Nov. 9, 2009 - Mikey and me
Thanks for all the well wishes, everybody! We are very glad to have Mikey home--though the folks to tend to you, bring you food, the two parents to one kid ratio of our hospital stay were all wonderful. Our town being what it is (snooty, rich, pretentious), I even got a couple of shoulder massages from the baby/mother ward roaming masseuse.
The baby is a good eater and obviously is thriving. We go for a weigh in on Wednesday. He dropped about a half pound in the hospital, but turned it around and began a little gain just before we left. I suspect he may well be back up to birth weight by the time of our weigh in.
Like most newborns, he has his days and nights screwed up, so 11p-5a is his most active/restless time but he is pretty zonked 9am-1pm ish. Seems like it took all of our kids about 8 or 9 weeks to turn that around. We have formal baby pics tomorrow, but really, just look at any of our prior boy pics. Mikey's closest to the Nathan iteration, though with a bit more hair and in a copper color. We'll see if that sticks around.
I finally figured out how to get things done--having my IV pulled the same day of surgery rather than the next morning, ordering up just the right proactive meds and measures to make sure all my systems are up and running in this first week or so post-op, good pain management regime. Hard won experience all for naught, apparently, as the ob says he would "wholeheartedly support" me not having any more kids and if I chose to, we'd have to have a "long conversation" about all the risks. I could definitely tell while in the OR that this C-section was different--and not in a good way--and ob confirmed that internal scarring from all the other sections makes another pregnancy ill-advised. He even said it is "pretty uncommon" for him to make that recommendation based on what they encounter during a C-section, so I take it I am a mess. Which should be pretty easy to accept when one is 42 and blessed with five healthy kids, but it still resonates as a loss to me. Not a go sob silently in the bathroom for hours type of loss, but a bigger one than "rats." Mr. Wonderful has had the good sense not to make a display of his probable relief upon hearing the same news.
That's all the news fit to print, and all the time to print it as we close in the end of the first week with Mikey.
Blessings, Holly
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Sep. 15, 2009 - Who Knew?
I was beaching my gigantic belly on the couch and drooling on a pillow after our field trip this morning and assigning the three and half year old princess some tasks to keep her busy while I dozed in two minute increments.
She came back for another "job" after coloring a pretty picture and I said "Why don't you sign your name on the back?"
Now, mind you, I've never shown this kid how to make letters, except A and O a few months back. And it's not like her name is short; it contains 8 letters.
She trotted off and I thought I might get a three minute doze.
Wrong. She promptly returned with a perfectly spelled, left to right. One letter was backward, but still.
Who knew?
Blessings, Holly
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Sep. 8, 2009 - No wonder he's hungry.
Eldest son has always been a good eater. But within the past several months, he has become a ravenous eater, to the point where I find myself thinking, "What massive quantity of cheap, healthy carbohydrates can I serve with what used to be our regular dinner?" He often eats two complete meals at one sitting and it's neck and neck as to whether the teenage boy or the pregnant mama can pack more away.
Today I found out why. The kid has grown 4 and a quarter inches in the past year and put on 16-20 pounds. Not that he's breakin' any records; he is still just 30th percentile in height (and even less in weight). But last year, by way of comparison, he was 15th percentile in height...which was an improvement over the 5-10th percentile he had hovered around for many years.
I now understand why it seems like he went from size 12 to 16-18, with nary a stop at 14. Because that's exactly what he did.
Thing 2, who put on a respectable 2 and a quarter inches, is green with envy.
Blessings, Holly
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Sep. 8, 2009 - Priceless Princess
Today on our stroller ride, we passed two ladies. One lady had on the traditional Muslim hijab.
Caroline delightedly and loudly exclaimed, "Oh, look, mommy! I sink (Caroline always 'sinks' never "thinks") one of those ladies is a super hero!"
Blessings,
Holly
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Sep. 4, 2009 - So I kinda think Jesus might have made a mistake.
No, not really of course. My posse tends to get mighty riled by statements like that, so I need to put forth the immediate disclaimer.
But if the Almighty really wanted companionship that last night before the cross, perhaps he should have done better than to pick a bunch of men as his disciples. Nothing against men, mind you. I want it on the record that I have corrected my three year old princess a time or two when she innocently declares, "Boys grow up to be men and girls grow up to be grown-ups."
All Jesus really needed that last night was one pregnant woman.
"What's that you say, Chief? You want me to stay up and pray and keep you company? No prob-lemo. Ain't no sleepin' going on here. I gotta pee, my joints ache, I'm all stuffed up and can't breathe....oh, yes, quite right. Yes, sure does pale in comparison. Right-o. Sorry about that. I'll just be right here--not sleepin'--praying for you. Except, of course, it's slipped my mind exactly what I'm to be praying? Oh, yeah, right right. I'm just a little absent minded..."
Having completed my own third watch of the night, I wish I could actually claim to have made spiritual progress. But I would have been just as lousy as all those men were for Christ. My own third watch contained:
Worrying if I could get back to sleep (negative).
Worrying if I was totally screwing up registration for 400 AWANA kids (probably affirmative).
Sending some emails to try to stave off said screwing up.
Reading blog of fellow mom/homeschooler/pregnant old lady complaining about the associated physical annoyances of the third trimester (noted irony of doing so to self since self is only one up in the household).
Reading the NY Times headlines. Reading the WSJ headlines. Noted to self (see above) that if pregnancy actually allowed for any short or long term memory process to occur, I'd be a decently informed citizen.
Running the dishwasher.
Folding a load of laundry.
Balancing the checkbook.
Making lunches for the first day of homeschool co-op.
Having a cup of tea.
Writing a blog post to at least attempt to find the humor in not getting sleep. Remembered the Suburban Diva's comment after giving birth to her fourth that "sleep is for rookies."
Deciding to give sleep another go around and see if bladder/joints/insomnia/other pregnancy maladies would let a gal catch a break (probably negative).
Blessings,
Holly
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Aug. 23, 2009 - Cruel Joke
Only a male designer could possibly have come up with the recommendation so often seen on maternity clothes labels and in maternity shops:
Try on your normal prepregnancy size.
Um, yeah. Sure. Right.
Blessings, Holly
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Jul. 26, 2009 - And I thought I was being rather stoic.
Why does every person greet a pregnant lady with a "How are you feeling?"
There is no good answer to that question. It is not a nice or solicitous question to the pregnant one. Trust me on this. To a pregnant lady, complete with pregnant hormones, this inquiry is nothing short of an all-out taunt. My heart is sideways in my chest. My blood volume has doubled. My intestines are pushed way up past my belly button. How do you imagine I feel? A whole range of ungodly though wickedly funny replies play through my head as I struggle to compose a socially acceptable response that is neither an outright lie nor the litany of complaint that no one, not even me, really wants to hear.
I was beginning to sputter out a reply to one well-intentioned inquiry this evening. "Oh, well, you know, I guess pretty good..." when Mr. Wonderful cut me off, "She's miserable," he told the person. Which when it comes from your husband sounds solicitous of his wife and yet subtly conveys the idiocy of the question. How would one expect a person who looks like a Macy's Day parade balloon to feel, afterall?
Too bad the fella has to work for a living as I would love to have him around as my spokesperson on a full-time basis.
Blessings, Holly
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Jul. 7, 2009 - The Indignities of Pregnancy.
I am bound and determined to keep this pregnancy under 200 pounds. You snort, but I have shattered this mark often with the other kids. How a fairly normal sized person blows up to such great proportions, I don't know. It just is. As I had achieved Total Hottie Status--dedicated readers will recognize that as the weight at which I married Mr. Wonderful lo these 18 years ago--just prior to this pregnancy, I think I have middlin' chance of success.
To that end, I jogged and joggled my ever expanding belly around the neighborhood for 18 weeks. For the past four, I've transitioned into walking and waddling it around.
This past week, a new indignity struck. I couldn't waddle 30 minutes without needing a potty break. Thank goodness, the centrally located elementary school is open and has an accommodating secretary who lets me hit the loo.
Still, something a tad humiliating with having to pop your head in the office and say, "It's me, the preganant lady. Can I use your bathroom?"
Today, it finally occurred to me to secure future permission. "I think this may happen a lot this summer. If you see me buzz in, can I just go to the restroom without coming to the office first each time?"
While I may have to pee in the first grade potty, at least I no longer feel like a first grader by having to ask to do so.
Blessings, Holly
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May. 13, 2009 - Good Enough for Mr. Wonderful?
I wonder if my honey gives in to requests such as the one I just received from the three year old princess: "May I please have a piece of chocolate just because I'm cute?" Methinks he might. Softie. Everyone knows you have to be pregnant to get chocolate around here.
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 29, 2009 - Mark the day.
12 weeks pregnant. That's still first trimester. And this week I donned maternity clothes. Sad, isn't it? Yet so comfy.
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 8, 2009 - Step Away from the Pregnant Lady
I may have to stop reading for the duration of my pregnancy. I am not certain how much longer I can continue to read tripe such as this full, complete and only quotation from this chick in a Chicago Tribune article entitled Backlash hints at big-family TV (Sunday's print edition):
"People are starting to question if portraying large families in a positive way is responsible," said Patricia A. Williamson, assistant professor at the School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts at Central Michigan University.
Now, had her comments been specific to showcasing huge litters produced by reckless fertility docs who ignore best standards of practice, I could perhaps understand it. But her comment is about large families in general, unless the Trib deliberately twisted or misquoted her.
I'm not in the finest of moods anyway, but this one really makes me want to kick someone.
Blessings, Holly
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Mar. 30, 2009 - Never Mind that my own mother sent me
to walk to the store for salad dressing ON MY OWN at age 7. It was the '70s. Nuff said.
I have just sent DS13 and DS11, on their own, to the Walgreens for me. Never mind that I drew them a map and sent them with my cell phone . Never mind that they can get there entirely through our neighborhood, cutting through a fence behind Walgreens with a hole expressly for that purpose. Never mind that it is less than a mile away. It's still a big deal. To them too, apparently, as DS13 said, "Wow. I feel important."
Blessings, Holly
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Dec. 29, 2008 - How Can That Be?
My favorite Christmas '08 memory:
The bigger and louder kids had flown downstairs to try out the new Wii. The princess, age nearly 3, sat on the couch closely examining her gift from her biggest brother. Everyone should have a biggest brother of the variety that the Princess does. I did and it makes all the difference.
She examined quite seriously all aspects of her Beanie Baby Pegasus. She touched all the parts and then wondered very softly to herself, "A horse with wings. How can that be?"
Blessings, Holly
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Oct. 5, 2008 - Is it just me or
does anyone else feel like a bad caricature of themselves upon entering a Whole Foods market? Why, yes, I do believe I am a pretentious fool apt to overpay for green, low carbon footprint food. Yuppiedom for those of us who weren't quite grown up or well off enough for the '80s yuppie craze.
However, it's the grocery store I can get in and out of while 3 of my 4 kids are at homeschool co-op and I can get back in time for pick-up. And the princess (DD 2.5) LOVES the free stickers, free samples and free lollipop. Organic lollipop, natch.
I do prefer homeschool band day to homeschool co-op day. On band day, I can skid into and out of Aldi grocery while two of the four are tooting their own horns. I am much more myself in Aldi. Why, yes, I do believe I am essentially a frugal budgeter apt to bag my own groceries and forego brand names to save a buck.
Mr. Wonderful would say these choices reflect a schizophrenic bent within me, but anyone who has ever shopped with four children realizes that the only sane action is to shop where ever and when ever one can with the minimum number of kids in tow.
Blessings, Holly
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Sep. 8, 2008 - Really? Peel and stick family situations aren't great for kids?
In the "did we really need a study to show this" category, the latest research shows living with step-siblings has a negative school impact on kids. Go figure. And that negative impact may actually grow over time, not get better. Shocking, right? Why do we need studies on what everyone used to know to be true? Dr. Laura mentioned the study on her blog today and I found this link about it:
http://www.fsu.com/pages/2008/04/22/tillman_study.html
Blessings, Holly
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Sep. 7, 2008 - On a lighter but grosser note...
After N (11) gagged up his sauerkraut several times tonight at dinner, I
decided to give him a reprieve but told him he got nothing else to eat
tonight.
"Me too, Mom?" baby C (2.5) asked.
Now, she didn't eat everything either but she never does. "Well,
C. You ate most of your dinner."
"I hate my dinner, Mom?"
"No, C, you ATE your dinner."
"No, Mom," she said equally carefully, "I HATE my dinner. I HATE it.
Ok, Mom?"
OK, C. I guess I won't be serving sauerkraut again any time
soon.
Blessings, Holly
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Sep. 5, 2008 - Mark the Date. PTL.
Date we moved: June 20, 2007.
Today's date: September 5, 2008.
Eldest son today finally proclaimed that he now feels he has enough friends here to not want to move back to Ohio.
Only those who have had a lonely kid will fully appreciate the magnitude of his statement and the relief this mommy feels.
He does still want to bend the space/time fabric so that his Ohio friends could live by him here though. Fair enough.
Blessings, Holly
