T minus four days

What does "T" mean anyway?

Today I am fever-free. I'm still hacking and coughing like a lifelong smoker, but generally feeling tons better.

The reality of our time-crunch has hit me. On Saturday I will be driving away from our Frozen North home with a vanful and uterus-ful of kids. A week and a half later Danny will join us halfway to our new base.

There are people I wanted to say good-bye to in person Sunday, but couldn't due to being so sick. Every time I think about calling these people I start to cry. Even though I am VERY excited about the location and weather of our new base, I am very sad to leave the wonderful people here. Last night I got an email from a friend that left me bawling. Now I understand how my children feel when they refuse to say goodbye to visiting grandparents. They figure if they don't say goodbye, they won't leave or it won't be over.

I ran into another friend today at the commissary. By the way, how is it I always find myself grocery shopping on payday? Anyhow, I digress. This is another friend I will greatly miss. My only hope is the military will bring our families near again.

When Danny joined the military, I was very worried about how I would cope so far away from family. Now after being here five years, I am worried about how painful it will be every time we have to move and separate friendships. Does it get easier? Or does my address book just get fatter?

So, anyways, I have quite a to-do list before I leave.

1. sew and stuff four travel kits for the kids
2. clean out the van which means: de-Cheerio and de-French fry it and make it basically not smell like a hamster cage
3. find out the best way to travel with the hamster and if hotels will allow her in
4. collect the ice cream tubs from the playroom to use as puke bowls in the van
5. attach the travel dvd players to the seats
6. install the carseats with the 5-point harnesses -- so kids can sleep easier in the van without stiff necks
7. pack all the kids clothes and mine
8. prepare snacks for the road
9. see OB on Thursday and try not cry about leaving the best OB in the world
10. prepare Pookie's snack bucket for class
11. pick up Pookie's school records and workbooks and explain there's not going to be a transfering school
12. pray the van will make it to Utah and then to California
13. remember to bring ducky towels and beaded socks for people awaiting them in Utah

I'm wasting time writing this list. haha I'm sure there's tons more things. But Danny's list is probably longer. And I'm so glad he's home. SO glad.

But the number one thing I keep thinking about is the cloth diapering post. Funny huh? So, if I find myself procrastinating more, it will be to add a little to that post.



P.S. Three-eighths of my pregnancy is done.

Good news

Today is my 32nd birthday. I am grateful to not have an insanely high- brain singeing fever this morning- just a high-fever. Danny will arrive just before midnight on his flight. Don't worry, someone else is bringing him home from the airport. ;)

Sicker than a dog

I spent a good 4 hours in the ER this morning. Last week my children had fevers ranging from 102- 104. I cuddled them and reassured them with, "I know, I know. You'll get better soon," and regular doses of Tylenol and Motrin.

Last night, or rather this morning, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with a fever of 104.5. I thought I was going to die- my whole body ached so bad. I hacked and coughed and tried not to pee my pants. (These things happen you know when you're carrying twins and have had four previous deliveries.)

Anyways, not to bore you with another looooong less-than-exciting post, the ER results: Influenza and Bronchitis.

My cute friend Jen just called to inform me that the sister watching my three youngest kids called and said, "Ham just woke up from his nap with a high fever and threw up." Poor Ham. I bet he has Influenza on top of a double ear infection.

One day I'll actually post my cloth diaper post. But it won't be today or tomorrow. I need a nap.

Ham & my doctor's appointments

I just got home from the doctor. I have acute bronchitis. The horrible headache is probably a migraine brought on by pregnancy hormones. The migraine is likely the cause of the vomitting. The doctor said my lungs "almost sounded like pneumonia but not quite." whatever. He prescribed an antibiotic for the bronchitis and also an inhaler to help me breathe.

An hour after my appointment I checked Ham in 30 minutes early for his appointment. I nearly fainted at the desk. When the nurse called us back to the room she asked me to sit down. Then she asked how I was feeling.

I was like, "Me? Oh, this appointment is for Hammie. I just saw the doctor."

She said, "Who did you see and how long ago?" And then, "Did the doctor know you were dizzy then?"

I told her, "No, the dizziness just started right after I got off the elevator. I had gone up to the second floor to look for a snack for him (Ham) in between appointments but there weren't change machines. But I think I'll be fine now that I'm sitting."

This was not satisfactory for her. She took my blood pressure with me lying down, then my blood pressure sitting up, and last my blood pressure standing. Another technician brought me a bottled water and then a nice nurse brought me some saltine crackers she found in her desk saying, "I don't know how old these are. They might be stale, but they should help."

The crackers were gross but I choked down three as the nurse was starting the vitals on Ham. I drank most of the bottled water and was feeling much more stable and thanked her for her thoughtfulness.

The doctor came in to see Ham. Ham didn't want to play along after the whole rectal temperature episode. He giggled and laughed at the doctor's little tricks to get him to open his mouth and stick out his tongue. But he wouldn't do it. I had to pry his mouth open. And when it came time to look in his ears, that was tricky. That Ham is strong!

It turns out Ham's lungs sounded pretty good but he does have a double ear infection.

I think as long as Bun doesn't get sick we're doing good. Since Gabbers, Ham, and mine are all bacterial now and we're on antibiotics, we're not contagious.

Danny gets home in 2 days. I can't wait to be rescued.

SO sick

I woke up at 1:54 a.m. hoping it was already 7 a.m. I cannot breathe. My cough does not feel like it clears it out of my chest. At 4 a.m. I had a fever of 102.2.

Now that it's 8 a.m. I have the worst headache of my life and I just vomitted more than I even had for breakfast.

I'm going to the doctor and the weather is 2 degrees. Please send your prayers.

Dear Journal, frustrations

Dear Journal,

My poor friend Sylvia got to hear the wrath of the irritated Prego-prego-Nikki this morning.

Let me enlighten you.

This morning I was supposed to go to a TMO (Travel Management Office) briefing about moving our household goods because my active-duty husband is in Alabama still and they require the briefing to be at least 10 days before the move. And they only have briefings on Tuesday. The briefing was to start at 9 a.m. and would only be 30 minutes. There was a note saying not to be late and to arrive 15 minutes early. grr!

I had planned on dropping the three younger kids off at Sylvia's house at 8:30 a.m. and sending Pookie off to school early to eat breakfast there since I wouldn't still be at home in time to put him on the bus.

But Gabbers and Ham are still sick. Ham had just started to get sick on the weekend. But Gabbers has had a fever of about 103- 104 since last Tuesday. I decided, evil hormone-influenced person I am, that if THEY were going to MAKE me go to their STUPID briefing and MAKE me be 15 minutes early, THEY would get the honor of having a sick 1 year old and 5 year old at the briefing as well. So there. Brilliant plan. Not very well thought through. AND I wasn't planning on the blizzard.

This morning I woke up at 5 minutes to 7 to make sure I could make an appointment for Gabbers as soon as the appointment line opened. I called approximately 97 times- I kid you not- before I got through at 7:45 a.m. Before I got through I kept getting messages saying that they do not open until 7:00 a.m.

I tried to make an appointment for Gabbers and Ham. The nice lady making the appointments offered me 9:30 a.m. I told her about the briefing and could I possibly come at 9:40 a.m. She said that 9:30 a.m. is the only time today she could get both kids in. And that's where I became the irate caller.

"What?! I have been calling since 7 a.m. when SUPPOSEDLY you are taking calls. I just got through JUST NOW and there are NO appointments left other than this one?! How is that possible?"

She said, "Well ma'am, the doctors are delayed because of the blizzard and we just started taking calls five minutes ago. We don't even have to be here until 8 a.m. ma'am."

I said, "So, if you just started taking calls, how are they all filled up already?"

She said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but this is the only time I can fit them both in together."

STOP CALLING ME MA'AM.

I said, "Okay, then can I just make an appointment for my daughter? She seems to be much worse than my son."

typing sound. click-clack-clacketty clack

She said, "I can get her in at 9:55 a.m. ma'am. Will that work?"

I said, "Yes that will work just fine. Thank you very much."

She said, "Please pick up her records across from the pharmacy and bring them to Family Practice. She'll be seeing the doctor there."

I asked, "How long does it take to pick up records?"

"Oh, no more than thirty-seconds," she replied.

I hung up the phone and decided to call the weather line to see if school was cancelled.

Blah, blah, blah, important personnel info about certain people reporting to work as normal and everyone else being delayed until 8 a.m. They listed the road conditions (which were not favorable) and then said that school buses were running on time.

I called Sylvia and blurted out my frustration about school not being cancelled, TMO briefing not being cancelled, and that I was taking Gabbers and Ham with me and only Bun would be coming over to play.

After I got off the phone with her I called the actual school to double check. Nope, school was still in for the day and buses would pick up the kids on time.

I quickly dressed in a maternity dress and sandals-- because seriously, the only snow boots I have look RIDICULOUS with a flowy maternity dress. And I'm not really interested in wearing running shoes and socks with a dress anyway. In retrospect, I should've stayed in my pajamas and worn the boots. That would've let TMO know even more my distaste for them forcing me to go to a briefing while my husband is TDY. Anyhow...

By the time I dropped off Pookie at school there was enough snow on the van that the door was a little too frozen for a 7 year old to close. I had to hop out run around the van in 4 inches of snow (in my sandals) and close it. I wished Pookie a happy day at school and told him I'd see him later.

I dropped off Bun next at Sylvia's house. The snow was really drifting in front of her house and was up to his knees. Good thing all the kids had boots on and were dressed sensibly. I thanked her profusely and hurried back to the van.

I blasted the heater in the van praying my feet would thaw and wondered that this must be how the pioneers felt when they crossed the plains in the dead of winter. They were probably more sensible too though and saved the sandals for summertime.

When we got to TMO there were so many vehicles there we had to park at the very end of the parking lot. I carried Ham in- for which I was very grateful because he kept me a little warmer as he buried his face into my neck squealing. But the squealing was muffled by the crazy blizzard. Gabbers tried desperately to walk in my steps. And right before the stairs to go into the building was a giant drift of snow that came past her knees. I struggled to get the three of us inside without frostbite. We stomped the snow off and then quickly found our way into the room for the briefing.

The person giving the briefing didn't arrive until 9 a.m. That ticked me off since we had to be there early. And there was no reason for us to be that early either. We didn't have to do paperwork or anything.

The briefing lasted 50 minutes. At one point during the briefing Ham became VERY upset that the man in the flight suit was NOT Daddy. He began smacking the wall with his magna doodle in one hand and a tightly closed bottle of Ensure in the other hand. I was only mildly embarrassed. The other people in the briefing didn't even seem to care. I think it kept one man awake during the very boring video that we had to watch.

After the briefing we were unpleasantly surprised to a few more inches of snow on the ground. A wonderful lady carried Gabbers to the van behind me and Ham. I could've hugged her or cried. I was so grateful for her act of kindness.

Going the speed limit, which was far too fast in this weather, we made it to the clinic a couple minutes late. We picked up the medical records for Gabbers and hurried over to Family Practice. The lady said my appointment had been cancelled due to being a no-show, but she'd check anyway with the doctor. The doctor said, "Tell her we'll see her. The weather is so bad, I'll see everybody today if they make it." He's a great doctor- almost as great as my OB.

While the nurse was taking Gabbers vitals and checking her oxygen level, I stepped out to use the restroom. When I came back, my phone had just stopped ringing. It was a strange phone number; everything except the area code was all zeroes. I dismissed it as a telemarketer and put it away in my coat.

The doctor listened to her lungs, checked her ears, nose and throat, and then asked, "Does she have any medications or anything she's on? Has she lost weight? Or is she always this tiny?"

I told him that she hasn't been interested in eating or drinking this past week and just wants to sleep all the time. And I also told him I think she's lost a few pounds. But yes, she's a bit on the tiny side.

He sent her down to Radiology for a chest x-ray.

Ham thought it was so fun running back and forth through the clinic. At Radiology the lady asked if Gabbers would be able to stand very still for the x-ray or if she needed me to come in with her. I described to the lady "my condition" and that I'd talk to Gabbers and she'd be fine.

When Gabbers came out of the x-ray she had two big stickers because she was so good for the lady. We went back to the waiting room to await the results of the x-ray.

We didn't have to wait long, the nurse called us back to a room and the doctor was there in less than a minute. The diagnosis: Gabbers has walking pneumonia. He sent us to the pharmacy for a prescription.

My phone buzzed indicating I had a voicemail. I called it to find out that school would be getting out early and the children would be send home on buses at 10:30. It was already 11 a.m. I called the school desperate to find out where my Pookie might be. Pookie's school was going to be loading kids onto the buses at 11:30 a.m. What a relief!

I hurried to Sylvia's house, picked up my Bun, and hurried home with just a few minutes to spare.

Cloth Diapering Q & A

I'm going to be compiling a questions and answers post for cloth diapering. But my kids are sick. And I think I might be catching it too. If you have any questions about cloth diapering, please leave them in the comments of this post. I will try to get a good post written within the week answering the questions to the best of my ability.

Totally Random Survival Guide

When you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of your husband being gone for 5 weeks leaving you with four kids 7 and under, and two more on the way, you might find some of the following things helpful:

1. Public School. Send your oldest away for six hours everyday and pray he isn't being persuaded into the ways of the world.

2. Set up the playpen in the middle of the living room and place your 21 month old, oops 22 months today, in it in front of Signing Time. Instruct the other kids not to touch it, except to adjust the volume when the heater kicks in every 9 minutes. Signing Time will keep cycling. By the end of the week, your toddler will know the signs and sight-words to: apple, banana, cereal, cracker, cookie, bread, cheese, ice cream, candy, hot, cold, grandma, grandpa (which will be pronounced like grandma), stop, and go.

3. Give your Bun and your Gabbers a large piece of poster board and a pencil. Instruct them to stay in the living room only with that pencil and ONLY draw on the poster board. Through bouts of semi-consciousness you should be able to say things like, "Yes, that looks great," and "Oh wow, that's neat," and "Great job! Keep drawing!"

4. Buy paper plates. If you have to go to the commissary because you are completely out of baby wipes and also out of baby shampoo so you can't even make your own baby wipes, pick up some of the following essentials: bananas, milk, paper plates. If you have these items, you can survive with what's left of your food storage. Bananas do not have to be refrigerated. And most kids know how to open a banana. This will take care of the "I'm starving" squeals.

5. Teach your Gabbers how to refill the water sippies. Then you don't have to lift your achy ligaments off the couch to refill when they are thirsty. Oh yeah, toddler knows the word "thirsty" too. Thank you Signing Time. I love you.

6. If you have enough energy to wash dishes, do a load of laundry, or blog, pick blogging first. Then you might read some motivational posts from others in harder situations being able to do it. Then you'll get off your duff and wash a load of laundry and even scrape dried vegetables off the kitchen table.

7. Gingersnap cookies. These help with the morning sickness. And if you should find yourself passed out on the couch with a bag of cookies next to you, your children will NOT bother you. They will gladly help themselves to a cookie- returning every five minutes or so to get another. This ensures that they are probably not in to too much mischief if they feel confident enough to return for more.

8. Don't answer the phone. Or better yet, turn off the ringer. If you don't answer the phone, you won't know that Danny wants you to go to the travel management office and set up moving dates and such with three kids in tow. If you turn off the ringer, then no one can interrupt your afternoon nap with important Pizza Hut surveys.

9. The most important thing, make sure the outside temperature varies between negative 15 and negative 40 degrees. Children that are bored to death and know how to open the front door will not venture out into such weather on their own. No, they'll just get the bin of 1000 plus pieces of Legos down and play with them in the playroom for hours.

10. There should be a number 10- but there's not.

Play-Doh

After naps and after Pookie got home from school, I let the three oldest play with Play-Doh. I hate Play-Doh. The way it smells. The way it looks with five colors smooshed together. The way it sticks in dining chair cushions and Bun's fleece pants. Hate it enough to write several fragments in a row about it. Hate it. So I felt pretty good about myself as a mommy to let them play with it today. They played with it a long time while I sat at the computer a little over 10 feet away so I couldn't see the disrespecting of the Play-Doh colors' boundaries. They even cleaned it up pretty good too. Of course, I didn't peek at all in the little containers to see how mixed they were. I just wiped up the little bitty crumbs that were left on the table.

I think I've come a long way as a mommy tolerating this.

But I still hate Chutes & Ladders. vehemently. Another post, another time.

T.H.I.R.S.T.Y.

Pencils again. I woke up completely parched, dehydrated, cotton-mouth, desperate for a drink of water- only to find it tastes like pencils again. argh. Maybe I'll make some juice to hide the taste.

Breakfast Recipes for your freezer and pantry

Breakfast Milkshakes

1 to 1 1/2 frozen bananas - preferably in two inch or smaller chunks
heaping soup spoonful of creamy peanut butter (I'm guessing 3 T.)
1/4 to 1/3 cup-ish of vanilla yogurt or same amount of plain yogurt and maybe 1/2 tsp. of vanilla 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk

Blend until frothy and serve. Sometimes we serve in cups with straws.

It is really not a precise recipe. Danny uses more peanut butter. And we both like to add cinnamon and occasionally nutmeg as well. I've also added coconut oil. Hmm... I might put this post on hold while I make some.

Breakfast Burritos

one dozen eggs
1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage
1 cup mild to medium salsa (cuz I can't stand the hot salsa)
8 oz. Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese grated

In a large skillet cook up the sausage. Do not drain. The grease is used to keep the eggs from sticking to the pan.

Break one dozen eggs into the pan with the sausage. Cook thoroughly. Turn off the heat.

Grate 8 oz. of cheese over the pan of eggs and sausage.

Dump one cup of salsa in. Mix it all up.

Using flour tortillas, spoon about 1/4 cup mixture into middle of each. Roll up and try to tuck ends of tortilla in as well. Freeze on a jelly roll pan (the cookie sheet with the edges). Remove from pan and put in freezer bags. To reheat and serve. Wrap a breakfast burrito in a paper towel and put in microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Seriously, very hungry now. I'm back. You can also do the breakfast burritos with bacon. I think I used a full pound of bacon - minus what I nibbled on while the rest cooked up. With bacon I do remove some of the bacon grease. And I save it in a jar in the fridge. You can read about bacon grease in my Associated Content article.

French Toast

To freeze French toast, I let it cool on cooling racks (like you would put cookies on). When they are not hot anymore, I put a whole cooling rack in the freezer until the French toast freezes hard. When frozen, I remove the French toast and stack them back in their bread bag with a twist tie.

To serve: Put French toast in toaster oven or regular toaster. When warmed through serve with butter and syrup. Waffles and pancakes freeze and reheat well too this way. :)

Homemade Granola
4 cups rolled oats (I use 5 to stretch it a bit more)
3/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 cube) butter or margarine -- pick the butter!
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar (dissolved in melted butter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (high-altitude 350 degrees)
2. Mix oats, wheat germ, almonds, coconut, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, melt butter with salt and brown sugar, until sugar dissolves. Add vanilla to dissolved sugar mixture; pour over oat mixture and stir until well coated.
4. Lightly grease 9-by-13-inch pan and spread mixture in pan.
5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until mixture begins to turn golden.
6. Cool completely; store in an air-tight container.
7. Serve cold with milk.

VARIATIONS: (1) Substitute vegetable oil for butter; and honey for sugar. (2) Omit any ingredient you dislike (with the exception of the oats!).

TIP: If you like raisins, currants, or chopped dates, stir 1/2 to 1 cup of one or more after baking so they won't dry out.

We like to double this recipe. I don't omit any ingredients and I do add raisins. When doubling the recipe I use the big Tupperware bowl. When I bake I use stoneware jelly roll pan and 9x13 pan. They don't fit on the same rack since there's twice as much. So I stir and alternate racks every time. When cereal is done baking, I cool on wax paper or opened up cereal bags that are flattened out.

OB appointment update

My appointment with the OB was great. My doctor is absolutely the BEST doctor in the Frozen North. If you find yourself living in the Frozen North and in need of an OB, I will give you his name.

My doctor wheeled in the ultrasound machine when he came in and asked me how I was doing. I admitted to him my fears of losing another baby. He reassured me that these fears are to be expected but that I'm not at any increased risk to miscarry over any other twin pregnancy or even singleton pregnancy at this point. I also asked him about the pain I have radiating from hip to hip. The pains are totally normal "growing pains" and even common among singleton pregnancies after a woman has had a few pregnancies due to ligaments stretching out. But he said I might be experiencing them earlier since there are twins.

The ultrasound showed two healthy babies. The bigger baby measures 11 weeks and 2 days and was VERY active wiggling and kicking about and had a good strong heartbeat. The smaller baby measures 11 weeks and 1 day and also had a strong heartbeat and looked perfectly fine. The doctor gave me an official due date of September 22. It seems so very far away. So I guess instead of 11 1/2 weeks, I'm just 11 weeks 1 day.

I scheduled my next appointment for two weeks from today. My doctor said he'll do another ultrasound at that appointment. :)

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and your prayers. If you only knew how much I truly appreciate it. Thank you.



P.S. I'm not throwing up, by the way. I do have a constant queasiness, but I force the food anyway. lol So I also feel like I do after a large Thanksgiving meal many times throughout the day. I'm sure I'll hit my second trimester and pack on a sudden twenty pounds. haha

Weight woes and Baby fears

Dear Journal,

Today I weighed myself. I am in the red 6 pounds. That means I weigh six pounds less than I did before I got pregnant. I find this absolutely ridiculous. I started this pregnancy the same amount I weighed the day I gave birth to Ham - before I gave birth that is. My largest ever. I had lost weight after his birth and probably about 10 more pounds within the first few months. But when I miscarried last May I gained 10 pounds. And somehow between that 10 pounds, and pumpkin pie and cheesecake during the holidays, I crept back up to my full glory of weight. To which I will NOT tell you how much. You'd stop reading me. really.

Anyways, I've been reading my beloved multiples book that I previously mentioned. It talks about how very important it is to gain weight throughout the pregnancy when carrying multiples-- even when you are considered overweight or obese to begin with it has a recommended amount.

So, with the enormous amounts of foods I'm supposed to be eating- and I have been doing a pretty good job of it thankyouverymuch- I should be gaining weight right? I have four servings of vegetables, 7 servings of fruit. I try to get my two eggs and 3 servings of meat in as well. I'm eating Triscuits, and Quaker Oat Squares, and whole wheat bread, and noodles and rice. I've been having ice cream milkshakes about 5 out of 7 days a week. I drink whole milk and have been eating 6-10 oz. of yogurt a day. I've been LOADING on the sour cream on to anything it can go on. I even, and I admit, felt extremely guilty about it, put sour cream on a Smart Ones meal. You know the meals you can buy from Weight Watchers that help you with portion control? Yeah. I've indulged in cheese quesadillas smothered in guacamole and of course, copious amounts of sour cream.

So what the freaking heck?! When I WANT to lose weight I CAN'T. When I'm eating like a heart attack waiting to happen AND expecting twins, I cannot budge the scale to go in the right direction.

Today I have an OB appointment. Danny is in Alabama still. I'm scared to death that the doctor will tell me one of the twins died. Danny tells me that faith and fear cannot coexist. I've tried really hard to not have time to think about this fear. But I've already lost one baby. And I miscarried last May as well. My body hurts in ways that it hasn't with previous pregnancies. I can't wait to ask him if these are "normal pains" for a twin pregnancy. But somehow I'm a bit leery about it. I'm 11 1/2 weeks. It doesn't seem like far enough to be having growing pains. But who knows. Wish me luck. And the babies.