random act of posting

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to all my friends in bloggerland for not being a good friend and visiting your blogs over the past few days. My work was insanely busy last week and continues like that this week. I anticipate the craziness to last until the end of the month. Hopefully I won't crack.

For those of you interested in knowing what the surprise was on Saturday for HotMomma's birthday, I took her to see Cirque du Soleil's O at Bellagio. We had prime seats. It was an awesome show.

I also lost her license that night, so she has to go to the dreaded DMV today to get a new one. And, yes, I'm catching a lot of flack for it.

HotMomma hits the 30 week mark this week. We're in the home stretch. Despite the fast approaching due date, we've done absolutely nothing to prepare. We haven't pre-registered at the hospital. We haven't bought even one baby item. Don't get me wrong, we're equally excited about arrival of The Fetus as we were with Z-Dub, but I think it's just different the second time around. There isn't that eager anticipation and anxiety that comes with expecting the first born. Besides, we don't have much to get because we have all of Z-Dub's stuff. That's the advantage of having another boy.

Speaking of The Fetus, he has a real name now. For the blog it will be Z-Jay. If you want to know it, just let me know in a comment and I'll e-mail you.

Completely changing the subject...I really wish Southern Nevada had better resources for recycling. We try to recycle whatever we can, but they only pick up every other week and their containers are small. We'd like to recycle EVERYTHING that's recyclable, but they prevent us from doing so.

HotMomma would like everyone to help out with this. She's very passionate about stopping pervs.

And here's the speed round:

....Z-Dub still hasn't pottied in the toilet at home...We're going to San Diego this weekend...I'm going to Salt Lake City on Oct. 6...I should stop typing now and leave for work.

a night in the er

We're home after an extruciating night in the emergency room. Our time there was both tense and frustrating as more than one doctor tried to figure out what was going on and what to do to address HotMomma's extremely painful condition.

Before describing it, here's a little history. On New Year's Day in 2006, HotMomma was about 26 weeks pregnant with Z-Dub. Just before midnight she woke up and couldn't breathe because there was a tremendous pain radiating from her lower chest. It was so bad that she couldn't move and could only take short shallow breaths. At the time we were living in the Phoenix area, so I rushed her to Banner Desert Hospital in Mesa where, despite the busy waiting room, she was quickly rushed in and a series of tests were performed. The doctor told us that it could be one of two things: a blood clot in her lungs or pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the lining of the rib cage. They ruled out the blood clot and she was administered IV fluids and morphine for the pain. Yes, morphine. It was that painful.

Fast forward to last night. HotMomma, who coincidently is 26 weeks pregnant with The Fetus, woke up with the same painful symptoms. We debated for a moment, and because there was little that could be done to quell the pain at home, we decided the best course of action was a visit to the emergency room.

While our visit to the emergency room at Banner Desert Hospital was professional and quick, our visit to the emergency room at a hospital here in Henderson was met with confusion, frustration and disappointment. I understand the docs were trying their best, but they really didn't listen to us as we explained the symptoms and past experience. Instead, over a long eight hours they performed a battery of tests to rule out a blood clot, gall stones, and heart problems. What compounded the situation was the fact that when we arrived in the ER, the folks at the desk refused to see us and made us walk to the Labor and Delivery department in a different area of the hospital. Once we arrived there, they refused to see us and sent us back down to the ER. All the while, HotMomma couldn't breathe. Also, our original nurse was not very nice and the room we were given was DIRTY and freezing ass cold. I shivered the whole time. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I joked that I'll probably need a bed myself by morning as I'll probably contract pnuemonia.

I can understand the need the blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds of the legs, ultrasound of the gall bladder, EKG, etc. We definitely need to rule out potentially life threatening conditions. A blood clot is the leading cause of death during pregnancy. Only about one percent of pregnant women develop the condition though, so it's rare as well. The tests performed did not rule it out, so the doctors scheduled a CAT scan, but actually going through with it was a concern. The high dose of radiation and the dye injected into the body both pose a risk to The Fetus. However, in a life and death situation, you take that risk.

After consulting with several doctors, including HotMomma's OB doctor, the CAT scan was ultimately cancelled. With the symptoms subsiding and the other tests coming up negative for a blood clot, they decided that the risk outweigh the potential negative results. Instead we left with no diagnosis or treatment. Not even pleurisy, which I still believe is the proper diagnosis. They said it could probably be just indigestion. WTF? It was definitely not indigestion.

The docs did however find something abnormal, but probably not too serious, with HotMomma's heart. She will be visiting a cardiologist later this week for an Echocardiogram to determine if it's anything that needs attention. Her OB said that what the x-ray shows is actually fairly common during pregnancy and it's probably nothing to worry about, but it's worth a check.

So there you have it. A night in the emergency room with no conclusive diagnosis. Luckily HotMomma is feeling better this morning. We arrived home at around 10 a.m. and with Z-Dub at his grandma's house, we were able to get some much needed sleep. Hopefully HotMomma's condition will continue to improve so we don't have a repeat of the horrible pain tonight.

Thank you to everyone who left comments of concern and prayers on my previous post. We appreciate it greatly.

enter the war zone

Yesterday HotMomma and her visiting sister went shopping for a few hours while leaving in my care two toddlers and a seven-year-old. I learned two things from the experience: 1. One toddler can be a bit destructive, but put two together and you have a WMD, 2. Three kids + one dog + a gazillion toys + one television = more noise than the brain can handle, and 3. I'm totally not mentally or physically ready for the impending birth of The Fetus and having two kids. At the same time. All the time.

Apparently Z-Dub and his cousin BS (six months younger) have a love-hate relationship. One moment they're laughing and playing and the next they're fighting. After spending several days together this week, they were swinging more to the hate side yesterday. I was constantly playing referee to fights over everything from snacks to toys to playing with the dog. They both had "that's mine" as their mantras and neither would raise a white flag and let there be peace. Instead they employed their power of swinging as they competed in some vicious rounds of boxing. I was about to give up on stopping it and invite some of the neighbors over some betting action. I could have made some serious cash. While Z-Dub is bigger and packs a mean punch, you can never underestimate the slapping power of little BS. And she's got the mad dog facial expressions to go with it. She's the daughter of a tough U.S. Marine. Don't f*ck with her!

Instead of letting them beat each other senseless I had to play U.N. Secretary and impose some sanctions to quell some of the battles. They included confiscation of certain highly sought toys and frequent timeouts. Actually, Z-Dub got more timeouts, because BS cried uncontrollably if you just told her "no." She's tough, but sensative I guess.

Unfortunately, like with conflicted nations, these sanctions were only temporary fixes as no cease-fire held for longer than a few minutes. Although a full-on war never broke out in the iVegasFamily house, border skirmishes continued throughout the morning hours until they both fell asleep in exhaustion.

During their nap I had to clean up the mess. Shortly after Z-Dub woke, but before BS did, HotMomma and her sister arrived home and I was relieved of my commanding duty. Despite that, by the evening I was exhausted beyond words. As I lay in bed to sleep, I thought to myself, "holy crap, it a couple of months we're going to have two kids." I'm screwed!

it's time to play "name that kid"

With the due date of The Fetus fast approaching, again we find ourselves in the position of researching, debating and settling on a name for an unborn child. Of course, we don't take this important job lightly. A name will be forever attached to this child. We need to come up with something that works well and is not weird like that nine-year-old girl "Tuala that does the Hula from Hawaii" (yep, that's her name) that won a court battle in New Zealand yesterday that will allow her to change her name to something less ridiculous.

We love Z-Dub's name. Those of you that read this blog's predecessor know his real name. It's a cool name that fits him perfectly. HotMomma is steadfast in her desire to have The Fetus's name start with the letter "Z" as well. This is because on the off chance that we finally conceive a girl she already has a name selected for her that starts with the often ignored final letter of the English alphabet.

HotMomma would actually like all of our kids' names to start with "Z" like Zoe's Dad. I actually offered the suggestion of selecting a name for The Fetus that starts with the letter on the opposite side of the alphabet spectrum, an "A." Our family will be eerily similar to those Honea boys, but I would never copy, of course. Although Atticus is a bad ass name. But it doesn't matter anyways because the suggestion was shot down for a reason that's quite obvious. This second child could potentially end up being a "middle child," which for many kids is challenging in itself. To give him a name that's different from his siblings could make him feel like an outsider or black sheep.

We're toying with a couple of name ideas. Feel free to post some ideas of boy "Z" names, keeping in mind that we do not like Zachary or Zack. Also, if you're interested in knowing and giving your two cents on the names we're deliberating, please feel free to let me know via comment and I'll e-mail you. Remember to fill in the e-mail box when you comment.

the fetus: a boy, or a girl?

When HotMomma was first pregnant with Z-Dub way back in 2005, she dreamt of having a little girl. A little princess to care for and nurture. Instead we were blessed with a little boy, and despite the fact that HotMomma wept when she found out he was a boy, both she and I couldn't be any happier with our little man.

Once again we're pregnant and the big question of whether The Fetus is a boy or a girl is upon us. HotMomma was convinced that the child growing in her womb is another boy. She didn't want to set herself up for disappointment. Deep inside she's been longing for a little girl. I, on the other hand, would be happy with either. And I have had no feelings or father's intuition telling me which sex the baby will be. Yes, a girl will certainly be a blessing in my family of mostly boys. She certainly would be spoiled. But a little boy would be a perfect companion for Z-Dub. As an added bonus, a little boy would cost must less because we already have a ton of baby boy goods that were hardly used when Z-Dub came along. I guess you always over-buy the for the first kid.

Today was a pivotal day in the pregnancy. Not only has HotMomma passed the half way point, she had the much anticipated ultrasound to tell us the sex of The Fetus.

I bet you're dying to know. Right?

Well, the results say....

That's right. We're having another boy! Z-Dub will no longer be the single prince of the house.

on fatherhood

Welcome to the launch of iVegasFamily, a blog about the trials and tribulations of parenthood as well as random thoughts from the perspective of a Las Vegas dad. Many of you are familiar with this blog's predecessor and the enormous amount of time and energy I devoted to posting my opinions and positive and negative experiences as a first time parent. With this fresh start, I hope to accomplish the same, with hopefully some improvement. The fact that many of my regular readers have joined me at this new site is a tremendous source of encouragement. *I'll be especially grateful if you all resubscribe to my feed.

With this blog written from a dad's point of view and the fact that we're approaching Father's Day weekend, I thought it would be fitting to write an inaugural post about fatherhood and what it means to me. I'm also writing about the subject as part a contest over at Discovering Dad. Although it would be great to win, the experience of being a father is truly an award in itself. I feel privileged to be a father.

I never imagined how challenging and rewarding fatherhood could be until I had the opportunity to first experience it with the birth of Z-Dub a little over two years ago. The night we brought him home remains one of the most memorable. Needless to say, we had no clue what we were doing and sleep was unattainable. But the challenges of those first experiences were, and continue to be, greatly surpassed by the tremendous joy our son has brought to my life, as well as HotMomma's. My love for him has never wavered and never will.

During HotMomma's pregnancy I envisioned what it would be like. I'd have this little person to care for, making sure he's protected, nurtured and loved until he eventually becomes an independent and self-sufficient young adult. Needless to say, I was a bit frightened by the whole thing. Would I be good at it? Luckily I've managed and the role of father has turned out to be so much more than just the care of a helpless being. It has been a tremendous learning experience not only for Z-Dub, but also for me. That is why learning is exactly what fatherhood means to me. It may seem too simple or obvious to others, but I never realized how much learning potential having a child creates.

One of the most important things we've both learned is patience, although with similar personalities, we both slip up every once in a while. For me it's letting him stop to observe an ant on the sidewalk during our afternoon walk instead of rushing him around the block. It may be just a bug to me, but to Z-Dub it's a remarkable creature to be studied until he's compelled to stomp on it and yell "the ant's dead!" For Z-Dub it's learning to calmly wait his turn when sharing toys with his friends or when he's yearning for a refill of juice in his sippy cup. We've both made great strides in learning to overcome our propensity for impatience.

While patience is important, learning to help others is too. I'm completely committed to playing an active role in the caring of Z-Dub and his future brother or sister (AKA The Fetus). Whether it's changing a crappy diaper, supervising shower time or taking Z-Dub to the doctor, I've always participated and often taken the lead with these not-too-glorious jobs. I'm sure HotMomma appreciates the support, but more importantly, I feel it's important that Z-Dub knows that helping others can be rewarding. I also believe that it's important that he knows that both of his parents are devoted to helping him grow and flourish. He learns by example and hopefully will be just as devoted when he has the opportunity to become a parent in very distant future.

Being a father also means learning from others. Blogging as afforded me the opportunity to meet and develop friendships with other dad (and mom) bloggers. They are great sources for information, advice, humor and encouraging commentary that have helped me overcome obstacles. For example, one of our greatest challenges so far has been in the area of discipline. While overall Z-Dub is a well-mannered child, he does have his moments like any other two-year-old. He likes to test our authority, mocking every punishment thrown his way. Timeouts have become the most effective tool, but lately he's laughed at the prospect of time in the corner. It may be a joke to him, but it's definitely not for us. I've read a lot about the issue on other blogs and have received a lot of advice in the form of comments. We're applying what we've learned and trying new things, such as positive reinforcement, to solidify our authority over our mischievous toddler. I think we're gaining ground in that area.

While learning is an important aspect of fatherhood, it requires an open mind and a willingness to confront what may be deemed as uncomfortable or unmanly. Fathers should be determined to try new things and view them as extraordinary opportunities for self analysis and improvement. Our actions and attitudes towards tasks, responsibilities and roles have a lasting effect on our children. We have an opportunity to help shape them into individuals that are not afraid of taking on challenges and achieving success. I'm confident that my shared learning experiences with Z-Dub will help him become a better human being.

---------------------------------------------------

I'd also like to congratulate Jeremy from Discovering Dad and his family. Their daughter Caitlin is finally home after spending the first 23 days of her life in a NICU. We wish them the best.