Discovery

I read a news story that a tribe of "uncontacted" people were found and photographed by aircraft near the border of Brazil and Peru. Having been to Austraila and learning about the Aborigine culture and knowing that some of them still live in the outback still did not prevent the shock I got when I read the article. I guess I knew that people still lived like that, but it hit me different when I saw the above picture. They referred to them as "Uncontacted" or "Unregistered" meaning that the rest of the world had no idea that they were there or they even existed.

To me this is facinating that we still have parts of this world where people live and no one else in the world even know they exist and they have no idea of what exists in the world outside of them. From the picture, it looks like they have never seen a plane or helicopter or flying object before, thats why they were shooting arrows at it. The picture shows the house and the people painted red and black. This amazes me, because when I was little I was obsessed with American Indians and actually wanted to be one when I grew up.



For all I know this could be a hoax and a fake picture, but can you imagine. What would they do if you gave them your Ipod? What would they think if you told them about Chipotle? How would they react to cars, or air conditioning? Would they understand taxes, or politics, or television? I would love to hang out with these dudes.

Bottom Line - You can't discover anything new unless you are willing to search.

Smiles

Lately Lydia has began smiling on purpose. We usually have to prompt it at this point, but when it happens, it is amazing. The doctor told us that babies start smiling at about 4 weeks, and she is 4 weeks old as of yesterday. The first month has been wonderful with her. Lots of laughs, and way too much fun. I don't believe anyone who sighs negatively when they hear that I have a new born and they usually say "I bet you don't sleep anymore" and "The first 2 months are the worst". Truth is I wouldn't trade this time with my daughter for anything. My wife and I are enjoying every second of it. Sure it can be difficult at some points, but that makes us a stronger family. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a dad. It has been nothing but exciting and rewarding since day one, and I know that it will get better and better as time moves forward. I will be getting more smile pictures from Lydia soon. You can also check out my wife's blog which is now up and running and appropriately named www.lydianicole.blogspot.com. Make sure you read her entry entitled "Husband of the Year" wink wink.

Bottom Line - The first time she smiled at just me, it changed my life.

Sports Radio Theory

Last week I was sick with a deep cold, and it threw me into a tailspin of negativity. After staying home from work on Monday, the rest of the week proved to be difficult. I lacked focus, I lacked positivity, and I lacked discipline. This being a new week, I decided to try something different. I have a theory that my sickness was not the only factor of my negativity. In order to test a theory that I created, I am not going to listen to sports radio this week. With the Reds pulling off 6 straight wins, it is not the ideal time to stop listening to sports radio, but us Cincinnatians know that the Reds' sucess won't last too much longer before the landslide. Hear you next week homer and espn radio.



Bottom Line - I like testing theories almost but not quite as much as I like creating theories.

Lydia Extravaganza

She slept so well at the hospital



I wish we could have taken the clear bed box home with us




Close up



She can yawn like a champ



Smile attempt



Just after birth in the labor and delivery room



Wide awake during the night


Bottom Line - Lydia is the 2nd most beautiful woman on the planet. (My wife still holds the number 1 spot)

Natural Woman

It was Saturday night April 26th and the minor contractions were still 5 minutes apart. We managed to still somehow get rest even though the anxiety had been non-stop all day. The next morning at 7:37AM I was informed that the pain in her last contraction was so bad that she had to stop moving and she could not talk. It was time to me to get cleaned up and put on my labor coaching clothes. We called the doctor after the intense contractions reached the 5 minutes apart mark. The doctor encouraged us to stay home as long as possible. Since this was our first child, we were informed that it would be several hours of labor.

At this point Jessie was doing great. She was working through each one, and using the inbetween time to get things ready to go to the hospital. Then they got worse and there was less and less time inbetween the contractions. It was time to get focused and pull out the playbook and get ready for the game of our lives. We took a short walk around the neighborhood and then moved into the house to start going through the contractions in the various positions that we learned in the classes that we had previously taken. They were strong and intense, but my wife remained very focused and disciplined and at around 11:00AM we decided to go to the hospital because she thought her water had broken. By this time she was completely unaware of what was going on around her and not coming back to earth until this baby was born. I loaded up the car and got her in the passenger seat after covering it in a trash bag and we went to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at 11:30 and the contractions were still at a high level and now only 2-3 minutes apart. She got checked into Triage to get checked out. I could not stand this part because this is where they stuck me in the waiting room and I had to wait while they quizzed my wife, who was in labor, to see if I am an abusive husband or if I would ever harm a child. So 20 minutes later I was finally cleared to go back and be with her. I found out that her water had broken and that she was 4cm dialated.

We finally were moved to our labor and delivery room by 1PM where she finally got to stand back up and get back into her zone. We used several positions in the room as the contractions increased. We had some Enya music going and I would constantly watch the monitors telling her when the contractions were coming and when they were going away. Then by 3PM she was 8cm dialated and ready to start pushing.

If you have not picked it up by now, my wife was going through all of the pain and contractions completely un-medicated or more plainly stated, having a natural birth. Only 5% of births in the USA are un-medicated. She pushed for about an hour and then at 4:02PM on Sunday April 27th, 2008, Lydia Nicole Stegman was born of a natural birth.

My wife was amazing. She remained focused the whole time and never gave in to the pain. It was obviously the hardest thing that she had ever done in her life and I was right there with her every step of the way. Teamwork played a huge part of our success. I am so proud of her. The pictures below was taken literally minutes after birth. She looks so amazing and she looks so natural with our daughter in her arms.





Bottom Line - God gave us a miracle, Jessie delivered her naturally.