Baby Gallory

Before I ever felt Julian move while he was in my belly - I felt his hiccups. In fact, it made me so nervous, I talked to my doctor about it, making sure I wasn't going into labor waaaay too early. As he got bigger, his hiccups got more and more powerful, and he'd get them sometimes as often as twice a day. At the end of the pregnancy, he'd make some serious waves if I happened to be in a bathtub while he had them. I am happy to report, he still gets earth-shaking hiccups!!! Now, instead of making waves, he makes the rocking chair rock all on his own... Mom Here's Jules in the middle of a hiccuping session right after a feeding.

The three of us took the opportunity to venture out into the neighborhood on this lovely day. Ann Arbor's fall has a tendency to be winter before you know it, so days like this should not be overlooked. Special thanks to Jereen and Sharon for the delicious Manicotti and salad we had for lunch. We've got plenty of leftovers so we'll be having it a few more times! Kasia thinks that its the perfect post pregnancy food because of the soothing texture and it's easy to digest. I just think it tastes good... Dad For all of you moms out there that can't believe that we put him on the ground, I actually had my hand under him when we took this. I just couldn't resist Photoshoping it out for the effect. We stopped in at Tony and Julie's for a little while, watched the Lions lose, and took a few pics in their backyard. This is the majestic maple in front of our house in full fall color. You can also see us trying out our Baby Bjorn for the first time. Thanks to the Ko...

I've lost track of how many diapers we've gone through today, but if we keep this pace up we might need to buy stock in Pampers. The fun in all of these diaper changes lies in two facts. 1. Julian absolutely hates to get his diaper changed. 2. He's a boy. Changing his clothes, diapers, touching his feet, whatever, he doesn't like it. So, when it's time to change the diaper, you might as well put the ear plugs in, because he's gonna' wail. It's amazing. As soon as we finish changing the diaper and put his clothes back on he's like nothing happened. The boy factor is a little more exciting. We're getting pretty good at changing the diapers without his pride ever getting a clear shot in the open. So far I've been the lucky one, having been hit four times. There's something that happens as soon as the cold air hits under the diaper. Something primal, as if the kilt just got lifted, saying "It's time to water the lawn". These two...

If there's one subject that no one can agree on it's feeding the baby. While in the hospital we were close to putting a "do not mention feeding if you enter" sign on the door. By the time we left we were under the impression that the baby needs to be woken up every 2 to 3 hours no matter the time of day to eat. The problem with this wisdom is that when he doesn't want to be up he doesn't want to eat. Makes sense to me. So, at the nurses' visit yesterday we were thrilled to find out that this rule only needs to apply during the day and that he can sleep as long as he wants during the night. This is so that he starts to recognize that you sleep at night. Makes sense to me. So, last night, empowered with the official okay to let him go, we did, and he slept 4 hours straight! Needless to say, there might be hope for sleep yet... Today was a pretty relaxed day at casa de gallo. Lots of sleeping, eating and rolling around on the floor... Dad the Polish flag pic...

Here's our official baby announcement. We're sending out a hard copy to grandparents, offices, and family without internet. If you want us to send you a hard copy please email us... Dad

Today we made our first trip out of the house! Julian's first pediatrician visit went very well, where he amazingly figured out how to suck on his thumb. (my boy!) Everything is okay with Julian according to the nurse, and we couldn't agree more. After the doc's office we decided to pick up some goodies for the parents at the farmer's market where mom did some comparisons at the tomato stand. We're thinking of entering him in the state fair this year for best in show... Good call Hyewon on Pomidorek! Dad. ps. we started uploading slightly larger pics. So, if you click on the small ones here a bigger version will come up in a seperate window.

"I came, I saw, I conquered." Julius Cesar. "I ate, I slept, I pooped." Julian Gallo. We got all these things for the new baby: clothes, bottles, pumps, blankets, etc and we thought we had all the "stuff" ready. The check list is complete. Then he gets here and we felt like we couldn't put him in the brand new clothes because they smell like they're new, so we started washing them. Those brand new bottles and pumps need to be not just cleaned, but "sterilized". Then what to do with them after they're ready to be used? So, we displaced what we thought were essential items for the foodist's kitchen and gave a drawer over to bottles and pumps. The "clean" clothes have a drawer, but the dirty ones (there are plenty after one day) couldn’t be put in the same hamper as ours, se we're buying one for baby stuff today. And let’s not forget the packaging that the stuff came in that we had to remove while trying to figure out w...

So far we've been calling him Julian, Jules (like Jules Verne), Juli, Little Tomato, Little Potato (his litle perfectly round head looks just like one of those). The undignified ones are mostly my creations... Cory is more respectful. He calls him Little Man. Then there is the Polish version of the name (same spelling, but pronounced "Yulian"), with all of the Polish derrivatives - Juleczek, Julus'... Pomidorek, Kartofelek (lil tomato/potato). The possibilities are endless!!! :)

Mom here... All this is so incredible - first there is this thing moving around in my belly, causing all sorts of commotion, then there is this cosmic event, and next thing you know, there is a baby - with hair, fingernails, eyelashes, and the softest skin ever! I will be eternally grateful to our medical team. As natural as the process may be, there is so much that can go wrong!!! I developped a fever (signalling an infection), which may have been the reason why my labor was as intense as it was. According to our doctor, it may have been Nature's way of getting Julian out of harm's way as quickly as possible. His little heart had a really rough time dealing with the intensity, frequency, and duration of my contractions... C-section was very much in the picture for a while, later the forceps were looming, but all proved not needed. Doctor D had an incredibly reassuring bedside manner - we knew what was going on, why, and what were the implications. At any given point we also kn...

Last night was incredibly fun! After a hell of a day yesterday, Julian completely revolted last night from any kind of poking, prodding, checking, anything. However, he settled down in the morning and has been getting along with us ever since. At 3:00 pm everyone was given the all clear to go home. We were told that we could stay untill midnight, but thought better of it and ran out as fast as we could before they figured out that we were leaving with one more person than when we arrived. I realized at 3:00 am last night that Julian loves to be moving after pushing him in his crib up and down the halls for over an hour and having him object as soon as I stopped. It was a great scene. Several dads all in their pajamas pushing their newborns while mom gets a few minutes of sleep. Anyway, the ride home went very well. I'm foreseeing midnight car rides in the future... We've been home for a few hours now and he seems to like the place. So, now the fun begins. Winter is fast approac...

For Immediate Release... Julian Mikolaj (Nicholas in Polish) Gallo was born October 22, 2005 at 3:52 P.M. He weighed in at 7 Lbs and 7 oz with a whopping height of 22 inches! Mom, baby and even dad are doing great. Everyone will hopefully be coming home Monday night. After that we'll be able to add more detail to the story. Here are some pics to hold everyone over. I'm at the house for a quick shower and will be back at the hospital for the night. Dad.