Oliver is here!

A couple of weeks ago I was having coffee with my very pregnant friend Erin, and she invited me to come see her give birth to her second son Oliver! I was really excited - I've seen lots of YouTube videos of births (I started a Natural Birth YouTube group) but hadn't had a chance to see it in person. So as her due date got closer (he was due April 3rd) I started bringing my phone to bed with me so I could get going as soon as I got the call.

Yesterday I chatted with Erin on MSN Messenger a few times, and she told me she had lost her mucus plug and was starting to get sporadic contractions. At around 2 she told me it was difficult to wrangle her toddler while she was in labor, but when I asked if she wanted me there to help she said no.

So I made a dumb decision and thought it'd be nice to walk to Fred Meyer to pick up salad fixings for dinner. It's a 30-40 minute easy walk. I took my phone and we set out, and got there, and gathered our groceries, and as soon as we hit the checkout (at 4:40) my phone vibrated at me.

"It's Tom," the voice said. I was all "...hi!" but thought "Tom? Who's Tom?" The voice said "we're on the way to the hospital now, it's time!" OH! Time, not Tom. Duh. And at the worst possible time, too, heh.

We flew through the self-checkout and walked home as fast as we could. I ran the last block or two, got inside and changed out of my now sweaty clothes, grabbed my bag and was out of there.

I had to call my aunt to have her help me with directions at the hospital, as the original plan was for me to go to Erin's house and ride with them. I made a wrong turn and had to make a U-turn and go back the other way, but when I got to the parking structure I found a spot pretty quickly and then made my way over to the birthing center. It was just before 6pm.

I got up to the labor and delivery area and stopped by the nurses' station and asked them to take me to Erin. The nurse knocked on the door and opened it, and I heard a baby crying - I was TOO LATE! By maybe a minute. The doctor hadn't even sewn her little tear up or anything. I rushed in and grabbed the camera out of my bag and went to see Oliver.

It turns out Erin was at 9 centimeters when she got to the hospital at 5:30, and after half an hour she was done! Her mom barely got there in time; she'd arrived seven minutes before he was born.

I stayed for almost three hours. I looked at the placenta (I said "it's kind of pretty, in a weird way" to the nurse, and she laughed and said "that's the first time I've heard anyone say that!") and got to hold Oliver for a few minutes (he sneezed, which startled him - so cute) and was there for his first feed, and was there when his big brother Anthony came to the hospital to meet him for the first time. When Erin's brother and his family got there, I decided it was time to get back home; before I left we planned for me to come hang out at her house on Thursday after her mom left, so that I could help out with Anthony and help Erin get some rest.

It was a whirlwind evening! I was so happy to be able to see at least the tail end of the birth, and Oliver seems to already be a pretty laid-back little guy!



I put a few more pictures up at Flickr.

All Quiet on the Front

Nothing new to report, unfortunately. We are currently in a holding pattern, waiting for word back from people who have received Cory's resumes, and waiting for more job opportunities to present themselves for Cory to send resumes out to them too. I kind of feel like we're holding our breath, just waiting for the next stage of our lives to start. Which is probably the way that a great deal of other people suffering from the recession are feeling. Can't do much else but wait (and keep your eyes open) when you're looking for a job; can't look for a house, can't start a family, can't spend much money on fun stuff 'cause you don't know if you'll have to spend it on groceries in a month. It sounds depressing, and it kind of feels that way sometimes, but we're actually in pretty good shape, all things considered. We have savings, I still have a job (for now - who knows how long it'll stay though), and we don't have much else to tie us down to any one area. It's just frustrating sometimes. So here we sit, waiting, for a little while longer; sure that when the waiting is done we'll actually have something to blog about.

Mom Update

Mom had surgery yesterday to screw a plate into her bone. It looks sort of like a Chuck-It, she said - a cup on one end that the ball of her shoulder goes into, and then a 4-5" bar that screws into her humerus. She'd been in quite a bit of pain all week, while she waited for her surgery, so it was good to finally get it done. They kept her overnight and may keep her again tonight if she is still needing it; hopefully she'll be able to go home and rest in her own bed. The surgery went fine, and she was super sore and groggy last night according to my stepdad.

I'll be going over this weekend as long as the pass doesn't keep me on this side of the mountains, to cook and clean for them a little. Hopefully she'll be feeling a little better by then.

Ouch.

My mom broke her arm yesterday morning on her walk. She and her neighbor (who's a nurse) go almost every morning, from their houses on top of the hill down to the bottom and then around their street's loop a couple of times. Here's the email I got:

Well, 2009 is getting off to a somewhat "disarming" start.

Penny and our neighbor went for their morning walk at 6:30 this morning......It was very icy.

Everything went well til about 6:45 when Penny elected to become an Olympic gymnast/figure skater....without skates.

She did a beautiful half-gainer and landed on her left side and shoulder. The neighbor called to tell me she was taking
Penny to the ER in Redmond.

I met them in the ER where Penny was being X-rayed. She was in a great deal of pain. The doc prescribed some pain killers and suggested we meet with another Doc in Bend to determine the best course of action..... We were lucky that the Bend doc could fit us in at 1:00 PM.

The Bend Doc showed us the X-rays and the upper bone that connects to the shoulder joint was definitely fractured and separated. He said it would be best to schedule her for surgery and have a metal plate installed.

We're currently waiting for a call from the scheduling nurse with a date and time.

It is very painful for her to make any movements and she is currently taking a bit of a nap.


Will let you know what happens.

Poor Mom. :(

Happy New Year!

When the clock struck midnight, Cory and I had our new year's kiss and as I looked at him I got a little misty: I realized I'm so excited for this new year. I'm hoping to work more on my crocheting, getting more submissions in to more magazines and books, and making more money at it hopefully (though that was never really the ultimate goal of crochet - the process is so much more fun than the process of depositing a check). We're also at a crossroads in our professional lives, both trying to find new jobs, which means we could move anywhere we want (which we've narrowed down to three areas, all of which are near family). And I'm crossing my fingers that babies are in our '09 plans, once we've got the professional stuff out of the way.

I'm glad that the continuing downturn at work hasn't made my outlook for the future turn down as well. I know my time there is short, but it also puts us into a good situation: one where we're not tied down to any one city. I remember when things were going well and I was worried that I'd have to leave my awesome job to follow Cory once he graduated and found a job. That decision might be made for me, now, and I'm actually happy about it.

Now all there is to do is let that excited momentum carry us forward into actually doing all the things I thought about when I got misty last night. Whee!

Happy New Year, guys.

Party

Cory's graduation party just wrapped up. It was nice - everybody spaced themselves out pretty well, so we were able to entertain everybody relatively easily and I felt like we gave equal attention to everyone. I do wish that people could have stayed a little longer, and that some other people were able to get here and not be sick or get stuck on the other side of the very snowy mountains. He got six bottles of wine! We were left with an empty house by 5, so now we're watching Holiday Inn and relaxing a little.

It still hasn't really set in for both of us that we've now passed over the cusp of a new part of our lives. I think for me it's difficult because I've been so focused on my situation at work (the company is on shady ground at the moment and I could be laid off any day) that I haven't really thought about what the new part of our lives means. There are so many possibilities - from the silly little things like being able to go on vacation without worrying about homework, to finding a new job and a new house in a new city, and starting a family - which is what I'm most excited about.

But first thing's first - finishing crochet projects for Christmas, and getting through another week of choir practice and a bank audit at work. Well, that's second - first is to finish watching Holiday Inn.

Strategic Management

My last final for my life as an undergrad happens in about two hours. The class is Strategic Management, and I really need to focus on Michael Porter's Three Tests for Firm Diversification. But I also know that I need a 52% on this final in order to get a passing grade in the class, so the cost-benefit analysis has me writing a blog post instead. This is one of those classes where I just go through the motions and forget everything as soon as I walk out of the room. Strategic Management, heh. What the deuce does that even mean? Shouldn't I know after studying it for 3 months? Okay, I guess I picked up a couple of tidbits along the way. Writing a few papers and giving a few presentations in class has forced me to gobble up and regurgitate a few items of note. I know about the five forces. I know about support structures and about low-cost versus differentiation. But mostly I know about objectives and goals. I know more about mission statements and vision statements. I know the difference, I suppose, between posturing and what is gut-wrenchingly real.

This is my last term as an undergraduate. It's taken me longer than the average bear to get here. Part of me is still in high school, wondering what the point of college really is. It's just a piece of paper produced by a system that was invented by the man, man: It don't mean nothin. Part of me is still in the future: I have kids and a wife and a house and a job and a fairly happy disposition. College is the glue, in my mind, that holds these two positions together. It is the bridge, the door, the other cliches, that gets me from that cynical kid to the happy adult. So it's taken more than a decade to get there. It's a long bridge, it's a heavy door. Whatever. The point is that I'm done, and I couldn't be happier. Well, that's not true.

Business-speak is funny stuff. "Strategic Management." What is that anyhow? Who talks like that other than pretentious actors in pretentious television shows written by pretentious writers trying to sound less pretentious? I guess my classmates and future colleagues talk like that. I guess I talk like that now. At least, now I have a piece of paper allowing me to talk like that. But what "Strategic Management" really means is something I wish I knew more about a decade ago. It really is just a very weird, publishable way of saying "Watch your step." It is a quasi-academic way of forcing you to sit down and ask, "How long is that bridge? How stable is it? How heavy is that door? When is the right time to open it?" You ask the question today, and again tomorrow, and again next week. You wake up at 2 in the morning on some still night and ask it again with sweat dropping off your brow and your wife breathing slowly next to you. You ask it again when you're feeling stressed at a pumpkin patch on a beautiful October day and you're confused about how best to spend your time. You ask it again when you're putting peppermint sticks on your Christmas tree and putting off studying for your finals. You ask it again when you're studying for your last final of your undergraduate career.

So while I'm studying about Michael Porter and his highly publishable thoughts and considerations, I'm asking myself about this bridge I've crossed. Did I cross it quickly enough? Did I cross it boldly enough? Did I open this door with enough flamboyant gusto? Have I made my entrance into this bold new world with enough zest? I know Megan says Yes, and I know she says it with all her heart. I'm not sure what I think about it yet. Here is where Strategic Management comes in, though: The bridge continues on and the portal is guarded by a revolving door. The process continues, and it must, because I don't have the kids and the house and the dog that I want yet. What I have is a piece of paper and an ability to more accurately judge my position in my life, and my placement in this world, and the dreams and goals I have, and the methods I have to retrieve them.

My last final for my life as an undergrad happens in about two hours, and I am finally ready.