DINK Woman Walking and other musings

I felt like Sean Penn in the movie, "Dead Man Walking," except I wasn't headed to a lethal injection.

I was headed to a c-section. For whatever reason, the hospital staff makes you walk to your surgery. I found that funny, as they insist you ride out of the hospital in a wheelchair. I was told at 12 noon on March 5th that I would be needing a c-section, so I had 5 hours to sit and think about my last few moments as a DINK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DINKY).

When my sister and I arrived at the hospital room, we flicked on the television. She began to channel surf--but the first channel we came to had Little House on the Prairie. A staple in my television viewing, I insisted no further surfing was necessary--this was the channel to view. As it turned out, the plot line centered on Mary Ingalls giving birth. My sister and I found this pretty entertaining. Mary's water broke and she summoned Adam to get a doctor. 2 minutes later they cut to her holding the baby. They didn't even have the labor scenes....maybe those were not allowed in the 70's....

It was strange to sit there and know that there was a known time-line to this big transition in my life. I had not expected to know the "day and hour." I had been prepared for a natural birth and thought that it would happen at any moment. But, God is perfect and His timing is perfect. And so, as 5 o'clock neared, I tried to embrace the last moments of my old self-centered life and looked forward to the new (who are we kidding, the new life will still involves self-centeredness, but there is a huge chunk of myself that will be dedicated to another person).

I trudged into the surgery room, where they make you lie down on a table very similar to the one that Sean Penn spreads his arms on in the movie (at least that is how my dramatic mind remembers it). Your arms are spread wide, the blue sheet comes up, and the doctors go to work.


It feels strange as the drugs do their thing and you try to remain as alert as possible so that you can try to enjoy as much as possible the arrival of the baby. Looking back on the experience, this was the hardest part for me. My hands were numb so when they put our son on my chest, I couldn't feel his body. I do remember thinking, "he is cute." I am not sure what I was expecting--I just remember thinking that he was pretty good looking for a newborn. I wonder if all moms think this?


I watched my husband and my mom look at him and take pictures. And then they whisked him away to give baby P a bath and the other stuff.

It is great to be out of the hospital now and transition into our new phase of life. Baby P is the model baby thus far. He cries, sleeps, and eats when he is supposed to. We are so blessed. I don't deserve such a perfect baby. I am so thankful for God's protective hand on Baby P in the womb.

We have been having a great time studying God's handiwork. M was very excited to see that their hands had the same unusual line on their palms.

I'm already enjoyed my new job even more than I could have imagined. It can be challenging, but I am finally understanding everyone's comments about parenthood.

I feel honored to be Baby P's mother and I hope that I can do all that God has called me to do in raising him.

Speaking of which, today we baptized him at church. It was a wonderful and energy-depleting day all rolled into one. I was so nervous as to how things would go--the feedings, the changing, getting into and out of the car. I tried to enjoy the actual event as much as possible.

It was also really nice to have some of the same people that were at our wedding attend the baptism. They are all such special friends to us.

So, I will try to be more faithful in posting.

A++++++++++++++

I passed my glucose test!! All four of my blood draws were way below the maximum level of 140. I am pretty relieved.

Did You Feel the Earthquake?

Last night, I turned over in bed. Next thing I know, Mike is sitting straight up, ready to bolt out of bed, yelling, "EARTHQUAKE!!!"

I assured him that it was not the Big One, only his big wife rolling over in bed. In a stupor, he said, "Are you SURE?" I reassured him and then began to giggle. He told me to "SHH!!" and that he was "glad that he could entertain me."

Of course, he didn't remember a thing this morning when I asked him about it.

F

I failed the glucose test. So now I get to go back for a three hour test on December 14th at 7:30AM. I get to drink the Orange Drink again and get my blood drawn 2 or 3 times during a 3 hour period. And I can't eat anything after midnight until the test is over.

The Orange Drink

The "Orange Drink" used to be me and my dad's favorite thing to have when we I was a kid and he would take me to McDonald's.

This "Orange Drink".....not so much. It did end up tasting a lot like the McDonald's version, except it was carbonated. I had to take it today to check to see if my glucose levels are normal/whether or not I have gestational diabetes. After watching KP during her pregnancy with H, I definitely am hoping I DO NOT have this.

Many pregnant buddies gave me all these tips on how to "pass" the test. Mike convinced me that I needed to just eat how I normally do, because--"Don't you want to know if you have it?" Yeah, yeah....he is right...so I just ate pretty normal--but tried to not down a ton of fruit or other sugary things 24 hours before....Hopefully I will pass with flying colors...Now back to the Pecan Pie leftovers in the fridge...

old friends, new friends

Old friends are great. B and I have been friends since 7th grade. We met in math class, 1st period. I asked to borrow her calculator and the rest was history. I never thought we would be pregnant at the same time. It is pretty fun to go through this experience with someone that you have known for so long. At the same time, I wish that we weren't so I could help her a lot more.

Tonight, B and her husband came over for dinner. It was fun to trade stories of what we had all been experiencing. And super comforting to know that someone else out there was going through the same thing.

She definitely has more food cravings than I do. I guess she wakes up at 2 am and wants to eat.

It was fun to talk about our kids becoming friends also. I am excited! (I know...shocking...me, showing excitement).

Evil Smooth Edge Can Opener and other thoughts

I know, I know....what a lame blogger I am. I haven't posted in quite some time. Not much to report other than to say that the 2nd trimester is going much better. In fact, it is almost coming to an end. I will have to post a recap of it later.

Tonight I am ranting about the Smooth Edge Can Opener from Pampered Chef. Let me preface this by stating that I love Pampered Chef and own many, many, many items. I have never been dissatisfied...until I bought their can opener. Apparently you need a PhD to use it. I have yet to open a single can--I have excelled at denting quite a few. Here is a picture of the culprit:




A few weeks ago, I was trying to make some chili. I forgot about the can opener and didn't realize my issue until I had to open 5 or 6 cans of stuff. I tried several times to use the thing, looked up information on the internet and I couldn't figure it out. I finally succumbed and asked my neighbor Barry for his can opener. He said that my request to borrow said kitchen utensil was the "strangest request" he had ever received. Duly noted.

I went back with Barry's can opener and happily opened my 5 or 6 cans. I rushed it back to him....only to realize I had missed a couple more cans! I was too proud to go back to ask for the can opener again, so I zipped over to Rite Aid and picked up a can opener for about $5. This one worked good enough.....oh well. Maybe you can only take the idea of being a Pampered Chef so far....