Gene Therapy

We all want to know and we are going to let you all decide! Tell us, who does Miles favor? You can select more than one answer, but try to limit it to no more than 2-3 choices.


A) Mom
















B) Dad


















C) Mom's Mom















D) Mom's Dad















E) Dad's Mom

F) Dad's Dad















(You can select more than one answer)

In the Beginning...

We left the hospital on Saturday and came home to a house full of loving grandparents, all very anxious to hold their new grandson -- carpe diem!!!

...

We woke up about 3 hours later refreshed and ready to begin this new adventure. So zealous. So optimistic. So determined. So... naive. We faced the first day with a level of determination that rivaled that of a new hire, fresh out of college and ready to solve all of the world's problems. It was our first day of school and Professor Miles was already establishing the rules of the classroom. No worries, we're ready. Aren't we???

We found out early that the professor has a lot of patience, but he is very clear on what he wants and how he wants it. You can spend a few moments interpreting what he is saying, but after a while you WILL get yelled at if you can't keep up.

We learned three new concepts; change me, feed me and entertain me (we think?). There is a distinct difference between change me & feed me. Earlier this week I got yelled at for misinterpreting feed me for entertain me. So, we are still working on the entertain me thing. It will come.

Relief is a three letter word - N.O.W. Grandma & I both found out that when Miles needs to go, he needs to go. Good thing we had a a fresh change of clothes.

Sleep is a four letter word -- H.A.H.A.

A 'full tank' and the 'chilliness' don't mix all that well. In the beginning it went a little something like this:

1. Carefully remove his clothes
2. Chat with him a little to keep his attention
3. Remove the straps from the diaper
4. Survey ground zero for #1 and/or #2
5. Remove diaper and set aside for disposal of the VERY cold baby wipe(s)
6. Wipe him with the VERY cold baby wipe(s) and discard it in the soiled diaper
   
7. Turn around to discuss our excitement for the wet diaper and/or BM
8. Grease up the front of the diaper with Vaseline
   
9. Carefully place the diaper underneath his butt
   
10. Carefully lift his butt and turn the diaper in the right direction
11. Neatly fold the the front of the diaper ensuring that the cute design still shows
12. Fasten the straps, taking great care not to cover the belly button
13. Repeat step #2
14. Change his clothes if they have a little pee on them and neatly swaddle him back into his blanket

The professor has tried yelling to let us know when he has gotten too chilly. However, since we had such a difficult time understanding, he schooled us on the art of the projectile stream. It caught us all off gaurd! As a result, we are much faster at changing his diapers, which now go a little something like this:

1. Pre-grease all diapers and prep any additional items prior to thinking about placing him on the changing pad
2. Peek through the side of the onesie and into diaper to verify a change is necessary
3. Unsnap onesie (be careful not to remove) and unfasten straps of the diaper wiping any residue with the clean part of the back of the diaper (all in one fluid motion)
   
4. IF additional cleanup is necessary, quickly wipe soiled area while placing new diaper beneath his butt and fasten straps over the cute design on the diaper (again, all in one fluid motion)
5. Ensure that belly button has not been mashed too bad
   
6. Fasten the onesie (whether it has pee on it or not) back and swaddle him into his blanket
   
7. Remove goggles

We are trying to get this down to a three step process. In the end, I am sure he will have us operating like a Nascar pit crew.

We have received some positive feedback. For instance:

• He enjoys talking so long as it doesn't interfere with either change me or feed me time
• He likes that we leave his hands free when we swaddle him
• He likes to walk around the house -- it helps him relieve a little frustration while trying to teach us new concepts

So far we seem to be doing ok. Mom has scored many brownie points on the subject of feed me and dad has made some headway with the change me concept. We still have some work to do on entertain me. It may be too early to tell, but we would say that we are right around the C+/B- range. It appears that we are getting better at it each day. We will just have to wait and see what the professor has to say in a few weeks.

A "Thank You", from Miles

Wow!

So much to learn in so little time. In only 24 hours I had so many nice people come to see me and there were a lot of well wishes for me, my mom and dad. THANK YOU to everyone for welcoming me!!!

Here is how the first 3 hours of life in my new world went:

I came out and I saw a weird man with glasses looking at me. He didn't say anything to me, so I didn't say anything to him. When he decided to speak to me, I yelled at him. There was no time for small talk, it was chilly and I wanted to see my mommy.

I saw daddy snapping LOTS of pictures of me (he is very camera happy). Then, all of these strange people started wiping me and poking me and making strange noises at me and touching me with very cold things. It was all very crazy, especially the cold stuff. When I get big like my dad I am going to track down all of the crazies that were touching me with the cold stuff.




Then I got the chance to finally see my mommy! I was very excited and I think she was too, but she must have been hungry or needed her diaper changed because she started to cry a little. It was okay with me, because I just wanted to hang out with her.



Just when I started to get comfy, some strange lady came and took me to another room with a bunch of screaming babies. At first, I didn't understand why they were all screaming. Then the crazy lady took off my blanket and all of my clothes. First I am taken away from my tropical Hawaiian getaway and brought to this unexplored Alaskan frontier AND I don't get to wear any clothes!?!? This is madness!! So I flexed my muscles and asked the lady what was going on. She ignorned me so I yelled at her, just like the other babies. She didn't seem to be intimidated by my toughness, but it was okay because my dad was there watching over things in case she decided to get too far out of control.


She actually turned out to be a very nice lady even though she didn't have very much respect for boundaries. She gave me my first bath and washed my hair. After my bath, she even brushed my hair so that I could show off my cool hairline. She gave me back my blanket and all of my clothes then took me back to see my mommy!


When I got back there were two women that looked just like my mom waiting to see me. They both seemed to love me very much and I think I love them too!

We went to another room where I got to meet a lot of my new family and friends, and learn a lot about the 'goings on' around this strange new place.

Whew... only 3 hours and there had already been so much excitement and I still had another 21 hours to go. I sure am glad to have so many great people around me. There is so much to learn and I think I am going to need a lot of help figuring it out!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to everyone that called to check on me, to everyone that emailed mommy and daddy to wish us well and to everyone that stopped by to see me!

Love, Miles Jamison Ware

A day to remember

Today was a busy day!!!

I woke up at 3:15am in a cold sweat, almost as if someone had tossed a pitcher of water across my head and chest. I wrote it off as a night terror, which I seldom (if ever) have. It took me a few moments to gather myself and realize what happened. Once I did, I got up and went to the closet for a towel.

In a twist of events, Michelle asked me if I was doing okay. You see, it's normally her midnight escapades to the kitchen for a refill or in the other direction to 'empty the tank' that cause my incoherent curiosity.

I told her that I was fine, but sweating like a chicken in Ahmed's kitchen. I managed to gather myself and get comfortable again before the window to recapture sleep had closed. And that was that.

"Water Broke!!!"

I jumped up thinking that this time I had somehow generated enough sweat to trick Michelle's body into thinking that it was game time. She repeated again, "yep, I think my water broke"

It didn't take long to realize that it was game time. After a brief moment in the huddle we figured out a game plan for the morning. Michelle hopped in the shower while I phoned the doctor and got all of our bags loaded into the truck. Once I had everything ready, I took the opportunity to wash the funk off from the sweat fest that occurred less than an hour earlier.

As you can see from the picture, Mom was pretty calm prior to our track to the hospital. If her water did not break, it would have been just like any other morning.



We got to the hospital shortly after 5am and Mom made a few friends early! Joan got us all set up prior to the end of her shift at 7am. We traded her for another wonderful nurse, Janette.

Janette coached Michelle from 8:30 until her delivery less than 3 hours later. And I am proud to say that she delivered Miles with 3 hard pushes and NO Epidural.


I SAID NO EPIDURAL!!!!!!!!!

I was very proud of her. She handled it like a woman and afterwards there was a beautiful little boy to show for all of her work. I don't think there will EVER be any pain of discomfort that I can complain about, at least not in front of her (or anyone that knows her for that matter).

Mom, Dad and Baby are doing VERY well and can't wait to introduce Miles to all of our family and friends. Here are a few pictures from some of our visitors today.

Miles Jamison

Miles Jamison Ware was born at 11:20am July 5th, 2007. He weighed in at 5lbs 15oz and a healthy 20 inches long. We didn't expect him for another month, but Miles was having none of that.

Scroll through the pictures below by either clicking on the image or placing your mouse over the image and using the navigation bar.


Happy Birthday, Miles!