Quick Takes (Vol. 14)

Part of me can't believe that it has been nearly a month since my last post. Another part of me isn't surprised, because I've been contemplating backing off of blogging... possibly for good. I keep so much of my life private, and with Baby #3 on the way, I don't anticipate starting to share more. In fact, I have a feeling that I'm going to be even more protective of our privacy. This makes blogging somewhat difficult, as you might imagine. However, I need some Prayer Buddy prayers, and I'm not 100% ready to leave the blogging world just yet!

1. Prayer buddy, I need you. I am SO tired and I think the stress of the transfusions (and life in general) has finally hit me. The positive attitude I've adopted throughout all of this is still there, buried somewhere, but the past few days have made that attitude had to find. I'm not sleeping-- I spend the majority of the night peeing, attempting to flip over, getting hot and cold and hot and cold, fighting off heartburn (the current bane of my existence), finding no room for me and the hubby and the baby belly in (a queen sized! We should all fit!) bed, and waking up for hours at a time in the middle of the night and thinking about everything under the sun (moon?). I had a minor fender-bender the other day, and completely lost it emotionally-- I was being so careful maneuvering our shiny red truck and it didn't even matter. It felt like some cosmic sign saying, "See-- NOTHING is in your control these days."

2. I told my perinalogist about my exhaustion and how 3-4 doctors appointments a week, plus 3 fetal blood transfusions within two months, plus getting ready for the holidays, plus having two little ones, plus driving up and down the road twice a week for Mother's Day Out so I can actually go to all of my appointments, plus keeping up with regular life (cooking, cleaning, preparing to have another baby) have completely worn me down. He gave me the best advice ever: make a list of everything I need to do each day, then cross off two things.  This meant that yesterday the kids didn't go to Mother's Day Out and I called and cancelled my dental appointment. I had a perinatal visit in the afternoon and the kids' Christmas program in the evening-- this meant I was gone from 1:30 pm until 9 pm. That was definitely enough, without adding two extra round trips, of an hour each.

3. Only one more fetal blood transfusion to go, a few days after Christmas. My scarred and bruised belly is ready for these to be over. When little B turns 16 and drives me crazy begging to drive the car/go on dates/not hang out with her siblings, I'm going to pull up my shirt and show her just how much I loved her before I even met her. It's like a war zone on my stomach, so this should be effective.

4. One of the first time's I've agreed with anything our current President has said: "Why would we want to have a whole bunch of people who we don't know knowing our business? That doesn't make much sense." He was referring to his girls not being on Facebook. This is what I'm talking about when I think about no longer blogging.

5. I do have some very exciting news that I want to share with someone, but I don't want to jinx it. Let's just say that I REALLY need a haircut and highlights, and to whiten my teeth within the next two weeks. Losing 10-20 pounds would also be nice, but I don't think that would be a healthy option at 33 1/2 weeks of pregnancy.

6. I LOVE the blog of the prayer buddy for whom I'm praying. I have enjoyed learning about her and her blog has been wonderful with giving me very specific things to pray for this Advent season. She's a blogger I wasn't familiar with before, and I can relate to her in so many ways.

7. The video below cracks me up. I especially like the fairy comment and the "Away in a Manger" song. I think (hope) C has a better grasp of the Christmas story than a couple of these kids, but I have to laugh because I've definitely experienced the "huh?" moment when she's explaining all kinds of other things to me.