It Is Well

2008 has seemed like a long year. I suppose it's because of the change that has entered my life and the realization that the change will continue in 2009. I don't know about you, but I feel exhausted from all of it. I am so grateful for the birth of Luke and for the new friends I have made, but I am also eager to start a new year.

Christmas was good. M's mom made it in from Chicago without being stuck in the mess of the winter storms and it was nice having two grandmothers there. My brother seems to be doing ok and he was really great with Luke. He even tried to start guitar lessons.


In baby news, the NT scan went well. Everything looks good, although the baby was moving around a lot and we had to wait a little bit for the measurements. They gave us a preliminary guess about the gender, but we'll have to wait until January 22nd to know for sure. I was just relieved that everything looked good.

Something sort of odd happened this morning. I haven't needed the Zofran lately (thank goodness) but when I got up I got sick right away. I drank some water and as I was making Luke's bottles for the day, I started feeling like I was going to pass out. I have never fainted in my life, so when everything started going dark around the edges I got really scared. I lay down on the couch and then had to get up and run to the bathroom where threw up the water I just sipped. I did take some meds and feel much better now. Has anything like that ever happened to you? I know that pregnant people sometimes faint, but usually it's from getting up to fast, isn't it? Could I have a blood sugar issue? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Other that that random occurrence, things are really good. I have an old hymn running through my head this morning - "It is Well With My Soul". I hope that everyone finds some peace in their souls in 2009.

85 or Pregnant?

If you came into my house and looked through my cabinets you would be confused.

Benefiber
Colace
Prune Juice???

Are you 33 or 85? Well, lately, I have felt 85. My digestive system has come to a complete stand still. Complete. I don't want to get into too many details, but never let it be said that I was too embarrassed to ask the 16 year old "manager" at Walgreens to open up the locked display of stool softeners and laxatives. (Seriously, why is it locked? Do these things tend to walk off? Are they trying to cut down on the number of ex-lax pranks?) I would much rather be having a glass of wine, but prune juice does look like a nice red when you pour it into a wine glass.

Other than that, things seem to be progressing well. I have my NT scan tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing the baby again. I am a little nervous and hoping that everything is ok. Luckily, the coming insanity of the holidays is keeping me distracted. My MIL will be flying in from the great state of Illinois on Monday and we will travel to my parents house near Austin to celebrate the holiday. It will be a little different this year. The pending divorce of my brother will be on everyone's mind, I think, but hopefully Luke will be able to cheer everyone.

We didn't go too crazy with presents this year. Texas has not felt the crunch that other states have, but we are trying to be really careful, anyway. I had a minor panic attack when I thought about paying two daycare tuitions, but with the need for a new house, we still need the small amount of income I do bring in after paying for daycare. I know that we are very fortunate, though, which is why we have decided to really try to tighten our belts in case the worse happens.

If you aren't feeling the crunch economically, are you still being careful this year? I was curious about what others are doing in this economy.

Santa, Fevers and Snow

When I imagined having kids, I never really thought that much about Christmas. That seems strange, I know, since it's such a kid-centered holiday, but I never went and saw Santa when I was growing up, so it just didn't really enter my mind that there was a whole list of traditions that we are now obligated to participate in and, of course, document with photos. My company has its own Christmas fair and one of our employees plays Santa. It's a nice way to avoid the mall crowds. M and I took bets on how Luke would handle it. He did ok. He wasn't thrilled, but he didn't freak out. He was sceptical, though.


When I picked Luke up and out of his crib on Monday morning he felt hot. So, I dug out the thermometer and, sure enough, he had a fever. Not just any fever, his first fever. Combined with a cough that seemed to be getting worse, we took him to Dr. I for a little visit. Of course, there was only one Doctor there with a room full of walk-ins, but Luke did pretty well. Three hours later, we had a diagnosis of the very beginning of an ear infection and a scrip for some mild antibiotics. M stayed home with Luke since he has much more sick leave than I do and sent updates to my e-mail. Here he is, passed out on the floor after playing.

He was back at daycare today and very glad to see all of his friends, I'm sure. Everyone survived the first sickness. Only being sick once in nine months is pretty good for a baby. Hopefully, we can keep him healthy - at least until Christmas.

Last night we had the rare opportunity to see snow falling in our back yard. You may be confused because if you look to the right you will see that I am in Houston. Well, it snowed in Houston. It was nice to play Christmas music and actually see snow falling. Of course, M had to take some photos of our deck.....

...and there was just enough to make a little snowman.

Life is good. Luke is better, it snowed in Houston, and Zofran if allowing me to live a normal life again - puke free. What more could I ask for??

Clueless

Thanksgiving was a success. All of the food came out well and no one was poisoned. I did , however, manage to burn and cut the same finger. Injuries aside, everyone had fun and it was a really nice day. I'm not really feeling better so I'm going to ask for meds on Friday. I hate to do it, but I need some relief, you know?

When I was a teacher I heard this phrase at least once a day:

"You'll understand when you have kids."

It drove me nuts. I was usually complaining about a parents overreaction (in my opinion) to something and wished that everyone would just relax. I remembered this when I came home a few weeks ago and M said, "I wish you had been there because I never know how to react to these things." Luke's hand had a perfect set of teeth marks on it. According to the incident sheet, Luke grabbed a toy from another child and wouldn't let go, so he bit him. They said that Luke likes to play with the older (1 year old) boys. These boys have more than two teeth. I really didn't think it was that big of a deal, which surprised me. I always thought I was more of the freak out parent, but I actually chuckled. He was fine, the kids can't talk, the teacher felt terrible and the mom even stayed to apologize to M.

Yesterday, I got a call from daycare telling me that Luke fell and bumped his head. "It's a pretty big lump - maybe you should come and look at it." Being obsessive, first-time parents, M and I both went (we work very close to daycare) and it was a pretty big lump with a little scratch. He was standing on the other side of the exer-saucer and fell and bumped his head on the room divider. He has much more strength than coordination these days, so I wasn't surprised. It was the afternoon and he was so happy to see us that we took him home and played with him for the rest of the day for "observation".

The thing is, I don't worry about him bumping his head as much as I worry about the future. Maybe I should be more worried about direct physical threats, but, as hard as I try, I can't obsess about every little thing. I worry about the bigger issues. Will he be happy? Will I be able to keep him from a diet of 100% junk food? The minor head bumps seem small in comparison to the general life issues that worry me. Of course, these are the things that I really can't control.

I guess I feel that as long as we are a family unit, we can deal with any bumps and bruises that come along. I know that is incredibly naive, but I am ok with it. It helps me sleep at night.