LBM

"Waaaake up. Waaaake up." A small voice in my head spoke in the middle of the night. I guess I should wake up to check on the baby. During the last week or so, she had been reverting back to waking up around 3:30 a.m. for a feeding and diaper change. She fell asleep tonight very early, somewhere around 8:00 so I anticipated a slight change in the feeding schedule. I opened my eyes to find two big, brown eyes looking back at me. She apparently had been awake for a little while.

"What are you doing up, little girl?" I whispered and glanced over at the clock. It was 3:15 a.m. I groaned as the little voice in my head faded. Tracie was also starting to wake from hearing my voice. I sat up to prepare to warm up another feeding bottle.

She was lying there perfectly still just watching me. "Stop staring at me! You're creeping me out!" I whispered to Sydney jokingly as I undo the velcro of the Swaddle-Me cloth to free up Sydney. Before crawling out of bed and heading to the small cooler in the bathroom where we keep the bottles each night, I decided that I should take her to the changing table because I thought I smelled dirty diaper. I slid my hands under Sydney to pick her up. Tracie stirred and reached over to gently pat Sydney on the legs, as she usually does to greet the baby.

"Honey, something feels wet down here. She must have pee'd a lot and soaked her diaper through," Tracie said. "Good idea to check her first. I'll go to warm the bottle."

Something smelled, though. The scent got a little stronger when I picked up the baby.

"Code 10!! Code 10!!"

Without a word more, we both knew as the silent alarms in our heads went off like a tornado warning siren. I sprinted out of bed in the darkness, baby in hand, and deposited Sydney on the changing pad on the table. Under the dim light of the nightlight, I couldn't see anything but I definitely felt the same wetness on the hand that was supporting the baby's bottom. In the background, I heard Tracie sprint into action. In her grogginess, Tracie never forgot that the baby needed to be fed. She was going for the bottle warmer and the cooler in the bathroom. I had to chuckle.

I flipped on the light. I surveyed the damage. It was bad. It was not entirely unexpected as the staff at the daycare center had warned us that Sydney had loose stool earlier that day. They had noted it in their daily report for us to take home. We were not too concerned since the baby was not running a fever and was not fussy. Tracie and I huddled.

"LBM?" she asked.

"LBM," I said.

"How bad?" she asked.

"Bad," I said. "I think the levee has been breached."

I showed her. Sydney had liquidy bowel movement, LBM, as they called it at the daycare center. She had soaked through the diaper and soiled the back of her onesie. I unbuttoned the onesie at her crotch to further inspect the damage. The entire inner lining of the diaper was coated with a layer of yellowish, liquidy poop. We huddled again.

"Time to soak her?" I asked.

"Yup!" Tracie said and went off to fill the baby's tub. I rolled the back flap of the onesie in a few sheets of papertowel on the changing pad like an eggroll that no one would want to eat. It was a good thing we had made it a habit to always lay the baby on some papertowels instead of directly on the pad of the changing table. We had learned our lesson from Sydney pee'ing between diaper changes and had to constantly wash the pad off.

Flashback: One week ago today (Friday, June 23) - The daycare center told me that Sydney seemed constipated. She had only one bowel movement all day and seemed to struggle to pass the stool. I thought it would be TMI (too much information) to ask if they had felt the consistency of the stool so I didn't ask. It would have been nice if I had known whether it felt like peanut butter to the touch, as it should be. Anything harder would have worried me. But I let it go, thanked them and took the baby home. When Tracie came home, I reported to her that the baby might be constipated. We took the baby upstairs to change her into a new outfit, as we usually do after she had spent the day at the daycare center.

She seemed fussier than normal lately. She seemed to cry very quickly after soiling her diapers. We guessed it was normal as some babies tend to be more sensitive to dirty diapers than others. But just to be sure, we decided to inspect. I had consulted the baby care book and knew what I was looking for. We lifted the baby's legs and examined the situation. She had a couple of areas around the anus that looked red and swollen. They looked like miniature hemorrhoids. Sydney had a couple of "anal fissures", as the official medical term listed in the book.

"Can I put some Preparation H on it?" I asked.

"Hush your mouth," Tracie said. "We can't put Preparation H on a baby."

"We have to do something," I mused.

Tracie had consulted with one of our pediatricians awhile back when we first thought Sydney had constipation. He spoke with an accent, which reminded me of the father character in the movie My Big, Fat Greek Wedding. In the movie, the father of the bride had this thing for Windex. He thought that Windex could fix any ailment. If someone had a cut or scrape, he would try to spray Windex on it. It seems to be similar with this pediatrician, except it is Aquaphor. Since the first day we met him, he suggested Aquaphor for everything skin-related. So there it was, he suggested applying a bit of Aquafor to my baby's fissures to ease the pain. Tracie whipped out the ointment jar and Aquaphor'ed Sydney.

Fast Forward Ahead: Tuesday, June 27 - Sydney was still constipated a little but at least the anal fissures were almost gone. SOMEONE had a bright idea. "Let's give her prune juice," she said. The doctor had suggested giving Sydney a little prune juice if she was not having normal bowel movement. A colleague had mentioned giving her baby a little prune juice also. I agreed to the plan. Somewhere along the line, we had forgotten how much to give the baby. I vaguely remembered someone mentioning a tablespoon to start. If nothing happened, then up the dosage to 2 tablespoons and wait. Tracie bought a big jug of prune juice and proceeded with her plan. She stirred some juice into 6 ounces of formula. She showed me the bottle. The liquid was brown. I asked her how much and whether she was sure it was the right amount. She said 1 ounce and she was sure. During the feeding, I kept nagging that I thought it was too much. The baby started cutting the cheese after taking about 2 ounces from the bottle. There was a steady series of farts coming from within the diaper. She got scared and pulled the bottle out at 4 ounces.

"It can't possibly work THAT fast," she said. Nonetheless, she opted for making another 2 ounces of normal formula to finish the feeding. We waited and watched for 2 days. Nothing really happened. The baby seemed to have gone back to having normal poop. Crisis over, we thought. The prune juice didn't really do anything, we guessed.

Fast forward: Present time (Friday, June 30, 3:30 a.m. 'ish) - We were contemplating how to pull the baby's onesie off without smearing the poop all over her back and head. The back flap of the onesie was rolled in layers of papertowel but still, the liquid was oozing. We were just not sure how far up her back did the stuff travel. We were too panicky to think straight. We huddled, again.

"What do you think?" I asked. "We seem to have a new issue."

"Cut it?" she suggested.

"Cut it!" I replied.

We recalled a story I had told Tracie after my last business trip. Trying to kill a bit of extra time before getting on the plane, I had spent time at a bookstore browsing the Parenting section. I had read a funny story in "Baby Laughs : The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood" by Jenny McCarthy about her dealing with the baby's diarrhea. In the middle of the night, her husband told her that the baby had produced a one-foot turd. She checked it out and told him that the one-foot turd WAS the baby. Apparently, the boy had mamaged to smear poop all over himself. They tried to remove the clothing and made it worse by pushing poop into his nostrils when they pulled the onesie off. They learned their lesson and cut it off the next time.

"Prepare the OR (Operating Room)!!" I shouted as I rushed to find a pair of scissors.

By the time I returned, Tracie had bunched the front of the baby's onesie into a tight wad between her hands. She was ready for the operation. There was no time to don the proper clothing. The mask, gloves, aprons and clothes pins (for our noses) had to wait. The stench was starting to make me gag, but I held my breath and went to work. A couple of quick snips, and it was over. We pulled the baby out, and Tracie rushed her off to the bathroom to get her cleaned off. I was left to clean up the aftermath. It was a successful operation. Baby was smiling and cooing. She probably thought it was hilarious. I was left standing there to wipe everything down, bundle up the mess and shove it into the disposable diaper bag.

Tracie returned with a clean, happy baby to a clean, fresh-smelling changing table. As she was dressing Sydney, I fumbled around with a wet cloth to pick the remains from under my fingernails. By this time, I was wide awake. There's no point going back to sleep since we had to get up in another 90 minutes anyway, and we still hadn't fed her yet. Tracie fed the baby; I washed the smudged Swaddle Me cloth in cold water and hung it up to dry for now. I burped her and rocked her to sleep. I put her back to bed and went to work on my blog. It seemed an appropriate thing to do to catalog the details while they were fresh.

Before going our separate ways to go to work this morning, we huddled...again. What were the lessons learned?
1) The prune juice probably worked too well and the result was delayed for whatever reason. No more prune juice for awhile. We should also cut back on the dose.
2) It was a good thing we had the foresight to line the mattress with water-proof liner. If the problem had been worse, we might have had to steam clean or even replace the mattress.
3) We needed to stock up on some cheap onesies or other clothes that did not require pulling them off over her face in case the baby ever had the runnies again. Cutting through expensive baby clothes was not a good long term solution.
4) Perhaps it was time to consult the professionals again. Tracie decided to have the baby checked out by the pediatrician if she had diarrhea at the daycare center. I sure hope he doesn't recommend Aquaphor as a remedy.

Sun of the Beach

The hot Georgia sun is baking everything within its reach. My lawn is turning brown, and the flowers have all but wilted in the pots on the patio. It's unbearably hot today, with the temperature climbing up to 97 degrees rapidly. It is going to be a crazy hot summer if this first day of summer is any indication of the months ahead. My thoughts are turning to little Sydney. Is she going to be able to handle the heat? We are planning to take a few days in July to go to the beach. What if the Florida sun is as merciless as this? Her skin is still delicate, and the eczema has not yet disappeared. Are we being selfish? Nahhhhhhh, she's tough. She can handle it. We are getting one of those inflatable travel beds with the netting enclosure called a Pea Pod for Sydney. It should protect her from sun and wind as well as insects. I wish I had one of those. Mosquitoes just love me. I'm like the filet mignon on the mosquito dining menu. I can't step outside for 5 minutes without losing a pint of blood from those God-forsaken freaks of nature.

Back to Sydney. Her skin is doing better since the last time I mentioned her acne problem. Tracie is vigilant with applying medication to Sydney's face and body to keep the acne and eczema problems under control. I just hate it that I can't kiss Sydney on the cheeks since they always seem to be covered with a layer of cream or ointment of some sort. Her face is usually shiny and somewhat oily from the medication. I don't know how many flies and mosquitoes have lost life and limb trying to land on Sydney. I could have sworn there is a small pile of insect carcasses along the wall where Sydney lies on the changing table.

A new problem of late was Sydney's decision to wear cradle cap. Well, actually it was not really her decision to have, not wear, cradle cap to be exact. It just happened, I guess. She has these really, really annoying, scaly skin infestations about the size of a large Texas tick that rub off flakes of skin that remind me of dry instant mashed potato. I don't know how she feels about it but I'm thoroughly annoyed when I go to brush her hair and see these flakes of dandruff clinging to her soft hair like aphids on rose buds. I have to refrain from picking at her scalp, remembering my mom's tale of my dad picking at one of my sisters' scalp until it bled. It was not a pretty sight so I don't want to see Sydney covered in blood like a scene out of the Stephen King's movie Carrie. We consulted our wise pediatrician, who uniwttingly recommended a mineral oil treatment for Sydney. Call me crazy, but I don't think he knows who he is talking to. Obviously, he has not heard of me or has read my blog about Sydney's pimple. I think the nurse has, though. As we were leaving the doctor's office, I thought I heard the nurse rushing into the pediatrician's office and shouting, "My God, Doctor!! What have you done?!?!? Oh, that poor child!!" I grinned.

Off to the drug store we went to stock up on supplies before heading home to prepare the laboratory. We bought a large bottle of mineral oil, tasteless and odorless. We bought a new bottle of Head and Shoulder shampoo, cotton swabs, and gloves. I debated the purchase of a pair of swimmer's goggles to prevent the mineral oil from dripping into the baby's eyes, but Tracie talked me out of it. She insisted that she would handle the oil, and only a small amount was needed. What a killjoy! Nonethless, I was as anxious as Dr. Frankenstein before Igor threw the switch to raise the lightning rod.

We got home and stripped the baby down to her diaper. Let the experiment begin!! Tracie dabbed a small amount of mineral oil all over the baby's scalp and massaged it in. The doctor told us to leave it on for 20 minutes and then wash off with the dandruff shampoo. It was the longest 20 minutes ever. We carefully washed the mineral oil off. I discovered that it leaves a sticky residue if we used too much oil. We did, much to my delight! Here's an idea - we could fashion the baby's hair, without the use of gel or mousse. Another evil grin.

After drying off the baby's hair with a towel, she resembled a member of the Lollipop Guild from the Wizard of Oz. She was awfully cute. When we brushed her hair, some of the dried skin came off with the brush but they felt soft. The scaly areas looked better. "It's Alive!! It's Alive!" I shouted, much to the annoyance of Tracie who had just about enough of me. She had just better be glad that the chemist in me did not surface to try to mix some ingredients together first. I thought I was doing great. We were to keep this mineral oil treatment going a few more times until the cradle cap went away. Excellent!!!

We had done the mineral oil treatments a few times now, and the cradle cap problem was barely still visible. I had behaved through the entire treatment. I did not once tried to pick at Sydney's scalp or apply the oil myself. Tracie was in control, and I was not able to get myself banned from bathing Sydney. Sydney's scalp is doing much better without my intervention. I just have to make sure we keep it protected when we're under the sun of the beach.

I knew there was a good reason for why we bought the cute hot pink outfit with a little sun bonnet. The doctor said that a baby's skin was very delicate and should never be exposed to direct sun without protection. We dress the baby in her new outfit to check it out. The bonnet was just perfect for her little round face. She was a delight to see, posing like Scarlet O'Hara, with her smug facial expression as if to say "Frankly, Dad, I don't give a darn." She seemed ready for the beach. We bought sunscreen lotion for babies and a larger bonnet just in case the sun was too brutal. We will probably buy a large tent or umbrella to provide additional protection for her as well as bring a spray bottle to mist her throughout the day. Tracie booked us some hotel rooms right on the beach so we could take Sydney inside periodically to cool off. I think we got our bases covered.

If it rains the whole time while we're there after all of the preparation for the sun, I'll be one ticked off son of a gun. I have to think positively for now.

Father's Day At Last

For days I've tried to imagine how I would feel when Father's Day comes around. During the last few days, some nice colleagues gave me a Father's Day card and sent emails to wish me a Happy First Father's Day. I felt good. I felt proud. I wondered what the weekend had in store for me.

Since both companies where Tracie and I worked allowed summer hours which we would work extra hours during Monday through Thursday and then work half a day on Friday, we met up for a Friday afternoon date. We did not have to pick up Sydney from the daycare until 7:00pm. We thought it would be nice to take the afternoon to catch a movie. It was great to go on a date again. After the movie, we went to get Sydney. She was resting in the arms of one of the staff members. They had a present for me. It was from Sydney for Father's Day. They had made an imprint of Sydney's tiny little feet in a round dish of plaster and painted the footprints red for a gift. They had also made a card that read "From Sydney to Daddy. Walking into Daddy's heart." How sweet! It made my day. I thanked the staff profusely and picked up my little girl to smother her with kisses. Before we left, the staff told us that they adored Sydney and that each staff member vied for a turn to hold her throughout the day. She was alert and talkative. She had won everyone's heart. I was not surprised.

We ventured to a couple of malls on Saturday to take advantage of the nice weather. It was hot but rain was nowhere in sight. Tracie wanted to find a bathing suit for Sydney since we were heading to the beach in a few weeks. She found the most adorable one piece bathing suit at Gymboree...and a large sun hat and another outfit. It was not long after we got home that Tracie had Sydney trying out new clothes. What a sight! Tracie had her own personal life-size Barbie doll to play dress up. Sydney was a good sport. They were both laughing and playing, having a good time together. I have to admit that the bathing suit was just perfect. Sydney will be just the cutest thing on that beach.

Father's Day came. Today was a peaceful day. Tracie promised me I didn't have to do a thing that I did not want to do. I spent a couple of hours in the morning mowing the lawn and settled down inside the house to get out of the heat. I just wanted to spend time with my family. Tracie took off to go to the grocery store; I stayed home to look after Sydney.
She gave me a perfect Father's Day's present. I get to spend a lot of time with little Sydney. She slept in my arms. Just look at this little angel snoozing in my arms. She is just too cute. She was out cold as if she had not slept for days. She was calm and comfortable knowing that Daddy had her in his arms, loving her and protecting her. Now I know what Father's Day should feel like. I was living the dream.

After dinner, we bathed Sydney and got her ready for bed. Tracie dressed Sydney in a new outfit. I think it is called a gown set. She was simply huggable. If only she had a pair of wings, she would make a perfect cherub.
I had her in my arms, belly down, and flying around the room as if she was an angel. She grinned broadly whenever we passed by a mirror, as if to say: "Thanks, Dad. I'm having a great time." I couldn't get enough of that toothless grin so I kept the game up for as long as I could, until my arms were worn out. As I set her down in her crib and grabbed my camera, I whispered a little prayer of thanks. I was grateful for a wonderful FIRST Father's Day. I can go to bed tonight with a smile on my face. There really is something to smile about on Father's Day afterall.

New routine

Tracie is back at work. I'm in Philadelphia on a 3-day business trip. Sydney was being dropped off at the daycare center. This week brought a lot of changes for us. It's just the beginning of a new routine, with a lot more business trips for me in the months ahead. I am not looking forward to them. Today is Sydney's third day in daycare. There will be plenty more days ahead at the daycare center.

My fingers ache from being crossed for so long. Everyone kept telling me how beautiful Sydney was. I had sent out a couple of recent pictures of Sydney in bonnets. One was titled "Sunday Drive", and the other was titled "Sydney in Bonnet". Both were great hits with colleagues, friends and family. A few people at work even printed out the pictures and kept them at their desks as if Sydney was their own child. I was flattered. I decided to submit one of the pictures to Cutekid.com, hoping Sydney would be chosen as the winner of the June contest. The first prize was a $500 U.S. Treasury bond along with some other prizes. It would be great to be able to put the Treasury bond into a trust fund for Sydney and tell her later that she had earned it on her own merits. It was worth a try for $20. I won't know the results of the contest until mid-July. Until then, I guess I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed.

Just blogging about her makes me miss Sydney terribly. It's hard to be sitting in a hotel room wishing I could kiss my wife and kid good night. I miss our occasional chatter with Sydney while changing her diaper on the changing table. She is becoming quite a chatterbox. I miss watching Sydney talk to the three bears dangling overhead from the crib mobile while she is lying on the blanket on the floor and kicking her legs excitedly as she watches each little bear passes by. I even miss the way she thrashes about just before falling asleep in my arms. I especially miss waking up in the early morning hours to see her face close to mine and one of her arms raised over her head in what I called her "Statue of Liberty" imitation. She's like a little Houdini in the morning escaping from the swaddle wrapped tightly around her body each night to keep her arms from flailing during the night.

I'll be home tomorrow night to smother her with hugs and kisses. At least that is one routine I can live with.

The Picnic

Saturday's picnic was the best. The weather was gorgeous - not too hot, clear blue sky and a few breezes to cool things off in the pavillion. We've been fortunate to have been associated with some of the greatest people on Earth. It is still amazing to me how we all grew from colleagues to friends to family over the years. Granted that some of the "family members" eventually married each other and had children, but in this case, it doesn't count toward incestuousness.

Over a decade ago, I worked for this tiny company (we'll call it "C") in the suburbs of Atlanta. Company C grew and spun off a subsidiary that occupied the building next door. The subsidiary (we'll call it "P") eventually was sold but remained in the same building which allowed my company to continue to use its services and the two companies' employees to interact. The management and staff of the other company, we'll call it "O", was incredibly close-knit like a family. They always seemed to get along and had the best time. A few years later, the two companies closed down and the employees scattered but the ties and friendship remained. Every year or two, many of us got together for a reunion picnic, now dubbed the COP Picnic, thanks to the generosity and dedication of a few organizers - Jay, Beth and Kari. I can't go without saying "They ROCK!!" These people are the glue that keeps us all together across the miles and across time.

2006 brought another picnic. The e-vites went out, and people came from far and wide. There were probably 50-60 people who showed up, and it was just like old time. We had a lot of catching up to do, but I could tell that the bonds between people never faded. To no one's surprise, this year introduced a lot of new little faces. Even I got into the act with Sydney on board. Speaking of board, Beth took a flip board and pasted Sydney's recent pictures all over one page for all to see. What a nice surprise and gesture! She is truly Aunt Beth to Sydney. Beth even printed my entire blog for anyone interested in reading more about Sydney. I was flattered, to say the least. We managed to get a few pictures of Sydney with Beth, although Sydney was not cooperating. Another featured baby was Noah. He is an adorable 7-mo product of Chris and Debi. The pictures of Noah and Debi were phenominal. Some of the black-n-whites were breathtaking. And there was little Nathaniel, at about the same age as Noah. His parents, Jessica and Jose, were just proud as they can be. He has a gorgeous set of big, brown eyes and the cutest smile with two little teeth emerging from his lower gum. He was a friendly little booger. Other kids, like little Sam, Leo and Ayden, did not get the spot light as much since they were a little older, but they were adorable little guys nonetheless. I wish we had more time to catch up with them and their parents.

Sydney was in her full glory this past weekend. She was really well behaved for the most part, making a liar out of me for warning others that she might be a little rambunctious. Tracie brought her to my office on Friday to introduce the baby to my colleagues who, unfortunately, have had to endure all the stories, rants and raves of Sydney's proud papa for over the last two months. I was in a morning meeting when they arrived. I excused myself from the meeting for a few minutes to greet them in the parking lot. Sydney returned the favor. In less than 1 minute of picking her up out of the carseat, she said Hi with a blob of spit-up on the front of my shirt. It was just lovely. I went back into the meeting with a nice wet spot on my dress shirt, about the size of a tea saucer. Hey, what can I say? I'm a dad. Sydney, meanwhile, made herself comfortable in the cafeteria and even let a few people hold her without squirming like a fish out of water. What a show off!! She eventually went to sleep in my arms before we shoved off for the rest of the day. She was a hit in her little shorts that said "CUTIE PIE" across the back. The outfit was just too cute. Then at the picnic, she was again on her best behavior, dressed in a brown skirt with white pokadots and a pink tee-shirt that said "sweet" on the front. She slept a lot but when she was awake, she laid in the take-along swing quietly observing and playing. I think she set a record for lying in the swing for 45 minutes before fussing. Her previous record was about 15 minutes.

Kudos to Debbie for figuring out how to hold Sydney. I think by accident, she held Sydney facing her with one of Sydney's legs up and one leg dangling. It was just the way she liked it. She was quiet as a mouse and looking around. She squirmed with everyone else, especially if they tried to sit down. But overall, she cried very little except when she had a dirty diaper. She made sure we knew about it right away. We rushed to the car and changed her. All was well again.

The next picnic will likely be two years away. I, for one, cannot wait to be there. Sydney will be 2 years old by then. I cannot imagine what she will be like.