Cold Spaghetti

– Two letters arriving from Creative Benefits stating our official rejection of our Flexible Spending Account reimbursement for Will’s daycare from our childcare account.
– A letter from Creative Benefits, arriving the same day as the letters above, giving a check number for the distribution of our requested funds.

Despite the conflicting letters, Friday’s payday saw the addition of our Flexible Spending Account funds from Creative Benefits. Hooray! Huge fruit-basket thanks to the guardian angel who helped end that nightmare!

Folks have been reminding us to document the nuances and special moments of pregnancy. So here goes:
– I can no longer pull my pajama bottoms up over my belly. It’s too big.
– After several nights of asking, Paul finally cut my very long toe-nails for me last night because there is no way I can comfortably reach my feet for such a precision job.
– All of the muscles in my lower back/hips (read: butt) ache at the end of the day from the strain of the weight on my front. There have been a few days over the past week when I’ve begged and pleaded with Paul to rub my butt so that I could walk without limping. Believe me, it is in no way a suggestive comment. It’s a necessity for movement!
– I cannot reach cups or plates that aren’t in the very front of our upper cabinets. My belly holds me too far away from the counter to get close enough to reach inside.
– A few times a day I stop people to watch the baby put on a show. She jumps around and my belly will literally shift back and forth at an impressive rate (think of the lunchroom scene in ‘Alien’, minus the gross stuff).
– Still, I feel really good! (Except for the head cold/sinus/whatever I have).

“Momm-eee!”

Calls Will from his bed, announcing to me that he is up from naptime. I walk into his room, lean against the side rail, and ask him if he’s ready to get up now. It’s our normal routine.

He looks up at me squarely with sleepy eyes and droopy face. After a moment’s pause, he turns his head, spits his binky out with a quick “pop”, and faces me to say:

“Mommy, I want a treat.”

(My theory: Daddy has been giving Will some treat-seeking coaching!)

Will had his first day back to University Montessori today — but for only an hour and a half! Our good friend, Bela Singh, was in town for a short weekend visit. (Bela lives in New Delhi, India, so this is a Big. Deal.) We spoke with her husband, Mano, last week and made arrangements with Bela over the weekend to get together today. So, I dropped Will off at preschool, went out to Kenner to pick up Bela and visit with her wonderful brother, Deepak, and then Bela and I picked up Will at school and came back to the house to hang out. It was wonderful to catch up with her. I also got to talk to Chiya (Bela’s daughter) and hear all the news of all our beloved friends. We plotted for how we can get out there for Diwali next year (my ultimate dream). Bela also helped me make chai from loose tea leaves… finally, I know what I am doing wrong. (Putting the spices in too late and boiling too long.) We filled her up with our favorite Whole Foods cheeses, Louisiana strawberries, and Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Kettle Chips before bringing her back to Kenner to catch her flight home. Will was his basic monkey-self and had a great time running around and playing with us through it all. I am SO happy that we were able to spend some time with her!!! (Now we just need to get Raja to visit!!!!)

“Push, por favor!” Will says so persistently that we must oblige. Will climbs into my desk chair and we rotate him around.

We never seem to start off strongly enough. “BIIIIIIGGGG Push!!!” Will commands in a deep, determined voice. We assume the voce alto is to convince us that he can handle the speed. So we comply: he goes around faster.

Then we stop the chair. Will’s eyes adjust, he looks glazed.

Perhaps too soon, Will starts to climb down. “Whoooaaa….” he says over and over. We do our best to brace him as he tumbles about trying to walk. Will understands the silliness of his gait and joins us in laughter. We all agree: what a crazy monkey!

Will, in his *new* booster seat — high chair has been put away until Baby Sister arrives — get very excited by the prospect of using a purple crayon on his Masterpiece.

…yet. And it looks like we did the right thing by getting seen yesterday to head it off. I’m on amoxicillin and heavy decongestants and already feeling better. Another plus is that we used the Oschner hospital and were very pleasantly surprised by the facility and staff. They pumped me up with fluids, checked baby and I out, and kept us informed of what was going on during our wait (a huge plus that rarely ever happens in any hospital!)

The bad news is that Paul and my Dad didn’t get to finish the lights in the two bedrooms that need them; my Mom and Dad were in town for a banquet Friday night and came over yesterday morning to see Will and help with the lights before going back to Mobile for another function on Saturday. Instead, they provided daycare while Paul brought me to Oschner (our previous clinic no longer has Saturday morning hours, although their voicemail insists that they do, and after waiting for two hours to speak to the on-call doctor we decided to just go to Oschner while we had free daycare available to us). It was a very good choice. We think we will use Oschner for now on for our Primary Care. Paul ended up leaving me there for a little while when my parents had to leave and then came to pick me up when I was discharged. So, while we are behind (as usual) with our many projects, I am feeling better and we are okay.

1. When starting a dissertation, meet with no one until you have firmly determined a specific research question. This is a very important and serious lesson. If you decide to be talkative about your process while you figure out your question, you’ll just royally confuse yourself.
2. Walking up 6 flights of stairs because you don’t want to wait for the only working elevator that goes to the 22nd floor may not be a good idea on a day that started with heaving.
3. Throwing up during the last trimester of pregnancy could be morning sickness… or perhaps that aching soreness means that this could be a case of the flu.

Morning sickness is not welcome at 31 weeks. There is no need to relive breakfast, no matter how splendid a chef Paul is with eggs and toast. The added touch of bringing on morning sickness right before a meeting with a member of my committee was noted. My apologies if I’ve upset you with lack of sleep (I will do my part to control the snoring husband and annoying cat). Please, let’s work together to find another way of working out our issues. Preferably one that doesn’t involving hurling in the sink.

Respectfully,
Me