The May I Be Of Cervix Edition
T-minus 13 days and counting...
The last few weeks have been slow, painful, and anxious, with many lows and a few highs.
All around us and our circle of far-flung family and friends there exists, it would seem, a great state of unrest and upheaval.
From ill parents to other health issues to job relocations and changes, many of the people I hold dear are in a state of flux an emotional distress. To all of you who are undergoing these various tribulations I'm thinking of you.
Here too, in our budding family, we have had some ups and downs.
First the downs to get it out of the way (those of you on livejournal already know so you may skip down if you want).
I've been pretty sick of late as you've read in recent posts. I had severe bronchitis, which hasn't entirely cleared up as of yet. It left me in a wicked state, short of breath a lot of times, coughing like Doc Holiday at the OK Corral.
Earlier in the year I had my routine physical and in the blood tests they detected an elevated creatin level, which apparently is related to overworked kidneys. Since all my other tests were fine (cholesterol, glucose etc) she diagnosed that my sometimes elevated blood pressure was the cause. Last week I had to go for a follow-up blood test. My creatin level had actually risen, though my blood pressure was much better, so she also ordered an ECG to check my heart.
The cardiologist that read the test was unable to positively ascertain one of the lines in the readout and questioned whether I may have had, in the past, what is called an inferior infarction- a very mild heart attack. One that would have been almost imperceptable to me, and certainly not painful enough to send me to the hospital. This is NOT to say that I indeed actually had a heart attack at all, merely that the test was inconclusive. So tomorrow I have to go for a series of test designed to ultrasound my innards and see if anything shows up abnormal. Then several weeks down the line I have to go for a 3-day whirlwind of stress tests, which, they hope will reveal if I *did* or *do* have an issue. My weight of course is the most serious issue related to this and I'm an idiot for being in the condition that I'm in and I have to do something about it. Of course knowledge in itself isn't the key, acting upon it is as well. So to paraphase Anthony Keidis "If you see me getting a glazed donut high, knock me down".
Shell continues to work, guilting me in her silent superheroine way, proving that she's 400 times better than I'll ever hope to be. If I didn't love her beyond the outer reaches of the known universe...I'd really think about hating her. She turned day to day operations over to her assistant, but she's still there maintaining the hobnailed boot authoritarianism that might get her invaded by the Bush administration if she isn't careful. So besides being 8 1/2 months pregnant, working full-time, doing a puppet repair job for some guy in England in her workshop at home, painting all the baby furniture and looking after a sick husband and two dogs...she's got the nerve to be sweet, loving, AND beautiful. HATE. HER.
Earlier in the week we had a massive thunderstorm and downpour in the GTA, which flooded lots of places in the area, including our basement. Well it didn't flood per se, just leaked somewhat because the amount of water coming down couldn't be handled by the poor spouts/horrible titled sidewalk (all your fault Halton Hills). So we have a slight wet carpet which our dehumidifier is currently battling. At fate would have it though, we had just a few days before finshed the painting on the baby furniture and had brought it upstairs! Whew.
Speaking of...
Here's what the crib looked like before
and now sanded, cleaned and painted (and in place) in looks like this...
We hit the motherlode last weekend on our tour of some baby stores finding a swing, a rocking chair, and a few other odds and ends. Also a friend of Lesley's gave us some things as well, so all in all it was a NICE weekend and the baby's room is really coming together. Saturday evening I took Shell to the Fabric store and we got all the fabric she needs to do the curtains, recover the rocker, make a few blankets etc. (So now add seamstress to that list of stuff she's doing to passive-aggressively show me up for the poor husband that I am...*sigh*)
Anyway, we had the baby classes this weekend, 9-4 (on a Saturday and Sunday that Tiger was on the leaderboard at Firestone...what was she thinking?!?) and I grumpily (though with herculean stength) endured. It turned out to be ok, especially when I stunned the class (and my wife) with my knowledge that increased blood volume in pregnant women causes them to sweat more and therefore "glow". My wife's mouth, agape, as if I'd just discovered and translated the Dead Sea Scrolls right in front of her, is MY passive-aggressive way of letting her know I'm not just some singing monkey...I know stuff!
There were 5 couples with a complete spectrum of husbandry- the really chatty guy on the right side of Shell who seemed *too* excited to be there- clearly an untrustworthy sort, for if you don't have at least a tinge of "I really would rather be somewhere else" then I will always look askance.
There was the husband who clearly would rather stick needles in his eyes than be there, answering all the questions incorrectly, and making you wonder whether he actually fathered the impending child at all because he seemed to know as much about a woman's body as particle and string theory. He's the one that makes you look good though because you know from the look on your wife's face she's glad at the very least she married you instead of him. There's the gruff and sullen hockey player, who seems to know a lot of information, but is clearly deferential and "squicked" out by the ease with which the teacher throws out certain anatomical words...though I must admit I think I hit my limit also of hearing the word 'cervix' for one lifetime...still...
There was the older, wealthy business guy with is youngish wife who is quiet and looking around at everyone wondering whether there was some investment opportunities to be made during the weekend.
Then there was your hero. Chiming in with timely answers, yet remaining aloof enough to protect his machismo, mixing in well-meaning sarcasm to deflect the uncomfortable silence at times. The perfect balance of wit, intelligence and love...*sparkle sparkle*.
(Hey I got answers right than Shell on the breastfeeding quiz so I deserve SOME pat on the back)
It was a good experience (and I managed to make it home in time to see Tiger's back nine and victory). So clearly I have my priorities straight...or do I? I forget.
So now that we know what to and what NOT to do, when it comes to labor and delivery we're all set...except that my little daughter just doesn't seem to want to come out just yet. We're getting close I can sense, but close is a relative term. It could be weeks yet. But when she does come, she'll be greeted with love, tenderness and this awesome cool turtle that our LJ friends voted to name Leonardo
Today I found out that I could get into the class that I wanted next spring "Great Trials in History" so now I'm stoked (except it changes my schedule somewhat). I had to drop Popular Music of the 19th Century (which means I don't get to have a class with my pal Alex...so I'm bummed...but happy about the class).
Speaking of pals, Alex and Jen, plus a number of other friends are coming this weekend for an afternoon of helping us get the house ready and also some food (okay I might have failed to emphasise to them the helping part over the food part but still...they are coming...I hope). We hope this one last burst of energy of our friends and family will help up get over the hump and have things where we need them to be before all hell breaks loose.
A couple of puppy pics for you :)
So we remain as always in a state of anxiety...keep us in your thoughts and hopefully soon you'll have a TGIF full of stories and pictures of the latest St.Amant to greet the world...stay tuned.
Til next time
Cheers
)
)
and now sanded, cleaned and painted (and in place) in looks like this...
)
We hit the motherlode last weekend on our tour of some baby stores finding a swing, a rocking chair, and a few other odds and ends. Also a friend of Lesley's gave us some things as well, so all in all it was a NICE weekend and the baby's room is really coming together. Saturday evening I took Shell to the Fabric store and we got all the fabric she needs to do the curtains, recover the rocker, make a few blankets etc. (So now add seamstress to that list of stuff she's doing to passive-aggressively show me up for the poor husband that I am...*sigh*)
Anyway, we had the baby classes this weekend, 9-4 (on a Saturday and Sunday that Tiger was on the leaderboard at Firestone...what was she thinking?!?) and I grumpily (though with herculean stength) endured. It turned out to be ok, especially when I stunned the class (and my wife) with my knowledge that increased blood volume in pregnant women causes them to sweat more and therefore "glow". My wife's mouth, agape, as if I'd just discovered and translated the Dead Sea Scrolls right in front of her, is MY passive-aggressive way of letting her know I'm not just some singing monkey...I know stuff!
There were 5 couples with a complete spectrum of husbandry- the really chatty guy on the right side of Shell who seemed *too* excited to be there- clearly an untrustworthy sort, for if you don't have at least a tinge of "I really would rather be somewhere else" then I will always look askance.
There was the husband who clearly would rather stick needles in his eyes than be there, answering all the questions incorrectly, and making you wonder whether he actually fathered the impending child at all because he seemed to know as much about a woman's body as particle and string theory. He's the one that makes you look good though because you know from the look on your wife's face she's glad at the very least she married you instead of him. There's the gruff and sullen hockey player, who seems to know a lot of information, but is clearly deferential and "squicked" out by the ease with which the teacher throws out certain anatomical words...though I must admit I think I hit my limit also of hearing the word 'cervix' for one lifetime...still...
There was the older, wealthy business guy with is youngish wife who is quiet and looking around at everyone wondering whether there was some investment opportunities to be made during the weekend.
Then there was your hero. Chiming in with timely answers, yet remaining aloof enough to protect his machismo, mixing in well-meaning sarcasm to deflect the uncomfortable silence at times. The perfect balance of wit, intelligence and love...*sparkle sparkle*.
(Hey I got answers right than Shell on the breastfeeding quiz so I deserve SOME pat on the back)
It was a good experience (and I managed to make it home in time to see Tiger's back nine and victory). So clearly I have my priorities straight...or do I? I forget.
So now that we know what to and what NOT to do, when it comes to labor and delivery we're all set...except that my little daughter just doesn't seem to want to come out just yet. We're getting close I can sense, but close is a relative term. It could be weeks yet. But when she does come, she'll be greeted with love, tenderness and this awesome cool turtle that our LJ friends voted to name Leonardo
)
Today I found out that I could get into the class that I wanted next spring "Great Trials in History" so now I'm stoked (except it changes my schedule somewhat). I had to drop Popular Music of the 19th Century (which means I don't get to have a class with my pal Alex...so I'm bummed...but happy about the class).
Speaking of pals, Alex and Jen, plus a number of other friends are coming this weekend for an afternoon of helping us get the house ready and also some food (okay I might have failed to emphasise to them the helping part over the food part but still...they are coming...I hope). We hope this one last burst of energy of our friends and family will help up get over the hump and have things where we need them to be before all hell breaks loose.
A couple of puppy pics for you :)
)
)
So we remain as always in a state of anxiety...keep us in your thoughts and hopefully soon you'll have a TGIF full of stories and pictures of the latest St.Amant to greet the world...stay tuned.
Til next time
Cheers
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