It was a delightful Sunday evening. Jay and I had worked like dogs over the weekend and got a lot of nagging little homeowner's chores taken care of. Our bedroom - the most overlooked room in the house - was actually clean. The laundry was all put away. The sheets were clean and crisp and a beautiful light snow was falling outside. A picture perfect scene. And then the power went out.
By the morning, Richmond had almost a foot of snow, we still had no power, and the baby girl was cold. So Jay shoveled our driveway best he could and we packed our kid, 2 dogs, and 2 cats in the car and headed over to Aunt Marpa's house. We were there for 3 days while we waited for Dominion Power to address the situation on Lakent Lane. Thank goodness we had somewhere warm to go - with good food and good company to boot. Jay and Aunt Marpa both worked from home; although, I'm not sure much "work" got done. We all made some pretty good lemonade out of lemons that week.
On his way to work on Wednesday, Jay stopped by the house to check on things and Voila! The power was back on. Good news for the Hogans! But twenty minutes later, Jay started feeling a little "off." The major barfing started as we got the last of our brood back into the house and shut the front door. He was down and out with a case of food poisoning for the next 48 hours. I don't think he'll ever look at a sausage stromboli the same way again. Poor guy.
The next week I packed up the kid and headed off to Pennsylvania for the week to visit with the Yaya, Pops, and Auntie Gina. Got my hair cut (not that you can tell), did lots and lots of outlet shopping for Lois and the new arrival, and completely wore myself out. My lower back bothered me while I was in York - but I had lower back issues when I was pregnant with Lois,too. It's just part of being pregnant, or so I thought.
Arrived back in Richmond prepared to get our life back on track. The back pain was starting to get more annoying - the pain was spreading down the back of my legs. On Thursday I did the unthinkable - I called Jay at work and asked him to come home. That's big people. I NEVER do that. He brings home the bacon and I try not to mess with the whole bacon making process. But I physically was unable to care for Lois because of the severe pain in my leg. Of course, he came right home - well, after the hour and 10 minute commute - and I went right to bed.
Friday I was diagnosed with a bulging disc and sciatica. Which brings me to where I am today. Sitting on the end of my bed so that my knees are lower than my back - scheduling 2 physical therapy sessions per week - taking Tylenol with codeine every four hours - and missing my baby girl who got whisked up to Pennsylvania over the weekend to stay with the Yaya while I try to get better.
So the good news? I have plenty of time to write blog posts, work on the newsletter for the DSAGR that still hasn't made it to press, and catch up on my scrapbooking. The bad news is, I can't sit down. Standing feels good. Lying down is bearable. Sitting is excruciating. What tragic irony.
My PT says I can expect it to only get worse as baby #2 gets bigger and bigger - and once again, rather ironically, we've hit the stage of pregnancy where the baby starts packing on the pounds. She tells me I should not be lifting or carrying the baby girl. Thankfully, she drew the line at telling me I shouldn't hold her. I have the feeling she was about to say it and then saw the poisonous look on my face and decided against it. Smart girl. I was a woman on the edge at that moment.
My only hope is that this bit of news coupled with the fact that baby boy is measuring BIG - about 3 weeks ahead - will get his little fanny delivered earlier than anticipated. Believe me, I'm not ready to give birth to another 3 pound weakling who doesn't know a nipple from a crib sheet. But 7 or 8 pounds sounds doable - don't you think? 37 weeks? May 17? I think I can limp along until then.
I have so much to tell you about Lois and what she's been up to, but I have all week to tell you, so we're going to take it slow. Stay tuned....
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