the thing about psycho jen is that she always has to one-up ya. like the duece. baby girl was delievered vaginally, but baby boy was breech and she had to have a c-section. wow!
anyhoot, they are here.
iris elanore & kieran david
happy birthday bebes - welcome to the world.
psycho jen is in the hospital awaiting labor and delivery for her twins. she’s hooked up to the pitocin and the epidural. they broke baby girls water and are waiting for her to dialate and for her contractions to get closer together.
i hate to say it, but i don’t remember that part. once they put the epidural in, i slept for about four hours then woke up and pushed for two.
for as much as i bitch about psycho jen, i love her like a sister. love her and hate her as only a family member could. she’s my “be - fr”, and i am her “st - iend” - together it spells best friend. she’s more than a BFF, she’s going to be a mother and i can relate to that.
thursday.
after dropping off boo at “school”, i stopped by panera for a bagel and some ice tea. i bought the paper too, since i never get a chance to actually sit down and read a newspaper. about twenty minutes into reading i found this article about Thom Pham, owner of the fabulous Thanh Do, Azia, and Temple. hubbin and i have been schelpping up to Thanh Do for years. Thom is a terrific guy and his sisters and family still run Thanh Do. one of the girls has a little boy a few months older than boo. i couldn’t believe six to eight guys basically beating Thom, but it happened. i stopped by to tell them how concerned we were and that we were thinking about Thom, one of his sisters said there might be permanent damage to his eye. i’m stunned. i told her to give him our best and tell him we are thinking about him. then i got some spring rolls and went home. gotta support local business.
before all that though, i had to go in for an ultrasound. since it’s a straight shot down minnetonka blvd/lake street, that’s the route i take. a block before lake calhoun traffic got really heavy. i saw police lights at the wet bound intersection of lake street and instantly thought, a pedestrian has been killed and i’m going to see a body lying in the middle of the street covered with a white sheet. and as i inch closer i see the scene, police tape, a body lying in the middle of the street covered with a white sheet, a mangled bicycle next to it, and a school bus. i sob instantly.
i called hubbin and thought of all the planned parenthood nurses and staff from the first bookclub, and how they said not to watch the news, not to watch certian shows and movies. when you are pregnant you should basically cocoon yourself with old musicals and reruns of scrubs. i agree that you shouldn’t subject yourself to violence if you don’t have to, stay away from trauma at all costs. but it’s difficult to avoid a dead body lying in the middle of the street covered with a white sheet. it’s too real, you know what’s under there. it’s a person, someone from the city, my city. and the thought of bus vs cyclist makes my stomach turn. my heart goes out to him, his family and friends, whomever they are.
now let’s do a completel 180. at the doctors office, we have our third ultrasound in 10 weeks. there is still blood/bleeding from the hemorrhage, but it hasn’t gotten worse. then they pan to bunny, and i’m not kidding, the kid waves. he’s dancing around and moving his arms and legs and i am sobbing again. the doctor and the nurse say they have not seen that active of a baby in a long, long time. then our doctor says softly, “dancing babies are happy babies, happy babies are healthy babies”.
i’ve never felt more humbled before noon in a long time.
more on the ireland decision later - not that i’ve made one.
i don’t know if i’ve mentioned that aunt iowa and i are planning a trip to ireland. and the whole thing has been on hold because of my uterus - which i get checked out again on thursday. i know, i know, i haven’t been resting enough, i shouldn’t have gone to the fair, you’re right, you’re so very right. but if it makes you feel any better i sat on my ass the afternoon and watched Moulin Rouge.
shortly afterwards, as i was still daydreaming about ewan mcgregor, my unlce arizona called. i had it on my list to call him, since yesterday was his birthday, but he called first - wanting to know how i was, if everything was ok. i guess he talked to auntie iowa and she told him all about it.
i assured him that things were fine, but then felt really guilty about going to the fair - believe me though, i paid for it. he was so big brother about it too - and that is nothing but sweet. and he wants to come to ireland with us, which i think would be great! i gave him some of the flights that i was thinking about, but haven’t booked. in the back of my mind i know i shouldn’t book anything until i go for the ultrasound thursday. but i want to, so badly do i want to.
i want this trip to happen. i want to bring my mom back over there and let her rest where she wants. i want to climb Croagh Patrick and go to the Gougane Barra again. my aunt iowa and uncle arizona have never been there, and i don’t know if they would go if we didn’t have this “obligation”. not that granting my mother’s wishes is an obligation, or a burden, it’s a responsibility i take seriously and proudly. but it is this situation that is presenting us the oppertunity to go. and i hope that uncle arizona comes with.
i hope that i can go. send your prayers to st. patrick and st. finbar and all the powers that be (read: my mom). but god, what a great thing if we could all go. my mom would love it, she’d absolutely love it. but both auntie iowa and uncle arizona have said we aren’t going if i’m not okay. if it’s going to cause problems for the baby, or jepordize my health, they will drop the hammer down on me so fast i won’t know what hit me. and they know my mom would never allow it.
so we wait.
we wait until thursday.
so despite doctors orders, we all went to the Fair today. we got up and headed out early, and were at the Fair by 9:00 AM. i have this theory that it’s not cool to have a corndog for breakfast, but after 9:30 isn’t everything really considered brunch?
boo had a fabulous time. the birthing center was really cool - she knew what all the animals were, except the calves, which she thought were dogs - most city kids do though. she loved watching the chicks, but didn’t want to pet a lamb. it was awesome watching her discover and absorb all of it though.
we moseyed around and looked at the big pumpkins and got some honey taffy. then we thought she’d probably like the giant slide. and let me tell you right now, hubbin is a sucker. they went down and as soon as she got off she wanted to go again - so they both rush up to me “can we go again? huh? can we mom? can we?” what are you, 12? of course you can go again!
sheesh! whatever made them think i’d be the hardass mom that only lets them go one something once? boo loved it, she cried when we left. so i told her we’d find more rides. like a ride in the stroller to the corn roast! yea!
thankfully, there is a pint-sized midway for little ones. she went on a dragon boat ride, the merry-go-round with mommy (puke) and some weird bee/flower/bubble thing with daddy. then she was pooped and i was pooped and we headed back. we stopped at sweet martha’s cookie jar and hit the all the milk you can drink - a whole buck now! fucking dairy assosication, ripping us off at every turn! mongrels.
we were home and asleep by 1:30PM. i woke up dazed that it could be so light out a four in the morning, that lead to a splitting headache that i haven’t been able to rid myself of. we grilled chicken and had salad but i’m still sick to my stomach. i knew i overdid it, i’ve been gulping gatoraide and water but to no avail. the fair is great, but it still makes you feel like shit. like i don’t know anyone who goes and afterward when you talk to them they don’t sound like they’ve been worked over with a baseball bat.
fucking fair.
so after i told my mother-in-law that boo wasn’t going to be home, but that she could stop by anyway, i guess she took that to mean, everyone can meet at my house, not to see me or boo, but because it was on the way.
Crazy SIL and uncle montana had some business to do, so MIL brought zeno with her here, then SIL and unlce montana come over to pick up zeno on their way to the Fair. like the whole thing was really convenient for everyone but me. it is good seeing zeno, but like i said, he doesn’t like me much. and if grandma is around - forget it.
i did get one thing out of it, uncle montana agreed to finish off a closet and do some other small handyman stuff for us. and i got to show him what we wanted done. and i talked to the Crazy SIL about starting an account for zeno. naturally, she hadn’t discussed it with unlce montana. sigh.
a week ago she was bitching about having to buy his niece a b-day gift, and then they go to the Fair. i just don’t get it. the fair is going to cost more than $50. i mean the two of them, parking, gas, food, etc. i’m sure someone can go to the Fair for $50 bucks, but i don’t see rachel rey around, do you?
so sadly, i am more than done with the lot of them. it’s had to have respect for people who do absolutely nothing to help themselves. and i feel bad more my MIL, cuz who is going to say no to their kids and grandkids? thankfully, she will get some time with boo on sunday. hubbin and i have decided to sneak out to a movie - something low key and fun. but i’m willing to be that if we don’t call her to babysit, she won’t see boo until we do. and i feel that MIL should have more choices than that.
and i keep asking myself - how the hell do i deal with this? i mean, it’s so bullshit bitch to keep my mouth shut and play along, but how do i bring up something that pissed me off over a month ago and is now tainting almost every interaction i have with them? and is it even worth it? i mean can the damage be repaired? does it matter?