Full Moon Memories

Today was the first day of school and I was so proud of my big kids. I woke up 15 minutes before the alarm went off (can you believe that?) and I excitedly thought I would have a few minutes of quiet for my quiet time. WRONG! Eli was on my heels as soon as I stepped in the kitchen. He was SO excited. Sarah soon followed. Kate, who obviously got all of my DNA had to have Sarah wake her up. They were ready to leave 30 minutes early! I just couldn't believe it went so smooth. But praise the Lord it did!! They went right to their lines at school and Sarah didn't even bother to tell me bye. I would've been upset but I was too stinkin' proud of that girl walking up in there like she knew exactly what she was doing.

There has been lots of talk of full moons lately and just the other day it reminded me of the last time a full moon was a big deal to me. It happened around the start of school as well. It was about this time 4 years ago. I was extremely pregnant. Hugely pregnant. I'm tellin' y'all, I looked like I could give birth to twin elephants. There wasn't a time I was pregnant that people didn't ask me if I was having twins. In fact, I had quite a few people argue with me and insist that I was having twins, despite ultrasound pics and dr. reports otherwise. Anyway, what I'm saying is, I was miserably pregnant. I was also embarking on the journey of having a student. Sarah was preparing to enter kindergarten. It was an intense experience. I was 35 weeks pregnant and beginning to fear I was having pre-term labor. I prayed desperately that God would let me make it through Sarah's first day of kindgergarten before I needed to go to the hospital. God heard that prayer very specifically. I literally made it until Sarah got home from her first day.  Here's a stroll down memory lane...

Sarah's first day of kindergarten


Diary of A Crazy Pregnant Woman Part 2
August 19, 2007


Well, it's official. I truly am a crazy pregnant woman. I am now 35 weeks pregnant and have begun obsessively googling every pregnancy issue imaginable. How did people have babies before google? And is it possible that I have developed every pregnancy problem possible in the last two weeks? Like I said, I'm crazy.







It all started last Friday. Sarah had orientation for school so we went and met her teacher and saw her classroom. She picked out a desk ( the last one in the row) and put her little apple with her name on it there. Then the teacher asked if we had her nap mat and I told her we did. She asked if we had someone who could make a cover for it. Now for anyone else, this would have been a simple question. But for me, an extremely hormonal, stressed out, pregnant woman with working mom guilt what this meant was, could I make the cover? Was I a good enough mom to do this? Of course not. I have no domestic skills. I hadn't sewed since my Mimi taught me how to make pillows for my Barbies when I was 6.






We left the school and I resolved that I would indeed make that cover if it was the last thing I did. We went on to the mall and had lunch and got haircuts and looked for shoes. We must have walked 40 miles inside the mall. Then we had to go to Wal-Mart for more supplies. These supplies included fabric and a mini-sewing machine for the dreaded nap mat. We walked at least another 40 miles.






That night we discussed all of the people we know who can sew who would probably make the mat for us. Again, for reasons only a hormonal pregnant mama can understand, I felt that I had to be the one to make the cover. That somehow I was less of a mom if I didn't. After the kids went to bed Josh and I pulled out our handy new sewing machine. Not that either of us know how to work a sewing machine either. So, it didn't take long before we had broken our new little toy. We gave up for the night. It had been a long day.






After a therapy session on the phone with Karen I decided that I was going to just sew that cover by hand. By golly, I had refloored a house in a week, surely I could sew a stinkin' pillow case! So that night I sat in my rocking chair and sewed not only a cover for Sarah's mat but a pillowcase too. Yes, I took pictures.






You would think that with the stress of my job that I would be able to handle kindergarten, but I'll tell you, it about did me in. I started feeling bad Saturday morning, but I was really feeling bad Sunday. I stayed home from church and I was pretty sure I was having signs of pre-term labor. That really stressed me out. I kep thinking ' I can't go into labor and miss Sarah's first day of school!' Then I was trying to figure out what we would do with the kids, how we would make sure all of her school supplies got to school with her, who would make her lunch, and on and on.... I kept praying that I could at least make it long enough to get Sarah to school and pick her up on her first day. I shouldn't have prayed so specifically.






We hadn't been home 2 hours when I really started feeling bad. I took my temp. and it was 101.3. You have to understand, I NEVER run a fever. My mom will tell you, I've never run a fever my whole life. So, I kind of panicked. We got the kids and their stuff to Mrs. Lavern's house and headed to the hospital.






Let me tell you, if you want quick service in the ER, go in looking like you might possibly have a baby at any second. They sent me to the OB floor and hooked me up to all of the machines. Turns out I had a bladder infection, I was dehydrated, and I was having contractions. They gave me some antibiotics, 2 1/2 bags of fluid, and 3 shots to stop the contractions. For a brief moment I was enjoying getting to lay in the bed and watch T.V. (We don't have cable.) Then, Josh changed the channel while they were giving me a shot to some truck show. Then my back started hurting worse than any pain I've ever experienced. I asked the nurse for something and I meant like Tylenol. She brought in some Demerol and that was all she wrote for me!!! That was the best sleep I've had in 5 years!!!!






So, they let me go once the contractions stopped. I spent the next few days buzzed. Once the demerol wore off I was totally restless from the other medicine they gave me. I was supposed to stay off of my feet as much as possible.






That's what has happened this last week. Luckily I had a shower at work on Fri. and one at church today. When we were on our way to the hospital on Mon. all I could think was that we were so not prepared. We didn't even have a car seat! I was induced with Sarah and Eli and I've said that this time I just want to be suprised and have the whole experience. I realized that I wanted to be more prepared for the suprise!!






Now we're back to the waiting game and I'm experiencing great anxiety about when I might go into labor. Josh keeps asking me "Are you ok?" in that "you really need mental counseling" kind of way.




{UPDATE: Kate hung in there for one more week. The nap mat didn't last much longer. :) }