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Newborn Baby-GAF: Sleepless Nights Deluxe HD Remix

MickeyPhree

Member
Newest update

Still haven't had it done yet.

There wasn't just one emergency walkin this morning....there ended up being two. My wife's doctor came in a little while ago and let us know it would be around 1230 this afternoon.

Thank god the hospital has wifi.
 
Newest update

Still haven't had it done yet.

There wasn't just one emergency walkin this morning....there ended up being two. My wife's doctor came in a little while ago and let us know it would be around 1230 this afternoon.

Thank god the hospital has wifi.

How's your wife holding up?

Best wishes!
 

MickeyPhree

Member
Honestly, she was crying and was really scared that she was having to wait so long. The doctor came in about a hour ago and talked to her and her nerves have since calmed. She actually managed to take a little nap.

Nurses have started to come in and get her ready. Looks like she'll be going downstairs in about 25 minutes.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Honestly, she was crying and was really scared that she was having to wait so long. The doctor came in about a hour ago and talked to her and her nerves have since calmed. She actually managed to take a little nap.

Nurses have started to come in and get her ready. Looks like she'll be going downstairs in about 25 minutes.

Good. I'm going out to lunch. That baby better be out by the time I get back!
 
Best wishes !

My GF had an emergency C-section. These can go really really quick. She went down for surgery at 06:55pm and I was holding my little girl at 07:20pm.
 

MickeyPhree

Member
Still waiting..

Our first was a c section also. From the time I went into the operating room till she was back up in the recovery room was like 15 minutes if memory serves.
 

MickeyPhree

Member
I didn't exactly tell my wife that there were two emergencies. From the chatter and family reactions out in the hall looks like one of them didn't go so hot. Definetly not letting the wife in on that.

This waiting is absolutely killing us though. We each slept maybe an hour last night. I'm glad she is getting some rest(she's actually napping again right now), but man am I wired.
 

MickeyPhree

Member
500.gif
 

phisheep

NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
Well, hello Candace May! About time you turned up. We've been waiting for you y'know.

Congrats all.

Sext0n, say best wishes to the missis and all that stuff. I know how tough it all is. Really - GAF says job well done.
 

MickeyPhree

Member
Mom and baby are doing great. The wife is actually taking a shower for the first time since the surgery. Looks like we will be going home today.
 

yuna55

Member
So...any other parents have experience with Plagiocephaly here?

I sent some 4 month old pics to my family, one of which who is in pediatric orthopedics, and emailed me and noticed her head was really flat on one side.

He basically urged me to take my kid to an expert and get a starband helmet, which run like $3k if insurance won't cover it.

She's still young enough to take care of this with lots of tummy time and maybe the helmet, but my wife doesn't like what she's hearing from my brother (who likes bad news?) and it's compounding the situation.

The 3k isn't an issue...it's getting my wife on board with this and almost my poor kid having to wear this helmet 23 hours a day for 3+ months.

Then again, I don't want her to have cranial issues later in life. My brother also seems to think our doctor will not do much to help us, which sounds like I need to do a lot of this on my own.

Just trying to process this all. =(

Our daughter is in a cranial band now and guess what? She doesn't care when it's on and when you take it off, she's so happy to see it and wants to chew on it. lol long lost toy. She seriously doesn't even notice. She gets sweaty from it so we make sure to take it off, clean it, wash her head, etc frequently. But she doesn't mind it. She slept in it on the car ride home from picking it up.

Our daughter was born with some cranial issues. She had torticollis and moderate brachycephaly. We worked on the torticollis and she's better about turning her head to both sides, preventing a flat spot on one side or another. The brachycephaly was "moderate" at her appt early Feb, even after 7 months of postional therapy, which we started at the hospital after she was born. She still has that very round shape to her head that she's always had. If you look down at the top of her head, you can't tell what is the front, sides, and back of her head. I have a very round shaped face and head, so I just thought she got it from me and it wouldn't be a problem as she got older. There's no "flat spot" per se, and her head if very symmetrical, so even cosmetically, she would've looked fine. After doing research, it can cause problems, including migraines - which I have daily. Fffffuuuuuu so we wanted to have it corrected, if possible.

We took her to a specialist who confirmed and measured. Her head is the exact length front to back than it is side to side. From side to side should be shorter than front to back by about 75%. Her's is 100%. And this was after months of postional therapy - only laying flat to sleep basically, if that even. She was born that way, so no matter how much we worked with her, it was barely helping, maybe just correcting anything that happened overnight. She was sleeping through the night in her crib at 6 weeks, so no matter what we did to keep her off her head during the day, she was spending 12 hours straight on her back undoing whatever it was we did. So helmet it is.

At her first follow up (a week or 2 after the helmet), the length from front to back had grown 2 mm. She has another appt next week. It looks "better" I guess. It's more rounded in the back rather than the sides it seems, which is what the helmet is designed to do. It is more fitted in the front and open in the back so that as she grows, her head grows straight back rather than growing more rounded all over.

Our's was covered by insurance, despite my policy saying otherwise. We didn't even have to fight it. And it's been great now that she's rolling all over the place, crawling, pulling up, etc. :p
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Our daughter is in a cranial band now and guess what? She doesn't care when it's on and when you take it off, she's so happy to see it and wants to chew on it. lol long lost toy. She seriously doesn't even notice. She gets sweaty from it so we make sure to take it off, clean it, wash her head, etc frequently. But she doesn't mind it. She slept in it on the car ride home from picking it up.

Our daughter was born with some cranial issues. She had torticollis and moderate brachycephaly. We worked on the torticollis and she's better about turning her head to both sides, preventing a flat spot on one side or another. The brachycephaly was "moderate" at her appt early Feb, even after 7 months of postional therapy, which we started at the hospital after she was born. She still has that very round shape to her head that she's always had. If you look down at the top of her head, you can't tell what is the front, sides, and back of her head. I have a very round shaped face and head, so I just thought she got it from me and it wouldn't be a problem as she got older. There's no "flat spot" per se, and her head if very symmetrical, so even cosmetically, she would've looked fine. After doing research, it can cause problems, including migraines - which I have daily. Fffffuuuuuu so we wanted to have it corrected, if possible.

We took her to a specialist who confirmed and measured. Her head is the exact length front to back than it is side to side. From side to side should be shorter than front to back by about 75%. Her's is 100%. And this was after months of postional therapy - only laying flat to sleep basically, if that even. She was born that way, so no matter how much we worked with her, it was barely helping, maybe just correcting anything that happened overnight. She was sleeping through the night in her crib at 6 weeks, so no matter what we did to keep her off her head during the day, she was spending 12 hours straight on her back undoing whatever it was we did. So helmet it is.

At her first follow up (a week or 2 after the helmet), the length from front to back had grown 2 mm. She has another appt next week. It looks "better" I guess. It's more rounded in the back rather than the sides it seems, which is what the helmet is designed to do. It is more fitted in the front and open in the back so that as she grows, her head grows straight back rather than growing more rounded all over.

Our's was covered by insurance, despite my policy saying otherwise. We didn't even have to fight it. And it's been great now that she's rolling all over the place, crawling, pulling up, etc. :p

We took her to the pediatrician for her 4 month appointment and the doctor said it was very mild on the scale of plagiocephaly in her experience, but my brother kind of poisoned my mind saying doctors not trained in cranial issues will usually dismiss it.

I'm not sure what do do now. Besides working on neck strength and repositioning her I have an uphill battle convincing my wife we need to at least keep an eye on this. Her whole left side of her skull is flat while her right is round...it's fairly noticeable from the front and top and back.

She used to favor her flat side of her head when sleeping but now she kind of gives equal attention to both now that her neck is getting stronger, so I'm thinking she probably did have some degree of torticollis.

Her response is "well she'll just grow hair and you can't notice it"...but if her skull is smooshed I'm worried about developmental issues or headaches later in life.

I'm not sure what our next step is...do we need to get a referral from our pediatrician or can we contact a specialist directly?
 

yuna55

Member
We took her to the pediatrician for her 4 month appointment and the doctor said it was very mild on the scale of plagiocephaly in her experience, but my brother kind of poisoned my mind saying doctors not trained in cranial issues will usually dismiss it.

I'm not sure what do do now. Besides working on neck strength and repositioning her I have an uphill battle convincing my wife we need to at least keep an eye on this. Her whole left side of her skull is flat while her right is round...it's fairly noticeable from the front and top and back.

She used to favor her flat side of her head when sleeping but now she kind of gives equal attention to both now that her neck is getting stronger, so I'm thinking she probably did have some degree of torticollis.

Her response is "well she'll just grow hair and you can't notice it"...but if her skull is smooshed I'm worried about developmental issues or headaches later in life.

I'm not sure what our next step is...do we need to get a referral from our pediatrician or can we contact a specialist directly?

Our doctor was concerned early on and the whole process still took a long time, so I'd definitely recommend trying to get into a specialist soon. If we would've waited any longer, the band would've been pretty much useless as their fastest head growth is happening before 6 months. Or instead of 3 months in the band, we'd be looking at 6 months in the band.

I kept thinking it would get better, and it seemed to but not enough. And everyone kept saying it was just cosmetic but that's her skull! Every time she would have a headache or not reach a milestone in time, I'd be blaming myself for not getting the helmet.

It definitely sounds like torticollis caused your little one's issues. Even if you get into a specialist, they're not going to make you sign up that day. We had a consultation, got the measurements, etc. went home, researched like crazy, and called them the next day to tell them we wanted to do it. My only regret is that I felt like your wife ("Eh she's a girl and will have long hair") and didn't go to the specialist sooner. We're never going to get the results we would have if we would've done the helmet a month or two sooner.

No clue about the referral. Our ped did call and set up the appt with the specialist, but I'm sure you can call around and see what is needed. If they need a referral, call your ped and have them do it. Our specialist is a Pedatric Plastic Surgeon, which scared me at first, but he was great. Now we see him every 6 weeks or so and we see the orthotic lab who made the helmet every few weeks to a month. The helmet was originally $3800 but because so many insurance companies don't cover them, they discount it to $1500. Turns out ours was covered anyway, so we're paying $650 total. If you're in St Louis, I could give you the contact info lol

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions. I dreaded making that decision so bad, but once we did, I felt so relieved. It really is the fastest, most effective treatment, but now that she's moving around more, maybe you'll see some progress. There's more than just tummy time too - babywearing, bumbo chair, laying belly to belly on mom/dad - just mix it up. There's also a Boppy noggin nest pillow that you could get for when she has to be in the car seat, swing, etc. I wasn't in love with it, but hey, we tried everything.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Our doctor was concerned early on and the whole process still took a long time, so I'd definitely recommend trying to get into a specialist soon. If we would've waited any longer, the band would've been pretty much useless as their fastest head growth is happening before 6 months. Or instead of 3 months in the band, we'd be looking at 6 months in the band.

I kept thinking it would get better, and it seemed to but not enough. And everyone kept saying it was just cosmetic but that's her skull! Every time she would have a headache or not reach a milestone in time, I'd be blaming myself for not getting the helmet.

It definitely sounds like torticollis caused your little one's issues. Even if you get into a specialist, they're not going to make you sign up that day. We had a consultation, got the measurements, etc. went home, researched like crazy, and called them the next day to tell them we wanted to do it. My only regret is that I felt like your wife ("Eh she's a girl and will have long hair") and didn't go to the specialist sooner. We're never going to get the results we would have if we would've done the helmet a month or two sooner.

No clue about the referral. Our ped did call and set up the appt with the specialist, but I'm sure you can call around and see what is needed. If they need a referral, call your ped and have them do it. Our specialist is a Pedatric Plastic Surgeon, which scared me at first, but he was great. Now we see him every 6 weeks or so and we see the orthotic lab who made the helmet every few weeks to a month. The helmet was originally $3800 but because so many insurance companies don't cover them, they discount it to $1500. Turns out ours was covered anyway, so we're paying $650 total. If you're in St Louis, I could give you the contact info lol

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions. I dreaded making that decision so bad, but once we did, I felt so relieved. It really is the fastest, most effective treatment, but now that she's moving around more, maybe you'll see some progress. There's more than just tummy time too - babywearing, bumbo chair, laying belly to belly on mom/dad - just mix it up. There's also a Boppy noggin nest pillow that you could get for when she has to be in the car seat, swing, etc. I wasn't in love with it, but hey, we tried everything.

Thanks man. I'm working hard to get her neck strength up. I can see after 2 weeks already a difference in her neck strength. We have a bumbo and boppy and a baby Bjorn we need to use more.
 

yuna55

Member
Thanks man. I'm working hard to get her neck strength up. I can see after 2 weeks already a difference in her neck strength. We have a bumbo and boppy and a baby Bjorn we need to use more.

That's good. Just keep an eye on it and keep working with her. It will definitely help. Just don't feel bad about calling a specialist if you are still seeing the flat spot in a few weeks.

Side note- if you don't like the Baby Bjorn, splurge for an Ergobaby. I have a ring sling I use and my husband uses the Ergobaby. You can use the Ergobaby for a few years. Thing's a beast.

I went through a few ring slings and baby Bjorns before we found what works best for us. We have a hippie baby store nearby that sells a ton of carriers, and we took her with us to test them out. The girl working was maybe 100lbs and was carrying around her chubby kid on her back with the Ergobaby like it was nothing. I have the Sakura Bloom brand of ring sling, which I love.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
That's good. Just keep an eye on it and keep working with her. It will definitely help. Just don't feel bad about calling a specialist if you are still seeing the flat spot in a few weeks.

Side note- if you don't like the Baby Bjorn, splurge for an Ergobaby. I have a ring sling I use and my husband uses the Ergobaby. You can use the Ergobaby for a few years. Thing's a beast.

I went through a few ring slings and baby Bjorns before we found what works best for us. We have a hippie baby store nearby that sells a ton of carriers, and we took her with us to test them out. The girl working was maybe 100lbs and was carrying around her chubby kid on her back with the Ergobaby like it was nothing. I have the Sakura Bloom brand of ring sling, which I love.

BTW she was sorta born this way due to positioning in the womb and not from positional sleeping post birth. It's gotten noticeably better but still visible overall.

Her neck strength is up to 10 minute stretches of tummy time or in the bumbo before she gets tired or bored and starts fussing.
 
That's good. Just keep an eye on it and keep working with her. It will definitely help. Just don't feel bad about calling a specialist if you are still seeing the flat spot in a few weeks.

Side note- if you don't like the Baby Bjorn, splurge for an Ergobaby. I have a ring sling I use and my husband uses the Ergobaby. You can use the Ergobaby for a few years. Thing's a beast.

I went through a few ring slings and baby Bjorns before we found what works best for us. We have a hippie baby store nearby that sells a ton of carriers, and we took her with us to test them out. The girl working was maybe 100lbs and was carrying around her chubby kid on her back with the Ergobaby like it was nothing. I have the Sakura Bloom brand of ring sling, which I love.

The Ergo is awesome. We don't use it much anymore, but it's very handy traveling, especially when running through airports.
 

yuna55

Member
BTW she was sorta born this way due to positioning in the womb and not from positional sleeping post birth. It's gotten noticeably better but still visible overall.

Her neck strength is up to 10 minute stretches of tummy time or in the bumbo before she gets tired or bored and starts fussing.

Same with our little one... We noticed it at the hospital. We never saw the progress most kids show with repositioning because it was from before she was born, not after. You guys might notice the same thing. Would be worth at least talking to a specialist.

10 min is good at that age! She'll enjoy sitting up more and more. My mom got an Exersaucer for our daughter and she loved sitting in that too, playing with the attached toys. Anything we could do to keep her entertained and off the back of her head. It didn't prevent us from getting the cranial band but it didn't hurt either.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Same with our little one... We noticed it at the hospital. We never saw the progress most kids show with repositioning because it was from before she was born, not after. You guys might notice the same thing. Would be worth at least talking to a specialist.

10 min is good at that age! She'll enjoy sitting up more and more. My mom got an Exersaucer for our daughter and she loved sitting in that too, playing with the attached toys. Anything we could do to keep her entertained and off the back of her head. It didn't prevent us from getting the cranial band but it didn't hurt either.

20 minutes today in the Baby Bjorn while I vacuumed. Was exercise for me vacuuming with an additional 15-16lb baby, she was looking all over the place in both directions.

We had her on a playmat on the floor last night playing with her, and she wanted to show off to us how close she is to rolling over. She's like 99% there but gets stuck on her arm that is underneath her and she was getting frustrated. LOL.
 

yuna55

Member
20 minutes today in the Baby Bjorn while I vacuumed. Was exercise for me vacuuming with an additional 15-16lb baby, she was looking all over the place in both directions.

We had her on a playmat on the floor last night playing with her, and she wanted to show off to us how close she is to rolling over. She's like 99% there but gets stuck on her arm that is underneath her and she was getting frustrated. LOL.

:lol that seemed like yesterday for us! Our little one kept getting her shoulder and arm stuck too. Once they figure it out, they become an old pro and its on to the next thing.

Two weeks ago we started finger foods. She had that mastered in a day. She's been trying so hard to crawl forward. She mastered rolling over, crawling backward, even pulling herself up, but man she has not been able to go forward except in an army crawl. She did it a few times today though! Any day now and she'll be on the move. She rolls all over the floor now and knows how to get everywhere she wants without crawling, but her mind will be blown when she can explore other rooms within a few seconds. It's terrifying :p
 

CrankyJay

Banned
:lol that seemed like yesterday for us! Our little one kept getting her shoulder and arm stuck too. Once they figure it out, they become an old pro and its on to the next thing.

Two weeks ago we started finger foods. She had that mastered in a day. She's been trying so hard to crawl forward. She mastered rolling over, crawling backward, even pulling herself up, but man she has not been able to go forward except in an army crawl. She did it a few times today though! Any day now and she'll be on the move. She rolls all over the floor now and knows how to get everywhere she wants without crawling, but her mind will be blown when she can explore other rooms within a few seconds. It's terrifying :p

Hah, I'm scared of that.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
I might call and make an appointment for her pediatrician to look at her head and give a recommendation on what to do. My main concern is they'll brush it off and expect it to pop out on its own.
 
Anybody have any suggestions about what you could have the baby sleep in if you have it in your bedroom with you the first few weeks as an alternative to a crib or bassinet? My wife and I were trying to find something very small and compact since we don't have much space for anything significantly big in our bedroom.
 
Anybody have any suggestions about what you could have the baby sleep in if you have it in your bedroom with you the first few weeks as an alternative to a crib or bassinet? My wife and I were trying to find something very small and compact since we don't have much space for anything significantly big in our bedroom.

Pack and play. Or, a drawer. Serious.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Anybody have any suggestions about what you could have the baby sleep in if you have it in your bedroom with you the first few weeks as an alternative to a crib or bassinet? My wife and I were trying to find something very small and compact since we don't have much space for anything significantly big in our bedroom.

Get a rocker...we tried a pack and play but she got congested. The incline helps with that and it much more compact.

http://www.target.com/p/fisher-pric...ay-sleeper/-/A-14069814#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink
 

Wthermans

Banned
Anybody have any suggestions about what you could have the baby sleep in if you have it in your bedroom with you the first few weeks as an alternative to a crib or bassinet? My wife and I were trying to find something very small and compact since we don't have much space for anything significantly big in our bedroom.
Rock and play. Just wash the cover weekly and wipe down the metal and plastic to keep it from getting moldy.
 

MickeyPhree

Member
Update on our noodle.

She's 10 days old at this point. She sleeps for three hours at time, wakes up like clock work for diaper changes, and hardly ever cries. The second go around has been easy compared to our first child.

image_zps585d55c1.jpg
 

aceface

Member
Cosign on the Ergobaby carrier. I used it to carry both my 5 and 3 year old on my back on our trip to NYC last year (no way I'm lugging a bulky stroller around the city), then new baby was born in December and she's in it on a front carry about 50% of the day (she is sleeping in it on my chest as I type this). The Ergo is a beast and you will get use out of it for many years.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Update on our noodle.

She's 10 days old at this point. She sleeps for three hours at time, wakes up like clock work for diaper changes, and hardly ever cries. The second go around has been easy compared to our first child.

image_zps585d55c1.jpg

What a cutie. Congrats.
 

rothgar

Member
Yeesh, my wife is scheduled for a c-section next week. Our first child and he's breech. Good luck!

Well, it was a amazing and scary time for us last week. My boy was born on Thursday via c-section. I was in the operating room when he was pulled out and immediately taken to a table. It took him about a minute to cry. Before that I could hear the nurses say "Cmon little guy" several times. I think they were performing resuscitation. My wife was asking if he was OK, I told her yes, but I didn't know. When he did cry, I almost broke down with joy. The nurses told us he was fine. On the second night, the doctors noticed his glucose was lower than average. They said this was not uncommon for babies above 8 lbs. He was 8 lbs. 0.5 oz. They wanted to take him to the NICU. My wife cried and was convinced this was serious. I was more hopeful since the doctors kept insisting he would be fine with an IV of glucose. After the 24 hours the nurses took the IV out to see if his glucose would keep remain normal by itself, but it didn't. This broke my wife's heart again, but I was still hopeful since the doctor kept telling us it would get better in time. The IV was left in. It did take two nights in the NICU for his glucose to stabilize. We were in a room next to him the entire time, feeding him lots of milk and formula every 3 hours. We're back home and he's very alert and pooping like a champ. I really hope the next one goes better. :)
 

pubba

Member
Well, it was a amazing and scary time for us last week. My boy was born on Thursday via c-section. I was in the operating room when he was pulled out and immediately taken to a table. It took him about a minute to cry. Before that I could hear the nurses say "Cmon little guy" several times. I think they were performing resuscitation. My wife was asking if he was OK, I told her yes, but I didn't know. When he did cry, I almost broke down with joy. The nurses told us he was fine.

Dude.. that must have been harrowing. I'm glad the little guy was ok.

Hey GAF - I'm a Daddy too. Arika was born on the 16th March weighing 4.15kg and 52cm long. My other half is from Thailand and not a big girl, so the doctor said a C section was the only way to go. She was in and out of surgery in about 90 minutes.

The rural Thai hospital did my head in a bit. Bare concrete floors, no air conditioning (and 40c heat). Whole families set up camp in the hospital grounds, waiting for their family members to get treated, have babies etc. It was a unique experience. I got a hotel across the road for $11 USD a night and we moved Mum and bub into a private room as soon as we could.

I wasn't prepared for the feelings that I would go through after meeting my little girl for the first time. 2 days after she was born I had to return here to China to continue working. I took her for a walk around the hospital to settle her and broke down crying at one point when I saw her looking up at my voice and listening intently.

But, we need money and this job here is providing for our future. When baby is big enough we are all going to live in China together, so that shouldn't be too far off judging by how fast she is growing!

Some pics, because I'm like the old lady at the bus stop with her grandchildren photos..



 
Cute pictures guys - congrats to all.

Well my little boy Blake (6.5 months old) was diagnosed with a cold-sore virus late on Saturday night after being up all night screaming the night before (at my parent's house, worse luck). He's on medication now, but has various ugly looking sores on his chin, hands and even on one of his feet now. On top of all this (admittedly not that serious - but we all have our own calibrated crisis-levels) he has cut his first two teeth in the past week or so as well. However, Fingers-crossed for more sleep tonight as he was much better last night. He's been happy enough taking his Aciclover, but we've been sneaking his Calpol (paracetamol suspension) into yoghurt to stop him spitting it out.

Other than that we're preparing to move him into his own room - which we were in the process of doing before his recent bug, and not sure about his sleeping attire. He's been in a sleeping bag for a while now but has started rolling onto his side and front at night. Thinking it might be better to have him in a thicker onesie and just forget the bags. He's big enough now that he would soon let us know if there were any problems - but still a bit of a worry.

The satisfying tick from the Angelcare monitor is still a comfort - lol.
 
8e958ef9-feaf-4051-a48b-a8b439dc8c41.jpg
223badf6-403e-4137-b457-c930f91c81aa.jpg


Isaac Ethan at 8 months. I tell you nothing better than being a dad. Yeah there are trade offs like I cant hang out with my friends and drink beer as much but its absolutly worth it!

No we don't usually comb his hair like that (frohawk). His mom was just having some fun..
 

pubba

Member
I have to admit I've done a complete 180 in regards to parenting. I was never really into the idea until my fiancee fell pregnant, and even then I had my doubts. But after you hold that little human and see part of you in their face and mannerisms - it just triggers something inside.

FeelsGoodMan.jpg
 
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