One Year Down, Many To Go!

Its has been a very exciting December, packed with all sorts of festivities. All in one month's time we celebrated Duquesa's Birthday (Dec. 5), the birth of Christ, and our first Wedding Anniversary (Dec. 31, today)! Here is a brief recap:

On Dec. 4, after bribing all the right people, I finally was able to pick up Jerome's birth certificate that is written in about 12 languages. With this I can soon obtain Jerome's first passport from the American Embassy, which will enable me to bring him home without smuggling him into the country as my pet squirrel monkey.

On Dec. 5, Momma Quesa turned 23! I celebrated by spray painting her name all over the Colosseum and setting off fireworks from my Ducati at the Carabinieri as they chased me on their police motorcycles along the top of the ancient Roman wall. And then I woke up and made her a really nice breakfast. Duquesa, Shelly and I spent a few hours shopping along the Via del Corso until we found her the perfect pair of Italian boots. I like how good she looks in them. I am NOT so sure I like how many heads she turns as she clips along the sidewalk in those boots while pushing a stroller. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I married a most beautiful lady, and she could cause accidents 9 months pregnant.

Dec. 6, Duquesa and Jerome went to their first Papal Audience with Fiorella, Kevin and Eleonora. They had special tickets that allowed them to sit all the way in the front. D said it was amazing, and we will get pictures from Kevin soon. Benedict XVI spoke predominately about world peace and the sad state of religious freedom in Turkey. Jerome was a good boy the whole time, and he got to show off his breastfeeding skills to the Pope. I think Benny was impressed.

The next few weeks were devoured by Christmas cookies and cards. I gained 30 pounds and developed arthritis in my writing hand. Next year we are eating Christmas sushi and sending Jolly emails.

I taught a class in a seminar on Prayer in the Context of Christian Marriage. Duquesa, Rachelle and Jerome were all able to come and sit in on it. They said it was good. I am not so sure since Jerome fell asleep. Perhaps I could have used a rattle as a prop to make it more interesting.

We were invited to dinner on Christmas Eve by our wonderful neighbors, Alessandro and Silvia. It was nice to be in an Italian family setting, and the 5 course meal proved to be a very unique experience. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent; I am an adventurous eater, but some of the dishes required a little bravery. The ladies did very well trying everything as Jerome preferred to stick to his nursing. Normally when we Americans think of traditional Italian food, we think of pizza, pasta, calzones, etc. So it surprises me how much of their cuisine is seafood. As Rachelle said, it was hard to eat things with eyes and all. In the end, we ate till we were satiated and enjoyed the lively company of our hosts.

Jerome's first Christmas fell on the same day that he turned 4 months old. Although we missed being with the rest of our families, we enjoyed the day together and tried to celebrate in a way that would honor Christ. The walk to Christmas Mass was surreal. Passing by palm trees and a sun soaked beach on a warm day didn't feel much like Christmas, but it helped that Jerome was in his little reindeer outfit and that Shelly wouldn't stop singing "White Christmas." We continued our Sunday tradition of going out for cappuccinos after mass with Mark and Jessica Wunsch and their 5 month old daughter, Felicity. Then Mark brought his guitar back to our place so that we could sing carols until our voices gave out. Duquesa made the Hunt family Christmas drink and Rachelle made a coffee cake, and Jon saw that they were good, and he ate them and was full. Then on the seventh hour, he rested. But then the serpent came to Duquesa and said, "Look here at this chocolate. It will not make your tummy burst, but instead it will make your tongue dance in yummy coco goodness!" So Duquesa ate of the chocolate and brought some of it to her husband and forced him to eat it too, and his tummy burst. Serpent 1, Jon 0.

By the way, the contents of this blog are all true, but not all historically true.

Our first Anniversary has been simple so far, but very enjoyable. We have just been spending some relaxing time together looking at our wedding pictures and reflecting on the many highlights of 2006. We are looking forward to opening two very special bottles of wine reserved for this date (a Brunello di Montalcino and the last bottle in existence of a sparkling red batch made by local) and eating a gourmet meal that Rachelle will prepare for us this evening (I think it will involve veal, baked potatoes, green olives, and fresh baked bread). Other than that, we are making plans for a very ambitious 2007.

We are so blessed by all of our family and friends, and we are grateful for all of the love and example that you provide us. The Word stunned all creation and infinitely raised the dignity of humanity via the Incarnation, and although we celebrate it every Christmas, we should live it all year. Here's to trying in 2007! Buon Anno!

Serpent 1, Humanity ∞.

Lil' Bello

Jerome giving directions

Felicity and Romeo hold hands.

Naked little body

Momma in her new Italian boots!

Cool Cowboy

Angelic Mother

Seafood being dished up at Christmas Eve dinner.

Beautiful Rachelle and Jerome after decorating the tree.

Opa and an Aunt

It has been a few weeks since we have had time enough to post a blog, and we have a few things to make note of during that gap. The most prevalent, of course, was the week long visit of Opa and Aunt Renee. Opa, for those who don't know, is grandfather in German. Opa and Auntie had both been here in Italy once before, so they took much more interest in the happenings of Jerome than the tourist sites. Although this is somewhat understandable, we were still in awe that a little baby with a poopy diaper could get more stage time than the Colosseum. We just enjoyed all the family time and mixed it up with cappuccinos and other cultural highlights. The only odd part were all the paparazzi that followed us around everywhere snapping pictures at a torrid pace. I think they were all in town for that Tom-Kat wedding, and then got the scoop of the bigger story here in Santa Marinella. Whatever the reason, there are a bunch of pictures on this post to show for it, as you can see.

We also got together with the Wunchs and the Gherrings for an ex-patriot Thanksgiving. Everyone chipped in with this or that dish, and the result was quite impressive. I had to be rolled out like Violet Beauregarde from the Chocolate Factory; always the sign of a good Thanksgiving. Jerome was a little ticked he didn't get to try any stuffing or mashed potatoes, but he was pacified as soon as it all made its way through mommy into his meal.

Jerome continues to make little advancements all the time. When on his stomach, he has learned how to lift his head up so that he can keep an eye on us at all times. And whether by design or not, by suddenly removing the support of one arm he can effectively roll himself over to his back. He says he knows its not pretty, but it gets the job done. He is also quite intent on being fluent in both English and Italian by the time he is one. He will just stare back into our faces while trying to mimic the facial movements and noises. He certainly has got the "ungha" sound down. Now its just up to us to figure out what that means. He got a lot of help from Opa and Renee, who bounced him to sleep or worked out a few burps when needed. Mom and Dad are grateful too. ;)

He wore his little Vikings outfit for the first time, and he was certainly their good luck charm. But he didnt know that he was also signing up to be the scape goat when things do not go so well for the Vikes. No, I didn't REALLY spank him because my team is bad.

I am working on hammering out a concise topic for my tessina (a paper of at least 80 pages necessary for obtaining a Licentiate degree) while taking my normal class load, and Duquesa is continually mastering the art of being a new mother. It seems to keep us pretty busy, although we are looking forward to our next visitors, whomever they may be! Thank you for checking in on us, and may God bless you this Advent season!

Two for the price of one!

Word from the surgeon was that Jerome had not one hernia, but two! So she fixed both and sewed up the holes to prevent any further problems. He spent hopefully his last night in the hospital and was released back into the wild the following morning. We still have to return a few times for the follow-ups from both procedures, but Jerome won't be allowed to have any more sleepovers with ladies in the same room until he's married.

And speaking of marriage, I really did marry superwoman. Duquesa stayed with Jerome night and day for his entire stay at the Ospedale Bambino Gesu, not sleeping for about 65 hours. Love and parental instincts can make one do crazy things.

We have noticed a marked difference in Jerome's behavior since the operation. Although he will still suffer from more difficult gastrointestinal activity than normal for up to a year due to the gastroschisis, he has been much less fussy without the constant pain that the hernias induced. Hence he is able to lay still for periods of time, observing and sometimes interacting with the world around him. He had so much fun with a new lion friend who prowled into Jerome's domain the other day. Neither spoke English, but they communicated very well with squeaks and grunts.

Rachelle took off to be with her high school friend, Leona, in Florence for the weekend, so Jerome will have to coop with only having mommy and daddy around unless we can lure some friends over for dinner. Jerome will let you know how it goes, and he is sure to tell aunt Shelly all about it when she returns from the Renaissance city.

We want to make quick note of the recent big events in the careers of the pilots in our families. Uncle Dub signed on to fly with Continental Airlines after a successful interview, and Uncle Paul was just stationed in Mildenhall, England (just north of London) for the next three years after completing his pilot training in the AF. We are proud of you flyboys!

Thank you for keeping up with and caring for our little family. We hope the Lord blesses each of you abundantly. Ciao for now...

Guess who's back?

The hospital staff decided that they couldn’t go on without spending some more time with our little boy, so back into the trenches we go. Jerome has a hernia which we almost should have seen coming considering that he has all the ideal circumstances to develop one. Hernias aren’t the most pleasant things to endure, and hence Jerome has been pretty fussy lately. Thankfully the doctors were able to schedule Jerome’s surgery soon for us. We will go in tomorrow for a day of prep, and Jerome will go into surgery for the second time in his short life on Tuesday. Thankfully, this procedure is not nearly as complicated, although he does have to be put under (general anesthesia). So we will be asking for your prayers once again friends.

We have been so happy having him home with us. Of course its hard work, but being with him is so precious, so amazing, and it never seems to get old. He has been working in his smile a lot lately. We think he somehow knew he had to practice because he was going back to see some of his favorite Italian nurses. I will post again soon to let you know how it all goes. Ciao for now!

Homecoming King

It all happened so quickly, its hard to recollect all the details. Last Wednesday one of the doctors in charge of Jerome's recovery popped in and briefly informed Duquesa that barring an unfavorable blood test, Jerome would be going home with us the next day. I suppose we should be grateful they gave us enough warning to bring some clothes for him to wear home.

Jerome's weight had stayed at about 5.7 pounds for a few days once they removed his IV, and this seemed to be all they needed to see to give us a green light. It was such a strange feeling, not at all what we expected. There was no build up, no grand ceremony or band playing as we walked out the doors. It felt more like we were getting away with something sneaky. If it were cold and I were wearing a coat, I may have slipped him under it as we passed by the guards at the front gate. As it were, the weather was typically gorgeous and instead Jerome was smuggled out of the hospital in a baby-carrying sling. Such devices are only employed here by gypsies, and we got plenty of looks from the Italians. We probably could have made a few euros if we had just sat on the sidewalk, put a cup out in front of Duquesa as she nursed Jerome, and made horrible faces at people as they walked by. If that's not funny to you, you haven't been to Rome.

Jerome has been fulfilling his infant duties since then, filling diapers with baby poo paste and keeping his parents up all night. That is, in case you were wondering, why I am writing this blog entry a full five calendar days after we brought him home. As far as I'm concerned, its the same darn day because we haven't gone to bed yet! ;-) But we wouldn't have it any other way. Our lives have been so enriched and priceless moments abound. Sometimes I have this feeling of love that is so overwhelming that I need to disengage from it for fear that I might squeeze him too hard. Its difficult to put these sorts of things into words, especially when caffeine is all that keeps you awake.

We are just learning the baby-parent dance, and Jerome is feeling us out as well. Duquesa notes that for the first day or so of being home he would fight off sleep for quite a long time, following us with his eyes just cracked open as though he was afraid that we would leave him again once he fell asleep as we had to do every night in the hospital. He still looks around intently at his new surroundings with wide eyes, craning his neck atop his perch on one of our shoulders. He fills our apartment with little mighty mouse squeaks and sighs, and the sound of his breathing is more captivating than Michelangelo's Pieta. He is still so tiny, under six pounds. Part of me wants him to stay this small forever, but I think I'll let him grow up so we can talk about how great it is when the Vikings beat the Cowboys.

Rachelle has been wonderful in helping us however she can, and she is now fully enrolled at the Angelicum and enjoying her classes. She can order her own train tickets in Italian, and I even taught her how to say to any pesky Italian boys, "Get lost. My brother is huge, and he will gladly spill your lasagna all over Rome." That should serve to effectively bewilder and scare them away. I had better wrap this up before my sleep deprivation produces any material not worthy of this prestigious blog.

We are so, so grateful for all your support and prayers. As so many of you had your families, schools, parishes or other organizations praying for Jerome, please pass along our good news and gratitude to them. We will be saying very special prayers of thanks, asking that all available graces and blessings be given to everyone who prayed our little boy through this trial at the outset of his life. Good Night!

Feast Day! Pun Intended.

I am sorry that I have not been able to write for a while. I have been itching to get this one out and share the news, but life has kept me jumping lately with school starting, family arriving, and pesky UFOs constantly trying to abduct my wife to study her superhuman DNA.

Jerome had a very big day last Saturday, September 30, as it was the feast day of St. Jerome. It seems that St. Jerome had a gift to give our little boy who shares his name. During our day in the hospital, totally out of the blue we were informed that if we desired, Duquesa could breastfeed our baby the first time! They still have to strictly regulate how much he takes in, so they placed him on a scale to take a very precise weight measurement before handing him over to mommy, and they would weigh him again afterward to determine the amount he ate. Duquesa was in heaven! And as for Jerome, he ate as though he had been fasting in the desert for his first 37 days of life. Mother and baby both glowed as they increased their bond.


Jerome has had a few visits recently from some of his family. His uncle Michael arrived first while in the middle of a post graduation tour of Europe, followed by Grandma Ann and Grandpa Gary who accompanied aunt Rachelle here as she arrives to fill her post as our live-in nanny and domestic servant. If you don't already have one, I highly recommend doing so as it can greatly increase your free time and sense of superiority. She might study some on the side too. Anyhow, because only parents are allowed in the room, Jerome's visitor's had to behold his beauty from afar. And then along came the feast day of St. Faustina. I ran into our friend Signora Fiorella that morning as she was helping a Polish Priest with a foot problem. Upon hearing our situation he said a prayer and told us to expect a miracle that very day. Sure, why not? Again seemingly out of the blue, we were told that for a short time we would be allowed to take Jerome out into the waiting area to be with his family and his growing number of groupies. It was a short but very sweet miracle. Jerome seemed quite used to miracles by now, as he slept through the whole thing.

We are so grateful for the progress that Jerome has made, but we are anxious to get him out of the hospital. It is such a difficult routine, and we are wearing thin. Duquesa came down with another fever last night and woke with a temp of 102.4. Today is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary. I will be saying a Rosary today with the special intentions of Duquesa's health and Jerome's quick recovery and release from the hospital, and you can join me by saying one of your own if you feel like helping us out. As long as we are referencing the Saints Calendar so often, let's target the feast of St. Teresa of Avila for Jerome's release. Mat 21:22, right?

A quick final note: Think arranged marriages are a thing of the past? Duquesa has been approached a few times by Italian mothers of little baby girls willing to strike a deal. They don't seem too excited about our pay-in-advance dowry idea though.

Jerome Unplugged

We love to share the good news, so that comes first. We were taken a little off-guard yesterday when a doctor pulled Duquesa aside and told her that from 3 to 5 today they would disconnect the tube from Jerome's IV so that we could walk around with him. It didn't seem to make much sense though, so later we called a pow-wow with the doctors to get up to speed. Turns out the primary reason for unhooking him now daily for two hours is to give his liver a break because such constant IV nutrition can be hard on it. We are happy beneficiaries for those two hours, and Duquesa took Jerome for his first stroll through the hall and back. He was as curious as ever, straining his neck to see everything he could. Then I got my first opportunity to start his rigorous training as he played the role of the football while I showed him how to shake a defender. I'm just glad my little football didn't spit up on me during the spin moves.

The doctors also called us into a room today to tell us that they found Jerome has a low hemoglobin count after doing a blood test. They explained that this is somewhat normal for babies in these positions who can't eat as much as they should. They want to give him a blood transfusion to raise that hemoglobin count, which will in turn enable him to grow as much as he needs to. The least pleasant part about all of this is that we had to sign release papers to authorize the procedure because there is the obvious risk of infection coming from the new blood. They insured us that they test the blood thoroughly, but that they can never be 100%. One doctor said he is 99.9% sure that its safe. I said that's good, because then he can be 99.9% sure that I won't have to come hunt him down. I don't think he understood.

They have increased the amount of milk he takes little by little. He now drinks about one ounce seven times a day. This has inspired me to start a new dieting fad. If you can consume less than a pop can's worth of breast milk a day, I guarantee you will loose weight!!! I think I'll call it the Wet Nurse Diet. Anyone interested?

Photo Shoot

Kangaroo Care

Ups and Downs, Hills and Valleys. We were well warned going into this that it would be no quick fix for Jerome, so we geared up for battle but secretly held out hope that he would set a new record for recovery. With the amount of people praying for Jerome, I had Guinness World Records on stand by. The doctors have done what they can to speed everything up, but his intestines are proving to be quite stubborn. He has taken a substance for the second and last time to open things up. If it does not work the doctors will resort to what was described to me as "a reverse enema." Not too pleasant sounding, so we hope he turns a corner real soon.

There have been two wonderful developments in Jerome's life recently. To our surprise one day, we walked in to see Jerome not in an incubator, but in a small bed open to the air. This is wonderful because it indicates that he has reached a better stage of immunity and it allows us increased access to our baby. I am not so sure the nurses or other parents in the room are as happy about the change. Word is that when we are not there, our little mighty mouse fully utilizes his mighty little lungs which are no longer enclosed in the incubator. Although we hate to think of him crying, this somewhat amuses us because when we are there he is the most content baby in the room not flying high on a pain killer IV. He is just letting the nurses know that he is fully aware that they are not his mommy.

Last week one of the Psychologists recommended that we use what is called Kangaroo Care. If you are not familiar with this, it is essentially long periods of skin to skin contact with the baby on mother's chest under her shirt, like a Kangaroo's pouch and hence the name. It is most commonly employed with premature babies and it yields great results. We had read about it before he was born, and so we were delighted to hear it was a recommended way for us to spend our time with Jerome. You can only imagine how much mommy enjoys this. Still unable to breastfeed and forced to part with her baby every night, this has given Duquesa a much needed special connection time with Jerome, and it is the highlight of our day. Baby and momma argue over who likes it more.

We really appreciate your little encouraging messages and prayers. Please don't stop yet!
Make it a point to appreciate your family, an incredible gift we all take for granted too often.