PUKE WATCHThe last few weeks have been quite eventful, even for a regular non-pregnant person who sadly counts true excitement as going to the grocery store for the 2nd time in four months! But, enough sadness! Two weeks ago I finished my last dose of Zofran, went to fill the Rx, discovered I wouldn't be able to because the insurance company doesn't want to spend a gazillion dollars keeping me puke free, and left for vacation with fears & worries which did not materialize. Thankfully, I've been feeling marvelously better. I was eating the same food that other people ate, and it all tasted good!
PINE CITYThe euphoria of these discoveries, plus the plain joy of being with family in some of the most beautiful surroundings ever, made my vacation pretty fantastic. Ben, Jen, Lydia, Josh and I flew into Minneapolis with little event. We spent a few days visiting with my aunts, uncles, and grandparents on my mom's side. It was nice to visit the farm again and soak up relaxing pace of life in Pine City. We had several family dinners and lots of good time talking and laughing. Uncharacteristically, we didn't play our family sport, Dutch Blitz (or, as I grew up calling it -- Demon).
LAKE KJOSTADSunday morning we left for the cabin to join up with the rest of the family. Imagine: one cabin, two bedrooms, one loft, eleven people (including one toddler), not enough beds, and most importantly, only one bathroom. This could be a picture of hell on this earth, but amazingly, it worked out much better than we anxiously were imagining. First of all, Josh's wonderful Uncle Dave & Aunt Diane had purchased an a/c window unit which made the loft bearable. Secondly, Lydia slept like a rock and even Grandpa's snoring didn't wake her up. Thirdly, Matt & Jake made the huge sacrifice and slept on couches that were more and/or less comfortable and had climate control issues AND had people walking right by them beginning at six o'clock in the morning.
HIGHLIGHTSHighlights of the vacation were spending most of my time reading, eating home made junk food fresh out of the oven, watching Lydia yelp with delight every time Bosco the friendly dog walked past, sitting in a lounge chair by the lake reading some more, and sitting in the front of the boat with my eyes closed feeling the wind wooshing past me! I didn't participate in some of the super fun activities that the rest of the crew did such as fish, fish, fish, canoe, swim, play water baseball, frisball, or play Spades. I just sat very contentendly surrounded by my favorite people and read. According to Ben, I was pulling a Susie. Sometimes, that's just enough. Also, I only meant SOME of my favorite people. There many of my favorite people who weren't present, although for this I am thankful, as the presence of 10 more people would have severely compromised my ability to enjoy the lovely cabin by the lake.
BABY BAILEYOn a baby front, there's exciting news this week. Just before we went on vacation I started feeling these little twitches in my abdomen that felt remarkably similar to muscle twitches in my legs and arms that I have while my body is trying to fall asleep. The location led me to believe that I was in fact, feeling little kicks or jabs from baby Chip. Over vacation, the frequency of the these twitches increased and last night, as Josh and I were watching tv, the amazing happened. Josh felt the baby kick, too. The force was much stronger than any time before so he could actually feel it outside my belly. It surprised both of us, and I think we both sort of jumped.
Lydia is the queen of all the animals. She has quite a selection of stuffed toys. :-) This was Lydia's first time spending the night away from her mama and papa. She seemed to do really well, probably because she's very used to our house. Josh got her up in the morning, and she was ready to play.
