Adam & Emily had a little Behr (I think)

[neophyte]

Indiana Adam Behr joined us at 1:25 PM on 8/17, weighing 8 lbs 5 oz, measuring 21 inches and with a full head of dark black hair.

I may be just a bit biased, but he's perfect in every way.

Both he and Emily are home now and doing great. She is radiant.

Not only has the countdown begun for his OW cert, but soon my first and favorite dive buddy will break her long, gestational dry streak for our first shared descent here off Southern California. The SoCal dive community will be extremely lucky to have her join their ranks.

Thank you all so much for the congratulations and well wishing.

Calmly terrified new dad,

Adam

 

[undrwater]

Calmly terrified...yes...I like that.

 

[wetrat]

I was trying to come up with some advice for you Adam, but after 16 years of fatherhood, I'm pretty much still calmly terrified. You should have seen Mark (scvdiver) and Rick (riguerin) sharing their passion for diving (and life!) with their sons on the Lois Ann on Saturday. I think that's a big part of what being a dad is all about!

John

 

[CaptainMarvel]

Congrats Adam! Being a father of two (4-year-old son and 7-month-old daughter) has and will continue to be the most rewarding experience of my life. The best to you and your family.

-Scott

 

[Archangel]

(Fathering advice)

You my beloved friend, and Emily will grudglingly hafta put the week-long vacations on hold for the next 18-25 years, the 13 year old "babysitter" will become more important than your life-long brother in arms, and you can give up buying that red sports car as 'diapers' will be the largest cash cow outflow for the next three plus years.


OK serious talk now, call in the troops, mother in law, friends etc. . . your new bundle of joy is high maintenance-feeding every two hours-Emily (and you) will need to get sleep. Sleep deprivation leads to depression and psychosis.

Laura and I are here for you three (heck, s'not like we can take off for a week-long vacation). Dont be hesitant to call.

Love,

T

 

[SoCalAngel]

Congratualations to both of you!!! :wave-smil :balloon

(motherly advice) Emily, I haven't met you, but trust me on this: If little Indyy is sleeping, you sleep too! It is Adam's job to clean the house, go grocery shopping, and run all those errands (including pamper's runs and changing diapers). It is your job to feed and take care of the litl'un and get as much sleep as you can. No scheduled feedings, just when he is hungry. I didn't follow this advice on the first one and was very irritable most of the time...like a constant pms. I did for my second, and not only was I more pleasant, so was baby Alex then (and now).

Side note: Teenagers suck the life out of you, so enjoy these happy days when everything the baby does makes you giggle or coo. 'Cuz, when he gets older, everything he does and says will make you want to vomit or kill him. :shakehead Trust me. :help:

 

[neophyte]

It's not too far off from how you described, scubalaurel; I run around shopping and try to keep home as homelike as possible in between. But, I simply can't get enough of the little guy and try to get in a significant amount of the feeding, changing, soothing etc...

We're also accepting every bit of help we can.

John, we're doing our best to share all the passion we've got for all the things that make living so worthwhile. He doesn't get out much yet, but he already loves being outdoors. Pretty much without exception, no matter how inconsolable he seems, taking him out onto the balcony amongst the crowd of shoulder high organically growing tomato plants widens his eyes and soothes his cries. He's going to be just fine. At the very least.

As far as teenagers, I don't even want to think about it. I remember very clearly what I was like as a teenager and can't even imagine what the divine retribution I'm sure to receive will entail.

From the stories I hear, Emily was at least as much trouble. We're in for it, but not for awhile.

For now it's all light, love, laughter and shockingly soft, sweet-smelling skin.

 

[neophyte]

So my dear, dear friend calls me yesterday ('bout 5p) and asks my medical opinion, "how long does labor last?" So I answered 19-28 hours for the first one to pave the path into this world. I then ask, "when did labor start and how close are the contractions?" Beloved Neophyte answers, 11a and 5-7 minutes apart. . . .

. . . . In as calm (and excited) voice as I could, I said to put the suitcase in the car, and leeeeisurely drive to the hospital, you are going to hafta put your life on hold for the next 18-25 years.

So Tevis, with his humble and generous nature, has told the story as if I knew more than I did and he less. As is so often the case though, truth is stranger. And here it is.

I'd had a voicemail from him a few days before but, distracted as I was by being convinced that every time my wife called out from another room it was to announce imminent labor, I'd yet to return the call.

Emily had been having semi-regular contractions since waking that morning, but neither of us were too sure what to make of it, having been told that most couples dealing with their first pregnancy end up at the hospital several times, and are subsequently sent home, before the actual event is upon them.

Knowing our helpful, medically trained friend would be sitting in traffic, on his way to our regularly scheduled, weekly skills at night dive (which I would be missing, again) I decided to finally get back to him. I intended to work in what was going on with Emily if at all possible, of course, and get his opinion, but I certainly didn't intend to ask how long labor lasts, nor did I.

It was 6:10 PM when I called and got no answer, and 6:18 by the time he called me back. Yes, I verified that in my phone's call log.

I gave Tevis the facts and he immediately replied that I would be a dad in 19 hours. There were no weasel words involved. There was no broad range of hours. I'd asked no questions. He did tell me to get to the hospital in a timely yet leisurely fashion.

As I stated above Indiana was born at 1:25 PM the next day.

Exactly 19 hours and seven minutes after the call started. It was a three minute call.

He was off by less than five minutes!

How's that for a man knowing how things work?

Thanks again Tevis.

Understand that I am in awe.

 

[riguerin]

Congrats, Adam ! As a participative father of a boy from second number one, I have some advise that will help you survive the next few weeks.

When you're changing a diaper, never ... ever ...ever ... loose visual contact with the fire hose. Not even for a fraction of a second. If you you do, you're as good as dead ! Make sure that you have a clean towel, rag, or cloth diaper handy , and are trained to smother the stream when the inevitable situation arises. In fact, this will sharpen your situational awareness like no other drilling that you will encounter. Everything else you need to know for the first few months you can learn from reading "What to Expect ...".

When you eventually make the switch to solid food, the whole game changes. Nothing will test your task loading skills than getting a blowout diaper, while you're solo and about to pay at the grocery checkout line. I don't want to scare or overwhelm you right now, so feel free to PM me when you're ready for this ... the details are not pretty ... but can save you life ;-) Good luck, bro !

 

[SoCalAngel]

...When you're changing a diaper, never ... ever ...ever ... loose visual contact with the fire hose. Not even for a fraction of a second. If you you do, you're as good as dead ! Make sure that you have a clean towel, rag, or cloth diaper handy , and are trained to smother the stream when the inevitable situation arises. In fact, this will sharpen your situational awareness like no other drilling that you will encounter. .... !

oh my gosh, I so remember the first checkup, when my eldest totally put his pediatrician's flame out! :flame: It was so hard not to laugh! :laughing:

...When you eventually make the switch to solid food, the whole game changes. Nothing will test your task loading skills than getting a blowout diaper, while you're solo and about to pay at the grocery checkout line. I don't want to scare or overwhelm you right now, so feel free to PM me when you're ready for this ... the details are not pretty ... but can save you life ;-) Good luck, bro !

I sooooooo don't miss that part. Thanks for reminding me about it, as I was starting to get all nostalgic and was considering another... oh, almost forgot...Anyone wanna buy two 200 cubic ft scuba tanks? Only $1,000...

:eek5:

Although, I do love that wonderful baby smell and soft skin