HOME AT LAST!!!

posted on: 2007-01-16 at 6:29:00 PM

WOW... What an amazing week it has been! Oliver is now one week old .. and he is proving to be a very well-mannered baby! He's cooing and snorting with the best of 'em, and can't be too much cuter, to boot!

Angie and I were supposed to leave the hospital Saturday morning, but we were asked to stay late because Oliver lost too much weight (over 14% of his birth-weight) during the last few days of our stay. We were discharged officially, but given the room as a temporary place to hang out until the doctors felt comfortable with Oliver's weight.

I was SOOOOO READY to leave. Holy GOD! Five days (four nights) of sleeping on a hypo-allergenic cushion who's temperature control was a broken set of mini-blinds was not my cup of tea. BUT -- it was a fun stay nonetheless. The view was spectacular! Each of the Family Birth Center rooms at Legacy Emanuel have a view into the "Children's Garden," as well as many windows into other rooms across the veranda -- which proved to be a source of countless hours of entertainment for me. I also spent time wandering around the hospital at night. It is really cool to see how they run .. so orchestrated and fluid in the mire of chaos.

Angie was outstanding. She recovered from the doctors slicing a giant gash into her lower abdomen better than anyone had expected! The first two days were trying, but after the fourth day, she was up and walking around without any help. By the time we left the hospital, she was running under her own steam.

I posted lots of baby pics for your perusing pleasure! Check out the NICU pics, and the post-NICU pics (** WARNING: the NICU pics include some that are not very pretty).

We left the hospital on Saturday evening with a spring in our step. Oliver, Angie and I were ready to go home. Little Oliver got his first ride in his new car seat as Angie and I hobbled out of the hospital with grandma and grandpa Scripter, great-aunt Claudia, and various nurses in tow.

Two quick anecdotes: 1) While in our room, I was reading a book on Einstein and time travel-- and in the book they discussed how things can be separated in time and space, and as an example, they said "you being born, and you reading this book NOW.." (I was born at the very same hospital, so the book ASSUMED I was reading it somewhere different than I was born).. HA!! 2) Oliver was wrapped in the very same blanket I was wrapped in 11606 days ago as I left the very same hospital. EPIC!

As Angie and I trekked home, only one quick stop at Walgreen's slowed our progress... SIIIGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

Sunday was a quiet day for us. Angie and I needed one day to feel things out and make sure we're not doing things horribly wrong. Luckily for us .. we weren't!! Oliver has been a little trooper and has only fussed when he's needed something (food, diaper change, cuddle time, etc.). The rest of the time has been filled with relaxation and cleaning (which .. all of a sudden .. is VERY WELCOME).

IN OTHER NEWS: Monday night was the midnight launch of the BURNING CRUSADE, which we sold at midnight at my store. I decided to go ahead and work for a few hours. I got my copy and .. even though I'm only level 3 .. HOLY CRAP. I guess 8,000,000 subscribers can't be wrong! Draenei FTW.

I awoke this morning to find a blanket of white snow atop everything outside. It was SOOOO beautiful! The temperature was below freezing (well below), yet people tried to venture out. As the countless hours of local news has proved ... PEOPLE ARE STUPID. Something like 60 Tri-Met buses were stranded, as were hundreds of semi-trucks and passenger vehicles.

I managed to walk a few miles and take the light-rail to get the other copies of Burning Crusade that I had pre-ordered (Angie and I both wanted a copy -- and I made a cool $100 on Ebay). Seeing all the whiteness -- and all of the Portlanders traversing around in 20 layers of clothes was quite fun. There were a lot of smiles exchanged.

Now I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do. I have one more week of real vacation. Once back at work, I have four weeks of "half-time" where I work 20 hour weeks. WOOOHOOO!

Labels: Burning Crusade, oliver, snow, WoW

posted by Carl | 4 Comments | Leave a comment

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