A Bit of A Surprise... But All Is Well

Last Thursday, we had a routine Level II ultrasound up at the hospital. Well, it would've been routine except that it showed the baby's fluid level dropped by 50% in 2 days. And the exam showed I was pre-eclampsic. So we didn't go home and that evening, Evelyn joined us by c-section (my second).

Luckily, she appears to be in excellent shape for a preemie. (She was nearly a month early.) She did have a stay under the bili-lights for jaundice but that appears to be going away as well. A mere 6 pounds at birth (19"), she actually dropped to 5 lb 6 oz before we left the hospital. The picture with her proud big sister doesn't really show exactly how skinny (scrawny, really, poor thing) she is - all sticks - but she's doing her level best to grow though and she was 5 lb 10 oz at her first post-hospital exam two days ago.

We weren't really ready, of course, which made for a really hectic time. We were lucky though and a wonderful friend agreed to take Katie on an hour's notice as we spent the few minutes after the ultrasound trying to shuffle our lives. John spent the weekend trying to ready the house. There are still things that need to be done but we're home and, well, they'll get done when they get done.

The First Night

My baby is growing up ... ::sniff::

She's spending her first night in her new room tonight in her new toddler bed (ok, new to her - we were just going to go with the twin mattress on the floor but a friend offered us their used toddler bed with mattress and bedding free - whee!!)

Once we get her fully moved in (the bulk of the work is done but there are a few small remaining things to do), I'll post before and after pictures of the room. The different is amazing. But for right now, the amazement is that she's old enough to be out of her crib (which she never climbed out of so we never bothered to move her before this) and into a "big girl" room. What's weirder yet is the idea that no one is sleeping in the crib. We've checked on that crib so many times in the last 2.5 years and to see it empty (albeit, God willing, only for a month) is just wild.

Now the question is what to do about the monitor. Several people have told me you can't run more than one monitor in the house (unless it's specifically made with multiple transmitters) because they interfere with each other (and, in fact, we even have trouble with our back yard neighbor's monitor). I'm just not sure I'm ready to give up on monitoring her yet, particularly since we're still potty training and she'll call for help mid-nap. But the multiple room monitors are wicked expensive and the reviews are mixed (some love 'em, some have nothing but problems).

Success is a Relative Term

First off, I have a splitting, toddler-induced, headache. I'm sure most of you will understand if I am not as coherent, cogent, or co-something'r'other as I might normally be.

The event last Thursday went well, I thought. It was not profitable (gross was about $100 less than costs) but people seemed to have a good time and the jewelry was well-received. Hopefully, the next two events will be blast-the-doors-out profitable and I'll start seeing some increased web purchases.

The website is what's been so frustrating. I know, I know - it takes a while for websites to start creeping into the public consciousness but you'd think that, in 9 months of having my website up, I'd have more than two sales (and a huge THANK YOU! to the buyer - you know who you are!!). Still, I'm keeping my hopes up - my business copier (leased years ago when I was still doing freelance paralegal work) will be paid off (it's a dollar buyout lease) in April and then my overhead is down to the $10/mo I get charged for my credit card processing service - so that should help ease the financial burden. LOL - and I get on John's case for being too hard on himself because his firm isn't an "overnight" roaring success!! Eh, call me a hypocrite; you'd probably be right in this instance.

In family news, John's sick and the Napless Wonder is being particularly demanding this afternoon. Can someone tell me, btw, when toddlers start understanding the concept of "why"? (As in, "why are you crying?", "why did you do that?!!" (the toddler-safe equivalent to "what the fuck were you thinking??!!"), etc.) I feel, much of the time, like I am talking to a wall!

Oh, and here's another question for the more tech/scam savvy! I was paying my cellphone bill on Saturday and realized it was $20 than the prior month so I actually studied the bill and, it appears, somehow I got signed up for some sort of monthly service (the nature of which I have no idea!!). Fortunately, the cellphone company credited me for that amount but what I'm wondering is how it came about! The service representative asked if I voted by text message for call in voting (like American Idol). (I politely told him no - I was too embarrassed to tell him I'd never even watched a reality TV show.) He said that was the most common cause. If anyone has any other ideas of ways it might have happened, I'm open to listening because, as helpful as they were, I'd really prefer not to have the hassle of calling them again!

Alrighty, John should be home with the eggs soon. We're having pancakes for dinner. I was going to make them tomorrow in honor of Shrove Tuesday but he requested something easy on the stomach (non-spicy, non-greasy, bland) and, after a look at my freezer, I didn't feel like serving a basket of saltines for dinner. And, really, that sounds pretty good to me tonight anyway. He's not home tomorrow night so Katie and I will just eat leftover pancakes tomorrow night.

Later, everyone.

Baby Update

We had our first Level II ultrasound on Thursday.

The baby looks healthy and "normal". Growth rates are right on target. She weighs about 9 oz now.

Yep, "she". Looks like we'll be adding another little girl our family. John's a little disappointed but not nearly like he was when Katie was in utero. He's realized that he can, indeed, have fun with a little girl too.

She's kicking me in the bladder right now - LOL. Glad I can finally feel her occasionally - reassures me to no end.

P.S. That wonderfully inappropriate Santa candleholder? (The one with the tree star stuck up his, er, boomba?) Katie knocked it off the table yesterday and it broke. Sigh. She also shattered my carved soapstone egg with the carved swan inside it. It was a destructive day.

Two Must-Dos Down

One to go - the ad book.

Today, I finished that bracelet *and* the transcription/arrangement of Quem Pastores (and got it sent off to the choir director at that!). Oh, and I got the Christmas draw slips prepped and mailed out *and* I finished all but one item on my Christmas shopping list - go me!

But I also lost my temper at my daughter, which upsets me no end - I always feel like such an awful mother when that happens. Why did I lose my temper? Sometimes two years old is VERY Two. And VERY Two is VERY trying. I know I expect too much and, really, regularly, I try very hard to control that. It's just that after being alone with her all week and then tacking Saturday on as well, I have thoroughly had my fill of a child who won't listen and blithely does whatever the hell she wants to instead of what I'm asking her to do.

God bless all the patient and loving childcare workers out there. They're saints. I ain't.

And, on the whole, it was a trying day. John was gone most all day knocking doors for the mayoral candidate, leaving me with Disobedient Girl, and then decided that a cold, windy, gray, and rainy day was a good day to open the windows and wash them. Lest you think that I asked him to wash the windows, I did not. Frankly, they weren't that bad in my book. But, no, he decided to make the house just as cold and damp as outside.

Now, he was gone a lot this week too - a couple of campaign meetings, late nights at work - and when he asked what I wanted to do tonight, I said, let's just get "grown up" food takeout and watch a movie - we haven't spent hardly any time together this week. He agreed, made a fuss about me picking which restaurant, and said he'd pick up the takeout at 8 if I'd do Katie's bath-n-bed.

So, it's 8 o'clock. He's still washing windows. I'm doing the bath-n-bed routine with Katie. It's 8:30, he's made no move to even call in the take out. I put Katie to bed. He decides to take a shower. It's 8:45, I make myself mac'n'cheese. He's still in the shower. I'm still freezing my ass off because the house is ice cold. It's 8:55, I've eaten my mac'n'cheese and washed the dishes. He's still in the shower. It's 9:05, he comes drifting down. "Are you sure you don't want take out? Do you want take out dessert?"

No, asshole, I wanted takeout when I came down from putting Katie to bed. Thus, the 8 p.m. time for you to leave. I don't want it now - it'd be at least 9:40 before you got back with it. What the fuck makes you think I want to eat dinner at fucking 9:40 at night??!! And, as for spending time together, it clearly wasn't a priority to you. Please go somewhere else. Now.

He says he'll watch Katie all day tomorrow. I'll believe it when I fucking see it. What that means, really, is that he'll wash more windows while she plays and won't notice when she toddles off to "where's Mama??" (read: make me fucking nuts again).

Men are just fucking unreliable.