stand up so I don't faint when I see the needle! Marc does a very good job in getting the epidural in quickly; the test doses are good, and he gets the machine started with the continuous dosage.

3:50pm: Incident #1. Baby's heartbeat gets very erratic, and a nurse rushes into the room (they monitor the heartbeat from their station). She gets Susan on oxygen, and urgently turns her to one side and then the other to get the baby's heartbeat going again. That doesn't work, and she calls in for help and the doctor. Couple other nurses come in, and Susan is put on her hands and knees, with the O2 mask held to her face. Dr. Karlsson comes in as well, and after some prodding and activity, the baby's heartbeat comes back to a regular 140bps. We are all very shaken by this, especially Susan - she had no idea what was going on, and was just being moved around by the nurses and the doctor in all the commotion. The doctor said this could happen right after an epidural; once was ok, but if this happened another couple times, they'd really need to take some action. She tried to put a monitor directly on the baby's head, but couldn't get a good angle. Left things as is since the heartbeat was back on.

5:00pm: The nurse checks Susan, and she is dilated to about 7 cms. Good progress so far, and they estimate she can start pushing in an hour or two.

5:45pm: Incident #2. The second heartbeat episode happens. The nurses rush in and do the same procedures as before. Dr. Simpson is the new doctor on call, and she comes in and takes charge. Once again, they get the heartbeat going after some very tense moments, and then assess the situation. The doctor also said the baby is now face-up, and that’s not a good position for regular delivery. One reason for the heartbeats getting intermittent could be the cord getting wrapped around the baby's neck. She brings up the possibility of a C-sec, and also says we could wait a bit and see what happens. Susan immediately said she doesn't want to wait, and wants to do a C-sec now. The doctor agreed that was the best course of action for the baby.

6:15pm: Once the decision was made, things swung rapidly swung into motion. Marc (the anesthetist) appeared out of nowhere, and made sure she was stable enough for the local anesthetic through the epidural she already had. A couple other nurses appeared, and I was asked to change into scrubs/mask/the works.

6:30pm: Susan was wheeled into the OR, and I was told to wait outside while she was prepped. Sat there along with another waiting father-to-be, not sure what was happening but praying. Amma was not allowed into the OR, so she packed up our stuff from the room and went out to wait and pray in the waiting area.

6:45pm: I was called into the OR, and made to sit by Susan's head. There was a short curtain in front of us, and the doctors were on the other side getting ready to make the incision.

6:58pm: Yohan was born! The little fella was pulled out, and I looked over the curtain to see him covered in a grey-ish like substance. A couple seconds later he put his lungs to good use and started crying. He was whisked away to be cleaned up and tested (APGAR test).

7:05pm: Susan and I each got little bands with a code put on our wrists, and Yohan got the same band on his ankle. He was given to me to hold, and when Susan saw him, she started crying with joy. That was an emotional moment.

7:10pm: I was sent with the baby to the recovery room where he got weighed, measured, and bathed. His first two shots (Vit K and Hep B vaccine) were given. Susan was still in the OR getting stitched back up.

7:30pm: Susan is wheeled into recovery, where the nurses there take over and do a great job helping her feel comfortable. That’s the first time she gets to hold Yohan.

9:30pm: We get wheeled out of the recovery room to another room where we will stay till we get discharged. Amma and Bhasker mama are waiting to see the new baby!


March 27 2008, Thu

• No one gets much sleep through the night. Nurses come every now and then to check on mom and baby.
• The pediatrician and OBGYN visit early in the morning. Baby looks healthy, mom is recovering well.
• The morning / afternoon is spent getting used to feeding and changing the baby, learning how to swaddle him, etc.
• Folks start coming to visit during the evening. Baby's first visitor was Kartik, who came to pick up amma.

March 28 2008, Fri

• The nurse does a billirubin test early in the morning, which turns out to be High-intermediate (10). They are concerned about this, and the doctor asks for another test to be done at 5pm in the evening. This also turns out to be high, so we are asked to supplement with a bottle every other feed during the night
• Amma and I take turns helping Susan during the night. I went to the lobby and slept for 4 hours while Amma was on-call, and then in the early morning amma slept for a little bit
• Susan had a shower today and felt much better. She also started walking a little bit, venturing out into the hallway. She's on pain meds, and will be for awhile.
• Visitors arrive in the evening
• I sleep for quite a bit in the lounge outside in the night. Amma gets a little sleep again in the morning.

March 29 2008, Sat

• The nurse does the third blood test (on the baby's heel). The pediatrician visits in the morning, and tells us the billirubin level has dropped to 3.8, which is normal now! We don't need to supplement with formula any more.
• We requested another day at the hospital so Susan could get some more rest.
• Today being Saturday, we had visitors during the day as well
• A lactation consultant came in, and checked on Susan. We also received a short breast-pump 101 course.

March 30 2008, Sun

• Ajit called to tell us early in the morning that Gampa wasn't doing very well. He called 30 mins later to say Gampa has gone to be with Jesus (9.30pm IST). Gampa had gone to his final home, and we were bringing his great-grandson to his first home.

• Brought little Yohan home. Bundled him up since it was cold outside.
• Susan is based in our bedroom upstairs. The bassinet is there, and the changing table has been moved from the nursery. Also moved the rocking chair to that room.
• The little guy's schedule is still reversed… sleeping during the day, awake at night

On the road to parenthood

Yohan's first ultrasound - was exciting to first see the little guy.

Stages of Susan's pregnancy.

The nursery, all done up by the wifey.

New Beginnings

The blog world has existed for awhile, and I've been an avid reader. I've oft considered the possibility of starting my own and putting my thoughts down on paper for the world to see, but that idea quickly petered out each time for lack of a good answer to the question "why?".

I have a reason now - and his name is Yohan Philip Narjala. This little guy was born on March 26 2008, and Susan and I want to be able to capture some of his precious moments for posterity. We hope to periodically put up some pics and videos of Mr. Y in action. Lets see where this journey takes us :)