Lord Help The Mister

Who comes between me and my sister.

And Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man.

Death Rides A Pale Horse...Well, Not Today, Sucka!

Yeah, so. I hadn't seen my kids in four days, because on Monday I had the severest headache of my life (on a scale of 1 to 10, it made my migraines seem like a pleasantly endurable 5) a pounding heart, and high blood pressure. So my doctor says, "Get thee to the emergency room, immediately!" Which, of course, means "Get thee to the emergency room as soon as thy husband cometh home from work. Which is in about four hours." So when Luke gets there and can take the kidlets, (Niko is still terrified of doctors and won't step foot near one without going ballistic) he drops me off at the ER. Where I stay. And stay. And stay and stay and stay. Apparently my blood pressure is SKY HIGH (they had some name for it, with "shock" in it, but who can remember the details?) and my pulse was beating at 40 beats per minute. So they admitted me.

And took two CAT scans, and MRI, an EKG, a heart echo, a chest and an abdomen ultrasound, and the vampires sucked greedily at my blood. They had me on morphine (bad reaction, and besides, it increased my headache. Unreal! "This isn't cutting it!" I was saying. They were puzzled. "Morphine cuts everything!") and bags of IVs and the whole shebang.

Pre-eclampsia. Which usually ends after birth, but not always. They scared the tar out of me talking about fatality rates and sudden, deadly spikes in blood pressure, and who would take the children if I expired because of this. I shake my fist at their bedside manner, for the most part! But I'm fine now, and got released yesterday. I'm on bedrest (Right, like that's really possible!) but I will take it easy.

When we put Niko to bed last night, he kept popping out of his room to make sure that I was still here. I was. Then he'd walk back to bed.

Anyway, I was released almost exactly an hour before my babyshower, which, I was assured, would go on without me anyway. That was fine with me, but I was so glad to make it! It was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious, and the clothes were simply adorable. Little girls are so fun to dress up.

I no longer need an American Girl Doll to exorcise past demons. Hear that, Marilyn? Rock on!

Oh, and I DID lose 30 pounds since pre-Nina on last Tuesday, so I'm now 10 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. Not...how I would have opted to do it. I advise against it. Wholeheartedly.

Hey there, Tsar. Meet the Tsarina.

Nina Luna, 10 pounds and 1 oz. She's beautiful with kitten-soft hair and she is very, very sweet. And huge! Luke took a video of the first time that I held her, and I'm rocking her and cooing, "You're massive, baby girl. Simply massive." Which will give her a complex, my mother assures me, but hey. You can't be a true American without a complex, so might as well start early. Why not hit the ground running, yes?

Nina Luna is pronounced Loo-NAH, by the way. The Russian form of the word "moon". I was telling somebody that it sounds like you're oohing and ahhing at fireworks when you say it correctly. "Nina Loooh Naaaaahhhhhhh!" I think this is a fine thing, and that we should all ooh and ahh when we see and greet each other every morning. It'll help with those complexes. We could all use a little celebration, right? But apparently we have chosen the strangest name in history, and nobody can remember it or pronounce it, and she's going to be called Nina Luna or Looney or Nina Marie and we have doomed our daughter to a life of shame and mispronunciation.

Hi. I'm Mercedes. And I managed to survive, so I have hope for our sturdy, robust daughter. This is also exactly how the same scene played out with Niko. "Nikolai? Nee-ko? Nicko? Nick? That's terrible. Name him Jesse." This makes me smile.

Niko isn't so interested in his sister yet, unless she's crying. He finds that absolutely hilarious, and will lay down by her and put his ear to her mouth. Oh, yes, and he'll laugh. She's wailing her tiny little lungs out and he's cracking up hysterically, which seems to be the way of the world a little bit between brothers and sisters. He just likes the sound so much, and I find this grand. I think they'll simply adore each other one day.

I am quite happy, if you can't tell. And perhaps a bit punchdrunk. I always count that as a plus.

Curse It All.

Foiled again. Every day I think, "Is TODAY finally the day that Ninjack arrives in all of his/her splendor and glory?" And every day the answer is NO NO NO. It's driving me nuts. I am DONE. Stick a fork in me. It's time to end this madness.

Our neighbor dropped by last night with a toy that she thought Niko would like. It used to belong to her son, and it was great to have somebody stop by. She's the only person in the cul de saq that we have met, and she said that she's lived here a few years and doesn't know anybody else. That's not such a good sign, but that's the way this area is. My fear is that something will happen to us and our bodies won't be discovered for months. Thanks goodness for the church, is all I can say. They'd be calling around looking for Luke within a few days! Me, well...I could go missing for a bit longer.

Niko has learned how to slide down the slide by himself. So he can climb up the ladder and play in the clubhouse, and just today figured out how to escape his castle and head for the trampoline. It's very exciting to see all of the new things that he's learning! He's such a good kid.

My friend Emily, she's due in three days. We flurry each other back and forth like crazy in emails. "Baby yet? Baby yet? BABY YET?" It's really fun to have somebody in the same situation, and also to keep in touch. It's making the time go by a little faster. This has turned into a cruel type of waiting game.

I demand presentability!

We held Niko down on Friday and cut his hair. "You shall be presentable, dagnabbit!" we screamed, and he is. He looks very handsome. "What pretty hair!" I exclaimed. "May I brush it?" And after a good long sob in the bathtub, he forgave his parents their cruelty. Appealing to his vanity is the way to go, as the boy very much flirts with himself in the mirror.

Dad came down to help out for a few days, and immediately flopped on Niko's bed and refused to get up. "Bring him in and see if he gets jealous," he said, and Niko didn't. He was too busy playing with the baby swing that I just set up in the nursery. Swinging it into the wall hard enough to cause massive brain damage if anybody other than Cookie Monster ever sits in there. I have vowed extreme vigilance.

So I have been doing some writing! And it pleases me very much. My new goal is to have five pieces circulating at a time, which is a huge step for me! And I just accomplished that a few minutes ago! Praise me! Let's see if I can keep it up. Honestly, I don't think it should be too hard because it usually takes a few months to hear back from some of these places. So that placates my lazy side.

I'm on insulin, now, and it has made a WORLD of difference! Life is bearable again. Not only bearable, but beautiful and grand. It's a good time.