Here is the obligatory picture of the Big Sister kissing the Little Brother belly. She does it all the time, but usually I am sitting.
Nothing else to report now. Just excited that tomorrow is finally August. Only 13 days until the midwife gets here. I just have to get Jack to take the baby car seat out from under the steps and wash the cover, plus I want him to change the washers on the sinks upstairs, and we (he) could put the pack-n-play together. I suppose that could be nesting. Is bossing other people around making them do stuff considered nesting?
Today was the last day of Sammi’s daycare. They had a pizza party at the beach. Now, no ‘school’ until September 8th, and that first week is only half days. Plus, her two best friends are leaving this summer. Hopefully, some of the new little kids will go there, too.
(Jack was on leave from returning from Afghanistan, hence the handlebar stash.)
Well, a couple weeks ago we finally found a car. Jack has been looking for a long time, but I had just started since I knew we wouldn’t get one until we had to. There was just no way we were going to get two car seats in the Fiat, especially since we aren’t 5’3” Italians. Our knees would have been up by our ears. Plus, this year Sammi is old enough to know how hot and miserable it was in the backseat. We couldn’t go anywhere without her crying – I would cry to if I had to sit back there in the heat! So, we knew we needed something a little bigger and a little better before mid-August.
Jack was starting to get worried, but I told him not to worry. God always sends us a car when we need one. It’s a weird thing – they just magically appear right at the right time. I was telling him this on a Thursday night and he agreed. The next day he went in to look and some guy had JUST THAT MOMENT dropped off this car at the lemon lot! He put down a $500 down payment and then we went and got it on Monday.
It is a 2000 VW Jetta and it is sooooo nice. It’s automatic and that will be good for city driving, it has AC (yay!), a 6-CD player, and power steering! Whoooo! Sammi likes it, too. She says, “Daddy likes the red car. I like the green one.” We still have the red car so Jack can drive in to work in August. That way if he needs to come home quick he can. Then, we will probably try to sell it before the end of the year to save the insurance. I’m just so happy the God car thing happened again!
In other news, I also finally got a 220v crockpot. I’ve been looking for one for, oh, I don’t know, over a year now. That same day we got the car the NEX had 3 of them in. It was my lucky day, because seriously, how long are 3 going to stay in stock? (We are convinced half the stuff never makes it on the shelves, but ends up in the Italian black-market.) I love the crockpot! I can throw stuff in it in the morning when I have energy and have a delicious meal cooked for in the evening when I am wiped out. I think it will also be handy after the baby gets here. I also have inspiration from The CrockPot Lady’s blog. She has awesome recipes, and she is funny. Check her out. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/And finally, a picture of Sammi. One of her favorite things to do is “shave” with Daddy on Sunday mornings. Here she is wearing the ridiculous Christmas pageant costume she keeps finding and Daddy shaving the whipped cream off her face. She gets to eat her foam! What we need is one of those toy shaving kits; I just can’t find one over here.
(I couldn't resist...discovered at VBAC Facts website.)
I think most of the drama is over here, but it was an interesting week. On Tues I had an appointment with my Dr. at the Borg Mother Ship (Resistance is Futile....Compliance is Inevitable.)
That morning I sent a 3-page letter with 4 attachments, including an official "refusal of consent to an elective repeat cesarean" letter to the OBs and my family practice doctor. I was glad Jack was with me because when the Dr. walked in he had this look in his eye and said, "I got your letter." He then proceeded to sit down and “talk” to us for an hour. He started by saying; “Everyone who has any decision making authority anywhere in this hospital is involved in your case now. I had no idea what a can of worms I was opening up last time you were in here!” Basically, they were freaked out because they finally figured out they should have stopped giving me prenatal care in March - but I kept making the appts and they kept giving them to me so I never said anything. The first thing he did was give me a new VBAC ban policy that was just written in June. It looks more professional than the piece of crap that looked like someone just typed it up out of their ass that they gave me in March. I don’t think they really had one then, but when I said I needed a copy of it they just got someone to whip one up real quick.
End result: I had to sign some paperwork saying that I have been counselled on the "risks" of VBACs and have been told that the "safest course of action is to have an ERCS at the Navy Hospital." They also threw something is about how if my pelvis is too small I won't be able to deliver any baby. (They love that, don't they? They can see my hips - I don't think there will be a problem with the baby being too big! Plus, where did it come from? That had nothing to do with my first one.)
So, even though it was annoying and when I asked them again about the risks of repeat cesarean they said, "It's different. With a VBAC you could DIE!!!!! Not from a cesarean." (I beg to differ.)
At one point I mentioned something about not being able to imagine signing up for a cesarean on purpose with a toddler at home to take care of, that I couldn’t imagine that recovering from a normal birth was anywhere near as bad as recovering from a c-section. So, then the Dr. told me that his wife had a cesarean for a breech birth with 2 toddlers at home when he was in Iraq - and she survived. Good for her.
End of story: they aren't happy about my decision to have a "dangerous, high-risk homebirth VBAC" and now for my last appts I have to see the OB instead of family practice. But, as we are only a month away I guess I can live with that. I only have one more appt at 36 weeks for the GBS screen then I won’t have to see them until after the baby (we pray….)
Enough of that….in other news:
Wednesday I played my last game of golf until after the baby. My body has finally conspired against me to make any further games ridiculous! Jack said, “Your arms are doing the right thing, but your body won’t let you do it.” The compensations I had to make were nuts, and I kept instinctively doing what I normally do so it just wasn’t working. *sigh* Jack was all, “Don’t worry, you’ll be out again after the baby.” I pointed out that, no, I probably wouldn’t be playing again until we are back home in Canada next year. “Remember, when they are little they eat like every hour! And by the time he is old enough for me to leave him a couple hours we will be doing inventory and getting ready to pack out of here. I just don’t see it happening.” Oh, well. At least I got to use my new pink golf sandals a few times. (They were awesome!!)
Monday, July 07, 2008
Hi! Instead of writing now I will just post some pictures. Here is a picture of us on our 8th anniversary. Jack just got into town from Afghanistan a couple hours before the picture. Having him home is great!
Here are some pictures of us down in Calabria at the Trevi Village. The water was so clean and there was no trash to been seen! It was a nice way to spend Jack’s birthday weekend. Sammi loves the water and we can never get her out of it!(In Italy, you have to wear a swim-cap in the pool. I don't see why I have to wear a swim-cap, but the hairy ape-men don't have to wear a body-cap!!)
He is still on leave, so we’ve been spending time together playing with Sammi. Once he goes back to work I can blog more often.
I have reached the point where I no longer walk, I waddle – so I feel like everything I do is in slow motion. When we go out walking Jack says if I went any slower I’d be going backwards. Sammi does this funny thing where she stands with her tummy out and her arms back and a weird look on her face. At first we didn’t know what it was – but it is her imitating how I look! I’m trying to get it on video but she won’t cooperate.
Other than that I have been spending my time writing a huge letter to the stupid hospital here and the OB department. They just won’t leave me alone. I won’t go into details now, but they keep harassing me about the VBAC. As far as I am concerned it isn’t their problem anymore, so why don’t they LEAVE ME ALONE??!!!!! It is making me crazy!
Here is the obligatory picture of the Big Sister kissing the Little Brother belly. She does it all the time, but usually I am sitting.
