Category: General Family News

Mara keeps me laughing every day. It’s been awhile since I posted random quotes, so I’ll do that today. My Facebook friends will have to forgive me, since I’ve posted several of these on Facebook too.

On eating hot dogs: “Mom, I would like to eat my hot dog just naked. No ketchup. No mustard. Just naked. . . No bun. Just naked.”

On snowfall: “Come on down, snow! I’ll catch you if you come all the way down to the ground, you silly snow!”

On her “stage” in life: “Right now I’m in a stage where I’m learning lots of things! Like . . . how to play the puh-lann-oh [piano] . . .” Actually she’s not learning how to play the piano, crazy child! I’m not really sure what “stage” she’s in!

On missing a night of tooth-brushing: One night back when I was on bedrest, Daniel told Mara she didn’t need to brush her teeth before bed (a lonnnng story, involving the previous night when Mara ruined her toothbrush by brushing it on the toilet seat). In tears, Mara began wailing, “But Da-a-a-a-a-ddy! My teeth are going to rot out!”

Very calmly addressing her doll in the stroller: “Wait here just a minute, while I go chase away the tiger.”

Of course, that piqued my interest. “The tiger?”

“Yes,” she replied, walking primly up the steps. “The tiger is chasing all my little children upstairs.”

Bad tiger, I thought [with a British accent].

Singing a Patch the Pirate song: “‘Brothers are a blessing, Sisters are ‘regressing’. . .” The only “sisters” she knows are the imaginary ones: Toasta and Lotta, who she tells me are both older. . . [And in case you’re too old or too young for Patch the Pirate, the song says ‘refreshing,’ not ‘regressing.’]

Always singing, often making up her own life soundtrack. For instance: “Youuuuuuu are close to dying!  . . . you use milk . . . so you wouldn’t diiiiiiiiiie.” What???

On getting new shoes: “I will grow too big for my shoes, and I will have to get some Becky shoes.”

“What are Becky shoes?” I asked.

“They are ladies’ shoes.”

After watching Monsters, Inc., she adopted several quotes from the movie: “Scary feet! Scary feet! Scary feet!” “Mike Wazowski!” and “I’mmm watching you, Wazowski! Allllways watching.” BTW, she was hilarious re-enacting “Celia” and “Googly-Bear [Mike Wazowski]” with her green sippy cup (Wazowski) and purple spoon (Celia).

On leg amputation: After she fell and “hurt” her leg, Daniel said, “Maybe we’ll just have to cut your leg off.” Mara replied, “Noooo, maybe just get me a wheelchair!”

On Mommy’s hogging the couch while nursing:

Mara & Micah were both jumping on the couch while I was sitting there nursing the baby. I told them to get off, because I was nervous things would get out of hand and the baby could get hurt.

“Hey!” Mara observed. “You’re still on the couch!”

“That was the whole point,” I said. “I asked you two to get off, so I could have the couch to myself while I’m nursing.”

“Hey?!?! Are you being selfish, darling?” she asked me.

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On giants and family: “Mommy! you look like a short giant! and Daddy’s the TALL giant! . . . And me and Micah? We aren’t giants–we’re just kids!”

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Warning her brother about monsters, while at the dinner table: “Monsters, Micah! Monsters will SCARE you!”

Micah, smiling, imitates a gorilla: “Ooo Ooo Ahh Ahh!”

Mara, realizing he is not taking her serious: “No, Micah, they are not gorillas. They are MONsters, and they will scare you.”

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On being cute [or not]:

Mara, smiling arrogantly: “I’m the cutest little girl in the whole world.”
Daniel: “You know, Mara, God doesn’t care if you’re cute–or if you’re ugly. God wants you to love Him and love other people. That’s what God cares about.”
Mara: “Mommmmm, Daddy said I’m ugly!”  [Sigh.] As you can see, we have our work cut out for us. . .

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Before bed: “Let’s sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’–it’s my favorite song!” Just as I finished singing the first verse, she blurted out, “What is ‘strong’?”

“It means Jesus is very mighty.”

“Like Daddy is mighty?”

“Yes, Mara, like Daddy.”

We have the most bizarre lunchtime conversations here. Sometimes I am just compelled to share them with my husband, live, on instant message:

me: Mara just said: “Mommy, I wonder how long Micah will be here?” (What do you mean, Mara? Micah is our brother. He lives here. All the time.) “Oh. I didn’t know Micah is our brother. I just thought he came here for a reason.” 12:59 PM on Thursday

Daniel: She thought he was a visiting relative? That is kind of disturbing. 1:01 PM on Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

“Can you walk to your room?” the nurse asked me. “It’s just right across the hall.”

Umm, sure. Between contractions.

I don’t like to think of myself as wimpy. But during labor, I can’t do anything. I feel wimpy.

With the help of Daniel and a nurse, I began the walk. I made it to the room–right across the hall. But the room wasn’t “quite” ready yet.

We stood outside the door. “Just give us a few minutes,” the housekeeping staff was saying.

Yeah, I can’t do that, I was thinking. Then: Why is there suddenly a guy on housekeeping staff when I’m standing in front of him having contractions? I’ve always had women housekeeping staff until now, I thought.

Thankfully, the housekeeper then offered a room a few doors down. Somehow I knew I’d be walking farther than “just right across the hall.”

I had to stop right there. I leaned against the wall, gripping the railing and moaning through the next contraction.

During contractions, I can’t talk, think, sign paperwork, lift my head to look at the medical personnel talking to me as they lead me down the hall . . . and of course, I always get drugs before I ever approach the “pushing” stage. . . who knows what I would be like if I had to experience the whole thing “naturally”!!

So feel free–if you’ve done it naturally, call me a wimp. I know it’s true. I just find myself so very thankful for epidurals by 6 centimeters or so. So very willing to be drugged, despite the many valiant thoughts I might have had, prior to the onset of labor.

We made it to “my” room. All I knew is that the contractions were getting stronger, longer, harder.

Where is that anesthesiologist?? The epidural could not come soon enough!

I got up on the bed and suddenly there was paperwork to sign. And the anesthesiologist came in and started preparing the epidural. “This shouldn’t be too bad,” he said. “You’re skinny.”

I was amused. Skinny? I’m nine months pregnant! That’s a great line! I thought.

“I’m sure women always love to hear that one when they’re nine months pregnant,” I said.

He was definitely more proficient than the anesthesiologist I had for Micah’s c-section. I’m not really sure what the differences are between an epidural and the c-section numbing drugs, but this time went a lot more smoothly. Although I had to lie on my back with Micah, rather than sitting up, because they were worried about the baby’s position. So maybe that makes it harder.

The epidural took effect on the right side first. And it took quite awhile to take effect on the left. Throughout the rest of my labor, I could hardly feel any pain at all on the right side. It was so weird to feel the contractions so strongly on one side and not the other–but to know that it was just as strong on both sides–I just couldn’t feel the pain.

When they finally got it figured out . . . Wow! What a relief!

It is an amazing, miraculous drug! To me, the best part about the epidural is feeling much more coherent, cognizant, able to listen to others and communicate intelligently. My contractions were so close together, so long and so intense that the “breaks” were very small. It was almost impossible to converse with the ob or nurses or anyone else because the contractions just kept coming. I can hardly remember any conversations with Daniel or the medical personnel that occurred prior to the epidural. After the epidural my memory is fairly good.

I needed two doses of antibiotics before the baby was delivered to counteract my Group B strep virus (which was positive). These antibiotics were administered at a certain interval through IV. I was receiving the first dose, and the second was due at 10 AM. So the nurse told us that the goal would be to hold off delivery until 10 AM.

My calculations of “1 cm an hour” during active labor had me delivering before 10 AM–but as slowly as I have dilated throughout this pregnancy, who’s to say what might happen?

So the idea was to get some rest now that I had the epidural. I hadn’t slept at all during the night, so I really was exhausted. Daniel had been by my side all night–he was ready to rest too.

I turned my head toward the window. It’s hard to capture in words the beauty that I saw. At home, we look out our windows to see roofs of rowhomes and tiny patios and “front-yard-less,” car-lined streets. But when I looked out the window from my vantagepoint (lying in a delivery room bed) I saw a gorgeous blue sky tinted with the rainbow colors of a sunrise. I couldn’t see the ground, but from my perspective, the treetops made it seem like a forest was right outside my window. It was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.

The day Micah was born was stormy. As they wheeled my bed across the “bridge” between two buildings and into the operating room, I saw lightning and heard thunder outside.

This experience was completely opposite. Somehow, after several intensely painful hours of contractions, the sunrise was incredibly calming and even symbolic: It’s the dawning of a new day!

Off bedrest.

Finished with pregnancy (at last).

Welcoming our precious little girl into our family.

A new “normal” for our family of five!

The nurses said it was warm and beautiful outside today.

And I was thrilled that I would remember the sunrise on the warm, beautiful day our little girl entered this world!