A Real Hair-Puller

Today started out as a real hair-puller. No joke. I woke up and had to remind Hubs that I needed him to drive me to work, then come back and pick up Pooka and drop her off at school (she broke the growth plate in her right ankle, having been instructed by the director of “Willy Wonka Junior” to jump off a five-foot-high stage in HEELS), then drive himself to a medical appointment at 8:30. After that, he had to pick me up at work for 12:30 so that I could drop him off at home and make it to the Big Hospital for a 2:00 OB appointment.

Several hiccups made themselves apparent very quickly. When I went in to kiss Pooka, as I do every day before I leave for work, she informed me that she had been selected to perform in the State Middle School Music Festival.  Today. This meant that she would be in rehearsals all day, rather than school, and that Hubs would have to drop her off at the high school, and be sure to acquire lunch for her and drop it off in time for her to eat it before coming to pick me up at 12:30. It also meant that I had to cancel the late lunch I was planning to have with Mum and Dad after our appointment, so that I could make sure that Hubs got to work on time and that Pooka had dinner delivered before the performance.

I had also planned to have tea with my local Sister-Surrogate (mentioned previously) at 6:30, which would have been scuppered, except that the choral portion of the Music Festival wasn’t to begin until close to 7:30.

Halfway through the day Miss Pooka contacted me to inform me that she couldn’t keep standing all day, with her broken ankle (understandably) and that she was feeling sick. At my instruction she went and spoke to the choral director who excused her, thus negating the possibility of her being excluded from future opportunities. Thankfully her besty’s mom was willing to pick her up early and give her a ride home.

 It also turned out that my Microsoft Outlook (work) calendar is syncing with my phone/Google calendars so that all of my appointments in the work calendar are showing the times an hour earlier than the events are actually scheduled to happen. So what I thought was a 2:00 appointment was actually 3:00. This particular hiccup worked out to my advantage, as it allowed me to escape an exceptionally frustrating work day early, and gave me the better part of an hour to snuggle with Hubs before taking off to the Big Hospital.

I arrived at the hospital, I thought, ahead of Mum and Dad. Turned out they had gone to wait in the GYN waiting room rather than the OB reception area. Big hugs were exchanged (I love that) and a few amusing anecdotes were shared until My Favorite Nurse came out to get us. Not much happened; she took my blood pressure and asked how I was feeling, and Dr. Goggles came in. We chatted for a few minutes – nothing major – and I told him that Mum and Dad were particularly anxious to hear Nugget’s heartbeat.

Much to everyone’s chagrin, Nugget would not make him/herself known via Doppler, so Dr. Goggles generously suggested an ultrasound. Poor Mum had been waiting on baited breath for this one appointment, and he was not about to let her down. I cannot say how much I appreciated this. Not only did he offer an ultrasound, but when the nurses told him it would be at least half an hour’s wait, he ordered us into an empty ultrasound room and did the scan right there, himself.

Mum was beside herself to finally see her baby moving, with a solid, healthy heartbeat. I’m not gonna lie: it was wholly satisfying to be able to be the method by which she’s really going to be a Mommy. So Nugget is healthy and growing and all is well.

I managed to get back into town and pick Hubs up in time to bring him to work, then hit the local co-op for healthy dinner things for Pooka, and rushed off to the local créperie to get tea with Surro-Sister. She’s a marvelous, intelligent, strong woman who I must admit I admire to no end, and am so excited for her to begin her first surrogacy journey! We shared birthing stories, of course, and hers were some of the most interesting I’ve heard!

If you remember, dear reader: I posted that Surro-Sister’s Intended Father #1 had accidentally called me, meaning to call her instead, and then I wound up sitting behind them at the same créperie, listening to them talk about how sweet and helpful I am.

Well.

Further to that story, it turns out that Surro-Sister’s Intended Parents had viewed my profile back when I was being matched two-and-a-half years ago, and were the couple who had decided I lived too far away. How weird is that? Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if we SHOULD all sit down and have lunch or something. Too funny.

I’m home now, trying to relax after several grueling weeks. I’ve taken four teenagers to an anime convention in Boston; cared for a poor Pooka with a broken ankle; made a hell of a stink to Pooka’s principal and the irresponsible director who instructed her to jump off the stage and didn’t think that perhaps doing so in heels might cause problems; attended Pooka’s play and was as ever, impressed by her prowess on stage, even in a wheelchair; finished an audit at work in just over a week; accompanied Desert Rose to a late night OB appointment to make sure that her contractions were not actually causing her baby to come out yet; consulted with the best glamour consultant I’ve ever met about a portrait session, and attended an OB appointment that made Mum happier than she’s been since we started this cycle.

Let’s hope the rest goes as smoothly. I don’t have all that much hair to pull.