This year I worked a 12 hour day shift on Labor and Delivery for Christmas Eve. I was crazy busy with 3 new admissions and 3 births within about 4 hours. I had a student who was pretty good and was able to do some of the work for me, but I was beat by about 5pm. I waddle like a pregnant person when I am tired, and there was some definite waddling by the end of the day. I got home around 9 and Shawn and I got up at 5:30am to drive down to Leah's house in Southern Maryland. We were there by 8:20 and joined in the present opening. We brought gifts from my parents in addition to a few for each other and presents for the Haas/Detrick/Montoya crew. It was a lovely day of watching Olivia play with her new computer from Santa and other fun toys, and Andrew crawling around getting into everything. We had a nice prime rib with Yorkshire pudding (a real treat in a house with 2 celiac's,) mashed potatos, green bean casserole, and gravy. After a few naps and lots of nice visiting, we headed home so Shawn could sleep before working the next day. I spent yesterday sleeping and reading, it was fantastic.
Katrina and Randolph came over last night so we could have second Christmas today. We re-enacted Christmas Eve last night and Christmas morning today with stockings, breakfast, and of course more presents! I got some maternity clothes and kitchen gadgets, and Shawn got a new flash and camera bag. Today we had waffles with berry compote and whipped cream for breakfast followed by an all important nap. Then our friend Rob and his girlfriend Erica came over for Rock Band and dinner. It's been a nice extended Christmas. I have been very bah-humbug this year with so many things going on, it has been nice to just be with friends and family for a few restful days. We have one more day off which will start with breakfast burritos featuring applewood smoked bacon, green chile, New York Chedder, and flour tortillas from El Paso so it's gotta be a good day!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Belly update
Here's me at almost 27 weeks. The baby is moving around like crazy now. I used to only be able to feel it at night when I was going to sleep and randomly throughout the day, but now it's a lot. My back is definitely starting to hurt now. It's funny, I complained to Mary about my back and she said, "get a maternity support belt." If I had a nickle for every time I said that to my patients, I would be rich. But did I remember it for me? No way. There are some things that I can be very clinical about and tap into my midwifery brain for, and others I am clueless. I guess that's why we have sisters, right? 
I have been doing prenatal yoga, which is great. There is a class in Bethesda that I like to go to, but it is only on Monday nights and my work schedule is never set enough for me to go consistently. I do have a DVD that I have been doing at home. It's not as good, and definitely not as relaxing with my cats running around and laying on my yoga mat, but it's better than nothing. Without my rock climbing, I am feeling like a lump.
I am awfully tired, but other than that am okay. My belly button is pretty much gone, and I am oiling my belly every night to prevent stretch marks (fingers crossed.) We are no closer to names for a boy yet. We have tons for a girl, but the boys are eluding us. We still have some time. I am looking into a childbirth prep class called hypnobirthing which I have seen be very effective for patients in the past. We also went crib shopping last weekend. Things are still a long way from ready, but we are closer than we were!
Hardwood floors lead to disaster
We decided on which room will be the nursery, and relocated the office stuff to the basement. The second step towards preparing our home for the new baby, was to pull up the nasty carpet upstairs and refinish the hardwood floors underneath. Sounds fairly simple, right?
Our floor company started last Monday and we moved out of our house and into the hospitality of our neighbors, Brooke and Oscar's home. Thursday morning brought the completion, and the floors look beautiful. We stayed away an extra day to let the fumes air out and moved back in on Friday night in time for my mom to come visit for the weekend. We slowly started putting the upstairs back together and things went smoothly until Sun night around 11. Shawn and I heard a soft crash somewhere below us, but couldn't identify it so went back to sleep. I got up to pee at 1:30am and heard water running downstairs. I thought maybe my mom was taking a shower, but she was asleep in the guest bedroom. I went downstairs and turned on the light in the kitchen to see water POURING from the light fixture. The ceiling was bulging, there was water all over the floor and flooding down into the basement. We turned the water main off, mopped up the mess, and went to bed with visions of thousands of dollars worth of damage and prayers that our homeowners insurance would cover it in our heads.
Shawn and I flipped a coin and decided that since he stayed home for the water heater explosion a few months ago, that it was my turn to handle the house disaster. I got up at 7:15 to call work and beg for coverage at my office hours, and began the day. My first call was to USAA to start a claim. Courtney was very nice, but of course made it sound like our coverage was limited and if there was any prior damage we were going to be screwed. She told me to call the plumber and get the extent of the damage before officially filing a claim. The plumber said they could be here the next day to which I explained the extent of the emergency and unacceptability of that plan. Two hours later, the plumber showed up. After exposing an 18" x 24" hole in the ceiling, he discovered that when the floor people replaced one of the boards in my closet, they pierced a water pipe. The crash was some drywall in the sub floor collapsing under the weight of 6 days of water accumulation! The floor people are taking responsibility of course, but now I have drywallers tearing out huge sections of damp drywall in my kitchen and another weeks worth of house disruptions.
The missing section of floor in the closet access panel.
The kitchen ceiling bulging.
The nails piercing the pipes.
One giant hole in the ceiling.
My kitchen :(
Oh yeah, and it's Christmas and we have no gifts, cards, tree, or lights up.
Our floor company started last Monday and we moved out of our house and into the hospitality of our neighbors, Brooke and Oscar's home. Thursday morning brought the completion, and the floors look beautiful. We stayed away an extra day to let the fumes air out and moved back in on Friday night in time for my mom to come visit for the weekend. We slowly started putting the upstairs back together and things went smoothly until Sun night around 11. Shawn and I heard a soft crash somewhere below us, but couldn't identify it so went back to sleep. I got up to pee at 1:30am and heard water running downstairs. I thought maybe my mom was taking a shower, but she was asleep in the guest bedroom. I went downstairs and turned on the light in the kitchen to see water POURING from the light fixture. The ceiling was bulging, there was water all over the floor and flooding down into the basement. We turned the water main off, mopped up the mess, and went to bed with visions of thousands of dollars worth of damage and prayers that our homeowners insurance would cover it in our heads.
Shawn and I flipped a coin and decided that since he stayed home for the water heater explosion a few months ago, that it was my turn to handle the house disaster. I got up at 7:15 to call work and beg for coverage at my office hours, and began the day. My first call was to USAA to start a claim. Courtney was very nice, but of course made it sound like our coverage was limited and if there was any prior damage we were going to be screwed. She told me to call the plumber and get the extent of the damage before officially filing a claim. The plumber said they could be here the next day to which I explained the extent of the emergency and unacceptability of that plan. Two hours later, the plumber showed up. After exposing an 18" x 24" hole in the ceiling, he discovered that when the floor people replaced one of the boards in my closet, they pierced a water pipe. The crash was some drywall in the sub floor collapsing under the weight of 6 days of water accumulation! The floor people are taking responsibility of course, but now I have drywallers tearing out huge sections of damp drywall in my kitchen and another weeks worth of house disruptions.
The missing section of floor in the closet access panel.
The kitchen ceiling bulging.
The nails piercing the pipes.
One giant hole in the ceiling.
My kitchen :(Oh yeah, and it's Christmas and we have no gifts, cards, tree, or lights up.
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