James and Claire

I got a couple of e-mails and phone calls today from people who were worried about me being alone down here. Trust me, this is an easy gig. All I have to do is work, eat, and visit babies...which are all things that I am good at doing and I happen to enjoy doing. I worked from home for 2 years when I got out of school...I would go weeks without seeing other people...this is nothing.

First, the medical information. James now weighs 6 pounds 11.5 ounces. Claire is at 5 pounds 10 ounces. James seems to have figured out how to eat, breathe, and maintain a normal heart rate all at the same time...which makes him pretty much ready to go. Claire has a tendency to lower her heart rate (bradycardia) when she eats. They will NOT release her when she does this. Every time she does it, the 5-day countdown to release gets pushed back.

The doctors and nurses seem surprised that Claire is not doing better, as little girls tend to out-perform little boys with these issues in the NICU. None of them seem to concerned or give me any indication that there might be something wrong with Claire, so I don't think that is the case. They just say she needs more time.

James is pounding down 70 (not sure what the measure is) and Claire is on 52. Claire is also 'restricted', which means if she does not eat hers, it gets force fed through her nasal thing.

Some of the doctors seem to want to hold onto James and release them both at the same time...others want to release James and keep Claire in the NICU. We are getting mixed information, so we don't know what to expect.

Nicholas and Christy are doing well. They had a 3-hour playdate with friends this morning and then continued to get things done in the afternoon and evening. I called Christy at 11:30 and she was still plowing away at things. She definitely got the worst of this deal.

I was a good boy and drank a health drink for lunch for the second day in a row. However, I walked to 'El Mercado' for dinner tonight. I sat at an L-shaped bar for about an hour and 20 minutes. The entire time, I spoke six words: Sour Cream Enchiladas, Pacifico, Pacifico, Pacifico. I must have smelled bad, because the other side of the L filled up and my side remained empty. It was fine, as I am content to sit and watch sports without the interruptions from strangers who sit at the bar a lot more frequently than I do. The Sour Cream Enchiladas were OK, except that there was a ton of garlic in them, which I am not used to in my Tex-Mex. The Pacifico was right on the money though.

My sister Leslie appears poised to give birth to her daughter at any moment. She is having contractions and is likely headed to the hospital overnight tonight. Everyone tells me tomorrow is the day. We anxiously await news and pictures.

A question was posed to me today: Kelly Thompson asks: "How much cheese have you eaten while in Austin?"

This is a great question, and one that I take very seriously. I would estimate that while in Austin, I have consumed somewhere between 65 and 75 pounds of cheese. Because cheese is such a versatile and diverse vegetable, I felt as though a pie chart was necessary to fully qualify my response.

By the way, feel free to e-mail me interesting questions like that one. I am completely out of stuff to write about.