A year ago

This time last year, I was in labor. And the beauty is, no matter when {over the next few days} you read this post, this time last year I was in labor.  I was induced on January 9th and Behr was born on January 12th. Over 50 hours of my life that I, incredibly, never want to forget. You can read the long version here.

But there was one thing I did while I was still in the hospital that I am so grateful for. I wrote down the moments I wanted to remember. Memory has been escaping me, and it is unclear if this was my own idea or wise advice. Either way, these are a few of the moments that I captured from this week, last year, in the order I wrote them down.

The Eagle's game. They were in the fourth quarter and royally, hmm...how do I put this in a motherly tone, throwing away their season and the chance for my baby, MY BABY, to wear his 0-3 month Eagles onesie for a game. My blood pressure was high. The nurses got nervous. Mark tried to assure them that it was all because of football, and perfectly normal. They lost. We turned off the game. All vital stats returned to normal levels. My baby didn't get to see any of the 2010-2011 Eagles season. I am not bitter.

Babies don't come out adorable. Nobody warned me. Hello! Mothers who came before me!?! Are you there? How come nobody told me that birth is traumatic for the baby too, and it might take a bit for the swelling to go down and for them to be the cute button you imagine them to be? I was shocked. Very unprepared.

Karlene brought an orchid. On a plane. In an overhead luggage compartment. On its side. And then convinced a Rosslyn to Georgetown shuttle driver to go off of his route to bring her to the hospital because she decided to figure it out herself instead of taking the cab we told her we would pay for. But that is a different story. Back to the orchid. It was beautiful. The 4th, 5th, and 6th flowers bloomed on the coordinating days of Behr's life, which made it all the more special for me as an overly hormonal new mom.

Mark is leaving for Brazil on the 15th. That is what I wrote down. I cannot even imagine the emotions that had both of us completely in knots over the fact that he was leaving the country in just a few days. Mark actually left for Brazil three hours after brining us home from the hospital. That might have been the hardest part of labor.

Mark crying in the parking lot. After the blur of the 50 hour labor ending in a midnight c-section, by the morning of the 12th, Mark was beyond starving and exhausted. I forced Mark to go get some food and he ran into my mom in the parking lot and cried with joy. Or, so I have been told.

Being separated before the c-section. As they began to wheel my bed down towards the operating room, I realized that I wasn't okay, Mark wasn't okay, and he wasn't walking as fast as we were. I asked all of the nurses to stop in the middle of the hallway and told Mark I loved him, because I couldn't think of anything else. I knew he was fearful of a c-section. And they had just given us come pretty grave warnings due to the length of my labor. We were scared.

There is a snow storm, is mom okay? While Mark and our incredible nurse gave Behr his first bath, I tried calling my parents. Dad was home, but Mom was already in DC. The snow forecast led her to drive down early and get a hotel room. We couldn't get a hold of her. I called 7 Marriott none of which had a reservation for her. Neither Dad or I could get through on her cell phone. I forced myself to focus on Behr and not the fear that Mom had gotten in a bad car accident and/or died. She knew I was going into have the c-section. Why wasn't she near her phone? Turns out her phone was dead, she couldn't find her charger, and she was at the one Marriott that didn't show up on my phone's map search.

We had rounds and rounds and rounds of doctors and nurses. We met them all. And our favorite, "Dr. Man Hands," came to visit us as soon as we got settled in post-pardum. She was just starting our shift, and was so full of energy and super excited. I was thrilled to be talking with her and was overwhelmed by her obvious joy for us. p.s. she gave her self that name, and even uses horse balm on her hands which get chapped easily due to wearing gloves and all the washing. Is that too much information? Well, it is what we talked about in the first hours of Behr's life!

Behr's hanging air time. His first trick. Really, I wrote "trick," like he was a puppy or something. Silly sleep deprived brain. Pictures below.

50 hours of labor. Did I think I would forget that part?

 

His hand broke free from his swaddle, and he slept like this. 

Even today, Behr still occasionally hangs an arm up in the air as he falls asleep.