The Grandparents Basque arrived on July 23rd to a hive-covered Emily and a 6 week old Simon. They had a fun long week with us filled with doctor appointments, home cooked meals, laundry and even a movie/date night! Follow the jump to get details and lots more pictures.
The day Ken and Cindy arrived I was covered from head to toe, with hives in my ears, on my lips, in between my fingers and generally covering most every part of me. My hives were swollen and itchy and awful. The first couple days of the Basque visit are a bit of a blur because I spent my time either asleep or in an oatmeal or baking soda bath. I do remember our trip to Costco where I bought (with Cindy’s encouragement) 15 pounds of baking soda. Wouldn’t want to run out!
On Monday, Cindy and Alan went to work and Ken took me (and Simon!) to the doctor. The doctor had called an allergist and diagnosed me with 'Post-Natal Hives'. I got a bunch of steroids and some over the counter allergy meds with a 'hope this helps' vibe. My OB had never heard of PostNatal Hives, but it doesn’t really matter because my hives responded to the treatment and began to subside. They made evening appearances for the rest of the week but mostly disappeared during the day, so we started calling them Vampire Hives. By the end of the steroid dose they were gone.
The first few days they stayed in a hotel in the loop, but for the second half of the week Ken and Cindy stayed at a condo in Roscoe Village which was a quick and easy 9 minute walk away from our apartment. As a result we spent lots of time at their place and pretty much begged for home cooked meals every night. The place had a great grill in the back and a nice living/dining area. Hanging out at their place was lovely and relaxing and we spent most of the week just hanging out together. It easily quadrupled the space in our apartment so walking with Simon was much easier. Both Alan and I took naps on the amazingly comfortable second bed (no dip in the middle!).
Ken and Cindy were amazing babysitters. They watched Simon on Friday so Alan and I were able to have a lovely date night where we went to see Captain America and had an adult dinner out – I even had a glass of wine! We also (and probably more importantly) went with Contractor Larry to the suburbs on Saturday morning to go look at granite for the kitchen counters. We went through warehouses that were definitely not baby friendly and chose our granite. It was the last step in the kitchen progress on our part. (Larry and the Boys are still working on the house, as of the writing of this post they are putting in insulation!)
Midway through the week, Ken and Cindy took me to my final OB appointment. I was granted a clean bill of health and by the end of the week was hive free. A very successful visit!
Worried Eyebrows!
Happy Grandma!
Checking each other out.
Simon checks out the trees; Grandpa has a longer attention span.
Simon's impression of an Angry Old Man. Pretty good, eh?
Grandma is the best bottle feeder! Turning wild and crazy Simon into a happy sleeping baby.
So excited!
Look at how tiny he is! (Simon, not Ken.)
Ken has a magic power that makes a sleeping baby, even at Target.
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