Sat, December 09, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 1

I am happy to announce that Katrina passed her NCLEX on November 22nd, and is now a registered nurse. I remain very proud of her and all that she continues to balance. She is still studying full time for her pediatric nurse practitioner degree, and we continue to be very grateful for support from her mother, her sister Alicia, and my mother (who have each come to help look after Jameh when she has her class blocks).

The third year of medical school continues to be going well - and fast. I am in the middle of my pediatric neurology (after having finished general neurology, psychiatry, and surgery rotations) and am enjoying all of the rotations very much. Just two weeks left before mid-year.

Since the last blog entry, Jameh has been quite active in learning how to walk, eat on his own, and being a continued source of happiness. We have posted a video of him walking, as well as some photos to fill in the spaces these past couple of months. He enjoyed his first Thanksgiving with Katrina's family down in Huntsville, Alabama. We all had a very good time. Jameh's first birthday is coming up on January 15th. Needless to say, his first year has flown by.

In other news, Jameh is going to have a new cousin. Ghaneh and Melody will make terrific parents, and we are very much looking forward to their new arrival (expected in April). We are looking forward to visiting them and my parents this Winter break.

Wed, October 25, 2006 - Nafeh and Katrina    Comments: 1

Jameh took his first step today!! He was trying to leave the couch to get to 'dada' who was playing with him on the living room floor. He got too tired afterwards to try again...we will see what the weeks to come will bring!! YEAH JAMEH!!

Tue, October 24, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

Hello everyone!! We are very very aware of how long it has been since we last wrote to everyone as well as gave an update on Jameh. We apologize!! We are all doing well and just trying to continue through the semester.

Nafeh is in his 3rd week of his psychiatry rotation. He is enjoying it and of course helping his patients, so much!! He and Jameh have been spending more and more time together and it is so fun to see Jameh reaching for 'dada'. Eventhough he doesn't quite say 'dada' yet, sometimes he says 'ahah', we think in refernce to his papa. Jameh has recently started to get upset, cry a bit, when Nafeh comes into the bedroom to say goodbye before going to school. When Nafeh turns to leave, Jameh will cry out and Nafeh comes back to hug him and then Jameh goes to the window and watches Nafeh leave with a big smile on his face.

I have just finished my 3rd block for this semester. One more to go!! This next month will be a lot of work for me, but then it will calm down. I will be taking my nursing certification exam on Nov. 22nd. Jameh and I have been spending more time with other little tykes. A group of us have been meeting at the park on Thursdays, so Jameh is learning to interact with other babies and children. It has been really nice for me to interact with other parents, as well.

In September we took a nice trip up to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky and took a 2 hour cave hike/walk. Jameh slept through half of it and the other half, he spent talking to the other cavers.

Jameh is growing, growing and still a really happy baby. He had his 9 month check-up on the 23rd. He is now about 271/2 inches long and 19lb 15oz in weight. The pediatrician said he is doing great. He can now stand for about 20-30 seconds at a time without holding on and he is trying to maneuver between gaps in the furniture, so it won't be long before he tries to step without holding on. It is funny because since he has been growing he can't fit into some spaces as well as he used to. For instance, he loves to crawl under the kitchen table and chairs, but now he has to duck or else he bumps his head and gets mad.
He babbles a lot, laughs a lot, screams out just to hear his voice, he flexes his muscles, points with his pointer finger, waves periodically, dances periodically when music is playing, responds to his name, reaches for a person to pick him up or to go to another person, feeds himself little crackers or small pieces of food. He is now pretty much wearing 12 month clothes even though he is only a little over 9 months. We also found out at his pediatrician appointment that his head is in the 89% for his age....hahahaha...big brain--learning a lot!!

We had a great weekend with my mother, father, and brothers when they came up for the weekend at the beginning of October. We got to have a belated birthday gathering for Geoffrey and Brian and everyone got to spend play time with Jameh.

This past week (during my block) we were blessed to have Nafeh's mother visiting (mummyjan) and helping with Jameh. They had a great time and she was a great help!! Thank you!! Over the weekend we were so excited to get a surprised visit from Nafeh's father (daddyjan), Ghaneh (Nafeh's brother), and Melody (Sister-in-law). That was tons of fun and we look forward to spending time together when we are not in school.

Another bit of REALLY exciting news---Nafeh and I are going to be an uncle and aunt and Jameh is going to have a new cousin in April. Ghaneh and Melody are having a BABY!!! YEAH!!! we are so so so excited!! We got to see little baby ultrasound pictures over the weekend.

We would love to hear from people, so feel free to make comments or let us know how you all are doing. Nafeh has been so busy, but we do have a lot of pictures and videos so we will really really try to post them soon!! Much love to everyone!!

Tue, August 29, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

You have to check out the new pictures and videos!! I love looking back at when Jameh was one month and now at 7 1/2 months. He is such a fun baby! He has started making new sounds with his mouth, such as clicking and blowing (pbbbbbblllll) and of course saying 'Ma ma', when he wants to eat or is uncomfortable.


He is becoming more and more interested in his toys and discovering new ways to play with them as he cognitively develops. Physically, he is fully pulling himself up and then letting go with one hand. Every now and then he lets go with both hands and receives a big surprise when he comes crashing down It doesn't always faze him though, which is quite funny.


He's becoming more curious with Gypsy and will crawl up to her (she lays very still on the floor) and try to touch her paw or her face and then Gypsy just quietly moves away if she doesn't like it.
A new Bahá’í family has moved to a home very close to us and they have a baby boy about 1 year old, so Jameh will have another playmate to grow with (Welcome, Carmel, Vipul, and Kavi!!)
Jameh is trying, little by little, more bits of food: Rice cereal with mama's milk, banana, grapes--mainly. He's started to get used to the texture, which brings about some unusual faces. That will be the next thing to capture on camera!! Jameh crawls everywhere and tries to help mommy with loading the dishwasher by pulling out the utensils (not knives!!) and he loves crawling to the big window in the living room, banging on it, and looking outside...

Nafeh is in his hepatobiliary rotation (liver transplant) and seems to be enjoying it. I had my first block for this semester and now have quite a bit of reading to do as well as preparing for the Nursing certification exam....Luckily!! I can do it all from home!! YEAH!!

Katrina, Nafeh, and Jameh would also like to extend HAPPY BIRTHDAY's to a few people!! We miss you and love you!!
Lucia: August 21--24 years old
Danesh: August 27--unknown years..hahaha
Roya: August 29--24 years old

CIAO

Mon, August 28, 2006 - Nafeh and Katrina    Comments: 2

Fri, August 25, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 5

Katrina started the first week of the second (last) year of nursing school on Tuesday. I have been in the middle of a "critical care skills" week at school - we have been participating in simulation (robot/mannequin) scenarios dealing with the management of electrolyte imbalance, heart attack, seizure, sepsis (etc.) scenarios. Though very enjoyable, it has still been fairly stressful (even though no human lives have been at stake).

My mother has been visiting this week to help look after Jameh, which has been lovely of course. Jameh is getting pretty fast with his crawling. He pulls to a stand whenever he's not too tired, and has begun cruising along furniture (walking side to side while stabilizing himself with his hands) and was able to climb a few stairs at my parents' home when we visited last weekend. He also enjoys his high chair sittings.

We had the chance to see Auntie Sateh and Uncle Ghassem during the Cumberland visit. It was their first time meeting Jameh, and their first time meeting Katrina since the weddings. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed! Ghaneh and Melody were also visiting, so it was a true mini-family reunion.

All in all, it is a wonderful time of life. I am enjoying being a father immensely and am so appreciative of all of the help we have received from friends and family. Katrina continues to inspire so much admiration on my part - I am truly proud of the care she puts into taking care of Jameh, how seriously she takes her nursing studies, and I am enjoying being married to her more than ever the more we talk about medicine, shared parental responsibilities, prospects for the future, etc. Jameh is a very calm, happy baby, who displays a strong sense of curiosity (especially for electronic gadgets - not too difficult to know where he gets that from - he is drawn to cell phones, PDAs, the keys on my lap top...) I have been trying to get better about sharing the diaper-changing responsibilities, but truly Katrina is pretty much doing it all when it comes to these things (washing, changings, feedings). My role seems mainly to work him up and get him too active/excited when it's really time for him to go to bed.

Medical school is going well so far. I started on surgery (with preliminary rotations in anesthesiology and ENT). Next week I begin 5-weeks on hepatobiliary (liver transplants and gastric bypass surgeries appear to take up the bulk of the rotation). I have been enjoying the surgery rotation much more than I thought I would - and have considered it as a career possibility. Surgical pathology, however, is still the most likely path at this point (though, admittedly, I still have almost a full year's worth of rotations to go before making the final decision).

Ghaneh (my brother a year ahead of me in his fourth year of medical school) has begun the residency application process; so I have been learning a lot about the application process from him. It seems that he is applying to radiology programs - so I have had some chance to learn from him about that area of medicine (fascinating).

Geoffrey and Brian (Katrina's two brothers) returned from their Haifa, Israel and the Czech republic tour just over a week ago. There is a fairly interesting article in this week's "New Republic" magazine that discusses why it is that Arabs and Jews appear to get along better in Haifa than in other areas of Israel. The article suggested that Haifa's relative cohesion (in addition to geographic proximity to Lebanon) may have contributed to Haifa's having had a disproportionate share of missile hits. The Bahá’í Faith is also prominently mentioned in two paragraphs towards the end of the article.

I'll sign off for now (there's a critical care skills exam in about an hour). We'll be posting recent photos and some video footage of Jameh over the upcoming weekend.

Fri, July 28, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 2

Well...WE DID IT!!
I finished my first year of nursing school--officially yesterday. It has been a great rotation (which I spent on the hematology/oncology unit) and I really enjoyed it. Of course, I hated being away from Jameh and eventhough he tolerated it well I pretty much never leave him unless it is absolutely required (such as with clinical).
Nafeh received his Step 1 medical board score back and he did VERY well!! so we are really excited about that too. Nafeh has been such a champ with this clinical rotation. He has had to be on a new schedule with getting up super early and going to bed early. He has learned a lot and everyday he comes home excited with new stories. He has done so well to keep up his studies as well as spend quality time with me and Jameh--We love you Daddy!!
We will be uploading new/more pictures soon, but in the mean time I am going to just share some
-----"Thoughts on Jameh"----
He is the sweetest happiest baby. Unless he is extremely tired, he smiles at everyone or at least gives you this little look with a twinkle in his eye.

He has a top left tooth in now and has been furiously teething this past week and I think his other top tooth is not far behind. He is really cute with this because he is sticking his tongue out a lot and exploring the feeling of his new teeth. He also has started to blow out when his tongue is sticking out, spraying slobber and making the 'plbbbbbbbb' sound.
He is crawling pretty easily now and is really quick. Along with this new feat he has managed to learn how to pull himself up to a standing position in his co-sleeper and attempts to do so on the couch.
He is ticklish and laughs outloud when you tickle the bottom of his feet.
When Nafeh talks, Jameh stops whatever he is doing and just stares/watching him talk. It is so sweet.
He is so so curious about everything. If you aren't careful he will pull just about anything off the table or a counter. He has alreayd knocked almost all my jewlery on the floor from the nightstand by standing in his co-sleeper and reaching over.
He loves water! both to drink and to play in!
He has started to show more and more preference for things. So if he really wants to be picked up or to be with someone he can crawl to them and start to reach up.
He has his 6 month check up next week so we will see how he has grown physically.
He is still sleeping and eating relatively well and we still haven't ventured to feed him much more than frozen grapes and bananas when he is teething. Perhaps now that I am done with my rotation we can spend more time on this.

As many of you know, my mother was here a few weeks ago helping us out and we owe a HUGE thanks to her for both of our successes.
Now we have the other grandmother here and she has been helping and spending quality time with Jameh. Thanks to you both!! We love you!!

Sat, July 22, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 1

Since the last blog, Katrina's mother has been with us for 2+ weeks while Katrina continues her first year nursing clinic duties, and I have begun the third year clinical rotations (first rotation: anesthesiology/surgery). We're both enjoying our respective clinical exposures very much. My mother flies into town this afternoon to be with us during Katrina's final nursing school week for the year.

On the Jameh-front, Jameh is now fully mobile...able to crawl across a bed or room at will. We're having to watch him all the more carefully now. He was able to pull himself to a stand from inside the co-sleeper today (see attached video).

We also got a zoo visit in (pictures posted) the weekend before my starting school. I had thought the Nashville zoo might have some cows, horses...perhaps a few chickens. It turns out that it is a real zoo with cougars and tigers, and bears (oh my).

Sun, July 09, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 1

Happy Summer to everyone!!

I apologize for not writing much recently. I have been completing my semester and Nafeh recently took his Step 1 Medical Board exams (CONGRATULATIONS NAFEH!!)

We are both gearing up to start our clinical rotations. Both Grandmothers will be coming at different times during the summer to help and play with Jameh while we are at school.

Jameh is doing wonderfully...He is becoming more vocal by attempting to say 'ma, ma'...which is fairly clear, although it does not necessarily have specific meaning yet. He has started to try to move his legs AND his hands now and is able to maneuver quite well. Basically, putting a blanket on the ground doesn't matter because he can easily move off of it. He is not quite crawling yet, but that is right around the corner.

He has two little bottom teeth now and we tried him with a little banana the other day. That was his first attempt at something other than mama's milk. He seemed to enjoy it and didn't have any trouble swallowing. We will continue to try little things throughout the summer. He also seems to enjoy drinking water now and reaches for our water cups or bottles whenever we are drinking.

Over the 4th of July holiday, Jameh, myself, my mother (abuelita), Geoffrey, and Brian went down to Gulfport, MS to visit my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins etc...as well as my Dad who has been stationed there for about a month. It was my first time down since the terrible hurricane almost a year ago. We toured a bit of the devestation. Perhaps one of the most exciting things for Jameh was his chance to go swimming. He absolutely loved it!! and we look forward to taking him more this summer. We will post more pictures and videos soon...much love to everyone

Happy Birthday to Melody!!
Happy Early Birthday to Mummyjan (Jameh's Grandma)
Happy Early Birthday to Alicia (Jameh's oldest aunt)
Happy Early Birthday to Daddy (Jameh's Abuelito)

Mon, June 19, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 3

Pooneh Ghiassi had baby Micah Ghiassi today at 5:04pm. He is really healthy and has lots of dark black hair. He weighed 8lb 4oz and was 20 inches. He is really sweet and VERY cute. Jameh was interested in this other little being/his new buddy.

While we were at the hospital visiting them Jameh was chewing on my shoulder and the blanket that he was holding. I put my finger near his mouth and he began to gnaw. Much to my surprise, I noticed something sharp. YES!! Jameh is 5 months old and is getting his FIRST TOOTH!!! Can you believe it--I think he may be a little young, but the bottom left tooth has broken the skin and is just peaking through. It looks like the one next to it may come in, in the near future, but for now...Jameh is monotoothed! It probably won't really show up in pictures right now, but I will try to capture it.

Mon, June 12, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 4

As we move toward crunch time (both of us are preparing for exams) Jameh is becoming an active part of the learning process. In terms of studying for medicine/pediatrics, each developmental milestone that he reaches helps Katrina and I solidify part of our knowledge. Fortunately, he is not too far ahead or too far behind on any of these, so he's giving us a reasonable anchor as we hit the books.

Also, he is becoming a part of the study process in other ways, his body configured into "study conformations" that still allow for highlighting and underlining.

Tue, May 30, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

Yesterday was a VERY big day for Jameh and a really exciting one for Nafeh and myself.
First of all he woke up with, what I think was his first nightmare or something to that effect. He was crying pretty hard for about a minute (while still asleep) with real tears coming down. When he did wake up he was more clingy to Nafeh and myself as well as looking at us differently, as if he wanted to make sure we were still there. It was really quite cute.
Secondly, when we were at Mahan and Pooneh's for dinner, he grabbed his own foot for the first time.
AND FINALLY...when we got home that night, he was laying on the bed and ROLLED OVER for the first time. YEAH!! He first rolled from his back to his front and then went back again. Yes, we did get it on video...so nafeh will put it on soon! It was really exciting and he worked really hard and then promptly went to sleep from exhaustion. Okay, just thought I would share this exciting news

Tue, May 23, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

Jameh had his 4 month check-up today. He passed with flying colors and the pediatrician said she was very pleased to see such a healthy baby. He was very calm and interested in the doctor and nurse. We were proud parents!! Of course, he got his second round of immunizations, which is always a tough thing because it makes him cry a bit. But he settled down quickly and laughed on the way home.

He was 77th percentile for height, 62 for weight, and about 50 for head circumferance. He now weighs 15lb 10oz and is 26,3/4inches long.

I have been meaning to do a blog entry for a long time. I wanted to let everyone know that he got to meet his other aunt Amelia over the past month. We got some pictures that will hopefully be posted soon. He loved spending time with her and we hope she comes back to visit soon before he is too BIG!!

He is making all kinds of changes. He arches his back and kicks his legs hard when he wants to get up. He is pretty much sitting up (with support) and looking intently at his legs, feet, hands, and clothing (if there are pictures on it). He will take things such as teethers, clothing, and blankets and put it into his mouth (with much slobber to follow). He laughs a lot and is quite ticklish at times. He is just growing so fast, but the joy of our hearts.

Nafeh is studying hard for the Boards and doing really good about staying on a schedule. I am cruising along through the semester and will be so excited when it is all done!!

Wed, May 10, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 0

[New photos and videos have been posted...]Apologies for not keeping better in touch, this has been a busy past few weeks with school and travels.

May arrives with Katrina beginning her nursing school semester and my studying for Step 1 of the medical boards. All is well. Jameh continues to add new facial expressions and behaviours to his repertoire. At present, he seems to enjoy finding amusement in pretty much anything. He laughs at me, at Katrina...even the dog.

It has also been an enjoyable time for family visits. We went down to Huntsville for Katrina's mother's surgery (which seems to have had the best possible outcome). Lucia and Amelia got to meet their nephew for the first time.

At the end of April, we were also able to go up to Cumberland for the first time since my parents have moved into their new home there. Ghaneh and Melody were able to join us for a couple of the days. Daddy jan is in the process of setting up an electrophysiology lab; Katrina and I both had the chance to go in to the hospital to see some of the cardiac procedures. Very interesting!

Sun, April 16, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 3

Jameh and Lucia got to meet eachother for the first time yesterday. It was really wonderful and Jameh took to her right away. We will post pictures soon, of their reunion The only immediate family member left for Jameh to meet is Amelia--and that will be later this week...YEAH!!!
I also wanted to mention that Jameh has begun to crawl. Yes, he is only 3 months, but apparently he is able to push his little bottom up and move himself across surfaces. This came to a big surprise to Nafeh and myself on April 14th as I was under the impression that this would not begin for SEVERAL more months. It is really cute, and although it is not coordinated hands and feet crawling--he is on the move

Thu, April 13, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 0

[New picture folders posted: Mommy and Baby, Picnic, and Jameh's first book]. We're coming up for the end of a busy semester, but we were able to get to enjoy this week's warm weather with an outing to the park.

As you may know, I am going back to medical school next year to finish my last two years. The rotations for the first half of next year have been scheduled (neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, liver transplant, psychiatric consults, and pediatric neurology) and I am really looking forward to them. Rotations for medicine, pediatrics, and Ob/Gyn have yet to be determined. I still don't know which area of medicine I will be specializing (internal medicine, pathology, and pediatric psychiatry have been considered), but there is still time to decide. Next year (third year) is the year that this decision is usually made.

Thu, April 06, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

Hi All I wanted to share a few things with the many who check in with our family. We have recently found out that my mother has endometrial cancer. She will be having surgery to remove it on April 21st. We have been told it is grade 1 (although, they can't completely tell the stage until they actually go in and look). However, the prognosis is very good. Please keep her in your prayers as this is a new and scary time (we have never dealt with cancer before).

On a lighter note: A few days ago, Nafeh, Jameh and myself were at Wal-Mart doing a little shoppin'. A woman walked passed our aisle and happened to glance over. She saw Jameh (who I was holding) and gave a big smile. As she walked passed, we heard a crash and then "Oh so sorry, baby...there was a cute one...sorry, so sorry". I cracked up!! Jameh apparently is a traffic stopper hahaha

Mon, April 03, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 3

New pictures have been posted. Jameh and I have been spending a lot of time together. In the past month his "language" skills have really developed. We also had lovely visits from Brandi and Adam as well as the Wolfe family. Nafeh and Jameh have been very supportive, and I am almost done with the nursing school semester. I started my OB rotation last week, and it has been very exciting to share with the new mothers my personal experiences. Jameh continues to be totally amazing and very cute...especially in the mornings. Unfortunately, very few people get to experience his morning personality. I will try and capture this on camera one of these days.

Fri, March 31, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 7

This week, Jameh had his two month pediatrician visit. This involved his first set of vaccine shots. He was sore for about a day, but grape-flavoured infant tylenol droplets helped a lot.

He is growing pretty fast! He now weighs 13lbs 4oz (which is exactly twice his lowest weight of 6lbs 10oz). This puts him a little bit ahead of the curve (75th percentile) in terms of weight and height. I asked if he needed to be on a diet (2% milk instead of whole milk?)...I think the pediatrician thought I was serious - because she answered with a serious no.

We have also had a few family visits since the last time we wrote. The picture is Auntie Diana and Uncle Danesh meeting Jameh for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

Katrina has been back at school full-time for over a month now and has caught up with all of her assignments, tests, and clinical hours. She'll finish this semester at the end of April. She is also doing an admirable job of being a full-time mother, and I am very proud of her and her ability to balance things. I am still waiting for the written Masters thesis revisions so that I can finalize the degree and begin the third year of medical school in July.

Mon, February 27, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 5

Thesis successfully defended.

Thu, February 23, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 1

Today is Jameh's second time coming in with me to work (Katrina has some cardiology clinic hours this afternoon). The first time time he slept soundly for a good three hours. Today he seems to be a little more alert (taking in the world of academia). He's being wonderfully calm....and...oh...now he's asleep.

Today I submitted the final draft of my Master's thesis prior to my thesis defense on Monday. Between writing and baby-care, I have had a total of two hours of sleep over the past three days and nights. I don't feel as sleep deprived as I would have thought - but I am definitely looking forward to getting some real rest this evening (Jameh permitting).

Wed, February 08, 2006 - Nafeh and Katrina    Comments: 1

We just posted some photos (and one video) of Jameh's first bath. We're not sure how much he likes the water.

Sun, February 05, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

Today is Jameh's 3 week birthday. My how time flies. I know people have been wanting me to write more lately, but for those women who are already mothers i'm sure you know that it's much easier said than done between feeding (which takes 20-30 minutes), burping, holding, settling down to sleep---then it is about 45 minutes until the next feeding. During that time, you are so tired, you have to decide whether, sleep, shower, eating or email is most important...I'm sure you can figure out what is winning hahahaha

It has been so great to read everyone's comments and words of encouragement and love. Thank you for that. I do tend to feel a bit more isolated now that I don't get out as often and have been away from school for a few weeks. With that said, I wouldn't change a thing because Jameh is so sweet and changing so much in these three weeks that it's really a miracle.

Nafeh has been the true angel though, I used to think (when we first got married) that our different sleep patterns was a curse (Nafeh is a night owl and I have a hard time staying up past 10pm and tend to be more of a morning person), but the wisdom of God has shown through. Nafeh is able to stay up late if needed and just bring him to me to feed, while I get much needed sleep and then we switch once morning hits. I love Nafeh more and more and it's so fun watching him become a wonderful father (which I always knew would be the case-wink wink).

It has also been so great having Nafeh's mother, Karen here...she has been invaluable in assisting us with maintaining sanity as she does so many useful things (cooking, cleaning, laundry, holding Jameh when we need a break or need to shower) and many more things. I also want to say that my sanity has been maintained by my own family's support, love, and advice. This experience has really helped me to be closer and closer to my own family. I guess there is a reason Jameh's name means, unifier.

At times, I feel like I need to just have a video camera on him at all times, because I don't want to forget any of this and I want to be able to share it with others. However, when you are caught in the moment of looking at his little facial expressions, sounds, and movements...that's the last thing on your mind.

He is becoming so much more alert now, with longer periods of wakefulness (30-45 minutes) and he is really responding to our voices and sometimes we get a glimpse that he is actually smiling back at us.
I wanted to share some thoughts on motherhood as well...It is so amazing how immediately protective you feel towards your own child. You begin to understand mothers and your own mother more and more. With all that said, I definitely go back and forth between really feeling like a mother and that this is reality ("I HAVE A CHILD" and it still being a bit surreal that life is changing.

The biggest change is the massive sleep deprivation. It's not like you feel tired when you've been up studying all night or even for 2-3 days because there is no 'catch up' time in sight. This has been a really funny phenomenon and truly requires the mother and father to be even more unified, understanding and respectful of one another because both are extremely sleep deprived. I suppose one gets used to it and as the child grows, the body adjusts---I HOPE SO ANYWAY!! You definitely feel a bit crazy sometimes, but then you look at his little sleeping face and it's all worth it

On another note, I was able to return to school for a bit last week. I attended my clinical rotation on Thursday and Friday. Nafeh brought Jameh to me halfway through the day on Thursday and on Friday. I was not gone for very long. It felt good to get back into school a little, and although I missed Jameh terribly and wanted to call home every 30 minutes...getting back into it so slowly makes it much more do-able so that you don't feel like you are abandoning your motherhood responsiblity. It has been particularly fortunate that my clinical rotations are very close to home and my professors in my other classes are really working with me to allow me to do quite a bit of the required work from home. As crazy as it sounds, with Nafeh being in med school and myself in nursing school full force...it really seems like having a baby at this time is just as good as any.

Well, Jameh is sleeping right now and as much as I would like to write more I really should get some rest while he is resting. Much love to everyone and to those of you who I haven't talked to in a while, I hope to talk to you soon or keep trying to call and I promise we will get back to you as soon as possible (I am learning not make too many promises) hahahaha.

Sat, January 28, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 2

I was asked what it is like being a father. It is wonderful. In terms of identity, what comes to mind is a comparison with one's own birthday: the world around you has changed, though in terms of self one might not necessarily feel different. Though there is delight, and an overwhelming feeling of love, in seeing the new baby, there is also the realization that my son’s "birth day" by itself did not make me feel more “fatherish”. Not to sound odd, but I spent most of the first week calling him 'friend' or even 'little brother' - reflecting on how close I felt to Jameh from the very beginning. The obvious hits home: it’s important to meditate on the paternal side of things rather than waiting for magic. In the limited and scattered moments of time for such paternal meditation, I fully realize that there is advantage in my having a father who embodies the true meanings of 'friend' and 'brother' while never compromising the role of 'parent'. I only hope that any differences between us - whether of personality, circumstance, vision, or capacity - do not add fuel to an admitted sense of inadequacy on my part in the face of new responsibility.

In the face of new responsibility, Katrina has not fundamentally changed. She is still just as level-headed, strong, and dear – if anything, she is dearer for the love and attention she continues to shower on Jameh. Jameh is so fortunate in having her. I was fully expecting and prepared for her to focus on Jameh to the exclusion of everything else – which would have been fine. The fact that she is able to focus so completely on Jameh while at the same time maintaining her connection with the others around her lends further confirmation to all the reasons for marrying her.

My mother has been staying with us since the birth - which has been a tremendous help. Apparently, all the grandparents are going through a bit of an identity crisis. "Grandpa" and "Grandma" or their many variants don't seem to fit. In search of appropriate designations, creativity has definitely been at play, sometimes reaching to other languages (Spanish, Persian, etc.) or resorting to extended hyphenification: "daddy-of-the-daddy". On the other hand, all brothers and sisters have happily accepted the societally pervasive "Uncle" or "Aunt". Perhaps some stages (or at least designations) are more readily embraced than others.

Thu, January 26, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

[Katrina speaking to Jameh...secretly recorded] "Were you not finished? Okay...okay. Oh gosh, you're so hungry! Maybe this will help you wake up, because you're not getting food. Jameh, Jameh, jan. Okay, okay...just wait a second. Good...I made him wake up. I made you wake up! That's a good thing. Nafeh! You're writing this?...don't write what I'm saying! Okay...read it back to me."

Mon, January 16, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 0

I finally found some time to put up some photographs on the pictures link. There is no adequate way on a blog to express everything that we are thinking and feeling: we are very happy, Jameh is healthy, and we are enjoying our time with him very much.

Some details...Katrina began the process of labor on Thursday. She had wanted to see it through and was in labor for about 60 hours (the last 30 of which were painful...and the last 5 of which were the 'transition" type pain). There did come a point at which it was clear that the delivery was not progressing ("transition" is exhausting and does not normally last more than one or two hours), and a non-emergency Cesarean section was performed very early on Sunday.

Both Katrina and I are delighted with the whole process, and there was no time during which there was anxiety (at least not too much) or significant danger to her or the baby. The Vanderbilt midwifery, nursing, anesthesiology, and surgical teams were each terrific, and worked extremely well together when the time came - each very professional, each very caring. We are, of course, very happy to welcome Jameh into the world.

We will be at Vanderbilt hospital until at least Wednesday morning. We have been able to get some rest, and Katrina is recovering well. Katrina wants to convey her thoughts and feelings and will probably put something up on this site soon when she's feeling up for it.

Sun, January 15, 2006 - Nafeh and Katrina    Comments: 0

Jameh Tyson Fananapazir was born at 3:11am on Sunday, January 15th. He weighed in at 7lbs 6oz. He seems to be doing very well.

After the three of us have had a little rest, we will be able to post pictures and more information and updates.

More to come later...

Sun, January 08, 2006 - Nafeh    Comments: 0

Tomorrow, Katrina starts her 40th week! On ultrasound, the baby appears to be about 6.5 pounds so far. But Katrina seems to have gotten bigger since the ultrasound. Things seem to be going well so far, and we are eagerly waiting.

Tue, January 03, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

Nafeh's parents left yesterday :( We miss them all already, but were so grateful for the time we spent together. Thanks for coming!! We look forward to seeing you all in the near future.
I learned how to play Bridge and Nafeh killed us at Scrabble---great job Nafeh!!
It was so wonderful to see Ghaneh and Melody. They are really busy and doing great things with school--Thanks for coming to visit!!!
Nafeh is working hard today. He has successfully put up a fence in the backyard as well as a dog door so that we don't have to chase Gypsy when we let her out and eventually she will learn to go out herself. Again, all in preparation for the baby!!
Well, it is getting harder and harder to sleep because of bathroom breaks and just trying to get my stomach adjusted, bu these are expected things at this stage. I feel really lucky that that is all I can complain about. We will continue to update as we can---I start school tomorrow, so things will get back to hectic soon.

Sun, January 01, 2006 - Katrina    Comments: 0

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Nafeh's family (parents, brother, and wife) came into town for the weekend. This is so nice to have them all here and for them to have sacrificed for all of us to be together. We were not able to travel this break, so them coming was really welcomed. We have had such a great time.
The baby is putting more and more pressure on my bladder and lower abdomen. I am told this is just preparation for labor, but to not be concerned. I guess things are moving along.