2. My mom came and spent 20 hours with us, which was a very special treat. Although Ian was very, very excited about her visit, he didn't show her good hospitality during the night. He's been sleeping through the night for almost two years, but from 1:15-4:45am on Thursday, he got very little sleep. Oliver and Nadia managed to sleep through the chaos. I felt very badly that he picked the night my mom was here to carry on for such a long period of time during the night.
3. Thankfully he did MUCH better last night. He came into our room once at 4am, but I reminded him that we had promised him he could watch Peter Pan if he had a good night. I took him back to his bed, and he didn't come back to our room until 7am. Whew.
4. Ian wasn't the only one who had a good night last night! Oliver hadn't had a 10 hour stretch for almost two weeks, but last night he did it for the 3rd time in his life. When I put him down at 6:05pm I assumed it was for a brief third nap, although he hasn't been taking 3 naps lately. When he was still asleep at 7:15, I decided I should head to bed myself since it seemed like he was down for his long stretch, and I was tired enough to go to sleep at that hour since I had gotten less than 5 hours of sleep the previous night. He slept from 6:05pm-4:10am and then from 5:30am-7:20am, which means he slept almost 12 hours total last night - by far the most he's ever slept in one night. WOOHOO! I slept for 10 of those hours. Bliss.5. Because my mom was here, I went to choir rehearsal for the first time in 6 months! I asked my choir director if I could bring Oliver with me starting next week because I don't think Paul is ready to take care of all three at bedtime yet, especially since Nadia has Cubbies. She said I could, but if Oliver starts going to bed earlier, that might not be necessary if our neighbor could bring Nadia home from Cubbies. He had been going down between 8:30-9:00pm lately.
6. After today, Paul only has 4 more trips to make to PSU in 2012 (Dec 3, 4, 10, and 11). Yahooo!7. I made some vegan banana bread yesterday, and it was a success! It wasn't a hit like chocolate cake, but he ate a slice with his dinner last night. They suggested reducing the sweetner if you used sweetened applesauce. I am not sure if it's because I used maple syrup (as suggested) or because I only used 1/4 cup (because I used sweetened appleasuce), but the next time I make it I'm going to put 1/2 cup of sugar in it because I think it's not quite sweet enough. After the vegan brownie disaster, I was relieved to see a baked product turn out okay even though it didn't have any eggs in it. Paul's mom found some Fleischman's unsalted (a vegan margarine). I am looking forward to making and giving Ian his first homemade cookie. It amazes me how many recipes that are labeled "vegan" list things like butter or chocolate chips in the list of ingredients. I wish he could have chocolate chips. Hopefully some day...
I started this post yesterday with the title "Thankful Thursday," but due to going to bed at 7:15, I never finished it. I changed the title today because I was thinking of the verse (Phil. 4:8) that says to think on things that are good, lovely, etc. The past 3 months whenever I think about giving birth (even if I'm reading someone else's birth story), my immediate reaction is sheer terror. My heart literally starts racing sometimes, and I feel like I will burst into tears. Usually I try to picture Oliver's sweet smile to remind myself that the story had a happy ending. He was absolutely worth it. I can't control my dreams at night. I still sometimes awake in a state of panic that I'm gushing blood again, but that isn't happening as often any more. Yesterday I decided to try to recount positive experiences from the hospital that I can dwell on when I'm beginning to get a knot in my stomach when someone talks about giving birth. I'm hoping that if I keep doing this, that over time my first response won't be so negative. So here are what were the most touching experiences from my time in the hospital:1. The hardest thing for me was being in what felt like solitary confinement so visits from others were definitely very special to me. Although I counted down the minutes until I could see my kids again, I can't include those visits on this list because seeing them leave was incredibly painful. The visits which were really special included: Caryn (a colleague from work), Sue & Talayna (mom/daughter from church), Brooke (cousin), and Ann (from church).
2. The person who was by far the biggest encouragement to me this summer was Lin. I hadn't communicated with her in 16 years and yet the Lord used her to really touch me this summer. Many days she sent me a Bible verse by email that encouraged me. Twice she mailed books to me at the hospital. When I got home from the hospital, I found she had made a burp cloth and a small cotton blanket that I used quite a bit in September. Her thoughtfulness was a huge encouragement to me. I am now praying for her as she's battling cancer again.
3. I received three flower arrangements, and these were really special as I hadn't received any flowers in several years. The first came from Paul's aunt, the second from a Sunday School class at my church, and the third (and most beautiful) came from my aunt. These were very pleasant surprises, and they really brightened my stark environment.
4. Aside from those I talk to on the phone regularly (Paul, my mom, and Paul's mom), I didn't talk on the phone much in the hospital. There were three people whose phone calls really touched me. First was my aunt (same one who sent the flowers), second was my dad's cousin (whom I hadn't spoken to in years but my aunt urged him to call me which was again so very sweet of her), and third was the hostess at the hospital. She called me when I was in the maternity ward (after delivering) to congratulate me. She did this from home on her day off. This really touched me. It showed how much she cares about her patients whom she serves meals to at work.
5. Many people were praying for Oliver. I may not have had much contact with people on the phone or in person, but many did post comments to me on my Facebook status updates. Those were very encouraging, especially as I could tell many were praying for us. One memory I treasure in particular was my sister praying for me during the delivery. Literally only a couple of minutes passed in between when I figured out I was about to give birth and when they knocked me out with general anesthesia. In that brief time I called Paul and my mom to tell them I was giving birth. It bothered me that I was giving birth alone (meaning no family members were in the hospital when it happened), but in reality Paul wouldn't have been in the OR with me even if he had been on the premises because I had general anesthesia. However I found out later that even though it meant calling my sister at 3:45am (2:45am in Chicago), my mom did call my sister to tell her I was in labor. Instead of going back to sleep, my sister stayed up and prayed for me for a lengthy period of time. As I type this, I am welling up with tears. That meant so much to me when I found out what she had done. She mentioned in particular that she prayed I wouldn't need a hysterctomy, which is sometimes necessary with placenta previa if the c-section alone doesn't stop the bleeding. I am ever grateful for her prayers for Oliver and I, and I am very thankful a hysterectomy wasn't necessary. I'm also thankful that Paul and my mom both arrived shortly after I woke up from the anesthesia and were able to go check on Oliver in the NICU before I was able to go down myself to see him for the first time.
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