Oscar updated

And this is the update I sent the following day.

Just a quick update to let you all know that Oscar is doing much better. I'm sure that your prayers and well-wishes helped. And thanks for those, by the way. I just read all of your responses and was literally overwhelmed.

Oscar was able to join Melissa and me in our room around 2:30 this morning. The nurses took him off oxygen and bathed him and he responded well to both those things. He fussed until we put him skin-to-skin on Melissa's chest and he calmed right down. (I usually have the opposite reaction.) He hasn't fed yet, but no one seems overly concerned about that. Everyone is guessing that somewhere around the twenty-four hour mark his instincts and hunger will kick in.

Oh, and we have his vitals now, too: He weighed 6lbs, 10 oz and measured 19 inches in length.

One correction: In last night's email, I said that Oscar joined us at 7:47 p.m.. I was wrong. It was 7:37. Melissa is already chastising me for not knowing how old our son is.

Oscar

This is the note I sent around to family and friends to announce the birth of my son. I wanted to post it here as well. Internets, say hello to Oscar.

At 7:47 Sunday evening, April 27th, Oscar Joe Kreutz Gallardo joined our family! No vital statistics yet because the delivery was not without complications. It was a hard labor and Oscar was born with his umbilical cord around his neck and having aspirated meconium (he breathed in poop while he was in the birth canal). So even before they weighed and measured him, they wanted to stabalize him. Oscar is currently sleeping under a heat lamp/oxygen tent. The nurses expect him to make a full recovery and at least act as if it's no big deal, which I take to be reassuring. We'll send out another email once we have his vitals. And some photos!

Melissa is recovering well after a labor that lasted nearly twenty-four hours. Recovering well, but still in need of recovery. We'll be in contact when mom and baby are both doing well and receiving visitors.

"This Way"

Ariel, the daughter of our friends Jerry and Tanya, and the only eight-year-old I know with a blog, drew the accompanying picture of Melissa and the Sprout. Please note that the Sprout is anatomically correct. And, since it didn't turn out well in this scan, also note that the text under the arrow reads, "This way." Useful advice.

Update

Melissa went to the nurse-midwives again today to have her blood pressure tested. It's still high, though not as high as yesterday. She also got back the results of her blood test which all came back negative (that's a good thing). She shows no evidence of preeclampsia. While they are still taking this seriously, the nurse-midwives don't think this is anything too out of the ordinary. More bed rest seems to be the answer. So, it's bed rest for her from now until the Sprout makes his appearance.

I wish it were the answer for me....

Bad business

This has been making the rounds on the Internet for the last couple of days, but I wanted to do my part to spread the word.

Turns out that a publisher in China has scraped the entire contents of a web site and published it in book form without securing any rights and without paying any royalties. The book, Colorful Illustrations 93˚C, sells for $100 and, apparently, those already selling the book refuse to pull it from the shelves. Darren Di Lieto has the full story on his website.

A lot of artists, including my friend, the talented Josh Ellingson, have been effected. Suing a publisher in China (where copyright law seems like only a vague notion) isn't really practical. Unfortunately, it seems like the best things to do is spread the word about the situation and NOT BUY THE BOOK. And, if you know anyone involved, to kick them in the junk.

Happy birthday, Melissa!

As the title implies, it's Melissa's birthday. I feel like I get to celebrate as much as she does today (or, at least, that I have as much to celebrate).

Today also marks one week until her due date. Except for some minor complaints -- swollen feet, etc. -- she'd weathered the pregnancy pretty well. But today the nurse midwife reported that her blood pressure had spiked since the last visit. This is the first worrying side effect of the pregnancy and we're hoping that the prescribed day of bed rest will take care of things. We'll go for another office visit tomorrow and see what's what. If it hasn't dropped on its own, we'll have to talk about medical options.

I will keep you updated, internets.

Debrief/decompress

I had no idea there were so many copies of the Infinities comics out there. I've signed a bunch that folks brought with them.
Just home from the Portland Comic Show. Here are some thoughts and observations from the floor. I don't know that this will be of interest to anyone but me.

Albinos freak me out.

I talked to Greg Beans for a long time today. Apparently, two of the stories he originally published in his Papercutter anthology have been chosen for this year's Best American Comics anthology. Very sweet.

The stamp I had made doesn't work on the paper Gear School is printed on. Fail.

A woman came up to the booth and grabbed one of everything. I was about to tell her that shit ain't free but she asked me how much? I stammered a little and actually cut her a deal: $45.

I' talked to a lot of people. Got to catch up with with folks I only see at shows.

Had some convo time with both Shannon Wheeler and Randy Emberlin. Tony DeZuniga and his wife, whom I sat next to, were sweethearts. They're this little old Filipino couple. Did you know that there was a big group of Filipino artists working in American comics in the '70s?

I was able to get script some GS pages written.

"I'll be back later to buy that," actually means, "You will never see me again."

Meet Kate Beaton

Kate Beaton first came to my attention when Warren Ellis wrote about her comics on his site. Since then, a lot of other people seem to have discovered her. But in case you haven't read her work, go now to her site and read.

Her subject matter is a split between autobiographical historical. Being a history nerd, I find the second category really grabs my attention (though I do like her autobiographical stuff a lot, too). She is very funny and her drawing style is loose and expressive.

Hells, yes!

Apparently Dark Horse Comics have solicited a collection of the first six issues worth of their Myspace DHP material. This means, of course, that my eight-page Gear School story will be in print! I claim victory.

In addition to eight pages worth of goodness from me, there's also much comic love from the likes of Mike Mignola, Eric Powell and Joss Whedon, among others.

Man, I am totally stoked.

This could become a habit

Another productive weekend. Thank God.

Completed the script for 100 Girls #8 and shipped it off to Todd. Which, I know, should have been done a couple of months ago.

Finished designs for some stickers Todd and I want to sell at Comic Con.

Finished the layout on the script book I want to sell at upcoming appearances.

Prepared and filed our taxes.

Did the page-by-page breakdown for the second Gear School. Now it should be easier to script.

Please let me keep up this momentum.

44%?

Obviously, there's been a mistake in their calculations:

44%