So, last week I posted 5 posts right in a row. You couldn’t shut me up. This week I can barely get 2 words out.
The hormones have clearly set in. On Thursday a strawberry milkshake made me cry. I ordered chocolate, and to hide strawberry underneath and ruin half my milkshake is just inexcusable. Also – when I say I’m done with doing something, I mean I’m done. Don’t push me for another minute, I’m done, I told you that. And thinking of something else for me to do that requires work or movement or stair climbing, well – that’s not cool either. And I might just have a tantrum if you’re not careful.
I spent a couple hours on Saturday at Dream Dinners with Cindy. While we might not be quite ready for this baby, at least our freezer is. We haven’t tried any of our meals yet, but they all looked and smelled really good while I was preparing them. As soon as we eat them, I’m going to decide on whether to make that a normal thing. I think the best part of the whole thing is that I didn’t have to chop anything, and everything I needed for each recipe was right there.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Barring any strange circumstances
When it’s time to go to the hospital – people will be called. Not before then – I do not need people checking up on me while I’m laboring at home, thank you very much.
We are pre-registered, so we will arrive at the hospital and go directly to the labor and delivery floor (3rd floor). If you come in the very front entrance of the hospital and take a right, follow that hall around (a couple turns) you will “T” into elevators, and go to the 3rd floor. There is a waiting room just outside those elevators on that floor. Clint will check that waiting room from time to time – as you cannot get back into L&D without a visitor pass.
We will settle into the first room, where I am only allowed 3 visitors at a time (including Clint). I can’t imagine wanting to see anyone but Clint at that point, but we’ll see how that goes – and at some point, I KNOW I will not want anyone in there but Clint. I also won’t want him out of my sight for very long, so the waiting room is about as far as he’s going to get to go, I’ll put him on a leash if I have to.
I will be in the first room for labor, delivery, and recovery. After the baby is born, I will stay in that room with him for 1 ½ - 2 hours, and then they will move me to the post partum room and him to the transition nursery – where he will get his tests done, and a bath. He will be under a nurse’s care from birth (including the 1 ½ -2 hours with me) until he’s 4 hours old, and then he can be brought to my room. The transition nursery is on the 4th floor and has gray trimmed windows. You will be able to see him through the windows. Any cheek pinching and commencing of spoiling will have to wait until he is brought to my room.
Things you should know if you’re coming to visit us at the hospital:
- Parking costs money
- There is valet parking available
- The cafeteria only takes cash
- The waiting room is small (and on Saturday it was crowded)
- If you make a single peep about when I’m going to have the next one, I will throw you out a window
Childbirth class
This past Saturday we signed up for the fast track childbirth class…what a bummer when we discovered that taking the fast track child birth class does not insure you a fast track child birth, but just that the class is fast track. When I win the lottery, if I ever feel the need to give a donation to a hospital I think I might donate 20 recliners for the child birth classes.
The packet said to take the class by your 36th week – which ours is fast approaching, so I thought we might be the most pregnant couple there, but as it turns out, there were a quite a few women due a week or so before me. And the teacher said she normally has at least one who is due next week. We didn’t have any of those. No one was due at least until September, and one as late as November. Most falling in September and October.
Lots of info was presented – mostly stuff we knew. We got some helpful suggestions, and a justification for my package of popsicles purchased on Sunday. We found out that the hospital breakfast is cheap, if bland. The valet service is 24 hours. I need 2 bags packed. I will change rooms once. Clint had a hard time concentrating on the breathing portion, and dubbed it “dyslexic donkey breathing.” (Hah-hee, hah-hee, hah-hee, hah-hee)
And, at least I know if I say something like “That doesn’t even look like a baby.” My quote will not forever be memorialized in film for all child birth class people to see. There will be NO camera equipment of any kind in that room.
Oh and one more lesson learned…do not attend an 8 hour class after having had a cyst removed from your back on the day prior – it’s just plain uncomfortable.
The packet said to take the class by your 36th week – which ours is fast approaching, so I thought we might be the most pregnant couple there, but as it turns out, there were a quite a few women due a week or so before me. And the teacher said she normally has at least one who is due next week. We didn’t have any of those. No one was due at least until September, and one as late as November. Most falling in September and October.
Lots of info was presented – mostly stuff we knew. We got some helpful suggestions, and a justification for my package of popsicles purchased on Sunday. We found out that the hospital breakfast is cheap, if bland. The valet service is 24 hours. I need 2 bags packed. I will change rooms once. Clint had a hard time concentrating on the breathing portion, and dubbed it “dyslexic donkey breathing.” (Hah-hee, hah-hee, hah-hee, hah-hee)
And, at least I know if I say something like “That doesn’t even look like a baby.” My quote will not forever be memorialized in film for all child birth class people to see. There will be NO camera equipment of any kind in that room.
Oh and one more lesson learned…do not attend an 8 hour class after having had a cyst removed from your back on the day prior – it’s just plain uncomfortable.
Canine OCD?
We put the Pack’n’Play/Bassinet together on Sunday. It fits perfectly where we planned to put it in our room (minus the changing table part, which – ehh – I don’t feel like I really need). The color matches our room perfectly. The extra parts fit neatly under the bassinet part inside the play pen part – keeping it in one tidy little spot. It plays music, it plays nature sounds, it vibrates, and it has a timer that you can set for 5, 10 or 15 minutes…all things I didn’t really notice about it when we registered for it, cause we picked it for the colors.
We went ahead and set it up now, because Scarlett has a touch of OCD. She likes things to be in their place. She will nudge stuff with her head repeatedly if it’s not where it belongs, as if to say “Hey, this? This does NOT belong here. Are you going to put this up? Why would you leave this here? It SO does NOT go here.” We want her to get that out of her system for the stuff, before we come in with an actual baby.
She tried to help us put it together, but Clint kept telling her to “back-it-up.” And she obliged, by taking one step back and sitting, for a minute and then got back up to try and help. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nothing like having an audience for putting stuff together. Once in position, she seemed ok with it being there, but needed to see what was in it. She stood very close to the mesh and peered into the side of it. Then she took a position at the foot of the bed to see if she could look in from the top. She spent the next hour or so not leaving Clint’s side, and pouting. We told her she was not being replaced and that we were just adding on. As the day went on, she seemed to be much better.
Setting up the bassinet this early was supposed to be for the dog. But as we wrapped up the process, Clint said “This kind of makes it sink in, we’re having a baby.” I guess we’re all in a little bit of denial.
We went ahead and set it up now, because Scarlett has a touch of OCD. She likes things to be in their place. She will nudge stuff with her head repeatedly if it’s not where it belongs, as if to say “Hey, this? This does NOT belong here. Are you going to put this up? Why would you leave this here? It SO does NOT go here.” We want her to get that out of her system for the stuff, before we come in with an actual baby.
She tried to help us put it together, but Clint kept telling her to “back-it-up.” And she obliged, by taking one step back and sitting, for a minute and then got back up to try and help. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nothing like having an audience for putting stuff together. Once in position, she seemed ok with it being there, but needed to see what was in it. She stood very close to the mesh and peered into the side of it. Then she took a position at the foot of the bed to see if she could look in from the top. She spent the next hour or so not leaving Clint’s side, and pouting. We told her she was not being replaced and that we were just adding on. As the day went on, she seemed to be much better.
Setting up the bassinet this early was supposed to be for the dog. But as we wrapped up the process, Clint said “This kind of makes it sink in, we’re having a baby.” I guess we’re all in a little bit of denial.
Belly Shot – Week 35
What? You thought I would remember/have the energy to actually give a weekly belly shot? HAHAHAHAHA.
The latest Belly Shot is on Flickr.
The latest Belly Shot is on Flickr.
Farewell Cletus
I will post some pictures tomorrow maybe...blogger's picture uploading thing isn't working. In the mean time, I did upload them to Flickr, so beware - they're not pretty.
This time, knowing what we knew from last time, we were on the look-out for a changed appointment time. Clinton’s scheduled appointment for Friday was at 1:30. We got a call on Wednesday – could we come at 2:30? Sure. We got another call at 5:02 on Thursday (on Clint’s work phone), could we come at 1:00? So, apparently when you schedule an appointment with this doctor, you’re really only picking a day, not a time.
We got there at 12:55, there was another person in the waiting room with her mom and then a flood of like 4 more patients came in. They scheduled everyone for 1:00. Doesn’t seem very efficient, but ok. So the girl and her mom get called back, and then Clinton gets called back.
They laid him out in the room and had him take his shirt off. The nurse wiped his back with antiseptic and then took a bar towel-like thing and cut a hole in it to lay over the cyst. She actually cut 2 holes instead of 1 and instead of trying again, wadded it up on the counter and left the room.
Clint fell asleep on the table a few times. We heard out in the hallway, the doctor telling someone to go to the hospital immediately. “Just go straight to the hospital.” “No, you need to go straight there.” That’s a little disconcerting.
The doctor came in at about 1:30 and asked if we had any questions. He knows how to fold a bar towel and successfully cut only 1 hole in the one he was working on. He told Clint he would feel a stick and some burning. He injected some lidocaine in various spots around the cyst. He admired that Clint didn’t even flinch for the stick. He waited a couple minutes for the lidocaine to take effect. The area got all weird and puffy – like cauliflower - and he started cutting. He said “Wow, that’s bigger than I thought it was.” And after hearing about someone else having gone in to have a cyst removed and it was the size of 2 golf balls, that was a little scary. But within about 30 seconds (and one trip to the other side of the table to cut a little further) the cyst was out. It looked like a gumball or a more round peanut M&M - after you suck all the color and flavor off of it and it’s white…about a ½ inch diameter. Kind of shiny.
Clint asked what caused it, and the Doctor tried to blame me “Too much fat in your diet, your wife is feeding you too well.” “Hey, he had that when I got him, so that’s his Mom!” “No, I’m kidding, they don’t really know what causes them, but it’s good to have it removed, because they get bigger and bigger and can get infected.”
The doctor stitched him up. He has 4 or 5 stitches total, one painful stitch off the end of the cut and we were out of there by 1:45. He goes back next week to have the stitches removed.
His incision is still hurting him today, but it looks better and better.
Hasta la vista, Cletus!
Before
After
This time, knowing what we knew from last time, we were on the look-out for a changed appointment time. Clinton’s scheduled appointment for Friday was at 1:30. We got a call on Wednesday – could we come at 2:30? Sure. We got another call at 5:02 on Thursday (on Clint’s work phone), could we come at 1:00? So, apparently when you schedule an appointment with this doctor, you’re really only picking a day, not a time.
We got there at 12:55, there was another person in the waiting room with her mom and then a flood of like 4 more patients came in. They scheduled everyone for 1:00. Doesn’t seem very efficient, but ok. So the girl and her mom get called back, and then Clinton gets called back.
They laid him out in the room and had him take his shirt off. The nurse wiped his back with antiseptic and then took a bar towel-like thing and cut a hole in it to lay over the cyst. She actually cut 2 holes instead of 1 and instead of trying again, wadded it up on the counter and left the room.
Clint fell asleep on the table a few times. We heard out in the hallway, the doctor telling someone to go to the hospital immediately. “Just go straight to the hospital.” “No, you need to go straight there.” That’s a little disconcerting.
The doctor came in at about 1:30 and asked if we had any questions. He knows how to fold a bar towel and successfully cut only 1 hole in the one he was working on. He told Clint he would feel a stick and some burning. He injected some lidocaine in various spots around the cyst. He admired that Clint didn’t even flinch for the stick. He waited a couple minutes for the lidocaine to take effect. The area got all weird and puffy – like cauliflower - and he started cutting. He said “Wow, that’s bigger than I thought it was.” And after hearing about someone else having gone in to have a cyst removed and it was the size of 2 golf balls, that was a little scary. But within about 30 seconds (and one trip to the other side of the table to cut a little further) the cyst was out. It looked like a gumball or a more round peanut M&M - after you suck all the color and flavor off of it and it’s white…about a ½ inch diameter. Kind of shiny.
Clint asked what caused it, and the Doctor tried to blame me “Too much fat in your diet, your wife is feeding you too well.” “Hey, he had that when I got him, so that’s his Mom!” “No, I’m kidding, they don’t really know what causes them, but it’s good to have it removed, because they get bigger and bigger and can get infected.”
The doctor stitched him up. He has 4 or 5 stitches total, one painful stitch off the end of the cut and we were out of there by 1:45. He goes back next week to have the stitches removed.
His incision is still hurting him today, but it looks better and better.
Hasta la vista, Cletus!
Before
After
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Enter Miserable, Stage Left.
Where did my weekend go? Oh that’s right – I managed to pile 10,000 things in one weekend, thereby creating the illusion of never actually getting a weekend.
My baby shower was great – I got to see a lot of people I hadn’t seen in quite a while. I brought my camera in and set it down and never touched it again…so I have no pictures. We now have a great store of diapers…I’m told the 1,325,458 diapers we got might last us a week!
And then…I got asked the question…“Are you miserable yet?” WHY HAVE I NOT LEARNED MY LESSON YET! When asked if I am experiencing something horrific, I say “Nope, not yet.” And within 2 days BOOM…there it is. So thanks to my big yapper – I am now miserable.
I am winded by climbing one flight of stairs. Not even the industrial flight at work – the one at home. So much so, that I don’t go upstairs if I can avoid it. I had to physically recover from going upstairs this morning because someone we know took her crate toy up to the guest bed to play with, and I can’t leave her in her crate all day without a toy. It took me twice as long as normal to walk in to my office from my truck today, and then about 20 minutes and a cool paper towel on my forehead to recover from that. It’s like I have the flu or something, but I don’t have a fever or congestion…just the fatigue. Up until this point I did not see the point of those “Expecting Mom” parking spaces – I do now and I will be taking full advantage of them.
At least I intend to take full advantage of them. As I pulled up to Krogers this afternoon, the expectant mom space was occupied, and I pulled around to try and find another close space and I saw the person getting into the car, and I thought I'd just whip around and get it on my next lap. I was beat by a man who parked there. I hope he has a really hard labor!
My baby shower was great – I got to see a lot of people I hadn’t seen in quite a while. I brought my camera in and set it down and never touched it again…so I have no pictures. We now have a great store of diapers…I’m told the 1,325,458 diapers we got might last us a week!
And then…I got asked the question…“Are you miserable yet?” WHY HAVE I NOT LEARNED MY LESSON YET! When asked if I am experiencing something horrific, I say “Nope, not yet.” And within 2 days BOOM…there it is. So thanks to my big yapper – I am now miserable.
I am winded by climbing one flight of stairs. Not even the industrial flight at work – the one at home. So much so, that I don’t go upstairs if I can avoid it. I had to physically recover from going upstairs this morning because someone we know took her crate toy up to the guest bed to play with, and I can’t leave her in her crate all day without a toy. It took me twice as long as normal to walk in to my office from my truck today, and then about 20 minutes and a cool paper towel on my forehead to recover from that. It’s like I have the flu or something, but I don’t have a fever or congestion…just the fatigue. Up until this point I did not see the point of those “Expecting Mom” parking spaces – I do now and I will be taking full advantage of them.
At least I intend to take full advantage of them. As I pulled up to Krogers this afternoon, the expectant mom space was occupied, and I pulled around to try and find another close space and I saw the person getting into the car, and I thought I'd just whip around and get it on my next lap. I was beat by a man who parked there. I hope he has a really hard labor!
Friday, August 04, 2006
Writer's Block
I know it's been longer than a week since my last post.
I write a lot of posts that never go up here. I write them, and I sit on them for a day or two. Sometimes I continue working on them, editing them and eventually I get to where I feel they are presentable and I post them. Or I pronounce them to be crap and don’t touch them again.
What it means for you is that you don’t have to read crappy posts about things you don’t care about, or maybe you miss out on the story where I spilled my pee down the sink at my last doctor’s visit. (I should be able to make that story funny, but it just doesn’t seem that funny when I read what I wrote.) What it also means for you is that you have a long time to wait between posts. Hopefully as I do this more I will get better at it.
I write a lot of posts that never go up here. I write them, and I sit on them for a day or two. Sometimes I continue working on them, editing them and eventually I get to where I feel they are presentable and I post them. Or I pronounce them to be crap and don’t touch them again.
What it means for you is that you don’t have to read crappy posts about things you don’t care about, or maybe you miss out on the story where I spilled my pee down the sink at my last doctor’s visit. (I should be able to make that story funny, but it just doesn’t seem that funny when I read what I wrote.) What it also means for you is that you have a long time to wait between posts. Hopefully as I do this more I will get better at it.
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