Welcome Baby Egle!

No, not our Baby Egle.

Libby now officially has one less opponent in the World's Cutest Pregnant Lady competition (not that it matters too much since she has the title quite securely). This is just a delayed birth announcement for our beautiful new niece, Ellia Noelle Egle. Of course, we couldn't be the ones to break the news, so we have waited more than two weeks before posting this (well, at least some of that time was respectful waiting, and the rest was procrastination). So, without further delay, Libby and I hereby officially concede the Great Wagon Race of 2010. (Sorry, Josh and Alison: no wagon rides for you.)

Proud new dad

Grandma


Grandpa

Grandma

Aunt and Uncle (and Great-Grandma via modern technology)

Not sure why I'm posting a nearly identical picture... narcissism?

Now it's just a matter of waiting before the next Egle baby arrives. Will the Egle name be guaranteed for another generation, or will the family have another cute little girl? When will the big day be? Will Jonathan get his 10/10/10 wish? Find out next time on The Birth of the Egle.

URGENT UPDATE!

I was threatened today. I'm not sure what the exact consequences would have been if I didn't comply, but I think it was pretty serious. Today was Libby's last baby shower, and one of the guests told Libby, "Tell Jonathan he'd better post pictures ASAP!" Libby assured the guest that the pictures would undoubtedly be up before the guest arrived home.

Of course, pregnancy has a funny way of inducing forgetfulness, so I didn't get the message until hours afterwards. Not a chance that the guest isn't home yet. So, Candace, I apologize profusely, and I beg for mercy. Please take note that I rushed as much as I could, and that this post is being put up promptly, and that it's going up before the two posts that I have floating around in my head, waiting to be written... Hopefully that counts for something.

My personal favorite gift... the only one for me. (Baby changing kit)

Mmmm... who can eat lunch when dessert looks so good?!

Lots of wonderful gifts...

The Gammage Girls

Wait?!? Is that a non-pregnant Laura?? (AND a Saginaw relative?!?)

Some family medicine chicas

Representing family medicine

Good food at Pascuale's Italian Restaurant

The Mastermind behind the games (no games pictured, unfortunately)

The Cupcake Crew (so tasty!!!)

Gift time!!

Gorgeous handmade blanket (our second such blessing from Ms. Johnson)

Handmade quilt from future Grandma's friend/boss!

Excited to get my gift!

Watching the festivities

Can't have too many pictures of the deliciousness

Another family medicine snapshot

Our Malawi/East Lansing connection and the crocheter/threatener (she looks so innocent!)

Look how empty the trays look... and how happy Audrey looks! Coincidence?

Chattin' it up

Unwrapping the time machine (at least that was my guess)

Colorful... the picture hardly does it justice

An experienced Mom at work

Waiting...

I was just called a slacker for not having updated the blog in awhile. I recognize that it's true. I am, indeed, a slacker. It's hard to describe the events/emotions at this stage in the game. We're just over 32 weeks. Inching our way closer to 40 weeks (well, actually 40 weeks and three days is my goal... 10/10/10, here we come!)... Nothing is changing too rapidly. Yes, her belly is getting bigger...

Two big bellies!

But it's a slow process. Quickening already happened months ago, and now it's like we're experiencing slowing, or something. Libby still has to pee all the time. She's not nauseous, though. Not devastatingly tired (though she does occasionally suggest bedtimes that seem unreasonably early).


And today is the due date for our new niece/nephew! So, things aren't as super exciting for us as I'm sure they are for them.

It was fun, though, to recently have a sneak preview of what our lives will soon become. Our good friends Josh and Alison paid us a visit over the weekend. Actually, our good friend, baby Eva, paid us a visit, and she was escorted by her parents. (Just kidding J&A.)

Evangeline is a cute little "angel baby," despite anything her parents may say about her being grumpy. She babbles, makes bubbles, squeals, and crawls, though not too far. She sleeps mostly through the night. She eats without making too much of a mess/fuss. She takes a few naps a day. She enjoys being entertained by strangers or by her parents, but she also can entertain herself for hours with some toys in a Pack 'N Play while her parents lose at Settlers of Catan. (Oops, did I just post that in public?)

All things considered, she's a superstar baby. (In fact, I'd go so far as to call her "gifted." And everyone likes a gifted child.) And then you look at her parents. They have been traveling with an 8-month-old for the past couple months during their excursion in the USA before returning to work abroad. They looked exhausted. Honestly, they looked really really happy. But they looked tired. To their credit, though, they're still able to plan their future and have ambitious plans and even make steps toward achieving their 10-year goals in the midst of their exhaustion.

The way I figure it, Josh and Alison's traveling probably throws about a similarly sized wrench into child-rearing as perhaps Libby's and my residencies will. Only, they're doing it for a couple months, and we're doing our residencies for years to come. And they look exhausted with an "angel baby." That's a little intimidating. What will Libby and I look like? What if we get a legitimately grumpy baby.

The gifted child, already a professional interior decorator. And a literate one, at that!

Anyhow, I know that God will prepare us for whatever wonderful plans He has. Just one more way to trust and obey...

In other news, I just heard a commercial on the radio as I was typing: "Today, prenatal medicine at Beaumont lets us learn a lot more about your baby than its gender before the delivery... Choosing your baby's hospital might be the most important decision you ever make. Do you both have a Beaumont doctor?"

Let's pick that apart a little. Learn more than its gender? Well, we didn't want to know gender. And what more could they discover? Reasons to terminate a pregnancy, if my limited obstetrics knowledge serves well... Granted, there's a low probability that you could discover something that you could actually treat prior to delivery, but we got that structural ultrasound halfway through. (that's right... AN ultrasound... singular. No need for more.)

Most important decision? Over the course of human history, babies have been born for several years now. In fact, I can personally testify to the fact that they've been born for at least 27 years. Plus, I've heard rumors that babies were born before doctors existed. In fact, I've even been present while babies have been born without doctors... I even caught some babies in Africa before I was a doctor, with no doctor anywhere to be found. Crazy, huh? If only those ladies had had Beaumont doctors, I bet their babies would've been composing symphonies or winning Nobel Prizes by now.

I don't have a Beaumont doctor, and my baby doesn't either.

Argh! I just remembered the post I had been meaning to write! About our last great weekend away... Indian wedding and all... next time, I guess... (how's that for suspense building??!? [if your answer to that question is, "lame," please keep it to yourself.])

Look below...

There's a new post... but it shows up out of order because I started writing it before my "commentary on comments"

A Commentary on Comments...

Yesterday evening, Libby and I sat on the couch, mesmerized by the screensaver on our computer... it wasn't anything all that incredible or anything. Just a slideshow from one of our Central American excursions, but it was fun to relive, anyhow. That prompted me to open up the blog I had written from that trip (http://EglesInCentralAmerica.blogspot.com) and read/re-read all the comments people had left. Then I did the same thing for the other blogs I've written (http://JandLinCR.blogspot.com, http://EglesInAfrica.blogspot.com, and http://EglesInIreland.blogspot.com). It was good times. I appreciated the feedback people left. Some was quite humorous. Some was encouraging. Some was random.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd throw that out there, in case anyone actually still reads this blog. I like comments. I read them. They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside (since I don't have an inherent source of heat like my better half does. Even if it takes mentioning people in order to spur on some comments (Alison), I'll do what it takes to encourage the feedback....

Bringing home the loot...

A tradition of mothers-to-be is to have baby showers. I must admit, I've been to very, very few in my life. (Read: one.) It was for the wife of one of my fellow residents. They're from Pakistan, and they aren't too familiar with the tradition of baby showers. It was thrown by a few of the other residents, from India, who also were unfamiliar with baby showers. We, however, were in experienced hands. This baby shower was thrown by the "Aunts," who collectively, have 15 children (if I counted correctly). I also must admit that I use the term "we" rather loosely, as I was stuck at work and was not able to participate first-hand. Though, I did get a bag full of dirty diapers brought home to me so that I could have the full experience...

The guests of honor with one of the host aunts

Now, as I understand is customary for such events, there were lots of fun times... games, delicious food, yummy desserts, gifts, and the passage of wisdom from the experienced to the newbies. (I know you're still wondering about that dirty diapers comment I made before. Don't worry, all will be clear in due time.)

Each of the fetuses got a cake!
(Of course, since they have not even attempted the art of breastfeeding yet, it was decided that the cakes should be left for those with more established histories in terms of the whole eating thing.)

People's generosity was quite amazing. Lots of people put lots of time into the event. Obviously, the aunts put in lots of time planning. The Grandma-to-Be planned all of the games. But don't be mistaken. This was not a ladies-only affair. Uncles and male cousins turned out in droves and gave great gifts, provided their technical assistance assembling things, entertained the masses, and even helped in naming the babies!

A beautiful cake... not edible, though. Baked by none other than Uncle Dale

Now, I'm not one to have favorites or anything, but that cake pictured above is a pretty unique gift. It's a whole bunch of diapers and bibs and onsies and all sorts of baby paraphenelia all wrapped up to look like a fancy cake. Now, how cool is that? Good work, Dale! And thanks! Speaking of favorites, it's important to have a balanced account of the event, so let's talk a little about least favorites. Now, when you think about baby clothes, you probably picture cute little socks and adorable little slogans on tiny pajamas and all sorts of other things that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside... assuming that you're like most people, that is. So, again, assuming that you're normal, I must warn you. Brace yourself for the picture that's about to be displayed. If there are young children around, you may ask them to leave the room. If you're not sitting down, have a seat. And most importantly, if you have recently eaten, you may want to wait a little while before viewing the following image.

Ok....

Ready?

AHHHHHHHHGGGG!!!! EWWWW!!!!

Every story has a happy ending, right? This story is no exception. You see, even though my beautiful wife is pictured with... well, I can hardly even speak the words. The picture, though, is misleading. As a cruel joke, the picture was taken to scare me. And scare me it did. BUT do not fear! The gift/curse did not come home with Libby. The above pictured article was one of four outfits wrapped up and chosen at random by Libby and Laura. I have never loved Libby more than when I found out that she DID NOT chose that package. Laura did. May her pride rest in peace.

Oblivious to the torture occurring around her, the future grandma is happy

I know that I mentioned that I wasn't able to attend the festivities. What I meant to say was that I wasn't able to attend MOST of the festivities. When I heard that one of the gifts was customized scrubs for Libby and myself, I figured I could take a little time off to make my way to Ohio and model them. After all, if I got paged while I was away, I'd still be dressed for duty, right? So, here's the only pic of me at the party since I had to pop in and out so quickly:

I look pretty good, don't I? I mean, I know it looks like I'm shorter, but I'm just slouching a little, having put in so many hours at the hospital already, and having to rush back.... that's enough to make anyone tired!

I know, I know. You're smarter than I think. I can't fool you. That picture isn't really me. Despite my absolutely phenomenal editing in Paintbrush, you can probably sense there's something askew about the picture, so here's the real version (any excuse to post a Grandma picture!)

She's not really the Daddy... just filling in for him

Hope you didn't expect just one Grandma pic

Just a few more pictures of gifts, and a few more accompanying thoughts. What do you think the primary purpose of about 85% of all baby products is (if I've done my calculations correctly, that is)? Encaging the baby. I don't even know if encage is a word, but that doesn't diminish the importance of confining your baby to a limited space. Think about it: Pack 'N Plays, cribs, gates, bouncers, car seats, booster seats... everything with walls and straps and seats and anything other clever device they can think of to trap the baby. I'll assume for the moment that I've convinced you, if by nothing other than public opinion, of the need to incarcerate new babies into small spaces. With that thought in mind, what could be a better gift than a portable jail that you simply throw into the air and it assembles itself?

Whoosh! A (mostly) self-assembling portable bed/trap...

And of course, there's diapers. I often like to pretend they don't exist. In fact, I sometimes daydream about having a pre-potty-trained baby. But some day I will wake up to the fact that it'll probably take a week or two to potty-train our child. So for those 10-14 days, we'll probably need a few diapers. Good thing other people realize that fact, as well.

Bum genius: fit for a baby who will be potty-trained in less than one month!

Wait a second... you're still wondering about that comment I made at the beginning. I said I got a bag full of dirty diapers. But that picture looks like nice fresh cloth diapers in their original packaging... not exactly soiled.

Allow me to walk you through a little mental exercise. Close your eyes. Picture a diaper. (I'm glad you opened your eyes again... otherwise this would have been a long exercise.) A dirty diaper. A dirty diaper overflowing with brown stuff. What's the last thing you would want to do.

Is Katrina actually smelling that dirty diaper?

Smelling dirty diapers... ewww!!! And yet that was the point of one of the games. A table full of dirty diapers all splayed out, ready for people to come... sniff... examine. Why would anyone be so crazy? It turns out the brown stuff overflowing from the diapers wasn't the typical brown stuff in diapers... it was melted candy bars. Each diaper had a different candy bar, and the obect of the game was to identify the candy. And so that I could fully apprectiate the game, Libby brought the little "treasures" home with me so that I could try my nose, as well. I think she was just trying to use some behavioral therapy strategy to help rid me of my fear of diapers. We'll see if it worked.

All in all, it was a delightful afternoon. Libby had tons of fun. We got wonderful gifts. I wish I could've gone... but there's rumors that there might be another opportunity for me to participate in a shower that's more local... so another post for you to look forward to!

Getting bigger!

Meet the World's Cutest Pregnant Lady

When we were dating and when we first got married, I always thought Libby would look pretty cute when she was pregnant. I was, of course, quite right. Now, I know what you're thinking: either, "Of course you think that! You're biased," or you're thinking, "Agggghhhkk! Gag me!"

Either way, I just felt inclined to share with you a brief story to support my argument. In our residency programs, we go through various rotations in different specialties. Libby's rotations are more varied as her overall specialty (family medicine) is more broad. Anyhow, as she was rotating in a new office last month, one of the office workers where she was rotating came up to her. "Are you pregnant?" she asked. "Because... you're the cutest pregnant lady I've ever seen!"

And that was coming from a medical professional, ladies and gentlemen. I rest my case.