Elizabeth, Scott and Scotty Wilder

Research Health issues

As you know -- or at least as you can imagine -- I am doing a lot of research these days on health related issues According to an article in the New York Times today, Google has become the 'de facto second opinion on the web' for people like me.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project; of those with a high-speed connection, 1 in 9 do health research on a typical day. And 75 percent of online patients with a chronic problem told the researchers that “their last health search affected a decision about how to treat an illness or condition."

Thank god for Google!

Sad news...

Dear friends and family,

Scott and I have some very sad news to share. On Friday night (March 14th) we went to the hospital and learned that our little baby’s heart had stopped beating. This afternoon I delivered little baby Natalie. We got to hold her and spend some time with her. She looked like a perfect tiny angel. My parents were with us at the hospital and had a chance to admire her. She looked just like Scott. We don’t know what went wrong and the doctor says we may never find out.

We’ve been on an emotional roller coaster since Friday, but right now we are doing relatively well—we’re calm and very grateful to have each other and our friends and family. Thank you very much to those of you who heard the news and have sent supportive messages and flowers.

We should be able to leave the hospital tomorrow morning, and we plan to take a little trip together sometime this week, ideally somewhere peaceful and naturally beautiful, to reflect and grieve. If you have any suggestions of a great place to go within driving distance of SF, please pass them on.

Feel free to send messages and/or cards. But please understand that it may be some time before we feel ready to talk on the phone or see any of you.

Please send peaceful, loving thoughts to Natalie, who we believe is now in heaven. We have asked her to look for and someday send us her little brother or sister.

Love,
Elizabeth and Scott

Baby Business

I am off to Tucson for a few days and will bring with me some good reading material. I am bringing the book Baby Bargains, which really is a guide on what to buy and how to think about purchasing stuff for the little one. My good friend, Julie, suggested I buy it. My baby sis, Lizard, swears by it.

Guess I will soon be schooled in baby-ware.. and I will figure out how I am going to Pay for Snoops. I don't think I am any different from other parents. All of us wonder how are we going to pay for kids. I am told that the average cost of taking care of a baby is $6,000 for the first year, but this probably doesn't even include medical costs.

For the first time in my life, I have to develop a budget for us. For the first time in my life, I have to  depend on Costco. Just think where I was 2 years ago. Diapers were not even on my mind. Don't get me wrong. This is all good.

Speaking of Diapers.. The NY Times has an article yesterday on Diapers.com, soon to be one of my hang-outs. It mentioned that 50 lbs of diapers (now, that is a lot of diapers) can yield 30% of margins. Hmmm. Maybe I should get out of the web business and set up a diaper business.

Prenatal Work out - Benefits to the Baby

In my last post, I forgot to mention some benefits Pre-Natal workouts have for the baby. They includes:

Increases the chance of having a baby with higher Apgar scores Better body composition at birth - leaner and healthier Calmer and adjusts better to outside environment Physical, mental, and neurological improvement Hey -- no one can question the value of having a strong and healthy baby

The Elections

It looks like we have our final Democratic and Republican nominees -- with two to three front runners in party. (I love watching the debates --- each one is like a sporting event).

In this campaign, Generation Y has been extremely active, giving Obama 20+% of his votes. I don't have this number for Hillary. (As you know, I recently wrote a book on Gen Y).

For the first time in my life, I am really thinking about a Presidential election and how it will impact future generations. Maybe I was a bit pre-occupied in the past with my own little bachelor oriented world...... and that's why I never thought about how younger generations would be impacted.

But now, I am wondering what the future world will be like for Miss. Wilder:

• The USA might not be the only Superpower -- cause the Chinese will be a country to reckon with....
• The environment might not be up to snuff....... so how do we ensure that Miss. Wilder can breathe properly and doesn't have to pay $10 for a gallon of gas.
• The dollar will not be that strong... so will I have to buy a house for Miss. Wilder

And then there's the question about whether or not Match.com will still be around.. just want to figure out how my little girl will meet the right guy in 30 years. (Her mom and dad met on Match.com)

Every candidate has been talking about 'Change.' And as I discussed earlier on this website, my life will change. But , it's about time for all of this family stuff.

I wonder what they will call Miss. Wilder's generation. I am a Baby Boomer. My sister is Gen X.. and then there is Generation Y.

After Gen Y is New Silent Generation.

What will they call Snoop-ette's generation? Generation Snoops!?  Generation Google? . There world will certainly be different. Can't wait to see all the changes. Can't wait to say 'man, today's youth are so different from when I was a kid.'

Can't wait...... for Miss Wilder....
Can't wait....

Heart Beat at 14+ weeks

We went to the doctor, who by the way, is named Elizabeth (must be a good sign) for our 14 week check up.

After discussing the hospital's point of view on Doulas, -- (they prefer them not in the delivery room which probably means more work for me) -- we got to listen to Snoopy's heart beat.

At first, it sounded like something out of Jacques Cousteau movie.

We heard echoy underwater sounds (that's cause there is water in Elizabeth's stomach). But then we heard the heart beat... and it sounded like windshield wipers on extra fast speed -- going back and forth and back n forth again very quickly.

According to Dr. Elizabeth -- this is all a very good sign!

Suds Wilder

My wife -- since I knew her -- has often reminded me to wash my hands before I do anything in the kitchen.

Recently, she has also requested that I 'make plenty of suds' just to ensure that her and the little one don't get sick. So, I am now like a doctor, washing my hands several times a day -- and make sure I make plenty of suds.

As a result, we are currently referring to our little friend as 'SUDS' --- which should also make Mrs. Abbott happy because she was concerned that my child would be referred to as 'Baby Wilder' throughout his life. So now, he will probably always be called Suds. ...

'Suds Wilder'

Also, we went to the doctor last week -- another first visit with a doctor -- a different doctor. And every thing went well. Except for I was a little jealous that the doctor asked Elizabeth lots of questions about her health and did not ask me one question. I guess it is more about the Mom than the Dad.

We do like the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC set up better -- because it is close to her parents and because we can get anyone of 7 docs int he office to deliver Suds. The other hospital offered any one of 40 some odd doctors. It is also near the JCC so if I am stressing out, I can walk down the street and work out. : )

Anyway, we also had another Sonogram -- and this time we could see SUDS. I will scan a picture and add it to the site later on this week. Maybe we should now call them Suds-o-grams????

Cross country flights

I had an interesting 'nightmare' last night. I was flying on an airplane to Puerto Rico (a direct flight, even those do not exist from San Francisco) and I had to change the baby's diaper. I went to the bathroom and there was no changing table. In fact, the bathroom was so small; I couldn't even stand straight without my head hitting the ceiling (are we all just taller than our parents). I thought about changing the baby in my seat -- using the pull down tray table as a changing table, but worried about the 'stink' (in one of the books I read, I was told that it is ok to change a baby in your seat if it is 'just pee.' That still doesn't sound too good for the other people). I thought about changing the baby while sitting on the floor, but my wife would kill me since she has been very concerned with hygiene lately (we have lots of baby naps in our house already). I thought about telling the little guy to be tough and that I would change him when we land, but then I quickly realized that all the books tell you to change the baby right away. And then at the end of my dream, I wondered how in the world I was going to fit all the diaper changing materials in my backpack: diapers, creams and oils to prevent a rash, wipes, extra clothes, tape, saftely pins (I am old school), blankets, etc. Hmmm. This is all very complicated.

And I expect Baby Wilder will be taking a few cross country flights in 2008, so I better figure this out quickly. The good news is that I have learned that it easier to fly with a baby before they hit the terrible twos. After that, my cross country flights will be even more challenging.

... and the last thing I want to do is ask my wife for advice when I am in these sorts of situation. You know me (and the rest of the male population. We like to figure it out ourselves.

My kind of kid

Mrs. Abbott thinks we should get the kid an iPHONE instead

Genetics Pow Wow

Yesterday, we saw a genetics specialist -- who helped us retrace our ancestry and provided us with options to test the little one. ... such as the name of the test, how many weeks into the pregnancy to do the test and the risks of each test. We decided to go with the option of a sonogram combined with special blood test.

Elizabeth now has to do her own blood test this weekend, so we can send it to the lab in NYC (my home town), so they can test the blood sample, and then send us back the results before Thanksgiving week when we will have the sonogram.

OH yea.. that's me and Elizabeth in the picture.. Getting some coaching from the Genetics Doc.