(NOTE: For the Guy's Version, see last line)
     Well... Quinn is officially 3 weeks old today! I'd say "Wow, it's gone by FAST!" but we've been awake for most of it so not really, no.
     Seriously though, it's been a joy! Zoe isn't getting quite as much sleep as I'd like but I've been managing 7+ hours per night for most of the last week or so. Zoe with the breast feeding duty gets sleep in 2-3 hour shifts and I guess has been averaging 4-6-ish hours a night. Now I just need to be able to convince her to take naps throughout the day. But despite all of this she is looking fabulous, so there's not even any real justice in that either!

     Ok, so some house cleaning... I've been asked a few questions and I'll try to remember them all here and answer them accordingly. "Did Nick get to take any time off for the birth/first few days?" Yep! My mom was down until June 27th and I had the time between June 4th (when she and G'ma arrived) and today (June 30th) off. So pretty much the month of June, as well as Quinn's first 3 weeks! So I've gotten in tons and tons of Daddy bonding time! And since home is a mere 6 minute drive from work I'm planing on doing lunches at home most days as well (as I did today).
     "Where did we get the names?" Quinn is actually from the TV show "Sliders" and the main character's name (played by the fat kid from Stand By Me =). Zoe and I really liked the name and it had the bonus of being a cool initial. Vaughn came from a company that manufactures ice hockey goalie equipment and once again we both liked the name and again it is another cool initial. Pretty much the only downside of Quinn's name is his resulting initials: QVC. But in the grand scheme of things that's a pretty minor thing to get made fun of in school (and the Aussie's aren't privy to QVC so it's only a US thing).

     Alright, onto the stories... Waking up one morning about a week ago, I walk out into the lounge room and it seems that Monkey had not had the best of evenings as there was a little batch of kitty puke on the edge of one of the chairs. So, I headed into the kitchen, wetted a rag and proceeded to clean up the mess. After russeling up the chunky bits and mopping down the remainder came time to collect up said chunks. Looking left, then right and back left again I saw no trash can nor piece of cardboard nor Kleenex within reach. With this, I thought "agh, screw it" and swished it into my hand and finished off the chair mop-up. I then walked back into the kitchen, tossed the chunks, rinsed the rag and threw it on the washing machine (and yes, washed my hands).
     Now... I mention this because this is approximately the time that I realized that I had been broken, not in the "dish" kinda way, but in the "horse" kinda way. Not even the evening before I would have taken 5 minutes or more to dig out the dust pan, gagged while swishing the chunks into said dust pan and jogged to the toilet to dispose of the remainder. But just the night before we had decided to give Quinn only his second bath.
     We had everything set; the water drawn, the towels ready, the ducky on standby... but when we stripped him down he had a decidedly poo-y diaper! Being that we were already "in for the penny" and that the wipes were not one of the many things at the ready, I again thought "agh, screw it". Loading Quinn onto my right forearm, I dunked his lower half into the drawn bath and rinsed him (and my poo covered right forearm) off. He then very quickly got his third ever bath! So... with the help of Monkey and his upset stomach, I have now realized that I am well and truly a dad (at least when it comes to the dirty bits).

     Not to be out done by her older brother, Penwin too helped me to realize something important about being a parent the same week. If given the chance, the cats (either/or, or both) will sneak into the bedroom and fall asleep under the middle of the bed. We'd like to think it's because they love us, but really it's because we lock them out in the unheated part of the house at night. Of course, since it is the middle of the bed that they choose to sleep in, it makes it rather difficult to get them out from under there (probably by design). So anyway... there we are one evening (heh, who am I kidding... 2:30am) just dosing off to sleep and we hear the unmistakable russel of a Penwin under the bed. Both Zoe and I look at each other and decide without words to go ahead and leave her under there (heh, kidding again, but there's no need to have that kind of language in this email!). So off to sleep we fall.
     Next thing I know I'm being awoken by a half asleep, 1/4th drooling, 100% purring Penwin as she is kneading and nuzzling the side of my neck. Still being half asleep myself it took me a few moments to figure what the hell was going on. But as I did I was quite touched that she had such an obviously happy memory of her mother and breast feeding and early kitten-hood. That time seems to have been infinitely important to her, despite its rather short duration (as we got her when she was only 8 weeks old). Her joy of reliving that time that morning has helped me to realize that this is more then just a sleepless and frustrating and joyful time in Zoe and I's life, but is itself an extremely important and impressionable time for Quinn. Who knows exactly how much of the person he will grow to become will be built or based on these days?

     As for the rest... we attempted to get a picture of Quinn in one of his cute little outfits that Aunt Mandy and Uncle Terry bought for him but inside of 10 minutes of the dressing (and only minutes before the pictures) the poor little guy blows out an o-ring (translation: poo everywhere)! So even though the mustard technically went with the green pants, no one should ever wear spots and stripes.
     Despite all of the cute-sy sets we've gotten from all of Quinn's fans from around the world mom and dad have been lazy =( Yesterday we meet up with our birthing group (the 5 other couples that went thru the same program we did) and poor Quinn was the daggiest of the lot (translation: the slouchiest of the group). Pretty much everyone else had the tops and the pants and the bibs and the shoes and the hats and the mittens and and and... where as Quinn was dressed by mom and dad in one of his terry cloth Wondersuits with the built in mittens and built in shoes and tear away buttons for easy dirty diaper access... But we'll try harder! We promise!

     As for other out-and-about times, our first was actually when Quinn was just 13 days old! There was a baby fair on with new and used baby gear and we didn't want to miss it. So we managed to get out of the house only a half hour later then we wanted to, loaded Quinn up in the Hug-a-bub (baby sling-thingy that totally rocks) and off we went! Wandering 'round the fare for a good hour or so, we decided to go off for a coffee with a friend we had met up with. Once at the cafe, Zoe used the baby sling as cover and away he fed. Thanks to the positive response from Quinn thus far (read: asleep and content) we decided to go into the mall for a few things we'd had on our list for a while. A diaper change and another short feed later all were happy for teh entire 5-6 hour journey! For most people, they don't take their new borns' out and about not because of sickness fears or fragility, it's generally due to having yet to "get in the groove". So I figure we are doing quite well managing that jaunt! Since we've done a few other multi-hour excursions with a similar result, so I guess we're doing well in that respect.

     So anyway, there you have it; the Quinn (and Zoe [and Nick]) update! All is once again well.

Love to all

Nick and Zoe and Quinn

PS- Just a few pictures for now, Zoe's got a number of others all ready to go!

"poop whipping" (verb)
1. sleep deprivation for "poop wiping".
2. a culinary technique originating in Australia in the first decade of the 21st century.
3. a traditional ceremony preformed by fathers in the first days of their children's lives.

Damn, you people are smart asses! I guess that's why we like you all so much...

          Hello all!
     Today, I shall open with the men's / non-parents version; Everything's still good! We're home and happy and sleeping really well (for new parents, anyway...).

     Well... I can highly recommend the "staying with mom and the new baby in the hospital and they only feed patients" diet! I believe I averaged one and a half small meals a day for the 3 nights and 4 days we were in there! Though Grandma Gallagher came through on the last night with a wonderful lamb roast and peas and potatoes and gravy that sooo hit the spot!
     We ended up staying a night or so extra in the hospital then we originally had hoped. The first 2 nights were to make sure Zoe was ok and the last was to make sure Quinn was getting enough to eat. Generally when women loose blood as Zoe did in labor the first concern is anemia (low red blood cells and so low oxygen levels) where as Zoe's hemochromatosis (high iron) in additional to her super-hero powers helped her avoid this pitfall. The rounds doctor on our final morning in hospital said something to this effect:

     So, with the primary concern for mom throughly avoided we did fall into the secondary issue; Zoe's body was routing it's lesser amount of blood to her primary organs (brain, heart, lungs, etc.) and so any secondary functions (say, milk production) were getting short shift. This meant that little Quinn wasn't getting everything he needed from mom. He fed wonderfully the first night (probably because Zoe's body produced that feed before the loss) and from then on he was getting sooky (an Australian-ism for "cranky-pants" [which is an American-ism for "sooky"]) while feeding.
     We ended up having to supplement some formula for a few days to ensure that he was well hydrated and of course well fed. This was not our first choice, as breast milk has tons and tons of antibodies (did you know that if your baby gets an eye infection, a small squirt of breast milk should clear it up!?) and this decision (as well as this whole ordeal) was a little hard on mummy (yes Aaron, I put this one in just for you!). But after a few days of line feeding while Quinn suckled as normal (while hopefully getting some breast milk in the process) we're pretty well over that now. He's attaching well on his own now, though a little less then half the time I have to tempt him with a little formula through the line.
     Quinn is quite cute when he is looking to attach. I refer to it as "truffle hunting" because he snorts away as he nuzzles in before he attaches. That and it was the nicest way I could think of to say that he sounds like a little piggy snorting away =)

     As for a report from the home front... Grandma Campbell said that Monkey (our cat [yes we have a cat named Monkey]) was missing us desperately. He was meowing at our bedroom door and was waiting for us by the front door. Course after the first night when I came home for a shower I got the cold shoulder from him, and after the 3rd night I did get a super snuggle. So I guess all was forgiven. As for Penwin (Monkey's "little sister" / 2007 Christmas present / getting him used to having to share us with others) was indifferent to the whole thing, content to snuggle slut herself out to whoever whenever.
     As for the homecoming and their reactions... Monkey's was pretty much "Eh... I've seen and lived through worse" (namely Penwin). Penwin on the other hand is a bit more leery. See, she has this compunction to drag out teddy bears and beat the crap out of them. This is probably training for beating up Monkey, which she does well (she's 3-ish kilos [6.6lbs] and he's 10kg [22lbs] and she whoops his ass). Anyway, my theory is that since Quinn is about large teddy bear sized, she thinks that one has come alive to seek revenge for all the teddy's she's beaten up! So this fear is healthy I suppose.

     As for settling in we are all getting used to each other really well. Zoe and I are learning to read Quinn's needs, whether it's a problem with the gurgleies or if he's hun-gus. But we all realize that we are all learning so we are sure to give each other time and understanding. A very long time friend of Zoe's here in Canberra snuck into the hospital for a quick visit while we were there and imparted a wonderful piece of advice. Kathy's (and Andrew's) two little boys are about the two most lovely little terrors you could ever hope to meet. Anyway, a friend of her's was saying how with their third she found the "cries" endearing, cute and a joy as little ones have no other way to communicate. This touched Kathy as she had approached cries as a sign of distress and always wanted her little boys happy and she had wished that someone had told her to look at a little one's "cries" differently when her's were young. Seeing as Kathy's super-hero power is being an excellent mother, we've decided to take this on as sage advice.
     Something else that our little boy does that's cuter then hell is the hicc-a-nups. These started around 4:15pm on June 9th (yep, in utero!). Between contractions our Midwife thought she heard something on the CTG, so we both twigged up our ears (Zoe was indisposed at the time on other matters) and indeed it sounded like hiccups! Now we have probably have at least one incident a day for a minute or more.

     In other news... Zoe reports that the kankles are a-bye-bye and that she's gaining more energy. I asked her last night if the breast feeding was draining or weird or tiring or whatever, and for Zoe at least it's "agh... not really... yea, no" so for others who have wondered, there you go!
     Also, I've had the request to give the daddy's perspective for the birth... I guess I can say that fatherhood seems to look good on me! I don't know what I expected other then a challenge and I haven't gotten that yet, and at this rate I don't expect a challenge to come (at least in the scary / negative way). This isn't work... it's like traveling I suppose; uncomfortable at times (sleeping on a plane or holding on for dear life in the back of an RV), inconvenient at times (getting up at 4am to catch that flight) but that's all part of the experience and almost always some of the best bits! At least for me it's not not about the destination it's about the journey, and this is one enjoyable journey =)

With lots of love,
Nick, Zoe and Quinn

PS - If anyone wants a bigger copy of any/all of the attached photos (to print as a number of you have done or to show the Home Depot checkout girl or whatever) just let me know. They are about 2 megs each, so I scale them down so everyones email servers don't go kaput.

     Quinn Vaughn was born on June 9th, 2008 at 5:24pm Australian Pacific Time. Thanks to his waiting to meet us until after 5pm, he also has the same birthdate in California (12:24am)! He weighted in at 3.635kg (or 8lbs 0.2oz), length of 51cm (20.08 inches) and a big head just like his dad (36cm, or 14.17 inches).
     With the exception of Syntocian (artificial hormone to induce labor) we had a completely natural birth. Zoe was started on the drip at about 9am on the morning of 42 weeks +3 days (June 9th). We then watched all of Saving Silverman (Erick!) and got to the first spy vs spy fight scene of Borne Identity before Zoe started to feel the contractions (though they were going from 11am without any discomfort, much to the amazement of our Midwife). So... depending how you want to count Zoe started the first stage of labor (regular contractions) at either 11am or 1pm. Zoe used breathing while I was rubbing and tickling her back, arms and legs from 1pm. She spent much of this time on a birthing stool, moving into a bath at about 4pm.
     The second stage of labor (10cm dilated, or "the pushing part") started at 4:30pm and due to Quinn's late entrance we were not allowed to have a water birth as we had hoped, but Zoe was able to labor in the bath for the first 5 or so sets of pushing. We then moved to a floor mat where we met Quinn.
     He was handed straight over to Zoe and it was her that said "it's a boy!" I cut the cord and he didn't leave Zoe's arms for the first 2-3 hours where he had a healthy first feed. For the third and final stage of labor (birthing the placenta) everything came easy, but Zoe lost a little more blood then we would have liked (just because I know Kim will be interested - 2.3ltrs). But thanks to Zoe's hemacromoatosis the major worry of such a loss was largely mitigated as she has more iron then average.
     The Syntocian was stepped back to 72 (4 steps above beginning levels) around 3:30-4pm as Zoe's body took over. Zoe took zero pain killers and even though no-one has believed me yet, she said "ouch" 2 or maybe 3 times throughout. Even our Midwife was impressed with that and the less then 1 hour of pushing! Zoe got it all done in about 25 sets of pushes. Needless to say, she is my hero.

     So we spent last night in the wonderful care of Canberra Hospital as a precaution. Zoe and bub (as baby's are referred to here in Oz) are doing extremely well, though dad has a minor back ache =) We're also spending the night tonight as well just to make sure Zoe's iron levels come back to normal.
     Quinn has been feeding very well (as we are told) and pooping up a storm (a good sign for a 1-day-er). I've been on diaper (nappy) duty as well as bath detail while mom's been resting. Quinn was born with blond-blond hair, where as Zoe and I came with jet-black hair so we guess that means he'll be stuck with it! Even his eyelashes are blond! He's got blue eyes, but I think all baby's are born that way so I think the jury's still out. Though with dad's as blue and mom's as green... Our Midwife also claimed Quinn to be well-endowed, but I will speak nothing else on that subject =)
     He's been largely quiet and content, though he hates to be cold and/or naked so we get a few bursts between changes. He loves to hear us talk and gazes up at us with his big (currently) blue eyes. Other then a bit of a bump on his head thanks to the extra 2 weeks and 3 days he couldn't be happier (although it seems my poop whipping skills could use some improvements as that's not a favorite of his)!
     Ok... that should be enough of the details to keep the girls happy! As for the men's summary: all in all, everything went perfectly!

     We should be home tomorrow (June 11 Australia, June 10 US) and so we'll begin our calls in earnest sometime there after. Anyone who wants to leave words of encouragement can call and leave us a message on (02) 6160 1316 (Australia) or (916) 671 8101 (USA) and we'll pickup the voicemails via email. Else drop us a line on either campbeln@gmail.com or cutified@gmail.com (though the voicemails would be much more fun =).

With love,

Zoe, Nick and Quinn

PS- The pictures are thanks to Grandma Gallagher because dad forgot the camera at the hospital! More will follow!