recovery

I have been told that the first step toward recovery is

recognizing that you have a problem. Once left alone in the recovery room with our new family, I immediately recognized that things were never going to be the same. While I wouldn't necessarily call our situation a problem, there were some immediate obstacles to over

come. Liz was fine after she had consumed a nut roll that I had packed specifically that purpose. Once sated, she was able to start feeding the family; myself excluded of course.

I had become immediately obsessed with the very real responsibility of providing for my family, which had instantly

doubled. We were to stay in the hospital for two days. While the storm was subsiding, the power was still out, and I was wondering where we might go once we left the hospital. My parents had flown in to Oakland and were stuck there until the bridge reopened. Liz' mom and Stepfather had been here since early December helping prepare and hoping along with me that for tax reasons these babies would be born in 2007. They had helped paint the nursery, set up cribs, and the day before we went to the hospital, spent $500 at Whole Foods stocking up on food to have on hand for the inevitable but elusive event. $500 of food that was now slowly decomposing in the refrigerator of our powerless house. I began to get really nervous when I learned that power was not expected to be restored in our neighborhood for a week due to the extensive damage from the storm. Meanwhile, my parents had finally been able to cross the bridge and came to visit us at the hospital. Afterward, Ross and Barbara joined forces with Mary and Sackett and took on the task of assessing the damage at our house. They were able to salvage some of the food, clean the gutters and the steps of leaves and fallen branches, determine that the tree that had fallen in our yard needed no immediate attention, and get things in a general state of order. They were not however, able to restore power. We had to leave the hospital despite my begging that they allow us to stay another day. We were not yet used to the dual feedings that happened every 2 hours. We were certainly not prepared to be doing them on our own. In a hotel room. Ultimately, the decision is made that Mary and Sackett will stay in a hotel and we will take the babies to the apartment they had sublet which was in Fairfax and had power. Everyone pitched in to pack up and move. All of our nursery essentials had to be taken to the apartment and Mary and Sackett had to pack up and move to the San Anselmo Inn.

We said goodbye to everyone at Marin General including our super-nurse, who posed with us and Stormy and Rocko before we left. We packed them up and went off into the world of parenting. Forever.