So I have not mentioned this on my blog before because, well, I haven't had much time to think about my blog this year.
But back in May, I discovered I was pregnant. A big surprise. Especially since Matt and I had just discussed waiting to have children until I was finished with school.
And to top it off, I found out while I was on the cruise in the Caribbean, which is why I still haven't shared many of those photos — they still make me nauseous to look at.
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| Being trapped on a boat full of buffets when you can't stand the sight of food is not fun. |
Things happening when it is least convenient has been the theme for this year, which in retrospect has been comical in a ironic sort of way.
I spent the end of May and all of June incredibly nauseous, and wrestling with our healthcare system to see a doctor.
July saw an end to nausea and a rise of the most evil heartburn. I had never had heartburn before, so I just assumed I was dying.
Thankfully, Matt did not abandon all reason — as I apparently had — and was able to diagnose it and bought me Tums. (Which only mildly helped. Eventually a complete diet change was the only thing that did ease the caustic beast in my belly.)
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| Or the smell. Thankfully, my friend had a travel febreeze. |
Also in July, my summer classes started. Yep, I was finally heading back to college to finish my degree. I decided to end my six-year sabbatical with pre-cal in the summer, while trying to work part-time, and being pregnant. Honestly, I don't plan to task overload myself, it just always seems to happen.
Surprisingly, I maintained a wobbly A/B through the whole class, despite my panic attacks.
Matt, again, rescued me.
There was one horrid night with difficult homework, I was dealing with exhaustion and heartburn, all I could do was cry over my textbook. I had relegated myself to the ranks of failures and was ready to withdraw from school and society in one fell swoop.
Matt, with all his sage wisdom, soothed me and said, "Well you don't have to quit everything tonight. Why don't we just take one problem at a time."
I did, and at a snails pace I conquered my 15+ weekly homework assignments and managed to not drop out of school.
But, I feel like Murphy has his attention pinned to my life lately and just as finals approached, the killer bees returned, this time inside my house. In August, I woke up from a nap one afternoon, and as I opened my eyes, I watched in shock as two bees made themselves comfy on the other side of my pillow. Several were tucking themselves in the blankets and I swear, four of them were doing a victory dance on the blinds.
The next day I was finding bees all over the house, some alive and some dead. And looking out the back window, hundreds were bouncing off the house seeking a way in. That was the final nail in the coffin; it was time to move.
Now we spent seven months battling nature and a neglected home in what could appear to an outsider as a homage to Sisyphus. Other times we were reliving the 1986 movie "Money Pit," starring Tom Hanks and Shelly Long, thankfully without owning the place.
We stuck it out so long because if this place had the right landlord, it would be gorgeous. We clung to the hope like little orphaned monkeys on stuffed animals, surely if we got over THIS problem everything would be better. The views, the location, the house itself was wonderful. However, that day never came.
The 2-inch gaps under the doors let everything saunter in, without having to duck. We lived without AC in the 90 degree Spring and lived with a marsh under the AC (from the condensation and poor drainage) once it was finally fixed. A frog actually moved in. He would sing the song of his people during the night, and unlike other frogs, this one had no musical talent. We lived without a reliable internet connection, without a kitchen, then without a stove for a time, all of it because we loved the place. We endured construction workers in the house, and there were even days I spent all the daylight hours with two cats, a dog, and myself sitting on the front porch as the kitchen was gutted.
But the time had come; we had to plan for the baby. And we thought perhaps a place where scorpions are as common as dust bunnies isn't the best place for a newborn. Within a week, Matt had come to the rescue again. I was stretched to my limits of stress and ability to cope. I have been in challenging situations before, but it is amazing how little one can handle emotionally when also pregnant.
I remember one drive home from seeing a place Matt liked and I did not, I cried half the way there, and a third of the way back. During that trip, we finally made a decision, then I threw up for the remainder of the way home.
By the time September rolled in, I finally got to see what it was like to just be pregnant. We had moved, school ended, our home life became more simple — although it was still rife with craziness and catastrophes. Our first week in the new place the garage flooded. By week two, the fridge died, then the garbage disposal sprang a leak! Next was the dishwasher. But, that was OK because life had given me a great wealth of experience to compare it too, and at least I wasn't nauseous, fighting killer bees at my head and scorpions at my feet.
Which has become our new motto. Any time we are faced with a challenge or I don't feel well, the conversation always ends with, "at least I'm not nauseous."
Now at six months of pregnancy, I have acid reflux, days of insurmountable exhaustion and sometimes I get stuck on furniture making me look like an upside down turtle. But, hey, at least I'm not nauseous!!! :)
