Transverse Reactions

Since I haven't been that great at blogging, you may or may not know that we were planning on going South for Thanksgiving, following all the pretty little birds desperate to escape the freezing temps up here in Maryland. We WERE planning on going until my lovely Doc burst my bubble. I have to say though that I was sort of expecting it and a SORT OF relieved, not because I didn't want to see my family, but because I was absolutely the dreading the actual trip. Twelve hours in a car just didn't seem ideal to a woman with melons for feet and sharp pains in her (for lack of a better word) crotch.

So why did the Doc say No? Typically they recommend that women stop traveling long distances (by car or plane) between 26-29 weeks due to a risk of blood clots in the lower legs (car) or pre-term labor (plane). But given my history of early dilation and somewhat early delivery, there was no way I was getting an exception from him. End of conversation.

The rest of the visit was spent on her position. (Heart rate was good by the way...Owen was mesmerized by the sound). At the beginning of the exam she was breech and measuring a little small...probably more because of how freaking low her feet were at that very moment (and for the last month of so). By the end she was transverse (sideways across my belly). In all likely hood she should turn before delivery, but the farther I get along the harder that is. Right now she is still very mobile, as seen by the various abnormalities in my belly. In two weeks, I'll return and they'll do a sonogram to check her position. Any excuse for a sonogram is a good excuse to me. If she is still breech or transverse, then they will schedule an Aversion at 37 weeks. Basically two well trained doctors put their hands on my belly and attempt to turn Madision into the head-down position. Why wait until 37 weeks? Well Aversion has been known to actually induce labor, and at that point, it would be okay if it did. If for some reason the aversion fails or I end up going into labor before that points and she is in the wrong position, I will end up with another C-Section (which wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't have two other kids demanding my constant attention). Doc even gave me an entire lecture of what to do if my water breaks and she is transverse. Let's just say it doesn't sound like fun.

Moral of the story: Hillary is very sad that she's not going to get to see her Mom, grandparents, and her cousin's little baby on Thanksgiving Day. It's been 4 years since I've been with my family on any holiday. I'll also miss out on seeing Neil's family, Sherry & Alex, and our friends in NC, Rodg & Ang. However, not making the trip will most likely help with my comfort levels, we get to help out with the Metro Kids Thanksgiving Eve Dinner (in Inner City Baltimore), and we'll spend Thanksgiving Day with Jo and Jamie up in Philly (who are moving to NC in a few weeks). So there is bad news and good news, as life tends to bring. For now I have to go pay bills and take Owen swimming.

By the way, I was planning on going shopping on Black Friday with my mom and I was super excited until the bubble busted. Anyone want to go with me at 6 am in the morning?

Woe is Not Me.

It's uncomfortable, it is...pregnancy. Sometimes it's downright painful. Especially when you're in the third trimester. You can't stop at comfort though. You also have to add in the fatigue and swelling. Doc says to stay off my feet as much as possible, but really, how do you do that with the likes of Owen and Blake running around. Sure, I get a bit of time during naptime each day (assuming they take a nap) to sit in Neil's ugly recliner, prop my feet up, and relax. But it never seems like enough. I certainly don't feel rejuvenated. Enter the pity party. It's easy to complain, to moan, to shake my fist at the world. But then I think of my friend who is restricted to her bed/couch. She's 26 1/2 weeks pregnant and has been on bedrest for 6 1/2 weeks, and has a long way to go. Being with her today sort of put things in perspective for me. I might complain about wanting more rest, but what would I do if I were confined to a bed?

Let's take a poll of all people who know Hillary. Who here thinks I would go completely insane? Everyone? Really? Yeah, that's about what I expected. So today I'm lounging in Neil's (did I mention ugly) recliner working on camp stuff and praying for my friend, her sanity, and the safety of her baby.

I go to the Doc on Friday to find out if he's going to allow me to travel down South for Thanksgiving. I really want to see our family, especially since I'll actually be with my mom on Thanksgiving. It's been 4 years since I saw her on an actual holiday (besides my birthday). But I also don't want to risk going into labor in Warner Robins, GA. Wouldn't that be the kicker of the week? So I'm hoping the Doc tells me I'm closed up tight and good to go. If not, it looks like Neil and I might venture up to Jo and Jamie's for a fun holiday treat (which would be fun too since they're moving down to NC...and I might be a little jealous/bitter). Right now the plan is to go, but I'll let you know if things change.

Oh I hear the Fed Ex guy. I've been doing some Christmas shopping online this week...fabulous deals out there to snatch up. I'm actually almost done, which is refreshing. I think I'll head upstairs, grab my boxes, make some hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, and start dinner (Shake n' Bake baby).

Case Solved

It's not exactly your typical Sunday. Today is jam packed from start to finish. This is how it was supposed to go: I would head out to the grocery store early and by myself. Then I'd take the boys with me to church for my camp vision team meeting. While I was gone, Neil would hit the river kayaking with a few friends from his boating club. Then we'd meet up at Fusion tonight to help out in the nursery. We scheduled everything to the tee...except a sick baby. Blake has a fever and all your typical cold symptoms which puts a slight wrench in our day since we can't take a clearly sick child to church. Thankfully Mat volunteered to watch Blake in the overlap time. Yay for live in friends.

So what does this have to do with the case of the missing black box? Well, I'd glad you asked. I head out to the grocery store feeling naked and unprepared without my coupons. I decided to give Target a call, just in case. I pulled out a recent receipt and dialed. Side note: isn't it a little weird to get a recording when you're calling your local store? After being shifted from place to place, they gave me the bad news...no black box matching my description was found. Defeated and depressed, I parked in front of Safeway and was about to turn off the car when I realized I'd called the wrong Target. A glimmer of hope seeped into my soul. I shuffled through a few more receipts until I found one for the Columbia Target. Again I got a stupid recording, but it was all forgiven when the fantabulous lady at Guest Services said she had my box. "Great, I'll be there in 10 minutes." Of course, she probably was wondering why I would rush down there for a stupid box. I was starting to wonder that myself. Is there something seriously wrong with me that I can't just shop without coupons? Probably, and for that I have to blame my mom. Craziness aside, nothing was going to stop me from retrieving my little black box. Being that I was in a time crunch, I didn't get all my shopping done, but I did save an extra $7.50 on my $30 bill. See, it was all worth it.

Granted I didn't get much sleep last night, but I do have my black box back. (BTW, I didn't sleep because Blake was up most of the night, not because of my missing coupons). Now I hope to enjoy an hour or two of naptime (kids, not me) and then decide whether I'll be going to church tonight or not.

The Case of the Missing Black Box

I know it's been a while, and please forgive me for my absence. In the wake of a very disappointing election (for which I can only hope America doesn't regret), I wasn't quite sure what to write about. It's funny how there is so much build up and then "pfflllluuufff", a big let down (kind of like a whoopee cushion deflating).

So I've spent the last week of in mourning. OK, not really. I've actually been quite busy planning an event for camp that went off with a bang this morning, and was fantabulous. We decided to host an event just for our campers and their friends to thank them for trusting us with their summers. With between 75-100 people there, I'd say most of our campers from last summer were in attendance and having a blast. "Fall into Camp" was a huge success. Yay!

But that's not the point of my post. What could have possibly driven me out of my blogging black hole? Yes, it's the case of the missing black box. What black box you ask? Let's just say that I don't leave home without my black box, at least not if I'm going shopping. Inside this box of wonder are hundreds of little scraps of paper alphabetized by product name and worth (at least to me) an infinite amount of money. If you know me at all, you have just gasped at the revelation of what I've lost...my coupon box. I know I had it on Tuesday when I was shopping for the camp event, but I haven't seen it since. I figured it was sitting innocently in the back of Neil's truck, but quite disappointed when he came back empty handed. Literally, it has vanished. The only thing I can think is that I left it in the cart at Target, but I just can't imagine how I could have done that. It really is an epidemic for me. Some people don't understand why I even bother. They should have been with me on Friday when I swung by the store to pick up a few items. All I could see were the items I could be getting for free with the coupons I couldn't find. It was depressing, and I couldn't even enjoy the fact that I was down a kid (Owen was at school).

Luckily Saturday comes every week, and with it comes the paper filled with coupons for me to clip. Normally, I'm excited to sit down and start cutting, but tonight it was tainted with a hint of sadness (mourning even). Tomorrow I'll swing by Target in hopes that some cart guy didn't throw away my little black box. Of course I can't even guarantee that it was in fact there that I lost my precious friend. Wow, I type the word "precious," and all of a sudden am catapulted into a scene from "Lord of the Rings." I think I can now sympathize with Gollum and his torturous loss. Now if they are gone forever there is only one thing to do...buy a new box, alphabet dividers, and start sorting the fresh cut coupons sitting next to me as I type. But when do you let go? Inevitably it is in that moment of weakness, when I've sorted the last General Mills coupon and am about to walk out the door on the way to the store, that my other black box will simply "show up." You know that's how it goes. It is the "oath of all things lost." Don't believe me? What happens the second you go out and buy a pair of sunglasses after you lost your old ones? Just ask my friend Clare...of course when she loses them, they are normally at my house with the rest of them, but that's not the point.

There...I feel much better now. I've vented, gotten it all off my chest. If anyone see my little black box, please send it home to me. I promise I'll throw a "prodigal box" party.

Just Get Out & Vote

I know I tend to have very strong political opinions. Just ask anyone who knows me. But I still believe in our right to vote, so whether or not you agree with me...get out there and vote. It's not that hard, and it is that important. Besides if you don't vote, you then have no right to complain about taxes, wars, or even potholes in the middle of the road. And even if your candidate loses, then you can say, "Don't blame me, I voted for ____." Just like I can do here in Maryland. Seriously, don't blame me that the governor is a complete failure, I voted for Ehrlich.

But don't be a dumb voter either. Don't vote for someone just because of the color of their skin or their party affiliation, and don't be a one issue voter either...like abortion. Educate yourself on the issues (and yes, at this point, it might require you to pull an all nighter). Know what your candidate stands for, and be realistic about the amount of political b.s. that will flow from their traps during the election. For instance, democrats don't cut taxes or support the military, and republicans tend to not have much of a backbone and allow the dems to run all over them.

Most of you won't remember this, if you are my age, but Clinton ran on cutting taxes in 1994, and we all know where that led...that's right, higher taxes (and he left the White House in shambles and the country in an actual recession). So let's be real about what comes out of Obama's mouth. It's all rubbish. No one seems to be concerning themselves with who he is as a person. Did you know that in his "acclaimed" book, he tells atleast three stories identical to those in Bill Ayres book? Yeah, and they just casually knew each other, right?

And let's just ask this question of the next possible Commander in Chief...could he infact get a federal security check? At least for that he would have to prove his citizenship, explain his associations, and divluge pertinent information about his past including drug use, schooling, and religious ties. I'm betting he couldn't even pass the poly, but that's just my opinion.

I realize it's too late to change minds, but since I don't get the opportunity to write very often, I'm sort of spewing it out of pent up frustration. I've been recovering from bronchitus, and I have to be at the election polling place at 5:45 in the morning to be a Chief Judge. I'm looking forward to it because I just love being at the center of it all (I know, shocking), but in a way I'm dreading it. I'm anticipating the tension, the partisanship, and the sensitivity. When I spoke to my democratic counterpart, I could hear the separation in her voice. "You can ask your team." Seriously, I thought we were all a team with one common purpose. At least that's how it was at my old polling place, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Off to make dinner and then to set up my polling place and meet my other judges. Wish me luck, and please get out and vote.