Danica's Birth

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Danica weighed in at 8 pounds.

Danica Renee Simpson was born to at 12:15 a.m. on November 13, 2003. She weighed 8 pounds and was 20.25 inches long. She was 12 days early. As of this writing, she is over a week old and doing much better than her brother, Adam at this stage.

The birth was perfectly timed. Early that day, our friend Evelyn and Lyn busily cooked food to take to a house warming party around midday. After the house warming party, we drove for about an hour to where Evelyn's husband, Mark, works. There, we dropped off Evelyn and her son, Charlie. Oh, and we also, dropped off Adam to spend a week with them!

I then drove another half-hour back home and dropped off Lyn, before driving to a community college class. At 9:30, I finally returned home, thinking I could finally rest, but upon my arrival I find out that Lyn's water had already broke. Off to the hospital we went. This time we remembered to bring all the essentials, especially the camera and camcorder.

Though Danica was born a mere 2 1/2 hours later, Lyn was in a lot more pain than with Adam. We were told that the epidural could only be administered after a spinal. Even with the epidural Lyn was still hurting quite a bit. The most worrysome time was when the baby's heart beat dipped as Lyn pushed. The doctor determined that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Danica's neck. A suction device was attached to the top of Danica's head and used to pull Danica out far enough, that the doctor could cut the umbilical cord. Then, the suction device was released, but left a 2 inch diameter section of her head raised up a half inch -- talk about molding the minds of young people. From there Lyn did the rest of the pushing.

Lyn with Danica just after birth.

They quickly took Danica over to a table to be cleaned. I had been standing the whole time up until then and started feeling a little poorly myself. Not having any dinner that night didn't help.

A man speaks frantically into the phone, "Doctor, my wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!" "Is this her first child?" the doctor asks. "No, you turkey!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"

With Adam's birth we were treated wonderfully by the staff, but the experience wasn't quite as good with Danica. During the labor period, a nurse was trying to dispose of a small glass vial in a refuse bin. He reached over, while looking the other way and tried to insert it into a slot, but missed. It fell to the floor and shattered on the floor below Lyn's legs. He did nothing about it and since no one could walk in that area, I didn't say anything either. Later on, a table under Lyn's legs was removed to allow closer access during Danica's birth. I pointed it out then and the response was that they wouldn't let anyone walk barefoot in the room.

Lyn was moved to her maternity room which overlooked a parking garage (unlike her room with Adam which overlooked a flower garden). I returned home about 3:30 a.m. and had my chocolate bar dinner. It had been quite a long and action packed day. Adam was conveniently staying with friends for a few days and my next two days were spent preparing for Lyn and Danica's homecoming.

The first couple of days at home were nervous times, because Lyn's milk supply had not kicked in. Once it did, Danica was much more content and started to sleep much of the time. We have to be very careful with Danica around Adam. Adam is so big, strong, and active that he could hurt her if we let our guard down for just a few seconds. He just doesn't understand yet.

One time, Adam and Charlie screamed their loudest less than a yard away from Danica and she slept right through it!

-1 month old- Danica is trying to catch up with Adam in size. I think she started out in around the 50th percentile and at her one-month checkup she had zoomed up into the 90s (10 pounds 13 ounces, 23 inches).

Danica changed from a serious infant to a happy laughing todler.

-8 weeks old- Danica is more patient than Adam (good), but doesn't sleep as well (bad). She's a light sleeper most of the time and wakes up frequently. When she's hungry, she doesn't have the constant siren wail like Adam and if you pull the bottle away for burping, she doesn't start fuming and windmilling her arms and legs like Adam. So far she is much easier to take care of than Adam, except for at night when she stays awake too much of the time.

-9 weeks old (2 months)- Danica is now 14.5 pounds and 24", which means she is about as big as they get. She received four shots -- ouch! Danica is louder (more talkative), more active, and bigger than Adam (toddler equivalent of the Energizer bunny) at the same age -- a frightening prospect.

-11 weeks old- Adam stepped on Danica's foot! It just took a few seconds of inattention. By the time I pulled Adam away, Danica's face was severely contorted. I knew this was going to be a loud long cry.

The next day in the early afternoon, I hear Danica talking; she has awoken from her nap. I talk to her and she coos and smiles. I put my little finger in her mouth to see if she's hungry and she starts sucking. I realize I don't have warm milk so I go to kitchen to start warming some up. I come back and she hasn't said a word. When the milk is warm, I insert the nipple and she nurses calmly and steadily. She takes in a few ounces and falls asleep. I can't see a single drop that has leaked. This feels so wrong!

Danica at 3 months with Adam at 23 months. Adam is huge for his age, but Danica is gigantic.

Adam used to wake up screaming. The bottle was the only thing that would calm him down and trying to get the nipple past the flailing arms and into the mouth of a shaking head was quite a task. Once done, Adam would furiously suck at the nipple, gobbling down air with the milk. Then the spit-up would come and I might try stopping the feeding to burp him, but he would be furious and scream and flail away. Then I had to try to re-insert the nipple again. When the bottle was emptied, he might start screaming again for more. These were frustrating times for both father and son.

Feedings with Danica, therefore, seem so unnatural. I wonder, when is she going to change and become normal?

-3 months old- Danica's legs are strong enough to momentarily support her standing. Adam is huge for his age, but she is gigantic. Danica is still wonderful in the mornings, but a little cranky in the afternoons. It's too bad that I can't devote as much time to her as I feel I should, because Adam demands so much attention.

Mom-friendly countries Top 10 countries identified as the best places to be a mother.
1. Sweden	6. Norway
2. Denmark	7. Australia
3. Finland	8. Canada
4. Austria	9. United Kingdom
5. Netherlands	10. United States
From San Jose Mercury News

Early motherhood in developed countries (Teen pregnancies for 12 industrialized countries. Figures are for births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19)
U.S.		53 births
Russia		30
Iceland		25
U.K.		20
Israel		17
Czech Rep.		17
Australia		16
Greece		10
Belgium		9
Spain		6
Netherlands		5
Japan		4
From San Jose Mercury News

-4 months old- Danica is 17 lbs. 11 oz. and has eczema for which the doctor told us to use hydrocortizone, baby oil, & moisterizing lotion. Adam had the same skin problem, but Danica's is worse because her skin is more like mine. This problem may be causing her a lot of distress.

Danica sleeps and feeds very little. She still sleeps in some mornings, but she seems really irritated and uncomfortable in the afternoons and evenings. We keep putting on the hydrocortizone lotion, but her skin is still horrible. Her neck seems stronger than Adam's at the same age and she is constantly trying to sit up (raise her legs and upper back and head).

-5 months old- Danica can rollover and is starting to crawl. Her skin is a little bit better and so she scratches less, naps a little longer, and smiles more. She is quite a talker now. She grabs things with her hands and manipulates them.

-6 months old- Danica is 20 lbs. 4 oz. and 31 inches and is bringing back memories of Adam. She fights with every ounce of strength to prevent me from helping her. Her skin looks better because we are constantly putting on lotion (hydrocortizone & aquafor), but she is even itchier. She scratches every way she can, even using one leg to scratch the other one. Will she ever grow out of this? I skated and pushed her in the jogging stroller while we went to the park. It's the first time I did this with Danica; with Adam, I had done this lots of times.

As we age,... The other day I came home and was greeted by my wife,... dressed only in very sexy underwear and holding a couple of short velvet ropes. "Tie me up," she purred,... "and you can do anything you want." So,... I tied her up,... and went fishing.

-7 months old- From birth, Adam was improving each month. Danica is not. At this age, Danica is the more difficult to take care of. Her skin is not getting better, neither is her scratching nor her sleeping pattern. Where Adam was gobbling down about any "solid" food, Danica is picky and more difficult to feed; the food leaks back out from her mouth.

-8 months old- Danica's skin is better (not great) and she seems to be feeling a lot better. At night I put her to sleep by going for a walk with her in my arms. She can raise herself up on hands and knees, but she still isn't really a crawler.

What a difference a couple weeks makes. Danica is now crawling around quite well. Where Adam progressed through a one-legged belly crawl to regualar belly crawl to conventional crawl, Danica went straight to a conventional crawl. Danica shifts easily to a sitting position and can pull herself up to a standing position and take a few steps with our help.

-9 months old- Danica is 22 lbs. 13 oz. and 30 inches (a virtual dead heat with Adam at the same age).

-11 months old- Danica starts walking! Her method is completely different from Adam's. Adam would take a couple big steps then intentionally dive to the floor and laugh it off. Danica stands for long periods, takes some cautious steps, stands some more, then sits down. Danica loved the gondola ride at the Great America amusement park. She looked intently at all the things way down below and when we got off she held on to the side of the car with all her might.

-12 months old- Danica saw a dermatologist about her terrible skin. Medicine, more frequent diaper changes, and letting her go without a diaper some of the time has helped a lot. She plays with Adam now and they have a lot of fun when they are not fighting.

-14 months old- Danica's skin looks much better most of the time, but it is a constant battle. She is Adam's shadow and is greatly entertained by him.

-15 months old- An amazing thing happened: Danica went to her bedroom, layed down on the bed, and fell asleep on her own! Lyn's parents are returning home after an 8 month stay. I returned to work after not being able to find any kind of work for such a long time. With both Lyn and I working, we have to find someone to take care of the kids during the day.