Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

News in Square Dance Land, but not about dancing.

Elijah James Cole was born Sunday, July 19th, 2009 at 3:25 p.m.
Even at pre-term labor of only 31 weeks and 6 days, he weighed in at 4 pounds and 11 ounces.
He was 17 and 3/4 inches long.

Martha and Eli are doing well. The baby, being about two months shy of term, will be spending at least the next 4 weeks in the NICU. (When he comes home is when I’ll plan on scheduling my paternity leave.)

Elijah is healthy and strong with good color. His lungs are underdeveloped, so he’s getting oxygen and he won’t be able to eat without a feeding tube for a few weeks. Still, he’s not in any immediate danger. The NICU doctor that I spoke with said that he’s seen lots of sick babies come into his unit. This is not one of them.

So, everyone is breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Whew!

To start with… Martha and the baby are fine.

However, we had a scare last night (Friday the 17th), one that kept us in Arizona. (We’d planned on visiting Washington this week.) It was a huge disappointment for both of us.

Last night, Martha, before bedtime, discovered some blood where there shouldn’t be any. So, we got dressed and headed to the triage center at the hospital. The triage center is a kind of emergency room for pregnant women. (At one of the birthing classes/sessions we went to, the nurse kept using the term “pregnant people.” That’s a little over the top in PC land. Pregnant women. Though, maybe I’m just old fashioned.)

At 10:30 at night, the parking lot in front of the birthing center was full. Though, in the triage center, it was rather quiet. (Apparently before we got there, it was busy, but still, a full parking lot?) I dropped Martha off at the front door and went and parked.

It turns out that she was, in fact, in pre-term labor. Not good, but easily remedied. Also, it turns out that she’s one centimeter dilated and her cervix was about 90% effaced. This means that the tissue around the cervix has thinned in preparation for childbirth.

The trouble is, she’s only 31 weeks along as the due date is September 14th and this is NOT easily remedied. Contractions can be stopped, however, when the body prepares for birthing, all you can do is slow the process.

Our nurse said that is not cause for alarm. During her own first childbirth she was dilated at 2 centimeters at 32 weeks and they had to induce labor at 40 weeks. (Her kid wasn’t ready to leave.)

Still, the answer here for Martha is bed rest and lots and lots of fluids.

Once the contractions were under control last night, they let us come home.

This morning (Saturday), the on call doctor phoned to let us know that we should have gotten a prescription for the drug that stops/prevents the per-term labor. Martha talked to him and he phoned in the order to the pharmacy. When I got back from the pharmacy, Martha said that the contractions were back.

I loaded Martha back into the car and back to the triage center we went. I may have set the land-speed record for the distance between the apartment and the hospital. I’m very thankful that the police were not out.

Again, the parking lot was full. Don’t those people ever go home? Seriously!

This time, the nurse said that while little had changed (she did say that Martha was dilated to a *good* 1 centimeter) from the night before the doctor was going to admit her to the hospital for 24 hour observation. They gave her the same shot to stop the contractions, and looked at the meds prescribed to stop the contractions. It, most likely, wasn’t a large enough dosage, and, it didn’t help that we’d left the hospital without it.

By the time I made a bathroom break of my own and made it back to her triage room, her observation time went from 24 hours to 48 hours. Also, they were planning on updating Martha’s treatment just a little bit.

They’ve given her a steroid to help with the baby’s lung development. If, for whatever reason, labor starts and they can’t stop it, the steroids will dramatically increase the baby’s  ability to breathe on his own.

The doctor told us that bringing the baby to term is best, but the important time frame is the next 48 hours. This is how long it will take for the steroids to work. To him, the extra time is just a bonus.

We don’t expect the baby to be born soon. This is just a preventative measure. If Martha goes into labor and there is a delivery, the baby would stay in the hospital until about the due date.

Where we are now is just a waiting game. Martha is at the hospital. I took her some stuff to entertain her and her toothbrush. Tomorrow, I’ll take her an extra pillow. The hospital is very nice but there’s not a lot of fluff to the pillows. Also, she said that she’s allowed real food so she’s asked for a McDonald’s Mighty Kids meal with Chicken Nuggets, so I’ll pick that up too.

When I left her tonight (Saturday at about 10:30) she was in good spirits but not really liking the whole hospital gown thing. The contractions have stopped and things look good.

I’ll bring her home Monday, and she’ll be on bed rest, probably until time she gives birth.

This means that I’m going to be the one getting the apartment ready for the baby. This is not my strongest ability.  I can barely find my glasses when they’re on my face and I’m to rearrange the apartment?

Wish us luck.

Peace to everyone and I’ll post more updates as things change.

News from Square Dance Land…

At some time at the beginning of the year I got an email asking if I’d be willing to do a birthday party for their son’s western-themed 16th birthday party. After a little of back and forth (so I knew what was expected) we agreed on time, place, and price.

April 4th was the date, and that evening, I packed my gear and headed out to teach and call square dancing to a bunch of kids and a few of their parents.

I never really know what to expect at events like this. So, I start with a basic blueprint of what I think the evening should look like and modifiy it as it goes. I was told “western-themed” so I figured I’d use some more traditional sounding music to start and move to more modern stuff. (After all, they were 16 year old, and I do think that people can connect to music they know. That connection may be in the subconscious, but it is still there.)

I got there and set up without issue. (Thankfully, I used Google Maps in advance because the GPS in my car didn’t have a clue as to where I was to be.) In south Chandler there’s an island of unincorporated Maricopa county. No cookie-cutter houses there and, believe it or not, there were horses and a couple of acres of open space. It was on the dark side, so I couldn’t see it all, but it was really cool.

The dance space was outside in a rather large patio/parking area. It was well lit with softer lights and, because of the cloudless night, a little on the cool side. (I’m glad I had my vest, but I wish I’d worn a hat.)

I had three squares of people. There was a small gender imbalance, so two boys danced together and didn’t think twice about it. I did three sets of about 20 minutes each. Not quite 20 minutes, but we started again every 20 minutes.

The first two sets were about the same. Run though a similar set of calls and teaches. Circle Left, Circle Right, Partner, Corner, Dosado, Allemande Left, Right and Left Grand, Promenade, Right/Left Handed Stars, Star Promenade, Ladies Center Men Sashay. After working the material, I put it in a song. I forget what songs they were, but they were upbeat tunes that I thought they’d recognize.

The third tip, I introduced Sides Face Grand Square. This call is a little more involved (for those that don’t square dance) as it is 32 beats long and requires everyone to do their own part. It is so funny, because there’s something about getting this call and doing it right that makes people cheer when they do it.

After the third tip, some more people arrived to wish the birthday boy well, and they took a small break. This took the wind out of the sails for most of the crowd, but I still had about 8 people that wanted to do a little more. So, I did one last tip and introduced Ladies Chain.

It was a fun event. Afterwards, I was invited for some cake and ice cream and enjoyed some time around a campfire. It was a great bunch of kids/young-adults.

When it was time for me to head home, one of the young men there paid me a wonderful compliment. He told me that he had such a good time that he was going to seek out square dance lessons. (I told him if he couldn’t find any, let me know and I’d make something happen.)

What a great night!

Until next time, keep dancing!

News from Square Dance Land…

On March 21st, I headed to Prescott, Arizona, to call for the Mile-Hi Squares. I’ve not checked the elevation, so I’ll have to take their word for being a mile high.

I went solo as Martha wasn’t feeling up to a day’s worth of travel. It was a pleasant drive even with some construction on the way.

I got there with time to spare. I love being early.

When I went to carry my gear into the school, one of the members had me pull around to the loading dock. Nice! It made setting up pretty easy.

There was no cuer on the program, so I took some easy Phase 2 round dances with me. I say easy, but I always find one or two that give me a fit. Such was the case this time. I forget which one it was, but I’ll find it and practice it for the next time I have to cue a round. It will be easy to find as it is the one that looks like it was crumpled into a ball and then salvaged at the last minute.

A couple of the members came up to me and asked me how I was going to run the Round Dance program and then commented that they’d prefer one round between square dance tips. It seems, that at this club, there were many more square dancers than round dancers and that there was a feeling that people paid to square dance, not to round dance.

My guess is that someone has been auditing the books and realized that there really isn’t money to manage both squares and rounds. Not sure.

Anyway, I had a fun dance and we had about 3 (maybe 4) squares.

One of my gimmicky things this time around was doing things “As Couples.” I put the boys together as a couple and the girls together as a couple and had them work as a unit. A few of them struggled and it took them a bit to see what I wanted, but once they saw it, they were gun-ho.

It was great seeing everyone and, I think, a fun time was had by all.

Until next time, keep dancing!

News from Square Dance Land…

On March 14th, Martha and I headed north to Show Low so that I could call for the White Mountain Rim Rompers. It is a bit of a drive… over three hours …but it is a beautiful one, and the club has some of the nicest people you could meet.

An added bit of fun to the trip was seeing snow. It was still in the mid-60s (fahrenheit for those of you that use the metric system) in Phoenix, and we’d not seen snow all season. (Well, I saw it in Portland, in January, but that’s different.)

They’ve the running a set of Plus program workshops the hour before the dance for those that have been interested in learning. There’s no pattern to it and every caller teaches something different. In hindsight, I should have taken a checklist with me so they could keep it in their hall. I worked three calls. Peel Off, Peel the Top, and Crossfire. There’s not much time to do more in only 60 minutes.

I had one square for the workshop and two squares of Mainstream with a few stragglers. Near the end of the dance, they’ve traditionally asked for one Plus tip. This dance was no different, but the funny thing was that nearly everyone got up to dance. (Or, at least try.)

The dance was fun. At the end of the dance, someone requested the Grand Colonel Spin. Normally, if I’m going to do this dance, I’ll work up to it so that the teach is short. Since I didn’t have the time to do it, we ran it cold. They did a pretty good job. It is a timing pattern and, if you cut corners or take shortcuts, it doesn’t always work out right. One square got it, the other one came close. (I just don’t know how to *make* people do a Grand Square correctly. It’s probably because I don’t make people do anything… it’s not my style.)

Thankfully, there was no stage to jump off of this time, so no injuries to report.

After the dance was over, Martha and I were hosted by Chuck and Mary Ellen Bittorf. Again, two of the nicest people on the planet. Mary Ellen made us some of the best pancakes ever! We can’t thank them enough for their hospitality.

The drive home was uneventful the next day back into the Valley of the Sun!

Until next time, keep dancing!

News from Square Dance Land…

On March 7th, Martha and I headed over to Mesa where I called for the Checkmates. For those that do not know, this is a Plus club, and they’ve got a really nice hall. I think it was once heralded at a Senior Center, but is now called, I think, a Multi-Generational Center. It is well lit, with great floors.

The evening started out a little rocky, the dance was fun, and then ended with a small disaster.

I think I mentioned that I’d had a small falling out with another club in the area about how I do dances. If I call some basic material, and the floor breaks down in a major way, I’m going to fix it and move on. Some think what I’m doing is work-shopping, and that may be true, but really what I do is set everyone up for success. (At least I try to do this.)

Before the dance, one of the club members asked to speak to me privately about this matter. I didn’t really know what he wanted, but we spoke about it. He was very blunt about how he felt. He was of the opinion that if dancers couldn’t cut it, I should just keep calling for those that could. I kept my cool, but I did tell him that while I was there to call a dance, if the floor breaks down, I’m going to fix it. People don’t pay me to stand around and stare at the stage. I also said that were I anyone else, I doubt that we’d be having this conversation and it was borderline inappropriate. He disagreed, but I’d like to see him try to lecture some of the other callers that come visit. I’ll sell tickets and popcorn. After he lectured me, he then left the dance. He didn’t even wait to see how it turned out. Go figure.

The dance was fun. We had, about six squares for the evening. Five at the very end. (There’s always a few that try to get away early to get a good seat at Denny’s. I kept it pretty middle of the road difficulty wise but I also liked to keep the tempo on the brisk side. Not so fast that they’re running, but I think far too many dances that I’ve been to are way too slow.

Steve Harris was the Round Dance Cuer and he did an excellent job. He was set up before I got there, so I didn’t have to even take my equipment out of the car. That was nice.

I said, at the beginning of this post, that there was a small disaster. We had five squares at the end… they made a big ring to say “Thank You.” I said (foolishly) “wait, I’ll join you!” Then proceeded to step off the stage on to a chair, then on the floor. In a perfect world, it would have happened just that way. However, it turns out that the chairs are not really built to have 200+ pound men step on them. So, I went through the chair and landed face-first on the floor. The chair frame punctured my pant leg, scratched my skin and put a small hole in the skin. Yes, there was blood. No, there was not a lot of it.

My pride was damaged the worst though.

I got up, we said thank you, and I limped back on stage to pack my stuff. Thankfully, Steve Harris (as I also mentioned already) had used his gear, so all I had to do was pack my laptop. Someone gave me a bandage and that stopped the bleeding for the moment.

When I got home, I surveyed the damage. I had a huge bruise, a small puncture wound, and a large scratch. I cleaned it all out and was fine. (I had a tetanus shot back in 2001, so I’m still good there.)

The next day, I got a note from one of the club members asking how I was and to send him some information for insurance purposes. Not long after I learned that the club insurance only covers what happens to the dancers. It doesn’t cover what happens what callers do idiotic things.

That week… to add insult to injury …I developed a toothache. Turns out that I had “cracked tooth syndrome” and it may have happened when I landed on the floor. (My head didn’t hit the floor, but the tightening of the jaw and the sudden stopping would have been enough.) That resulted in some quality time at the dentist’s office and a gold crown.

What fun.

Until next time, keep dancing!