A Day of Rest

I just worked the past 3 days straight. Last night, when I got home, I was tired, then grumpy, then argumentative, then frustrated. Being away from my family for so long with only limited quality time has been tough. It's been tough on all of us I think.

I knew that working 12-hour shifts would be difficult when having a family, but I didn't know that I would feel estranged from my son. Last night, as I was holding Michael, I felt like I didn't really know him because I'd essentially missed the last 3 days of his life (that's 20% of his time out of the womb). I know this will go away as time goes by and I become accustomed to being at work so much and getting to know my son as his personality develops. I guess I was just frustrated because I feel like I'm missing out on so much.

Last night, Shannon, Michael and I slept together. We don't normally do this, but I felt the need because I just had to be physically closer to my son. This morning I woke up, regretting many of the presumptuous comments I made last night. But after I watered the garden, made some breakfast for my family and mother-in-law, and worshipped, I felt a lot better. This day has become a very nice day of rest for my family and I. ~Michael

I'm bringing home the bacon!

I just found out that little Michael is going to get a college fund! I passed the NCLEX. Just found out this morning. Yah! Now that I'm a nurse, all I need to do is learn how to take care of patients. :D ~Mike

My First Father's Day

Today was my first Father's Day. To honor it, we went with my parents and grandparents to Anthony's in the harbor. Shannon and I made cards for my father and grandfather. And I painted a onesie for Michael. He has his first super-hero costume: Super Son! I couldn't be more proud.

Uncle Erik

Uncle Erik came over last night to make mommy and daddy some yummy food. I pretty much just laid on the floor and looked really cute. The food didn't really look that great to me (I prefer mommy to hard food right now), but my parents sure liked it. After dinner, Uncle Erik, daddy and I prayed together. Uncle Erik is going to Thailand in a few days. I don't know where that is, but mommy keeps telling me we're going there someday and that I'll have lots of friends to play with. Ok, it's bedtime (I think I'll only wake mommy and daddy up 5 times tonight). ~Shamus

The Name

So... many might be wondering how we selected Michael Shamus' name. And some of you might think that I'm just an egocentric, Irish-centric nut. Well, you'd be correct in that assumption, but we actually put some thought into the name selection process.

Michael is my father's name (Grandpa) and, of course, my name (Daddy). Ever since I was young I always wanted to name my son Michael _________ McMahon (insert different middle name than myself or my father; I'm Michael Joseph, he's Michael William). My Great-great Grandfather, the OG Irishman hailing from the Emerald Isle itself, was named Michael McMahon. So that name has some special meaning to me. The name, Michael, is Hebrew, so it's actually pronounce Mi-KIul (gutteral K sound, it's not authentic if you don't hawk a loogy ;). Literal transliteration of the name is "One like God" or "Who is like God?" Mi=One, Ch=like, El=God; disclaimer: I read this somewhere a long time ago and I could totally be mistaken, except for the El part; El always refers to God in Hebrew from what I can tell. Basically, I love the name for both its meaning and my familial heritage.

Shamus is, of course, an Irish name. The usual spelling is Seamus, but... that's spelled a little bit like a body substance, so we thought we'd save our kid a little teasing, but then, this name is spelled like a popular sea-dwelling mammal... sigh. Kids are cruel. Shamus is gaelic for James. James is the patriarchal name of Shannon's family: her brother is James Ross III. We were originally thinking of using James as the middle name, but then we happened upon Shamus as a variant of James. I was sold from there due to the fact that it was both Irish and it meant James. The meaning is the seller though: usurper, as in Jacob from Genesis who 'wrestled with God' and earned the name Israel. Our deepest reason for choosing Shamus was because we hope that Michael will live his life out following Jesus and questioning the authority of this world (ie: Satan). We felt pretty strong during the pregnancy that our child would be called to a ministry of bond-breaking, as in setting slaves free and seeking justice both in the USA and internationally in Jesus' name. They may sound like big dreams, but it's what we felt God was saying.

So, in the end, we have "one like God who usurps authority." And he's already living up to that namesake. He seems pretty free-willed when we hold him, lifting and turning his head this way and that in order to get a better view, not content to just lie still. Although he does often get fussy if we don't hold him too: wanting holy affection, but wanting it his way! We'll have to start praying now that he remembers to usurp the evil authorities and to honor and obey the godly authorities! No matter what though, it's a solid name and he's an awesome child of God. Note on the shirt: "3 in 1" refers to 1) the trinity 2) St. Patrick's use of the 3-leafed clover to explain the trinity and 3) Michael's Irish, Mexican and Christian heritage. ~Mike

and then there were three: Michael Shamus McMahon

8 lbs 13oz, 20 inches long, beautiful

Shannon's water did indeed break on Friday morning. I'll spare the labor details; nothing bad happened except that Shannon had a lot of pain and the epidural really helped. Baby Michael was given to us by our Father in Heaven at 7:31 pm on the 8th of June, AD 2007 in Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA, Earth. He looked wonderful when he came out; most of the people who visited thought he looked like a 3-month-old rather than a 3-minute-old baby. He latched on to mommy like a pro and has been feeding better and better ever since.

Shannon is doing very well with the usual post-delivery pains, mainly due to nursing Michael. She started walking around about 5-6 hours after delivery. Michael had his first poopy diaper about the same time; he's a pro at that too. I (Mike) did a pretty good job of supporting them both through it all. During labor I was Shannon's personal assistant. Since birth, I've been Shannon's attendant as well as Michael's diaper changer (I'm a pro at that now).

God is amazing. When we got married 12/31/05, we thought children were 4 or 5 years down the line, maybe once I graduated from USD. He threw us a curveball back in September of 2006 though. Since then, our love and identity has a couple as gone through a beautiful metamorphosis. Selfish desires have been stripped away as we've begun to make way for each other's needs and this new life and gift from God. Now, we aren't only children of man and God; we're parents as well. We are providers, guides, protectors... Our lives will never be the same: praise God.

As promised, here are some pictures (click to enlarge):

Michael, only minutes-old

My favorite picture of Michael: Shannon and I painted shirts for our baby; this is the one we wanted him to wear first so that everyone who saw him would know what he really is: loved.

Michael just after a bath; "Baby-Lojack" on his left ankle

Shannon, Mike, Michael with Shannon's family: Evan (brother), Jim (father), Evelyn (step-mom)

Grandpa Mike (Mike's dad); see the family resemblance?

Grandma Sharon (Mike's mom); she wouldn't let go of Michael for almost 20 minutes!

For those early risers...

Well, guess what? Shannon is having contractions 7-10 minutes apart! She woke me up around 3:40am this morning. It's 5:50am now. We think her water might have broken too, so we're probably gonna head off to the hospital in a few minutes. Pray for us!!!! :D The next post will have pictures! ~Mike

39 + 6/7

39 + 6/7 is what Labor and Delivery Nurses write when assessing the mother-to-be's EDC (estimated date of confinement; this refers to the fact that women used to be on bedrest for a long time after having their baby, but that changed a while ago when they discovered that women at full-term are in a hypercoaguable state leading to deep vein thromboses... sorry, maybe this post should be on my nursing blog...). 39 = 39 weeks and 6/7 = 6th day of the current (40th) week. This means that tomorrow is Shannon's due date.

So we're just waiting around for something to happen. I'm working now, as a nurse with compensation commensurate with a nurse's pay. :D Meanwhile, Shannon does what she needs to do, wants to do: goes to the store, scrapbooks, cooks, sees me for lunch, etc. There's just something special about this time. I didn't think that at first though.

Waiting has never been my forté. The Bible always encourages us to "wait on the Lord," but I just haven't been able to master that discipline. I've gotten anxious. Shannon and I have gotten snippy with each other. We've been on pins and needles in expectation for this child to come, but he/she just won't show up. But I think we just cleared the hump on the waiting game. We've realized that there's nothing we can do to make it go quicker, so why not just enjoy the time we have left. I came home today after my first day of work and our house was so peaceful.
I love waiting for this birth to happen now. It means peaceful time with my wife who looks amazing, I might add. ~Mike

False Alarm

Well, I guess our presumptions were wrong. Shannon did not go into labor yesterday and as of today, she's still just having far-separated contractions... sigh. When God? When!??!

So, lucky me, I get to attend a Skull-Base teaching seminar at Alvarado. It's actually kind of good for me that Shannon hasn't given birth, because I would have missed this; I have to attend the seminar in order to work in the ICU, and I really don't want to work on the Med-Surg floors....

Shannon's mom got into town around 11am yesterday and is staying with us. It's nice to have her here. I just hope that the baby is born before she goes back to Maryland on Wednesday. I really thought that Shannon was going into labor on Saturday, so I encouraged her to come to SD. But it was a false alarm... I hate false alarms! ~Mike

Du-duh.... Du-duh.....

Do you ever hear the Jaws theme in your head? That's what I'll be hearing as I go to bed in a few minutes. "Why?" you may ask. Well, I'll tell you. Because, Shannon is having contractions that are 20-25 minutes apart. :D

In other news, today was my birthday. Shannon made me breakfast in bed! It tasted great. Then we went to Birch Aquarium. That place is definitely overpriced. It cost us $17 after a $5 discount. But, we had a great time and enjoyed searching for all the various sea life. I finally had the courage to touch an anemone and practically pissed my pants. That damned thing stuck to my finger; I thought it wasn't going to come off. Of course it did... which made me look like the wuss that I am.... sigh. After the aquarium, we went home and then to Mission Bay for dinner with my parents. The food was so-so, but none of us are throwing up yet. My parents currently on their way home to El Centro, a 2-hour drive. It's really gonna suck for them if I have to call them to come back in about an hour. Oh well, they can afford it; they just bought a hybrid. ~Mike

Could be our last day...

We went to Shannon's OB today for her weekly visit. Turns out she's dilated 3cm. That doesn't mean a whole lot, but it's a good sign. 2 more cm than last week. Something's working at the least. So for all you Shannon fans, here's a pic of her, possibly the last taken before she loses 15 lbs in one day!

We're off to the beach today. Walking is supposed to help the baby drop a bit quicker... that remains to be seen. But it's such a nice day. Maybe we'll find some cook sea shells.

Tomorrow is my B-day. Nothing special planned... but I do know one thing that I'd love to have that only Shannon can give me: a baby! ~Mike