Paper Coterie April Photo Challenge: Days 7-13

#7. My Town:

It’s been forever since we’ve made a trip downtown. I am really looking forward to getting off rest and venturing into town and going for a creek walk, or checking out the Saturday market.

#8. My Sunday:

 This past Sunday was Easter, and Match had to work. So I didn’t snap a picture, because we didn’t do anything. Sad! Next year we will have our little Easter bunny and I’m sure the pictures will be plentiful!

#9. My True Love:

Match is absolutely my true love. You know what made me fall more in love with him? After watching The Hunger Games last weekend, he insisted on reading the book. I love that he takes an interest in the things I love. I mean seriously, how sexy is this?

#10. My Transportation:

This one was perfect this month because Match just bought me a new (to us) car! He calls it the “Baby Carriage”. It’s a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee and I’m so happy with it! He also opted against a truck after seeing how short I am next to them. We’re going to get him a beater truck soon for all his projects. That man is too good to me. I love that he’s willing to compromise!

#11. My Space:

 When the weather is nice, the park across the street is my space. I love to come here with Monkey and watch him play. Do you see that playground in the background? I can’t wait to bring Roo there to play too. The best part is it’s just a few hundred feet from our front door!

#12. My Eyes:

I like my eyes, though I wish they were slightly bigger. When I smile they practically disappear. I love the color-I get them from my mom. They’re green in some lights, blue in others, with a little hint of brown. It’s the one feature of mine that I secretly hope Roo gets. I would be fine if the rest of Roo looked just like Match, but with my eye color.

#13. My Evening: 

My evenings when Match is at work are pretty dull. They consist of me me either propped up on the couch, or reclining in the man chair, working away on the computer and watching some TV, or reading a book. Don’t be too jealous of my super exciting life. I’m looking forward to the evenings that will be spent starring at the baby.

[to his girlfriend Lady] I think it’s time you learned the real me. Here we go. I’m not… like normal people. I don’t have superpowers, but I’m working on it. For instance, watch me move this pen. [stares at pen; it doesn't move] It worked at home. I don’t know. Maybe my table’s slanted. Uh, anyway. Um, in my spare time, I also enjoy stuffing animals. Usually with other animals. For instance, a badger will hold five squirrels. A squirrel will hold most of a cat. A mouse will hold a shrew and a vole. You get it… the circle of life. I have broken the sound barrier, but you must never ask me how. I don’t believe in the moon. I think it’s just the back of the sun.-The Janitor, Scrubs

I haven’t actually done this yet, but I wanted to share it with you anyways. I’m stuck on this couch for the foreseeable future, so I thought I’d start up another sewing project. I’ve been wanting to sew animals to hang in Roo’s nursery tree. I found these patterns on etsy, and I am going to take a stab at it.

I’m still a complete beginner when it comes to sewing, so we’ll see how these turn out. Hopefully they’ll look like cuddly woodland creatures and not scary badly sewn nightmare animals. That’d just be cruel to hang in a baby room dontcha think?

Running a wedding should be fun. You know if I ever had a wedding I would want everyone to be stress free. You know I would like it to be a carnival. Like people win prizes guessing the bride’s weight. -Officer Rhodes, Bridesmaids 

 with two anti-bridezillas Impulsive Addict and Seriously Shawn.

As most of you know, I’m a bridesmaid in my friend Sassy’s wedding this June. I am all about helping with the bridal shower, but I’ve been sort of dreading the wedding and the picking of the shoes.

You see ladies, I have foot problems. I have always had issues with arch and heel pain. So I’m a girl who always wears comfy shoes over fashionable ones. When I do dress up, I pick wedges all the way. I’ve never worn a true high heel before. Ever.  Sassy is a heel worshiper, so I knew she’d want us to wear high heels, and I told her my dilemma. I told her that the doctor said if I’m not used to wearing heels before pregnancy, I shouldn’t wear them while pregnant. I tried to meet in the middle and we talked about a 2 in. kitten heel shoe.

Exhibit A:

then I get a lovely email last week from the MOH saying, hi ladies here is the shoe we’re wearing. Now I will be the first to admit they are adorable. But check out that heel!

Exhibit B: The DEVIL HEEL

that’s right ladies. This heel is an ULTRA high heel. It’s 4.5 inches tall. Are you FRACKING kidding me?!

So I texted Sassy and asked about the shoe, and why the change. She said, sorry but the MOH made an “executive decision” and that’s what we’re wearing. I said I’m absolutely not wearing these at 7 months preggo. Sorry to be disagreeable but I can’t risk the health of my baby for shoes. She wrote back, “Well I want you all in matching shoes and I can’t please everyone.” Seriously? The MOH has done nothing for the wedding so far, and I’ve done all the work for the shower. Everything, down to the invitations, the planning, organizing, decorating, the works. The only thing she’s done is take care of food, which is being catered. Tough job eh? And she’s worrying about pleasing her? Shouldn’t she worry that her pregnant friend may fall flat on her face and ruin her big day?

I won’t bore you with more details, but after quite a few snarky, downright rude texts from her, she finally said that it was fine if I wanted to pick out my own shoes, if I’m “so concerned for my safety”. I could tell she was pissed. I worked myself up into a tizzy about the whole thing and ended up a crying mess in Match’s arms. He was pissed as hell and said we should both just drop out of the wedding. He said he refused to let me wear those stilts anyways.

She finally wrote back that she was sorry for getting irritated. I wrote her that I’ve been dealing with a lot of stress  with this modified rest, and worrying about mine and the baby’s health, and the last thing I care to worry about are SHOES. She then asked if I would feel better if I just weren’t in the wedding. In a word? YES! I said I’d still help with the shower as long as I get the doctor’s ok, but beyond that I just need to relax.

I’m relieved, but my heart is sad because I hate not honoring commitments. Match is thrilled because he really didn’t want to be in the wedding in the first place. Neither did I really. I just wanted to help with the shower, because I think they’re really fun. I wanted to do it because I wanted to, not because I had to. Ya know?

I’m also feeling very disenchanted with my friendship with Sassy. I feel sort of like she never really wanted me to be in the wedding, and just wanted my help, because she knew I’d go above and beyond. I’ve had the feeling that because I’m pregnant she doesn’t want me in the pictures…and that’s fine. I just want to sit in a comfortable chair to be honest with you.

So there you have it. That’s the story of how I’m no longer a bridesmaid, all because of a pair of shoes. She did apologize again, and said she’s very grateful for all the work I’ve done, and how she doesn’t want this to come between us. I told her I’m happy for her, and I’m so happy to help with the shower, but that at the end of the day, I need to do what’s best for my family. I may not even be able to be at the wedding due to being on rest. And the last thing I need is a bridezilla getting mad at me because of something that’s completely out of my control.

I appreciate the guest post, Lindsay Valdez

I love home schooling my kids, but it is really getting challenging now that they are on such different levels. My oldest child is really reading now and getting into more difficult math that he seems to need my help with more. I struggle with meeting both of their needs all of the time. I just went to www.CableTelevision.net to sign up. I think it will help to be able to turn a show on for the little kids, while I work with my oldest and get him going really well on his work. Then I will be able to fully focus on the little kids while he is working away. I have heard that they have some really educational shows on TV now too. I know my little kids will love that because every time we go to a friends house that has TV, they are just glued to the TV and don’t even play with their friends. Maybe now if we have it at home they will be more used to it and not be so antisocial when we go over to friends’ houses!

Duncan: Is the baby OK?
Anne: Yeah, the baby’s… learning to tap-dance I think. -Highlander

Friday evening I was feeling fine except for some slight stomach cramping. I had been a good little patient, resting all day with my feet up. I went upstairs to get ready for bed, went to the bathroom, and just about fainted. My panty liner was soaked with bright red blood and there was blood all in the toilet bowl. I immediately dialed the Kaiser advise nurse with shaking fingers. After describing my symptoms she insisted I go to the emergency room, and said I couldn’t go alone.

I called Match bawling. I have never felt so scared and alone in my life. He said he would try to get off work and come to the ER, but even if he could leave right away, he was still a 40 min car ride. I called Neighbor Girl, and thank god she answered right away. I barely had to get the words out when she said she was on her way. That 10 minutes waiting for her felt like an hour. She’s the friend who is pregnant too, just a week behind me so I knew she knew what kind of terror I was going through.

When we got to the hospital, amazingly there was no one else in the waiting room. They got me checked in right away, and Neighbor did a great job distracting me. We talked about anything besides what could be going on, which really helped calm me down.

Right as the ER doctor came in to do the pelvic exam, Match walked in the room. I was so relieved he was there! I kept apologizing over and over, and he just kept saying it wasn’t my fault. The doctor did the pelvic exam and said my cervix was closed up tight. WHEW.

Then he hooked up the ultrasound, and we saw our Roo, happily swimming around. My eyes immediately teared up and Match squeezed my hand. Baby Roo is ok, heartbeat is strong, the worst hasn’t happened. Then the nurse hooked me up to an iv, gave me fluids and they set off to run some tests.

smiling because we just saw Roo moving around. So relieved!

We ended up staying in the ER for 8 hours. They did a more detailed ultrasound to try to pinpoint why I keep bleeding. They ran all sorts of tests to make sure I didn’t have an infection, and to see that my blood counts were good. Everything came back normal. So the doctor was stumped. He sent me home with the same instructions I’ve had for the past week. Modified rest: try to limit my activity as much as I can, and try to relax. The placenta is in the right spot, my cervix isn’t too short or weak, and Roo is healthy, happy and protected. They even gave us a few keepsake photos of Roo. These are the most detailed ones to date! They may have also mentioned what they thought the gender is…but I won’t get excited yet, until we confirm it at our next visit.

The day felt like it lasted a year. I was awake for over 24 hours and completely emotionally and physically drained. Match took me home and took care of me, curling up on the couch with his hand on my belly. We both talked about how scared we’d been. I’m so grateful. I can’t say that enough. I’m just so very grateful. I don’t care if I have to rest for the next 4 months. I don’t care if I gain a 100 pounds (ok maybe I care a little). I just care that my baby is safe. We’re healthy, and we’re going to be ok.