The Rumpus

Kelly is a Rock Star!!!

You probably already know that Kelly is an awesome photographer.  You may not already know that she was nice enough to take some pictures of Lindsey's delivery.  Thanks, Kelly!!!

As we've finally gotten around to editing some of the pictures, we thought we'd share them in a slide show.  Please note that any issues with the pictures are not Kelly's fault, but are most likely due to my ineptitude in editing or the process of shrinking the pictures down so that the slide show isn't super huge.

Oh, and since this is our first attempt at this kind of thing, please let us know if it works.  You know, sound and everything.  It would also be good to know if you Mac people can use this type of file. 

Download lindseys_delivery.wmv

Thanks boys

Forgive me if there are grammatical errors or spelling mistakes I am typing fast in hopes the baby will stay sleeping.

(Outfit courtesy of Tete Kelly)

I was awake for four days straight and then was expected to take care of a newborn. I was awake the night before I was induced, the entire day and night of the induction and for the 2 days in the hospital. Who ever voted Good Sam as The Bay Area's Best Place to have a Baby-I BEG TO DIFFER! There was NO nursery! Maddox was rooming-in at all times; for shots, check-ups, baths, for all night screaming sessions, etc...and every ten minutes or so there was a nurse coming into our room. Oh, and my milk did not come in until yesterday (I had zero, zilch and the nurses kept trying to get the little guy to nurse on nothing) so there were three to four hour long crying jags. Finally, we resorted to formula and he is a perfect angel as long as his belly is full, but it seems to empty out pretty quickly. With no sleep and feedings ever 2 hours I was slowly approaching insanity. My mom stayed with us for two nights (thanks Mom), but I still just got little catnaps throughout the day and not much at night until Steve or my mom would relieve me for a few hours. But it was the greatest thing, last night Steve told me to go to sleep at 9 o'clock! So, I quickly did a little pumping and then hopped into bed...woke up only once to pump some more and then slept until 5:30! Steve played Playstation and did feedings in between games (I think) and stayed up all night long. I feel pretty refreshed but still exhausted. Thank you, thank you boys, I think I'll keep you. Steve, I think you are a great daddy and I love you.

Maddox!!!

Maddox Muir Brandenburg was born on August 16, 2005 at about 5:50pm. He was 9 lbs, 9 oz. (!)  Lindsey and her baby boy are doing well and are expected to leave the hospital tomorrow afternoon.  We'll keep you posted!

A Dog's Life...

So we just got a new digital camera and since neither Lindsey or I want to be in any of the pictures, we've been practicing on the dogs.  So enjoy a couple of pics of Rascal, Wookiee and Gatsby.  Gatsby isn't ours, but he's Wookiee's best friend and we'll be taking care of him (and the other two and the baby) while my parents are in Russia for a month.  My mom doesn't think I'll remember to feed him.  She's probably right.

Wookiee in his favorite pose on the couch.

Rascal is never far from a toy.

Gatsby is weird.

There will be a mutiny in about two seconds if these dogs aren't fed.  Look at the snarl on Wookiee's face.

Tune in next week for the dog vs. newborn wrestling pictures.  We're planning on a pay-per-view webcam crib match at some point.  I know you can't wait.

Banana Ketchup & Mucus Plugs, oh my!

So first a caveat from my wife...  I opened a bottle of wine tonight and since she doesn't help me drink much these days I felt compelled to enjoy most of the wine myself.  So please forgive any content and/or spelling indiscretions that I may have tonight.  Unless of course you spell ketchup as "catsup" - then you need more help than this poor blog can give you.

Now on to my story...  Two major events happened today.  Lindsey ejected (I'm not sure this is the right word?!) at least part of her mucus plug and I tried the banana ketchup that we brought home from our honeymoon in St. Lucia.  As you will see, these two events are not as different as you might first suspect.

First, the mucus plug.  Guys, in case you didn't already know this (I had no idea until birthing class), women accrue (again, what's the right word here, people?) a "plug" of mucus in their cervix during pregnancy.  It's essentially an accumulation of secretions that serves as a protective barrier between the big, bad world and the baby.  Sometime before birth (sometimes as much as two weeks) the plug discharges (please, somebody help with some euphemisms here - I'm grossing myself out!).  Kind of like the pregnancy version of Mr. Hanky, I suppose.  At any rate, the plug looks just like this (please don't look if you are faint of heart, squeamish or are currently eating banana ketchup).

As I have already alluded to, this looked just like the banana ketchup that I ate!  If you're interested in banana ketchup, it's one of the exports of the island of St. Lucia, where Lindsey and I had our honeymoon.  Bananas are the big crop there and, wouldn't you know it, some enterprising St. Lucian decided that it would be a great idea to make ketchup out of them.  Oddly enough, the bottle that we bought had a nasty dark splotch in it, just like the picture of the mucus plug.  Perhaps inspired by "Steve Don't Eat It", I ate it anyway.  So far, I'm still alive and I'm here to report that it tasted much better than your average mucus plug (from what I've heard).  Actually, the taste was pretty good (think vinegary banana slush) and went well with the pork chops that we grilled up (sorry, Babe!).  Lindsey loved it so much that she spit out the first bite and disavowed dinner for the rest of the night.  I love cooking for this crowd! 

At any rate, if you're ever over for barbecue to our house, don't be shy about asking for the banana ketchup.  I'm sure it will still be in the fridge.  Right next to the mucus plug and across from the placenta.