snagabag

First off, it is not easy finding time to blog these days! Sure I’ve gone a week without blogging before, but that was just pure laziness. There are lots of things going on I’d like to write about, but alas, my priorities have been forever changed.

It’s been another great week here at the Goyal household. Liah is sleeping, eating, and pooping like a champ. Yes, my diaper changing skills continue to be refined. I’m almost at the point where I can change her with one hand!

I’m happy to announce that Liah has passed the 6 pound mark. It now takes a mere 30 Liahs to equal one Mohit!

My mom went back to Dallas today after helping out the past 10 days. We’re going to miss her! Aparna’s family came today to spend the week with us (yes, we’re enlisting all the help we can!). Of course, that means Anila is here! Yay! I’m telling you, having a 6-year old around is nonstop entertainment.

Okay, my computer time is just about done. This “feed the baby every 2 hours” schedule is rough. I mean, it’s hard enough feeding myself every two hours!

I’ll try and post more soon. Believe it or not, I even have non-baby stuff I want to tell you about.

I’ve put more photos up on my Gallery. Just click on either of the photos in this post to see them.

Liah is 2 weeks old tomorrow, and I must say it feels like she’s been a part of our lives forever. For once, time seems to be moving slowly. (Of course, not slow enough for me to find time to update my blog.)

Well, after having a rather easy first week of parenting, this last week has been what everyone talks about. There’s been more crying and less sleeping. And that’s just me.

I’m happy to report Liah is doing very well. She’s almost 6 lbs (which is great considering she got down to 5 lbs her first week). I think she had a great 2nd week. Her dadi came to help out and spend time with her, and Liah had lots of other visitors. The highlight of course was meeting her chacha for the first time. Yep, MKG Productions came to Austin. Liah loves Maneesh! Be sure to check out my latest photos to see all the fun stuff they did together. like sleep. and sleep some more. and sleep even more. When Maneesh wasn’t sleeping he was at Moews Cinema watching movies. Sleeping and watching movies. Ok, I was jealous. Be sure to check out the photos to see all of Liah’s visitors this past week.

One visitor who’s here to stay is Liah’s new pal WubbaNub. Aparna (who knows all things baby related) told me about these special infant pacificers called (and I have no idea why) WubbaNubs. They are smaller than “normal” pacificers and have a stuffed animal attached to them. While serving to make the pacificer look slightly ridiculous, the animal’s main purpose it to keep the pacifier in the baby’s mouth. Well, we tried it out and guess what? It works! So we did the natural thing and took a ton of photos.

The other major event from this past week: I officially introduced Liah to the Dallas Cowboys. Sure, it was in the form of a pacifier that she isn’t really aware of yet, but she will come to love the ‘boys!

Ok, it’s 11:15pm on Sunday night, and I’m just too tired to write anymore. Liah is sleeping in my lap as I write this entry. I’m doing my best to stay awake until I have to feed her at 11:30. Then I burp her and head to bed (assuming Liah decides to go back to sleep!) Yes, things have changed around here.

Take some time to view the photos and as always, blog and photo comments are encouraged. (I’m thinking this might be the post that gets my brother to leave a comment here for the first time!)

Liah’s going to be so thankful she has her mother’s eyes.

Well, today is Liah’s one week birthday! What a week it’s been! One of the best weeks of my life. Right up there with my trip to Mardi Gras in 1991.

I’m happy to report both mom and child are doing well. Aparna is getting better slowly but surely. Liah is gaining weight slowly but surely. I think she’s up to 5 pounds, 2 ounces now! (She lost 9 ounces the first couple of days she was alive).

Aparna’s dad, Swarna, and Anila visited Liah this past weekend. We had a great time together! Anila is a bundle of pure energy disguised as a 6-year old girl. At the same time she was so gentle with Liah. Yeah, Anila is very excited to have Liah to play with.

I’ve posted some more photos of Liah. At some point, my pace of posting photos will have to slow down, but for now please check out another album that I think you’ll really like. You can find it here, or by clicking on any of the photos.

This is the entry I originally planned on writing this past Monday. That now seems like a lifetime ago…

Aparna & I watched a movie last night titled, “In Good Company.” I think it is a great movie, and I highly recommend it. It’s very refreshing to see a well directed, well written, and superbly acted movie.

So here’s a quick shot of the movie as we were watching it at our house:

If you’re thinking the screen looks awfully big …you’re right.

I’m happy to present:

Moews Cinema!

Yes, while Aparna was busy getting ready for Liah these past 6 months… reading books, buying what we need, etc, etc… I’ve been planning our home theater!

So what do we have? We have:

• A movie screen that is 11 feet across
• A High Definition movie projector
• Full 7.1 surround sound
• Seating for 8 adults
• 8 recliners with power recline
• 2 rows with stadium seating
• A popcorn machine
• A vending machine (Go Cowboys!)
• Automated lighting
• Automated curtains
• 5 lighted movie poster frames
• A few other surprises and…
• A GREAT place to watch movies, HDTV, and play video games

You can thank Tina Malhotra for the cheesy name. I’m not sure if she intended for me to take her seriously when she mentioned it, but I did! I’ve enjoyed working on this project, but I’m enjoying the finished project much more! There are still a few things left to do such as install the cabinet where the equipment will be hidden, and have the valance/drapes installed, but we are able to watch movies! Aparna’s family is visiting right now, and I watched The Lion King with Aparna’s 6-year old sister, Anila, tonight. Her enthusiasm for the “movie room” far outweighs my own, and it was very cool to see her having so much fun watching the movie while chomping on some popcorn.

…and yes, Liah loves the home theater:

(click on any of the photos to see some pictures of Moews Cinema)

By popular demand, I’ve posted more photos of Liah. Click here to be taken to Liah’s photo albums, or just click any of the pictures.

I’ve also posted a few photos of Liah’s room. You must check these out. Maneesh had a mural painted in her room as a gift to us. It was incredibly generous (yes, I’m talking about my brother), and the results are, as they say, SPECTACULAR!

Thank you to everyone for their congratulations and kind words. We love all the visits, phone calls, emails, and online comments everyone is inundating us with. Especially nice have been all the condolences sent Aparna’s way for now having to put up with me as a husband AND dad.

Well, it’s now Day 4 of our new life, and I must say things are going well. Here’s a few observations…

Yep, I now know how to change a diaper. I changed one for the first time (not just with Liah, but first time ever) on Monday. Aparna’s family was there to witness it, and everyone clapped when I finished! Did I deserve the applause? You bet! I was SO nervous changing her diaper that by the time the 3-minute process was done I was visibly sweating and my neck was cramping because my muscles had been so tense! I’ll admit that since that first stress filled change, I’ve become quite the expert at changing diapers. Though, as I told my sister, I’ve only learned how to change Liah’s diapers. I’m incapable of changing other babies’ diapers.

We brought Liah home on Wednesday. After we put her in her car seat for the first time, and on, she doesn’t really fit in it. Talk about good fortune, after I started the car the first music to ever reach Liah’s ears was the score to The Empire Strikes Back! No, this wasn’t a carefully time CD from her dad. No, this was much geekier. We are currently trying out XM Radio, and my favorite station is “Cinemagic.” All they play are parts of movie soundtracks interspersed with dialogue from the movie they are featuring music from. That’s right. Only 2 days old and Liah’s already heard Darth Vadar telling Luke, “I am your father.” Liah’s mom was asking me to change the station, but I figure it’s never to early to begin her Jedi training.

I have put up a few pictures of Liah’s nursery. Pictured here are the Uglydolls I bought her. Yes, I really do intend to find buy her items that are maybe a little less traditional. With the Uglydolls, I think it is safe to assume that each and every one of them will remind her of dad.

It’s currently about midnight here on Thursday, so we’re about to begin another round of all night feedings. The midnight feeding isn’t so bad, but the 3am feeding is rough, and the 3am feeding makes the 6am feeding even rougher. Yep, I do feel bad for Aparna. Actually, I’m trying to be a good dad and waking up when at the necessary times to help out. Okay, yeah, I did snore through the entire 6am feeding this morning, but I’m getting better!

I’m going to have to shift the focus of my limited essentially non-existent workout regimen to adding muscle. Forget slimming down! Carrying her around today in her car seat made my realize my lack of muscles is not a good thing. What am I going to do when she weighs more than 5 pounds? Oy vay.

We gave Liah her fist bath today. She didn’t seem to care for it. She gets that from her dad.

Thanks again to everyone for their well wishes. You are encouraged to leave comments here for me (or Aparna or even Liah). I can’t promise Liah will read them (reading comes after Star Wars lessons), but Aparna will.

Finally, Wednesday was a big day for my pointless little blog. I had almost 1000 hits! That’s about 3x my daily average. Heck, I should have kids more often. Who knew it was such a great way to increase “blog awareness”?

Click here to be taken to photos of Liah
(comments and votes are encouraged)

I’m happy to announce the birth of…

LIAH KATRAGADDA GOYAL

As I write this, Liah is about 30 hours old. It’s been an amazing 30 hours. Simply incredible. I think it would be best if I started at the beginning…

Sunday night Aparna & I were doing our normal routine: Aparna was getting ready for bed, and I was getting ready to update my blog. She mentioned she was having occasional pain, and I threw out the idea that maybe they were contractions.

In hindsight, they obviously were contractions, but please remember our baby was not due for 2 weeks, on July 25th. In addition, we had been told by many people first babies are usually late. Also, Aparna had her most recent OB/Gyn less than a week ago, and the staff told us Aparna was not dilated at all, and the baby was not coming anytime soon. All three of those combined had us convinced the earliest we were having the baby was her due date.

So I went to bed around midnight, and Aparna said the pain kept coming back so I started to write down when the pain came and for how long. In addition, I was helping Aparna with her breathing as each contraction came and went. Or at least, this is how it started out. By 2am or so, Aparna would have to poke my lifeless body and tell me, “It’s hurting.” In between fighting a losing battle with sleep, I had to find the instructional folder from our birthing classes and read about “False Labor” vs. “Pre-Labor” vs. “Active Labor.” The “book” says to go to the hospital when contractions occur every 5 minutes for 2 hours. Well, Aparna’s were all over the map…10, 3, 7, 4, 5, 10… there was no regularlity between contractions. So despite the fact Aparna was telling me “I don’t know how much longer I can take this” we were still doing the breathing techniques and monitoring the contractions. At 3am, after 3 hours of intense to really intense contractions, we decided we should give our doctor a call. I actually felt a slight bit of guilt about calling the doctor. Well, the doctor told us to come in. Of course, I had not packed my bag (Aparna had packed her’s weeks ago), so I threw some clothes together and we left. Aparna’s water hadn’t broken, so after I put 3 towels on the passenger seat, we left for the hospital. The ride to the hospital was something else: The two of us on the road at 3:30 in the morning, Aparna squirming in pain while sitting on a bed of towels, and me driving and trying to write down what time she was contractions. The whole time the two of us are hoping they won’t send us back home from the hosptial. We finally get to the hospital, and we are still in no way certain the baby is coming. So much so that we leave our bags in the car as we don’t want to have to carry them back out if the hosipital sends us home. We quickly check in and the nurse examines Aparna and asks her, “How dilated do you think you are?” Aparna guesses “2 centimeters” which I basically agree with. The nurse gives us a smile and says, “6 centimeters.” It was only then, at 4:15 in the morning, that Aparna & I realize we are having our child, and not just sometime that day, but in a few hours! By 4:45am when our doctor arrived, Aparna was at 9 centimeters and she was writhing in pain. The doctor asked if she still wanted the epidural and Aparna had two answers for her: “Hell” and “Yes.” Aparna received the epidural around 5am, and it immediately took effect. The pain disappeared and she was able to get some much needed rest. At about 6:30am the nurse came in and told us it was time to start pushing. The moment was finally upon us! We were both incredibly tired, but ready to do what needed to be done. In my case, that meant encouraging Aparna to push harder. For Aparna, it meant pushing with every ounce of strength she had to expel a human being from her body. I’d say I had the easier task.

I must interrupt here and have a word with all of you who asked me if I was going to stay and the “head” or “foot” of the bed, or even recommended I stay at the “head” of the bed. Well, I don’t know how anyone else has babies, but the bed Aparna was on was just a normal sized twin bed! There was no “head” of it for me to stand at and avoid seeing what was happening at the “foot!” So I saw a lot more than I had ever planned on!

At 8:30am, after about 2 hours of pushing, our baby’s head started to emerge. It was simply the most remarkable thing I had ever seen. I kept repeating, “Oh My God!,” over and over. Aparna looked at me with a concerned look, and I quickly told her, “‘Oh My God’ in a good way honey!”

At 8:34am on Monday, July 11, 2005, our baby was born. She was 19 inches long and just about 5 and a half pounds (5 pounds, 9 ounces). She also had the most beautiful, big, bright eyes (yes, they were wide open). The doctor asked me if I wanted to cut the cord, to which I promptly replied, “No way!” Knowing better, the doctor prepared the cord and simply told me to cut it. Very nervously, I leaned over and cut the cord…almost. My shaking hands only got about half way through it, but I managed to cut it on my second try.

So that’s how our baby came into the world. We spent the rest of the day slightly bewildered and indescribably happy.

A few other items:
I forgot my camera at home in our rush to leave. My thanks to Amy Dole for not only answering the phone at 4:30 in the morning, but driving to the hospital and letting us borrow her camera.

The famlly was spread out over the country as there was no expectation the baby would come early. Mom was in Atlanta helping Irma with Baby Rani. Dad was in NYC helping Maneesh close on his first house. Next thing you know, they’re waving bye to my syblings and catching flights to Austin. Aparna’s family in Corpus was on the road by 7am to come see the baby. Even though they drove, their visit might have been the most remarkable as Aparna’s dad was scheduled to work. He basically called his hospital, told them he wasn’t coming in, and headed out to Austin!

Maneesh and Irma will be here ASAP. We can’t wait for them to meet Liah!

Her name is pronounced LEE-ah. It can also be pronounced “An-gel.”

I’ll post again soon. It would be sooner, but this “fancy” hospital we’re at doesn’t have internet access anywhere in it! So annoying!

Finally, Aparna was REMARKABLE. She did a tremendous job with labor and delivery. Absolutely fantastic.

Oh yeah, in case it isn’t clear yet, the unimaginable has come to pass:

I’m a dad.

One of the interesting features of my online photo gallery is how it automatically keeps track of the most viewed photos.

Well, I just took a look at it tonight, and out of the almost 4000 photos I have in my gallery, here is the most clicked on photo by far. In fact, it has over twice as many views as the 2nd most viewed photo!

As to why it is the most popular? Well, it seems obvious to me, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Ok, I received zero feedback on my request for names for the huge, pink dog we now own. As such, I have taken the liberty of naming it myself, and the dog is henceforth known as …Buster.

Why do I mention this? Well, my online photo gallery is currently named, “The Goyal Gallery.” Lame, I know. (As if “snagabag” is so ingenious.) I need a new name for my gallery! Suggestions? Anyone?

By now everyone has heard of the terrorist attacks in London. However, I wanted to point you to a first hand account written by a friend of mine who lives in London, Taruna. She has blogged her account of the attacks, and I found it to be very interesting reading. You can check it out here.