I forgot to mention that I had absolutely no room in the back seat because of all the presents, wheelchair, luggage, etc., which was stuffed into the trunk and piled high on the two seats next to me. Uncomfortable.
Back to Utah:
After finishing the tour / dumping our belongings around, we all caught up and Mark fixed us dinner. We had chicken and garlic potatoes which I loved. After, we did some more catching up and Mark opened up his birthday gifts because December 19th -- that day -- was / is his birthday.
After thatn, everyone was exhausted, so we made for our respective beds.*
*I stayed in the baby's room upstairs on an air mattress. Air mattresses suck! I know it's better than nothing, and I do appreciate having a warm bed (three throws, two blankets, and one sheet later) plus a room to stay in, but Kathy and I both agreed there is something very wrong with air mattresses. My parents stayed in the guest bedroom downstairs.
I am no sooner in my PJs when Mark comes out of the master bedroom with a smile on his face and says, "I guess we're not going to bed. Kathy's water just broke."
Talk about timing!
We all agreed the weary travelers would continue on to bed because who knows how long labor will go on? and there's no way to sleep in a hospital, etc., while Mark and Kathy would go to the hospital. (Kathy informed us they automatically admit you if your water breaks because it's an unsafe condition for the baby.) Mark would call us first thing if anything happened.
I woke up around 8 AM, Utah time, and no sooner am I up then the phone rings. It's Mark.
The baby has been born!
He fills me in on these details:
Andrew James Devlin (I knew that)
December 20th, 2003
7:45 AM
8 pounds, 12 ounces
green eyes
darkish hair
chunky thighs
20 1/5 inches
My family and I finally get to the hospital. (It takes some of us a while to get ready) and we finally see the adorable Andy. We had a bit of a scare because Kathy had some bleeding that ended up being from some clots that the doctor did something to (and fixed) but for a while there we were worried about her.
Much holding of the baby and taking care of Kathy, who was weak, drugged, and exhausted for the next day or two.
The next few days before Christmas sort of blend into a routine...the common vacation usualness took over and what was really a small, extraordinary experience became as ordinary to me as my usual life over here. Which means to say...I'm not sure on what days certain things happened exactly, but here's what did happen:
Kathy was exhausted, weak, and a little sick the first few days of her pregnancy but she got over it and grew stronger. So everyone was helping her out.
The baby took up nursing. Very cute and very frequent. The rest of my trip, what was at first a frustrating ordeal became a regularity. Where's Kathy? Where's Andy? You turn around and Kathy's whipped out her breast for him.
Andy needed to be under blue lights -- had baby jaundice. The technical term is bilirubin. If you're interested in learning more, look it up in a medical book. (I'm tired and suck at detailed explanations of things I only quite understand.) That was disappointing. He'll be all right but it sucked to not be able to hold him more.
What I learned about babies...specifically newborns:
We called Andy love-bug, an apt name. Newborns are like soft sacks that flop around. If left to their own devices they would lay splat on the ground, little arms and legs occasionally kicking, twitching, little mouth trying to suck (constantly), head turning side to side occasionally (or trying to), and doing little yoga body stretches every once in a while. A love-bug.
They are so fragile and delicate (even Andy who was chunky for a newborn) that when you hold them you feel the power of your own protective-ness. Their life is never so more literally in your hands, and in your care. Your arm supports their head, and your body warms them, and your arms keep them cuddled and fed. You sing or talk soothingly to them, you rock or walk them to calm them...their every well-being and breath depends on you.
So anyway, it was nice to hold Andy and watch the miniature workings of his little body and face.
Now, also in those days before Christmas, I did a lot of playing with Alex. He's so fun and interesting. "He says the cutest things." Mark took my Dad and I (and Alex of course) to the dinosaur museum. Fun.
It snowed on Tuesday, so Alex and I played in the snow. I made a snowman that was shorter than Alex. My artsy-side took over and I wanted the ridiculous thing to at least have a decent pair of eyes, nose and mouth. When you get particular and you're playing with a 4-year-old, watch out. Alex became intent on destroying my snowman. (For, because of my possessiveness about trying to make the snowman "right" the snowman became mine. I should have let the poor kid put the stupid eyes in all wrong and mess up the carrot nose, but I couldn't help it. It was maybe the first snowman I have ever made. I do not count the one my parents and I made on a trip to Tahoe. Kind of a reverse of what happened with Alex kinda happened then. Anyway.)
So I leave Alex with Papa and go inside for a minute. I come back out and my snowman has been decapitated! It was so funny I couldn't be mad. Alex and I made up and we re-attached the snowman-head.
I also spent a great deal of time studying for the Assistant Director's Guild Training Program test. My only clues on how to study are that it's supposed to be similar to the SATs or the GRE. There are sample problems on the website and I did horribly on the math ones. So I brought my Princeton Review for the SAT book (borrowed from the library) and studied that for a good deal of time. In fact, I ended up getting (a frustrated) halfway through it before I realized how hopeless it was. It's all about short-cuts for the SAT, how to beef up your grade. No real math help at all. I'm not even strong enough on the math to understand the frickin' shortcuts. So I begged someone or other to take me to a bookstore so I could find a decent math book. Mark gave my dad directions and we headed out to Orem (I think.)
Nice, nice outdoor mall with a Borders. It took a while to get there, not because my dad got lost, but because Kathy and Mark live out in the boondocks. It's a new boondocks, and it's going to be built up, but for now its a long drive to anywhere.
So my dad was heavy pressure about finding something quick. I ended up getting 3 books, and I'm so glad we went because immediately I knew I had something with the first one I began studying. (It's a general math SAT exercise prep workbook. Wonderful. I'm actually learning.) The other two -- a math book all about how to do word problems (my weakest weak point) and a novel that has a ton of SAT vocab in it, so you learn it in context.
Anyway, I had a hard time putting down the math workbook. It's really helped, although I still get confused about variables, direct and indirect...the sort of thing I get but I'm not strong on. Got halfway through that book and will continue daily, religiously.
Tune in next blog to hear about Christmas.
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