All of Us

All of Us
At I's wedding in July 2019. Back row from left: My oldest D (27) and his wife B (27), My 6th K (16), My 3rd L (23), My 5th T (19), and my 7th A (14). Front row from left: My 9th Z (11), My 10th M (9), Me!, My new son-in-law L (23), My 4th I (22), my love D, My 2nd J (25), and my 8th M (11).

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Group B Strep

At my doctor's appointment last week I discovered that I tested positive for Group B Strep. Current medical practice is to prophylactically treat all women who test positive with IV antibiotics during labor. This means that they want you to get there ASAP, instead of waiting till the last minute, which was my plan. It also means that you need an IV, which was NOT in my plan. My doctor said I could have the IV just during the antibiotics, and then have them disconnect it and walk around with a heplock until it is time for the next dose. Another issue is that they want the baby to stay 36 hours after delivery for observation to be sure he/she isn't becoming ill, which I also hadn't planned to do.

According to my pediatrician, about 5% of infants of mothers with Group B Strep will become ill, but they become very ill with sepsis, a bodywide infection. My father-in-law died of sepsis (which he acquired due to the destruction of white blood cells and suppression of his immune system caused by chemotherapy) so I know it is serious. Despite the severity of the potential illness, the number of babies who become ill is so small that it seems like overkill to treat every woman who tests positive with antibiotics. I am concerned about the potential for yeast overgrowth if I take the antibiotics. Vaginal yeast infections, thrush in baby's mouth, yeast infection of my nipples, and yeast infection of baby's diaper area are all possibilities. Yeast can be tough to get rid of. I have known mothers who have struggled with these problems for months, and it is NOT fun.

My pediatrician, who is not conservative, said he truthfully wishes they wouldn't routinely test people, since the risk is so small, but knowing that I am positive, he does recommend that I do the treatment and stay the 36 hours. So after mulling over declining the treatment and/or having the antibiotics but leaving earlier than 36 AMA, I have decided to just go ahead and do it, to be safe. The only problem I can see is that with a short labor, I may not be ABLE to get there 4-6 hours ahead of time and receive at least 2 doses of antibiotic. Oh well, we'll just see how it goes.

Appointment updates: Baby is head down, feels like at least 9 pounds according to my doctor. I had sugar in my urine, so doctor suggested a nonstress test since I'd had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy. I really wasn't feeling well that day, think it was a minor stomach virus, and I'd slept terribly and been up since 4am, so that could have raised my blood sugar. I did the nonstress test but had to interrupt it numerous times due to K, who was with me, and at 16 months can't really be expected to behave well or obey when his mama is strapped to a chair! He decimated the room. In the end I had to unhook the belts myself and rush out without checking out or saying goodbye, because it was time to get T from preschool and neither the doctor or nurse had returned, although more than 20 minutes had passed. I'm sure the test was pretty useless, since the data was really messed up by all the jumping around I did. I'm not worried though, baby is moving a lot and I have tested my blood sugar at home several times since then and the levels were fine.

She offered to try to strip my membranes and get labor going, but I wasn't ready! And feeling as yucky as I was, it just wasn't the day to do that. Normally I'm dying to go early, but I had a lot yet to do. Since I was having a lot of contractions that day anyway, the first thing I did was to come home and get out and clean up the carseat and wash the baby clothes, just in case!
We talked about doing it next week, but since then I read that stripping the membranes increases the risk of the baby becoming infected with Group B Strep, so that really isn't option (and my doctor should have known that!)

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Fall

Recently Chris at The Big Yellow House and Gretchen at A House Full of Boys posted pictures of their neighborhoods in fall color. Inspired by them, here is a photo of the old stone wall in front of my house (SE Michigan)--at the end of the driveway, actually, and some of the colorful trees around it. It was more dramatic, but many of the leaves have already fallen off these trees before I got out there to take the photo.



These are photos of my 2 sweeties who are at home during the day, T and K, in the leaves.



Fall is my favorite season, and all of the time I lived in Arizona I longed for it each October in a physical way. It just felt wrong for it to be 95-100 until Halloween. I am so happy that we have returned to Michigan!

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Not to be Trifled With

I am currently in the stage of pregnancy that should be known as "Woman Not to be Trifled WIth." My threshold for irritation is VERY low. This wasn't helped by D going out of town for 5 days, including the weekend.

Friday I awoke to my dog, who has a sensitive stomach, having had diarrhea all over the carpet. I have had issues with this poor animal for a while now (she has numerous behavior problems in addition to a weak stomach), and I totally lost it, called D. and suggested that we take her to a shelter that afternoon. He rightly felt that this was rash, and that we would regret it, so she is still here and we are seeking another home for her.


Saturday went like this:

7:00am Say goodbye to D, who is leaving for a business trip to the west coast.
7:15am Wake up J, who has to leave for a soccer game at 7:45am.
8:30am Meet with potential car buyers.
9:30am Drive L to soccer game
12pm Washing machine repairman arrives
12:30pm Furniture is delivered


Good news! I sold the car! I even dickered and cut a deal. They are picking it up tomorrow.

While standing outside cutting the car deal, the meter man came to read the meter, and the stopped to regale the buyers and I with a story of how the aforementioned dog chased him and behaved extremely threatening on a previous visit, but our other dog ran interference, distracting the mean dog and escorting him back to his car.

Predictably, the washing machine behaved perfectly normal while the repair man was here, so I paid $73 for a service call during which he did nothing! If the problem resumes, he will come back for no charge except parts, but still....

Then the furniture store delivered the WRONG mattress. I had specifically chosen a mattress without a pillowtop, and this mattress had a LARGE spongy pillowtop. I informed the deliveryman that this was the wrong mattress. He pointed out that 1) My old mattress (which they remove for free) was now outside, wet and dirty and 2) they would not be able to bring me another mattress today and 3) once the mattress has been unwrapped (it had been) it cannot be returned or resold/reused, so whether or not I slept on it didn't matter, because that mattress had become useless unless I kept it. He also reminded me that the store has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so exchanging it for another mattress would not be a problem.

I called the salesman, who suggested I come into the store and choose which mattress I REALLY wanted. He was unable to accept that I really didn't order the one they delivered. Later that evening, with 5 kids in tow, I did visit the store. The salesman was very friendly, but did argue with me about which mattress I ordered. He claimed that I was laying on the mattress when he wrote the name down. I assured him that I hadn't tried out any pillowtops because I didn't want one! Luckily, he only went one round with me and then said "We want you to be happy, so show me which mattress you want." There it was, in the same spot in the store as I remembered, and the same price as the other mattress. So next Sat. they will deliver the correct mattress and take the other one, probably to the dump! The wastefulness of that sickens me, although I know they must do that to conform with health laws.

Mostly I was astonished that he would argue with a woman 8.5 months pregnant, late on a Sat. evening, when she has 5 kids in tow.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Excitement and Cancellations while Negotiating with a 1 Year Old

You would think I'd never had a toddler before, based on today's episodes. K, who is 16 months old, had previously shown an aversion to wearing a perfectly adorable pair of overalls. He will wear other overalls, but not these. Currently, however, my washing machine is broken, so the clothing choices are limited. He began to scream when I tried to put them on him, but I persisted, forcibly dressing him. He progressed to crying and yanking on the cuffs. These overalls are tan with plaid cuffs, and the cuffs are the issue. When I finished dressing him, he threw himself on the floor, sobbing. Of course this occurred as we were attempting to hurry out the door to preschool, and were already late. I left him in the bedroom, and after a few minutes he picked himself up and followed me into the kitchen. Once we were out the door he perked up, but unfortunately, from his vantage point in his carseat he had a good view of his ankles, and this set him off again.

I am baffled by this! At what age do children become aware of their clothing, let alone have a preference? I have never had a child pay any attention until they got close to the age of 2.

After leaving the preschool, we headed to the furniture store, where I had been yesterday, scoping out bedroom furniture. They were having a "no money down, no interest, and no payments for 2 years" sale that ends today, so D. had agreed to meet me there and see what I'd selected. (We love using their money for free, and always pay it off before the deadline). K was still crying, so I plyed him with Teddy Grahams, which shut him right up. D liked my furniture selection, and somehow, although I had intended to purchase a bedframe, mattresses, 2 nightstands and possibly an armoire, we ended up with those items AND the matching dresser and chest. Unnerving to spend a lot more than I planned, but exciting to have bought an entire room full of matching furniture for the first time ever! It will be delivered Saturday.

I rushed back toward home to pick up J from school because she had an orthodontist appointment. When we got into the BRAND NEW van outside the school and pulled away, the way the van drove felt different--no pickup, and when I looked at the instrument panel, the engine light was on! I consulted the manual which said that this could be caused by totally running out of fuel and driving the vehicle empty (I didn't think that was possible) or a myriad of other problems that must be solved by the professionals at the service department of the dealership. I was low on fuel yesterday, but not totally empty, and the problem occurred today, many miles after I put fuel in. I called the service department of the dealership, because I wanted to know if I could continue to drive it without causing further damage. I was told it was safe to drive unless the engine light is flashing, which it is not, and that the problem might be that the fuel cap wasn't screwed on tightly. I checked this and rescrewed it but the engine light remained on.

A call to the orthodontist was next, to determine if they could still see J, even though we would now be rather late. Of course not! We need to reschedule (they make appointments at least a month in advance). J was now missing lunch at school, so we picked up sub sandwiches and a slice of pizza for K and went to the park to eat. I put some pop in K's sippy cup because it was all I had, and didn't even have water to dilute it with. He refused to eat pizza, which he normally loves.

The exciting part about lunch with J was that I got to find out how she did in the spelling bee-2nd place in the entire 5th grade! She gets to attend both the school spelling bee, which will be 5th and 6th grade, and the regional bee. I was so happy for her.

After lunch, I took J back to school, and had a little time to kill before preschool ended, so bought a few Christmas gifts, which made me feel productive. We retrieved T from preschool, and on our way home, I put the gas pedal to the floor, and the van would not go over 55mph.

K had a yogurt and took a nap. When I went to pick up J from soccer practice, I realized we'd made another mistake: today was a piano party at her piano teacher's and I'd planned to pick her up early from soccer so she could attend it, but I had forgotten, as had J. It would have been more than half over by the time I could get her there, so she decided to just skip it entirely. On the way home from picking her up, the van drove normally, accelerating easily over 55mph, although the engine light was still on.

We had an extremely minimalist dinner, hamburgers on bread instead of buns, no side dishes. Dessert was caramel apples. K, who had had a few Cheezits and part of a donut as a snack, would not eat the hamburger, which I anticipated since he doesn't each much meat. He then ate a few bites of leftover pasta. When it came time for the caramel apples, he wanted one. He doesn't really have the teeth for either apples or caramel, so I planned to sit him on my lap and let him lick mine. Oh no, that was not at all acceptable: he wanted to sit in his highchair and expected his own apple. I cut off a small piece of mine, but that was no good either. Then I realized, he wanted it on a stick! I stuck an extra stick in his piece and he was happy, and was able to do a better job of chewing up the apple than I predicted.


Today my 1 year old ate the following:

1 bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal
1 cup of whole milk
1 small package teddy grahams
1/2 cup Sierra Mist pop
1 whole milk vanilla yogurt
1/2 cinnamon sugar covered pumkin donut
few Cheezits
Few bites pasta
1/2 Caramel apple

Doesn't look too healthy, does it? Not to mention high in sugar.

K also mildly objected to his blanket sleeper, but got over it quickly. The amazing thing about all of today's negotiations and arguments with him is that he cannot talk! This was all done nonverbally. He does point and gesture, and do things like get a plate or bowl out of the cupboard and present it to me, or climb into his own highchair, and of course scream, cry and run away. It's amazing how well he communicates with no words. His verbal understanding is excellent--I can tell him it's time for bed, or ask him if he's hungry or thirsty, or tell him to go get something and he totally understands. The few words he says so far don't help: hi, bye, various names of family members.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Rainy Day

Being as though it was a cold, rainy day today, I decided to go to the mall, something I only do 2 or 3 times a year. My sister sent the kids some belated birthday gifts, which were adorable and expensive clothing, all in a size too big, but she thoughtfully included gift receipts. There were no parking spots near the door, and we didn't have umbrellas, so we got a little cold and wet. The girls and I went, and unfortunately had to take K, as D had to work in the morning. In the past he has been happy to ride in the stroller for short periods of time, provided there is good people watching and he has a snack. Not today.

At our first stop, the Children's Place, I had difficulty finding the same clothes in a smaller size, but did find a winter jacket and a blanket sleeper (known as a bunny suit at our house) for K. I eventually asked for help, and did end up being able to exchange the clothes for the same items in a smaller size. They were now on sale, so I even saved a few $$ since the gift receipt entitled me to be credited for the full price that my sister had paid. During this stop K kept throwing himself on the floor, running all around, and generally misbehaving.

So we went to have lunch at Olga's, a favorite of mine. Rather pricey for what it is, but I like it. T loved her 3 cheese sandwich, but I and J barely touched their burgers. I enjoyed mine, and K made a mess of his PB&J. J, the potato queen, ate a lot of french fries and we all slurped down the fresh squeezed lemonade.

Now K was happy to ride! As usual, I guess he had been hungry. Eddie Bauer, our next stop, was at the opposite end of the mall. It was easy to find the shirt and exchange it for a smaller size.

Next we needed to buy a gift for J's friend who was having a sleepover birthday party tonight. She doesn't know her friend that well, and wasn't sure what to get, so we went to the Discovery Store, where there were lots of cool things, but most of them more than she wanted to spend. We are on an increased allowance program where the kids now purchase things like gifts for friends with their own money. Eventually she settled on a scratch notebook, where the pages are black but when scratched color underneath is exposed.

We were now running late to get home, because J had a soccer game to play, and of course I made a wrong turn in the mall, because I was getting tired. We usually enter through Sears, but today we entered through JCPenney, which is at the opposite end of the mall. I remembered this just as we got close to Sears.

I, the Shopper, was now pouting that she hadn't had a chance to buy anything, and when I say anything, that's what I mean: she will buy anything. She is 7 and doesn't have much impulse control yet. She was so busy playing with the remote control vehicles on display at the Discovery Store that she didn't look around, and was mad when I said we had to go (not that she needed a keychain anyway) once J had completed her purchase.

Finally, at the van! Now I remembered why I rarely go to the mall.

As we arrived home, an old friend from AZ called, who I haven't spoken to in close to a year, and we chatted for a while.

I. invited her friend M over, but M needed a ride, and I agreed to go pick her up so that I could satisfy my craving for a white chocolate cafe mocha at the coffee shop on the way.

Once home, highly sugared and caffeined, I took on the clothes sorting project. I was able to do about 75% of them in about an hour! I am so happy. Then I made chicken noodle soup for dinner, while washing down the filthy fronts of my cabinets. The only bummer of today was that the washer leaked AGAIN, after I was just about caught up on laundry, soaking all the clean clothes awaiting folding, which will have to be rewashed! AAGH! We aren't sure what is causing the problem, it has happened 3 times in the past 2 weeks, but not every load. D thinks it is a clogged drain, which he will check out tomorrow.

Now M is spending the night, since we have an empty bed while J is at the sleepover party.

All kids are now watching movies, Chicken Run for the little girls and Dumb and Dumberer for the boys, and when the little girls are in bed, D and I will watch Mystic River, if we can stay awake!

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Frantic Nesting

With 5 official weeks of pregnancy to go, probably 6, I have entered the frantic nesting phase.

I have the following goals to complete before this baby arrives:

1) Christmas shopping--I have actually begun, have 5 extended family gifts, most of K's (toddlers are easy), and finally some ideas for the rest of the crew. D. and I have decided that our gift to one another will be a new bed! We are sleeping on a saggy, almost 10 year old mattress and box springs, on the floor. Very collegish, but now that we are 40 and 41, married for 17 years, perhaps it is time to acquire an actual bedframe/headboard and new mattress/boxsprings to go with it.

2) Clean basement refrigerator--I refuse to state how long it has been, but can you say EWWWWW?

3) Clean out medicine closet--I have a very deep long closet in the bathroom with 3 shelves, most of which can't be reached, extremely dusty and full of stuff I don't need or is outdated. I have been waiting for allergy season to end before tackling this, since I was sneezing so much already.

4) Complete filing--I have a year's worth of kid papers that I am saving that need to go into their individual files.

5) Catch up on photo albums--about a year behind.

6) Put away outgrown clothes into totes--currently they are in garbage bags awaiting sorting and putting away.

Sounds like a lot, but refrigerator and medicine closet are each one day jobs, filing also. Photo albums could be 3-5 evenings worth and clothes, let's say 2-3 days. Problem is, most of these chores can't be done with K awake, and I need to nap when he does. I have arranged a babysitter to do some of the Christmas shopping.



Tonight I made a seasonal favorite, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Sounds weird, but they are SO good! Have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like them. A soft cookie and the chips usually remain soft as well, slightly cinnamon--MMMMM!

Saturday, October 09, 2004

The Girls and K


The Girls and K
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.
These are my 3 daughters, J and I and T, and little brother K.

Our Old Stone House


Our Old Stone House
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.
This is the front view of our house, built in 1862.

Paula's belly


IMG_2112.JPG
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.
Here I am, looking large and pregnant.

Our New Sprinter


IMG_2110.JPG
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.
This is our new van.

Side view of house


IMG_2111.JPG
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.
This is the side we enter from, using the left door.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Large and Forgetful

The title refers to me, large and forgetful. I feel like I got a lot larger this week, am really straining my clothes and even from my point of view, my belly sticks further out horizontally. Perhaps the baby has dropped some, so it is lower and sticking out more, but it doesn't feel like it. In addition, I've had heartburn the past few days. Last night it was bad during the night, so I took Tums, which coat my mouth with a most disgusting taste, which is still there today, 18 hours later, even after brushing and flossing.

The forgetful part actually refers to last week, when not once, but twice, I forgot to pick up a child at the right time and place. The first incident was when I went to pick up D from soccer practice at 4:45pm, and was alarmed to see that no one was there, only to then realize that it was Tuesday, not Monday, and I was supposed to have picked him up at 4:00pm from a trombone lesson at a different location. He was rather annoyed with me, especially since I laughed when I told him why I was an hour late.

The second incident was Thursday, when I picked up J from her piano lesson and took her to her soccer game, an unusual occurrence on a weeknight. Usually she stays until both her piano lesson and I's are done and I pick them both up. Then I took L to his soccer practice, and was heading home, when D called me from home to say that the piano teacher had called and was wondering when I planned to come back and get I. Her lesson had ended 30 minutes earlier. I think I confused myself into thinking I'd already done the piano lesson pickup, since normally I only go there twice, not 3 times. Ugh! I was mortified and had to apologize profusely to the piano teacher. I was nonplussed, however.

I think I am trying to do to many things at once!

About Me

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SE Michigan, United States
Mother to 10 fabulous kids, ages 9 to 27 years! Mother-in-law to 2 more awesome young adults! Married for 32 years to my best friend.

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