It's been too long!

As was promised to Grandma Jerri, we are finally updating the blog. Parenthood finds us without much extra time and certain things tend to be put off again and again. Excuses aside, we have had an eventful last several months.

Michael is almost 11 months old now and is into everything!!! He was just baptised in August and we had a big party to celebrate it (which he managed to sleep through most of!) He has a new toy to help him practice his walking, so much to mommy's dismay he'll be walking on his own in no time.

Mike is still working as a software engineer for 3PV and the AssureSign product seems to be gaining some momentum. Feel free to take a look at it at assuresign.com - you can even try out the online signature part for free!

Michelle had been working part time as a postpartum nurse, but the unit did some reorganizing and had what they called a "reduction of force" and 14 out of 17 of us were "reduced". The labor and delivery girls are left to fill in the gaps (or craters) left in our absence. The difficulty I'm left with now in looking for a job is that I am only able to do part time and prefer night shift so the little guy doesn't have to do day care. There are a few of those positions out there, but most of them require critical care experience, which I don't have. They'd be willing to train me if I were doing full time, but it's too much of an investment for them if I'm only a part timer. So for now, I'm looking and enjoying my stay at home mom status.

Mom Chynoweth has finished all the chemo, radiation and surgery and we're praying that there will be no more of that to mess with. Jim and Jess welcomed little Jackson James to the family in February and are trying to buy a cute little house in Jacksonville and their little ones are growing fast. Grandpa David went to be with Jesus yesterday, leaving Grandma Jerri and the rest of us missing his sweet spirit. He will be missed but we are so glad that his battle with pain and a body that didn't want to keep fighting is now over.

Grandpa D'Aprile has settled in well with Mom and Dad D'Aprile. Aunt Kim is really enjoying Auntieness and fixing up her condo. Josh and Carolyn just welcomed Chloe Grace to the family, and Ali and Chris are engaged! Uncle John, literally the most giving man I will ever have known, lost his battle with cancer last spring and went to be with Aunt Marge.

There's so much more, but I won't bore you with the details. Feel free to give us a call, drop us an email, or stop by to see to catch up on the rest! Until next time...

There arose such a splatter...

As you can tell from the title, this is a rather juicy story. For all of the Christmas poetry and punning people, Mike gets all the credit for the title of this tale. I'm still a little shaken from the event and not quite sure where to start, so I'll simply begin.

Our little man is about 2 months old now. We have a pretty good routine, so I got up last night for our usual night time feeding. It was about 4:30am. As usual, he finished on the first side and then I went to change his diaper to wake him up before we start on the second side. This time it was a little different. I got the clean diaper ready and positioned and grabbed a wipe to wipe him off. Now anybody with little boys knows that some form of peepee teepee is essential, and Mike and I have learned this the hard way. We have dealt with sprayed walls, wet table tops, even poop sprayed onto the diaper caddy, but what was about to happen caused all of those to pale in comparison. Holding his legs out of the way, I wiped him off and he let out a little gas... not too uncommon. What I didn't realize was that I had just triggered the flood gates to let forth and I had strategically positioned the cannon for a perfect launch. Out of nowhere, he let loose this foul stream of poo that launched, hitting the diaper caddy, the counter (spilling down the side), projecting over the diaper genie and trash can finally coming to a violent and explosive end on the back of the door and the floor below. Had the door been open, I have no doubt that the spew would have made it to the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. As it is, some of the splatter did make it under the door and halfway across the hall floor. The phrase sh*$ hitting the fan suddenly had a whole new meaning.



I stood there for a moment in complete shock and amazement of the sheer volume of material that had just exploded from such a small person. In a brilliant show of self preservation, he looked up at me and gave me an adorable ear to ear smile. I'm sure he felt great now! Knowing I wouldn't be able to handle this alone, I called Mike for help and we spent the next half an hour cleaning the changing table, diaper caddy, floor, door and child. Oddly enough, the child had the least poo on him.

All in all, from rump to dump it was about 4 feet. For a 2 foot long person that is impressive! That is like an average size man projecting poo 12 feet! Now that I think of it, I'm not sure if I should be impressed or frightened. To check out the poo pictures, take a look at our web album.

3 weeks went too fast

I can't believe we have already reached three weeks from when our little one joined the family. It has been a wonderful, rather tiring and fast three weeks. Both Mike and I have loved this time and have learned a lot. I am starting to feel more confident as a new mom and Mike is a fantastic and wonderfully involved dad. We have loved being able to spend all this time with each other and with our precious little guy. Little Michael is doing well and growing a lot. At his appointment Tuesday he had reached 8.5 pounds and 20 inches long. He's eating well, and even giving us some longer stretches of sleep at night (anywhere from 3 to 5 hours!!)We know we are really lucky. We've heard the horror stories of babies that scream for hours for no reason or cluster feed or whatever difficulty you can think of. He really has been a fantastic baby with no real complications. (This probably means that our next baby is going to be difficult, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it). For all who have been asking, we've posted more pictures of Michael and finished off the belly by week pictures. Enjoy! We'll have more updates again soon.

And then there were three

October 15th, 2008

The day started much like any other. Up early and off to work - expectantly waiting for some indication that something was finally happening. After our weekly checkup with our OB, I headed back to work, fresh with the disappointment that not much had changed.

The phone call started much like any other. Having grown accustomed to receiving calls during the day that weren't "the call," I answered my phone without much expectation. But then I heard the words I had waited oh so long to hear: "I think you should get ready to go. Contractions are coming 4 minutes apart and lasting for a minute now. We may need to head to the hospital in a little while."

My mind surprisingly devoid of thought, I sat down with my team and started going over the list I'd been maintaining of things that needed to get done in my absence. With that done, I let my supervisor know that I needed to head out, and walked out of my office with a odd mix of excitement, fear, and disbelief.

When we reached the hospital a while later, we found ourselves facing a pair of competing fears. On the one hand we were definitely afraid that we would be told that what Michelle was experiencing was only false labor and not the real thing. But on the other hand, if labor had truly begun, it meant that we were about to enter into the relatively unknown realm of childbirth and of course child-rearing.

The triage nurse confirmed that Michelle was contracting very regularly, but explained that the contractions were not yet strong enough to get things really started. At the same time, they felt like things had progressed enough that it would not be safe to let Michelle labor in the comfort of our own home. After a brief discussion, it was decided that we would walk around for a few hours downstairs to see if that would cause Michelle to progress. Then after normal business hours, our OB doctor would stop by the hospital and break the bag of waters to cause active labor to begin in earnest.

The afternoon passed relatively quickly with the distractions of family to help keep our eyes away from our watches. Michelle's parents and my mom joined us at the hospital for walking and card-playing. When the clock struck 5:30pm we made our way to the elevators expectantly, certain that we were not ready to face the uncertainty that undoubtedly would dominate the hours to come.

When we reached the labor and delivery unit once again, we were told that things had gotten busy and that they wanted us to go grab some dinner and come back around 7:00pm to have the bag of waters broken since things were expected to calm down by then. No stranger to the reality of hospital work, Michelle was quick to point out that the time we were told to return conveniently coincided with the change of shift.

After a leisurely dinner at the hospital cafeteria, we headed back upstairs once more; this time we sincerely hoped that they were ready for us (and us for them!). Our OB doctor was already there and in a flurry of activity (that has already managed to fade into one long dream-like snapshot in my mind), Michelle was admitted and her bag of waters was broken at 7:45pm.

With the bag of waters broken, labor immediately took on a new pace. The contractions Michelle had been having all day quickly began their inevitable crescendo with surprising speed. With Michelle's concentration focused purely on making it through her next contraction, and my concentration also focused purely on making it through her next contraction, we were relieved for the incredible support and help we received from our doula, Holly-a coworker and former preceptor of Michelle's, and our nurse Jeanne. The parents were able to stop by the room for one last brief visit before things intensified too much.

With the pain and discomfort level rising by the minute, we decided to give the huge spa-like tub a try and have an IV inserted just in case. But our little Michael had plans of his own. Before the tub was was even ready for Michelle or the IV had even been inserted, the contractions intensified further. A quick check from our nurse indicated that there would be no bath. She called our doctor and then gathered our doula and me around Michelle so we could do all that we could to try to help Michelle to hold off until the doctor arrived.

Telling a woman who has carried a child to full-term and is now at the height of her labor not to push is a risky move for anyone to make. As Michelle's husband, I found myself torn between my desire to have the doctor present to deliver the baby, and my desire to not make a life-long enemy by telling Michelle not to push.

In the end, all prior thought fled from my mind as every available neuron wrestled with the enormity of what was happening. Watching the love of my life go through what was clearly the most painful experience of her life was agonizing. I felt truly helpless as I watched Michelle push through the pain (no pun intended) with far more grace and perseverance than I could even imagine mustering.

Watching our beautiful baby boy take his first breath (and then promptly exhale it completely as he screamed at the top of his lungs), I was overcome with an inexplicable awe and love for this new life that we had waited so long to see and hold. The next minutes went by in a haze of tears and smiles that somehow mingled very fittingly.

Michael was born at 9:44pm on October 15th (with the doctor present) - only 2 hours after the bag of waters was broken. He weighed in at a healthy 7lbs 4oz and stretched out to a nice little 18.5 inches in length (although having witnessed the birth - let me tell you that 18.5 inches is not as little as it sounds!). Despite the immediate pain and discomfort, Michelle began to recover quickly as she suddenly had something new to focus on...

Since then the days seem to be flying by even more quickly than ever before. At the end of each day, the list of what we've accomplished seems slim at first glance. But who knew that bi-hourly feedings and diaper changes could take so much time but somehow still leave you with a proud, warm, and fuzzy feeling of accomplishment.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers and encouragement. Please check out our online photo album for pictures of our new addition.

Are we there yet?

Well, here we are less than a week away from our due date and feeling very ready for anything to happen! Without going into too much detail, the doctor told us about two and a half weeks ago that baby was head down, way down and I was already very dilated. Then at 37 weeks they said things had progressed further and they would be surprised if we made it to our appointment at 38 weeks. HA! Here we are about to go to our doctor's appointment 2 weeks later. Apparently our child has a mind of his own about these things. With the progress my body has made though, things are very uncomfortable! As a result, waddling around work is no longer a very good option so I started my maternity leave yesterday. Now that leaves me twiddling my thumbs, and both of us feeling very powerless. We've already run the gamut of everything we can try to try to get some contractions started, but nothing is sticking. I've had plenty of strong, even painful Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing that gets us the result we're looking for. Our next hope is that tonight's full moon will give us a jump start. I know it sounds like an old wives tale, but working on the mother baby unit, the nurses all know that we can expect things to pick up right around the time of a full moon. I'm really hoping that will apply to us this time. Please be praying that the little one decides to come soon and that in the mean time God will grant his flustered parents an extra measure of patience!

Almost there

I can't believe it's been more than a month since we last posted. What is even more amazing than that is the fact that it's only a month until we're due! If you go by weeks, we are 36 weeks this past Monday. The due date is at 40 weeks, but a baby is considered full term anywhere from 37-40 weeks. If he decides to come on the early side of things, we could have as little as a week left!! AHH!!

I'd be kidding myself if I said that I thought we were ready, although it still seems that anyone who says that they are ready is in for a huge shock. I'm choosing not to set myself up for that disaster. I know that we aren't ready for this, so if we do ok, it will be a pleasant surprise. Mike keeps saying that he thinks I'm ready. I think I'll be ok for the first week when I know what's normal and I know what's supposed to happen, after that, I'm going to be a freaked out wreck just like every other first time parent. Then there's only 18 years to go after that!

We are getting really excited about him coming (but some of my reasons are different than Mike's). We both can't wait to see him, hold him and learn what his personality is. Though we haven't had any complications to this pregnancy, I am looking forward to the opportunity to have my body back in full working order again. The floor seems to have gotten so much further down, and I am looking forward to being able to reach it again. I will also not miss the breathlessness, heartburn, fatigue and general loss of mobility. We have the added blessing of Mike being able to take 3 weeks paid paternity leave. It will be nice to have both of us home at the beginning to adjust to all the new changes.

We have gotten most things ready. The room is set up. We have more clothes than this child will be able to wear. The car seat is in. And we finish our Lamaze classes this week. Now we're waiting.

On the daddy front... that word in and of itself is slow to sink in but is already taking on new meaning. I (Mike) am quickly getting in touch with a broad spectrum of emotions that seem to span the breadth of the human experience.

At times I'm wide-eyed with fear when it dawns on me that I'm about to be responsible for a tiny new life being introduced into this big world of ours. Fear often turns to terror upon further musings as I ponder the impossible task of helping raise our son into a conscientious man of God. And that's assuming he survives a childhood that will likely involve a wild mix of fire, trees, mud, and chaos (if he takes after his father or his uncle or any other male relative who's come before him for that matter).

At other times I feel like I'm overflowing with excitement and anticipation. I can barely contain the flood of questions that rushes through my mind. What will it be like to see him for the first time? Who will he look like - his mother or his father - or some combination of the two of us? What type of personality will he have? What will his first word be? When will he first smile at me in recognition (at least I hope it's a matter of when...)? The questions go on and the enthusiasm seems to build daily.

But at other times I choke up as I'm struck by the indescribable miracle of life that God is entrusting to Michelle and I. It's truly humbling to enter into what will likely be the greatest [joyful] challenge of my life knowing that I've likely never been as unprepared for anything else I've faced before. At the same time I'm struck with relief when I'm reminded that the same God that is forming Michael in the womb will be forming him into the man he wants him to be - because of and despite me. And I couldn't ask for a better companion and helper to enter parenthood with.

Of at least this one thing I am certain: as great an adventure as little Michael's life has been during pregnancy, the real adventure is just getting started. I anxiously and expectantly look forward to the next chapter in the life of the Chynoweths.

Say cheese

So our little one finally cooperated today (after much coaxing) and we were able to see his face. That was a very surreal moment. We thought we would share our little cutie with you. There are several more pictures in the ultrasound section of the web album.