The Fun has Arrived

Monday, April 23, 2007

Six hours total, and OLeif and Collette had their little son. To Collette at that time the whole experience still seemed dream-like, and as she was wheeled into the recovery room, she couldn’t quite believe that the whole thing was over. Baby Octavian had finally arrived.

Theodore and Denae called to them as they passed the waiting room. They had been sitting there for several hours, and Mom and Dad were also on their way. It wasn’t much later that they were gathered, the six of them, in the secluded recovery room tucked away in the very corner of the fifth floor. And soon, little Octavian was brought into the room to officially meet his grandparents for the first time.

Denae had brought the video camera and managed to get a clip of him being cleaned off in the nursery. Somehow, the little fellow was managing to suck on his entire fist. Collette realized from that point that he already had OLeif’s appetite. It soon followed suite that he also had OLeif’s sleeping habits, a similar sneeze pattern, and hiccups.

The next two days passed quickly. OLeif seemed to be recovering from a massive headache for a good day and a half of the two. Meals were ordered from the cafe menu, which included everything from small steaks, burgers, grilled cheese, and fruit plates, to condiments including diet syrup.

Visitors came and went and came again, including both families (except for Carrie (who usually almost passed out at the mention of “hospital”), but stopped by at the house on Friday afternoon with Lucia to see “the fatty” and thought that he was pretty cute) and Izzy who was feeling a bit under the weather). Mrs. English and Eve came by as well. And both grandmas made it in before Thursday had ended. It was a full two days. Collette thought that by the end of Friday night, she likely had only seven hours of sleep within the past three days. But Octavian had come safely and soundly and he was a precious little guy.

“Are you in love?” OLeif asked Collette one night.

“Oh, yes,” she said, looking into her baby’s bright eyes.

There were many times in Collette’s past few years in particular, that she was reminded of something Dad often said. He had always said it, for as long as she could remember. No matter the difficulty of the circumstance one of the kids might be going through, he would always say it. And it made things seem better, right away, even if the circumstance itself hadn’t changed. These wise words?

“This too shall pass.”

It always amazed Collette how comforting those words really were, particularly when faced with the possibility of impending trial or discomfort. There were a good many times over those few days that Collette had to remember those words, particularly when exhaustion settled in late Friday night and Saturday morning.

Thus, come Saturday evening, OLeif called in for reinforcements for the following few days, which was completed in two shifts, beginning with Denae and followed by Mom. Suddenly, there was time for Collette to rest, there was more food in the house, things were cleaned and put away, and there was a little more time to spend with baby instead of seeing to everything else. It was very refreshing.

And by Sunday afternoon, after Octavian’s first visit to church, the wind was blowing wildly, the sun was beginning to set with rain coming in, and the weekend was coming to a fine close. Collette was able to think for a little while over everything that had occurred in such a short amount of time, and wonder how quickly and dreamlike it had all passed. Baby was home at last.

Now, as OLeif put it, the fun had arrived.