he always forgets his napkin

out with the old... (and other newsworthy tidbits)

yep--that's right. i bought a new car. my car sales guy was awesome. i just went to look at it, but then--he gave me everything i wanted. i was forced to ask myself, "self? what are you waiting for?" the answer was that i was waiting for the car fairy to give me $20k so i didn't have to start paying for a car. and since THAT wasn't going to happen, i sucked it up and bought the thing. the good news is that my once-rather-damaged credit is now such that i was able to do it all by myself like an actual grownup. whoo hoo! and the new car is so far--AWESOME! it's a 2008 mazda 5, something like a cross between a car and a minivan. it's going to be great for wrangling the squeaker, and it's going to be awesome for road trips. in fact, i took it on one the day after i got it from the dealership. so much more comfortable than my sentra was, it's not even funny. my sentra served me well for 11 years, but it was just time for me to move on. always odly bittersweet for me--letting go of something that's been in my life that long...

anyway.

so yeah--i took the new car and went home to see my mama, whose quality of medical care has been pure total ass. my mother and father don't ask all that many questions of the doctors, so basically, we have no idea what the heck is wrong. she had a BP spike, was given meds that caused the BP to plummet, they thought she was having a heart attack, so they moved her to a heart clinic where there were tests and drugs that found nothing at all wrong with her. in the process, they gave her a blood clot, fucked up her arm, and sent her home with no charts, no record of what had been done, no scheduled follow-up, and a nasty case of foot and mouth disease. yay. the good news is that she feels better (after a week and a half!)--the bad news is that no one knows wtf happened to her. her follow-up's not till april fucking 9th. this is one of those times when i wish desperately that i lived closer to home so i could help her with this mess. or at the very least, keep her company. i went home for the weekend, but could not stay longer. and for the first time in my life, my mother said to me--i wish you didn't have to go back. this is a woman who asks for nothing from anyone. it made me so sad to leave her, and lord, but i wish i could go back for longer. but you know--pregnant--near the end--kind of need to stay around here. and oh, so much to do before the baby comes.

and oh yeah--he's coming all right. i am less than a month from my due date now, and oddly in denial about it. i hae to keep telling myself that i only have a few more weeks to work/clean/get ready. all those things i don't have from my baby registries, i need to get NOW. i am having weekly appointments with my doctors now, which is actually ok by me. because i have chronic hypertension, i get to have all kinds of extra tests here at the end, which is actually kind of great. they ahve added to my normal regimen (which is go in, pee in a cup, get weighed to find i have gained nothing or gained or lost the pound i keep gaining and losing, make them take my BP manually rather than with the evil machine, knit for 45 minutes, see a doctor for 5 minutes while they measure my belly, check the heartbeat, and ask me if everything's ok, then go to whole foods for a reward muffin and a bottle of water) a nonstress test. this, my friends, is the most awesome thing ever. they put a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor on me, lay be back in a big cushy leather recliner, turn up the volume on the baby's heartbeat, dim the lights, and leave me alone for 20 minutes with nothing to do but hit a little game show button when the baby moves. it's like going to a spa. the baby's heart rate rises and falls and he flails around and i listen and click my button and chill. i'd like to have one of these tests every day. the baby? he's great--super active. tuesday, he measured at 6 pounds and 12 ounces, more than i weighed when i was born.

time is just flying, y'all. i have more to say and no time to say it. there are hats. and pictures of hats. and baby sweaters. stuff about the cats. ultrasound pictures that need to be scanned in. i'll get to it at some point, hopefully... for now, i shall leave you with one final thing. check out the size of this belly!

news

1) feeling better. had an actual full night's sleep last night (not drug induced!) for the first time in like 2 weeks. still not 100%, but down to 1-2 coughing fits a day. pulled abdominal muscles healing at last. baby very kicky and mobile. good.

2) mother, on the other hand, not as good. she's in the hospital in charlotte and has some unexplained blood pressure spiking, and possible artery damage. she's in good hands it seems, but has had some pain and is exhausted. who knows when she will go home, probably tomorrow. but the scary thing is that it looks like they are not going to be able to figure out the underlying cause of her issues, which means--who knows when it could happen again. YUCK! prayers and good thoughts for my mama, please.

3) bought a new car. gonna get it tomorrow (if all goes well--they are shipping one in that's the color and trim level i want). more on this later. it's awesome though. i suspect i am going to pick it up and drive it straight to my mama, whether i am supposed to be traveling right now or not.

apologies for the sparseness of posts and the blah-ness of things. i've been knitting, but not a ton. i've been working, but that's boring as hell. i've been coughing, but you already know that. things will be better soon, i swear.

one of those days

so last thursday i left work and came home to escape my hacking coworker. by saturday i was sick. i'm still sick. most of this week, i've been sleeping something like 3 hours a night due to the massive coughing fits i keep having. the doctors keep telling me that this is not hurting the baby in spite of my pulled abdominal muscles and the fact that i have been coughing loudly and deeply enough to, on occasion, send the cats into hiding. bleh. yesterday my doctor called in a prescription for me for some codeine based cough suppressant so i could at least get some sleep. this worked remarkably well. it's ironic to me that when you are knocked up, you get reverted back to remedies that can only be called old school. they actually gave me a narcotic, people. and i took it--exactly as directed. and like clockwork, i woke up coughing 15 minutes before it was time for another dose all night long. i slept between doses like a dead thing. and today, my head is 85% more clear than it's been in a week. but holy shit, the migraine! the migraine i have had all day long was almost not worth the ability to breathe. and the hormones make me feel more sorry for myself than i generally do, so yes, there's been some weeping, too. YUCK! i am sick to death of being sick, people. i feel like i have traded a monthy period for a monthly headcold--one that gets a little worse every month. i am just DONE with this part of being pregnant, this whole no immune system thing. i know it's normal and all, but that doesn't change the fact that it sucks. a lot. anyway. i'm not so much looking for sympathy here as i am just venting. it's been a shitty week, and so far, a shitty weekend. that said, i think i am actually on the mend at last. we'll see--y'all be thinking some good thoughts in this direction!