2 for 1 Special

It is done and just begun!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would officially and very proudly like to introduce you to:

Thomas James Vnak - Born on 5/29/06 at 9:57am at 4 pounds 15 ounces.

Joseph John Vnak - Born on 5/29/06 at 10:17am at 5 pounds 13 ounces.

I don't have any pictures to post yet since I'm at the hospital and forgot the cord to connect the camera to the computer, but they will come in the next couple of days.

I want to focus on telling the story leading up to the birth and how they are doing right now, but it is just way to much to process. How can I briefly sum it up? Divine! Amazing! Miraculous! Two thumbs up! The biggest rollercoaster of the summer! Riducustupidfantasam!

First the babies. Each are extremely adorable, both Katie and I confer. I know everyone says their babies are cute and adorable, but as Katie can attest from working in a hospital, all babies are not cute. Ours are and we are forever grateful.

They were born at exactly 36 weeks which was fantastic considering where we came from, but still premature. Consequently, both had to be put on a CPAP machine which ensures their lungs stay completely open while they breathe. They were both on these machines for a couple of hours, and were taken off which is great.

Joseph has had a bout with his right arm. When he got back from the operating room, his right arm from elbow to hand was white. Over the next bit of time it turned a pinkish blue. Pink is good, blue is not. The docs ordered an ultrasound and he had a blood clot in his wrist. The doctors did some other tests and put him on some medicine to decoagulate it which has had a great impact. His arm is now fine in appearance and he can move it just fine. That said, this situation is something you would not expect to see in an infant, but an older adult. So, it is a unique case and the doctors are conducting a number of other tests to insure it is hopefully just an isolated situation. More to come when we know it on this topic.

All in all, the babies are great: cute, adorable, suave, just like their father.

As for the stay in the hospital, we don't know how long they will be here yet, but hopefully we will have a roadmap in the next few days.

Now, let's look into the past of the whole labor ordeal. It is absolutely mind blowing. I still haven't registered the whole experience and might not ever completely, at least in words. It is truly an experience, something that you must experience live for a loved one to truly understand. Here's the time line:

Sunday 11:30pm - Go to Bed
Monday 2:10am - Katie wakes up and tells me she doesn't quite feel right. She goes to the bathroom and notices a small spot of wetness. Both of us want to go back to bed and try rationalize every way to justify doing so. "I just wish there was some definitive sign this was really it!"

2:30am - Definitive Sign Received

3:30am - Arrive at hospital with bags packed.

3:45am - Contractions start

4:30am - 5cm dilated

4:30-7:30am - Dilation to 8cm. The contractions during this time period are far more fierce and intense than the practice Braxton-Hicks contractions. Watch out all you expectant parents.

7:30am - Katie gets an epidural which is pure narcotic bliss. As expected, the anethestist was a cocky "I play with some serious drugs and it's legal" bastard. But he did a great job, so drug away! Everyone should get an epidural. There is no need with today's modern medicine to suffer. The contractions are enough.

8:18am - Doctor tests dilation and only has to reach in 1 inch to feel Baby A's head. The nurse asks, "Dad, would you like to touch your sons head?" Gasp, pause, "Um, sure." Crazilishisly awesome! I met my first son.

8:30am - Dilation to 10cm.

9:10am - Katie starts pushing. The rest is just freaking unbelievable. I've never witnessed anything so great. It was so amazing and exhausting.

9:57am - Thomas James Vnak is born, with his eyes wide open. Truly divine!

10:10am - The doctors are working with Katie to get Baby B to move down. Unfortunately, he is larger than Baby A, so the tunnel needs to get bigger. Ideally, Baby A is bigger than Baby B, but that was not the case.

10:12am - This part was the funniest part of the whole labor. Baby B's water had not yet "broke." So, the doctor starts jabbing this plastic needle to burst it with no success. Suddenly Katie starts contracting and pushing down while the doctor jabs and.....BOOOM! A giant water explosion shoots all over the doctors. Where the hell is a video camera when you need one? In my mind, I’m laughing my ass off in disbelief asking, "Did that honestly just happen?" Good lawd!!!!

10:14am - All of sudden Baby B's umbilical cord comes out, which is opposite of what is supposed to happen and Baby B's heart rate starts to drop. The attending docter quickly stepped in and whipped out a vacuum extractor, which honest to God looks like a Nerf gun. It has a very primitive operation. Step one: Insert. Step two: Pump. Step three: Pull. Shebamm!

10:17am - Joseph John Vnak is born, and is quickly attended to.


Katie is doing great. I like to call people all-stars, but she truly is the MVP of my all-star team. The recovery is not cakewalk. But drugs and warm baths do help. She is trying to rest so that she can focus on nursing, as the babies become ready.

We will update more in the future as news is appropriate and get some pictures uploaded once I get home.

It has begun!

Comments Ahoy!

A while back a restricted viewers commentability since I was getting some spam posts. When I did this, it would not allow some of you to leave comments if you wished. The problem has been fixed, so feel free to leave comments. Thanks!

Oh my gawd!

Did anyone else watch the American Idol finale?

Taylor Hicks is announced the new American Idol.

And then the camera cuts to the crowd.

And it focuses on, none other, but....

A crying David Hasselhoff.

I've wet five pairs of pants laughing so hard.

Six.

PS: The surprise Prince performance was also sweet!

Ladies and Gentleman, let me introduce you to.........

Special Needs Katie! (Beep, beep!)



Well, Katie was officially taken off bedrest on Friday, which is nice in concept, but not much of a change in reality. So, how did we celebrate her day of liberation? A Saturday night shopping spree at Target of course. Oh how cool we are. As you can tell from her picture, the evening was success. The best part of the adventure was that the go cart wasn't full charged and moved about 1.5 mph, which was sooooo slow, it's like she was Extra Special Needs Katie.

In other funny Katie news, at her doctors appointment on Friday, a kind old black man with a walker held the door open for Katie and asked her if she was having a boy or a girl. "Two boys!" Katie responded. "Man, and I thought my life was bad!" barked the old guy. Pure unadulterated hilarity!

Things are still going the same although Katie wishes it would all be over. Only time will tell!

Psych!

Damn those little Vnaks. All the excitement and no hub-bub. Yep, no babies yet.

Katie and her ute decided that 3.5cm was all for the night and since she didn't change by the morn, so the doctors have sent us home.

But not for long.

Katie is still extremely uncomfortable and the contractions continue. She is going to doctor for a check up again tomorrow. This shindig could shindown anytime. Our doctor likened it to time bomb with no timer. So, it could be tonight, tomorrow, a couple days, and maybe even a week or more. But the likely bet is the next few days.

So whilst I was at the hospital last night, I made many passes by the nursery to see the new brews for the day. Damn, little babies are really cute. You can't help but get a big grin looking at these little plump all-stars. I always thought it was extremely gay when guys use the words cute, so now I find myself in quite a conundrum. Alas, I'm going to be a Dad. And they are going to be babies. And I pray to da lawd they are cute, so I guess I'm gonna have to use the word.

One Ball, two strikes. What's the next pitch?

The Final Countdown

Click here and load file while reading this post.

Yes, oh yes, the final countdown has begun! What a great high school pep band song and very appropriate since Katie and I festered our young lovers relationship serenading each other with this tune of immortal romance. The grand finale is on its way. Strike one has quickly turned into strike two with strike three ready to go shortly.

As previously stated, Katie's contractions started last Friday and became stronger over the past few days, so she decided to go in and get checked. Lo and behold, she is 3 cm dilated.

We are currently chilling at the hospital and Katie bears through this contractions. There is no specific time table with as the body and her ute do as they please. It could be tonight, tomorrow, a couple or days, a week. But the doctor seems to think in the next couple of days.

I'm kind of caught in the middle of whether I want the babies to hang out a few days longer or get it done. Extra days are good for the babies, but Katie is SO uncomfortable. Persistent squirming from cramps and contractions. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

So, I guess the big thing to sum up again, because reality is hard to comprehend:

This is happening. No more time to prepare. The deal is going down.

Steeeryke one!

So, Katie and I had an exciting then boring weekend.

Friday I get home from work and she is complaining about contractions. She had frequent, but irregular contractions from 5 until midnight. For a while we thought this was it. It's happening. Dear lawd, it's happening. But then we figured out, we will just have to sleep through the night and hope for the best. So, I laced her 11:00pm snack with some schweet narcotics and vwa-la (say phonetically), everything was fine in the morning. Phew!

Actually, we just figured she had a Bengal bout of practice contrations (Braxton-Hicks contractions) and came out victorious. Bengal bout round one: Katie: Ron Burgandy, Practice Contrations: Ron Mexico. Check this out. You can now call me Sammy Spain.

Anyway, today marks 34 weeks which is a fantastic milestone! If the babies are born at this point, the doctors are indifferent about the likelihood of complications. Any days from here on out area gift.

To celebrate the victory, we proceeded to watch three movies: Along Came a Spider, A Time to Kill, and The Chronic "What" cles of Narnia.

Anyway, we are less than one month away from our insanity. Katie is likely to be induced at/around June 14th if they are not born by then, so I'm kind of antsy. You know, that antsy feeling we used to get at the Animal House after a new keg was put in the kegerator and delicious cold beer was only seconds away. Here it comes. What? Foam? I want beer. (Foam then proceeds to continue for the next 15 minutes). And to think that at any time at least 2 engineers lived there!

Oh what a difference 226 days can make.........

Yowzers!

Katie circa 2005




Katie circa 226 days pregnant

This was inevitable.......

Who is more pregnant? Mothball circa 2003 Katie circa 2005    Free polls from Pollhost.com

Tailgating Dreams!

Now that Spring football has come and gone, we have officially entered the summer doldrums of college football - a land void of anything interesting that is football related. Actually, the doldrums have been quite exciting this year, we have had a two stud recruits committ to ND, and all of the USC scandals. Bluegraysky.blogspot.com has excellent summary of everything that has transpired during the Pete Carroll era and when you consider all of it, it really paints an interesting picture of what that program is like.

Now, let's take the time to brainstorm about ways to improve our tailgating experience in the fall. I have two propositions:

1. Buy this.

2. Buy this.

Simple genius. Nuff said!