Okay, so I take a few days off blogging and when I log back in to catch up, I find that I have been double "tagged." Thanks, Lisa and Andrea. At least one tag conferred a "coveted" award, which I suspect is just a well-concealed attempt to guilt others into playing along.
In any case, I am supposed to provide two lists: seven things I am grateful for and five things that are weird about me. Hmmmm...
Things are always tainted by current experiences, so excuse the focus on my present pregnancy complaints, but here it goes...
I am grateful for:
1- Health- Having spent two large blocks of time at the hospital this last week being pumped full of drugs to stop the premature labor I was going into, I am grateful that otherwise, I am healthy, my family is healthy, and by all indications, our baby will be healthy -- we just want her a little bigger. It is easy to focus on how inconvenient and stressful such moments are for me, but really if you are going to spend time in the hospital, what a cushy reason to do it!
2- Advanced Medical Care- Despite the fact that my hands are shaking so bad right now from the drugs I am on that I can hardly type (you should see me try to write, it looks like I am back in 3rd grade!), I am grateful for innovations that can do amazing things. I start feeling this at the end of every pregnancy, because as I am expecting breech baby number three, I am personally indebted to those who have created ultrasounds, anesthesia, amazing surgical techniques, and a host of other tools to allow my babies to arrive quite safely. I don't like to think about the likely outcomes of delivering a baby feet first with a neighbor "midwife" during the pioneer era.
3- A Supportive Husband- No way I could handle stressful situations very well on my own. How sweet it is to have a partner who is loving, concerned, protective, full of faith, and so very good at putting our family first. He has been so good to me, even when he has been kept up over 28 hours in a row and then gets only two hours of sleep before arising to get Mia off to school, run all my errands, and clean up the house. What a man!
4- Friends and Ward "Family"- I am not good about asking for help and too often I feel alone in my life. But, for having lived here for just over a year, I have been so moved by how many people have just taken it upon themselves to check up on my family this week. Seriously, I could hardly sleep when I got home from the hospital Tuesday morning for all the calls to check on me! Special thanks to Melanie, who did not get any sleep Monday night either. And for dinner, and help with kids, and just rearranging my commitments, and on and on .... thanks. It is so nice to know you really are not alone!
5- Two Wonderful Daughters- Mia and Maggie are beautiful, loving, energetic children full of personality. I love to watch them grow as they amaze me with all they think and can do. Expecting a new little one has reminded me how very remarkable they are, how much they have learned, and how much I love being their mother. There is nothing more challenging or more rewarding in my life!
6- Faith in God- I am grateful to rely on more than my own understanding and ability to control this situation. (I don't do well when there is really nothing I can do!) How wonderful and comforting it is to trust that God is in control of my life, that he can help and strengthen and protect me and my family, and that I can have hope through Christ in all things.
7- Soft Sheets- Seriously, I am so grateful for sheets over 400 thread count, nice cotton towels, and a squishy pillow. I know it is a hospital, but does that mean that every fiber in the linens that they purchase needs to be itchy? And, while I am on the subject, who thought that making bands to wrap around someone's body out of scratchy Velcro was a good idea? Like you are not already uncomfortable enough having people stick needles into your hands and arms, stick swabs and other objects into other body orifices, being squeezed every fifteen minutes by a blood pressure cuff (that in my case seems to have determined I have abnormally skinny and untoned upper arms that may be refined by being constricted so hard that it feels like I will never regain full circulation), etc. -- is it necessary to have all the surfaces in sight irritate my skin? In any case, I am grateful that at home I can rub my feet against soft sheets that do not chafe them. Luxury - too often taken for granted!
Now, on to my weirdness:
1- I apparently have an oddly shaped pelvis that prevents my babies from turning around and coming out head first. This means that sometime in the next 28 days I will have my third c-section to deliver this last baby. It also means that I have constant burning pains in my rib cage from a baby sticking her head up there, a child whose heartbeat is hard for nurses to find, and babies that, so far, have been born with bald spots on the backs of the heads where their hair was rubbed off against my ribcage while in utero.
2- I really like watching old British comedies. I was reminded of this yesterday as I tuned in for a couple of hours while at the hospital with nothing else to do. Don't know exactly why I prefer such humor to more American forms. I like to think it is an indication that I am refined and witty, but most likely it just means I am rather stoic and boring.
3- I am truly, like really deeply and with great emotion, relieved that I voted early last week. I know, it is kind of the last thing to be concerned about right now. But, given that I am supposed to minimize my time on my feet and that I am not sure I won't be back in the hospital on Tuesday, I would be SO upset if I thought I was going to miss voting. Nothing like taking your civic duty too personally!
4- There are certain things I cannot quite figure out and that make me feel prematurely old: like texting and facebook. I just can't quite catch up. Maybe I need to get the Young Women I work with a church to tutor me in these new arts.
5- On the note of the last three entries, these are just further proof of what I have long known to be too true about myself: I really am just a big nerd. I am still trying to come to terms with the accuracy of this classification, but really I am. I know nothing about pop culture; it is quickly proven in a game of Trivial Pursuit! But, I can run on for hours about legislative process or what I thought of a piece of literature. In sum, I am just doomed.
And I tag... I don't know, my brain is on slow and I have too many with both of these. Tags to come later...
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