1. Take better pictures. My phone is lousy at pictures and I'm pretty impatient. A lousy camera can get by if the photographer takes time to hold still and get in some good light. I'm going to improve.
2. Keep a better record. Daily if possible. I may try chatbooks for my instagram stuff, but I can do better at the blog for a more meaningful happenings post.
But, before all the 2015 improvements I need to wrap up this 2014 record. Here are a few things I wrote down.
1/21 Joseph, "Where I'm going to sleep when I'm a dad?"
2/3 Joseph, "Why is dad never sad?" and then, "Why is dad mean?"
Elisabeth, "Did you give away my bike?" (after the bike assembly at the school where a girl won a bike like hers)
2/20 Eve saying, "Love you, change my diaper, help me, thank you you're welcome"
3/19 Elisabeth was sad that Jacob was leaving on a mission. (He got assigned to be a missionary to a family for a youth activity).
3/30 Joseph, "Can you turn on the warm fan?" (heater)
4/1 Elisabeth was trying to trick me by saying my shoe was untied.
Eve is so cute calling things "cute"
She is also grabbing my hand and saying, "Come on mom, let's go."
Also to Gabe "You're funny"
Insistent that she had some blankets laid down on top of her at night, she's up to three blankets tonight.
Also saying, "No, mom" or "No, dad."
4/8 Jacob made a sign that said, "Honk it's my b-day" to hang in the van for our trip. Also planned to leave post it notes at each stop that said, "Jacob was here."
5/1 Eve taking off her diaper, telling me she has "poops" (though just pee)
5/9 Eve climbing out of her crib.
5/8 Lizzie sad about me going on the California trip. "Can't dad go instead? What if you die? Then I'll never have another mom. I'll miss you so much" Followed by hug after hug. Then, "When dad gets home will you have him wake me up and tell me all the fun things were going to do?" (while we're gone)
Ben came in and said, "Can you tell Joseph to stop bragging about how they're going to get ice cream when were gone?" (Thus forgetting that he was going on a plane to California, Lego Land and the beach).
5/9 Joseph told Caitie Buhler that we were going to California and Africa, but he was going to stay home and have ice cream.
5/1 Charcoal has been missing for awhile...kids are sweet praying for her. Joseph saying, "Bless that charcoal will come back." Liz/Joseph saying, "Bless that Socks won't be sad."
Not sure of the date, while watching the Saratov Approach Liz burst out crying, "I don't want to go on a mission!" to which I said, "You don't have to." She continued crying, "But, I don't want Jacob to go on a mission!"
10/18 Jacob, "Tomorrow I need to do as many immature things as I can before my birthday."11/20 Eve's been saying the prayer for the last 2 weeks or so. She says, "Bless Eli and Maddi on their missions" or "bless Eli and Maddi be safe."
Got up from her nap and noticed Josephs new picture on the wall and said, "What the heck?"
She still also likes to say that I broke her crib. Yes, I took it apart, but she makes it sound like I got in it and smashed it or something.
And, just for posterity let me record a little of the ups and downs (ok, just downs) of this pregnancy. Just before 28 weeks my doctor who had delivered all my children couldn't keep me as a patient because he was having heart problems. I was so so upset about this. I don't like the unknown, especially as it has to do with my pregnancy and delivery. It took awhile to kind of get over it, though truthfully I never did.
I started seeing another doctor in the office who was fine and everything. He was different though and his nurses were different and I just really struggled. I was measuring big, so I had to have an extra bunch of ultrasounds (AFI's) and Non Stress tests to make sure everything was all right. (It was). At one such appointment, on November 24th, I asked the doctor if he thought I could have the baby on December 29th. I told him it would be good for insurance purposes for me to have the baby and be out of the hospital by the end of the year. He said, "Yes, that should be fine."
From then on that was the date I had in my head. We continued the mostly weekly visits and on December 15th, he says something that makes me think that he's not planning on the 29th anymore, but I try not to get too weird about it, then on December 22 he makes it really clear that he's not planning on the 29th and I say, "I'd really like to have the baby that day." I remind him of my insurance issues and he says, "We'll see what we can do."
When I go in on the 29th (through treacherous weather mind you) my NST is just perfect so the doctor does an AFI and there's just a bit of extra fluid. He says, "I think that's high enough to call it Polyhydramnios, let me check the IHC policies. He comes back though and says something about how the national obstetrician board they all follow says that my fluid is not high enough to do an early induction, so I'm out of luck. He says he can schedule me for Wednesday the 31st when I'm 39 weeks. I say, "Let's do it," but leave the office bawling. While I appreciated his best efforts to let me have a baby, 2 days just seemed really ridiculous to me.
I make a bunch of calls to my insurance company and the hospital and determine that I'll end up hitting my large out of pocket deductible ($5000) for both 2014 and 2015 if I have the baby on the 31st. Obviously that is a lot of money so I call the doctors office back and say, "When can I have the baby in 2015?" The nurse says, not the 1st but the 2nd. I tell her to sign me up. She says, "I will make an order for you and send it to the hospital." I ask when to come in and she tells me the hospital will call me. All this back and forth, up and down, anxiety, anticipation led me to being an emotional wreck. The only other problem I had this pregnancy was a super sore back, especially at night. But even that pain was not like the draining emotional last month December was. That's not the end of the drama though, the final chapter will be written in 2015.
