Year in Review: January 2008 (The Birth)

If it were a year prior to the moment I am writing this, I would have been down at Prentice Hospital waiting for the induction meds to kick in. Hard to believe. Actually, 'hard" is a good word for January, really. It was hard times -- and of course, a few good times, too. (Warning: This is a long post... another one of those for the-good-of-the-archive more than the-good-of-the-reading.)

New Year's Eve was spent like a beached whale on the couch, as our stellar handyman, Esteban, put up some extra storage in our back hallway. I was really starting to get into nesting mode in anticipation of Oliver's due date of January 31.

I was done with what was a crazy December working on the Manage My Home site for Sears, so I could finally focus on our home -- a little ironic, I guess. Eric and I had spent a good amount of the holidays on trips to Ikea and Container Store and cleaning out closets and all that good stuff. I was also getting very excited for the shower that was set for January 6. (See awesome invitation at above!) My sisters were coming in from CA and my dear friend Emily was hosting at her place.

Friday, January 4 was to be my last day at work, but I was still doing this and that on Thursday and I also had a doctor appointment that day. Even though I had had some problems with blood pressure and been in the hospital once already for monitoring, I expected the appointment to be relatively routine. Turns out, the BP was high again so it was back to the hospital for an observation period. My sisters came into town on Friday to find me laid up at Prentice, where the views, the flatscreen TV, and Room Service were pretty novel, really. The doctors sent me home on Saturday on bedrest with orders to come back into the office for a check on Monday. That night we ate Thai Food (nobody had warned me that the salt was bad for my blood pressure), Sunday I violated doctor's orders and went to the shower. I took it easy over there, though. It was so great to see everyone and get so many awesome gifts. And most definitely a highlight: Emily's Bread Pudding! (which she made with croissants because she could find brioche or challah, so you can imagine how delish it was).

Monday, January 7, Eric and I went in to see Dr. McNair who didn't like what my pressure was doing, who made me pee in a cup even though I had to try like 5 separate times, and who said I wasn't dialated, but "That baby is cooked. Go across the street." So back to Prentice we went to get induced. Sent Eric home for the bag (which we hadn't even packed yet) and let the fun begin. I'll leave out the gory details here (and it was a bit gory to tell you the truth)... just know that Oliver was born some 27 hours later on January 8 at 5:something PM. Hooray! He was 7 lbs, 10 oz, but looked like a 20-pounder in the photo below, eh? Hooray! And Eric proclaimed him Oliver James (with some doubt and hesitation that maybe he was an Owen). Hooray! It was so exciting to have this little bundle. I hardly slept because I just couldn't stop staring at him in wonder and awe. Hooray!

Hooray, EXCEPT! After two days in the hospital, they sent us home, but mommy was not well. I couldn't breathe overnight and I was still very swolen. My BP was still high, skyrocketed in fact and I had to go back into the hospital through the ER (not fun). Long story short, I spent the next five days in the hospital missing Oliver and being really scared about my health and well-being. Oliver was well taken care of by his grandmas, though -- such a blessing.

The rest of January is a bit of a blur. The day after I got home, January 16, was Oliver's bris (wish I had some good pictures of that day, but I really don't -- everything is kinda blurry because of the no-flash rule). Then a week with mom here helping me, still not feeling quite myself but already so in love with that little baby. Then mom gone and Eric back at work. The weather was an absolute nightmare and we really didn't leave the house but for an occasional doctor appointment, so it was pretty aweful. Oh, that reminds me... when Oliver first came home, before I was readmitted, we took him to this barrio pediatrician office in Uptown. Let's just say that was a BAD IDEA! But we have a great pediatrician now, thank goodness.

And that was January 2008. And January 2008 was hard. And hard is character-building and perspective-giving and all worth it in the case of Oliver James Weinstein: