Will 2008 please go away?

This week has already turned out to be the crappiest week ever. First, Lou and I noticed that our doggies weren't really eating and then all of a sudden Izzy Belle started to vomit constantly. Then, my Mom calls and tells me that she just got home from the hospital because my Dad has been admitted again and has lost alot of blood. Both of course occur within just a few hours of each other and send me over the deep end. I was not great company yesterday. Lou and I decided to take Izzy to the emergency vet to get looked at and we're glad we did. She was so severely dehydrated that she was on the verge of having her vital systems shut down. We had to leave her there overnight, which just about killed both of us. We are so attached to our puppies and having to leave one behind left a tear in both of our eyes. After we left the emergency vet we headed over to see my Dad. He looked a lot better than I had imagined. He was getting some color back in his cheeks, which was a pleasant change because he's been the color of death for a month or so. He docs figured that his blood pressure meds had thinned his blood too much, and he was getting blood clots as well as severely bleeding from other areas. He was scheduled t have a procedure done today to help remove any car tissue and remaining clots from his bladder today, but the procedure got postponed until Wednesday. When Lou and I got home last night, we crashed. This day was horrible, but sticking with tradition...it would get worse.
We woke up today all excited to go get our little girl only to get to the emergency vet and find out that we have to take er immediately over to our regular vet to continue IV fluids and observation. The vets don't know, and still don't know, what is wrong with her. She still can't keep anything down, so that is 3 days of vomiting and no bowel movements. We've spend as much money on vet bills in the last two days as we paid for her, which is a truly scary amount. We now have to take her to an internist to find out what's wrong. As I sit here typing, she is laboring to breathe and has thrown up 4 times since being home. It's enough to make me break down in tears. So, that's the story with our little girl, but it gets even more stressing with my Dad. We went to see him this afternoon and he's lost his color, again. The Urologist informed us that his largest tumor has tripled in size in the last three months, which was a total shock since his form of cancer is supposed to grow half a centimeter a year and his grew 6 centimeters in 3 months. He may loose his kidney now, which is a scary thought since his other kidney has cancer in it too! While we were there clots formed and blocked the catheter which caused tremendous pressure to back up into his system. It's never a pleasant sight to see the strongest man in the world struggle to formulate words to express the pain he's in. Lou and I left before the worst of it. When people ask me how my Dad is doing I always say that my parents really don't discuss it with me because they don't want to worry me, which is a true statement. However, I can sense many things, and I've known for a long time just how sick my Dad is, and that it's not getting better. I really don't think there is much time left and it really angers me to think that this little boy growing inside my belly may not get the chance to go fishing with his Grandpa, or that I may not get another Christmas with him. **changing subject**
Speaking of the little guy in my belly...he'll be here soon. Last week at our appointment, my cervix was softening, his heartbeat was slowing, and he was definitely dropping. Today we had an appointment, between other hospital visits, and learned that I'm already 2cm dilated and 70% effaced. I've been having alot of pressure down there and I figured that I was dilating. I will say that I wish that I'd picked a doc with smaller hands because when Dr. Moore said that there would be a little bit of pressure as he checked me...he lied...there was ALOT OF PRESSURE! I will be screaming "DRUG ME NOW!" as soon as I arrive at the hospital when I go into labor. If it hurts just getting examined... AHHHHH! So, I'm thinking my totally stressed out body will go into labor this week sometime. We'll be finishing packing our bags tomorrow just in case... That's all I can report for now. I'm too stressed, sad, anxious and tired to think anymore.

Neglect!

Since I've joined Facebook, I've neglected the blog. I'm a bad, bad, bad blogger. It's not like I haven't had the time!... Anyhoo, much has happened since my layoff.

On the job front: I have been on four interviews now, which really haven't amounted to anything spectacular. Three were with temp agencies and the one this morning was with APQC for a full time marketing coordinator position. I really miss working, but I feel a pull to stay home until the baby is born. The temp agencies haven't had much luck placing me anywhere and I doubt that APQC will pan out because they want to fill the position in January and she didn't look to thrilled when I told her that was when I was due. I ended up getting a phone call yesterday and they want me to meet with someone else...so a second interview! Yeah! I guess she wasn't too deterred by the belly. The HR lady that I spoke with said that great things were said about me and they have been talking about how to best accommodate me, which sounds very promising. My second interview is next week, so I'll try to post about it.

On the house front: Since the just before the election the market has been S-L-O-W to say the least, but that was to be expected. In all the years I've been in real estate the market pretty much stops around election time. For some reason people hold their breath and think that a change in President will actually affect the market and it never does. A recession, however, has a slight affect... The construction on the new house is going slow, which is great! I met with the construction manager about a month ago and told him to go as slow as he possibly can, and to speed it up when I come running in the community waving my hands like a crazy lady. He was shocked to find out how much I knew about construction, which was funny for me. We walked around the frame of our house speaking construction speak. It was like the old days when I worked for Coventry Homes. This week has been busy with showings, so I'm hopeful that the market in Midtown is turning. We've had two showings this week and I'm looking forward to hearing feedback from our Realtor. So far the feedback from the other showings we have had have been that the house is too dark (? we only have windows on 2 sides of the house, so naturally it would be a bit darker than a house with windows on 4 sides) and that the cabinet space is limited (no crap...that isn't a 4000 square foot home in suburbia). I get a bit protective of our little house...

On the baby front: Baby Lawrence is doing fantastic! We had the baby shower in November which was a blast! It was so good to see everyone! As soon as Gretchen emails me the pictures I will post those because they are too cute. I'm thinking people were a bit shocked to see just how large I am!! There is a funny weight story... Two appointments ago with Dr. Moore, I was complimented on how well I'm coming along with my weight. According to their records I've only gained 25 pounds. Of course, you'll remember that I started with them in the middle of my pregnancy, and I had already gained 25 pounds before that. Lou and I started laughing! I am now 34 weeks along and have gained a whopping 60 pounds. Yep! I wear a size 8 maternity pant and a Large top, so needless to say that I have a fight to get back to 107 pounds and size 2 jeans and XS top. I've decided I start walking a little everyday when I can. Having so much weight on my tiny frame makes moving difficult and I swell to the size of a whale by the end of the day. I own two pairs of shoes that "fit". There are two other pairs that "sort of fit". Baby Lawrence is getting close to 5 pounds, if he isn't already over 5 pounds and he takes up all of my belly now. He is VERY, VERY, VERY active from about 8:30 at night to well after midnight, so I don't get much sleep. Since it looks like we may possibly still be in this house when he arrives, we started putting his room together. His crib and bedding are so precious and his closet is filled to the max. We've pretty much received everything off of our registry so we're almost set, so a BIG THANK YOU to all who have helped us get there. Every time we bring something home or put something together the puppies get very inquisitive. Izzy has claimed the jumperoo for herself and has decided that underneath the crib is a pretty cool hang out. I'm starting to get my hospital bag in order as well as the baby's bag, so if when the time comes we are prepared. We have decided to go ahead and let Baby Lawrence come on his own, but I'm still hoping that he wants to come this month. Although, I have a sneaky suspicion that he'll wait until mid January. Everyone is curious if we've decided on a name yet, an the answer is yes, but no. Lou has decided and I've decided, but we haven't picked the same name. Naturally. We've come to a bit of a stale mate on this one, which is what happens when you put two stubborn people together. I keep pressing him that we need to meet the baby and decide then, but oh no no no he's gone so far as to get an autograph for Lou 5 from Andre Johnson (Texans receiver). He plays dirrrrty. Lou says that this baby needs to have his name and the next baby can have my name, but I don't want my name for the next baby-I want it for this baby. We'll see who wins out in the end. I have a good idea that it won't be me. :) You may be wondering what the name selection is... Lou 5 is one of course, but my name is Christopher Grayson Lawrence, which has a beautiful, melodic sound to it. That's it for now. Mom and baby are growing well and we're looking forward to meeting our little guy in a few more weeks!