Joys In My Life

I've been freeze tagged! I've woken up from my I hate my job stupor to total excitement of being freeze tagged... So here's my answers: 1) You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you save? If I was stuck in Farenheit 451 (of which I now planning on reading) what would I save? I'd have to say Whitman's Leaves of Grass . If I couldn't have any other books, I'd have to save poetry. 2) Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I swear my DH is my Mr. Darcy. 3) The last book you purchased? I just purchased The Infertility Cure which is mostly about Traditional Chinese Medicine cures for infertiliy. I've been thinking of finding a good acupunturist anyway for other issues (allergies, lactose intolerance, improve sex drive). I found it on Sara's website, Baby or Bust. 4) What are you currently reading? Lots of emails for work. Other than that every day I l...

I'm on a conference call with work right now testing some firewall rule changes that pushed out. For those of you who haven't noticed this is after 9:30 PM. I hate my job more than anything right now. I love the team of folks that I work with, but my management has to go. On that note, I've been busy with a lot this week trying to find myself that bigger and better job. I had a second interview at Juniper, with the same two people as before, but they met with me at the same time. I really hope they are serious. They seemed it. They also seemed like they are now in a hurry to make a decision, but I'd still need to come back and meet with the CIO and CTO. One of them is on vacation. This job opportunity sounds very interesting as they described that they are looking for a Program Manager for Partnership launches that can communicate with all the business areas, the partners, and the development teams. I think that sounds interesting and is a step up from what I...

Today was my Daddy's birthday. I'm still such a Daddy's girl. I think other than my father is the best in the whole world, is I don't have much else to choose from in my family dynamic. My mother isn't very close to me. She prefers my dependant brother, and also in that thought, my brother is very messed up. A twenty-eight year old should not still be living with his mother and having her do everything for him. It's just strange. I let Phoebe talk her Poppa's ear off on the phone like I know she can. I think he enjoyed it. I realized again how much I love my Daddy as I was walking around the house after dinner singing "Yellow Submarine" to myself. It was one of our favorite songs together. Oh, I've also been meaning to admit this guilty pleasure.... "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney and Wings. It was my favorite song when I was four (I really knew all the words then). Now when I hear it I still sing along and get all happ...

I'm feeling a little out of it right now. I think I'm in shock about this week. The highs are very high and the lows feel pretty low. I'm going to start with the happy stuff: We got a lot of work done here at work. We've been almost able to meet some aggressive timelines we've been working toward. I got asked to post for another job in Marketing by the hiring manager. I have interviews next week. The hiring manager already said he wants to hire me. This definately gave me much more confidence this week. I just got a phone call from Juniper. The same people want to meet with me again. I'm going back next Wednesday. Phoebe sang in the school concert yesterday. She did great! The outside of the front door is finished being stained and the trim is all up around it!!! It looks terrific! I took Phoebe to the new data center up the street from our house, as I had to drop off some addtional cards we bought for the servers there. I taught Phoebe you can't...

Part 6 also starts on Phoebe's Day 6. She was in the NICU, doing very well, and we hadn't seen the surgeons all week (this was Thursday by now). The doctor's at this hospital were saying that if they didn't hear from the surgeons soon, they would send her home with us that day, and we should follow up with the other doctors when we got home. Tom and I had been together with her since she was born, except for running home for a bite to eat and shower and change. We lived 10 minutes from the hospital. We had discussed the night before that we would rather her go from one hospital to the next. We weren't relishing the thought of handing her back to a hospital after she'd already been home. But anyway, I sent Tom to Babies R Us across the street from the hospital to pick up a new infant car seat (the convertable one was too big for her) and have it installed properly, as they had the fire department there doing the installs and showing the proper way to do it. ...

I started pushing I think around 6:30 or 7 AM. Phoebe Katharine Wilson was born at 7:36 AM on October 6, 2000. She was 7 lbs. 1/2 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Did I mention she was 4 weeks early? Thank God! She seemed to be breathing OK but she had some lung immaturity. There were lots of doctors all around her working on her. I got to hold her once before she was whisked away to the NICU. Tom went with her. We discussed that before hand. She had a full head of black hair, just as I expected. There were lots of tears. BTW, they never seem to tell you about having to push out the placenta in the birthing classes. What's up with that? It freaked me out when the doctor told me I had to push again after she was born. I was completely unprepared. I grabbed Nicki's hand (SIL) and she was forced to sit down. She told me she almost got sick. That is the part of the story where she wished she wasn't there. Sorry, Nicki. Tom was watching Phoebe with the doctors on the ...

We'll continue from going into labor & delivery. Beautiful room, hardwood floors, my own bathroom with shower, loved that room! I spent the next 21 hours in this room. It was about 2:30 PM by the time I got settled in the room. My water broke at 10:30 AM. I didn't feel a single contraction until I got settled in the L&D room. Ouch! The good thing is I practice yoga and really learned my breathing exercises well. These really do help, girls! I was going to do my best to do this without an epidural, because we didn't know if Phoebe was going to have to go right to the other hospital for surgery. We knew if that happened, there was no way I was going to stay checked into the hospital where I delivered. I had to be with my baby. I didn't want to wait for an epidural to wear off. I also have to admit, I don't like needles. I never even looked at the needle they used for amnio. Not even after they did the procedure. I laid down in denial that anythi...

I’m typing this into MS Word first, so if I lose the post in Blogger, I can repost it later. It seems all my issues with Blogger are during evening hours, and that’s when I’d like to get this one done. So I went for a Level 2 ultrasound and Doppler when I was 36 ½ weeks along. I had my 36-week appointment with one of the other OB/Gyns in the practice that week, as my regular OB was on vacation. I used to call my mom every Sunday morning to give her the baby update and how the tests were going. When she heard my doctor was on vacation, she told me that I would go into labor this week. I thought she was crazy! I had a scheduled induction for the week of October 24th, a week before my due date. Any way, I do remember Phoebe kicking me a lot the night before these appointments. I told Tom I thought she was looking for another exit. It was October 5, 2000. After the ultrasound, Tom and I would go to Borders to get him a pumpkin spice coffee and me a decaf coffee. I went into the l...

Blogger ate my Part 2 that I typed up last night. I'm going to try again this morning, but I'm seriously considering Typepad with everyone else that has fled. If you are reading this, you may want to go to Part 1 first. We decided to do amneocentisis. They said they wanted to check the AFP level in the amniotic fluid. If the AFP level was fine there, then the baby should be fine. If it was fine, they would need to screen me for cancer. Apparently a high MSAFP level can be attributed to cancer in females. They never told me what kind of cancers. The AFP level in the amniotic fluid was normal. No problems. Baby should be fine. Then they did MRIs (had to be open, I'm terribly claustrophobic) and ultrasounds looking for cancer. They didn't find anything. They gave me and baby a clean bill of health and said they wanted me to come in for Level 2 ultrasounds every month just to check things out. Apparently, there's a correlation out there with unexplained high...

I've been prompted by my other fellow infertiles that had babies spend time in the NICU to tell my story of "we just never seem to get a break." My daughter's 4 1/2 now, but I remember it all as it was yesterday. I should probably write it down for posterity to boot. I'm probably going to need a few typing sessions to get this in so I've already labeled this Part 1 in anticipation. We'll begin with conception. I had surgery for a blocked left fallopian tube in July 1999. I had a feeling it was endometriosis. My mom and DH tell me that the doctor talked to them before the surgery and said he'd be out in about 15 minutes. An hour and a half later he came out and said he had never seen endometriosis so bad on a 28-year-old woman. They were all amazed I didn't have amazingly painful periods (I didn't). After the surgery, they said they wanted to try to get me pregnant quickly with ovulation induction and IUI with my DH's sample (he coul...

We're in a dilemma. We went to Landenburg, PA today, which is near our favorite Avondale, PA area, and found some really nice homes we'd like to move into. It's also in a great PA school district of Avon Grove. This throws a wrench into the move to NJ idea. It still would be really nice to move near Tom's family in NJ, but we really love PA. It would be a difference if I should continue to work in Wilmington at my current job, or maybe at Juniper. Or should I look for the Comcast job or another one in NJ. I think both of us are a little confused. So now I'll sit back, enjoy my wine, and catch up on everyone's blog news. I'm sure everything will become crystal clear in the next few months. BTW, does anyone get depressed on Sunday nights? I heard there is some kind of syndrome of depression the night before going back to work.

Wow what a busy day! I woke up and got dressed, and started cleaning again. I did the following: Vacuumed stairs Cleaned powder room Cleaned up around dog crate Mopped kitchen floor Dusted downstairs Vacuumed downstairs Sh-Mopped wood floors Cleaned up the back yard dog piles Dropped recycling off (we have voluntary recycling in DE) In between I stopped to pick up my in-laws taxes (they use our accountant in DE) and took Phoebe to her ice-skating class. After I cleaned up the back yard, I took Phoebe for a spin around the block on her bicycle. She helped me with the recycling and putting it all in the right bins, and then we went to get Chinese take-out for dinner since Tom wasn't going to be home for dinner. I called over to his parents house and talked to him twice. I think he's getting frustrated that it's taking so long. The funny thing is he said that while his once niece and nephew are helping him, he prefers to have me help. The funny part is that whenever we...

So I cleaned up the upstairs pretty much. Tonight I did the following: Changed the sheets Started laundry Ran dishwasher Washed pots Cleaned master bathroom Cleaned Phoebe's bathroom Dusted upstairs Vacuumed upstairs I will finish tomorrow morning before taking Phoebe to her ice skating lesson. Tom called to say he's going to stay overnight at his parents. They spackled the walls tonight. Tomorrow they will paint. We're trying to decide if I should drive over tomorrow afternoon, or if he should come back and get me so we have only one car to bring back. So for now I'm enjoying a well deserved break. I opened up a bottle of Cristallo red wine from Va La Vineyards, my favorite place in the whole wide world. Anthony is truly a genious when it comes to small batch wine making. The link to their website is provided as of tonite on my blog. If you ever happen to be in the PA area and are in the mood to taste some good wine, check them out. You can't ...

Please sing like Bear in the Big Blue House... BTW, I knew when Phoebe started watching that show I really liked Bear. I couldn't put my finger on it. Then after she'd been watching that show for a month, I finally saw the logo at the end, "Jim Henson Creations." I love anything Jim Henson or Muppets! So enough of that. I'm eating dinner in front of the computer, and I'm letting Phoebe eat in front of the TV for a treat. Tom's at his parents helping his sister Darci who's pregnant and is moving in with their parents with her husband (he's OK with this really!) in order to save some extra money for a house in a year or two. Actually it works out for their parents too, as my father-in-law is out on disability because his aortic aneurism (sp?) has gotten so bad he can't work. Darci and her DH moving in will help out with their parents expenses. So after I write this, I'm going to be gathering up all my cleaning supplies together and cle...

Went back to my fabulous yoga class yesterday. I almost didn't go, as people were bugging me at my desk about work, and I was running a little late, but I forced myself to go, and I'm very glad I did. I have balance issues. Both on the mat and off. I try. I really, really try. I've always been flexible. I've always had strength, but balance is my nemesis. Funny how your yoga practice can mirror real life. So, if you couldn't guess we did some balance work yesterday, and I was having trouble. I need to work on balances at home more, so I can get some extra practice. I was also having some problems with my elbows hurting from hyperextension. I asked Michael to help me a bit with that. I'm glad I did, because they stopped hurting after he showed me what I was doing wrong in trying to correct my overly flexible elbows. I spent two hours after Phoebe went to bed last night working on my project plan for work. Then I baked brownies at 6 AM this morning for...

I went to yoga class for the first time in four months. It's sad. My home practice is all I've had due to the yuckiness at work. I had enough. I need my lunch break on Mondays and Wednesdays. Plus I need all the soothing pep talks Michael gives as we lie in savasana at the end of class. I wish I could tape the things he says. I walk out of that hour feeling like a million bucks. Of course this morning, my muscles ache in places I forgot existed. The cool thing is apparently I look different, hopefully in a good way. The first day of every quarter session, Michael walks around and says hi to all the new people. He came up to me yesterday and said, "And you are?" Then he say my face as I came up from laying out my mat, and he looked so happy to see me. And then Norma and Michael and I got into an interesting discussion around corporations and politics after class. In particular, how it's great that Howard Dean is in charge of the Democratic party, which...

I haven't heard from Juniper Bank yet about my interview last week, but I don't mind so much. I had a co-worker submit my resume to Comcast today for a Network Engineering Project Manager job. It's in their IP/Internet access side, so it could be very exciting and more of what I used to do before I started working in credit cards IT. She also wrote such a nice email to her old boss about me. I think I should have her write all my resume submission letters. She made me sound so good!!! Anyway, part of the job that would be nice is that it would be in New Jersey. I know I've fought it for years, but I think now that we have Phoebe it might be nice to move to NJ. Better schools, her cousins, and some of the communities can be very nice. Shopping in Marlton is also very nice, and they have a Toppers Spa there!!! Well, we'll see how it goes. I was driving Phoebe to school the other day this week, and she said the funniest thing. She really thinks she's hot...