In My Mind I've Said A Lot

... but here... not so much apparently.


And time is flying by.  Unlike with Madelyn, this hasn't brought me to tears.  It's still unsettling.


Monday I sat down at my desk and looked at the calendar.  I saw the beach scene.  Ahh, lovely.  Then I realized we were in a new month.  A closer look and I saw that the calendar already said April, so I proceeded to start my computer and plan my day.  I have no idea how long it took for me to realize that we weren't starting April, but May.  Could have been two minutes, could have been an hour.  (Please do not mention that I've had that same beach scene up for a month... I'm not at my desk that often.)


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We went camping this weekend at Silverwood Lake.  It was a lovely getaway even if:
1.  My very own sweet and loving husband still has his head jammed too far up his rear end.  Still waiting on that loud suction noise followed by a pop and a foul smell.  Hoping it comes on a windy day.
2.  The cost of our not-on-the-lake-heck-not-even-near-the-lake spot cost $35 a night.
3.  Our neighbors to the south were at least one, but probably two or three troops of some sort.  They erected their group sign on a massive wooden structure that was hammered together Friday night around 8:00.  They had many ceremonies that necessitated the overuse of a train whistle.  They played Asian, yet Christian-sounding, music and prayers over a loudspeaker.  And they preferred to use the open lawn space between us for competitive activities, complete with cheering, clapping and more train whistling every time Mad was napping.
4.  Our neighbors to the north played their loud music over a boom box and/or their car stereo.  The music was pretty cool... Spanish language versions of 70's smooth jazz and soft rock.  While they did turn the music off right at the stroke of "quiet time," this did not stop them from talking loudly to one another until almost 1:00 in the morning.  Many of the loud conversations were directed toward their two children who were riding bikes in front of our campsite.  Frequently, their conversations woke up Mad and me.  Someone must have alerted the camp host (or maybe he just noticed the blaring music as he drove around to check sites) and the music went way down thereafter (to the hear it, but not feel it level).  The best time was while the family left... to go pick up lunch from McDonald's(!!!).  We loved picking up their trash as it blew into our site.  We also appreciated the smell of marijuana that wafted across right after the main dude grabbed a bottle of wine from the cooler and went into the tent late Saturday afternoon.  Nothing like a little wine and ganja after Mickey D's, I guess.
5.  A surprisingly large number of people at this place are not campers in the sense that I think of them.  How do I know?  Try several different car alarms going off at all hours of the day and night.  Some more than once.  My brother is right that the only difference between where we were and being downtown somewhere else is that we didn't hear any emergency vehicles.
6.  Corey, who has his own tent, kept knocking on mine in the middle of the freaking night so I could unlock the car because he was A) hungry or B) "needed something from the car."
7.  Mad, who's not used falling asleep with anyone else around (let alone all that racket) stayed awake until after 9:30 Friday night.  Once she did fall asleep, I felt like I spent the entire night chasing her around with the sleeping bag we were using as a blanket.


And yes, I stick by my original statement.  It was a lovely getaway.  I spent time with my brother's family.  Corey got to have more freedom and responsibility than he usually earns.  Mad was mostly adorable, even when she was upset because I wouldn't let her do something.  At one point she stuck out her hip, pouted and said to me in a low voice, "Mama go work."  Sleeping on the ground wasn't any more difficult than sleeping in bed, and I got to rest with Mad during the day.  She must have requested, "Huh Wi'll Baby" (translation:  "Hush Little Baby") about forty times, but having her looking up at me as I sang was just like I always imagined before I knew her.  She, my sister-in-law and I went and played in the lake (with our hands) Saturday morning.  I was able to take some nature photos (no word on how they came out yet).  And Tom was eventually able to join us and behave like a decent human being.  Lovely.


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I have a new theory about nausea.  I think it might be worsened by sunlight (never mind that I vomited in the middle of the night).  Almost every morning as Mad and I are settling into the car, I find myself retching just before I pull out.  Last Friday Tom stayed home with Mad, so my settling into the car period took about five minutes less than usual.  Instead of retching in the privacy of my own driveway, the nausea hit when I was about a block away.  Howdy neighbors!


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I have my next prenatal appointment later today (Wednesday).  I am very curious about how she'll measure this time.  I had a very small dinner and a cup of juice and had to spend about an hour leaning to one side because she's up under my ribs.  How is that possible?  I still have to take my prenatal vitamins, but the thought of consuming anything just seems wrong.


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I haven't finished my post on Mad's birthday party yet.  Even though we're three weeks past it, I will.  I just sent out thank yous tonight.


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That's enough for now.  For anyone who's still awake like me, sleep sweet when you get there.

Brainiac

Here's a little comparison of this pregnancy to the ones with Corey and Madelyn:


With Corey I was sick all the time.  Any time.  Any place.  In the mall parking lot between two expensive cars.  Twice.  (I rode the bus to work and couldn't always make it to the McDonald's in time.  I'll bet the moms who were in the restroom with their kids each time I did make it were grateful for the days when I didn't.)  I vomited for three months, took a three month break and then started up again.  The doctor wanted to prescribe medication.  Suppositories!  Thank god for the pharmacist at Thrifty's; he suggested Sea Bands.  They worked well enough that I "only" lost five pounds my last month.  (No worries, Corey was 8.0 pounds and, as the doctor proclaimed, "Perfect!")  When it came to food, grapefruit was in, anything remotely spicy brought on contractions.  What does "remotely spicy" mean?  I couldn't even handle rye bread.


I did not throw up once with Madelyn until two hours before she was born.  It seems to be a requirement that I puke at some point in labor, so my plan this time is to just get it over with instead of fighting it.  I did not get off scot free.  There were exactly four and a half months of persistent nausea.  But there was a trade-off for standing in the bathroom facing away from the toilet and telling myself out loud that I wasn't going to turn around because I knew if I looked it'd be over.  Mad and I got to keep whatever I ate (and nothing... not even Indian food bothered her).  I just couldn't keep all of my brain cells.


With this pregnancy I've noticed even less nausea than with Madelyn.  (Part of me thinks that I could be totally nausea-free in three more pregnancies... if I aspired to be Michelle Duggar.)  Mostly it happens in the evening, and the oddest things can make it worse.  The other night I was heading into the kids' bathroom, hoping to win yet another fight with the porcelain gods.  Seeing that Tom hadn't drained the water from Mad's bath the night before almost pushed me over the edge.  And while I have not tried to put on shoes without pants, Baby Brain has struck early and often.


The latest hit came today, when I left home without my insurance card (and so had to postpone today's blood work 'til tomorrow) and shoes!  I usually keep my grown up shoes in the car and wear slippers for the drive down.  Not so today.  What did I have on the schedule?  Only going out to meet with several local businesses followed by a committee meeting with the head of the Economic Development Department to report our findings.  In slippers.