Discovery Health: "Men Having Babies: Beyond Conception"
If you can locate when "Men Having Babies: Beyond Conception" repeats on The Discovery Health Network then you should Tivo it. It's a special that documents the process of surrogacy and egg donation. It is pretty much the same thing Papi and I went through for Oliver. It's educational and informational and it starts from the beginning of the process through the birth of the baby. The diagrams and chyrons in the show are fabulously funny.
The surrogacy agency we used is featured in the show, and the cameras go to the same clinic we went to for the transfer sessions. Watching the entire process play out on the screen brought back memories for Papi and I. I was glad to see that the magazines/videos in the “donation” office were updated. (That’s code for something I won’t print here because children are reading.)
The show really tracked our story quite well. It tracked our story so closely that they even show some of the same nurses and mad scientists who created Oliver. It’s just like our story except our story was less gay. (Hard to imagine, right?) I should also mention that Papi and I were much better to Beth than the couple in the show were to their surrogate. (OK, maybe Beth will want to weigh in on that part!) Seriously though, the couple in the show are kind of annoying—however, I do commend them for putting it all out there.
What a great show! We watched it twice since we missed part of it the first time around. They did seem a little harsh to the surrogate but it was neat to follow them through their journey to fatherhood. It was funny to hear him say that he saw the same magazine in the "donation" office but that their selection was finally updated. What a relief for other couples. =)
Cheers,
Lucky Mommies
P.S. I just found your Web site a few weeks ago through Moxie. Your son is adorable!
This sobering installation was constructed on the beach outside the Ashes and Snow Nomadic Museum. It would be remiss not to include it in the blog as it hit us just as hard.
WOW Joe, what an unbelievable story! I can't even conceive of leaving two young boys alone for an evening let alone days!! Those people do not deserve those kids and those kids deserve a whole lot better! See what terrific parents you and Chris are! There are some real loosers out there :( Oliver is blessed.
comment by Aunt Carol at 04:41 PM on 01.04.06
...well it was Vegas at New Year's, and it IS tough to get reservations...
For those of you who caught the New York Times' article on SIDS and Stomach Sleeping--I thought some of you might be interested to know Oliver’s sleeping technique:
At birth the nurses put Oliver slightly on his side by tucking a folded receiving blanket under one side. We continued to prop him to the side until we got home and put him in his crib with no propping. He slept on his back for the first four/five months. And he did so with a pacifier, aka, the cork. (His choice, more than ours.) Oliver always hated tummy time and every since his circumcision he has used the pacifier. When you hear that kind of scream you’ll give him whatever he wants. (Yes, I just told the world our kid is cut.)
Around 6 months he began rolling over and digging tummy time only in the middle of the night. We put him on his back only to find him later face down, pacifier in mouth, with his butt in the air and forcing his head into the corner of the crib and the bumper pads. When I find him in this position (often), I think to myself, “So this is how SIDS happens”.
Still The Kid is the world’s happiest sleeper. For the most part he has slept through the night (8pm-7am-ish) since he was 2 months old. We have our pediatrician to thank for that since it was he who told us to stop feeding him in the middle of the night.
I know that we are lucky to have such a good sleeper, and I hope that this post does not jinx that, but so far the kid is still alive and kicking. We’ve been told that he’s a good sleeper because he is such a big baby. We’ve also been told that his size plays no part in his sleeping pattern.
There seems to be so much to be worried about these days: terrorist attacks; War; bird flu; monster hurricanes; Harriet Ellan Miers; etc. I understand that the doctor’s must inform their patients of the statistics, however, my thought is just do whatever works. Truth is, SIDS happens and even if parents do all the things they are supposed to, SIDS still happens. What do any of us really know?
That said, even though I put The Kid down every night on his back (with or without a cork), I inevitably wake up around 3am, drag him out of the corner of the crib, push his butt down, lay him flat on his stomach, and cover him with his blanket. I still have the bumper pads up. I still use however many blankets it takes. I still try to keep the pacifier out of his mouth as often as possible. Maybe I am tempting fate, maybe not, whatever, The Kid definitely gets his sleep.
Hello, there :) Hope that everyone's weekend is going well so far. Beth, if you're reading this, I'm glad that I got to say "hi" to you yesterday, but I do hope to sit and visit with you soon.
Also, Kathy and G. Grammy Love (can't wait to meet you:), I'm very much so looking forward to your visit. I keep reminding Oli that you guys are coming so he's all jazzed about seeing his Grammies. I show him the picture of you, Kathy, holding him, and I tell him, "Who's got you, Oli? That's your Grammy and she's coming to see you soon!" He waves his long arms and stomps around on his saucer, smiling, and hitting those Mariah Carey notes - he just loves to look at his pictures.
Joe and Chris, I checked out the www.savealittlelife.com, and found out that their general classes are their own "mix" of safety practices that they go over; however, if you make arrangements with them, in advance, they can do the certification classes. They meet at various locations, but it seems that they mostly favor weekend classes; but like I mentioned, they do do in-home instruction... it all depends on the # of people and what it is you want them too teach.
Alrighty, Gentlemen, I'll see you guys on Monday. Hugs and kisses to my Buddy! Luv, Oli's Cjas :)
For those of you who might not know, Jen and the kids made it safely to the East Coast. They left Wednesday morning and arrived Friday, spending one night in a hotel room and (probably) speeding the rest of the time. It appears that the call I put in to the "amber alert" system was not successful as nobody managed to stop that blue Ford Explorer from crossing state lines.
I so wish I could take credit for the below, but I can't. Here it is for all of you to enjoy anyway...
Hollywood Power Outage Sends City Into Chaos
No electricity for 26 minutes. 'This is our Tsunami.'
By Joshua Gates. Actor, Photographer. Victim.
LOS ANGELES, CA, September 12, 2005 - Horror and disbelief swept
through the greater Hollywood area this afternoon as a minor
power-outage turned the city into a virtual war zone and local
residents struggled to deal with the devastating aftermath.
The outage struck at 1:35 PM, during L.A.'s busy afternoon coffee and
Pilates rush hour. Traffic lights fell dark, local gyms and sushi
restaurants were without power for nearly 30 minutes and many
businesses were illuminated only by the light of the sun and its
blistering 78 degree heat. "It was horrible," said out of work actor
and voice-over artist Rick Shea. "I was in a Jamba Juice on Melrose
when it hit and the blenders simply shut down. A woman lunged for my
Berry Lime Sublime and after that, well, it got pretty ugly."
In the ensuing panic, local radio stations broadcasted conflicting
reports as to exactly which local businesses would be offering relief
supplies. Almost 100 people flocked to the Starbucks at Santa Monica
and La Brea only to find helpless baristas, no hot coffee and a totally meager selection of baked goods. "My mother is 83 years old and we heard on the radio that this Starbucks was going to be up and running. If she doesn't get a Venti Arabian Mocha Sanani, I don't know what's going to happen to her, I really don't." said Lucinda Merino of Los Feliz. To make matters worse, those few people who did manage to get coffee were further thwarted by a total lack of artificial sweeteners on site. "Sugar in the Raw? Are you frigging kidding me?," sobbed local homosexual and avid salsa dancer, Enrique Santoro. "I'm on the South Beach Diet and my insulin levels are going to go crazy if I use this. Why isn't the rest of the country doing something?"
Deteriorating conditions will force authorities to evacuate the
thousands of people at local Quiznos, movie theaters and upscale
shopping centers, including the The Beverly Center, where a policeman
told CNN unrest was escalating. The officer expressed concern that the situation could worsen overnight after patrons defaced multiple "So You Think you Can Dance" posters, looted a Baby Gap and demanded free makeovers en masse at a MAC cosmetics store during the afternoon.
At least 2,000 refugees, a majority of them beautiful, will travel in
a bus convoy to Beverly Hills starting this evening and will be
sheltered at the 8-year-old Spago on North Canon where soft omelettes
with confit bacon and Hudson Valley foie gras was being airlifted in by The National Guard.
Honorary Mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant told a group of embedded
reporters at a Koo Koo Roo Chicken restaurant on Larchmont that, "The
scope and scale of this disaster is almost too much to comprehend.
Local carwashes are at a stand-still, the tram tour at Universal
Studios has been on hold for almost an hour now and I've been waiting
for a rotisserie leg and thigh with a side of greens beans for upwards of 15 minutes. "This truly is our Tsunami."
"We want to accommodate those people suffering in the Beverly Center
as quickly as possible for the simple reason they have been through a
horrible ordeal," Grant said.
"We need water. We need edamame. We need low-carb bread," said
Martha Owens, 49 who was one of the thousands trapped in the Beverly Center when the escalators stopped moving. "They need to start sending somebody through here."
Along miles of coastline, the power simply surged, causing writers to
lose upwards of a page of original screenplay material, causing Direct TV service to work only intermittently and forcing local residents to walk outside and look helplessly at the Pacific from their ocean view decks. "I can hardly begin to put this experience into words," said longtime Two and a Half Men writer John Edlestein . "I was just getting into my rhythm and making some real headway on a scene where Charlie Sheen parties with a busload of female volleyball players when my Power Book crapped out. I have nothing. Simply, nothing."
Delivering his weekly radio address live from the White House,
President Bush announced he was deploying more than 7,000 additional
active-duty troops to the region. He comforted victims and praised
relief workers.
"But despite their best efforts, the magnitude of responding to a
crisis over a disaster area this sunny and trendy has created
tremendous problems," he said. "The result is that many of our
citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in the
Hollywood Hills, and that is unacceptable."
LOL Joe :) Disaster California style :) Thanks for the chuckle :)
comment by Aunt Carol at 06:58 PM on 09.14.05
Killer post. Now I'm homesick for Southern California. I've forgotten just how shallow life can be back there. That's what I get for moving to the Midwest.
I know it’s taken me a while to talk about the devastation in the Gulf communities, but like everyone, I have been taking it all in and trying to figure out what exactly I can do to be of assistance. It seems that money is the best thing to give and everyone should be giving whatever they can to the Red Cross or any other reputable charity. The Red Cross generally is not my personal favorite as often nearly 60 percent of their donations cover overhead alone, however, as with 911, they have promised that the monies donated now will be given to those in need as debit cards so that they can purchase goods and services.
If you feel that the Red Cross is getting the lion's share, there are other charities out there too. As one alternative, here's a link to the NAACP's Website.
It also took me a while to write about the events here on Oliver’s blog because I was not entirely sure that it was appropriate to move from one blog about a cute white baby boy to another about the state of racism and poverty in our country. Then I figured what the hell, I blogged about the death of a newscaster and a local fire, so why not this event which is probably the greatest natural disaster in my time. Besides, if Ms. Moonves can talk about Katrina on a television show like Big Brother, I can certainly lay down a few words here in my kids’ blog.
So after all the pictures of the survivors have been shown on the TV; politicians have blamed each other; celebrities have used the media to speak out and self-promote; the looters have raped and pillaged; and we move towards healing; what has stood out to me is this country’s need to address our Race & Poverty issues. It really is America’s Achilles heel. Here’s my rant:
Before Katrina hit the mainland, we all watched as all those people were leaving the coastal cities. Remember those long lines of people on the highway? The local politicians talking on CNN about what a coordinated effort was being made to vacate New Orleans? All the planning to evacuate the white people and the middle class blacks was worked extremely well. You even heard mention of the fact that for those who would not leave could be safely housed in the convention center. It seemed doable enough at the time. Who would stay behind with a class 5 hurricane coming anyways? They would have to be crazy. Turns out there were some crazy people who stayed, but the majority of them were poor and/or poor and black. They were abandoned by their townspeople and their politicians as everyone else just grabbed themselves and their families’ belongings and hit the highway. The Mayor and Governor included. Sure they would speak out against Bush later for not doing enough quick enough, but where were they? Even Harry Connick, Jr. made it back to New Orleans before they did. Don’t get me wrong, the President deserved those comments, but not from city officials who spent time and energy evacuating the wealthy and left their poor to either die and/or huddle in a convention center that had no food and water, no medicine, no supplies or even cots.
It’s no irony that the people we see on the television are mostly black and poor. Race relations are a gaping wound in this county that Katrina has brought to the surface. We forgot about these people and now we watch as the best and the worst of human nature is depicted in the news. I watch these people struggle and I am horrified that this is even my country. They are not refugees; this is not a third world country. Those are (for the most part) law abiding, tax-paying, child-rearing American families. Those cities that sit in ruin are our cities. It took only hours for tent cities to be raised in third world nations when the Tsunami struck overseas. Yet here we sit watching someone’s grandmother die in her wheelchair outside the New Orleans’ Convention Center.
Katrina is a serious wake up call for this country and this administration. If we cannot react to something we saw coming days in advance, how will “homeland security” react to a nuclear emergency? I can say this much for sure, if something unexpected happens in another one of our cities it’s safe to say we will see white people running around in the streets. You might even see some breaking into stores to steal those diapers and formula. It could be any of us looking for each other on those long lists of survivors.
Ok, the rant is done, It’s 6am and The Kid needs his bottle.
I am just wondering where you got the " teething net that allows him to suck, bite and chew on the fruit but not choke on the skins"
I am in Sydney, Australia and there is nothing like that here.
Kindly yours,
Caithi
comment by caithi at 01:14 AM on 11.04.05
ooops! I think I posted the message in the wrong section of your site. Sorry.
comment by caithi at 01:15 AM on 11.04.05
"The Fresh Food Feeder by Munchkin" I actually forgot which website I originally bought it off of, however they have a couple of different kinds at BuyBuyBaby.com for about five dollars (American).
This thing is a life-saver. You get two per package and it's a good idea to have a couple because one is usually in the dishwasher while the other is in his mouth. Thanks for posting a comment! (Even if it's in the wrong spot.)
On September 25th, Oliver's Uncle Stevie is participating in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon and is swimming for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Although nobody really wants to see Uncle Stevie in a speedo, If anyone can donate a little something it would be greatly appreciated... and it's for a worthy cause. Here is the link to the donation. And tell them your from oliverlove.com!!!
There are an estimated 40,000 new HIV infections in the United States each year, the majority of them in people under the age of 25. Globally, approximately 38 million people are infected with HIV, and over two million of those are children. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is the worldwide leader in the fight against pediatric AIDS and other serious and life-threatening diseases affecting children. Its innovative research programs, collaborative training initiatives, advocacy efforts, and rapidly expanding international programs are bringing dramatic changes to the lives of children worldwide.
While great strides have been made, there are still many questions that remain unanswered and much work yet to be done. This is where your help is indispensable.
You're right... it's a good cause and I donated. I know that my wife will be proud of me because she is always the one giving away my money and now I finally did it myself. Good luck Steve!
OK, so we had some excitement tonight. Oliver and I were playing on the couch when the entire room turned red/orange. My first thought was: "ooh, pretty sunset!" so Oliver and I ran to the window to see a huge plume of smoke rising above the canyon to the west of us.
We were glued to the local news for a half hour or so when it all of a sudden went to Nat'l News and we could not see what was happening with the fire. Very Frustrating! We continued to watch the smoke over the hill and Oliver got a kick out of the water dropping helicopters flying right over our rooftop. OK, Oliver could care less, but his Dad's got a kick out it. Click below to read more about the fire from an article I tore off the LA Times Website:
Firefighters Contain Hollywood Hills Blaze
By Sam Quinones and Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writers
A fast-moving fire burned about 20 acres in the Nichols Canyon section of the Hollywood Hills on Tuesday evening, briefly threatening several hillside estates but ultimately causing no injuries or structural damage.
Authorities arrested a "person of interest" in connection with the blaze because the man was found close to the where the blaze started. But officials declined to provide any additional information about the suspect.
Smoke from the blaze, which started around 5:40 p.m. on Nichols Canyon Road north of Hollywood Boulevard, could be seen across portions of Los Angeles.
More than 100 firefighters, along with four water-dropping helicopters, responded to the fire. Some hillside residents voluntarily evacuated their homes, but the Los Angeles Fire Department didn't issue any manditory evaucation.
By about 7:45 p.m., authorities at the LAFD command post said the blaze appeared to have largely died down.
Residents said they were worried about the fire -- but also took it in stride.
"We saw flames shooting out. [Then] we saw all these wonderful helicopters, they were really low," said Gabrielle Einstein, 29, who lives on Genesse Avenue. "This is pretty much as L.A. as you can get. A forest fire in your neighborhood."
This is just a little bit too close for comfort Joe :( Those pictures look nasty. I'm sure all that smoke did not help the air quality. I'm glad you were all together when it happened though. It would have been hard to have Chris and Oliver so close to the danger and you away from them. Love to you all!! Be safe!
comment by Aunt Carol at 04:14 PM on 08.11.05
We didn't have too much smoke as it all went up and over the hill and into the Valley. From what I heard, everyone in the Valley could smell it. Location, location, location.
comment by LoveDADDY at 05:54 PM on 08.11.05
Wowowow.. Joe and Chris! Thanks so much for letting me come see your AMAZING baby.. I had so much fun seeing you guys again! Always laughin'!! I have chosen the name Ollie-ho because that is what I feel like cuz I'm on this website ALL THE TIME! Thanks for the laughs.. Keep in touch! Marsh
What a great show! We watched it twice since we missed part of it the first time around. They did seem a little harsh to the surrogate but it was neat to follow them through their journey to fatherhood. It was funny to hear him say that he saw the same magazine in the "donation" office but that their selection was finally updated. What a relief for other couples. =)
Cheers,
Lucky Mommies
P.S. I just found your Web site a few weeks ago through Moxie. Your son is adorable!