Surviving Spuds

I've been working potato harvest the last two days, hence my lack of posts. Was hoping for a reprieve today and a lazy morning. Unfortunately the boss just called, woke me up and ruined my plans. Looks like I'm working down at the experiment station again today.

I'll try to get some pictures from the shower posted over the weekend.

Alive and Kicking

Just wanted to let everyone know that I made it safely to Detroit yesterday. Nothing much else to report. Flight went well, just wore me out.

The shower is tomorrow at 3pm. I'll try to have someone take pictures with my digital camera and get them posted on Monday or Tuesday.

My sil-in-law (Baby Bailey) gave birth to my nephew yesterday morning at 8am! Welcome, Dylan Matthew to our family!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

Even though the doctor doesn't "understand why [I'd] want to go to Detroit this weekend, [he doesn't] see any reason why [I] can't go".

Hell. Yeah.

Obviously my appointment went fairly well this morning. My weight has come down 4 pounds since my appointment 3 weeks ago and the doctor noted that the swelling has "significantly improved", although still occuring. My blood pressure was good considering the doctor was running 45 minutes late. Baby's heartbeat was nice and strong and the baby is measuring on track now--between 31 and 32 weeks. So no ultrasound today, but that's okay. C didn't go with me to the appointment and I feel bad getting to see the baby without him.

For those that don't know the significance of the "all-clear" on the travel--my baby shower is at my sister's house in Detroit on Saturday. We've had it planned now for almost two months and I've had airline tickets booked almost as long. I was devastated at my last appointment when I was told that it was "unlikely" that I'd be able to travel for it.

So...come 8:00am on Thursday morning, Delta flight #3760 will have me securely buckled into one of its seats, beginning my journey...

I'm leaving, on a jet plane...(come on Bean, I know you know the words...)

Excuse Me While I Rant

There are three people in my life that truly deserve to be mothers. Without a doubt, they would be the kind of parents that make others jealous. They'd raise smart, articulate, well-mannered children that would grow up to be upstanding citizens of this country. Probably citizens that would try to make a difference in whatever way they possibly could. Problem is, all three of these women struggle cycle after cycle with some sort of infertility. Bringing them continued disappointment, heartache, frustration and continued struggles. The three of them are at very different junctions in their journeys but all have experienced the devastating heartache of a miscarriage, or miscarriages.

IT. SUCKS.

Why is it that the most deserving are sometimes the ones who have the hardest struggles? Why should they be faced with the challenges they are when so many others are blessed with children when they're in less than ideal situations?

I know this is a sticky topic. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will flame me for it, albeit silently. Saying that everyone has the right to be blessed with children. Saying that I have no right to judge. And I totally agree. Everyone has the right to experience parenthood. But I also think that the right should be exercised only when those people are mature enough and responsible enough to handle their offspring. And I know, I shouldn't judge. But at times it's really difficult not to get irritated by how the cards of fate are dealt sometimes.

Living in Provo and being surrounded by BYU students really ruffled my feathers now and again. I met numerous people who's sole intention was to get married and immediately start a family. Didn't seem like a big deal at first, it was obviously their choice. But once I started to look at the logistics I started to get riled up. Common scenario--couple gets married while still in school. Wife gets pregnant right away, either quits taking classes and stays home with baby or continues education (usually the first option). Husband continues in school, working a part-time job to support his ever-growing family. After graduation, husband typically continues on for an advanced degree. Doctor, dentist, lawyer, Ph.D...you get the picture. Through this, wife continues to have more kids. So where is the money coming from? How do you support a family on a 25 or 30 hour a week part-time job?

There were times when I was in grad-school living on a stipend that equated to a full-time $8/hour job, that C and I were struggling to make ends meet. I couldn't imagine living on that solely and supporting children as well. So one time, I got the courage to ask a friend who was newly married and newly pregnant (and had quit school to be a stay at home mom) how they were going to make ends meet. Her husband barely worked 25 hours at a job that I knew couldn't pay more than $7 or $8/hour. She looked me square in the eye and without batting an eyelash or skipping a beat, she replied, "welfare, of course". They had PLANNED to go on assistance so she could stay home and they could have a family. I'm sure that I was speechless.

So why is it that people like this pop kids out like nothing? They never struggle with fertility issues or perhaps the morality of the situation. But here I have these friends that all have great educations, stable marriages, good incomes and are READY for a family. They get slapped in the face with trying for years, invasive medical procedures, horrible financial commitments, miscarriages and heartache.

Where is the fairness in this? How come there isn't some Darwinistic system in place that causes temporary infertility in couples that aren't ready, that aren't capable of supporting children? That automatically "lifts" when their situation changes.

I suppose that would make life all too easy. I know that we're all given challenges in life for one reason or another. It just seems that some people are un-necessarily given more than their fair share.

It appears as though my rant has been tempered somewhat as I sit and write. It's been watered down considerably. Where I was intitally inflamed about these situations when I first sat down, I feel as though now my thoughts are of a more reflective nature. Don't get me wrong, it still upsets me.

These women deserve a break from the heartache. They deserve to be given the opportunity to experience parenthood. They deserve to have the easy road for a change. I know that our road to parenthood hasn't been easy for us, but it seems as though it's been a walk in the park compared to what they've faced.

If I could, I'd give anything I have to change their situations. Perhaps it sounds cheesy, but I hope that all know that.

Smarter than the Average Bear

Even though I'm constantly saying to C, "they're just dogs", at times they really do catch me off-guard with their intelligence.

A few minutes ago I was sitting here at the computer just after I had let both dogs in from the backyard. Logan (the younger of the two) comes up to me and starts annoying me, looking for attention. He has this habit that when you're sitting down, and he wants attention, he raises himself up so his fronts paws are on your thighs and his back legs are on the floor. Kinda like he's trying to climb into your lap but not quite. Then he starts to lick your face, your hands, the keyboard...anything he can get his tongue close to.

To oblige him, I usually scratch him behind the ears for a minute and give him a big hug. Then not so gently push him away and tell him to "go play". Just after I started scratching just now, Dakota (the older dog) grabs the empty Gatorade bottle that Logan has been chewing on since Monday night. He does this thing where he taunts Logan with it, chomping down on it while it's in his mouth to make as much noise as possible. Telling Logan that he has his toy. As soon as Logan hears that Dakota has the bottle, he immediately wants nothing to do with me anymore and goes tearing across the room to get the bottle.

Not surprisingly, at the exact moment that Logan is halfway between me and the bottle, Dakota drops it and sprints over to me. So that he can get his turn to have his ears scratched.

Dumb?

Nah.

I think my dogs are way smarter than I give them credit for.

What 10 Weeks Will Do

Wow. That's all I've got to say on the matter.




And ...my mirror was clean this time!

And...I promise, although the tank top is probably the same, the shorts are different.

Almost Forgotten

I'm not sure exactly what caused it, but something jogged my memory this morning. It reminded me that I had never posted any pictures from my sister's wedding a month ago. Oops. So I figured that I had better get that done before I totally forgot. Problem is, C went to Utah for the weekend to go elk hunting (no flames, please) and I think he took the digital camera with him. And most of the pictures that we took are still on the memory card. Second oops.

But I'll post what I have saved on my computer.

The new "family". My sister's husband has a son from a previous marriage.


My fam-damily. L to R -- My youngest sister, my Dad, bride (middle sister) and groom, my mom and then myself (oldest sister).


Baby sister, pregnant me and my Dad.


Mom and Mom-To-Be.


Baby sis and I.


C and I. (Which I'm surprised we remembered to take a picture of us together. We just about always forget to do that when we're dressed up somewhere.)

Update

I'm here, I'm here. Everything is okay, I promise. Thank you to everyone who has shown concern--sending e-mails, leaving comments and making phone calls. Life has just been extremely hectic lately.

My apologies for my absence. We ended up with a couple of day extension at the condo and it rushed by much faster than we expected. Before I knew it, it was Saturday afternoon and C was packing up the computer. Ahhh! Before I could post, no less.

Due to a snafu with Qwest (insert a string of profanities here...) we don't have our DSL at the new house until Friday when a service tech can come out and flip some switch out on the box. Which means that I'm either hanging out at the library to check my e-mail or dragging myself to campus to sit in front of a computer. Either way, it requires me to take a shower and make myself presentable. Both of which take more time and energy than I seem to have most days.

Healthwise -- not much new to report. I've upped my protein intake as much as I possibly can and have cut down as much as I possibly can on salt. Considering I only have a microwave and a single glass bowl to use to cook with right now, the salt aspect has not been easy. Thanks for all the suggestions on things to watch for though, they are greatly appreciated.

Trista -- I have found that the lower fat cheeses contain more sodium so I scour all the packages while at the grocery store to find one with the lower sodium content. At this point, I've not overly concerned about my fat intake (within limits).

WendyLou -- Thanks for the tip on the distilled water. Perhaps I'll grab some of that. My soda intake has been cut down considerably. I found out the hard way a couple weeks ago that ANYTHING with caffeine in it, no matter what time of day I drank it, kept me up until all hours of the night. So if I drink any soda it's usually Sprite or something else non-caffeinated.

The swelling hasn't gone down per se in intensity, but it has gone down in frequency. I'm trying my hardest to stay off my feet as much as possible. Once I have DSL at the house and I get my laptop (insert string of profanities here as well...) it will make this much, much easier to do. It amazes me how quickly my ankles disappear when I am up and moving around. My blood pressure is still fine as well. This morning it was 112/65 and I continue to monitor it a couple of times a day.

Housewise -- Progress is occurring, albeit much slower than both C and I would like. The holiday weekend was spent putting up new lights, ceiling fans, etc. Not much painting got done. Hopefully C will be able to get the washer and dryer put in tomorrow night so that I can do laundry again. We only have one room (the nursery) left to paint downstairs and finish off with the entire downstairs trim and a couple of closets. Then touch-ups through the house. It's still a decent amount of work. And we know that it seems like it has taken a lot of time to accomplish what we have. But we continue to remind ourselves that we're painting almost the ENTIRE house and most of the rooms have needed two coats of paint. We didn't expect this to be a weekend project.

Well, that's about all I have at the moment. I feel so disconnected right now. Hopefully that will be solved by the end of the weekend.

Thanks again to everyone for the support and concern. I'll update again when I'm back up and running -- my computer, that is.