Paybacks

You know what they say about paybacks.

That part about them resembling my most frequently visited emotional state as of late.

And so it is only fair that I share the experience I had this week.

You see, I was a procrastinator as a child.

Ha-I say "was" like I don't do it anymore. Uh, of course I don't....yeah....

But I'm specifically thinking of school projects. I was awful. I just put them off and put them off....I remember in 8th grade not even doing my science fair project until the night before.

I know. Don't tell my kids.

And yes, I owe my parents an apology.

So it was only fair that last night we would be frantically working to help my son get his County report finished. And the big display poster that went with it.

And again this morning.

But it got done!

And it looked good!

And he really did do the work! (though I will admit I typed much of it for him as he dictated)

The stress....OH, the stress! It was awful.

This will not happen again. ever!

But here's the real kicker. He came home today and shared this lovely little tidbit.

The due date was the 17th. That's right. NEXT week.

What the heck?! How did we do that?

*sigh*

At least we won't be up all hours of the night on the 16th doing the project.

I made it so far.....

And then today my body decided to just not fight it anymore. I've been fighting throwing up for a lot of weeks. a LOT of weeks. 12 full weeks to be exact. Despite being sick as a dog and gagging and heaving all day long, I've kept it down. Well, more often than not I've kept it down.

Gullett of steel I'm tellin' ya.

It takes a lot of work to choke back vomit that many times for that many weeks.

(I really, really, really hate throwing up. Despite the fact that this is the second post in a row talking about it. Sorry about that. I hope you weren't reading and eating.)

And so it is sad, and yet ironically funny that today, the day before I hit 16 weeks, well after I "should" be past this stage, my body finally said "enough already!"

The vomit wins.

Happy 16 weeks. *blech*

Tonsillectomy-the next generation

Jacob went in for his tonsillectomy last Friday.

My biggest fear has been that he'd hurt the way I did. I just kept banking on the fact that everyone says it's easier for kids than adults.

Despite an early start, and the fact that he was begging me to stop when we drove past Krispy Kreme on the way to the surgical center (he had to skip breakfast), the morning went quite well. We waited entirely too long for a child that age, but hey, I guess it could have been longer. You take what you can get.

The good news: Jacob makes a much cuter tonsillectomy patient than I do.

(I'm sorry to dredge up those visual reminders that you had hopefully purged from your brain)

See?

Here he is happy watching Toy Story while waiting for the fun to begin.

I am jealous. I just got to listen to the weirdos around me.

(there weren't many people there so early in the morning this time. No fun conversations to eavesdrop on. Except the lady right next to us who sounded relieved when her pregnancy test came back negative and started talking about how her husband was trying to convince her to "try" the night before. Umm, thanks for sharing. Those curtain walls are thin lady!)

Anyway, the procedure went exceptionally well from everything his surgeon said.

Waking up from anesthesia....well.....that was a different story.

Apparently Jacob and general anesthesia don't mix. At least not pleasantly.

They got me back to recovery just as he was starting to wake up.

And just in time for the thrashing and screaming and crying to begin. And with his asthma-type issues, just after intubation with screaming and crying, the coughing kicked in. Hard. Which hurt and then scared him.....it took me along with a nurse and a good five minutes to get him settled down.

It was a very long five minutes.

Also, it made me glad he was a small child. If he ever needs a procedure with a general when he's older (read: bigger), I'll be nervous!

The norm is about 45 minutes of observation after surgery and the five minutes of instructions before you head home.

With the struggle to get him functioning after waking up, it took a little longer. Shortly after we hit an hour post surgery, and as we were preparing to go, he started doing some major puking.

Not good!

Back to the beginning of the prescribed post-op time, a few minutes from leaving.....and he started puking.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Finally, over three hours after surgery, we got the thumbs up to head home. Thankfully he was responsive and a bit more functional as each minute passed, so he was doing pretty good by the time we left.

I should stop here to tell you that he was still begging for Krispy Kreme. From the minute he was the least bit coherent after waking, he was asking for KK. Literally seconds after puking, he was asking for KK. As the nurse was wheeling him out to the car all he talked about was, that's right, donuts from Krispy Kreme.

Loaded in the car with a bucket on his lap (thank goodness. he needed it multiple times on the drive home), the conversation was the same.

Appetizing, isn't it?

Staying true to my word, I stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way home, assuming he wouldn't be able to eat anything for a couple of days and that they'd just be a treat for the rest of the kids.

He stayed sick the rest of the night, until about 9 o'clock. Poor kid.

But-shocker!-the thing he was still asking for was a donut. Sure, why not? It's Krispy Kreme donuts. They practically melt in your mouth anyway.

And guess what? After he ate that donut, he quit getting sick. Who knew?

Krispy Kremes really do fix everything.

He's doing all right now a few days later. He wakes up in a lot of pain every morning, and it just kills me to hear him crying about how much it hurts because I remember all too well just what it feels like.

Hopefully he'll stay on the upswing and not have the crash that I had. I would really hate to see him have to deal with that. We'll see!

Amazing

I saw this shirt yesterday:

And it's frighteningly true.

And it reminded me that just a few days ago I was reflecting on some of the most amazing things in life.

This sound:

(enter video of baby's heartbeat via doppler but I still can't find the rest of the cord for the camera!)

The feeling of little flutters of a life growing inside you.

This sight:

Feeling those little flutters become more pronounced kicks, jabs and jumps. Talk about making my day. No, my week!

Knowing just a little bit more about who that person is inside you, despite the fact that it won't be in plain sight for roughly 24 more weeks.

Even if it may not ever get a name until after it arrives.

Everything is Amazing.

And I am happy.

A picture

Well two actually. For your viewing pleasure.

I remember taking the first picture, but had forgotten about the second until I was going through iPhoto looking for something the other day.

Funny the difference two years makes.....

When will the lure of the $10 gift card no longer be enough?

I have issues with Target.

First off, who doesn't love Target? Hello? Exactly. Everyone loves Target.

The closest Target is roughly 25 minutes away from my house. Not exactly convenient. That's fine, it's within a minute of the closest Home Depot, Lowes and Costco. Also Cafe Rio. Which is worth the drive by itself. Mmmm.....Cafe Rio......

But I digress. When you live in the middle of nowhere, 25 minutes isn't that far away. You get used to it. We are there often enough. I try to combine trips and rarely go just to Target. I'll go on my monthly Costco shopping day, or when I'm already out that direction for something else.

(like maybe Cafe Rio....mmmm....Cafe Rio....)

Enter the Target bribery.

The coupon calls to me.... "fill your prescription here and get a $10 gift card!"

Who doesn't want a $10 gift card to Target? That's right-nobody! Everyone is happy with a Target gift card! Especially when the clearance racks are stacked! Woo-hoo Target clearance!

Darn Target gift cards.

When the stars align and I am out that direction, AND happen to need a prescription filled, AND have the coupon.....well, it's a trifecta of elements that create the perfect storm. It's too good to resist.

I hate the Target Pharmacy. Not all of them per se, but the one at the Target closest to me. Really hate it. HATE it.

First time we filled there for benefit of the gift card?

Flawless.

Second time? Not so flawless. They put my Rx under a different person's name. My birthdate and phone number, different name. Good thing I knew exactly what I was there for. It took nearly 10 minutes, and a call to my dr to straighten everything out. Not sure why I'd lie about Prednisone and Erythromycin-it's not like I was picking up something fun like Percocet. Anyway, after finally clearing up the mix-up (or so I thought), they reconfirmed my name, birthdate and address. They got my name right. Back to square one.

And then I realized two days later that I was shorted a few prednisone. Whatever. I adjusted the taper of the dosage myself (yes, my dr knew, it was safe I promise). It was absolutely not worth the drive back up there.

Third try was this week. I was sick as a dog (like I am most days still-ugh), but let's face it, when grocery shopping needs to be done, it needs to be done. The monthly shopping trip, plus Costco run. THE shopping trip. You know, the one that often involves two shopping carts for me. That one.

4 kids in tow, me feeling like garbage and 30 minutes later, the Target pharmacy tells me that my son has been cancelled from our insurance plan. Excuse me? Oh also, since he's been canceled, they are telling my his Rx will cost $160. Uh....NO. So the pharmacy assistant (who is likely all of 12 years old, and has the social skills of that age set) says "let me check again."

5 seconds pass. My children are now trying to eat each other and I am trying not to vomit all over them or just pass out from the sheer exhaustion of hauling my seriously fatigued and nauseous hiney out of the house.

"Yep, it's not there. It will be $160."

Also, there are roughly 173 people now in line behind me and my little angels that are being threatened through my clenched teeth to knock it off or suffer the consequences.

I leave.

The prescription is still there. Three days later. I called the pharmacy back to make sure they had the correct information-which it turns out they DID-on my file, which is where they supposedly got the information in the first place. One slight change in our insurance info this year. When my Rx there was filled-also this year- it all was fine. But suddenly, the world is over and we have no coverage. Thank you 12 year old pharmacy assistant.

(also I came to my senses and just went home. Then dragged my husband out after the children were in bed that night and made him do shopping with me. It was lovely. I'm sure he thoroughly enjoyed the couponing/price-matching madness. at 10pm. Just ask him.)

*sigh*

Target, you try my patience.

You and your darn $10 gift card with new or transferred prescription.

I do not believe I will ever be able to ignore the call of the red bullseye, but your pharmacy? No longer worth it. I will now gladly fork over an extra $10 to cover my purchase, and move my drugs back over to my local grocery store where I can count on the excitable middle aged guy with hair like Einstein's to fill them properly. Thankyouverymuch.

(aka-the angry elf drowning in a sea of pregnancy hormones)

Presenting....

My little 8ball

Awww....