NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

Stephen, if you're still checking the blog: I called your Courtenay office and left my cell phone number with your MOA. Hope to get back in touch! (It's Cindy. You can search me on CPSBC like I did to you haha)

Stephen says...

Just an FYI, in case anyone checks the blog anymore...

Star and I have had a third child:

Sebastian Alejandro was born on February 11, 2016.

He looks a lot like Rafa, now 6, most days, but there's definitely some Santiago (4) in there too.

Furthermore, we now live in Comox, on Vancouver Island. Drop me a line if you'd like to visit!

I don't have Facebook, so this will be it as far as updates are concerned.

I hope you're all well!

Joyce says...

YAY!!!!! CONGRATS STEVE!!! What a beautiful family! Rafi looks like a good big brother!!

Stephen says...

Santiago Xavier was born July 13, 2012 at 1:05 AM. His weight and length were exactly the same as his brother's at 6.5lbs (2950g) and 19in (49cm), respectively.

We are recovering well and beginning to adjust to having a second child (though I'm sure it will really hit us in two weeks when Santiago finds his voice). Rafael interacts well with his little brother for the most part, and views him as an entertaining pet to be kissed and pet. He doesn't quite grasp the concept of Santiago not being able to play with toys yet, but I'm sure it will come eventually.

Here are some photos. Scroll way down the blog to see how Santiago looks like Rafael did when he was first born.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

Rafael has gotten so big already!!!! So cute, he totally should be on the commercial for Got Milk!!!! I can't decide if he looks more like you Steve or Star...He has your mischievous look but also Star's innocence...He is definitely photogenic though and he'll be such a good looking boy when he grows up, I can already see it!

p.s. is his hair color getting lighter or what?

Stephen says...

Things are going well. I am not finished residency yet. I'll be done about this time next year (given nearly a year in pat leave between two kids).

We don't know the gender of the new baby. We opted not to find out... well, Star really wanted to but I didn't so she very magnanimously asked the ultrasound tech not to tell us.

Here are some recent photos:

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

congratulations nap family!!! is it a boy or girl this time? and how about a recent photo of rafael, por favor?

Joyce says...

omg. congrats steve!!!! How's the family? Hope everything's going well. Are you done with residency?

Stephen says...

No posts in over a year. Facebook has clearly killed the blog.

Happy New Year, all!

Napkin #2 is on the way! Due in July.

Stay tuned...

Joyce says...

awww, he's so plump and cute! I want to bite his fingers and make him cry!!!

(I actually think babies under the age 3 are really cute when they cry..... hmm.. maybe this is why I eventually end up doing peds.)

Stephen says...

Joyce: the new header made Star and I laugh for a long time!

It seems I've lost track of time completely. Sorry, Karen. I'm glad to hear that everything is going well for you. Star was so nauseated throughout the entire pregnancy. She says it was like having the flu for nine months.

I'll add a few pictures of the little Pikachu (I don't know how he got that nickname, Star called him that once when we were rhyming things, and it just sort of stuck). Karen, if you have any questions about how things went for us (cloth diapering, breastfeeding, keeping a baby warm when it's ridiculously cold outside) or need to vent, please call us.

Anyhow, without further ado:

Karen says...

hi steve! joyce very kindly posted a link to p&c original blog on fb to remind us to come back here. hope you and star and rafael are all doing well! how time flies, the little guy is almost 6 months old! hopefully you guys are getting more sleep now?

our due date is december 28th! we're @ 36 weeks this week, and i'm feeling quite good. the pregnancy has fortunately been relatively easy on me. we've been slowly and randomly buying clothes and toys and books and blankets and etc etc. buying baby stuff is so fun! we're both getting nervous and excited, and not to worry, we will announce/post pictures when the time comes :).

take care and post more pics :).

Joyce says...

Steve, Jungbug won't be born till late December. Stay tuned!

Stephen says...

So, update me already! I've been waiting for baby news forever! The baby has to be born by now. Name? Weights? PHOTOS?!?!?

Joyce says...

Best social hx ever. It pretty much sums up everything.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

thanks for posting the pics, steve!

how is little rafael and rafael's parents doing?

Stephen says...

Well, as Gordon's Facebook may have informed you, our baby is born! His name is Rafael Felíx and he was born on June 30th at 1:43pm weighing in at 2940g and 49.5cm long.

We're both excited and exhausted. Here are some photos:

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

congratulations steve and star!!! ur baby boy is SOOOOO CUTE~~~
what ru gonna name him?

Karen says...

Congrats Starphen on the house! It looks so cute, love the sunshiney yellow :). And a belated congrats on graduating Dr. Steve! Star looks beautiful, pass on our hugs and well wishes! We'll need to check this blog more often now that the baby's almost due!!! Have you guys decided on names?

Joyce says...

Congrats Dr. Nap on the multiple achievement and milestones!!! (hehehe, Dr. Nap... sorry I can't help it.) Star is so beeeautiful with the baby glow. My mom says so too, btw.

Since I don't have much personal updates, here's a career update. *disclaimer* avert your eyes if you're eating.

I almost got puked on, REAL PUKE that you can tell what the kid had for lunch. Good thing the child has his head on my lap so I pushed him to a supine position (also aiming vomit trajectory at mom) in time. Unfortunately, I had to help the mom catching the puke and avoid him aspirating through his endotracheal tube. Thanks to multiple training sessions through drunken debauchery, the smell of vomit doesn't bother me that much and I was able to hold my own lunch down. phew.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

p.s. sidebar needs some updating

i'm in tdot now :)

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

Steve!!!! I'm so happy to see the pictures of Mommy and Daddy Nap :) You look GREAT, and congratulations on both the M.D., the B.A.B.Y.( in less than 3 more weeks to go but who is counting?), and the HOUSE! This is indeed SUCH a great year for you!

Sorry I totally forgot to check the blog more often but am happy to have remembered it :) Hope you are enjoying the holidays mommy and daddy Nap! So what is this about not needing to work until November - Steve, you'll have to explain!

Joyce, thanks for sharing the cute stories from Nicaragua. The twins story is especially funny and also, your reaction too. The older twin in my family would have grabbed the other one (and me) to run away, but I'm fairly certain the younger twin would ditch any of us any day. Haha. He'll come back and try to outsmart the enemy though, like spitting blood. I'm so sorry, but that is hilarious and gross at the same time...

Stephen says...

So, what do you do when your wife is 8 months pregnant and sleepless parenthood is around the corner? If you answered "buy a house" you are correct!

We are officially homeowners with a 3 bedroom house in a great neighbourhood (it's a cross between Salt Spring Island and Kitsilano), and we take possession in August. We will use the first month for renovations and move in in September.

Here's a photo of the house, don't mind my father-in-law's photo-bombing:


Also, here's an updated belly-photo of Star from my graduation:

Stephen says...

Bah! MCCQE tomorrow (8 hour final exam). How am I supposed to remember all of this stuff? So glad holidays are starting. No more work until November!

Cindy, do you write the USMLE or the MCCQE? I know the exams are equivalent, but do they make you do a specific one?

Joyce says...

And I finally got this picture from my co-resident. It's my favorite picture from the trip. There's also a plethora of pictures of me sleeping here and there like a narcoleptic. Being able to drop dead and sleep anywhere is a gift I inherited from my dad, what can I say.

Joyce says...

From the pictures, I'll be it's a girl!

Stephen says...

Joyce, that's awesome. I want to go to Nicaragua so badly!

I can only imagine trying to pull things out of children's mouths. I give them needles here and there and that's bad enough. Also, they scream every time I try to look in their ears. Before I even have the otoscope in the ear, just in anticipation. I'm happy with a brief glance inside a child's mouth, never mind keeping it open long enough to pull a tooth out.

Your pictures are awesome, I like the one where you're pointing out the camera to the toddler. How behind you is a procedure being done with a plastic chair being used as an exam bed. Improvisation seems to be the name of the game.

To answer your questions: Star is due July 8th, she does not look pregnant from behind, her skin is very smooth and soft, no pimples.

Here are two photos from the baby shower:


Just practicing

Joyce says...

Thanks for the Napie update! I tune in everyday to see if there's anything new. We should definitely get a pool going. Do you guys know the due day yet? There can be a actual birthday and due day pool as well as the sex pool. (teehehehe, sex pool.)
To place my bet, steve you need answer the following questions.
1) Does Star have a glow or she's having pimples.
2) From the back, does she look rounded like a mama penguin or she barely looks like she's barely pregnant.

Here's some update from my side. and No, I'm not pregnant.

I went on an outreach trip to Nicaragua to treat kids in this town 1/2 hr outside of Managua, the capitol. It was an aaammazing trip, to be in such a different culture, unable to communicate and to just witness a very different way of being. We didn't really have a chance to tour the city. We got bused between the clinic site and hotel. No one was allowed to go out at night on their own. I wouldn't want to anyway. An asian girl wondering the street alone and not speaking any complete sentence of Spanish is asking for trouble.

We screened about 300 kids in the Catholic school where the clinic was set up, and there also walk-in patients not belong to the screening. I have never pulled out so many teeth and sweat so much on a single day. Believe me, it was hard, especially the only verbal communication my patients and I have were "how's going?" "open your mouth," "the mosquito tiny pain," "be quiet," "very good!" and "it will be ok."
3 out of the 6 days, I got kids throwing up, but thankfully not on me.

Kids are funny. Some left the clinic crying. And the ones coming in saw the ones leaving in tears. It was contagious and sometimes everyone came in crying already.
When we were doing screening in the school, there was this gorgeous twin in a pre-K class. oh joy, bad behavior kids in twin form! First one started cry, and the second one cried even worse, refusing to open. Then the one I was screening went to grab the other one and wanted to run away together. That was probably the cutest moment of the trip. She had to grab her twin sister!! I would've totally ditched my twin and made a run for it. :p

Ever since I started my residency, I always wonder when I will lose it to a child and just scream at the poor little bugger. Well, it finally happened on this trip.
I had to pull out a badly decayed tooth from this little girl. Oh, did I mention I had to pull the same tooth with the same condition from another kid just 5 min before and broke the root. Paint yourself a picture, 2 people trying to hold down a kid while a sweating doctor trying to dig out roots from a screaming 5 yo. NOT pretty.

This girl was all cute and fun before I pull out the needle. The assisting dental student, a 6'4 line backer looking guy, straddled her and pushed her down, essentially restraint her entire body. Another person went behind me to hold her head still. hmm, did I forget to mention her head was right in my lap. I was able to crank her mouth open (literally) and do the injection and elevate the tooth.

Now this is when things got worse, 5 seconds away from being done.

She spat out the mouth prop, and started to spray blood-mixed saliva at people. All hands were off her and scrambled to wipe her and ourselves clean. The little bitch, catching a break, started to protest in Spanish. And this little butt booger got smart, whenever we held her down, she would start to spit out whatever's in her mouth, blood, saliva and tears. This is probably the most chaotic extraction I've ever done and the most barbaric one, cuz I want it to be done in seconds. When it was done, she still wouldn't shut her pipe, letting out more blood and saliva.

And that was when I lost it.

"SHUT UUUUPPP!" I've never screamed at a human being like that, let along a child. People across the courtyard could hear me. Well, you know what, I still don't feel guilty yelling at her even until today.

So that was the highlights of my trip. We were awarded one day at an all-inclusive resort (but a not too fancy one). I soaked myself in vodka pineapple all day long and went to take a dip in the pacific ocean waves. My stomach went a bit funny after the buffet, but it worth it, considering what we usually had for lunch and dinner - chicken or beef with a side of 1) rice and beans 2) rice mixed with beans 3) mushed bean on top of rice OR 4)mushed beans alone.

From Nicaragua 2009

From Nicaragua 2009

This is the above mentioned line backer dude.

From Nicaragua 2009

From Nicaragua 2009

Stephen says...

Reading over my last post, the baby is now active many times during the day. Though, it still favours 11pm to keep us awake.

The difference now is that we can SEE the baby kicking. Star's belly actually bounces outwards with each kick so we can tell where the kicks are coming from (we can't determine hands from feet, but I think that takes X-ray vision).

The belly is progressing nicely and Star has been wearing my pyjamas for a number of months because her own are too tight.

We had a baby shower on March 14^th, courtesy of Haneen who was in town on an elective, and received TONS of baby clothing and cloth diapers (so cute!).

That's all for now, more updates in the future.

Stephen says...

Thump, thump, thump...

The baby likes to kick and become really active every night at 11. I think it's because the baby is practicing volleys and free kicks in preparation for football games... on English time.

All is well and Star is undoubtedly pregnant. She was worried before that people would just think she was chunking out, but given her shape and size now it's fairly obvious that french fries are not the culprit.

Is there a baby pool? Can we place bets on this? Tim, I'm looking in your direction (being head gambler) to set up the odds.

Karen says...

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! I finally figured out how to log myself back in here!!!

So exciting to read all the news on Baby Nap!!! I hope you parents-to-be are both doing wonderfully. Keep updating us, baby updates may just be the catalyst to get this blog going again! And congrats on the match Steve, what a great year for you :).

Oh, and I apologize for failing to uphold my B.R.O. duties. A very sincere happy birthday wish to all past and future birthdays! :)

Stephen says...

Yay matching!

I'm staying in 'Peg City in Urban Family Med. Congrats Cindy! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun in Toronto.

Pat: your corner has been gathering dust. Welcome back. I'm thinking of both juggling and sewing at the same time. Has that been done before?

Pat says...

wow. it's aallllivveee. sorta. I feel like the only remaining visitors are us 4. I'm lenting facebook until easter so now I need a new outlet and blogspot is it.

That IS amazing stitch work steve. If med doesn't pan out you could always join up for america's got talent. Just sit in a chair and weave for the audience. If you could juggle intermittently between knots that would be even more impressive.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

steve - any news? *fingers crossed*

i'm in toronto, ON :)

p.s. indeed impressive stitching skills...those SUTURE workshops really pay off...

Joyce says...

very impressive!! Now start a quilt for baby nap no.1 so he/she can sleep with it till his/her teens. :p

Stephen says...

Who loves their baby? I do. I've given myself tendonitis sewing this (just one page of five thus far), but hopefully my child will appreciated it when they give it to their baby. It's a baby book - a cloth book with lots of textured fabrics that will hopefully distract my baby from my more valuable textured objects (like this laptop).



Appreciate the hand-stitches, dammit!

Stephen says...

Holy crap! Just over a week to Match Day. Cindy, have you made your decisions yet?

This next week is really going to drag on... and not just because I'm doing ophthalmology.

Joyce says...

we need a ob-gyn consult! :p
So excited for you Steve and Star! I'm going to have my money on a baby girl just cuz.

Stephen says...

Ultrasound!

We saw the baby for the first time today. Boy or girl? Who knows? Tell me if these photos don't show up.


Baby hands!



Baby profile!

*Edit - I removed the photos because they had Star's health number, etc. I'm in the process of editing them and will put them back up when I'm done.

Stephen says...

Again, first person to post this and, again, still the only white person on this blog:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I hope everyone's doing well and had a feast this weekend.

On a ranting note:
What's the deal with Olympic athletes not being from the countries they are competing for? I was so happy to see that Colombia had an athlete competing in alpine skiing. Then the commentator mentioned that she was born in the US and lives in Switzerland. It just happens that her dad works for the Colombian Olympic Committee, so she was eligible. What a crock. Just because she can't make it on her own merit in a country that she's from. It really makes a mockery of the process. I'd be fine if she at least lived there. To represent a country, you should either be born there, or have lived there a considerable amount of time. That's what keeps regular people who aren't that good (i.e.: me) from wasting time at the Olympics.