Lucky Number Thirteen

For me, 13 has always been my lucky number. I was born on December 13th, so I always wanted to be number 13 when playing basketball or softball. If I ever needed to choose a number for an activity, it was number 13. It just made sense that I found out I was pregnant on June 13th of last year. I took a couple of pregnancy tests on June 11th and a few more on June 12th. The results? Well, two times I was pregnant and three times I was not pregnant. How are you supposed to know what to do with that information? Can you be quasi pregnant? The first positive was so faint that I had to make Jeff look at it closely to insure I wasn't hallucinating and making a plus appear. He confirmed that it was a very faint plus mark, but how could we explain the negative tests? On Friday, June 13th I left work early and went to the doctor's office to have a test. I saw the nurse practitioner and she told me because it was so late in the day, she would not have the results until Monday. I burst into tears. I'm not talking about a few tears rolling down your cheeks. I'm talking about the tears that make it hard to breathe. I couldn't even finishing talking to her because I was so upset. There was no way I could wait until Monday to find out if I was pregnant. She tried to console me and sent me to the lab to have the blood test done. While I was waiting, the receptionist told me I had a phone call. Who could be calling me in the lab? Of course it was the only other person who knew I was in the lab, the nurse practitioner. She told me that my doctor was on call that weekend and he had agreed to wait and and call me with the results. I was so relieved but still completely emotional. I continued crying while they were taking my blood. It was not that it hurt me, it was just that I needed to know if I was pregnant! The nurses probably thought I was dying of some disease. Anyway, after I got home, Dr. Chesney gave me a call. "It's positive," he simply said. It is so sweet for me to remember what I felt like after hearing these words. After absorbing that information for a second, I told Dr. Chesney that his office probably thought I was crazy because of my crying. In good humor, he said they were used to that sort of think in an OB-GYN office. Crying and women just go together I guess. I should have known that my tears were just another symptom of pregnancy. Yes, I was finally pregnant and a year later I have a sweet little 4 month old. As Jeff continues to remind me, God has been so faithful to us, so why wouldn't He continue to be faithful? It would go against His very nature not to be faithful. But I have to remember that even if God hadn't given us Graham, He would still be faithful. Reading about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is a clear reminder of that! So the 13th, even Friday the 13th, is a very very lucky number for me. Okay, it's not lucky. It is a very very very providential number for me, because I know there was actually not even an iota of luck that brought this baby into our lives. I am so glad God gave us Graham.

Cute as Can Be

Baby boy clothes- sometimes I feel like its so hard to find ones I like! When I was first pregnant, I always looked at the girl clothes. I could find girl clothes that I liked just about anywhere. Boy clothes, well, that was another story. They have to be soft and you still want a boy to look like a sweet baby even though he's a boy, right? The problem is that some of the boy clothes that I really like are really expensive. Now that Graham is getting a little older I have started to put him in some more "manly" attire, and I'm sure Jeff is quite thankful! But even as Graham has outgrown the newborn stage, he is still a little baby that needs to look cute and cuddly. My mom just bought a few new outfits for Graham from Janie and Jack, and I think they are adorable. They are retro, cute, and oh so soft. The prices were reasonable too! I think Graham is going to look like quite the stud in his new clothes.

"Just a Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down"

Graham does not like medicine. And when I say doesn't like, I mean he absolutely abhors, completely detests, would rather do anything else in the world than to take a few drops of medicine. Graham got sick for the first time last Wednesday. Ironically he was already scheduled to go to the doctor that day for another round of shots. I told the doctor that he felt really warm to me, but my thermometer said he only had a temp of 98.6. The nurse took his temperature and sure enough my little baby had his first fever. For some reason Graham has the tiniest ear canals and none of the doctors can see in them to determine if he has an ear infection. The doctor said the pressure in Graham's ears was a little unusual, so he went ahead and prescribed some amoxicillin. I had forgotten about the good old bumble gum medicine. It used to be like dessert when I was a kid. Almost as good as Luden's cherry cough drops. Come on, do those cough drops do any good whatsoever? They taste like candy! Anyway, I was trying to give Graham his medicine, and as you can see, I don't think he got much of it. He goes into freak out mode when he sees the syringe. He closes his mouth, tries not to swallow, and arches his back like he's trying to jump out of your arms. I was defeated by a four month old. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll get it down.