Find me on Facebook

Chances are...if you're reading this, you're my friend. Or, you're a sworn enemy trying to learn my every move so you can plan your ambush. Either way...you may like to find me on Facebook, as well. If you're on Facebook, find me there. Just search for Jason Pankow and I will show up. Just don't pick the doofy guy from Chicago. That's not me. Actually, I asked him to be my friend, but he never responded. What a jerk.

Anyway...Facebook. I'll be there. You can also find Shaundar through me. Or, on your own. Whatever.

Our last concert for 18 years.

Thanks to my folks, we were able to go out to a concert, tonight. We saw Brandi Carlisle perform with the Seattle Symphony. She was great.

It wasn't too hard to be away. I know Shaundar was a bit worried about being away from Desi for the first time. We knew he was in good hands with my mom and dad, but there is still the new parent jitters.

This is going to take some getting used to. Before, if we wanted to go out, all we had to do was make sure we were home long enough to put the dog out. Now, we'll have to find, and pay for, a babysitter.

Before...I would learn about a show I wanted to see and I would jump online as soon as I could to purchase tickets...BOOM! As long as there wasn't anything already on the calendar, we were good. Now...I will have to check the calendar and then find out if someone is available to babysit that night. Then, I can hope there are still tickets left.

Before...we could leave a show and go out for a few drinks and dessert. Now...we have to get home to feed the baby.

Before...I had a life. Now...I have a baby.

Learning who the new Secretary of State is...

Some more Thanksgiving pics

Desi was pretty popular at Thanksgiving dinner, yesterday. He got a little fussy just as dinner started, so Shaundar had to excuse herself to feed him while I stuffed my face.

Here are some more pictures.

With Keely, one of our awesome neighbors:

Getting a kiss from Aunt Kelley (who, for the record, is technically, 2nd cousin Kelley...but, that's a mouthful):

With Grandma, after too much egg-nog:

With Aunt Lise (who really is an aunt, albeit a great aunt):

Next to a bust of Great-Grandpa Pankow. I definitely see a resemblence:

Happy Thanksgiving, the early edition

Here are some more pictures taken throughout the week. Both of my folks are in town, now. Tonight, we go over to my Uncle Brian's place for Thanksgiving. It will be Desi's big public debut. I am hoping to have some more pictures from that!

Daddy with Desmond and Quincy, who is craving even more attention than usual:

Mommy and Desi:

Playing on Mommy's lap:

Sleeping on Grandpa:

Ooooo, Daddy...this is a great blog.

1 week down...

...935 to go.

So, one week ago, we were sitting in triage waiting to be sent home before returning to triage just before having a baby.

What a week it's been! Who needs sleep? Sleep is overrated! I swear, I can function just fine on only zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....


Huh, what? Sorry. Where was I?

Oh, yes...Desmond hits the 1 week mark today.

I mentioned that the first night was pretty hard. It's gotten easier, but this parenting stuff sure is tiring.

So far...here are some of the noteworthy events:

We experienced the first blow out diaper. Actually...Shaundar and my mother experienced it. I was napping. I guess some got on the carpet. Every day since, Quincy has been strangely drawn to that section of carpet. He can't keep his nose away from it.

I have changed my first poopy diapers...and, boy...how does that much crap get into something that small?

Today, during changing, Desmond managed to pee on his own face. Then, while Shaundar was laughing at this, he pooped a big ol' squirty green poop onto the changing table.

Desi is spending time awake, now, without crying. One of the roughest part about those first days was that he would sleep, wake up and cry, eat, cry, burp, sleep, wake up and cry and do it all over again. Now, he is giving us a chance to see his face. His eyes are a very dark blue, right now. We're guessing they will turn brown, like Daddy's.

He's gotten to meet a good chunk of the family and friends. Uncle Brian, Auntie Lise, Auntie Kelley and Auntie Michelle all visited at the hospital. Auntie Kate met us at home last Wednesday. Uncle Gary on Saturday. And Uncle Aaron, Aunt Liz and Leif visited on Sunday. I think he'll get to make his big debut on Thanksgiving. Brian and Lise invited us to their place. I think there will be quite a few people there.

Also...Grandpa Gary gets into town, tomorrow. Yay!

That's about it. Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

(PS...I have been slow getting the camera out when people visit. I haven't gotten any, yet, of Michelle or Liz. And, I had some of Kelley, but my camera ate them, as it did with some others I took this morning. I need a new camera.)

Aaron and Desi:



Leif and Desi:




Kate and Desi:



Quincy wondering what the heck is making that racket:



With Mommy:


He gets his looks from Daddy:



Getting ready for a ride:




I just told him who won the election:

Making some changes

Don't be worried...you're still in the right place.

I am making some changes to the blog. Chaning the formats and also the title.

Great title suggestions, everyone, by the way.

I have decided that the new blog title will be "It's Life...but, not as we know it." I was humming "Star Trekkin'" the other day and it just came to me.



The address of the blog will eventually change, as well. I am not positive what that will look like as the address can't already be in use. Also...I do not know if you can still go to the current address and be automatically forwarded to the website. So...take this as warning. Within the next week, the address of this blog will change. If you can't go to the address and automatically be forwarded, just e-mail me for the new address.

Finally...big change, but one that I am not sure, yet, if it will really be a change: I have added Shaundar as a publisher to this blog. I'm encouraging her to contribute her thoughts, as well. She occasionally loves to journal things, but I think the technology and public nature of a blog scares her away, a bit. Anyway...look for that.

So, here's how it all went down...

So...as I mentioned, last Wednesday, the Doc said that she expected Shaundar to go in 24-48 hours. I "worked from home" for the remainder of the week to time contractions. Shaundar was having a lot of pain. 5 or so pains in 20 minutes, and then nothing for an hour. Not good enough to go to the hospital. What's more...some of these pains were over 4 minutes.

On Monday, I went back into work. I am sure this was key.

Shaundar called the doc because she read that long contractions were bad for the baby. The Doc sent her to triage.

We spent about 3 hours in triage. The resident here said that they weren't picking up any contractions. Huh? Shaundar had been in pain for 2 weeks. What the heck.

That's when the first one hit...for real. Shaundar was in mid-sentence and I watched the graph spike up. This happened twice in 15 minutes. The Dr. said she was in early labor and sent us home to labor in more comfort.

The contractions continued until we returned to Triage at 7:00. They were short, but coming every 2 minutes or so. When we got back, Triage said she was at 5 centimeters, 80% effaced and clearly in labor.

We were in Labor and Delivery by about 8:15. Dr. Okorn was already there. Shaundar sat on the birth ball for about 5 minutes and then migrated to the jacuzzi tub where she spent the bulk of her labor time. Nurse checked her out after what felt like an hour or so (times are fuzzy, here). She was up to 7 centimeters. "Time to get out of the tub," says Nurse Elizabeth.

Shaundar gets out of the tub, has a contraction, and nearly pulls us both down onto the bathroom floor. Good thing I am so freakin' strong. I was able to keep us both vertical.

I neglected to mention that Shaundar's water hasn't broken, yet.

We go to the bed. Shaundar's original plan was to use the squat bar and have the baby in the squatting position. Well...plans change, quickly. Shaundar's in the bed, exposed to the world, when the doctor walks back in. Doc doesn't even sit down. Looks right at Shaundar down there and says, "Whoa...slow down." She and the nurses quickly get everything set up.

I don't if they broke Shaundar's water or if it broke on its own. What I do know is that there was a bit splatter that resembles a burst water balloon.

Did I mention that Shaundar went without pain meds? Holy crap, this woman is strong. It was clearly painful. You know those sounds that someone makes on TV when they are being tortured? Imagine Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon when they have him dripping wet and they shock him with electricity? He makes a sound kind of like, "EEEAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!" That's what Shaundar did. About 4 times.

Then, there was Desmond. He was placed immediately onto Shaundar's chest with a cute little "Born at Swedish" beany cap.

He was born Monday, November 17, at 10:46. It's now, Thursday. Holy crap...that thing people say about not getting any sleep. That is NOT a lie. Cry, Cry, Cry. And...no matter how much reading you do, it's not all covered. Breast feeding has been challenging. Sleeping when the baby sleeps in challenging. Getting him to stop crying is challenging.

Here we go.

Aaaaaand...Baby!

November 17, 2008 - 22:46

8 lbs, 2.4 oz, 21 inches.

I'll blog birthing details later. The most important part, other than, Here's Desmond...Shaundar did this 100% naturally. No pain meds, at all.

More to come. Until then, enjoy the pics (which I tried for an hour to get formatted properly. I don't really like Blogger).

Mommy and Desi right after birth:

Weighing in:

Just after birth:

After the baby bath...with a rockin' mohawk:

We think the hair comes from his real Dad:

Mom, Dad, and Baby:

With Dr. Dobrina Okorn:

Dad and Baby:

Shaundar is hungry:

Mommy and Baby:

Grandma Pankow and Baby:

Attempting to dress Des. It's much easier on a doll:

Practicing telepathy:

Happy Halloween! Or something...

So...while we are sitting here wondering about the doctor's prediction of 24-48 hours, let me show you what Shaundar will be pushing out of herself:

That's right...according to BabyCenter, Shaundar is going to birth a small pumpkin.

When I first saw these pictures showing us baby's size throughout the pregnancy, I thought the quarter was just to give you a size reference. Actually...I think it represents the size of the exit. That pumpkin is going to squeeze through that quarter. It's like a magic trick. It's like David Copperfield. It's really all smoke and mirrors. I bet the baby isn't even really in there. I bet the doctor really carries the baby in in her little "doctor bag" and quickly pulls him out during "birth."

Yeah...that's it. That other way is just impossible.

Still waiting...

Had a pretty easy night. Last night was actually a bit easier than the night before. More contractions, now. But, they aren't yet coming frequently enough to send us to the hospital. So...more waiting.

The peeps at work have started the baby pool. So...if you want to join in, leave a comment saying what day and what time you think he's going to be born. If you win...you're prize is...ummm...a thumbs up!

511? Is that the emergancy number for babies?

This was my line in the Doctor's office, today. Very brilliant, I assure you. For those not in the know, "5-1-1" is referring to contractions. 5 minutes apart lasting as least 1 minute for at least 1 hour.

We went to our, now weekly, Dr. appointment. After turning Shaundar into a puppet, the Doctor announced that she is 3 centimeters dilated and she should not go into work because this kid looks to be 24-48 hours away.

Umm, Exsqueeze me?

Shaundar's been routinely looking for the mucus plug (sexy, huh?) but hasn't seen it. Dr. says, "Well...you're not going to see it now, because it's gone."

Anyway...who knows if I will actually get another post in before the "He's here!" post. But...worry not. This page will be the 1st to know. Well...after we tell all of our family and friends. Chances are, you will already know by the time you check the blog. If you don't...well, I guess we really don't like you enough to tell you.

That's not true! We just forgot about you.

So, here's the plan for getting the word out. I have an e-mail list. Not everyone is one it, FYI. I am expecting that certain people on the list will spread the word to others: ie, our bosses tell our co-workers and our families tell our extended family. So...if you don't get an e-mail, it's not really because we forgot or don't like you...it's because you should yell at the person who forgot to hit forward on the e-mail.

We have decided that we just want the 2 of us to be in the delivery room. I know a few people who have had groups of friends/family in the delivery room with them. That's weird, to me. Just me and Shaundar, that's it. Oh...and the photographer. And, the String Quartet. And, Stan. But, that's it.

Once Starbuck is born and we get an hour or two to bond (and marvel at how gross babies are when they come out) we'll move into the Post-partum room. Visitors are welcome at this point. But, please keep in mind that my wife may punch you in the face if she's still a little on edge.

So...that's it. My next post will either be "Baby's here and I am freaking out!" or, "What is taking this kid so long? He's already taking after his mother."

Some pics

Shaundar at 39 weeks



Quincy admiring his Mommy


New shelves that I put up in the baby's room. That's right...I did it all by myself.


Quincy and his new girlfriend.


The crib.

Video - Kids' Rock

Kids music is hella lame. But...not, this version.

Weeks away? Or, days?

We're getting pretty freakin' close. At our Doc appt. yesterday, Doctor says..."See you at your appointment next week. Or, maybe sooner!"

I think Shaundar's hit nesting. She's made a big list of things that need to be done. And, she gets upset every time she looks at it over the things that aren't done yet (like refinance the house).

Everyone tells me that we should enjoy this time without him here. Get sleep, go to the movies, get sleep, play video games, sleep, etc. But...after 9 months and with a very uncomfortable and cranky wife, I am ready to have this over with. I think Shaundar is ready to be done being pregnant, but I don't think she feels as ready as I do for Starbuck's arrival.

His due date is just over a week away. But, he's full term and Shaundar is starting to experience some symptoms of upcoming labor. No strong contractions, yet, however. So...could be this weekend, could be in 3 weeks. Any day now. I hate any day now. I want to know exactly when things are going to happen. Babies are annoying.

Things I can't wait to say

So...I've been practicing some lines that my dad used to use on my when I was a kid. I'm anxious to use them on Desmond. I've been practicing on Shaundar.

Things like:

He'll say: "I'm hungry."
And, I'll say: "Hi Hungry...I'm dad."

He'll say: "See you later."
And, I'll say: "Not if I see you first."

Then there is my personal favorite:
He'll say: "My (insert body part here) hurts."
And, I'll say: "Does your face hurt?"

I am curious how long it will take Desmond to figure out that the appropriate response to my lines is "Der her."