Reese's Here!
My first newsletter
The Rundown
This is the start of me writing a weekly email like my mom does. I want to inform the masses, that are ravenously wondering what we’re up to, about what’s going on in our little corner. Plus, I’ve always enjoyed writing in my journal, and I kind of miss the old days of sending out a weekly email while I was missioning in Chile.
Like I stated, I intend to do it weekly which will be a challenge because I can’t even shave weekly, but we’ll see where this goes.
Let us turn our minds back to the beginning…of Reese’s life: March 10, 2022. Everything before that is relatively far away. It almost doesn’t feel real that Rayna was an only child for 2.5 years.
We left for the Northpoint Hospital, named for it’s position on the northern side of Atlanta, Georgia at around 6am on March 10. After some poking and prodding, Melissa was wheeled into operating room number five and I was called in minutes after. At 9:05, our baby boy came screaming into the world. He IS a screamer!
At first, most of his breaths were marked by grunting noises which is common in C-section babies. Fluid that normally gets squeezed out while the baby passes through the birth canal instead gets stuck in the lungs of C-section babies. I went along with him to the second floor where they monitored him for a couple hours, and during that time, his breathing cleared up quickly. Thank goodness!
He was released from observation and we made our way to the fourth floor where we would await the end of our sentence. After about 2 days of being stuck in the hospital with its testing, protocols, and disappointing food, we were allowed to go home.
Being home felt great. Melissa and I talked about feeling a sense of completeness because we intend to have these two children and no more. We feel a lot of peace in feeling done, even though our parenting journey is just beginning.
I had told my supervisor that I wanted to take the whole week off and that week sure flew by. We spent most of it at home relaxing, watching shows, and eating food that a lot of generous people brought to us. Rayna did have a few moments of jealousy where she would start scattering essential things for taking care of Reese (and Melissa). Then we'd find ourselves looking under the bed during the middle of the night for this or that.
As Rayna gets used to Reese's presence, she's calming down. The only times I see her act out in jealousy now is when I'm holding Reese. We make an effort to spend one-on-one time with her so she doesn't feel abandoned or replaced.
On Monday, Match 21 it was time for me to head back to work. I always wake up at 6:30 and get there by 7. 6:30 stung much more than it usually does this week, and I definitely felt my productivity slip some. But I still started and finished projects at about the normal pace.
Melissa held down the fort at home with the two rugrats. I was really proud of how she took having a second bebe to take care of in stride. Her mom came over twice during the week to spend one-on-one time with Rayna and that was a big help.
The weekend
Friday, we took Reese to his 2 week appointment. While Melissa was there with him, Rayna and I found the nearby eastern terminus of the Noonday Creek Trail. Rayna and I walked probably 2 miles. I ended up carrying her most of the time, but we enjoyed getting outside for some daddy-daughter time. After we picked Melissa and Reese up from the doctor, we all went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant we hadn’t tried before. Rayna is at an age that makes the experience of eating out less enjoyable, but the food was good.
Saturday, we spent cleaning. We had planned to go out for a little picnic in the park, but it was pretty windy. I started the day with a headache and by bedtime I was feeling feverish and nauseous.
Sunday we spent most of the day in the house except for a brief walk around the apartment complex with all 4 of us. And I guess Jaxon got married on Sunday ( I think). Congratulations to him and Taylor! It’s exciting to have another member of the family. Wishing you both a very happy partnership to define and be the foundation of the rest of your lives.
Media Diet
(Podcast) Tangentially Speaking Episode 94: Aiden Raley (Modern Hobo) - A 24 year old who chooses to become a hobo. He travels all over the US on trains and by hitchhiking. What I found interesting… they talk about how when you have a positive attitude more positivity comes your way, and when you constantly focus on what you fear, you invite more fear-provoking things into your life. Being a hobo forces you to open yourself up to the world and while you compromise safety, knowing where your next meal comes from, etc, you open yourself up to meeting incredible people and having amazing experiences.
(Book) Tribe by Sebastian Junger. A relatively short read about how people crave living in tribes. American colonists in the 18th century would leave their farms to live among Native Americans but Native Americans never abandoned their way of life to join civilization. Also, when disasters strike, people worry that things will descend into chaos. But studies show that people choose to take care of their neighbors more and crimes go down. People look back on these “trying” times as the best times of their lives. Very interesting read.
(TV show) Atlanta on FX. The first two episodes of season 3 came out this week. It has a dark comedy vibe and it tackles big social/racial issues. The cinematography is artsy and beautiful. It’s really good! The first season came out in 2016 and inspired a desire in me to move to Atlanta. A year later I met Melissa and eventually we made our way here.
(Podcast) Sadhguru on the Joe Rogan Experience. Sadhguru is a guru and spiritual leader from India. I actually only listened to the first part of the episode when they were talking about humans’ relationship with nature and specifically soil. It inspired in me to dream of one day taking run down parking lots and strip malls and converting them into gardens. I think we have a nature deficit living in cities. It would be cool to provide food for the public in a permaculture garden right smack in the middle of town.
Looking Forward
This week Reese will go to a children’s hospital to see if his kidneys are growing normally. In the womb, one of his kidneys was swollen. It appeared urine wasn’t passing through a ureter. Since his birth, he’s been peeing what appears to be normally, so they’re gonna tell us if everything looks good inside. If it doesn’t, then he may need a surgery that would open up the ureter a bit. Hoping for the best!
We booked a trip for Memorial Day weekend to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It’s a 5 hour drive and the hotel we booked is within walking distance of the beach. We haven’t really left the Atlanta area much since we moved here so it will be cool to see more of the South.
I have a job interview this week. I enjoy my current job, but if I get this one, I’d be allowed to work from anywhere. If I can work from anywhere, we may be able to move to a more affordable area and travel more. The job would be similar to my current one in that I’d use AutoCAD to draw maps. The difference would be that I currently make maps for electric lines, and at this new job I’d make maps for telecom lines.
Take care y’all!
Braxton
Great, and newsy letter! Maybe attach some pix of your babies and their parents each time.