The Next Job, Part I: Skills In Demand

I'll be the first to confirm that there is no such thing as "job security". It used to be that if you did something unique or very few people did what you do, you were safe. It used to be like that for me, until our company was bought out by another. Suddenly everything changed, and my position is scheduled for elimination in March 2015. Never mind that what I did will remain, probably assigned to somebody that has no experience with it.

But I'm not one to bemoan spilled milk: I quickly came up with a strategy for landing my next job. It comprises of 4 steps: (1) determining what skills are "hot" in the industry, (2) reviewing the skills I have, (3) attaining any new compelling skills, and (4) determining how I'll identify my next job. That last step is important: you don't want to apply for anything that comes across your radar just because you have the skills it requires.

For the last 4 months, I have tallied the general categories of skills or qualifications in jobs posted at Dice, Glassdoor, SimplyHired, Indeed, Careerbuilder, and LinkedIn. The jobs match a general search query "java+web+developer+software+engineer", and I only tallied the ones I could reasonably apply for, even if I did not have all the required skills. Additionally, I got a torrent of job matches arrived via the armies of IT recruiters out there, almost as soon as I posted on the first job site. Fortunately, their matches are closer to what I am looking for (except for the relocation).

Below are the results of what's hot in my nexus (step 1), skills that I should know if I will be highly marketable. They are sorted by relative importance, with must-haves at the bottom. It says, for example: "there is three times as much demand for ORM frameworks (such as Hibernate) than there is for portal technologies (such as portlets or iFrames)" among the jobs I could do. The data shows that I should care little about the skills at the top; the ones at the bottom are my best bet. The next question then is: which of these skills do I have (am I sure about or expert at)? Future blog post.

The Oxygen Experiment

Although Mozy was 9 days late, he was born with a condition called respiratory insufficiency, which is more common in premature babies than those who are full term (and late). He even spent a night in the NICU to stabilize the condition. Its causes range from high altitude (thin air) to insufficient surfactant, or inefficient surfactant conversion at birth (when the lungs switch from breathing amniotic fluid to breathing air. That first cry plays a huge role in the conversion, helping lungs expand and fill with air). Whatever the case, he needed oxygen for 3 weeks, a slow 1/16mLH administered by nasal tube.

At 2 weeks old, we did the first overnight test to see if the lungs had matured more. Basically the pediatrician puts in an order with a home oxygen supply company, who loan you a pulse oximeter. You are supposed to monitor over at least a 6-hour period with the subject off oxygen, then send in results. The pediatrician usually calls within a couple of days with her observations. Even though I thought the numbers looked good, we were crushed when the pediatrician told us Mozy's numbers were to borderline to get him off the oxygen. For the next test a week later, I really wanted to see the numbers myself, and ensure that the oxygen machine we had at home was working.

At 3 weeks old, we did the second test. This time, I sat for the first three hours (between feedings) and recorded the numbers every minute (180 readings). Either I'm a bad parent for conducting experiments on my kid, or I miss the lab environment at university, or I'm just a nerd. Either way, the first 60 readings were while he was on oxygen so I could see how efficiently his lungs were performing: 98% saturation on average. So the darn oxygen machine was doing its job; I couldn't blame that if this test failed.

Without oxygen, I took 120 readings and plotted them thus:

As can be seen, he had mostly 95% saturation (median and average are both 95%) over that period. The normal range is 94% and above, according to NIH. In fact, he was above the threshold 88% of the time! I would have been so surprised, or even reject the results, had the pediatrician called and said the second test was a failure too. I'd show her my numbers and demand to see hers. My first 3 hours would have had to match her set for me to accept her conclusion (which would mean that Mozy slowly deteriorates in lung function the longer he is off oxygen). But thank God the pediatrician confirmed our expectation: Mozy did not need to be on oxygen anymore, everything looked great.

You can't imagine the freedom: no more noisy oxygen maker or a slacking a line from it wherever the baby is taken. No more oxygen canisters when we travel, and irritation on his upper lip from the oxygen tube. He had grown strong enough to rip the tube off his face, and it worried us how hazardous that could be. Better sleep!

Two Weeks In, 9 Things

It's still unreal that we are actually parents. It still feels a little weird to hear my wife say "my son ..." on the phone or for people to refer to me as "his dad ...". A little undeserved, I think, because in many ways I am still the same old self. Not much has changed about me personally, or at least not as much as I thought would happen.

Change is full throttle nonetheless. It's been a tremendous advantage that I only need 4 hours of sleep a night, and thus have not felt depravation. The only change has been *when* I go to sleep (earlier than I like). For the mom, it's not only about how little sleep she gets and how often it is interrupted, but also when she gets it, and worse because 9-hour nights were the norm. So to help her get more sleep, we came up with a plan: after his midnight feeding, I bring him downstairs and will service the 3am feeding with formula or pumped breastmilk. This way, she can sleep from midnight to 6am when the next feeding would be due. It's worked well so far.

OTHERWISE:

(1) At 16 days old, he weighed in 16oz over his birth weight. Not sure whether that's good or bad. As of 3 days ago, he no longer needs supplemental oxygen. Definitely a good thing. Celebrate small victories.

(2) He has a good sleep/feed cycle of 2.5-3 hours for the time being. When he awakes, it's pretty much feeding, then diaper changing, then clothing, then holding, the off to sleep again. Quite predictable, we like that.

(3) We hate co-sleeping, but more times than not, he can only go to sleep in our arms or in our "space". So we got one of those co-sleepers that you put in bed. But we can't let his nursery go to waste, so we'll shove him out of our bed the soonest we can.

(4) If you want, you can worry all day long about the baby. How he breathes weird, what sounds like congestion after he eats or when hiccups rock his whole little body, his peeling skin, or his crossed eyes. It turns out it's all normal. Actually, you muse at how worrying started pre-conception and sustained throughout the pregnancy. So quit worrying, check!

(5) We haven't used his name around home very much. He's still pretty much "the baby" and "he" and "him". I thought we'd be all over it with every breath. But it should be known that his nickname is "Mozy".

(6) Swaddling does wonders, if done right. Our first few attempts we terrible, but we got better. It's almost a contradiction: I thought freedom (of arms and legs) meant peace, but it seems restriction is what calms babies down. It's the same theory with boundaries and happiness.

(7) Friends and family have been so gracious to bring us lots of food or come prepare meals at our house. We have not needed to go grocery shopping this month yet. I wasn't expecting much from this idea, but have been pleasantly surprised at the generosity.

(8) My paternal leave is 3 weeks long (except for a few days last week). Her maternity leave is 10 weeks long. No idea how it will look when we both return to work. But we got time to figure things out.

(9) Our plan to be by our lonesome selves for the first 3 weeks did not pan out. Just a couple of days after we returned home, we were open for family and close friends to come see Mozy. For those traveling out of town, we have a plan: choose 2-4 days out of a given week in September or later when you want to visit. We prefer you arrive at Colorado Springs airport (COS), but we can also pick you up from Denver International (DIA). We have a guest room, so you can stay with us.

The Moses Birth Story

An induction had been scheduled for 7 A.M. Saturday August 2nd, but early the day before (Friday), spontaneous labor started. The membranes had ruptured (water had broken), so we headed to the birth center only 9 minutes away, and were subsequently assigned a labor and delivery room by 7:30 A.M. that morning. Twelve hours later, our son Moses would be born. He was 9 days overdue, weighed 7lbs 14oz (3.5kg), and measured 20.5in (52cm) long.

Labor and delivery proceeded as best as we could have hoped for, without any pain medication. While the hospital requires a hydration IV, mom also needed antibiotics for Group B Strep (GBS), which she had tested positive for previously. There was talk about hooking up Pitocin (Oxytocin) when labor had seemed slow earlier, but it was never done because labor picked up and was progressing nicely on its own when a decision needed to be made. An epidural wasn't even discussed although we had asked to be notified at the last opportunity when it could be administered. Otherwise, the positions and breathing techniques we learned in baby classes were all that came handy, with the support of my sister Leanna and our friend Lydia. We couldn't have done it without them.

Because of the Group B Strep, the hospital requires a 48-hour stay for observation. We ended up staying 3 nights total because Moses showed a couple of concerns:

(1) respiratory insufficiency, for which he was put on oxygen. The nurses thought he was breathing faster than normal and did an oxygen saturation test from which they found out he was in the 70's range (normal is 90% or higher). The doctors blame the altitude and thin air here, and say it is almost always expected to give oxygen for summer babies born in Colorado, even for a few days.

(2) nutritional support, for which he received banked breast milk and a glucose IV when blood sugar levels did not improve. He was consistently borderline in the 30-40 mg/dL range (normal being 46 mg/dL+). We would need to supplement for a few days until mom started flowing. We didn't know that for a lot of women, milk production doesn't start 3-7 days after they give birth. For women that have had PCOS, it can take even longer to start flowing. Moses' blood sugar tests were getting worse because he wasn't getting anything from his feedings.

Because of these concerns, Moses was transferred to the NICU for 24 hours (Saturday overnight). After a car seat tolerance test early Monday morning, we were discharged later that afternoon. A home care company came and setup an oxygen unit at home, and we've since settled into a routine around Moses' sleep, feedings, and diaper changes. At his first pediatrician visit yesterday, he weighed in at 8lbs (3.6kg) already, so he's doing very well. He's still quite an easy baby, only screaming bloody murder during diaper changes.

We have plenty of time to get used to these changes. Mom's maternity leave ends early October, while my paternal leave will be almost 3 weeks long (minus 2-3 days to help out with a data center move at work). We have also been blessed with friends and family bringing us food and checking on our well-being. We don't have to do groceries for another week. We are looking forward to welcoming those who will travel from far and wide to come welcome Moses. Our guest room is ready.

Here I introduce Moses Baluku Miremba. All Ugandan, all Italian, and all American. We are smitten and can't wait to see what future God has for Him. Our job was to bring him on this earth and set him on a course, and guide him on his life journey wherever that will lead.

The Waiting Is Always Harder

It's not much of a game actually, waiting for a baby that is now a couple of days overdue (by our estimate). On average, first-time mothers give birth about 5 days later than the due date for normal pregnancies, so we are not feeling hasty yet. Besides, the doctor's estimated due date had always been today (Jul-25), so as far as she's concerned, we are still "term". Maybe she was right-er than our FAM calculation, as good as estimates go.

We are still intent on letting labor start naturally, but if it doesn't, the plan is to induce late next week. Meanwhile, at least the non-stress test (NST) will be done, possibly along with an amniotic fluid index (AFI), or simply a full biophysical profile (BPP). This is all standard procedure for overdue babies. At the last doctors visit 3 days ago, everything looked great. Technically, there is no additional benefit for the baby after 40 weeks (he won't be any more ready to be born), but there is a benefit to avoiding medications to get things going (Lamaze). So we'll just wait a little while longer.

Waiting is not as easy as we imagined, of course. I now understand why some people opt for scheduled induction or c-section as soon as the due date passes. It's about managing expectations and anxiety. Delays like this are also a reminder that a lot will not happen according to plan, that we should be ready to improvise without notice. But ready we are! The hospital bag now lives in the car, and our support people have our birth plan (already in danger of irrelevance). Anytime now.