Engaged and out of Breech

Looking back on yesterday's blog entry, I can honestly admit that I was in a funk all morning. I was just so down for the better part of the day, and even the usual "suck it up" speech I got from my Mom didn't really pull me out of it. I ended up cleaning the apartment all freaking day long. Literally, it took me 6+ hours to sponga the floors, clean the bathrooms, tidy all the rooms, do two loads of laundry and leave stuff outside the door for Pidgeon to toss in the garbage. All the while, I tried to cheer myself up so that Pidgeon wouldn't come home to a sullen wife. I was definitely much better by the time he walked through the door, although I wasn't Stepford so he knew something was wrong.

I asked him what he thought of the apartment, and he walked around the place and said what a great job Miriam did. At that point, I was beeched like a whale on the couch, looking and feeling like garbage, and smiling because he thought I'd done a great job. I then told him that I saved us 160 shekel and that I'm the new Miriam. He wasn't happy that I spongaed the floors and cleaned all day, but I think he was happy to see the apartment in nice shape. I know I'm happy when I'm in a clean environment.

So, loads of GREAT things happened last night that completely made up for such a lousy morning!

First - and most importantly - my favorite Cousin Neil is engaged!!! It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I've been waiting for this day about as long as he has, and just knowing how happy he is makes me so thrilled for him and his fiance. I just hope I get to meet her soon! But, depending on when they're getting married, I might not even get to meet her before she becomes Mrs. Cousin Neil! If they get married before the baby is 3 months old, I won't be able to fly in for the wedding. They don't recommend that babies fly before they're 3 months so we'll just have to wait and see. As much as I would LOVE to dance at Cousin Neil's wedding, I'd much rather he get married when it's good for him than wait until I can fly into the States. I don't want him to be single any minute longer than he has to be - he's waited long enough to be with his soulmate. Of course, the selfish part of me will be very sad if I have to miss it. I only have 5 first cousins and, I'm closest to Cousin Neil, so it would be great if I can be there for it. That being said, I do get to B"H share a lifetime with them so I'm trying to look on the bright side.

And, if Cousin Neil getting engaged last night wasn't enough to pull me out of my funk and onto this high, the news that our baby is out of breech position just sent me soaring! Well, and into a panic too. We waited to see Dr. Yanai for a while and - as always - it was well worth it. When we got into the room, I told her about the hospital visit and showed her the information. Then, I mentioned that the baby was still in breech last week when they did the ultrasound, but that I felt different. I told her that I feel like something has dropped and there is this tremendous pressure on my bladder. It's getting harder to walk too since it feels like I've got something very heavy stuck between my legs. So, she told me to hop up on the table and we'll see where the baby's at. And, when she announced that the baby turned and is no longer in breech and is "head down" Pidgeon and I whooped so loud that we swear the people in the waiting room heard us. We were just so elated that I didn't have to go into the hospital for them to attempt to turn the baby. Of course, that's when I realized HOW the baby is going to be getting out of me. So, I turned to Dr. Yanai and said "wait, I need to actually deliver this baby now?" She was surprised and asked me if I wanted a C-section. I said, not really, I just didn't think about the alternative. 

The baby is also right now 6 pounds and with 4 weeks left to go - could grow about 1-2 more pounds! That's a BIG baby pushing its way through my delicate area. I was so small, I was only 5-11 when my Mom had me. I was kinda hoping this baby would be on the leaner side so that it won't hurt as much. But, what the heck do I know? I've never done this before - but now I'm going to find out!

The Dr. then did my test for GSB (step test) and sealed the tube and handed it to me to bring today to Maccabi. We were just so happy with the news, we practically skipped out of the room. Plus, my blood pressure was looking really great, so all three of us were thrilled. We made an appointment for 10 days from yesterday and then went to celebrate. 

I spent the night on the phone, Skyping with my sister in Cleveland (my  4 year old niece got her ears pierced!) and IMing with my brother in Miami Beach. I could barely contain my excitement and it was hard getting to sleep, but with another 6:45 a.m. wake up call I knew I had to get some shut eye.

My body woke me up this morning about 4 minutes before Pidgeon's alarm went off. He dropped me off at the Maccabi in town and then continued on his way to work. It was almost 8:00 a.m. and I was thinking I would be in and out of there in no time. Unfortunately, when I got upstairs to the blood clinic, they told me that they don't draw blood for my type of tests until 9:30 a.m. I literally had to sit there for an hour and a half with nothing to do. I hadn't anticipated that long of a wait so I didn't have a book or magazine to keep me company. Instead, I watched the people and watched the clock and waited. At 9:25 a.m., I walked into the area and immediately got processed. 7 huge vials of blood later, I went in search of the nurses station for my flu vaccine. They recommend pregnant women get a flu shot and, since I really don't want to get the flu this year NOR do I want the baby to get the flu, I thought it was a good idea. I waited for another 30 minutes before they could administer the shot, and then I was on my way.

I had the cab driver drop me off at the Supermarket near the apartment and picked up some food for tonight's class. I got a big bag of potato chips and some sandwich cookies, and a couple of other odds and ends for the house, and then hauled my three shopping bags back home. It was not easy and not because the bags were particularly heavy but because each step cause the baby to press down on my bladder even more! I was very happy when I got home, collapsed onto the couch and just relaxed.

Well, I'm off to finish my work for the morning. With another Dr.'s appointment slated before our 8:00 p.m. class, I really need to be as efficient as possible!

Yom Tov from Baka!

 

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Well, my final is over and so I'm officially out of hibernation! I'm supposed to be working on one of my school papers, but instead I've been planning our upcoming Fourth of July BBQ! I'm very blessed to have married into a family - the first American since Pidgeon's Aunt - whose thrilled to share in the customs of my heritage. This means, we all now celebrate Thanksgiving and July 4th! As you may recall, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner in the apartment last year (more than 40 people folks!) and it was a great success. But, since we don't have a grill and only a tiny mirpeset (balcony), we had to find a new location to play host for our BBQ. Fortunately, Pidgeon's folks have both a beautiful garden and a Weber, so plans were made and this morning my mother-in-law and I discussed the menu.

First thing she asked me was if this was going to be an American style BBQ. I said: absolutely! That means, no pita, no hummus, no babaganoush, NOTHING middle eastern should appear on the table. I'm now in charge of picking up hamburger and hot dog buns (yeah! I haven't had a bun in AGES!) We also discussed grilled corn on the cob, American hot dogs, chicken drumsticks slathered in BBQ sauce, American hamburgers (minus the bacon cause we're kosher) and ALL the fixings. That means sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, sliced pickles, sliced onions. I nixed the mayo cause I just don't like mayo on my meats and my mother-in-law nixed the relish cause she doesn't like it. Then I asked if she wanted me to make coleslaw and french fries, and she decided to make real french fries (we're all about the frozen kinds that you bake in this house) cause it's supposedly better for me and the baby. Whatever. As long as I can have some fries with my hot dog, I'm a happy lady. 

I think I'll surprise her with my Mother's coleslaw recipe, it's delishous, and maybe I'll also make a macaroni salad. I have to find a good recipe for that though, but it would also be delicious! Next, it was on to the dessert discussion. Personally, I'm a big BBQ pie gal. I like either cherry, blueberry or apple. I offered to make the pies - will probably just make my Aunt Amy's apple pie and my sister's blueberry pie - and then my Mother-in-law requested brownies. Now, I'm not really a big believer in brownies at my BBQ, unless they're special and well in my condition that ain't happening, but I'll honor her request and will make my snowdrop brownies especially for her :)

She's going to also pick up the watermellon and Pidgeon and I will look for some parve vanilla ice cream cause you can't have apple pie without vanilla ice cream ala mode. And voila, a Fourth of July BBQ comes together! Wow, I hope I don't pack on the pounds. I've got 3 weeks to go until my next Dr. appointment and I don't want to get another tongue lashing!

I'm so nostalgic for the July 4th BBQ's of yore, when I was really, really little and my brother wasn't even on the scene yet! When Aunt Amy and Cousin Neil would come out to us (with Cousin Larry too) in Queens and my Dad would BBQ in the backyard. Those were the days before my parents had a back porch, and the grass in the yard was nice and green and manicured. My parents would set up the sprinklers in the lawn and fill up the crocodile baby pool with the little slide, and we would all spend hours playing in the water.  Meanwhile, as our parents supervised in their hippest 70's gear (we're talking funky sunglasses and lime green dresses (my Mom) with bell bottom pants (Neil's Dad) my Dad would come out in HIS BBQ gear. 

That consisted of the cleanest and holiest white Hanes T-shirt he could find in his drawer, a pair of loose fitting shorts, knee high sports socks with green and yellow stripes underneath the knee, and his favorite pair of sneakers. Ah, if only he had worn this outfit JUST to BBQ. As I later learned, this also turned out to be his sleep away camp visiting day outfit (complete with galoshes in case it was rainy or muddy at Camp Moshava/Hillel/Morasha/Mesorah, etc.).  A bit embarressing when you're 12 years old, completely endearing when you're 5. 

Sometimes, Dad would let me help him get the charcoal going. That meant he let me hold the lighter fluid bottle about 10 feet away from the grill. When he was ready,  he'd walk over to me to get the fluid, and let me hold the spatula. I usually got bored with just holding the spatula and ended up getting all wrinkly in the pool with my sisters and cousins. My Grandparents used to come too, and Uncle Benjy A"H, and we would just spend the day in the back yard eating and having a great time. Since we always started our BBQ extra early, sometimes we had time to drop by the Fried's and crash THEIR BBQ. Daneel would be shooting hoops in the driveway and my Dad would join in, while I tried to pick at their cherry tree. Those were great summer memories. 

Sometimes, I just want to be 5 again. Life was so simpler back then!

Well, I'm really hoping that P"G this baby will also have some great summertime memories. Granted, it will be really different from mine since we're living in Israel and only a minority here celebrate the American holidays, but who knows. Maybe we'll spend our Fourth of July's in the States with my family? My folks have a Weber now too, and well, Dad still has those tube socks but maybe I can convince him to leave the galoshes in the hall closet.

Speaking of Dad, he just called to say good morning but I was downloading, The Very Best of the Beach Boys off of iTunes and our VOIP connection was pretty lousy. Now that I'm all done with 30 of the very best Beach Boys tunes (another surprise for the BBQ!) I think I'll call him back.

Yom Tov from Baka!