Adventures in Parenting (and other such things...)

Henry develops new skills every day. Lately he screams (happily) and "talks" a lot. He's gaining more and more control over his hands and he grabs at everything he can get a grip on. Usually, it goes straight into the mouth, where it competes with the hand that's already in there. Henry LOVES to suck on his hands! And, he drools like crazy
Henry is still progressing towards becoming a very good sleeper. He's never consistent, but he quite frequently has very good nights. Last night he slept from 10pm until 7:30am 9 1/2 hours - not too shabby.

On Saturday, December 16, Henry decided not to eat. From 8:30am until 12:30am I couldn't get him to eat. And, every time I tried he screamed as if something terrible were happening to him. This, from a baby who usually eats every three hours, I was quite concerned. So, after talking to his doctor we decided to take him to Primary Childrens Hospital where they ran a bunch of tests and, fortunately, determined that nothing was wrong with him. He wasn't even dehydrated (but how?). So, after several hours, and some relief for me on the hospital breast pump, we went home with a fasting baby. Next day, he acted as if nothing had happened, he ate like a champ. Who knows what happened!?!

Last night we ventured out into the cold to view the lights at Temple Square. I especially like the foreign nativities. Henry just LOVED to look at all of the lights. I'm conviced that he will forever be intrigued by bright shinny objects.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

Isn't He Adorable

Fun Time!!

Lately we've been going to a lot of basketball games. We've been to several Utah Basketball Games and last night we went to Jazz Game. It's a good excuse to get out of the house and, for Joe, a good way to avoid studying! Henry loves all of the lights and activity in the arena, occassionally, however, the loud noises give hime quite a jump!

Joe finishes school for Christmas on Friday. He seems to be doing pretty well. So, far, he hasn't appeared overly stressed and he's getting good scores in all of his classes. Now that he has a short break, he wants to spend it finshing our basement. If all goes as planned we'll have a bathroom and a bedroom in what we now call, "the dungeon."

Henry is becoming more and more active every day! He smiles regularly now and he even giggles and screams (happily). It's ridiculously cute. He's not eating quite so often anymore either which makes me happy. And, for the first time he slept a full eight hour stretch this week. It was fabulous. Unfortunately he's not sleeping eight hours every night, he regularly sleeps at least one six hour stretch.

Henry has also discovered his mouth and his hands. For a few days he looked and a wiggled his hands and arms. Now he just shoves his whole fist (both of them actually) in his mouth. We call him squirrle, because he looks like a squirrle with his hands clasped together near or in his mouth. We also think he's right handed - he definately favors his right hand now when he is playing with toys.


Our house is all decorated and ready for Christmas. We've gotten a few presents for Henry and I'm excited to open them for him!! Actually, I'm excited for a time when he looks forward to Christmas and enjoys opening presents. That will be fun!!


We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. We wish you a merry Christmas!!

Henry Helps Joe Study

Halloween

Henry's Blessing

It's crazy how quickly time passes. Henry now weights 10 lbs 7 ozs. He is adorable. It's fun to see him grow. He's holding his head quite well now. He loves to look at lights on the ceiling and walls and especially loves watching the fan ceiling fan (which we turn on especially for him even thought it's cold).

Joe and our family and friends blessed Henry on Sunday. It was a wonderful event. We have a lot of wonderful people in our lives. As our Bishop said, we can expect a lot from a child who obviously has a lot of loving support. Thanks to everyone who came!

I'm enjoying motherhood. It's nice to not be tied down to a schedule. The hard thing for me is loosing the ability to control my own life. My life, and my schedule, are completely controlled by an 8 week old little boy. I still write articles for the Tribune and do some work for the law firm. Other than that, I've become addicted to watching television at 4:00pm when Oprah and Ellen compete for my time. And, of course there's the feeding every two hours and the comforting of a crying baby. It's fun to read to him too, his favorite book is Pedro the Brave, a riveting story about a young boy who saves his friends from the digestive system of a mean wolf.

Joe's busy in medical school. As usual, he's enjoying the challenge and making a whole slew of new friends. The medical school has soccer and flag football teams in which Joe participates. He has made many goals for the soccer team and is excited that his two goals made it possible for the first year medical students to beat the second year medical students. He also just recently earned his second "gross" hat, a hat that the anatomy professor gives to every student who gets 100% on their exam.

A Big Week

Two days after the birth of Henry, Joe was inducted into the medical profession and given his first white coat.

Henry has Arrived

After possibly a record breaking fast labor, Henry Joseph Atkin arrived.

Born: August 23, 2006 @ 11:47am
Weight: 5 lbs. 15 oz.
Height: 18 inches

Mom and Baby are perfectly healthy.

Summertime

If you want to know how much weight I have gained in the past 7 1/2 months, don't ask. I have no idea. I close my eyes when I get to the scale at the doctor's office. The less I know right now, the better I'll feel about myself. Right?!?! The last ultrasound I had was two weeks ago and Henry was 2lbs 8ozs. The rest of the weight I've likely gained, well, lets just hope it's not the ice cream. I'm still feeling really well, despite being uncomfortable with a huge belly. I suppose I have been extremely lucky to not have any of the expected pregnancy complaints.

Joe is still working feverishly on our house. The kitchen is really AMAZING now. It went from a terribly designed, unfriendly kitchen to an immaculate user friendly workspace. There was no detail left untouched. Everything is perfect, from the beatiful pergo floor to the backsplash and undercabinet lights. I'm lucky to have a husband who loves me so much that he'll make me the perfect house! If you haven't seen it yet, you really should stop by. I just wish we had before and after photos because you wouldn't believe the difference!

Because of the house we (especially Joe) haven't had a very exciting summer. Just a lot of work. Joe wants to do some relaxing sometime before he starts medical school in August, but what can we do? If you have any fun ideas, let us know. We always enjoy a little excitement.

We did go to Mexico in May. We had a great time, relaxining by the beach. The hotel we stayed in was beautiful. The only thing between the hotel and the sand on the beach was an equally fun swimming pool. I think Joe definately deserves another relaxing week in Mexico, but after buying a house, and checking prices on all of the baby stuff we have to buy and fixing our car twice now, we probably can't afford to just go to Mexico. Too bad... I'd really love to go again!

I now have to go to the doctor once a week for "non-stress tests". I'm not entirely sure why I have to do them, or what they're really looking for. All I do is lay on a bed with fetal monitors attached. The doctor said it can take anywhere from 1/2 hour to several hours, depending on how well Henry cooperates. And, on top of that, I still have to have my regular OB appointments every two weeks. This feels like it's becoming a full time job already and Henry's not even born yet!

Speaking of jobs, Joe got a summer job at Discover Card. He looked for quite a while for opportunities that would he would really enjoy, but everyone who was interested in hiring him became uninterested when they found out he could only work until August. So, he's stuck helping people transfer balances over the phone... Only problem is once the training ends, there's only 2 weeks left before school starts, they probably won't ever actually get very much work out of him and they knew it when they hired him. Crazy company must be really desperate for employees.

Gender

No secret's here, this one is definately a boy! The doctor assured us that this baby definately has male genitalia. But, in case you're wondering, they can't tell on the ultrasound if the baby is a hermaphradite, so keep your fingers crossed that Joe's gross knowledge of anatomy doesn't taint the gender of this child!

Stem Cell Research Continues to Progress

This is yet another attempt to make stem cell research an option without destroying the potential life of an embryo. Isn't science great! Click the link on the title above to read the article.

Oh Baby!

Well, the news is out... we're going to have a baby! As far as we can tell, it's a very healthy baby and according to the ultrasound technician it's already a BIG baby. I'm currently about 14 weeks or 3 months and 2 weeks. I've just started the second trimester. The due dates we have been given are: September 9, September 3 and August 24. I'm hoping for the earlier ones, but I guess at this point the baby will come when the time is right anyway.

Because I'm diabetic this pregnancy is considered "high-risk" which means I get extra attention from all of the doctors and technicians. It's actually kind of nice. I've already had two ultrasounds, the second of which was much more fun than the first. The baby was already very active. We watched while he/she ate amniotic fluid, waved, hit itself in the face, and yawned. It was really fun to see! Plus, seeing the baby move around made it more alive for us. Now it's not just the thing that's making me tired but it's really a living human being!

This doesn't change any of our plans, Joe will still go to the best medical school that he gets into, regardless of it's location. However, the timing is a bit complicated, considering that I'm due at approximately the same time he should be starting medical school. The doctor promised me that they always take babies of diabetics at least two weeks early, but even then, likely the earliest they would take the baby is near the end of August sometime. I've decided that it's really not worth it to worry about the timing until we know for sure which medical school Joe will be going to.

As for me, I've been feeling just fine. The only really noticeable differences have been a heightened sense of smell, serious tiredness and uncontrollable blood sugar levels. Joe has thrown up more than I have during this pregnancy!!

Stem Cell Research

I am excited to report that my op-ed piece on stem cell research was printed recently in the Deseret News. Click on the headling "Stem Cell Research" to be directed to the page. In a nutshell, embryonic stem cell research holds the key to the potential cure for diabetes and a myriad of other diseases as well. The future of stem cell research is promising. Hopefully, it will bring about the cure for Parkinsons, cancer, and type I diabetes and well as help in the creation of organs for those waiting for transplants. And likely many other currently known and unknown benefits. I hope you will read the article and sympathize with my position. Stem cell research is an important step in the progress of medical treatments.

Medical School

Many of you are following Joe's applications to medical school. If you want up to date information, I will attempt to post it here regularly.

ACCEPTANCES:

INTERVIEWS (in order of receipt):
Tulane University School of Medicine, Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Drexel University College of Medicine, Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Dartmouth Medical School, Thursday, October 27, 2005
Medical College of Wisconsin, Friday, November 18, 2005
University of California at Los Angeles, Thursday, December 8, 2005
University of Utah, Monday, November 28, 2005
Temple University, Declined by Joe

WAIT LIST:
University of California at Los Angeles, rcvd. March 9, 2006
Dartmouth Medical School, rcvd. March 31, 2006

SECONDARY REQUESTS (in order of receipt):
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Northwestern University, Evanston/Chicago, Illinois
Columbia University, New York City, New York
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
Stanford, University, Palo Alto, California
Brown Universtiy, Providence, Rhode Island
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado
Harvard University, Boston, Massachussets

STILL WAITING:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

REJECTIONS:
University of California at San Francisco, rcvd. November 15, 2005
Duke University, rcvd. November 28, 2005
University of California at San Diego, rcvd January 5, 2006
The Ohio State University, rcvd. January 25, 2006
Brown University, rcvd. February 1, 2006
University of Colorado, rcvd. February 5, 2006
Northwestern University, rcvd. February 13, 2006
University of Southern California, rcvd. February 15, 2006
Columbia University, rcvd. March 6, 2006
Harvard University, rcvd. March 10, 2006