My Blog

It has been a while since I’ve updated this thing. When I looked at the posts I was still pregnant. Well, I am no longer that (hopefully not again). Liam is nearly 6 months old and I have not slept longer than 3 hours since he was born. I’ve lost a lot of brain cells, more than how much I lost in college between Jefferson and the Deli’s.

I love parenthood. Liam continues to awe and fill us with joy. He is a happy and pleasant baby. The only thing I wish is that I have as much energy as he does because the kid wears me out at the end of the day. I’ve scheduled day care sessions with the provider so I can hit the gym and more often than not I skip out of those because I just have no energy to suck wind on the treadmill. Forget spinning classes. And I can’t make myself go to yoga.

I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight from pregnancy I just need to tone up. Everything went blah after the c-section. Did I ever write how I ended up getting cut? I had a gut feeling Liam was not coming out the usual route, unless my bellybutton was IT. He just seemed too big. He was only 7 lbs with a gargantuan head. I labored from midnight to nine PM and I doubt he ever felt a contraction because I hovered at fully dilated for at least 2 hours and the little critter did not come down at all. He was just happy as a clam sky high. Did I ever mention that I pushed for 2 and a half hours??? I had the anesthesiologist cut the dose so I can move all over the bed in case I needed to help out the nurses and doctor with positioning. Well, in the end I was wheeled out of that room to the OR half asleep from exhaustion and then little Liam was given to his Daddy to hold.

That was nearly 6 months ago. Now he is trying to crawl and he can sit on his own. He called the TV Ma this morning. I’m not counting that as his first word though he was pointing at Mickey Mouse. We’re now slowly child proofing the house since his friends come often and most of them are mobile. He is eating semi-solid food and he loves his sweet potato and squash, but his all time favorite is boobie juice. He talks a lot like me though you can’t understand a word he’s saying, but that’s OK since most babies his age won’t even engage you in a "conversation." He sings to some of the songs in his iTune mix and sometimes when we’re driving he’ll sing to country music. He likes his Daddy’s songs the most. He likes Beethoven and Mozart as well. He is not camera shy and he does not cry when strangers give him attention as long as they are not babies or toddlers.

Eddie and I could not believe how lucky we are with him. He does not have my temper and my personality though I think through observation he is becoming such a thespian from his fake cough to his fake crying. He is the only kid I know who sounds like he’s crying but looks like he’s smiling. To know the difference the test is to pick him up. If he giggles then it was fake.

I am going to go and run around and clean up the house and grab something to eat. If he stays asleep through the night then I can read a little and spend some quiet time relaxing.

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. It’s been interesting being on the receiving end of obstetrical care—the amount of blood that’s been taken for testing and the amount of injections I’ve been getting. I had preterm contractions at 32 weeks and was put on bedrest. Folks from NY and Virginia have been so wonderful checking on me and making sure that my days alone at home were not lonely. Eddie has been wonderful taking care of me, moving our things from the apartment to the house, and supervising the construction in our basement. He was superman for those 2 weeks. He was nervous but I can always rely on his calm and strength.

I’m finally 35 weeks pregnant this week and 2 more weeks and the Liam will be full term. We put the cradle up last night and packed my hospital bag in the event that I do go into labor soon. My mother is flying over to make sure that I am not alone when Eddie goes on a business trip for a week.

Liam is much bigger now and obviously running out of room. He is very active and complains when he is squished by giving me a hard kick. Sometimes I feel little hands pushing out.

I never thought I’d say this but I miss the East Coast. The weather here in Colorado is beautiful. There’s rarely an overcast day, barely rains, and when it snows it is dry powdery and pristine snow. Of all things to miss, I miss the rotting leaves of Fall. I truly miss that pungent smell when old leaves whither and decompose. It reminds me of the dramatic weather changes back in the East Coast. I miss morning fogs and Winter rain–that humidity that seems to make the bone ache during Winter and makes breathing hard in the Summer heat.

I miss good friends and good sushi. This is the first time I’ve ever been land locked and boy do I ever miss good sushi. Omakase, please!

So these 2 French artists seem to be in my neighborhood again. They are in town looking at the logistics behind their next project here in Colorado. It’s going to be their signature drapes/shower curtain over a river. I remember last year when they built The Gates in Central Park. It got old pretty quickly with all the hype it received. I think the most fascinating part of it was the sheer effort and manpower it took the project to take off. Visually, it was as interesting as staring at the shower curtain section in Bed Bath and Beyond, except that all the curtains were orange.

Eddie and I spent the last 2 days of 2005 and the first day of 2006 at Frisco, Colorado where some of the world class ski resorts including Vail and Breckenridge are only a few minutes away. Eddie and an Army buddy went skiing the first 2 days, and then we had the entire place to ourselves on New Year’s Eve.

Eddie went night skiing at Keystone and then spent a day at Copper Mountain. I stayed at the condo and watched Law and Order all day long. I had planned to go shopping but walking in all of that snow and worrying about falling and landing in the hospital during the holiday weekend kept me indoors. We all had nice and clean fun.

Eddie was so wiped out New Year’s Eve that we rang the new year in bed drinking tea, eating pizza, and watching more Law and Order. We had planned to go out to dinner and to see this band play but in the end we decided to stay in and enjoy each other’s company.

Eddie and I realize that next year our twosome will be a threesome and we won’t be able to have rowdy New Years for a long time. Instead of finding the whole thing boring, it was fairly exciting. It made me think of the milestones of our little baby’s life and how Eddie and I have grown up together. Liam of course decided that he wasn’t going to miss the New Year and made it known to me that he was up at midnight by kicking and flipping inside my belly.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!

We’re planning to go back to either Frisco or Silverthorne for more skiing some time in March or April so if you’re interested email me so we can make plans.

We are having a boy!!!

After work this morning, Eddie and I went for our first official ultrasound. The baby has all the necessary parts and we’re expecting a boy! It was exciting to see little Liam again.

We saw him fan out and curl his toes, and open and close his mouth. Eddie sat next to me beaming. He was very excited to get the confirmation that he is having a son. It’s Eddie’s birthday tomorrow and I think it’s just a nice little present to know that he will be able to watch football with the little kid and take him to hockey games.

Baby’s Name: Liam Padraig Doyle

I felt the little bugger move!!! I’ve actually been feeling the baby move around the past week but it wasn’t until we had lots of down time at work and a nurse taught me how to use the ultrasound that I was able to visually confirm the movements as the baby’s. I have a feisty little one and I am very proud of its little swatting movements. All along I thought it was just gas.

Eddie has been singing to my belly and it moves around a lot when he puts his head just above my fundus and sings. I can’t wait until he can feel the movements too. It will make it so much more real for him that we are becoming parents.

I showed him the difference in size from our 10wk ultrasound to the one taken a few days ago. He was amazed at how much the baby has grown and how it looks more like a baby now and not just a lump of mass with little limbs sticking out of it. It was funny however when I told him that our little one has a tail.

In a month we’ll find out if it’s a little princess or a little boy.

I can’t believe the summer went by and I barely hiked of climbed! I was looking for boots the other day and I found my climbing shoes and my harness forlornly lying in a closet. Ski season is creeping in on us and Eddie and I promised each other we’d take snowboarding lessons together. Eddie will be all alone on the slopes and I will be nursing my hot cocoa and big belly somewhere warm.

I’ve already registered for gear to take the little one out next summer. As soon as the baby has all the shots we are going hiking.

Can you believe that I have access to the stables here at the Airforce Academy and a dude ranch the Army runs???!!!! BUT I can’t ride with the pregnancy lest I fall off a horse.

I’m back in Colorado after seeing my parents and then driving up and down the Northeast to go to a friend’s wedding in Maine. Murphy’s Law was working on me the entire way up there. It started in Chicago (I think my most unpleasant airport experiences have always been at O’Hare). My flight was cancelled and I had to wait for 7 hours to get on the plane for a connecting flight to Newark. When we got on the plane I was told that I had to check in my luggage because there was no room at the overhead compartment. I stood my ground and held on to my bags. I have a bridesmaid’s dress in there, dammit!!! Then, they told us that we’ll be sitting on the tarmac until air control gives us a green light. ETD was changed to another hour and a half. I lost it. I bawled loudly. The stewardess came and asked me what’s wrong. What’s wrong???? I am held captive by American Airlines!!! I was tired, hungry, and pregnant!!!

I keep telling myself I’d never fly AA again, but it’s the only cheap airline that can get me out of Colorado Springs at a moment’s notice. Besides, I have gazillion miles with them. I am however always disappointed and continually amazed by its sloppy and slipshod service. I like Delta, Jet Blue and AirTran. With international flights I never fly anything American—it’s a service issue.

So the past 3 days I have been wasting at least 6 hours of my life traveling. I missed my Metro North train that was to take me to Westchester to catch my ride up to Maine. It rained the whole way through and we had a personality-less gestapo inn keeper in Maine.

Honestly, I was too tired to give a damn. It was like continuous violation and rape. After a while, it’s just all about survival and getting through the weekend. I just had to let it slide or lose the little control I had left.

I had a good time basking in my family’s enjoyment of having a new addition. I passed by old haunts—Riverdale, Upper East Side, my parent’s neighborhood en route to my parent’s house. It felt strange. A few years ago, a few months even—these places were home and now things have changed. Each place was a stage in my life that was so important back then but seem so distant and remote now.

I’ve come to appreciate slower time and wider space and I longed to come back to Colorado. I missed Eddie terribly. I missed my bed and the hours I spent in it—reading, resting, cuddling with my husband, and basically just waiting for whatever my body and baby demands.

New York was fun but I was ready to get out of it. I miss the convenience and the self-centered pursuit to happiness but it was getting old at the same time. Despite the over-stimulation I was bored. It was empty and meaningless and it happened too fast. It’s like a sexy looking boy who is just too dumb—deep down you know this one’s not a keeper.

I’ll visit often with most of my family being there but I would never dream of raising children there. I don’t want them to grow up too fast and get jaded too quickly. Let children be children so to say…

Eddie and I are now settled in beautiful Colorado. We had our first snow fall today. Oh, don’t be alarmed!!! I missed the whole thing. I heard that we had it from my 80-year-old driving teacher who drives a Buick Regal. I was whining and complaining over driving my Ford Focus without proper training and this is the training I am getting. Eddie and I thought it would be better for our marriage if I got professional help. Ruth is the answer with her over 36 years of driving instructions experience. She said she learned how to drive at the age of 9 and got her license at the age of 14.

She is so grandmotherly yet firm. She took me out on the highway today—surprised me because she said thinks I am excitable. She asked me if I wanted her to drive while trying to merge into highway traffic. I thought she was nuts because there was nowhere to pull over at that point. She and I get along well as long as I don’t floor the gas or slam the breaks, which is a little hard with something like a Buick Regal that has seen its fair share of abuse from incompetent drivers like me. I asked her if I should practice on my Ford Focus in between lessons. She had that look on her face as if I had just suggested that a sociopath be released from jail.