Yeah, yeah, yeah...

To steal a line from Mike Bianchi, Sports Columnist for the Orlando Sentinel...

"Running off at the keyboard..."

Well, I figured since about 4 people have given me crap about not blogging, figured I would type something... Although I could type for hours on end about my son, I just can't, because I am so opinionated on 14 million other issues, but I will start with Patrick.

Patrick is wonderful, so happy and so much fun (I have been told "wait till he is mobile")... The ladies at daycare love him, a 3 year-old child has to see him everyday when she is being picked up, that's right, my kid hunts cougars... He is the second oldest kid in the baby room, REALLY!?!?!?! He even wakes up happy!! I hate dropping him off at daycare each day, but coming home to his smiling (or sleeping) face is the highlight of my day. I can get beaten up, drug across the coals, etc... for the entire day and it all goes away when I see him. I will admit I drank the kool-aid a lot quicker than Wendy did, but she is a terrific mother and the best wife a man could ask for. She is also the most structured, but you all knew that... No teeth yet, but he drools at least 10 gallons a day, so they are well on their way.

Two-year wedding anniversary was yesterday. Spent the day in Tampa at a class, drove home, ate dinner with Wendy, played with Patrick. It really doesn't get any better. Oh yeah, shot 4 rounds under 60 on Tiger Woods Golf, I can't shoot under 60 on the front-9 in real golf!

I must admit that I read my cousin's blog (she has an 8-month old) posting after my mother reminded me for the 83rd time, and I must give a pat on the back to the breastfeeding moms out there, my wife included. I don't know how they pull this off, they are truly marvelous people making a personal sacrifice to the health and lives of their children. The fact that Wendy sits in a 5' x 5' closet infested with God only knows what three times a day to pump is a testament to the fabulous woman that married me two years ago yesterday (still don't know what she was thinking). I have an employee that has a 9-month old, and I always make sure she has a suite to go and pump in (unfortunately, the hotel isn't sold out much lately). mainly because I refuse to let her go into a closet. Also, have to agree that it is so much easier to have people come and visit your newborn than packing him up for a trip somewhere, even if it is just across town. Lots of good points in that blog...

While I am singing the praises of my wife... She went to church without me on Sunday. That's right, I had to work, so she packed up the kid and took care of business. Oh, the nursery ladies love him too... How did this kid come from me? He MUST get this happiness from his Mom, because I was never regarded as the most pleasant kid.

Work is work, I am guilty of working too much, been the case since Eckerd's in High School. Tired of the e-mails and people saying that we're "lucky" to have a job. I don't think it is luck, it is hard work and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. It is working your ass off, 12, 14, or sometimes 16 hours in a day to get the job done (or literally, I am down 17 pounds since I became a GM). The point: strive to be above average in everything you do and everything will work out for the best. My word, do I sound like someone who shall remain nameless...

Next, Politics... They ALL suck right now. I am ashamed of my Republican Party and what it has become, we let some diva Governor who belongs on Jerry Springer with the father of her grandchild become the face of our party? Sarah Palin is NO visionary like Ronald Reagan, and she will never be taken seriously, plus she is too controversial. When will the Republicans be the voice of fiscal restraint again, and who can carry that voice to derail the Obama "Spend like there is no tomorrow" Express?

What the heck are we thinking giving the Octomom $250 per kid per day for a reality show. If you watch this garbage you deserve to have your eyes poked out. People like this and the Jon and Kate people whoring out their kids is sickening to me. No family comes out of these situations well, look at Jon, Kate, and Hulk Hogan's family. Those 22 kids (14 for octomom and 8 for Jon, Kate, and Jon's girlfriend) are going to all be on Jerry Springer one day.

Also - Go Phil Mickelson - having a wife and mother with cancer is something I don't wish on anyone. Win the PGA Championship next month for those two! If you pray for anything, pray for a cure to this nasty, undiscriminating killer.

Alright, I have pontificated on my bully pulpit long enough. This is therapeutic. I managed to type the entire blog without a spelling error.

"I'm Peter Griffin and that's what grinds my gears!"

30th B-Day and Mom goes back to work...

So,  Wendy has been off of work for 7+ weeks (probably going stir crazy), no wonder she had time to really go all out and throw a surprise party for my 30th Birthday, of which I did not have a clue about, because she plans quite well.  To think that I honestly believed her that she was dressing up because she hadn't been able to wear her normal outfits in 10 months...  

She has done a great job getting Patrick to take a bottle so I can take this coming week off while she goes back to work.  It should be quite an interesting week as I get to play Mr. Mom.

Easter was a success...  Patrick has his little outfit which included little bunny shoes built in...   I think we'll save that picture for when he starts dating...  We went to church and had lunch with Gram, Uncle Britton, Aunt Kate, Cousins Aubrey and Micci...

The fam is headed to Gainesville tomorrow for a wedding, Patrick will get to meet the Barber baby, who was born 2 days before him, I sense an arranged marriage...  I mean we already know the parents are good people, it could work!!!!

On another note, what is wrong with the Braves...  Getting swept by the Marlins - gotta get the bullpen straightened out!!  

A Month Old and off to Church

So - Dad can not believe his little man is already 4 weeks old, my how the time flies.  I can tell he is starting to get heavier - I think he is nearing the 10-pound mark, the volume in his diapers has increased, as well as the frequency.  Wendy is still being a trooper - I can not imagine what it would be like to have to latch the kiddo to you every 1.5 to 2 hours.  She is a terrific mom, but I know she is starting to get stir-crazy being at home all the time.  She isn't the stay-at-home mom type - we'll see if I am the stay-at-home Dad type when I take a week in late April after she goes back to work.

Patrick did take his first trip to church today - he was too young to go to the nursery so he had to go to big church.  He made a little noise and Mom had to go feed him, but he didn't scream or do anything that would bring attention to himself.  I have to admit that he looked quite handsome in his little outfit, Easter is 2 weeks away, so he'll really have to dress up for that day...

On an unrelated note, I know Wendy has something cooking for my 30th Birthday in a couple of weeks, kinda scary, apparently I have looked 30+ for the last 10 years, so maybe I will finally look younger than my age...  Yeah right.

A Week Old...

Very briefly... It's past my bed time...

Patrick, Mom, and I came home on Saturday. We are all doing well. Mom is quickly regaining strength and Patrick is such a good baby. He is already lifting his head up and only cries when he should (hungry, wet diaper). Wendy is such a good Mom, as if there was any doubt there, she is diligently working to get Patrick on a schedule - no surprises to anyone who knows her well.

Everyone says he looks like his Dad, I guess when I look at mine and Wendy's baby pictures, he does favor me.

Dad went back to work today, it was hard to leave the little guy and Mom behind for the entire day. Thankfully Wendy's parents came to visit, it was the first time that Patrick's namesake (Wendy's Dad) had seen him. Wendy was sending multimedia messages to my BlackBerry today so I could keep track of him. She also put a note from Mr. Handsome in my sandwich container today, I seem to call him that, just because he is, although he peed and pooped on Mom today - he hasn't gotten Dad yet... Maybe it is because I have similar equipment, but I really think he'll get me sooner or later.

I am not working tomorrow - Patrick has to get weighed at his doctor and Wendy has a check-up with her doctor to check her stitches, etc... after her experience one week ago tomorrow.

We received a prayer-gram in the mail today from my grandmother's church in Mississippi (actually two aunts, uncles, and a cousin go there too) after our experience with Patrick's arrival. There is no doubt in my mind that their prayers worked.

On an unrelated note - it is 38 tonight, and it's gonna be 84 by the weekend... Then again it snowed in Georgia the other day. Currently watching Channel 9 News and I think it's great that Stan Van Gundy called Shaq out on his "flop" against Dwight Howard, Magic 111, Suns 99.

Baby just pooped while he was sitting in my lap - nice - gotta go change him... His gas smells worse than mine and the dogs, I am now in 4th place in my own household, losing to a newborn!?!?!?! What the heck. The baby is now swaddled, and going to sleep - time for Dad to do the same (except for the swaddling part).

Patrick's Birth

Mom had her usual appointment with her Doctor this past Monday, February 23rd, instead of it being at 1pm, it was 2pm, because we all thought that Patrick would decide to make his entrance before his due date of February 21.  When we got called back I noticed the induction paperwork had a date of Tuesday, February 24 @ 9am.  Mom tried to put this off, but the next available date was March 6, 2 days before I have a business trip to Memphis.  So, Monday night, Mom and I met at Wal-Mart for some last minute items, then decided to take them home and go out to dinner one last night as a DINK family (dual income, no kids).  We went to Outback and then returned home to repack all of the bags, making sure we had everything we needed.  

The next morning Mom had a big breakfast and we headed off to Winnie Palmer for the big induction, which was scheduled for 9am.  It appears that Patrick was not ready to leave the wonderful environment that Mom had provided for him.  Our Doctor was able to break the water and things really progressed quickly after that.  Mom was so good that she went from 5 to 10cm in what seemed like no time.  By the time the nurse checked to see if she was fully dialated we could already see Patrick's head, which was face-up, which it shouldn't be, unfortunately it was too late for him to be turned around, so the nurse told Mom to stop pushing and the Doctor was called.  The doctor came in and told her to continue pushing and Patrick Hays Bingham was born at 2:53am on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, weighing in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 21.5" in length.  

As Mom was delivering she bled some, no big concern, right?  Well, after Patrick was born the doctor drew the blood from his cord for storage (it could save my life one day) and thought the job was done, as it should have been.  About 10 minutes after birth (6 minutes after the placenta had been delivered, yes, I looked at it) Mom's blood pressure dropped and she began to bleed profusely, the nurse paged the doctor repeatedly and when he didn't answer immediately I then heard him paged throughout the entire hospital, I then knew something serious was going on as I was holding my newborn son.  The doctor came in to the room and said three words, "take her back" which meant to the operating room.  Mom was quickly unhooked from a lot of tubes, etc... and quickly rolled to the OR while I was left holding Patrick with my Mom and Wendy's good friend Amy in attendance.  I knew Wendy had lost a ton of blood, and I knew we both thought we might not see each other again - but I had to hold it together (Amy later told me that Wendy's blood pressure dropped to 50/20).

So - I paced the labor/delivery room alternating the baby between me, my Mom, and Amy, with one of us going to ask for updates regularly.  I had this perfect, beautiful son, a true gift from God, the most precious thing I had ever seen and there was a real chance I might lose his Mom.  About 30 minutes later a nurse came into the room and told me that Wendy's cervix was torn in multiple places and was being stitched up, and that she would be OK.  A huge sigh of relief...  About 5am I was told that Wendy wanted to see me and Patrick as she was now in recovery.  I brought the baby to Mom and she didn't have the strength to hold him, so I got him close to Mom and unfortunately he needed to eat, as he was 2+ hours old and we were holding out to breastfeed, but Dad had to give him a bottle for his first meal.  Patrick was then taken back to the nursery on the 8th floor so Dad could be with Mom since the recovery area was tight.  

Soon thereafter Wendy's doctor came into the recovery area and informed me of the severity of the situation.  She basically was bleeding out in the room and had transfusions of blood and plasma in the operating room which kept her alive.  He lost count of how many stitches he placed in her cervix to repair the lacerations, but said he had never seen anything like it.  She is living on the blood of donors now, so if you ever thought of donating, please do it.  

We finally got out of recovery after 5 or so hours, then got into a room on the 9th floor, which is where they can monitor Mom's heartrate, oxygen, BP, etc... They continued to give her blood slowly as her BP came up, platelets, etc... started to return to normal over the next few days.  

On Thursday we got a visit from Wendy's doctor who was still in disbelief over the whole experience of delivery, and seeing that from a man who has delivered thousands and thousands of babies was quite profound.  He had previously stated to me that the Good Lord was looking out for us because a hospital like Winnie Palmer could handle the situation (we literally had 15 nurses and 2 doctors working on Wendy in a matter of seconds), whereas a hospital like South Lake (which is 2 minutes from the house) probably could not have handled this situation.  Say what you want, but it was the Lord looking out for us.  

Friday has been a good day - Mom has been up and about walking the hallways.  Another Doctor from the practice checked in about 5pm and will more than likely discharge us tomorrow.  We are really looking forward to going home with our perfect angel of a son.

As I conclude this first "blog" and I do not know how regular I will be with it.  There was definitely something at work in how the birth of our son transpired.  I personally believe it was the Lord giving us a son who is perfect (not even jaundiced) and obviously knew something was up with Mom because he did not scream or cry AT ALL during this trying time.  The Lord also gave the Doctors and Nurses the quick hands to sew her wounds and the donors of blood who saved her life.

What an amazing week it has been in our family...