Labor day

Mack’s birth was a hell of a lot easier than Nate’s. Basically I woke up early on the morning of Feb 7 and knew something was weird. I went to the bathroom saw some blood and then came back to bed. All of a sudden I felt a pop and a rush of liquid. Michael?

Huh?

My water just broke.

We still weren’t sure exactly what to do because we are so dumb with this stuff so I called the doctor on call who failed to call me back. I sat on the toilet for awhile because the amniotic fluid was mixed with meconium (aka poop) and it was sort of gross. Finally Dr.  Maldonado called me back apologizing for not getting back sooner and I was like : I am in Full On Labor!

We had already called my parents who were on call to come and take care of Nate and they rushed over from their rental on the upper east side. I rushed out with my towel as soon as I saw my dad and into a black car where the contractions started to be intense.

At the hospital I didn’t even go into triage because I was so close. They just put me in a room where I demanded an epidural. With a little relief, I then explained to the nurses how I pushed for 3 hours with Nate. They were impressed. Then they told me a story: the woman who had recently vacated that room had pushed for 12 minutes.

With that story in mind, the labor started. 11 minutes later with some pain but nothing like before, little Mack came out. He was perfect.

Mack

On February 7, 2012, Mack Jacob was born to this world. Here he is a minute or so after birth.

Hallway

I love this picture. We are in the hallway in our building.

The Who

Love this pic!

Air Hockey

Air Hockey with Nate!!!

New Home

After a tumultuous move, we are in our new digs at the Edge. It's a beautiful apartment with spectacular views and lovely comforts. Our Roebling furniture fits nicely too.

Nate stayed at Papa/Nana's for two nights (go Papa/Nana!) during the weekend of the move. Simma/Ron helped heroically with unpacking. It took a full family effort. When Nate arrived Monday night, he arrived to a room painted the same blue color as his Roebling room, his toys and books unpacked neatly, and even his little blue carpet set in front of his crib. When he saw his new room, Nate jumped around joyfully, twirling and waving his arms, kind of dancing with delight. It was a great moment, with the grandparents and us laughing and rejoicing in the thrill of Nate and his new room. And our gorgeous apartment too.

Here's a view from our bedroom...

Oh, it's my birthday today. I'm 43. Holy crap.

Leaving 80 Roebling Street, Apt 3

We are moving. It's exciting and sad too. We found a buyer who more or less met our price and now it's time for us to find a new apartment. Nate will likely not remember this apartment (I have no memories of my first 2 years in Kew Gardens before moving to Dix Hills). He wont remember the bay window overlooking Roebling Street and the Artist in Residence Building across the Street. He wont remember the sun streaming in through the living room shades in the morning. He wont remember the loose floor boards near his room or the bedroom near the bathroom or the refrigerator with 3 small dents in the front door. He wont remember his multi-colored letters and numbers magnets stuck on the back of the front door or the herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, chives) growing on the balcony overlooking the back patios and buildings of North 7th and North 8th Streets. He wont remember watering the plants although he took pleasure in doing so (Mama! Mama! Look! Wa-wa! Plants!). He wont remember his blue room with my old tennis racket hanging on one wall and the blue dog Simma Liebman painting hanging over his crib. He won't remember rolling his match box cars towards the front door, one after the other. He wont remember his special little nook to the left of the refrigerator under the cabinet of spices, where Nate would go to "hide". He wont remember crab-crawling then running down the hallway, past the bathroom, past his room, making a quick right past the brown chest of drawers, past the 2 white thin linen cabinets, into the master bedroom, to the bed in a room painted goldish. Nate wont remember his neighbors (Natasha and Lee upstairs, Bonnie and Annabelle (A-bell) in Unit 2, and Matt (Maaa), Stephanie and Elle (A-bell on the first floor), who adored him. But we will.