The Day From Hell

Today has NOT been my day – to say the VERY least.

It all started with having to get up to pee every hour and a half (nearly on the dot) when I wasn’t even drinking anything between bathroom trips. Can someone please explain that to me? How in the world do you have to go to the bathroom three times during the night when you’re not replenishing fluids within your body? I’m not sure, but that’s what happened.

Then, when Brent went to work this morning, I couldn’t go back to sleep. You see, I have Jenna on a night when I don’t normally have her this week due to the holiday. And apparently she takes piano lessons tonight. At 5:30 in South Austin. Now, do the math/scheduling with me in your head – if I work half days (in the morning) and leave work at 1:00, coming back into Austin for a piano lesson at 5:30 would equal NO FUN! So I begged my boss to swap my schedule around (luckily he said yes) and I worked this afternoon instead of this morning. Which meant that I could sleep in a little bit. Except that I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Why you ask? No, Jax wasn’t kicking me. But I couldn’t breathe at ALL through my right nostril. And my throat hurt. A lot. So at 5am I got the “brilliant” idea to take half a Benadryl to #1 – put me back to sleep and #2 – to allow me to breathe and work on that sore throat. But taking it that late (or early?) meant that when I did get up at 8am, I was really groggy. And my throat still hurt.

It was so serious that even donuts didn’t help the situation. That’s when you know that it’s bad!

But I did manage to get up, after checking both the color of said drainage and taking my temperature to make sure there was no fever. I had an appointment scheduled with a not-crazy Craigslist person (believe it or not, they’re hard to find!) to look at a glider, so off Jenna and I went to her house. Liked the glider, rocked out in the glider to make sure that it worked correctly, bought the glider. Yes, it really should be that simple. Always. Mental note to self: be the type of seller that I would like to buy from whenever I get around to selling items on Craigslist one day.

Drive into Austin and drop Jenna off at summer camp in time for her to eat lunch and make the swimming field trip of the day. Decide that baby Jax isn’t moving around like he should so stop at Sonic (for purely scientific research purposes!) and get a large Vanilla Coke in hopes of getting him moving and shaking a little bit. Then make the momentous decision to stop and pick up a pizza at Mr. Gatti’s to snack on for the next few days at work.

That’s where the day went to hell in a hand-basket. (Did you like that Mom?) I got rear-ended pulling out of my parking spot in the lot. I say that with almost 100% certainty that I was stopped and moving my car into Drive when it happened. My Acadia has the back-up warning system on it, that’s mostly annoying, but has totally saved my keister several times from hitting things, and the warning didn’t go off until it was a frantic beeping and I heard a crunch. So I’m 99.9% sure that she ran into me. Plus, I know that I was all the way out of my spot, so what was she thinking? How could she have missed me? Oh yeah, she told me how – she wasn’t looking where she was going because she was desperately trying to find a Starbucks. Yeah.

Luckily, my car is fine. Her cousin’s car (wasn’t even her car) was sporting a broken blinker light and a crack in the front fender – further proof in my mind that she hit me. Doesn’t the stationary object usually sustain the least damage? I think so, but who knows. We got out of our cars, traded information and I sent her on her merry way with directions to the closest Starbucks. But I still called my insurance company and filed a claim with my side of the story to head off any attempts on her (or her cousin’s) to make my insurance foot this bill. But parking lots are tricky – as several people have already told me today. Which doesn’t make me feel better.

And Jax still isn’t moving around a lot. He’s kicked me a few times, so I know he’s there and all, but it’s just not like normal. Since the Vanilla Coke didn’t ultimately do the trick, maybe a trip downstairs to the candy vending machine is called for? They sell Butterfinger. And Snickers. And possibly Skittles. My mouth is watering on my keyboard.

So it’s been a hell of a day. And it’s not over yet. I’m sitting here waiting to go into a 30 minute long piano lesson. And since she’s only been taking lessons for a month now, I’m expecting to have a headache when we leave. That might not be a fair assessment on Jenna’s part, but it’s probably the truth.

Do you remember that old bubble bath commercial? I feel like that lady, and I just want to scream “Calgon! Take me away!” Think it’ll work? Because I could totally stop and get some.

Baby Watch 2010 – Update

Well, we’re still here. Both baby and I. In what is quickly becoming a constant state of discomfort. In an effort to “keep my chin up” and “look at the brighter side of things” I can say that it’s a good thing for the baby that Brent didn’t get his wish of a July 4th baby. That would have meant that Jax was technically “pre-term” and although he probably wouldn’t have been at a great risk, it’s still not preferable.

So we’re still cookin’. At least for another few days.

But there were a few times this past weekend that I thought that we might be all done. Here’s what I can tell you – Friday and Saturday sucked as far as my state of miserableness (yes, that’s a word!). And since some people say that you reach a peak of miserableness right before going into labor, I was pretty certain that we were getting close. Then, when contractions started in earnest on Saturday night, Brent was certain enough about his July 4th theory that he wanted to take the bags downstairs. To say that I was a little cranky at this point (it was 1 am and I hadn’t gotten more than 2 hours of sleep for the previous TWO nights) is the understatement of the year, and I wouldn’t let him take my bag downstairs. He settled for getting HIS bag downstairs by the front door for our hasty getaway.

You know, to the hospital that’s less than 5 minutes from our house.

He’s just SO cute! Really, he is.

Although the pains kept me (or us) awake for the better part of the next two hours, they eventually subsided and I slept for a bit. You know, until I had to pee. And then I got another two hours of sleep until I had to pee again – when I had NOT consumed any beverages in between said bathroom trips. I just can’t figure this bladder thing out.

Anyway, Sunday was a slow day. I tried to take a nap – succeeded for an hour that felt like 3 hours when I woke up – but didn’t really feel good enough to go anywhere for July 4th festivities. Right about the time that I decided that I did feel something resembling human form, it was just starting to get dark and we were trying to decide where to go to watch some fireworks – the contractions started again. Except that these, like the ones the night before, were slightly more alarming. Or maybe intense is a better word. Yeah, that works. The pains that I’ve been having the past few weeks? They ain’t got nothin’ on true contractions! Yowzer!

So around 8pm that fun stated. And they lasted the longest stretch yet, about 3.5-4 hours. Long enough to get us all excited and think that we were making that long trek to the hospital 2 miles away – and then nothing. There were some good ones in there. Like reach out and touch someone good ones. And by touch I mean, grip with all the strength that you possess in your arm and hold that clench for the duration of the contraction while you’re breathing heavily and trying to remember to pant. I think that he understands that these are NOT comfortable for me. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that message is coming through loud and clear now!

And even worse than me reaching out and grabbing onto something is the actual contraction shooting down my abdominal area into my legs. That’s when you know it’s a REALLY good one! Fun times.

You want to know what’s even more fun? When they stop. And you did all that “work” for nothing. Because it’s apparently not time yet. Or when the next day, after such a productive night, you have contractions off and on all day long, but never more than two or three in a row. And not anything closer than 16 minutes apart. Or when you have one right as you’re falling asleep that has your husband worried about keeping the feeling in his right arm because you gripped it so hard during the minute and a half that the contraction lasted, just to have it not happen again. But by that point, the sleepiness that was so overwhelming 5 minutes earlier is LONG gone! Because you’re on edge wondering if another pain like that one is coming?!?!

All in all, it was a fun weekend. I just wish that something would progress or give me a break. Either come on in and make yourself at home, or go away and leave me alone. I’d like to get more than 3 hours of sleep at night in one stretch. I think that my mood and overall disposition would be greatly improved by more sleep, but that’s just my opinion. And what do I know? The 8th is looming ever closer, which is the date at which Mr. Jax will be considered full-term and not a preemie.

The 8th is looking like a good day. Even if my Dr would really prefer the 15th of July.

My Birthday Extravaganza

Oh goodness, I am one spoiled little mama...literally! Check out what the hubby got me for my bday...not because I needed it, but because I wanted it...sorry for the messy bedding background!







I've wanted a mini laptop since they first came out a few years back. I can't be the only person that thinks that things made in mini-form are just so CUTE! Come on, admit it, you ooh and ahh over small stuff in the store too...like mini deodorants and such. Well, even if no one else will admit to this obsession with me, I'll admit to it. But I didn't NEED one of those mini laptops...so I didn't get one. Even when Brent has offered to get one before, I've always talked him out of it.

And cried a little on the inside because I'm way too practical.

Fast forward to my day this year...and I got spoiled beyond my wildest imagination. I told him that I had found a few that were "used" on Craigslist (oh Craigslist...how I love/hate you!) but when he figured out that for a little bit more we could get a brand new one at Sam's...he took me there to buy a brand new one. Once again, I'm spoiled! Or really loved, whichever way you want to look at things!

And not only did I get the best present ever, but he also took me to a matinee showing of the new Twilight movie, Eclipse, on my actual birthday (where I got to eat popcorn for lunch - double score!) and then to one of my favorite Austin restaurants for dinner afterwards - Chuy's. Yum yum.

I've tried to be good and refrain from playing on it too much...and my bday present from my Mom will get me a few of the accessories that I have my eye on...but I'll admit that it sleeps beside my bed...and gets used at least three or four times a day to surf the web. It's the perfect bed rest companion!

So thank you, thank you, thank you...my most wonderful husband! You know me too well, and always try to spoil me in little and BIG ways!