Sammy the Suicidal Fish

This is Sammy:

Yes, he’s a fish.  Why am I writing a story about a fish? Because it’s worth telling!

For the last three years, we’ve been raising children, not pets. Hubby and I have discussed at great lengths the idea of a pet.  But cats make me sneeze, and I just don’t like them. I love the idea of a dog, but #1- I already have 2 littles around the house that I have to stress about bodily functions with, and #2 – I’d much rather carve out space in my budget for diapers than for dog food. So, no, on a dog.  Birds are too noisy. The idea of keeping mice or other rodents just doesn’t work for me. And don’t even get me started on the idea of a snake.

 

So that left us with one good choice: fish.

 

We’ve had fish before. But we haven’t had any since we moved out of Euless.  So two months ago, we finally decided to buy a tank. Hubby came home with a nice 20 gallon set up and we filled it up.

 

And waited.

 

And waited.

 

And waited for that stupid thing to cycle. See, the thing is, if you just fill a tank up with water and dump in some fish, they will die. You have to wait until you have enough good bacteria for the water to be healthy.

After 6 weeks of waiting, the tank was finally ready. An last Saturday we headed as a family to the store to pick out our pets.

An hour later (after a 30 minute screaming fest, courtesy of ‘Lil), we had our selections in the tank. We picked out 2 neon tetras, 2 male guppies, and 1 glofish. All species we had experience with.  And all was well.

 

Until we realized that the glofish was a bully. He chased those guppies everywhere.  He wouldn’t let the other fish eat. And he just was a nuisance. We’ve never had that problem with fish before.  After thinking about it, we decided it was because the glofish wanted someone to school with, and we needed to buy more.  But those silly fish are $5 each! (they were on sale the week we bought them, but of course not now!) Slightly grumbling, we decided to go pick up one more that day.  After we made the decision, that dumb fish was just bugging everyone else so much (and the other fish were starting to appear sick), I decided to take it out of the tank until it had a friend to play with.

I grabbed a large bowl, filled it with tank water, and grabbed the net.  Anyone who has ever actually tried to catch a fish in one of those nets will be able to visualize the scene that occurred next. Eventually, I emerged victorious, dumped the stupid thing in the bowl, and went to tell Hubby what I had done.

 

I sat down to try and eat breakfast for the third time that day.  Hubby came into the room and looked in the bowl.

“Where did you put that fish?” he asked.

“In that bowl.”

“What bowl, there’s no fish in this one.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN there’s no fish. I put that glofish in there.”

“There is no fish in this bowl. Did you check the net?”

“Of COURSE I checked the net. I put the fish in the water, and he was swimming around like crazy, totally hyper.”

“Well, there’s no fish there now.”

“What did it do, jump out?”

We looked on the floor. We looked in the bowl. We looked back in the tank. Eventually we found a small puddle next to the bowl, and a track of water leading . . . back behind my awesome dresser!

Sammy the suicidal fish had jumped ship.

At this point we were both worried about the smell of a decomposing fish more than the idea of a rescue. After all, it had been about 5 minutes since he’d jumped out of the water.  Adding a 20 gallon tank to the top of a large dresser made it very hard to move. Eventually Hubby succeeded, and much to his surprise, Sammy was still flopping around. He quickly put the fish back in the water, and to everyone's surprise, Sammy started swimming around like nothing had happened.

 

 

 

 

He doesn’t bother the other fish anymore.

Just one wish

Right now I really just need someone to look me in the eyes and tell me "I promise. Someday you really will be able to use the bathroom again without the entire world going to pieces around you."

Really. Just 2 minutes without screaming would be really great!

Winner Winner!

Sorry this took me so long to get out, but I'm having too much fun gabbing with family to get online! (and I have a screaming baby on my lap so this will be short!) But the winner of the new Josi Kilpack book is . . . #7 (sorry, no picture - this computer is harder to use than mine!) And who is #7? My cute sister Launa! (and fyi: she also got the most brownie points for making me laugh!) Congrats (I guess you'll have to come over and see me again and hold little Jellybean. What a hardship, right!)

*pssst! Wanna win a book?

'Cause it's that time again!

Yup, hot off the presses, I have an autographed copy of Josi Kilpack's newest book, Tres Leches.


Usually I give a little blurb about the book and how much I liked it. But I'm not this time. "Cause other than the recipes, I don't have a clue what happens to Sadie in New Mexico. In all honesty, my book came late last night, and I have to leave in just a couple of days to fly to Utah. Since most of my readers actually live in Utah, I want to bring the book with me to save $ on shipping, 'cause that's how I roll!

CONTEST: win a copy of Tres Leches.
TO ENTER: leave ONE comment on THIS post telling me something interesting. Say your favorite memory of me. Or a random fact. Or the thrilling tale of how you shaved your legs yesterday.  Just something more than "I want a free book".
DEADLINE: Sunday, Sept 23, 8:00 pm Central time.  Winner will be randomly drawn from all entries (though bonus brownie points to all comments that make me laugh!). I'll announce the winner on this blog . . . um sometime after I land in Utah!

A change of perspective

8:20. The kids are finally out the door and waiting for the bus (there are some GREAT advantages to having your driveway be the bus stop!)  Lil’ is watching a movie and Jellybean is content for a minute (yes I changed his nick name. This one fits him better!). I head downstairs to pay some bills.

8:24. I hear the door slam shut and someone crying.  I run upstairs to see what the problem is and if I can fix it QUICK because the bus should be here NOW.  Buddy is standing there - without shoes – crying. I turn and see the bus pull up. I ask him quick what the problem is, but of course he just turns around on the couch and starts crying.  The bus leaves without him.

At this point I’m just bugged. Why on earth did he come inside. And WHY ON EARTH did he take off his shoes?  I don’t have time to drive him to school, I’ve got too much to do today.  I finally get it out of him that he was cold and so he came inside. I don’t have a problem with that, but why the shoes?  He thought he had enough time to change out of his shorts into long pants.

He goofed off all morning long. I told him that he would have had time if he wouldn’t have played so much before going to wait for the bus!  VERY frustrated now, I told him to go change.

And I went downstairs to pay those bills (well, more to cool off than anything). I did NOT want to have load everyone up to drive him to school and then come home and get everyone dressed so I can do all my errands today.  As I cooled down, I remembered the rule I made last school year – a rule I threatened with a  lot but never had to use.  If you miss the bus, you have to walk to school.

Buddy is now dressed.  I go and talk to him about why he missed the bus.  And then I asked him if he remembered the rule.  “Yes. If I miss the bus I have to walk to school all by myself.”  I told him something I never said last year – that he had added the “by myself” part. Jellybean was crying, so I had Buddy give him a bottle while I got Lil and myself in shoes and the stroller ready.  I hoped that this encouraged Buddy to get ready faster next time, and at least I’d get a walk in this morning.

We had to keep up a pretty fast walk to try and make the one mile in the 14 minutes we now had.  And as we walked, something amazing happened. Buddy started talking. He started telling me about his class, about his friends. He talked about his teacher, about what he liked, about what he wanted to do later.  And I realized this burden, this stress in my day, was not a trial at all. It was the best conversation I’ve ever had with my 6 year old.  Listening to him articulate his hopes and fears helped me to know him in  a way I’ve never been able to do before.

Finding the joy in this day made all the difference in the world. I’m very ok with what happened now. And if he misses the bus again, I know it might be the best thing for our relationship that could happen.

I’m even thinking of picking him up from school for that walk next time.

Nursing Thoughts

I can sum up my thoughts of breastfeeding in three little words: I loathe it!

It’s painful.  I have a very hard time finding way that doesn’t make my back ache.  My breasts ache all the time.  It’s boring. It takes forever.  I never think my kids are actually getting enough. I’ve never had a good milk supply with any of my kids. It just plain frustrates me all around.

I had zero interest in nursing my Little Fellow.  Absolutely none.  But, everywhere you turn in the baby world you are bombarded with the cry “breast is best!” And have you ever priced formula? That stuff is crazy expensive.  I knew I owed it to both the baby and the budget to at least attempt it.

The first two days went fine.  For all appearances, he was getting enough to eat.  Then, on day three, he went more than 18 hours without needing a diaper change!  And his jaundice numbers were getting higher and higher (that stuff only gets out one way!).  So that night I had them bottle feed him.  His bodily functions returned to normal, and his skin started to return to non-nacho colors.

“Great!” I exclaimed!  I’m DONE nursing.  He obviously isn’t getting what he needs from me, and I can say I tried!  For the next 36 hours I did no nursing at all.

Then we went to his pediatrician after we were home from the hospital.  Everything looked great (especially the jaundice which was almost completely gone now) . . . except for one thing. My Fellow was tongue tied! (anyone familiar with my stump will not wonder at all where he got those genes from!)  We talked it over and clipped it right there in the office.  The doctor encouraged me to try nursing again – that tongue couldn’t latch on properly before. I begrudgingly agreed . . . and it worked! (grumble grumble!)

But I didn’t have much yet to give him.  I was feeding him for 40 minutes, and then still giving him a bottle for another 20.  Let’s be practical here – I now have four kids, and I was spending an entire hour feeding my son!  It was hard enough during the day, but to do that all night long too was just too much. I told Hubby I’d give it a week, but if it didn’t get better, I was DONE!

Two days later it was only taking 30 minutes to feed him. DRAT!

I still hate it, but it isn’t as painful as it was.  And about half of the time I don’t need to follow up with a bottle after, so I know he’s actually getting enough from me.  I have no idea how long this will work, but for now we’ll keep going.

Unexpected 2: The Saga Continues

“So, I was telling the nurse . . .” I pause in mid sentence as both the doctor and I stare at my very pregnant belly.  Whatever is coming from that cool hear-the-baby thingy is NOT normal.  It sounds like a horse galloping over a cliff. A three legged horse that keeps stumbling, missing a beat. 

The doctor swishes over to the other side. No better. This heartbeat is just off.

“Yeeeaaaah, I’m sending you over to the hospital right now.” The doctor informs me. “AND, at 38 1/2 weeks, I don’t see a reason to not just keep you there. I think we just need to do this c-section today.”

Oh FLIP! my brain starts going off in  a million directions.  This IS NOT what I was planning on today!

First, I have to wait for my friend to finish her appointment. She’s due just 3 weeks after me, but because of a medical reason can’t drive, so we do our appointments together. 

 

And my sister, who has been my emergency backup, is in Utah for two weeks with her whole family.

 

And my next door neighbor, who is my secondary backup, is in Idaho for the next two weeks visiting family.

 

And the wonderful woman who is watching my kids right now . . .I don’t have her phone number in my cell, so I just hope that it’s listed in the phone book.

 

And my Hubby is off flying somewhere and not scheduled to get home until Friday.

 

Just a couple of things going on here!

I find the wonderful woman’s phone number and let her know what’s going on.  Then I call my in-laws and ask if they can manage the 2.5 hour drive tonight to pick up the kids from her house.  And then I try to call my Hubby. (no answer).

 

I dash back home, throw my toothbrush and retainer into my hospital bag. I tear around the house grabbing socks and pants and blankets for the kids to have at Grandma and Grandpa's. I pull out the kids car seats so they can drive safely. And then I speed the 30 minute drive to the hospital.

 

I find my way to Labor and Delivery. They hook me up and ask 6 million questions.

 

AND . . . everything looks normal.  But I’m just not quite comfortable.  And I start having contractions.  Now, normally, I’ve been having one really good contraction a day, and a handful of “oh maybe that was one” along side it.  But in the 60 minutes I’m hooked up to that machine, I have 7 good contractions.  Not regular, not hard enough to say I’m in labor, but I just don’t normally have that many contractions.

I get 5 calls from my can’t-drive friend, 3 from the wonderful woman, 4 from my in-laws, and one from someone else from my church.

And I still can’t get ahold of Hubby.

Two marvelous  men from my church come to give me a blessing.  The one brings his wife so I have someone to stay with me. 

And still Hubby’s phone is turned off. (LAND THE FREAKIN PLANE ALREADY I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!!!)

The nurse calls my doctor. Because everything is looking so great, and I can’t get ahold of my hubby, he decides to send me home.  BUT because things were just so off in the office, he really doesn't want to wait until  my scheduled date of Aug 6 (which is two days AFTER my due date).  But he’ll talk to me later.

AND I’m still having contractions. What?!?!?! I really don’t get that!

I start to drive to get my kids.  And FINALLY I get through to my Hubby! They’re holding the plane for him to get back to Chicago, so he can then fly back to our place hopefully by tonight. Even though we aren’t doing the surgery tonight, I’m grateful he’ll be there soon.

It’s now  6:00. I’m STARVING. And I figure my kids will be too.  So I stop by Little Caesar's and grab two pizzas – now Hubby will have something to eat if I got back to the hospital.

I get to the wonderful woman’s house.  Someone has ordered pizza delivered to her house so she can feed my kids. (aww, aren’t people great!). So we sit and eat that pizza, and I save mine for Hubby. Just as we finish eating, the In-Laws call: “Hi, we’re here. We figured the kids would be hungry, want to meet us at McDonalds and we’ll get you all some food?” Aww, food is so nice even if you don’t need it.

We drive home. I now have time to actually FOLD all those clothes I threw into that bag for the kids so you can actually zip it shut! 30 minutes later I’ve kissed them goodbye on their way back with the In-Laws.

Doctor now calls. We both agree, while everything looks fine, we just don’t feel right about waiting. Hubby has requested (since he’s now not flying the rest of his scheduled trip) that we do this ether Thursday or Friday. Sounds good to the doctor, so he calls the hospital to schedule the surgery.  5 minutes later, I have an 11:30 slot scheduled for Thursday, July 26.

Which means, as I type this, that I have just over 12 hours until I need to be at the hospital.  Let’s see what else this kid can throw at me!  If my water breaks at 2 am, that will be the final CRAZY straw!

******************************************************

Well, my water did NOT break. I did however have the hardest contractions I’ve ever experienced when not being induced!  All night long, 3-10 minutes apart.  Not regular enough to actually do anything, but hard enough to continually wake me up.  I was so happy when morning came and we could go to the hospital!

 

The surgery went great.  And at 11:42 am on July 26, 2012, we got to meet this little guy!

Introducing . . . .Little Fellow

(this is my favorite shot from the hospital!)

He’s 7 pounds 7 ounces of joy.  And my little family is complete!