Babies, Babies, Everywhere

So, last Sunday my friend C and I went to Babies R Us to buy numerous baby gifts. Everyone is pregnant right now! I had to buy a gift for Brian's brother and his girlfriend, and my cousin out in Pennsylvania. They are both due in 2-3 months. I'm happy for them, but it's also hard for me (and my friend C, for that matter). Brian and I had a bit of a setback in the baby department last fall, and we haven't quite hit the point where we can try again. Several months ago, going to Babies R Us would have been torture, but now I can do it just fine. I'm fine, but I go in the store and start looking at all the baby stuff, and start thinking, "If I hadn't lost the baby, I'd be buying baby stuff for us right now," oh woe is me, etc.

I know that things happen for a reason, but almost 4 months later, I still find myself looking on the internet for hours at a time, trying to figure out what I did wrong, or if I had just had one less cup of caffeinated tea... (there is a big new study out saying that even small amounts of caffeine greatly increases one's risk of miscarriage). But I know that's not true--when I lost the pregnancy, my doctor told me straight out that most likely it was just a very normal thing, something was probably genetically wrong with the fetus, and it could never have lived. It never developed a heartbeat. In that respect, because it never had a heartbeat, I do feel a little better about it. I don't feel so much like it was the death of an actual baby, I feel more like it was a loss of opportunity, you know? I'm just still so sad about it sometimes. We want children very much, and I feel like I let Brian down or something (he has never said that or even indicated he feels that--just the opposite actually). And I'm scared to try again when it's time, very fearful that it will happen again.

A final point I'd like to make is that I wish people wouldn't ask others, "So when are you going to have kids?" That is the worst question. A few couples asked us that after we miscarried, not knowing, and I got the task of answering, "Well, actually, we just lost a pregnancy, thanks for asking." What a rude question! We were really open about what happened, but most people aren't, I'd say, so just be aware that you never know what's going on in someone's personal, married life, and their reasons for not having kids yet. So, be a bit more sensitive. And try to have fun if you have to go to Babies R Us.

Neti Pot

So, I feel like I've been sick for over a month now. I had a cold before Christmas, and then caught another one about two weeks ago, before the trip to Vegas. The flight to Las Vegas was so bad, I thought I was going to die of sinus pressure. Medicine wasn't helping, and I'm sick to death of being sick. For the past few years, I've had moderate sinus problems, allergies, the whole spiel. I want a way to control this with overdosing on Flonase. So, I broke down and bought a Neti Pot.

For those who don't know, a Neti Pot is used to do nasal irrigation. They were featured on Oprah several months ago, on one of those Dr. Oz shows, and last night, our local NBC station did a story on nasal irrigation. Basically, a Neti Pot looks like a tiny little teapot and you mix water and salt water solution, stick the pot in your nose, tilt your head, and the water comes out the other nostril. When the water is gone, you blow your nose, mix up another dose, and do the other nostril. You are washing your sinus cavities, which naturally relieves stuffiness, and supposedly helps your sinuses and nasal passages stay clear. If you want to see it, go to YouTube and search for NetiPot. There are several videos demonstrating it.

I can say that it kind of feels creepy, especially the first time you do it. I freaked out a little bit the first time, because I don't like water up my nose. And you have to make sure the water is the right temperature. If its too cold, you feel like you're drowning, but if it's too hot, you burn your nostrils. Lukewarm is just right. It does relieve my ever present stuffiness for several hours after doing it, and you can do it as often as you need to if you are sick. I've been doing it every other day. Today is my day to do it, and I'm going to increase my concentration of saline solution to see if it works a little better. But heck, doctors are increasingly recommending it, and it can't hurt, right?

Viva Las Vegas

Well, we are back from our trip to Vegas. It was great, except for the fact that I was miserably sick with the cold Brian gave me the entire trip. I thought I was going to die on the plane ride due to the pressure in my head. Then, once we landed, I was exhausted all day due to not having slept a wink the night before, because I was so stuffy.

My impressions of Vegas are that it was pretty much what I expected. The entire place is a monument to crappy American culture, which is not to say that I didn't like it. I like crappy American culture. I'm no snob. It was a lot of fun, actually. There are shows in every hotel/casino, and things to do other than gamble. I actually like gambling, though, so that was no problem for me. I actually expected it to be racier than it was, which was a pleasant surprise.

There were the ever present pimps, the "porn-snappers," as my uncle and step-father called them. These guys (and a few gals) line the strip, snapping these little trading cards that contains naked photos and phone numbers for houses of prostitution. It was annoying, but you can ignore it. Prostitution is not legal in Clark County (it is in the rest of Nevada), but it's there nonetheless. There are also moving billboards with ads for "hot babes direct to you" type things, which are also easy to ignore. I truly don't think I'd take my little kids there. If nothing else, there's not much to do there for them.

Brian and I did go to Hoover Dam, which was neat, and we also saw two shows while we were there. We saw "Menopause, the Musical," which was much funnier than I expected, and also the Cirque show "Love." That is the show set to all Beatles music, and it was awesome. I would highly recommend it.

So, all in all, a good trip. I'd definitely like to go again, and hopefully not be sick next time. We'll see how quickly it happens!

The Best Laid Plans

Boy, sometimes the best laid plans go very awry. Brian was supposed to leave yesterday for a trip out west for training class. He was going to be gone all week, and then we would leave for Las Vegas on Saturday. He's been home pretty much since Thanksgiving, and, quite frankly, I was really looking forward to having the house to myself this week. I had such a lovely little week planned.

He got out of bed yesterday morning to drive to the airport to catch his plane. He knew pretty quickly that it wasn't going to happen--he'd come down with the dreaded cold/flu type of thing. He was feverish, coughing, congested, and was so tired he went right back to bed. He doesn't get sick very often, but when he does, it can be pretty bad. But the worse thing about it is how whiny he is. In particular, he goes on and on about his glands being swollen, although they generally aren't. Apparently, when he was sick when he was little, his mother would always check his glands and declare that they were swollen. As I said to him yesterday, your glands are only swollen if you have some sort of infection like mono. This was just a bad cold or mild flu.

So, yesterday, he stayed upstairs in bed ALL DAY, sleeping most of the time. I truly have to say, I've never quite seen him this sick. He said he couldn't remember the last time he had to take a sick day. Luckily, when he called his boss to say that he didn't make his plane, Todd was very understanding and told him to stay home and get better. Todd also made a crack wondering why I had been so anxious to get Brian out of the house, something along the lines of, "Is her boyfriend coming over?" No, I just wanted to have some alone time!

But the good news is, he's already much better today, and I expect tomorrow he'll be quite on the mend. By the time we leave Saturday, he should be fine. The kicker of it is that now I'm sick, although much less severe than he. I think I'll be fine Saturday too. Viva Las Vegas!

Adventures in Driving

With a New Year, comes new adventures. That's what Brian and I learned the past few days.

On New Year's Eve, we had a few friends over, just three other couples. We didn't want anything crazy, just a gathering of a few friends with no drama or drunkenness. So, we invited H & D (who brought their two crazy cute kids), J & C (who just moved into a new home), and C & K (who are expecting their second child in about 6 weeks). I made two batches of venison chili, using the bounty of Brian's hunting expeditions this year. Everyone else brought goodies and snacks. The girls chatted all evening and the boys watched a hockey game and played guitar hero.

At about 11 p.m., C & K left to go home, as K was exhausted and they had to get up with their daughter. The snow had just begun. Well, the remaining 6 of us opened a bottle of champagne and toasted the New Year. At about 2 a.m., J & C decided it was time to go home. So, we all say our good-byes, and they leave. H and I go upstairs to put on our pj's, and the boys contemplate cooking some pizza rolls. All of a sudden, I hear Brian call to me, "Heather, your phone's ringing." I come downstairs, and he had picked it up, because it was C, who had just left the house.

J & C ran into a little difficultly leaving our home. Our driveway runs along the side of a hill, into our side load garage. By the time they left, the snow was falling intensely. Instead of backing out of the driveway, J decided to turn around and pull out, because he was afraid of hitting our mailbox going backward. Well, when he turned around, he went slightly off the edge of the driveway. He then attempted to back up a little more to gain some traction. That attempt sent our friends sliding down the side of our hill. Brian and D went out to help dig them out. H went out because she is a nurse and wanted to make sure no one was hurt, which they weren't. After an hour of digging and sliding around, J gave up, and came inside (C had given up immediately, content to stay the night and deal with it in the morning). I made the futon up (H & D and the kids were in the spare room), and everyone stayed the night!

So, the next morning, a tow truck was called, and it pulled the car off the side of the hill. By the way, we got more than a foot of snow here--I read it was one of the top 10 snowfalls in this area since record keeping began. Because I got the numerous waffle makers for Christmas (see post regarding my Christmas presents), I decided to open one and make waffles. What a disaster--the iron said the waffle was done, but when I opened up the lid, the middle wasn't done and the outside of the waffles stuck completely to the iron. Yucky mess. C was nice enough to clean it up for me while I switched to pancakes, which turned out nicely. Our house wasn't empty of friends until 1 p.m. Now today I have to catch up on laundry and try to return the final waffle maker!!