Archive for August, 2006

If you have ever had a preemie, you can probably imagine what this is about.  This doesn’t apply to all preemies, as twins or triplets are almost always preemies and seldom have the problems that singles have.  The problem we are having is with her bradycardia and apnea.

Preemies usually have this, depending on gestational age and lung development.  For most, it starts out during sleeping and eating and even some waking moments; however, with time, it generally subsides.  With Sophia, it is now only when she eats, and has been such for about two weeks.  If she still had problems during waking hours and sleep, she wouldn’t be home, as it is a condition to get out of the NICU.  (The other two conditions are that the baby is gaining weight and that the baby can maintain its own heat (which means the isolette temperature is 27 Celsius)). 

Another factor is bottle feeding.  We have tried various types of nipples by different manufacturers and so far the best is Dr. Brown’s.  The first time we tried these were today, so the jury is still out; however, she seems to be doing much better.  The problem is that sometimes she gets too excited and stops breathing or starts coughing because she took in too much or she has a big burp saved up and then her heart rate drops really fast and her face turns ashen and she gives a sour look.  The monitor she is tethered to goes off and scares the bejesus (sp?) out of us.  We then have to try to stimulate her to get her to start breathing again.  It isn’t fun.

What we have found is to keep her almost completely upright and not letting her feed more than 8 to 10 seconds at a time.  Then, we force her to rest and start breathing.  Also, if she has hiccups, we make sure they abate before she is allowed to continue.  We also burp her about every minute or so.

Hopefully tonight we can all sleep!

Yesterday, we *FINALLY* got to bring Sophia home.  It has been an adjustment getting up to do the feedings in the small hours, but we knew it was coming so it isn’t too terrible.

She is doing great, and is eating a lot.

Forget the little riddle about what came first the chicken or the egg:  something that came before both is the alligator.  That is, according to science.  According to creationists…AHEM, I mean those who believe in intelligent design (or deus ex machina), they all appeared at the same time.  I’ll address that a little further in a second. 

Anyhoo, alligators existed before chickens, and some people tell me that alligator tastes like chicken.  Shouldn’t it be the other way around?  Shouldn’t chicken taste like alligator.  I would guess someone would’ve eaten alligator before chickens, since they are around longer.  That doesn’t mean that someone ACTUALLY ate alligators prior to the first chicken, but that given the choice between having to tangle with an alligator or a chicken, I would probably opt for the chicken.  That is, unless someone else was doing the hunting.  But, since alligators are also egg-layers, then the question naturally becomes “What came first, the alligator or the egg?”

Anyway, I can think of one thing I don’t understand about evolution.  If its basis is “survival of the fittest,” how come certain species of animals don’t get less tasty, as the tastier ones would surely be eaten first?  Do they, or do we just evolve with them so even the less tasty ones are still pretty dern tasty?

Anyway, I saw something on TV about the whole Intelligent Design thing.  There is a standard natural history museum with dinosaur bones and everything, and some nutjob would go around leading a field trip of his own and telling the kids that dinosaurs existed, but they existed 3,000 years ago and at the same time as man.  So, I guess it was a lot like “The Flintstones.”  Maybe there was some confusion when they were writing it down, and instead of “Yeah, verily” it should have been “Yabba dabba doo” or something.

Also, how come there is no mention of dinosaurs in The Bible?  I am sure I would’ve heard something about some big ass man-eating reptiles.  And how many Brontosauruses do you think Noah could’ve fit on that ark?

One day, I hope everyone stops taking Genesis and Revelation to be so dern literal.  Until that day, “Yabba dabba doo!”

Yesterday, I saw some guy in a circa 1985 Monte Carlo, all beat up, with the fabric headliner hanging down and a NASCAR bumper sticker talking on his BlueTooth-enabled cell phone.  I was laughing to myself, and Antonella said, “What, was it that guy in the old car with the hands-free phone?”   Yep, she saw it too.

Well, I have been thinking about this one for a while, but never got around blogging it: our misuse of Italian words.  What made me think about it is a menu at a restaurant in Johns Hopkins, though I had seen the same error at Panera Bread.  The item is “Panini Sandwiches.”  Unknown to most Americans, “panini” means “sandwiches,” so the mistake of calling it “panini sandwiches” is that you are actually saying “sandwiches sandwiches.”  Unless you are a vendor on a train, there is little need to utter such a redundancy.  In one instance, I heard someone say, “I want a panini sandwich,” which would be “I want a sandwiches sandwich,” which is a further bastardization of this egregious error.  It could be argued that a “sandwiches sandwich” would be the exemplary sandwich–the sandwich to which all other sandwiches pay heed, similar to a “man’s man.”  However, since “sandwiches” is plural and not possessive, it makes no sense.

Other Italian errors made by Americans:

• Pizza pie – it’s either a pizza, or a pie.  Unless you are ordering at L’il Caesar’s, again it is tautological.
• Pepperoni (peperoni) - means “peppers” (as in green or bell peppers).  You order that in Italy, that’s what you’ll get. (It’s good though!)  The stuff on pizza is salami.
• Paparazzi – is plural, whereas paparazzo is singular.  If you are talking about one person, it is paparazzo.
• Mozzarella cheese – calling it mozzarella cheese is like saying I own a Rottweiler dog.  Of course a Rottweiler is a dog, and the extra word makes it clumsy.  Other similar instances: Parmesan (cheese), ricotta (cheese), prosciutto (ham), macaroni (pasta).  This is not really an error, but you won’t see too many Italians using the superfluous words.

 Just trying to help.  Oh, and as the title would imply, such care does not need to be extended to the French… (until a Parisian gives me some decent directions when I am there next time, at which time I will recant.  In other words, NEVER!)