Three Cats and a Baby

Every family has something unique that they can call their own. A situation that to others defies logic and is perceived as unimaginable. Most people who witness these inside traits of family uniqueness, never mention a word. In polite society it is "hush hush" until you get back to your family or friends where you can explain these most unusual situations, and a hearty laugh is bellowed out. This is how families bond and measure their own greatness and superiority over the rest (or to a lesser, less pessimistic extent, it could be said that this is the yardstick by how you define your own individuality).

In some cases, the parties involved already know and have long ago accepted the absurdity of their own situation. After some time this absurdity becomes normality and it takes some reflection to regain the perspective and nature of these abnormalities (if that reflection is ever taken). For others, the absurdity of the situation has always been obvious, and will forever remain.

About a year before Adam was born, the family came upon a nest of cats (one mom and four kittens) living in the words outside of their cliché two-bedroom apartment. The ferile mother cat had made the thick briar her home since the neighbors took it upon themselves to feed every wild animal that wandered past their door (and feed them in abundance). Pounds upon pounds of birdseed and large sacks of dried corn-cobs have produced an unhealthy balance of wild critters residing in the very nearby woods.

And so too did the neighbors see the mother cat and begin feeding it however ferile it was, with no attempt to catch it. It did not take long for the mamma cat to have a litter. Seeing this situation arise, Adam's mother and father decided to make it their goal to catch all of the cats and have them treated in the appropriate manner.

Being a true cat lover, Mom, a truly good hearted individual (unusually so by the narrator's yardstick), was committed to the task of catching the cats. Dad, loving cats as well, had become deathly allergic to them over the years of having cats at home. His desire while well meaning, was merely to give comfort to Mom who's concern grew day by day.

After a great deal of trial and error, three of the kittens were caught. The fourth kitten would elude capture. These were no ordinary kittens however, these kittens came from a mother whose own paranoia is unmatched in the animal kingdom (and any other kingdom for that matter). In the short time that the cats were a family, mother had done well to impart this paranoia on to her kittens. But, fishy cat food was no match for mother's paranoia and one by one they were caught (except for the last of course). Still to this day, the fourth kitten in is seen stalking the shadows only to be a dark black blur darting away into nothingness. This was a cat that didn't want to get caught.

And so it was that fateful couple of days, that three kittens made it into the lives of Adam's parents. The "idea" was to try and rehabilitate the cats back to a point where they could be adopted (all for one that is). The one cat, later named "Furry" was an unusually beautiful and as you might expect, fluffy and furry cat. It was the mother's pick of the litter (and dad's too, had he REALLY wanted one of the cats).

Months past and there seemed no improvement in the cats. Their paranoid instincts had not subsided, except for Furry. He too exhibited the traits he was brought up with, but to a much lesser and tolerable extent. The other two, there was no change. However, Adam's mother, who fed them daily, had grown very attached to the cats and the cats grew attached to her, and only her. Dad, on the other hand, who is deathly allergic to the cat's made no real push to gain favor with them.

And so it was, a small apparent with three cats who were afraid of everything became permanent residents of the small two bedroom apartment. The father now relinquished to spending time in only the two places in the house the cat's were not allowed, the master bedroom, and the second bedroom (the office from which he works from).

With the arrival of Adam, the problem became amplified. Two adults, a baby, and three cats in a 900 square foot apartment, where the dad could not spend any lengthy time in the majority of the house, would grow to be a contentious issue. The absurdity of the situation became clear to both the father and the mother; where are we going to move?

The First Night

The grandfather in the hospital said, "remember son, you will live through the first two weeks." I wasn't completely certain what he meant by this, as Adam had not raised his voice since his body was poked and prodded following delivery, surely a series of events that would inspire anyone to scream. None-the-less, the advice was sound however unclear it was to the parents.

As a father, you really have nothing to offer a newborn other than your unconditional love. Newborns have one thing on their mind and it is the instinct to nurse. Very little solace can be given to a newborn by simply holding them and without the cognitive skills to understand love and caring, their only instinct is to latch on the mother's breast. This is the only solace they will understand for some time.

The first night home illuminated a shortcoming in the dining service provided by the hospital. Two breakfasts in a row of scrambled eggs created an intolerable series of cascading gastrointestinal problems. As Adam's aunt once said about a flan she had made, "it's called egg fart pie." During the pregnancy the mother had no urge to eat eggs, and so for nine months, not an egg was eaten.

As designed by nature whatever the mother eats, it comes out in the breast milk. This basic concept makes perfect sense given the fact that in its natural surroundings, the baby must learn to eat what the mother eats. and the mother does not eat eggs, or at least she hadn't.

This two day period of scrambled eggs created an ongoing series of egg farts and a great deal of stomach discomfort. There was no mistaking why it had happened, but there was no way to console it until the ultimate movement had passed. Mom was strong throughout the night and the father grew increasingly worried about the next several months. Will this be a baby that cries constantly without a way to calm him? He is not eating, he is not pooping and he has not stopped crying. This appeared to be a problem to dad, while mom took the whole ordeal in stride and was concerned, but not fazed by it.

The next day, he finally passed the eggs and he seemingly was able to relax. There is still only one way to console him, a large pair of lactating breasts, but he can be consoled. The father looks on seeing the loving mother being forced to spend every moment with the newborn, without a break, but she does it without a complaint regardless of how much pain she still is following the birth.

As is often the case, grandfather was right, you will live through the first two weeks (though that is still unseen), we did make it though the first night, which was seemingly the hardest part yet.

In the begining there was Adam . . .

The journey in fact started long before Adam, but Adam is where we will pick up the story.

Born November 30, 2004, and weighing in at 6 pounds 13 ounces, he was a wide eyed, quite newborn with a thick head of hair. His father should have been so lucky. The delivery was chosen not to be filmed for a variety of reasons, but in the end it was a good choice, if only because it would give a misguided appearance of the ease of giving birth. His mother was, as the nurses and doctors said, "Built for making babies." Everyone hoped the second one would be so easy, though that is still an unforeseen and distant choice to be made.

The following two days as his mother and the baby recovered from the experience were quiet and serene. His mother glowed with the pride of having created and delivered a new life into the world. She had wished this for a long time, but as the time grew nearer to give birth, she wondered like so many if she was actually ready for the experience. While it was probably more concern about the delivery, there may also have been other lingering concerns that had not been raised.

The crew at Atlantic City Medical Center (ACMC) in Pomona, New Jersey, were truly a caring and compassionate group during the 3 day stay at he hospital. Concerned parents always have a criticism or two during any experience of this magnitude, but in reflection of only a couple of days, the experience is remembered as wonderful. New parents often forget that this is their job and they all had ample experience in these situations, and while birthing a baby is new to the parents, it is not new to them. When a pregnancy and delivery are a smooth as the one that Adam's was, there was no need for concern, and the crew at ACMC certainly exuded this lack of concern. This is a natural process, and this one was textbook, so there was no need to worry.