LOTS to cover

Aidan and I are pretty tired, so we're taking a day off. In fact, the little man's still asleep at 9:45. Of course, the fact he was up between 4:30 and 7 AM might have something to do with that.

Before I get into the relatively meaningless stuff, here's an update on Aaron. First the good news: he's eating and growing like a champ. He has taken to nursing really well. His first feed each day is in the 55ml range (almost 2 oz.). Subsequent feeds are in the mid-30s, because he tires faster. To give an idea of how much he's taking in, his regular feeds (non-nursed) are 42ml. He's sitting just under 4lbs. 13 oz. as of 8 PM last night, so 5 lbs. is just around the corner.

The not-so-good: All of the feeding progress looks to have taxed him in other development aspects. Aaron has had a lot of problems with "swings" in his breathing. Swings occur when his oxygen saturation rate dips below 90% or his heart rate falls below 100 beats per minute. 99% of the time he corrects himself. However, after a particularly rough run last night, the nurse decided to put him back on oxygen assistance. There was a noticeable improvement in his breathing and colour this morning. It's important for us to remember that, despite all of the great progress made thus far, Aaron is still only 34 weeks gestational age and didn't get the benefit of steroid injection in-utero that Aidan received. So, please keep on praying. Only God has kept us going so far and only God can continue the work. My confidence that Aaron will do fine is far too fragile when left in the hands of human doctors and nurses. Knowing God is in control and that His will will be done gives me unshakeable confidence and peace.

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Now, onto the trivial stuff:

From Canoe:

Ontario moves to ban pit bulls. And it's about time, says I. I have read a number of stories in the past about people who have "docile" pit bulls. Then I read even more about these psychotic dogs suddenly turning and attacking whoever is in their way. Personally, I think these are the ugliest creatures and I can honestly say that I am genuinely afraid of them. We don't have any in our neighborhood but, if we did, I would be making sure that my family gave the house a wide berth and, if I ever saw it off its leash, I would be on the phone to Animal Control so fast. It's always a shame when legislation this extreme is needed, but, in order to deal with the growing problem (and believe me, every time a person is attacked by one these things, the hue and cry will grow louder), it's best to simply outlaw the breed, giving Animal Control and the police full power over the situation. Unfortunately, I see a court battle brewing over this. I kind of think this could play out like Gun Control, as people make claims that their dog isn't causing a problem for others and it is in the house to protect the family, which they have a right to do. Could be very interesting.

From CNN-SI:

Yankees embarrass Red Sox. 19-8? In game 3 of the ALCS? A game the Red Sox NEEDED to win? This was interesting for three innings, as evidenced by the box score below:

BOX SCORE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York Yankees (3-0) 3 0 3 5 2 0 4 0 2 19 22 1
Boston Red Sox (0-3) 0 4 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 15 0

6-6 after 3. Arroyo and Brown both sucked, bring on the bullpens. Torre hands the ball to Javier Vazquez, who he has no intention of using as a starter in this series. Vazquez gets tagged for the 2 runs in the 3rd but the shuts down the Sox until the 7th, when Varitek got him for a 2-run bomb in garbage time. Meanwhile, Terry Francona pulls a world-class brainfart in the 4th and gives the ball to Tim Wakefield for 3 1/3 innings. At that point, the Yankees were already in double digits and things were getting ridiculous. Wakefield was tagged for one run in the 4th, the 2 runs in the 6th and the first 2 runs in the 7th. So, in what was already looking like a lost cause, Francona flushed his likely 4th game starter and left himself with VERY limited options for Game 5, should it happen.

See, Francona does not have Curt Schilling because of a bad ankle and, at best, he might be available for Game 7. Under normal circumstances, Schilling would have started Game 5 on normal rest, Game 4 on short rest. Without him, Francona has to start Derek Lowe (his worst starter this season) today in the do-or-die Game 4. Then, he has to bring Pedro on Monday in Game 5. Pedro's start will be on normal rest (4 days). Thanks to the rainout, Game 6 is on Thursday, meaning either Arroyo again (on 3 days rest) or Wakefield (assuming he doesn't wind up coming out of the pen again). The Yankees have much easier decisions (Hernandez today, Mussina tomorrow on normal rest, Lieber on normal rest in Game 6 and Brown in game 7), plus they now have a 3-0 lead over a demoralized Red Sox team. I like the Yankees' chances of wrapping things up today.

The Houston-St.Louis series is shaping up to be all that and a bag of chips. Good win by the Astros yesterday to close the gap to 2-1. This one should go at least 6 and possibly 7. It's so far much more compelling than the ALCS.

Again, from CANOE:

U.S. citizens doing cross-border shopping for flu shots.

As I stated in my Health Care Post last week, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I would be concerned about. Apparently, there is a shortage of flu vaccine in the U.S. As a result (quoted from the CANOE article):

There have been reports already of Americans turning to Canada in search of flu shots. Worried seniors from northern Maine have called to book times at a flu shot clinic in St. Stephen, N.B., later this month.

Every shot that one of these seniors comes up here and buys is one less that is available for a Canadian taxpayer, who paid to have these shots created. I find it hard to believe that there is actually a clinic in Canada designed to cash in on the flu vaccination. Of course, this being an election, trust John Kerry to make political hay out of this by saying:

(Kerry) soon returned to the attack, calling the shortage of flu vaccine another example of how the Bush administration deals with problems facing the nation.

"This story is a demonstration of this administration, how they deal with everything," Kerry said. "Because of the failure of judgment, failure to act, we have a shortfall of 48 million flu shots."

He claimed the administration received three warnings since 2001 that the vaccine system was vulnerable to shortages, but ignored them. His campaign is rolling out a new ad on the crisis.

Source: CNN

Um, it's called the Centers for Disease Control. I believe they are tasked with ensuring that there is sufficient vaccinations to go around. With all that President is responsible for, there's a little something called delegation. Also, I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the CDC is not run by political appointees, so if they screw it up, there's not a whole lot the Prez can do about it.

By the way, if you want a laugh, check out the CNN article documenting yesterday's stops on the campaign trail and check out the picture of Kerry with a shotgun. I'm sure all the Democrats supporting gun control will absolutely love him.

OK, that's enough. Have a good one and I'll provide more updates on Aaron as I get them. Enjoy this fall Sunday.

GO YANKEES GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!