Molly Siobhán

Summary:

• Molly Siobhán
• Born 28 Dec 2009
• 7 lb. 10 oz.
• 19 in. long

Mother and baby are doing very well. The siblings appear to be adjusting relatively well. But the cat still appears a bit jealous. :)

The Details:

My wife was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday. But apparently Monday turned out to be less busy than the hospital anticipated. So they called her up just before 9 AM and asked if she could be there by 10 AM. She was happy to have the baby sooner than later, so she said she would try. I got a call from her after that. I quickly wrapped up what I was doing at work and zipped home. My sister-in-law and her husband were there to pick up the other kids as I arrived. We quickly rushed to gather everyone up and send them off to grandma's house. Then my wife and I drove to our new hospital.

We arrived at the hospital just after 10. Mom was checked in and on an IV by around 10:30. From there, things progressed very quickly. At first Mom felt a bit awkward being in a hospital bed ready to give birth but not actually having contractions. She started out at a three. But the pitocin worked its magic really quickly and she was well on her way to hard labor. The contractions were very strong and frequent by 1 PM, but she endured them well. Water was still intact, and the nurses were keen to keep it that way until the doctor could arrive to break it for her and complete the delivery. But the doctor had been called away to an emergency cesarean section across the valley. So we had to wait. In the meantime, the contractions became worse and the pain more unbearable. So we sought out the staff to arrange for an epidural, even though the original plan was to wait until after breaking the water. But alas, the anesthesiologist at our hospital was occupied in a cesarean there. So my wife pressed on through the pain until she was complete. The nurses were starting to appear quite anxious, and the doctor was still not back from the other hospital. It very nearly appeared that she was simply going to deliver without him.

Then the doctor rushed in through the door, threw off his coat and slipped on his sterile gear. There was some difficulty getting the bed to break apart. Apparently the bed had not been properly prepared. The linens were put on wrong, not to mention the blood marks from a previous use still on parts of the bed. Yecch! Mom was really hurting at this point, but still enduring with an amazing amount of calm. When almost everything was in place, she started pushing. After four pushes, the baby was born at 2:37 PM. Apparently my wife was the first to deliver at the hospital that day, despite arriving at the hospital three hours after everybody else. For our first child, she was also quite rapid to progress and was very nearly complete by the time we arrived at the hospital. The other two births were also somewhat smooth and quick. I guess she's just good at this sort of thing. :)

I'm really proud of her. This was her first time being induced. This was also her first delivery without an epidural. Though it was not intended to be that way, she worked through labor and delivery marvelously. Still, she indicated that it was excruciatingly painful; and she says she would not recommend it to anybody!

The recovery after birth has gone remarkably well. Both Mom and Baby are home resting now. The siblings finally get to meet her and interact with their new sister. They weren't allowed to visit in the hospital due to the restrictions related to H1N1 influenza. We did set up video chat sessions with a netbook at the hospital to help them start to connect. But once they got to meet her in person, they were immediately smitten. The girls just love to hold her and be with her. Our son was originally dismayed at still being the only boy among the children. He had asked us to move him downstairs so he wouldn't have to be disturbed by the baby's crying in the room next door. But once he met her, he too was excited to have a new baby sister around. And while the first night at home had both Mom and Dad getting up several times to attend to a crying baby, our son apparently went through the whole night without waking up once!

The cat had already shown some signs of jealousy toward babies. During a recent visit from our infant nephew, the cat was constantly seeking out attention and behaving slightly suspiciously around the baby. While we were away at the hospital for Molly's birth, the cat was growing increasingly stir-crazy. Every time I stopped by to check up on things and feed him, he chased me around the house to garner a few moments of love. He's not declawed, and he definitely has his extra "playful" moments. So we're keeping an eye on him as well as going a bit out of our way to give him some extra attention so he doesn't become too competitive or spiteful to the point of causing harm.

About The Names

The names Molly and Siobhán don't necessarily have any particular family significance. They just happen to be names that Mom liked, and I was happy to agree to. Both names are Irish. Both my father and one of my brothers served as voluntary missionaries for our Church in Ireland. So we're happy to make somewhat of a leap to grasp at that connection. Molly is simply a variation of the name Mary. Siobhán (pronounced sha-VAHN) is the Irish form of the name Joan, the feminine of John.

Joshua Tree National Park

I visited Joshua Tree National Park recently. Many of the features were really pretty and interesting. However, I don't think the park in general holds a candle to many of the outstanding parks in Utah.

Still, I did enjoy my brief time in the park today.
Most of the park is quite what you'd expect of a desert: dry, brown, and plain. There were a few places that looked like tiny little oases. And the large garden of cholla cactus plants was very impressive.

Confessions From The Road Trip

Three coworkers and I loaded up a rented Toyota Highlander last week and hit the road for a excitement-filled trip to the mountain desert outside of Tonopah, NV.

Confession #1: Lawlessness. I drove us from Salt Lake to our destination. Now normally I really am the sort of guy who believes in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. But there's just something that snaps inside me when I'm on the clock, along with others in the car who are also charging for their time. For some reason my foot just gets a bit heavier than usual. The GPS we took along with us said the trip should be a bit over nine hours. ... I got us there in about five and a half. Now in my defense, I'm pretty sure the TomTom GPS underestimated the speed limits and quality of the roads, at least a little bit.

Confession #2: Worldliness. Admiteddly I'm already a bit too interested in the things of the world. Gadgets and technology are particular weaknesses I have. The place we stayed on this trip made me realize just how much stock I put into such things. We stayed at a site unfortunately-named "man camp." Man Camp was one of the least pleasant places I've visited in the continental U.S. We weren't allowed to bring in computers, including smart phones. Cell phone coverage was non-existant. The buliding we lived in was actually an old dormitory. It was nestled into a bleak complex of other similar buildings along with completely dilapidated portable buildings, a recreation center, a sad looking ball field and a running track around a grassless soccer field. My room was just large enough for two basic twin beds, a small desk, a lamp table and a very broken down chest of drawers that barely held up the weight of the late-eighties model TV on it, but certainly didn't have any drawers that were actually usable. The bathroom was really just a small water closet with a modest toilet and a small shower stuffed behind the door. The carpet in the room didn't seem like it had ever been cleaned since it was installed some decades ago. There was, at least, a phone. And the TV did have a modest selection of cable channels. My wife asked me which I missed more, my iPhone or her. It was definitely her, but the iPhone wasn't too far behind. ;)

Confession #3: Selfishness. A dozen or so participants of our group flew in an old jet while the rest of the team stayed at a headquarters building near the airstrip or at a remote site on a peak several miles away. I was assigned to fly on the plane. (By the way, I was told that this plane was previously used by George W. while he campaigned for president.) I really did offer to switch places with one or the other of my coworkers assigned to the ground site. But I'm pretty sure my heart wasn't fully backing up the offer. Flying did have its down sides: motion sickness, longer hours, etc. But it sure came with some perks. Man Camp was forty miles from the nearest restaurant, and even the cafeteria by the airstrip was closed on the weekend while we were there. But the airplane had (got) to fly to Las Vegas in order to refuel. When in Vegas, we still didn't have time to go anywhere. But even just visiting the corporate jet center at the airport was quite a treat. One day we each pitched in $5 for Subway sandwiches from a nearby store. Another day we called in an order for pizza to be delivered in time for us to take back with us on the plane. The lounge area had free gourmet cookies and lemonade. The restrooms were spacious and clean. Though not normally my preferred view, the sight of the lavish casinos of the Las Vegas Strip across the street was certainly more pleasant on the eyes than the rocks and scrub brush of Man Camp. And best of all, I had cell phone coverage to let me place a quick call home to my beloved wife while waiting for the plane to be fueled. I secretly cherished these brief escapes to civilization while my counterparts back on the mountain top suffered without decent food or water and were burned by the desert sun. I felt bad for them, but maybe not as much as I felt glad for me. :)

Confession #4: Merrymaking. Though not perfect, our testing over the weekend was quite successful. I'd go into details, but I'm not good at making my work sound interesting to others. I get too caught up in jargon and parts that are boring to most sane people. Suffice it to say we successfully established a really cool wireless Internet connection. Hmm, see: I told you I'm not that great at making my work seem interesting. Unfortunately our last flight was canceled due to bad weather. But that gave us some extra time to celebrate. So what does one to to celebrate while staying at Man Camp? Why one goes to the recreation center, of course! The recreation center was quite popular with participants in our testing. The biggest reason was very likely the $2 beers! OK, so there's really not much for me to confess here. I'm still as dry as the day I was born. Most of my Salt Lake coworkers and I managed to avoid the actual bar area. Instead, we hung out in the game and sports areas. We enjoyed an evening of arcade games and pool. I play pool horibly. But I did manage at least a few good shots on the air hockey table. I actually didn't even stay up very late. The six several-hour flights of the previous three days had me absolutely exhausted. So I hit the hay after only a few hours, anticipating my none-to-soon escape from Man Camp back to my loving family at home.