Opening Night of Shrek:The Musical at The Cadillac Theatre, Chicago.

Last night, July 25th, 2010, Eric officially opened as Shrek in "Shrek:The Musical," at The Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.  I am so proud of him.  He gave, yet another stellar performance and I'm so glad I was able to be there and support him.  Eric was able to bring myself, his parents, his brother, and my mom to the opening.  We we're really lucky that Dreamworks was so good to him.  Usually you get yourself and a guest.  The Opening Night Party was at Macy's in Downtown Chicago.  It's a super old Macy's that famously used to be Marshall Field's.  Very beautiful inside.  There is a huge Tiffany ceiling that is just gorgeous as well as the giant Macy's Shrek Parade balloon in the lobby for the special occasion.  Aunt Laurie came in and watched our 10 day old Sophie while I went to the show.  I fed Sophie just before I left for the theatre.   Only 10 days out, I could only very painfully express (over the course of a few days) enough milk for one feeding.  (Of course, read, after the fact, that many women don't have their milk come in for 2 wks after giving birth...aka me.  They often encourage pumping to jumpstart your milk coming in.)  Sophie didn't even walk up until I came home from the show.  As soon as it was over and we gave a huge standing ovation, I busted out of there and got a cab the few blocks back.  I could still not walk super well and surely not fast.  I came home just in the nick of time for her to be ready to eat.  I fed her and then Eric picked me up in a car and we headed to the party.  The timing was perfect, as it takes Eric about an hour to get out of make-up and then get dressed up, I was able to go the few blocks to our apt. and feed the baby.  When we got to the party, my mom left to go relieve Aunt Laurie.  I'm glad she got to see the awesome party though.  The top floor of Macy's was beautifully decorated with a huge Shrek cake at the entrance.  Eric and I were able to stay out for a while since my mom had a bottle to give Sophie and she is already sleeping 4 hr stints at night.  We enjoyed chatting with everyone and just being part of the overall excitement!  Eric's family left after the party and Eric and I joined the cast/crew at The Elephant Bar for an after party.   We did not last long, as I felt that my insides just might fall right out and we both were missing Sophie.

Sophie's First Doctor Visit

So, we just assumed we'd use the pediatrician that came to our hospital room.  NorthWestern is such a great hospital and whoever they used would be fine and we knew we'd have to search for the pediatrician of our dreams when we get back to NYC.  Well, turns out we couldn't get that doctor because he didn't have any openings when we needed him.  Luckily, there was a Dr. Marc Wiessbluth, who just had a cancellation and could fit us in.  Turns out that Dr. Wiessbluth wrote a NYTimes Best Selling book that was recommended to us by everyone (NY OBGYN,Chicago OBGYN, other parents.)  This guy was a guru.  The book is called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby."  Eric was most excited about his iPhone app.  This doctor took a special interest in us, as he happens to specialize in children whose parents are in the entertainment industry.  He visits NY and L.A., giving seminars to people just like us.  He knew exactly what he was dealing with the extremely intense work load on one or both parents for the length of a project and then the openness in time after the completion of said project.  We felt understood and that Sophie was in great hands.  We are following everything this Dr. says to the T.  Someone was looking out for us.

Cubs Game

We dressed up Soph in her finest Cubs gear and left her home.  Eric sang the National Anthem at The Cubs Game.  It was so awesome for him.  To be such a huge Cubs fan and from Chicago, it was really a dream come true for him.  I wouldn't have missed it.  It was a little tricky in that it was just a few days after I gave birth.  My mom stayed with Soph for a few hours while I went to hear him sing and then came straight back.  It was so stellar.  I totally had chills.

Baby's First Bath

Going Home

 Sophie and I were released from the hospital today, July 17.  This is Sophie's 3rd day in the world.  Eric has been at the theatre about 14 hours a day, since they are in previews.  He took a cab to the hospital last night, in order to sleep with Sophie and me.  So, this morning, Mia brought the car from home.  Well, as luck would have it, they were under staffed and over worked at the hospital today, so getting discharged was a project.  Unlike most people, who would try to stay as long as you can and get the most help out of your hospital experience, we needed to get home.  The clock was ticking.  If we didn't leave early, we wouldn't be able to get out 'til after midnight, meaning insurance stops paying for your visit and care.  We tried to begin checking out at 9 a.m. and didn't get checked out til after 11.  Eric was planning to drive us home and get to work by noon and Mia was helping with pulling the car around , holding on to massive heavy vases of flowers in the back and  making trips to the car with stuff we couldn't carry.  She was a life saver!  When we got down to the car, we realized they had forgotten to give us our prescription, so I walked back up through the guest entrance to find the doctor.  While she got the prescription situation fixed, Daddy was putting in the car seat and was helped by a certified trainer that happened by.  So, it actually worked out well that I had to go back.  Sophie could now have a safe ride home in her securely installed carseat.  Daddy was starting to run very short on time and started to cab it and then we decided to just drop him off at the theatre.  The valet looked at me like I had four heads, when she asked him to close the driver side door for me and then pulled away.  We picked up Eric one street away and dropped him at the theatre 20 minutes early!  Yay!  Mission Accomplished!  We didn't realize until we got home that I wasn't supposed to drive or pick anything up accept baby after giving birth.  Whoops.  All is well though.  We made it home and Daddy made it to work.  You will all be happy to know that Sophie's peeing and pooping regularly.  We are still figuring out breast feeding, but we must be doing something right to have a good amount of poopie!  These are the things that excite us now!  We will see a pediatrician this week to check our progress.  Everyone has informed us that it's no walk in the park, but we are up for the challenged.

Press Day

Sophie is a STAR!!!  With Eric starring in Shrek, Sophie got some press of her very own.  On her second morning in the world, Playbill.com, BroadwayWorld.com, TheatreMania.com, and ABC news in Chicago all released press on her birth and put Sophie in the news.  She had her own press shoot in the hospital room and a camera from a network to boot.  Sophie's only demands were that she be fed halfway through.  Later in the day, Sophie was visited by Haven, Denny, and David (Shrekies), and Leslie and Gene (New Yorkers), and Grandpa Petersen!

A Star Is Born!!!

All original due dates have come and gone.  At first they said July 13, then the 11th, then the 9th, then the 1st.  As each came and went, we thought we would just wait for the next.  Sophie was getting really big in there and I was getting really big right along with her.  Two weeks past due from what we thought, on July 14, Mommy had her first labor pains that seemed to be consistent.  At about noon , they seemed to be 1 hr apart and pretty dull cramping that came from around the lower back toward the front.  Eric, being in previews, had rehearsals all day and the show to do that night.  Since it was still very early and I wasn't sure it was true labor, I didn't want him to worry.  I went to Macy's with Mia (Grandmom Morabito) and Grandma Petersen, bought a birthday gift for my friend, Leslie and ate some yummy cupcakes to take my mind off of wondering if today was indeed the day.  The Petersens were going to eat and going to the show with friends that night.  By the time they left for dinner, my contractions were a regular 30 minutes apart and slightly more intense.  Now, I felt I knew that the time was truly approaching, but I knew she wouldn't come until Eric's show was over so I eagerly waited until he was done with his show, so he could celebrate the news of labor.  By the time Eric got home, around midnight, the contractions were a regular 10 minutes apart and bearable, but quite painful.  By 4 a.m., they were a textbook 5 minutes apart.  It was time to go to the hospital!!!  I asked Eric to check the hospital bag and make sure we had everything.  When he did, he found the IPad I got for him and was so thrilled.  What better new dad and show opening present is there to show off baby pics?  Besides a baby, of course.  So we headed for a cab.  Our cab driver informed us that we had the luck of catching the Serenading Cabby and proceeded to... well, serenade us with a song of what he called "Sweet Love."   Just when we thought he was just making up a wacky song, the back up track came in and he finished just as we rolled up to the hospital door.  We were admitted right away into triage.  It was a very busy night, so we didn't get into a room until 11:30 a.m.  By that time, contractions were 2 minutes apart and off the charts on the machine.  Baby was doing great, Mommy was in pain, and Daddy was doing a great job holding Mommy's hand and breathing.   Once in the delivery room, it still took another couple hours to get the epidural, but it did come and didn't hurt at all in light of the contraction pain.  From that point, things went really fast.  It seemed like one minute I was at 3 cm and the next minute I was at 9 cm.   At 5:12, Sophia Marie Petersen arrived in this world at 8lbs. 7oz, 20  and 1/2 inches.  She is perfect!!!  Mia, Grandma and Leslie Diamond were all there for the event along with Mommy and Daddy!

I Know It's Today.

Getting closer.  Things seem to be moving along, but there's really not a perfect gage.  Eric is in rehearsals for the show and I spend all that time trying to walk it out.  Good thing there are plenty of awesome places to walk in downtown Chicago., between the parks and the shopping.

Fireworks!!

4th of July!!!  Dreamworks took the cast of Shrek out on a dinner cruise to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier from Lake Michigan.  With no baby in sight, we decided to go.  Not without the slight fear that labor would ensue at the most inopportune time, but it did not and was an extremely fun night out with the cast, crew, creatives, and family of Shrek:The Musical.  What a good group of people.  This baby is going to have a lot of road family!

Who Pick-Pockets a pregnant lady?

Someone in the Shops at Nordstrom shopping center's food court.  That's who.  Walked to the shops with my mom, in hopes that a baby soon would be here.  Paid for my lunch with said wallet, went to the table and got myself situated.  My mom sat across from me, we bowed our heads and prayed, quickly ate and I went to pull out my card only to find my wallet was no longer in my purse.  That's ghetto, Chicago!  Robbing pregnant ladies is so last year.

Looking Good

Had our first OB appointment since the move to Chicago.  She says everything looks great and the cervix is completely closed.  Bummer!  In an ideal world, we would have arrived in Chicago, gone directly to the hospital, where we had a safe, quick, and easy delivery of a perfect baby Sophia.  Then we would begin our journey into a dream parenthood, where the baby just says what she wants and is a perfect angel.  No cry decoder required.