A Baby New World

We have a new baby boy!

After a long night of bowling (hoping that would inspire Julien to pop out naturally) with my dad, Wendy, Nora and myself, Erin was called in to have labour induced at about 9:30 PM on Monday the 19th. Erin & I went for a little walk in the park (she was actually biking) to give each other pep-talks - are we ready for this? - and then Bo drove us all over to St. Mary's.

Erin was put on a hormone drip intravenously, which was increased by 6 μg every 1/2 hour. She wasn't feeling any contractions for about 5 hours and was only 1 cm dialated. We were up all night just keeping each other company (Bo, Nora, Erin & I) by playing games, telling stories, etc. Actually, we were only allowed to have 3 people in the room in total, but the nursing staff was very nice and let us all be there. Another nurse came in and boosted our hopes saying that she was 1 1/2 cm dilated. To tell you the truth, we were a little worried that Erin was going to need a caesarian section performed because she was at the maximum drip for a while and there were no signs of progress. Every time they examined Erin, they noticed that Julien's head was really far down, and that he was ready, but Erin had still not started to dilate. Actually 3 or 4 examinations had gone by with exactly the same results.

Then, Erin started getting contractions - she thought it was just indigestion at first, but then they became more and more intense. We all started helping Erin with Le Mas breathing patterns. A doctor came in to puncture Erin's membrane (i.e. water) and as she was lying down so that they could put an internal sensor on Julien to get his heart beat.

After that, contractions became more frequent and increasingly painful. Erin was lying down for them and she was in so much pain. We were all massaging her and practicing the breating. The nurses kept asking her to stop pushing, but she wasn't pushing at all -
I think it must have been the hormones that were causing the contractions to be so intense that they were just pushing the baby along all by themselves. Erin started to lose coherence because the pain was so intense, and then I said - "Erin, breath like your mom - just watch how your mom is breathing, and do it like mom does ok?" Bo jumped right in and was like the breathing coach. She sat Erin up, and told her when to hold it, when to inhale, and when to exhale. They had such a strong connection. After sitting up, and holding her breath for a second or two like Bo, Erin said that the contractions started coming under control after about 20 minutes.

Between about 5:30 AM and 9:00 AM she went about 2cm every hour, which is twice as fast as normal! She went from 2 cm dilated to 10 within about 2 hours - it was unbelievable! Bo was helping Erin keep the contractions under control while Nora and I were massaging Erin's back and legs. Nora & I waited outside while Erin received her epidural. The anesthesiologist had to really tell me to get out of the room because I wasn't fully prepared to leave Erin there, but she saw that Bo was helping Erin's breathing, and Erin asked if it was ok for her mom to stay there. So Bo got a mask on and helped Erin while she had the epidural.

After that, it literally took 5 pushes and about 20 minutes - things moved so quickly! Nora graciously stayed in the waiting room because they would only let Bo & I be there for the delivery. We were standing right there helping Erin along as she pushed, and then... well ... I don't think there are any words to describe the euphoria that we were all experiencing and even if there were I doubt that I could do it justice. I will never forget as long as I live.

Julien Michael Jacob Friedt was born on Tuesday, May 20th at 10:48 AM. He
weighed 8 lbs and 5 ounces at birth. He's totally healthy and scored a solid 9.9 on whatever test it is that they use. Labour lasted about 8 hours.

We got to hold him and talk to him immediately. I cut the cord. He was so real - it was so hard to believe what I just experienced happened - but at the same time, it was like we knew eachother all along. He recognized immediately when I started playing with his feet, just like when he was in his mom.

My dad came to visit right afterwards and they got to say hello to little Julien. Then we were moved to a bed in another wing for the next 48 hours. I was a little detached from the world because we weren't allowed to use cellular phones in the hospital, and they don't have public internet access anywhere inside. I only really left the hospital once or twice to get some food and necessities.

Bo & Nora were really helpful for those 48 hours while Erin & the baby were under supervision. Me? I was having the time of my life playing with my new little boy. He's so alert and inquisitive and incredibly well behaved... oh and he's just CRAZY cute!! hahaha...

When we were finally dischared to go home, stepping out of the hospital with my son was like stepping into a wholly different world.

It's been really nice being back home. We've had a few visitors already and lots of support from family and friends with phone calls, SMS, or even e-mails.

Soon we'll have lots of pics posted on facebook or picassa.

How? .. Who? .. What? ... Hippo

Hi everyone,

It's been a little while since I've written, so I thought I'd post something about this last month which has just come as an amazing and wonderful surprise.

I am going to be a dad !

Yes, you have read the above sentence correctly ... but here it is again, just for clarification:

I am going to be a dad !

It came as a complete surprise ( well not completely ) to Erin & I. She found out on the 1st of September as we were on our way back to Montreal from Toronto.

In complete honesty, my very first reaction was that I was thrilled ... although Erin was under the impression that the world was going to end until I worked some more of my magic charm.

Actually, we're both incredibly excicted. Erin's mom was the first one in our respective families to hear, and then I told my dad, and then I told Jacob who is probably my closest friend that has already undergone the transition from 20-somthing-er to fatherhood.

Erin & I both put off telling one of our parents for some time - Erin her dad, and me, my mother - probably out of fear for being scolded. At least I don't have that fear as badly as a certain Jeff Murdock, and in case anyone didn't catch it, yes, I did steal the title of this post from Coupling.

In any event, my mom was completely ecstatic! I was so worried that she would make that wierd Marge Simpson noise when she disapproves of something politely, especially because Erin & I are not even engaged to be married. It's something we both want to put off for a while still, although we've been a pretty healthy couple for ... well... almost 5 years? It does not seem that long to tell you the truth, but I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with to anyone else.

Erin's dad was also really happy. We spoke only briefly over the thanksgiving weekend, but everything was well nevertheless.

In any event, I thought I'd change the tone of this blog for the better!! Not so much ranting about work ;-)

I still haven't told many of my friends, simply because I like the ability to pass on wicked news like this in person. Sometimes the surprise is ruined, especially if you have a Quinlan for a mother because they like to tell everyone on your behalf ( ahem, ahem ). So hopefully none of you guys in Toronto actually read my blog, LOL !!

Now I'm back in Kiel, and the next semester is starting for me. Again, it will be another first since I've made the transition from Informatik into Digital Communications, but I'm really looking forward to be studying engineering again. Some things just feel natural ;-)

This slightly changes the plan I have to take for finishing my master's degree. Ideally, I would like to be in Canada before the baby ( who we affectionately refer to as 'the chick pea') is born and for aproximately a year onward.

Ciao 4 Now

Done Exams!

I've finished my exams for the 2007 summer semester here in Kiel. Both of them went pretty well. The first was Computer Vision II: Stochastic and Topological Approaches to Image Processing, and the second one was Neuroinformatik. CVII went pretty well, although I was a bit pissed about the last question. Neuro went better actually, although I like CV a bit more. CVII is actually a fairly hard course, not as hard as CVI, but still.

I had a beer, as per tradition, as soon as I got out of the last exam, and then on the walk home, the air smelled fresher, the sun felt brighter, all of the music on my iPod seemed to fit perfectly with everything - a good sign ;-) Actually, having the ability to take time and walk home was a big change all by itself ;-) Usually I have no time what so ever, and am racing to catch the next bus too hand something in, or meet up with my study groups.

I'm looking forward to coming home ____SO____ much!!!

Now I can focus on my work a bit more, and get a couple of big projects out of the way. I'm excited to actually be able to concentrate on one 'job' for the summer, getting new toys to play with (i.e. embedded devices), and doing some electrical design / hacking too! I'm also planning on hacking a couple of open source apps like Banshee, iPodLinux, and writing more interesting code for my various embedded devices.

Finally, I can design some image processing hardware too, once I learn about the PCI bus and interface with the new TS-7800 boards ;-) Since I tore apart my old crappy 1.3 megapixel digital camera, I'm also hoping to put linux on it.

As of next semester I'm going to be registered in the M.Sc. in Digital Communications, which is taught in english, as opposed to Informatik, which is taught in german. That should lighten my load considerably, but also provide the same type of challenges that I'm used to in areas such as DSP, communication theory, analog & digital circuit design, and so on.

Digital Communications is an engineering program, which I like better. Not to say that I didn't like all of the experiences I had in Informatik - Professor Sommer's lectures are exactly what I was looking for by travelling halfway across the world, and I can't even put a price on some of the things I learned studying with him. The things that I have yet to develop will likely be some of the most advanced in my life.

I've also learned some very interesting things in CV, Neuro, Numerische Math., and yes, even Mathematical Logic!! Unfortunately, I have to give up my office, which is a bummer, but the change to Digital Communication will surely have plenty of benefits to make up for it ;-)

The best and most important part everything now, though, is enjoying the summer!!! I'm really looking forward to meeting up with all of my friends in Canada, seeing all of my family, and of course Erin too :) woohoo!