Sunday, November 27, 2011

Odds and ends

  • Well, we made it through Thanksgiving just fine!  I found the source of poor Sarah's food poisoning--a sippy cup of milk she had stashed by her dollhouse the day before.  (That would be the day I had surgery, hence the poor tracking of milk cups.) Poor little thing! We are now making sure that milk cups go straight to the sink after a meal or snack. 
  • I've been feeling OK--just a bit tired and light-headed since the surgery.  I think it probably has to do with, oh, I don't know, not getting enough sleep? Or having a crazy passport odyssey followed by a late night of bathroom disinfection the day after surgery?
  • In the insanity of the last term at school (which just ended before Thanksgiving), I vaguely remember opening a jury summons. I know the date was sometime over break because Mr. X and I discussed whether I should try to get a postponement, and I said that it was easier to just take care of it since it was during my break.  Hmm.  I remembered on Wednesday, but no one was answering the phone at the jury commissioner's office, and they were closed on Friday, too. I'm sure it wasn't for Thanksgiving week (and no jurors were called on Tuesday or Wednesday, anyway), but it's fairly likely that it's this coming week.  I have gone through--I kid you not--every piece of paper in the main area of our house.  This is no small feat.  No jury summons.  And without a jury summons, I don't know my juror number, which means I don't know whether or not I'm called for jury duty tomorrow. Which means I will need to get a babysitter and set out for the courthouse at 7:30, simultaneously calling the commissioner's office to see if they can tell me my juror number and date of service. If I can't get through before 8:00 (jury reporting time), then I'll just have to go in with the other 300 (!) jurors called for Monday and try to get it figured out. And then, if it turns out I'm not called for Monday, I may have to do it again, possibly later the same week.
  • On a related note, I have purged all nonessential paper from the main living area, and we now have a new system for handling paper that comes into the house. By which I mean, we now have a system.
  • After seeing Jennifer mention it on Conversion Diary, I bought a copy of The Perfect Health Diet. I am mostly on the bandwagon--so, in contrast to my previous diet, no more grains (except for a small amount of rice), no more vegetable oils (except for a little olive oil and lots of coconut oil), very minimal sugar (except what's in a little fruit, dark chocolate, and occasional ice cream), and lots more fat, red meat, and fish. I don't even really crave the carbs--since I can still have a little potato and rice (and rice pasta, bread, and crackers, which have provided lots of interesting baking experiments), dark chocolate, and berries, and lots of butter and cream, my sweet tooth isn't driving me crazy. Next, we're going to try to find a source for free-range (grass-fed) meat and eggs.
  • One of the reasons I've been staying up too late is that we've gotten hooked on All Creatures Great and Small on Ne.t.flix. Why have I never watched this show before? Oh, yes, back when my brother was hooked on the books and the show when we were kids, I thought it was a show about animals. Well, it's not. But it is charming and delightful, so if you've never seen it and are looking for something good to watch, check it out!
 



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Close enough, I hope

Right now, I'm lying on the floor next to Sarah's bed, hoping she's finished throwing up. We're pretty sure (after reading Dr. Se.a.rs) that it's food poisoning. After almost three hours of vomiting, the poor little thing was exhausted and asking to put on her 'jamas and go to bed. Finally, at 9:15, I put her in her pjs, and she flung herself into bed, only to get up 15 minutes later to throw up again. I cleaned her up, brushed her teeth, tucked her back in, and she was asleep literally two minutes later.

But, really, thank God for small favors--I am so glad this started at 5:45 pm and not 2:00am. And so glad that it started at 5:45pm and not 4:45pm, when we were still in the County Clerk's Office.

You see, we FINALLY made it in to apply for the kids' passports today. For those of you keeping score, we went to the Social Security office back in April to apply for a Social Security card for Nick so that I could file our stinkin' taxes. No luck. We need proof of citizenship, which means either a passport or a certificate of citizenship. Since the certificate costs several hundred dollars and doesn't do you much good, we thought we'd go for the passport, since at least that would allow him to travel.

So. Turns out you need lots of paperwork for an internationally-adopted child's passport. And it turns out that both parents have to show up in person with the child to apply for a passport for a child under 16. At this point, we figured we might as well get Sarah's passport, too, for all that hassle. I've had the paperwork together for ages, but I needed to take decent passport photos (the verdict's still out on the decent-ness of the result), and we needed to find a time during business hours that all four of us could show up.

The County Clerk's office closed at 4:30pm today. At 3:15, Mr. X called me to say he was getting ready to leave the office--mind you, he has an hour commute to the County Clerk's office, and it's the day before Thanksgiving. Of course, I was just parking the car at Costco to pick up the photos, so I was no better off. I ran home, relieved the babysitter, convinced Nick to go potty and put his shoes on, picked Sarah up out of bed where she was still napping, and ran them out to the car in their socks. I coaxed them to put on their shoes on the way, called Mr. X to check his ETA, and dashed into the County building at 4:23.

I ran into the passport office, where the poor woman behind the counter eyed me dubiously. She reminded me that they close at 4:30 and asked if my husband was with me, if I had my paperwork filled out, and if I had checks written. Oops. I had my paperwork (I even had it organized in a neat little multiple-pocket folder). But I remembered I wrote the last check in my checkbook the other day. I called Mr. X, who found a single check folded in his wallet. That would get us one passport application, if we could produce $25 cash for the processing fee.

By some minor miracle, Mr. X ran into the office on the dot of 4:30. We conferred, and he thought he might have a checkbook in his car. We had $38 cash between us, but there was an ATM outside the door to the county building. I started going over the paperwork with the woman behind the counter and he sprinted out to the car. I knew he could get in the building, since some of the offices are open till 5:00, but I'd have to let him back in the passport office.

Then the ladies noticed that Nick has no social security number, and said that the State Department might not issue a passport without a Social Security number! You have got to be kidding me.  So I had to write a note saying that I had been turned down for a Social Security number, and they said we'd have to just see what the State Department says. Argh!

Mr. X came back from his trip to the car and ATM, so now we had enough cash for both application fees. And he had found a check. A check I had written to a teenage babysitter. I wrote one of the numbers funny, and she thought the bank might give her a hassle, so I had just written her a new check. Somehow Mr. X found the old one. Technically, as long as I initial any changes, it should work. So I changed--and initialled!--the payee. . . and the date . . . and the amount. My signature didn't need to be changed.

So we submitted Nick's application with a picture that we hope will meet the requirements, a handwritten note about my inability to get a Social Security number for him without a passport, and a perfectly acceptable check. And possibly without a height--I feel like I forgot to write down his height, even though the lady checked over the application and didn't comment on that.

We submitted Sarah's application with a picture that we hope will meet the requirements and perhaps the most bizarre check that the State Department has ever received. (The lady said, "they're definitely going to contact you about this!")

The kids behaved beautifully, mainly because they had a Little T.y.kes table and chairs with an assortment of books, and Mr. X sat with them when he wasn't being asked to promise under oath that this application was correct. Nick provided musical entertainment. So you can see why I'm truly grateful that the vomiting did not begin until we were out of that poor woman's hair! And, seriously, God bless her for bearing with us patiently as her office was closing for Thanksgiving!

It's now been an hour since Sarah fell asleep (though she just stirred a minute ago and said "I done! I done!" . . . which is what she's been saying in the middle of throwing up). I think I'm going to throw in the next load of laundry, disinfect the bathroom, and go to sleep.  But not before I say many prayers that this is just food poisoning and not something contagious!

Surgery Report

I had the hysteroscopy and HSG yesterday with the new doctor.  Things looked pretty good.  The great news is I have no scarring from the D&C!  My tubes weren't blocked.  The pressure was good at first, but the dye wasn't pouring through the tubes freely.  After the doctor ran the wire down the tubes, the dye ran through. That sounds to me like there may have been some crud in there, but not enough to block the liquid completely.

So, we'll see. Mr. X talked to the doctor, and I know I did too in the recovery room, but I don't remember a thing!  I won't get to talk to the doctor till Monday, so I'll probably ask more questions then.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Sugery #5

Here's the big news! Surgery #5 is scheduled for Tuesday.  To recap my surgical history:

May 2007: Surgery #1 with Dr. H. Diagnostic laparascopy that identified extensive endometriosis and one (!) polycystic ovary (other ovary appears normal). HSG revealed blocked tubes, both of which were opened. Endometrial biopsy identified low-grade uterine infection.

July 2007: Surgery #2 with Dr. H. Laparatomy. Success! Removed endometriosis, wedge resection on polycystic ovary.

January 2008: Positive pregnancy test #1! (Also first f.e.mara cycle.) Miscarriage on January 21st at 6w2d.

September 2008: Surgery #3 with Dr. H. At my request, a selective HSG to determine whether tubes were blocked. One fully blocked, one partially blocked. Success!  Both tubes opened.

November 2008: Positive pregnancy test #2!

July 2009: Sarah born! Surgery #4, 5 days postpartum. D&C to stop hemorrhaging due to freak retained placenta that did not present for the first 4 days.

And now:
November 2011: Surgery #5: Hysteroscopy with selective HSG. First surgery with local NaPro surgeon. Checking out whether tubes are blocked and whether there is any damage from life-saving (literally life-saving) post-partum D&C.

Hoping and praying that this does the trick!
 

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