On Mon, 2009-08-03 at 12:29 -0400, Daniel Brown wrote: > ALL: > > It's far easier to drop a line to the mailing lists and BCC a few > others than to write back to many individually. > > Thanks for the concern and well-wishes from the many who wrote to > me during the last 10 days. It's very, very kind of you, and much > appreciated. I'm honored that you would think of me at all outside of > the context of the various mailing lists. > > For those of you who do not know, on Sunday my wife, Debi, and I > went into the hospital because she was nine months pregnant, but had > not felt the baby move for several hours. She was attached to a > monitor, and while everything seemed fine at first, that quickly > changed. The baby's heart rate - which should be between 120 and 160 > beats per minute - dropped as low as 49, which is very, very, very > bad. It happened a couple of times, and during an emergency > ultrasound scan, the baby - on the screen - stuck her tongue right out > at us, then proceeded to bring her fist to her mouth to suck. And > inside her little fist was her umbilical cord --- she was literally > squeezing it so tight that she was cutting off the blood and oxygen > flow to herself. Because of this, they decided to induce labor in > Debi. > > After several hours of labor with no pain relief, the baby's > condition was continuing to deteriorate, so at approximately 02:30 > EDT, the doctor made the decision to perform a Caesarean section > (surgical delivery) of the baby. Things were rushed along, and I > walked into the delivery room just in time to see a purple leg > sticking out of a hole in Debi's belly. As I walked past, they lifted > the baby out, cut the cord, and rushed her past me to get her to > breathe. Her skin was purple, as is normal, but her eyes were wide > open as she went past. At about 02:46 EDT, she cried for the first > time. > > So Haileigh Grace Brown, born at 02:45 EDT Monday morning, 27 > July, 2009, weighed in at 6lbs 4oz and was 17.5 inches long. She has > blue(-ish) eyes and a full head of hair. There have been several > other life-threatening complications in both her and Debi, including > the baby being completely unable to breathe due to fluid in her lungs, > requiring emergency response and suction, but as of today, she is > doing much better. Because of all of this, and some complications in > the days just before her birth, I've been rather silent, which is what > apparently gained the attention of the thirty-four (yes, I counted! > ;-P) people who sent me emails privately to see if I was alright. > Yes, I am, and thankfully, so is my little family. > > Both Debi and Haileigh are doing well now. Haileigh doesn't sleep > through the night yet, of course, but she doesn't yet sleep through > the day, either. She remains awake, wide-eyed, and very alert and > aware of her surroundings --- which is great, except for the fact that > it means that, during the day, we need to pay more attention to her, > and at night, I'm awake the whole time with her. In the hospital (we > had her in our room) and here at home, I've been allowing Debi to > sleep through the night in bed, to heal from the surgery, and I stay > awake with the baby. I sleep between one and four hours per day, at > maximum. I can't so nobody warned me about this! ;-P > > On a different note, thanks to all of the rain we've had here in > the northeast US this year, my basement office flooded while I was > away in the hospital, tending to more important issues. As a result, > both my development and backup machines were destroyed, including all > of my undelivered work, research projects, et cetera. So in addition > to no sleep, I get to enjoy no peace as I work to deliver what I can > (behind schedule) and distribute refunds to clients. Having a baby is > difficult enough; having a baby and a career is more difficult; having > a baby and working as a freelancer or owner/operator of a company is > the epitome of masochism --- I'm learning that quite thoroughly > through experience. > > Still, all in all, everything is fine. It'll be tight and > stressful until things are caught back up work-wise, but I'm just fine > with that. Because from the moment my little girl filled those lungs > and executed her first "Hello, World!" application at quarter-to-three > in the morning last Monday, there's been a completely new Dan Brown. > > Thanks for everyone's checking in and well-wishing, once again, > and I'll get back to everyone personally as soon as I can. In the > meantime, I'll be back here at my desk, so zip me an email if you need > me. It may take a bit longer for me to reply until I get caught up, > but I will. > > For those of you with no interest in this, please exercise your > email-delete capabilities at this time. > > Thanks! > > -- > </Daniel P. Brown> > daniel.brown@xxxxxxxxxxxx || danbrown@xxxxxxx > http://www.parasane.net/ || http://www.pilotpig.net/ > Check out our great hosting and dedicated server deals at > http://twitter.com/pilotpig > Congratulations on the baby! Hope both her and your wife are both OK now. Best wishes for you all in the future too! Thanks, Ash http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
