Lessons from the Road

1. Changing tables are few and far between in certain stretches along I-80.  This includes places such as rest areas, gas stations AND restaurants.  When the temperature hovers in the single digits it doesn't allow one to lay a child on the seat and change a diaper while standing outside the car, leaned over said baby.  It causes one to come up with creative ways to change diapers.


2. When those temperatures continue to hover in the single digits, water pipes freeze at Wyoming rest areas.  With 20+ miles to the next exit with a gas station, 42 miles to the next rest area and a 2nd cup of coffee causing your bladder to utter curse words you take your chances with non-flushing toilets. Gross, but a necessity.


3. $4 pillows from Wal-Mart are a life saver when you log 4000 miles.  And you feel less guilty about it when you open the back door to the truck and they fall out onto the parking lot.


4. Tantrums are not only for children.


5. With two small, impressionable children in the backseat and thousands of asshats pulling asshat-like driving maneuvers in front of you on the interstate, you come up with creative ways to curse at them.  Like calling them portholes.


6. Breaking stuff is a gift children and dogs demonstrate.  Even if you don't think it's possible for them to reach it or cause any damage to it, they will.  Quickly too.  Houseplants and baby gates seem to be highly favored items to destroy.


7. Five year olds can get tired of fast food chicken nuggets.  Almost unimaginable, I know.


8. One who thinks it's a good idea to give a 5-year old a bag of marbles while in the truck should not be allowed to get mad and yell when said marble bag gets dumped.  Especially when the dumping is accidental.  It does however cause other occupants of the vehicle to laugh at the creative ways implemented to prevent marbles from spilling out into parking lots when doors are opened.


9. If you find yourself with 5 bottles of Michigan wine and 4, 6-packs of Michigan brewed beer in your cart at Wal-Mart throw a couple of bags of chips in with your alcohol.  Other shoppers will look at you as though you have a problem but you'll fool yourself into thinking otherwise.


10. Upon waking from a nap, don't ask why the driver is waving an open pack of gum around.  Please, just don't ask.  Just pray you never experience it.


11. After 20ish years, one can still remember the words to the most popular song played at 8th grade dances.  Thank you, Extreme, for those eternally ingrained lyrics.


12. Two adults, two small children and 2 fifty-pound dogs in a small hotel room makes for a tight space.  Add in a pack 'n play, two dog kennels, 3 suitcases, 2 computer cases, 1 camera case, 3 rubbermaid storage containers, a small wooden rocking chair, 1 diaper bag, 1 preschool backpack and 2 boxes of childhood momentos and that tight space becomes suffocating.  Mix with exhaustion, impatience and restlessness and everyone is *almost* grateful to get back in the truck when the interstate reopens.


13. Dogs, albeit man's best friend, may not always appreciate thoughtful gestures.  When the forecast is calling for single digit, if not negative, temperatures please refrain from taking your beloved sweatshirt and putting it on a pet.  If you chose not to refrain, don't be surprised at the next gas station when you find the dog has escaped from your generosity AND chewed some air conditioning vents in it for you.  Those holes can not be fixed.  Add another $25 to your trip tally.  And once again, be prepared for other occupants of the vehicle to laugh.


14. My husband is still the most awesome person to road trip with. I may get frustrated with his antics, his vocabulary, his grumpiness and his desire to listen to NPR at 1am but he keeps me sane and he makes me laugh.  Oh, does he make me laugh.  Sometimes it's with him; sometimes it's at him.  No matter the case, it reminds me why I fell in love with him almost 13 years ago and why I still love him more than words. (Yeah, you guessed the song right.  And no, I don't feel badly that it's now streaming through your head. I can't hear you cursing at me over the volume of the verses blaring in my skull.)

Holiday Countdown

The countdown has begun.  

Just imagine it: 2 adults, 1 preschooler, 1 infant and 2 dogs journeying almost 4000 miles round trip in the span of 10 days.  As much as I love road trips -- and I used to really love this one pre-kids -- it's so much more involved now.

This is where I wish we had a bigger vehicle (a full size SUV with a 3rd row seat would be nice, instead of a double cab pickup or my ancient 4Runner that we don't trust to make the drive).  Or a bigger bank account to afford the $800+ per person airfare.  Or even a spouse with unlimited vacation time so we could set a more leisurely pace.

C seems to think we'll be able to drive straight through.  My thoughts?  Bwahahahahaha!  Straight through is doubtful.  I'm pushing for 2 days, with a hotel stay somewhere around Omaha to give the kids time out of the truck.  They might not sleep well but it will be better sleep than in carseats.  Maybe.  

As always, we'll do everything on the fly.  I'll be equipped with a list of pet-friendly hotels in major cities from Kearney, Nebraska to Davenport, Iowa.

Twice now we've been stuck somewhere in Wyoming on the drive back West due to inclement weather.  At this/that time of year it's always a gamble.

I'll be praying for sanity, clear roads and docile kids.  The chances of all three are slim but one can hope, right?

Not That Old, Yet

Twice today I've gotten emails regarding AARP memberships.  Twice.  Granted I feel (as in my body physically feels) like I should be hitting retirement age but my feet are firmly planted in my 30's.  Early 30's for another little bit.

Gotta love junk mail.

New Wheels

After talking about it for years, it finally happened.

My own road bike.  I'm already dreaming of the time it will allow me out of the house, away from everything but myself (and whomever I can convince to ride with me) -- giving me time to clear my head.  

Now I'm crossing my fingers we have a short winter and a nice, mild spring!  These wheels needs to hit the pavement ASAP.

Breathe

Today is starting out to be one of *those* days.  You know the kind.  Where you wish you could either crawl back in bed and start over, fast forward to the end or dump a couple of shots of Bailey's in your coffee.

Hell, this whole week has been that way.

This morning my list of annoyances is long and my patience is short.  I'd love to sit here and prattle on about everything that is getting under my skin.  But I know that in the grand scheme of things it's all just minor infractions and in time, it will pass.

So instead I'll fill my coffee cup (with just coffee, I promise) again and take a moment to breathe.

Spinning My Wheels

Too much to do and never enough time to get it all done.

Does that seem to be the theme for other people as well?  I certainly hope so.  Not that I hope you can't get your stuff done as well, but that I'm not the only one who hopelessly feels like they're never accomplishing what needs to be finished.

This time of year is tough -- C's birthday, Halloween, KT's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Baby Girl's birthday all jammed into just over 9 weeks.  Add to it holiday travel, my business stuff, yard work and the day to day stuff of life and my to-do list continues to grow and grow and grow.

Which is why this blog seems to sit, untouched for lengths of time.  I need to get back here more often.  There's too much rattling around in my head that I need to find a place to dump some of it.

Sealed My Sleeping Fate

My husband snores.  Horribly some nights.  Much more so the older we get.  And since 95% of the time he's in bed and sound asleep before the thought of sleep even crosses my mind, I often find myself trying to drown out the noise coming from his side of the bed in an attempt to drift off myself.

A couple of years ago we had a mini-sleep study done on him.  Nothing too extensive -- just one night here at home he was hooked up to a couple of monitors that watched his heart rate and his breathing through the night.  We did find out that he has a very, very minor case of sleep apnea.  The doctor that ordered the test recommended surgery to fix a deviated septum, remove his tonsils and shorten the uvula.  This trifecta of problems would help to reduce the snoring and correct the apnea.

C was hesitant about the procedure to begin with from the horror stories he'd heard about having your tonsils out as an adult.

I can GUARANTEE it's never, ever, not in a million years, going to happen now.

You see, I had a deviated septum fixed last Friday.  As well as the rest of my sinus cavities roto-rootered to remove some cysts and a pocket of "chronic" sinusitis.  Suffice to say the pain and recovery that goes with this procedure is not to be taken lightly.  I'm 4 days out and still hating life.  

I told him on Saturday that if I'd had known how much it would suck I don't think I'd have opted for surgery; I would have dealt with the sinus headaches.

It's a done deal: I should invest in ear plugs now.

Strength

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong;
but sometimes it is letting go."  ~Hermann Hesse~

This quote has been rattling around in my brain for a few days now.  The more I try to take on, the louder the cacophony gets.  

I need to do a better job of really listening to it--not just letting it rattle. 

I can't keep beating myself up over to-do lists that get longer and longer; I can't keep worrying over dirty floors and weedy flower beds;  I can't keep worrying about things that are out of my control.

I can only do what I can do.  

I need to be more grateful for the blessings I've been given and the memories I'm making.  

The rest will come together as it should.

Change

As the temps begin to drop low at night and the kids head off to school, it's evident that the change of seasons is creeping upon us. 

In homage to the season change, I thought it fitting to mimic this transformation.  

Maybe it will be good all the way around.

If not, it's only cosmetic.  At least here on the blog.

Rained Out

The baby was up just before 6am this morning to nurse.  As I laid her back in her crib shortly before 6:30 I thought briefly about crawling back into the warm cocoon of my bed, pulling the covers up over my head and trying to ignore the sun  infiltrating the bedroom.  Instead I resigned myself to shutting the alarm off and enveloping myself with steam from the shower.

An hour later I was dressed and ready for the day (including hair AND makeup), C was gone for work and both kids were still sound asleep.  I grabbed my cup of coffee and headed to the back door to enjoy the peace of the backyard for a few minutes.  As I raised my hand to push the door open I heard the unmistakable sound of soft raindrops on the patio.

I can hope that it's just a mere coincidence and not an indication of the day to come.

Long Overdue

For the first time ever, we actually went on an honest-to-goodness family vacation.  Someplace that didn't include tents, camp trailers, hunting, fishing, or days without running water.  Something other than 3-day weekends into the wilderness or cross-country treks to visit family (not that visiting family isn't good, I'm not saying that).  Someplace that we'd never imagine ourselves vacationing.

It took a tremendous amount of convincing, but C finally agreed to spend part of a week with his family in the Outer Banks.  We all hung out together in a a fabulously huge, and just fabulous in general, beach house with ocean access.  A beach house.  And we absolutely loved it.

KT spent the days running like a wild child after her cousins, doing cannonballs into the pool, collecting shells on the beach, splashing in the surf and catching sand crabs after dark.  She was up early with the sun, crashing for a 2-3 hour nap in the bliss of air conditioning in the afternoon and then back at it full force until well after the sun went down.  If you'd ask her I'm sure she'd say it was the best week of her life.

Baby Girl (which reminds me that I have yet to nickname her here on the blog) spent the days playing on the floor with her cousin and enjoying being passed from person to person to person.  To person. And then back to me when she was hungry.  After a couple of attempts she finally warmed to the idea of the pool and splashed in the water for an hour or so.  On one single afternoon.  The next day we tried the ocean and it was a disaster.  Upon trying the pool again we were met with the same blood curdling screams.  So she continued to enjoy spending quality time on the laps and in the arms of family.

C and I enjoyed not only the time way, but each other.  For the first time in longer than I can remember we both relaxed.  There was no stress of jobs, no worrying over housework, laundry or other domestic responsibilities.  There were no laptops to snag our attention for hours at a time, no sitting on the couch watching television for hours.  We hung out in the pool together while the girls napped in the afternoon, walked on the beach hand in hand after they were asleep for the night.  For the first time in longer than I can remember, we didn't get into petty arguments about anything.  We had real conversations after everyone else in the house had gone to sleep, we laughed while attempting to play pool when it was too rainy to be outside.  It reminded me of why I fell in love with him 12 years ago and reminded me how much I still love him.

It reminded both of us how important our family is and how vacation is about so much more than visiting places and people.  It reminded both of us how important our marriage is and how we need to give ourselves that uninterrupted time more often.

Hopefully we find ourselves packing for vacation sooner than another 12 years from now.

Makeover?

It's been a while since this place has had a facelift.  Maybe it's time for a change again.  Let me see what I can come up...

Moonlighting

Two week ago our Pinto Bison (he was lovingly nicknamed that years ago) had a quick surgery to remove a fatty deposit/lump by his front shoulder.  About 4 days after the surgery --just when the fur started to regrow and the sutures started to itch-- he started incessantly licking close to the wound.  He couldn't reach the wound itself due to its location but could get about 2 inches away.  He licked and licked and licked and licked until he started to make the skin raw.

In true fashion, we were too lazy to drive across town on a Friday night to buy an e-collar (ie. Elizabethan collar, cone, etc.) to hinder his lapping.  After being scolded repeatedly, Pinto Bison emerged from our bedroom sporting this ensemble.

Luckily for him, the attire secured him a late-shift waitressing position with the restaurant famous for well-endowed waitresses, tiny white t-shirts and buffalo wings. (Or so I hear, I've never set foot in such establishment.)  

After a few hours he picked up a new nickname -- Destiny.  A name befitting of any waitress worth her salt.  Especially one that wears tiny white t-shirts.

Apparently he wasn't as amused as we were.  If he had fingers, he'd probably have a gesture or two for us.

Today's Tip

(Today's tip is brought to you as a Public Service Announcement to all sleep-deprived mothers.  Please don't ask how I know this information.)

When there is plastic melting on the burners of your stove top, quickly turn the heat off before it catches fire and then allow the burner to completely cool down.  While doing this it's appropriate to curse at yourself if you're the cursing kind and run your burnt fingers under cold water if necessary; it helps to pass the time.  After the burner is completely cool, the plastic should just peel off in pieces.

File this under "things you certainly hope to never use but may come in handy someday".  You might thank me for this random tidbit.

Yogurt, Part 2

A couple of things I forgot to mention in the other post:

• when incubating the yogurt you need to maintain the temperature around 100 degrees for the cultures to flourish.  With the light on in the oven mine hovers between 102 and 104.  
• after incubating the yogurt allow it to chill before trying to strain it.  I tried to strain it warm today and suffice it to say it only created a mess.  A BIG mess.

This Ain't No Yoplait

Often at the end of the day I'm scrambling to get just one more thing done before heading to bed.  It always seems that my to-do list is exponentially longer than the time I have available to work on it.  My hubby politely reminds me that projects like this aren't helping the situation.  

___________________________________________________________

A few weeks ago I got fed up with spending $0.50-1.00 on a container of yogurt.  Especially ones with ingredients on the label that I can't pronounce.  So I put in a request to a friend and started on a new adventure--making my own yogurt.  I was amazed at how simple the process actually is.

Between yogurt cultures and sourdough starters it appears as though, perhaps I should have been a microbiologist instead of a soil scientist. 

All you need to get started is a couple quarts of milk and a small amount of unsweetened, plain yogurt with active cultures.  After you make the first batch you can use use some of your homemade for future batches.  (I've used whole milk both times I've made it now, but will try 2% the next time.  I've read that you don't want to use less than 2% or it will get "grainy")

.

2 quarts of milk = 1 half a gallon.  Pour it into a heavy saucepan.

Over medium-high to high heat heat the milk to 175-180 degree Fahrenheit, stirring frequently.  A candy thermometer works well because it clips onto the side of the pan.  Next time I might snag C's nifty beer brewing thermometer (sterilized of course!) as it has an alarm that sounds when you reach your designated temperature.

Remove from heat and allow milk to cool to a temperature between 110 and 120 Fahrenheit. 

I usually cheat at this point and drop the saucepan into the kitchen sink, filling the basin with cold tap water.  With constant stirring it drops the temperature of the milk to it's desired range within a couple of minutes.

Take about a cup of the warmed milk and whisk it into about 1/4 cup of your unsweetened yogurt.

After whisking, pour mixture into the saucepan and mix everything well.

Wrap the saucepan in a heavy towel and put into a conventional oven that has been preheated for about one minute.  Turn the oven light on.  Let it sit and incubate for 10-14 hours.  The time varies depending on the environment and how thick you want your yogurt.  Mine typically takes 12-14.  I start it after dinner and let it go overnight, pulling it mid-morning the next day.

When it's done incubating, pull the yogurt from the oven and stick it in the refrigerator to chill.  

If you want regular yogurt go ahead and stop here.  If you're like me and want to try your hand at Greek yogurt, keep going.  

After pulling the yogurt from the oven I strain it to thicken the consistency.  My system is weird but it works well -- I line a strainer with muslin, put the yogurt into cheesecloth and then the cheesecloth goes into the muslin-lined strainer.  (It's cheaper than buying a $75 bullion strainer and a standard kitchen strainer doesn't have a fine enough mesh.)  To speed the process I place a plate on top of it all and add some weight.

Then I let it sit for another hour or so.

I let it go until it quits dripping whey into the collection pan.

Ideally you want to reduce it by half.  I've found that getting about 3 cups of liquid out makes for a perfect consistency. 

Then put your thickened, creamy yogurt into a tightly sealed container and refrigerator.  It will thicken more as it cools.

Apparently I got so excited about the finished product that I forgot to take shots of the yogurt before it went into the fridge.  Oops!  But it doesn't last around here long so I'll try to get some on the next batch.

So far this has been a huge hit.  I bought some vanilla Torani syrup to sweeten it and it works really well -- toss in some fresh fruit or granola and it's hands down better than anything you could buy at the store.

Back to Baking

Since baking with sourdough is a much lengthier process, it lends itself to be a bit more forgiving if life falls apart and I can't get to dough for an extra 30 minutes or so.  This means my worries about over-proofing are significantly less and we can enjoy yummy baked goods without the extra anxiety time constraints can cause right now.

Cherry Sourdough Coffee Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• cherry filling (can substitute canned pie filling)
• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts
• 3 tablespoons unbleached flour

Directions

1. Mix the 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. 
2. Cut in 1/2 cup butter till mixture resembles fine crumbs. 
3. Mix Sourdough Starter, egg, and vanilla; add flour mixture. Stir just till moistened. (I had to add some water to my recipe.  I think this is because my sourdough isn't kept at 100% hydration, meaning it's a little bit drier/thicker than what the recipe wanted.) 
4. Spread half of the batter in a greased 9x9x2-inch baking pan. 
5. Spread Cherry Filling atop. 
6. Drop remaining batter in small mounds over filling. 
7. Mix oats, brown sugar, nuts, and 3 tablespoons flour. Cut in 1/4 cup butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs; sprinkle over batter. 
8. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven for 35 - 40 minutes or till golden.

Cherry Filling:
Bring 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened pitted tart red cherries to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cornstarch; add to cherry mixture. Cook and stir till bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Cool completely.

The Scoop -- My family (and myself as well) absolutely loved this recipe.  The coffee cake stayed nice and moist, more so than a "typical" coffee cake.  The spoon stayed in the pan for easy access to a serving -- we had the entire coffee cake gone within 24 hours.

Our Love

Anyone that knows us in the "real world" knows that our sense of humor is a little *off* to say the least.  We laugh a lot and I attribute that to be a large factor in how we've made it through some of the cards we've been dealt together.  

Typically it's him who's spouting off wise cracks and jokes so my contribution to our humor is much smaller in percentage.  My husband has this incredible knack of trying to crack jokes at the most inappropriate times in an attempt to lighten the mood and make me feel better.  Nothing says "I love you" like making me laugh hours after brain surgery or a c-section.  

So when I get the chance to be funny I take full advantage.  Case in point...

I woke up yesterday morning to this wonderfully sentimental post-it note message collage on our bathroom mirror.  (I'm too sleep deprived to even be concerned about the mess that is my bathroom.  At least the mirror is reasonably clean.)

Every time I walked into/through the bathroom is made me smile.  Even after 11 years together he can still be sweet.

About 3pm yesterday afternoon one little thing caught my eye.  (Yes, it took me that long in my sleep deprived, caffeine-lacking state to notice it.)

It appears as though his beautiful sentiment is missing a subject.  So I proofed the statement for him.

As you can see, romance is obviously THRIVING in our household.  But it works for us.

My HeartBreaker

Oh, she's cute.  No one has ever doubted that (and I'll gladly admit that I'm biased because she is my offspring after all).  But really, she did break my heart.  Or rather the pregnancy in general did.

We only stayed in the hospital for 2 days after she was born.  Not the typical 72 hours that the insurance will cover for c-sections.  My OB felt that we'd be better off at home if we wanted to go and I agreed whole-heartedly with him.  My incision felt good, I was moving around well, baby was doing well.  It would be easier to have our family at home in our own beds so we could start adjusting to the new addition.

So they kicked us loose from the hospital late on Monday afternoon.  

By the end of the day Tuesday, I was just beat.  I told C that it seemed so much harder (physically) this time around.  I recovered really well after the c-section with KT (and after surgeries in general, usually I'm up and moving around so much quicker than we anticipate); this time was just really different.  I was having trouble with swelling from my feet up to my hips, my whole body ached and I just felt really horrible.  That night we laid in bed and I cried about how I was feeling.  I tried reminding myself of the obvious: that my body was 4 years older, that I had been through brain surgery and I was not getting as much rest because of taking after a four year old during the day.  Add to it post-partum hormones and I hoped I was just over-reacting.

Yeah, not so much.

I woke up about 6 am on Wednesday, January 5th and couldn't get a good breath.  It felt like there was a palette of bricks on my chest that wouldn't allow me to fully expand my lungs.  Physically it hurt to inhale more than just a little.  As I tried shifting to different positions in an attempt to get some air C woke up and I explained what was going on.  We agreed that I'd call my OB's office when they opened to see what they recommended.

A few hours later when I finally drug myself out of bed my breathing was still labored and I felt really, really weak.  A phone call to my OB's office had us scrambling to head to the hospital once again -- this time to the ER in fear of a pulmonary embolism.

When we got to the ER it was immediately apparent that *something* was wrong.  An initial EKG showed my heart rate between 30-15 beats per minute while my blood pressure was soaring somewhere above 170/120.  Based on how fast the nurse excused herself from the room, I knew it couldn't be good.  They immediately ordered an ultrasound of my legs and a CT scan of my chest.  (Meltdown #1 for Mandy came as the doctor told me I wouldn't be able to nurse the baby "for a couple of days" because of the contrast dye used in the CT scan.)  Both tests came back showing an absence of blood clots -- which was the initial concern -- but instead showed a significant amount of fluid around my lungs and heart.

The not-so-good-with-his-bedside-manner ER doc came into the room to tell us the diagnosis was postpartum cardiomyopathy and I was going to be admitted to the hospital for care.  

Postpartum cardiomyopathy occurs when there is damage to the heart. As a result, the heart muscle becomes weak and cannot pump blood efficiently. Decreased heart function affects the lungs, liver, and other body systems.

His explanation of the condition was brief, generating more questions and alarm than anything else (que meltdown #2 for Mandy as he left the room).  At this point a flurry of activity began -- the nurse came in to give me some diuretics to start draining fluid, a tech came in to talk about the echocardiogram she was about to do and the baby woke up (she'd been asleep through all of this so far) with full fledged wails of hunger.  Thankfully the ER staff was completely understanding of the situation and went on a mission to get us some formula from the Women's and Infants Center as we had none packed in the diaper bag.

A couple hours later I was settled into a room in the cardiac unit and was trying to process what was happening.  C had left with the baby to go get KT, the longest echo in the world had been performed (the combination of heavy duty diuretics causing me to need to pee every 8 minutes and the tech being trained by the service rep on how to run the new echo machine meant a 20 minute echo took us almost 90) and meltdown numbers 3, 4 and 5 and subsided. A meeting with my newly appointed cardiologist put some of my fears to rest and a hope that there would be no permanent damage.

Twenty-four hours after diagnosis I was once again kicked loose to settle back in at home with strict instructions on monitoring myself and severely limiting activity.

Over the last month I've undergone a series of bloodwork, another echo and follow up appointments with the cardiologist.  Thankfully my heart function is returning to  normal and the doctor has stated there is "nothing to be concerned with" at this point.  

And so it appears (although we had already made the decision due to the reoccuring hyperemesis and 25+ weeks with a PICC-line) that our family of 4 will stand solid, unchanging in number as our future unfolds.  I was adamant that we were done after this pregnancy as it was but the possibility of the myopathy coming back and causing irreversible damage, or possible heart failure, is certainly not worth tempting fate.

New Year, New Baby

Following in the footsteps of KT's pregnancy, this pregnancy threw us a fair amount of curve balls:

• hyperemesis,
• almost 26 weeks of life with a PICC-line,
• vomiting until the morning I delivered,
• breech baby,
• external cephalic version which was successful for about 2 hours,
• breech baby again,
• baby measuring large,
• too much amniotic fluid,
• flirtations with pre-eclampsia.

 Shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve my water broke and another beautiful baby girl made her entrance into this world (just after midnight) via emergency c-section.

Life with two kids is chaotic, stressful, exhausting and so very full of love and laughter.  It's also been full of more medical "happenings" but that will come at another time...