Chronically Sleep Deprived

A couple of people posted questions in the comments section of the last post, and I never know what to do about that. . .should I answer them in the comments? Will they check back? So I'll answer them here. Question 1: Is my midwife a guy? Yes. His name is Pete. This caused a few double-takes on John's part, because we have a brother-in-law named Pete. It would throw him for a second when he came home from work and I'd tell him that Pete said my cervix was such-and-such. Pete is a great midwife though, very hands-off and not at all into interventions. I had to ask for my water to be broken, and scheduling the induction (that never happened) was my idea. I did joke that ONCE AGAIN I had a healthcare provider who has never given birth - neither the female midwife who delivered Trea nor the female OB resident who delivered Adia had had children. And, since I had a male L & D nurse with Trea, and the nurse who assisted at Adia's birth did not have children, I was the on...

And he's now a week old, almost to the minute, as I post this. I know it's pathetic that it's taken me this long to post, but I wanted to post a picture with it, and at first we didn't have access to a computer, then we'd forgotten the cable to connect the digital camera to the computer, then we left the camera at my in-laws' house. . .basically we're really unorganized. Anyhow. This is a birth post, so skip it if you're squeamish or just bored by the details. On Monday, Nov. 23, I went in for my last midwife appointment. I was four centimeters dilated, so I asked to have my membranes stripped. And, even though I am scared to death of being induced, we tentatively scheduled an induction for the next day. Even though the schedule was super busy - lots of women trying to have babies before the holiday - I had priority because I was a "medical" induction, being "sooo late" and all that. I wasn't even two weeks past my due date! They ...

I haven't had the baby boy yet. But, five years ago today, I gave birth to Trea. And I just want to say, she still amazes me. She's so smart, and fun, and observant, and headstrong. She made me sick as a dog for months on end and put me through 12.5 hours of labor, but she was so totally worth it. Happy Birthday Trea!

Happy Birthday to my sister Erin! Today is also the birthday of Edina, a lady who lives in our apartment complex and attends our congregation. She's 102 today. She's one of those people who makes getting old seem completely doable - she's still independent and able to drive, she goes dancing, she's sharp mentally. She jokes that she robbed the cradle when she married her current husband - he's her fourth or fifth (she was widowed each time, no divorces) and still in his 90s. Funny story about her - she was single when we lived here before going to Thailand, then when we moved back I noticed she was always with this guy. So I asked a friend for the scoop. Apparently they met, dated, and got married in very short order (like a few months). When they announced their engagement, their children (who are all in their 60s and 70s) expressed some concern over the rushed timeline. Edina's response? "We don't have time to waste!" And really, at that age, if ...

Did you see that game??? Who would have guessed. . .the funniest part was right after the game ended, when one of the announcers, in mild shock, said, "Gosh. . .or whatever they say in Provo." The phrase you are looking for is "Oh my heck!"

A couple weeks ago, we went out to dinner with Ashely and Erin and their families. I decided to put a little effort into my appearance for the occasion. I flat-ironed my hair, put on makeup, my best maternity shirt, the whole bit. . . Trea watched all this preparation with great interest, then looked up with wide eyes and said, "Wow, Mommy, you look almost pretty!" I'll take what I can get.

I have been a really bad blogger. So let me hit some important points really quick: 1. We are having a boy. The doctor who did the ultrasound said he looked "perfect." I was very happy to hear that; I didn't really have any concrete reason to worry, but I was not taking vitamins or eating especially healthy when I conceived this kid, so it was nice that he managed to develop anyway. I'm only throwing up every two-three weeks now, too! 2. John's job is going well. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but he was assigned to be the eco-care person in his office a while back; it's his job to coordinate/spearhead environmental awareness and iniatives in his office. He has become just a tad obsessive. I used to be the one harping on recycling and whatnot, now he is bringing home trash from family gatherings to make sure it gets recycled. He can't wait to have a house with a yard so he can compost and garden. 3. Speaking of which. . .we may be homeowners by th...

being exhausted all the time, and having zero energy evaluating every food on 1) the likelihood it will make me gag 2) how bad it will be coming up feeling like a load of laundry is a monumental task the abdominal pain that feels nearly constant telling my kids "sorry, not today" when they want to play outside feeling like everything - the house, my calling at church, my job, my kids - gets less of me than they need Basically, I'm tired of being pregnant. It'll pass . . . in about six months.

I took a really long break from blogging? Back when I was first pregnant with Adia? Remember what I said in my last post? (Go ahead, scroll down and cheat. . .second paragraph of the post before this one.) Yep. Due November 13th. Trea is convinced of three things: I'm having twins, they are boys, and we should name them Jacob and . . . Tarzan.

I'd blog a WHOLE lot more. I've been sick. The kids have been sick. We were supposed to go to North Carolina this week, but Trea managed to catch the flu (and distinguish herself as the first patient the doctor had seen, who managed to get the A strain of influenza despite receiving a flu vaccine). We cancelled the trip, and I'm relieved because they would have been miserable. Might as well be miserable at home. Work has been crazy, not because of the actual work, but because our office is apparently cursed. My boss and one of my co-workers have both been diagnosed with serious medical conditions - one curable, the other chronic but treatable. I'm afraid I'm going to develop a brain tumor, or get pregnant or something. (I think I'd rather have the brain tumor, frankly; being pregnant with Adia was the most miserable experience of my life. The tumor can be cut out, usually, and no one expects me to be happy about having it.) Sorry, I'm in a bad mood. I should...

I've never done a book review on my blog before; that may be because, even though I LOVE to read, I rarely have time to read much these days. But, this one is worth it. It's The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John Mcwhorter, and it's awesome. Like languages? Looking for a little intellectual stimulation? (Amy, I'm smiling at you here!) This is your book. The author is amazing, I wish I knew half what he does about language and how it works, and he uses all these cool obscure languages as examples of how gender works and what classifiers do. It's taken me a long time to read it (I keep having to re-read things to follow) but that doesn't mean it would be as hard for someone more intelligent or less sleep deprived. Totally worth the effort though. I'm not even done and already I'm endorsing it! For you non-language geeks. . .um, I got nothing for ya. Maybe next month?

Have you seen The Story of Stuff ? If not, it's worth the 20 minutes. It's a little preachy at times (I don't buy into the whole "the GOVERNMENT is supposed to protect us! It's not our fault we were deceived! thing), but also very thought provoking. Warning: it may completely ruin Wal-mart for you forever. I haven't set foot in Wal-mart since I watched it two months ago.

Last week, one of my tutors was out sick. Happens all the time, sometimes I combine groups and sometimes I can get a sub. This group, though, is studying for the citizenship test, and one of the students has a test date next month so I really wanted her to have all the instructional time she could possibly have. As luck would have it, several of my students weren't able to come and that freed up one of my other tutors. Dan just happens to be a professor of political science. Could you ask for a more perfect tutor for a citizenship group? I think not. Only he didn't know all the answers to the questions. He guessed wrong on more than one. So. . .how many of you could pass the U.S. citizenship test? Here are some questions students have to know: What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment? How many amendments does the Constitution have? What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence? What is the economic system in the United States? What is the rule of law? Who ...

You go to your company's (or, in my case, my spouse's company's) rather posh Christmas party, held in a venue with a beautiful view, and the open bar runs out of . . . . Sprite.