This Past Week

It was been one heck of a week! It’s been a really good week filled with worries that all worked out in the end. I love it when that happens! I find it usually does happen that way but sometimes you have to wait longer to see the happy side.

It started with a doc appointment for Andy on Tuesday. He has this crazy spot on his nose he’s had for years. I jokingly called it his “cancer spot!” But it occurred to me recently – through the miracle of pregnancy I am sure, that this could be something serious and maybe “cancer spot” isn’t such a funny name for it until we get it looked at! He tans easily and although we aren’t in the sun often now, he has been in previous years. So we went to see a dermatologist. It isn’t cheap to see a specialist but as usual, a little extra money came up to cover the cost. We were told at the office if any procedures needed to be performed, we’d be out of pocket because we haven’t met our deductible. This was frightening for a second, but I was fully prepared to write a hot check and transfer funds from our savings when we got home! I want this man healthy – I want more babies with him you know! And I need his help with the one on the way!

So after over an hour of waiting – gotta love doctor’s offices – we saw a very nice lady doc. She checked out his spot and answered a few other questions. The verdict – it’s nothing! She said think of it like a birthmark that hasn’t been there since birth. No danger. Just of course if it changes shape or color, come back. It’s been there for years and still looks the same, so I think all will be well. I can’t tell you the relief I felt after she said that! Thanks to everyone who sent all the prayers and positivity! I guess I can call it his “cancer spot” again!

Then on Thursday we went to the WIC store in Denton to get our monthly cheese and stuff – boy that place is WAY more convenient than doing it at the regular store! But while we were in Denton our car started making the craziest, scariest sound! We were dropping a bag of stuff off at the Goodwill, and I drove the car around the parking lot for a second while Andy ran around in the 100 degree weather trying to listen to what it was. It was definitely coming from the driver’s side front tire and sounded similar to when the brakes need to be changed only a little more scary and deep, like something was loose. Plus, we just had our brakes done not even 6 months ago, so that couldn’t be it. We decided it was something we’d have to look in to further when we got home but for now it was fine, the tire wasn’t about to fall off or anything.

We rode all over town, running errands and the noise came and went sporadically. Then when we turned the final turn to the road where our apartment was we’d been driving about 50 down the previous road and it’s about 15 minutes from Denton back to Sanger, and suddenly, it sounded like whatever had been loose in there, just fell out! The noise was heart stopping! Andy put on the brakes and I told him we’re almost home let’s just get there so we can check it out!

Here’s where him being a smart and good man really comes in to play!

We got home, and he took off the tire to check things out. The first obvious thing was the brakes and brake pads were fine. So he stuck his head all around and looked all over the wheel well. Then he found something I never would have seen! A bolt on the back of the rotor had backed out and was rubbing on the axel! How he saw that, I will never know but I am so grateful he can do those kinds of things.

Fortunately we’d taken our car to a very good place to get the brakes done. We’ve taken both our cars to this place multiple times and had them do this simple brake job just to give them the business since we love them so much. Good thing too.

Andy had every intention of fixing this himself. He was going to get a new bolt and change it out. But he needed to ask our mechanic what all he’d have to take off to do it. So the next morning he gave her a call. Well, she said no way. He’d have to take apart way more than he’d thought. And she felt very responsible for it happening. Said that was their mistake, and it could have possibly damaged the axel. She insisted they tow it to their shop – almost an hour away from our new home – and repair any damage at no charge to us! Can you imagine! What an awesome ending!

Well, the only tragedy was we were out of our car for about 3 days and couldn’t see my mom over the weekend for her birthday, but we pick up the car Tuesday and we’ll see her then.

The other good news was the axel was fine, they just needed to change the bolt – but they had to order it in so that’s why the delay. Fine with us, we needed a break from leaving the house! Plus we do have another car if anything came up. Its ac just doesn’t work, and the antenna was stolen off it at our last apartment, so it’s no fun to drive anymore.

One last catastrophe turned well.

We had our online bank account PayPal hacked. Someone used Andy’s name and login and password and tried to buy a program online. We fortunately didn’t have much money in there so though they got it all, it wasn’t enough to cover the product.

Well, normally then it would have come out of our bank account, but we never changed our bank account with PayPal when we closed our old one and opened a new one a year ago, so the one they were trying to pull funds from, no longer existed!

Andy and I were of course completely freaked out by the whole thing. It’s like a complete violation. Not only were we out some money, we also had our account used without our permission.

He called and spoke with the people at PayPal. He emailed the guy who the product came from. He did everything he could. PayPal said basically, we’ll have to wait and see.

The guy that sold the product didn’t respond until today. And when he did and Andy told him what happened, he immediately refunded our money! We couldn’t believe it! After all the stress and fear yesterday and the guy was so cool about it!

What good business practices we have encountered this week!

It’s still scary that someone did that to our account, so we have learned to take a few more precautionary measures than before. We always try to learn something in all these mishaps of course!

As for me, I am 35 weeks pregnant out of 40. That means in 3 weeks, the baby can come safely at any time.

Are we ready?

We have the room almost done, the apartment almost clean. The car seat needs to be inspected still but we’ll do that this week when we get the car back. I need to get the announcements ready and thank you notes finished, all things that take little time and could be done by the end of this week easily.

But I don’t think I am ready yet. I love being pregnant! It’s like having a special person with you all the time! I feel him in there; I talk to him and read to him at night. And I know once he comes out, he’ll start slowly moving away. Oh sure, it’ll take years, but I know those years go quickly no matter how hard you try to hold on to them. I want to be a good parent and let him go as he grows, but I am afraid, in this moment anyway, that it’ll be hard for me. Perhaps I only feel that way now because of the closeness I feel to him. I hope anyway.

And I do want to get pregnant again. And I know I’ll get to feel another baby grow within me and get that closeness again. But he is our first and there is something about that.

This has been about the easiest pregnancy on record I think so far. I can’t imagine they’ll all go so smoothly. So I want to hold on to this one for a little while longer.

I have been thinking he’d be late, but who knows for sure.

I will admit, the uncomfortable times are upon me though and if you ask me again in a couple of weeks, I may say “GET IT OUT!” Who knows? For now, I am still kind of on a cloud about it. Even though the pressure makes breathing difficult when I sit too long, the lower baby pressure makes me have to pee ALL the time and I feel like I have to poop a lot too when I don’t, the heartburn sets in whenever I lay down, I can’t bend over straight.

But I don’t have much swelling yet so that’s good.

I feel the baby move everyday. He rolls around, he gets hiccups, he pushes on me and responds to his daddy’s voice. One day last week I didn’t feel him much and it scared me. So I drank some OJ before bed and Andy and I laid together with our hands on the belly to feel for him. After about 4 kicks in 2 minutes, he got the hiccups and all was well! I haven’t had a day where I felt him that little since. And I ate a lot of toast and butter that day, not a lot of sugar so that may have been part of it. He sure likes it when momma eats the sweets!

But for now, I am content being pregnant and letting him “bake” for a few more weeks at least! In fact, I am still loving it!