A Few Cute Pics

Sleeping On The Job

Double Barrel of Fun

It seems Jessica and I have settled into a bit of routine when it comes to bath time for Kaelan. The process always starts with me getting the water ready (which is understandable given my extensive experience already highlighted in a previous posting) while Jessica wrestles Kaelan out of his clothes and diaper so he’s ready for his dip. Not wanting to get in a rut, we decided to mix it up a bit tonight which meant I got Kaelan out of his clothes while Jessica prepared the bath water. Honestly speaking, I was getting tired of always getting the water ready so I welcomed the change of pace!

Having experienced the ever real threat of a random spray erupting upon taking off Kaelan’s diaper, I approached the process with caution. Before taking off his diaper, I was armed with a wet wipe in one hand and a fresh diaper in the other. I carefully peeled the front of the diaper away and waited for just a moment in case Kaelan was going to try and surprise me. Sure enough, he decided to let the water works fly but I was prepared this time and quickly closed the diaper to absorb the spray. After Kaelan had finished relieving himself, I let things “air out” a bit to ensure it was safe before I actually started to remove his diaper. I decided enough time had passed so I proceeded to make my move…

As you parents out there know, changing a diaper is always a balancing act. You have to use one hand to grasp both ankles to keep his dirty bottom off the changing table while using the other hand to clean, grab the wet wipes, fresh diaper, etc. In this particular case, I had cleaned him up nicely and was proceeding to rub Bordeaux’s Butt Paste (diaper rash cream for those of you who have never heard of the miracle elixir) on his bottom. Now, keep in mind I’ve got both his ankles in my left hand, holding his butt up in the air as I rub the Butt Paste around his bottom. Well, wouldn't you know it, in this brief moment of exposure, Kaelan not only decided to let the water works fly AGAIN, he also decided to introduce me to his own version of “butt paste." Apparently upset that I had thwarted his previous attempts at spraying me, Kaelan opted to let both barrels fly while I was most off guard. Caught like a deer in headlights, and with one hand full of “butt paste,” I could only watch helplessly as Kaelan finished his business. Once he finished, I swear I caught a little smirk spread across his face!

Tonight’s lesson in parenting is to never under estimate your opponent and to never let your guard down. Changing a diaper is like a Mixed Martial Arts fight. You may get knocked down. You may get bloodied. But you have to keep getting back up and fighting!

That’s why I’m hiring this guy pictured below. He’s what we call in the biz as a “stitch man.” Just so you understand what a “stitch man’ (aka cutman) does, I defer to the words of one of the premier and intellectual publications in circulation today. “A cutman kneels beside the fighter. The cutman works quickly even though there’s no bell to answer. He knows the fighter wants to be anywhere but here, seen like this. It’s more than blood pouring onto the canvas. It’s pride, ego, hope.” (ESPN The Magazine, Nov 17, pg 84) Yep, sounds like exactly what I need. Yes, my pride and ego may have been slightly bruised this evening but I refuse to be defeated by Kaelan's cunning ways. Bring on round two!

Mom and Kaelan After Bath

Travis' Bathing Tips

Now, I know there are many theories of how to determine the appropriate temperature for bathing an infant. Typically, it is recommended to use a sensitive part of your skin, like an elbow, to test the water to ensure it is neither too hot nor too cold for the child. Methods like this are certainly tried and proven but in my seven days of parenthood, I believe I have discovered the perfect method and I'm honestly surprised it has not been published in a book somewhere. The method sprung on me out of nowhere and actually caught me off guard. As I was lowering Kaelan into the bath water I had prepared, I suddenly realized that "water" was flowing all over my face and arms. Sure enough, little "K' had sprung a leak and decided to "shower" me with a bath of his own. While it was a bit alarming at first, you know what I learned?...the bath water I had prepared perfectly matched the temperature of fountain flowing out of Kaelan! So there you have it. If you want the perfect temperature for a bath, let your child pee all over you first so you can compare the temperature with the bath water. If they match, you know the bath water temperature is just right. Or, if you prefer, you can simply dip your elbow in the water...

Satisfied After a Nice Burping Session

Napping on Daddy's Shoulder

A Few Highlights of the days events...

In need of a little oxygen
In the left corner, weighing in at 3.58kg, Kaelan Dean!


No sleep, completely wiped out, but exstatic!


Mommy and Linda just after birth

Daddy, Dr. Paul, Jessica and Kaelan

Seriously, how long can this take?

Okay, be honest with me, was I the only one that expected Jessica to deliver shortly after her water broke? I mean, maybe 5, 7, or even 12 hours later would have been reasonable. Shoot, after what we went through, I would have taken 24 hours! But definitely NOT 44 hours later. Where oh where do I begin this saga…

Let’s see, after our first night of no sleep waiting for the labor to progress, we elected to stay at home the following day so Jessica could remain comfortable and labor at her own pace. I didn’t go to the office on Thursday fully expecting something major to happen at some point during the day. However, the entire day came and went and her contractions really never progressed beyond one hour apart. Concerned about the amount of time that had passed since Jessica’s water broke, we called our doula and asked for a little advice. After some thought and discussion, we decided to go ahead and try to get some rest at home rather than head to the hospital. We made our way to bed, watched an episode of “Lost” I had downloaded from Itunes, and then drifted off to sleep around 10:30pm. Well wouldn’t you know it, 1:00am rolls around and Jessica wakes me (yes, I heard her this time) and tells me the contractions had turned more severe. I fumbled in the dark to turn on a light and find my watch so I could help time the contractions. 24 hours later and it seemed things were finally progressing! The contractions were growing in intensity and they were averaging about six minutes apart. We decided it was time to call our doula Linda and ask her to come to the apartment. While we waited for Linda to arrive, I did my best to make the house feel comfortable by playing some soft music, lighting some candles, and trying to make it a soothing environment for Jessica. Linda arrived just after 2:00am and we all made our way to the living room to wait out the labor. Poor Jess paced, sat, leaned, groaned and basically agonized over the entire house for the next 6 hours while all I could do was offer an occasional back massage and words of comfort. Contractions were intense and now averaging about 4 minutes apart. Active labor had definitely started. By 11:00am, Jessica decided it was time to head to the hospital…surely Kaelan was about to arrive!

Wrong! I dropped Jessica and Linda off at the front door of the hospital and then proceeded to try and find a parking space for the car. I found a spot, ran in and couldn’t find Jessica or Linda anywhere. Fortunately, Jessica with her blonde hair sticks out here in Singapore so when people saw this Gwailo (Chinese word for Caucasians meaning “ghost man”) wandering aimlessly around, one man approached me and told me he saw two women head up to the second floor. I ran up the stairs, through a set of double doors in search of Jessica. One of the nurses knew who I was looking for and guided me to her room. By the time I had arrived, they had already administered a vaginal exam and determined she was only 3cm dilated. Only thought that ran through my head when I heard was, “Ughhhh, you must be kidding me!” Honestly, after more than 10 hours of active (for the men reading this, imagine getting a swift kick in the nuts every 4 -5 minutes) labor at home already, I was expecting at least 6 – 7cm dilated!

Jessica continued to labor for another three hours and fought back tears many times along the way. While I may not have had to go through anything nearly as painful as Jessica, I can’t tell you how broken up I was seeing my wife in so much distress for so many hours. By 1:30 in the afternoon, Jessica’s will was starting to break and she began asking for an epidural. Can you believe it? Jessica had been going on 12 hours of painful labor and no epidural. When Dr. Paul came in to administer another VE and shared that there had been no progress, it was the breaking point for Jess and she requested an epidural. Honestly speaking, while I supported Jessica’s desire to try and do everything as naturally as possible, I was relieved when she finally relented to some relief. My heart had been ripped out and stomped on for 12 hours and I couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain any longer.

While the epidural certainly helped relieve Jessica’s pain and my nerves, things still weren’t progressing well. As the hours passed by, the nurses started to express some concern about Kaelan showing signs of distress. They administered oxygen to Jessica to see if they could see a response in Kaelan’s heart rate. Nothing. While his heart rate maintained a steady 155 bpm, he was showing no signs of response to stimulation. Apparently, they want to see a little more volatility in the heart rate to demonstrate the baby is doing okay on not under distress. At this point, the nurses requested Dr. Paul to come urgently to examine Jessica and the baby; and of course, when the nurses starting to verbally express concern, I got concerned! After what felt like an eternity, Dr. Paul finally arrived and quickly administered another VE. The news was not good. Jessica was still only around 4cm dilated and her cervix had become agitated and swollen. I could see the concern in Dr. Paul’s face though he wouldn’t say anything directly. He understood how badly Jessica wanted to experience a natural birth and I suspect he didn’t want to disappoint her by telling her it was no longer an option. It was now almost 9:00pm and an emergency c-section was scheduled.

As this is getting long, I’ll skip to the chase. After a flurry of activity, they had Jessica prepped and ready to go within practically a matter of minutes. The nurse guided me to my “bunny suit” so I could enter the “operating theatre” as they call it here. Just as I was walking through the double doors, I saw Dr. Paul begin to draw the scalpel across her abdomen. Believe it or not, I watched the entire process from incision to the pulling out of the placenta. As they pulled Kaelan from her belly, he wasn’t crying and I could tell he wasn’t breathing properly. They rushed him to the table to quickly administer some oxygen. After a few long minutes, the oxygen worked and I heard the welcomed screams I had been anxiously waiting to hear. Kaelan had finally arrived after more than 44 hours after Jessica’s water breaking.

Born: December 5th, 9:36pm

Weight: 3.58kg (7lbs 14oz)

Length: 55cm

Here he comes!

Well, I guess it's true that you're never truly ready for the big moment to arrive. Even though little "K" is now 7 days past due, I don't think either Jessica or I expected things to start so quickly. Perhaps it's Murphy's Law because of all the nights for things to start, last night was probably the worst possible time. I had a late night video conference that I needed to participate in for work so it took me away from the apartment last night. My conference started at 10:30pm and it wasn't until after 1:30am that I finally walked in our front door. I made my way to the bedroom and poked my head in to let Jessica know I was home, then slipped into the living room for a quick call with a colleague before hitting the sack. It was 2am before my head finally hit the pillow! Around 2:45am, I was awoken to the sounds of Jessica rustling around in the bathroom. Understandably, she is now up every night for a bathroom break so I didn't think much about it and tried to drift back to sleep. Just as I was about to resume counting sheep, I heard the shower turn on which snapped me back to reality. I thought to myself, "Why is Jessica showering at 2:45 in the morning?" I glanced over to her empty side of the bed to discover a giant wet spot on our sheets. In my sleep deprived state, I thought, "Did Jessica just wet the bed?" Slowly, reality began to seep back into my brain and I remembered, "Wait, Jessica's pregnant...did her water just break?" I sprung out of bed, rushed to the bathroom and asked Jessica the obvious question, "Did your water just break?" Jessica simply stared at me and asked, "Where were you?" Confused by this line of questioning, I replied, "What do you mean where was I? I was in bed next to you!" Well, it turns out Jessica kept calling my name but I was so dead to the world I didn't even hear her. She was so focused on what was taking place that she didn't even see me lying next to her and assumed I was still out on a phone call! Long story short, neither Jessica nor I have had much sleep but we're both hanging tough. The contractions are coming more regularly now, averaging about 8 minutes apart. I guess we have a long day and night ahead of us. I hope to share with all of you the exciting news soon! Stay tuned!

December baby!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby "K" but so far there is no sign of him. He is 3 days overdue today but I am thankful for that because my doctor has been out of town this weekend and just returned tonight. After 9 long months with Dr. Tseng I really did not want to have someone else delivering my baby. I feel great! No aches or pains so I can't complain that he is late, we are just really excited to meet him!
It looks like we will have a December baby unless I go into labor soon...there are only 2 hours left in November. As some of you know, I love single digit birthdays so I am very happy to have made it to December. Only 9 days left to make that possible, please pray that happens or I just might be miserable at 2 weeks overdue!
We will keep you posted.

Finished Product

I thought it was about time to share with everyone what "K's" nursery looks like here in Singapore. While Travis may not share Bridgette's creative flare, I'd say he did a pretty good job pulling this nursery together...with a little guidance from me of course! =) Check out below if you want to see a little of what it looked like before it was finished.

A Work In Progress

Before Photos

Bridgette's Creativity

While back in Boise in October, Bridgette was kind enough to share her talents with us and take a few photos of me and Travis. Here is a samll sample of her skills mixed in perhaps with a little editing skills compliments of Chad!

Singapore Baby Shower

This is the baby shower the girls have been planning for a couple months! They did a great job and I am so thankful for the wonderful group of friends I have developed here.


This is the pregnant group. In order of due date! Me (very soon!), Vanessa (mid January), Laura (early February), Jessica (late February), Stephanie (Early March) and Lara (Late April). It is so fun to have so many girls to experience this with. We have bi-weekly yummy mummy outings so we can share our expereinces and now we are looking forward to future play days. I will lead the way so I better not mess up!

Some of the non preggos. Laura (Canada), Me, Jamiee (Australia) and Fiona (UK). I love them! It is so refreshing to have some regular, nonpregnant talk occasionally!

The loot.
I just got my rocking chair for the nursery today so I will post some pictures of it now that it is complete!

A Few Pregnancy Photos

Jessica and I decided we had better take a few pregnancy photos since the big day is just around the corner now. Attached are just a few that she would let me post! For those of you that didn't know, notice that cute little tattoo? I'm sure many of you didn't know that Jess was such a rebel! =)

In Loving Memory of Grandpa Hanna

Thanks for all the wonderful memories. You are so dear to everyone one of us and we are thankful for the time we had with you. We love you and will miss you and are so sad you had to leave us today but we are comforted to know you are home with the Lord.

Surprise Baby Shower!

I thought I was going to a going away party for Rosemary but my Bible study tricked me by throwing a surprise baby shower. It was so sweet of them! It was the day after I returned from the States but they must have known that I wouldn't want to miss Rosemary's goodbye!

The Gang
Back row from left: Victoria, Rosemary, Kim, Ruth and Brenda
Front row: Pam, Me, Jane and Valerie

Ruth embroidered this amazing quilt for me. She said it took her all summer and I feel so blessed she did that for me and the baby. We will cherish it forever! I met Ruth in Mongolia and she is the reason I am a part of this Bible study.

Rosemary makes all the birthday cakes for us girls so it is only natural she made these adorable cup cakes for the shower. We are going to miss you Rosemary and for many other reasons than the yummy cakes you make!

Boise Baby Shower

Nancy, Kelly, Bridgette and my Mom put on a Baby Shower for me when I was back in Boise. Nancy and Mom were in charge of the decorations games and prizes. They did a train theme in blue and brown. Bridgette and Kelly organized all the food and Bridgette took all of these great pictures!
I loved every minute, it was better than I ever imagined it could be. Great job ladies!

Mom, Nancy and I

Kelly and I
(Bridgette was in charge of the photos and somehow managed to dodge any pictures with her in them! I did get one with her in the nursery photos below.)

Barb, Kristina and I

Some of the other guests! Thank you all for coming! I had a wonderful time seeing you all and catching up a bit. I miss you!

Grandmother gave the cupcakes for the shower and they were so adorable! Bridgette picked out the flavors and designs. She and Kelly were in charge of the food and it was all so delicious.

The Loot...before

...and after!