Angela and I both came down sick Thursday night and Friday morning. She was up all night and couldn't even keep down water, so she asked me to stay home from work and take her to her 7:45 am non-stress test that she had scheduled. Since I wasn't feeling well either, I wasn't super-excited, but I got up and drove her there.
The nurse hooked her up to the various sensors and came back in a little bit to tell us that she was having contractions two minutes apart and that we should go to the hospital. She had been through this before and figured that she was just dehydrated and that the hospital would give her an IV and send us home. She felt bad that I would be so bored. Little did we know...
When we got there, they had her put on a gown and one of the midwives from her practice, Deb, examined her. Much to our surprise, whe was dilated 3 to 4 centimeters! So, we weren't going home any time soon. She was admitted to the hospital at about 8:30 am. We got settled into the room and started making some phone calls. My brother was able to go to our house and pickup the items that we would need, since although they were packed, we didn't bring them along. Things were progressing slowly, but Angela was a champ, most of the time she didn't know she was even having contractions, since the pain from the stomach ache was worse.
By about 5:30 PM the pain was bad enough that she had a shot of staidol to "take the edge off". It was enough to let her sleep through the contractions at first and at least be able to bear them later on. Around 7:00 PM she asked about the epidoral and the midwife told her that she probably didn't have a lot of time to go, and she should try to make it through.
Sure enough, around 7:15PM the midwife told Angela that with her next contraction she should start pushing, and they started to get more people in the room to get ready. At 7:48 PM, we had our daughter, Ivy Elizabeth Steel. We got to hold her for a short time, but before I barely had cut the cord I had to get back by Angela's side. At 7:56 PM, we had our son, Jonathan Thomas Steel.
We later found that Ivy's weight was 4 lbs 5.3 ounces and she was 18.5 inches. Jonathan was 5 lbs 0.7 ounces and 18 inches.
They were both taken to the NICU since they were only 36 weeks old and quite small. The last two days have been a whirlwind of activity. As of this writing, Ivy is still in the NICU, but Jonathan has been released to the Nursery. While this is good news, it has actually made things a little harder, since Angela has to be in two separate parts of the hospital to feed them. She has little time for herself, which means her meals are rushed and her rest is minimal, but she is hanging in there and doing a great job.
As for me, and I tired and starting to become drained, but I am hanging in there and doing all that I can. Getting to hold Ivy and Jonathan and stare at their beautiful faces gives me all the energy I need.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Getting close
We're getting close to the big day. We had the Baby shower on Saturday, which went very well. The house is full of stuff that needs to be organized and assembled. Seeing everything really makes it sink in that there will be two more people in the house soon.
Sierra has become increasingly nervous about boxes and things around the house. I think she knows that something is happening, and is getting a little anxoius. I still think that she'll be great though, once the twins have arrived. We may have some jealousy issues to deal with, but other than that, I think she'll enjoy it.
To accentuate that things are progressing, Angela called today saying that the doctor sent her to the hospital, since the non-stress test indicated that she was having contractions. When she got there they gave her some water and told her to put her feet up for the rest of the day. Apparently they were sporadic enough that she wasn't actually in labor (phew), so they sent her home. Hopefully that does the trick, since we have a little while until we hit the 36th week on December 23rd.
Sierra has become increasingly nervous about boxes and things around the house. I think she knows that something is happening, and is getting a little anxoius. I still think that she'll be great though, once the twins have arrived. We may have some jealousy issues to deal with, but other than that, I think she'll enjoy it.
To accentuate that things are progressing, Angela called today saying that the doctor sent her to the hospital, since the non-stress test indicated that she was having contractions. When she got there they gave her some water and told her to put her feet up for the rest of the day. Apparently they were sporadic enough that she wasn't actually in labor (phew), so they sent her home. Hopefully that does the trick, since we have a little while until we hit the 36th week on December 23rd.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
I really need to get better at this
Well, once again, it has been a while since I posted something here. Since the last post, we found out that we are having a boy and a girl, which is pretty exciting, and has helped the planning quite a bit. Angela and Holly (her sister) went to Babies R Us again and added a lot of stuff to the registry, like bedding, clothes, etc.
We have also had two ultrasound sessions since the last post, one at 18 weeks and another at 22 weeks. Scans from both are available in the gallery. They still look mostly like little aliens to me, though.
Angela has also started to feel them kicking, which is very exciting. I have even gotten to feel them, which was neat. The first night Angela remembers them kicking, she was laying on the couch, and her stomach moved! I quickly went over and was able to feel the little kicks. Moments like that make me very happy, and are a nice interlude to the typical feelings of worry that I'm going through.
Earlier this week we had our tour of the hospital. I wonder how much of it we will actually remember by the time the babies get here. Just finding the elevators might be a problem, since the entrance we're supposed to use changes based on the time of the day we arrive. They did a very good job of explaining everything, though, and added some comfort by answering questions. We will be allowed to have four extra visitors during labor and delivery, which I thought was interesting. I don't know if we will invite others to come or not, but it is nice to know that if we want someone there, it will be possible.
I guess I had a lot to talk about, but that's it for now.
We have also had two ultrasound sessions since the last post, one at 18 weeks and another at 22 weeks. Scans from both are available in the gallery. They still look mostly like little aliens to me, though.
Angela has also started to feel them kicking, which is very exciting. I have even gotten to feel them, which was neat. The first night Angela remembers them kicking, she was laying on the couch, and her stomach moved! I quickly went over and was able to feel the little kicks. Moments like that make me very happy, and are a nice interlude to the typical feelings of worry that I'm going through.
Earlier this week we had our tour of the hospital. I wonder how much of it we will actually remember by the time the babies get here. Just finding the elevators might be a problem, since the entrance we're supposed to use changes based on the time of the day we arrive. They did a very good job of explaining everything, though, and added some comfort by answering questions. We will be allowed to have four extra visitors during labor and delivery, which I thought was interesting. I don't know if we will invite others to come or not, but it is nice to know that if we want someone there, it will be possible.
I guess I had a lot to talk about, but that's it for now.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Babies R Us
We spent more than two hours in a Babies R Us on Sunday setting up our registry. We picked out most of the big stuff like cribs, changing table, stroller, car seats, etc. and Angela will probably go back later to add the small things. Of course, once we know what gender they are, we'll also have to add clothing, room decor, and all of that fun stuff.
It was interesting trying to pick things out when you really don't know anything about the person you're picking it for. What will they like? Will they like the color blue like Angela and I do? Which pattern should we choose for the bouncy seat thing? A couple of times we selected two different patterns for things. Hopefully we won't get into a situation where they both like one and hate the other. I'm sure that would make for some great times.
It was interesting trying to pick things out when you really don't know anything about the person you're picking it for. What will they like? Will they like the color blue like Angela and I do? Which pattern should we choose for the bouncy seat thing? A couple of times we selected two different patterns for things. Hopefully we won't get into a situation where they both like one and hate the other. I'm sure that would make for some great times.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Been a while
It's been a while since I posted, which I feel bad about. Angela is doing well, although she is still recovering from a battle with bronchitis. The midwife at the office she is going to didn't pick up on it, but three days later she couldn't breathe so she went to our doctor. They gave her amoxicillin and she's doing much better now.
She has gained five pounds, which is apparently right on track. I think it's weird that she's only gained five pounds, but she looks bigger. I guess things have shifted around enough that her belly just looks big.
We went to the OB the other day and got to hear the heartbeats. She found the first one right away, but had to hunt around for the second one, which made us both a little nervous. It was in there, though, and sounded good, so we're very happy.
Her next ultrasound is on August 17th, when she'll be about eighteen weeks, so we should be able to really see something then. From what we've read, you can't normally determine sex until after twenty weeks, though, so we'll have to wait a little while until we can find that out.
She has gained five pounds, which is apparently right on track. I think it's weird that she's only gained five pounds, but she looks bigger. I guess things have shifted around enough that her belly just looks big.
We went to the OB the other day and got to hear the heartbeats. She found the first one right away, but had to hunt around for the second one, which made us both a little nervous. It was in there, though, and sounded good, so we're very happy.
Her next ultrasound is on August 17th, when she'll be about eighteen weeks, so we should be able to really see something then. From what we've read, you can't normally determine sex until after twenty weeks, though, so we'll have to wait a little while until we can find that out.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Proud Papa?
I never pictured myself as the beaming father type showing off pictures of his kids. Yet, there I was yesterday with a printout of my wife's first ultrasound showing that we're pregnant with twins, walking around the Library showing it off to everyone at work. The babies are still pretty small and barely recognizable (at least to me) in the ultrasound, since Angela is only at six weeks, but we're very excited.
Taking a queue from Brenda at work, I've decided to start jotting down my thoughts here. I'm sure there will be a lot to talk and think about in the coming months and years, and I doubt I'll be able to remember it all, so hopefully this will work out as a good place to go back and check out later on.
Taking a queue from Brenda at work, I've decided to start jotting down my thoughts here. I'm sure there will be a lot to talk and think about in the coming months and years, and I doubt I'll be able to remember it all, so hopefully this will work out as a good place to go back and check out later on.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Lock down Internet Explorer browsing through content manager
Microsoft KB Article 267930 describes this process for IE 5.x, but they also work for IE 6.0. The process is rather simple, yet effective.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Convert sparseimage to asr dmg
When creating an image with Carbon Copy Cloner, if you forget to have it convert the image to asr, the following command will do so.
hdiutil convert -format UDZO /Source.sparseimage -o /Source_asr.dmg
hdiutil convert -format UDZO /Source.sparseimage -o /Source_asr.dmg
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Friday, January 07, 2005
Microsoft Anti-Spyware
I installed Microsoft's new Anti-Spyware program yesterday (
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx), and so far I am impressed. They purchased another company (Great Giant?) and have been re-working their product.
Some nice features include their "System Explorers", which allow you to view things that you would normally have to use several other programs to get at, such as startup processes, browser helper objects, and even shell execute hooks.
It also runs in the background to monitor installations for possible problems. I just installed Acrobat Pro and I received several pop-ups informing me of the changes that were being made and allowed. The software knew about Adobe, so therefore allowed them. I am guessing that if it didn't know what the software was it would ask what I wanted to do, and if it knew that it was SpyWare it would block it immediately.
We'll see how things progress. Hopefully MS will make this a free download. I would imagine that if they attempt to include it with Windows they will face lawsuits from other anti-Spyware companies, so that probably won't happen.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx), and so far I am impressed. They purchased another company (Great Giant?) and have been re-working their product.
Some nice features include their "System Explorers", which allow you to view things that you would normally have to use several other programs to get at, such as startup processes, browser helper objects, and even shell execute hooks.
It also runs in the background to monitor installations for possible problems. I just installed Acrobat Pro and I received several pop-ups informing me of the changes that were being made and allowed. The software knew about Adobe, so therefore allowed them. I am guessing that if it didn't know what the software was it would ask what I wanted to do, and if it knew that it was SpyWare it would block it immediately.
We'll see how things progress. Hopefully MS will make this a free download. I would imagine that if they attempt to include it with Windows they will face lawsuits from other anti-Spyware companies, so that probably won't happen.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Add LPR Printer Port First to Avoid Hang
Adding LPR printers in windows is a little kludgy. I found that it was easier to add the printer port first, then add the printer using that port, since the computer hung when trying to setup the printer through straight IP printing. This is probably partly due to the network environment where the printer is only reachable through LPR.
To add the printer port:
Open the Printers and Faxes window
Select File, Server Properties
Select Ports tab
Click Add Port
Select Standard TCP/IP Port and install as usual
After installing the port, you should be back at the Print Server Properties Window
Select the Port and click Configure Port
Under Protocol, select LPR
Enter a Queue name under LPR settings (usually raw)
To add the printer port:
Open the Printers and Faxes window
Select File, Server Properties
Select Ports tab
Click Add Port
Select Standard TCP/IP Port and install as usual
After installing the port, you should be back at the Print Server Properties Window
Select the Port and click Configure Port
Under Protocol, select LPR
Enter a Queue name under LPR settings (usually raw)
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