Weathering the storm

Both Stephen and Ada are wearing purple today. Someone's getting a little milk belly :)

So the hurricane has come and gone without too much damage done - at least in our neighborhood. Man, am I tired of seeing them talk about it on the news.. every single stinkin' channel has had nothing on but hurricane coverage since yesterday. Annoying, since the storm only had about 20 MPH winds around here.. not that big of a deal folks - move on! I can't handle the local news around here, I mean they were giving "rainfall updates" when they didn't have anything else storm related to talk about. Wow.. I was wondering just how much rain had fallen in my hood. Sheesh. 

Yesterday was quite a challenge. Here's how it went down. 

Stephen's ride to work forgot he had a prayer meeting to lead yesterday morning and had to beg out of giving him a ride at the last minute. No problem. We loaded the girls in the car and I drove him to work. Ah, nice to get out of the house and feel useful. Back at home, I set about dealing with a recent health issue. See, Margot has had a tiny case of thrush. It had gone away completely, but then I noticed it had returned on Wednesday and called the pediatrician. The nurse I spoke to thought it might be an internal yeast infection (internal as in.. in my breasts...hmmm maybe that is why I have been feeling those electric shock waves of pain) on my part and that I should call my OB to get some Diflucan to take care of the problem. Oh and by the way continue to give the antibiotics to both girls now, and also put some of the antibiotic liquid on myself after I nurse, and make sure to boil all my bras and hang them in the sun to dry, and boil anything the girls have had in their mouths after each nursing session.. and don't let them share anything. Simple enough right? I can keep a steady batch of binkies sterilizing. So feeding sessions look like this: give each girl her medicine (wipe up the yellow sticky goo that does not make it down the hatch and ends up running down their chins and cheeks), nurse, spread said sticky goo on myself, attempt to interact with babies during their "awake time", spend however long it takes to get them down to sleep - with assistance of binkies - put girls down to nap. Wake them up to nurse in 3 hours, confiscate tainted binkies and toss in dirty binky bowl on shelf - to await sterilization - start process all over again. Got it. I can handle that. Oh drat! Forgot to call the OB for that pesky Rx for myself. Call OB. OB wants me to come in and be seen. Grrrrr!!! They have an appointment at 2pm... I am waiting for her to tell me which day this 2pm appointment is available when it dawns on me that she might mean today.. she did mean today (well yesterday.. Friday).. yes today at 2pm .. it is currently 1:30 so I have 30 minutes to get it together and get to the doctor. Thank GOD I had my shower already and the girls had just eaten and were down for a nap. Got them up and safely installed in their car seats, trying not to think about the fact that this would be my first time trying to get anywhere with both of them alone. Margot snoozes away, Ada is not pleased about the task at hand, Oliver tries to eat my alive as I leave him alone in the house for the second time that day. Am amazed that I can carry both car seats at once. Race to the doctor's office where kind women appear at every turn to open doors for me and my oversized load. Sit on edge of seat, praying that Ada will nod off. She stays quiet but looks reproachfully up at me, working that binky. My name is called. I struggle over to the nurses station where they take my blood pressure and weigh me (gulp). I am pleased to see that I am a mere 20 lbs from my normal weight - not too shabby. Go back to sit and wait for the real appointment to start - all the while fielding comments and questions about the girls. Finally it's really my turn. I stand over the babies in my paper gown alternately reinserting pacifiers and praying they will stay quiet. Remember suddenly that I haven't had lunch yet!!! Feeling lightheaded. Doc comes in and apologizes for making me come in (Dang straight!) and gives me the Rx the pediatrician recommended - 2 Diflucan a day for 10 days - Yikes, my poor liver. I hurry back out of the office and out to the car where I start to wonder if it might not be safe for me to drive - so hungry I can't see straight. Quick prayer. Decide that I MUST stop for fast food. Head for the closest Wendy's but turn into the McDonald's instead by mistake - oh well. Once I have my food I realize there is no way I can get home and eat this before the girls wake up to eat again. It has started to rain by this point. Pull into the closest parking lot and shovel down my "food". Just as I finish the girls start to stir. We head for home. Now it's really starting to come down and I have no umbrella to cover the girls with. Duh. Cover each car seat with the girls respective blankets they are snuggled in and carry one at a time back into the house. Take a deep breath and both girls are suddenly wide awake and starving. Settle in to nurse. Stephen calls - he is ready to come home  - did I want to pick him up or should he try to find a ride? I need to get to Target to pick up that prescription and also get some extra pacifiers since we now are going through them like water. Decide to pick him up myself so we can all go to Target as quick as possible. Yet again, load the poor, tired little girls back into the car hoping against hope that they will not start cluster feeding right now. Stephen sits with the girls in the car while I run inside since I can't remember which pacifier we have been using recently and can only recognize it by sight. LOVE the girl at the pharmacy counter. She recently moved down from the Bronx and is just so fantastic. She has my stuff ready within minutes and I run back out to the car and head back home to feed the girls again, who by this time have woken up. Busy day.. busy busy day. I am pleased to announce that I made it through without a single tear - must have been the adrenaline. 

The sun is finally out and I am watching Stephen work on set ideas for this years production of Cinderella at St. David's while  Rashomon plays out on the television screen. Margot has been seriously fussy the last 2 days and is therefore napping in her little seat and enjoying her first taste of Japanese samurai films. She can't seem to stay asleep in the crib, where her sister is contentedly snoozing. 

They have started to discover their sense of touch this week. Reaching out to touch our shoulders and arms when they are being picked up. Touching each other's hands while they nurse and exploring their blankets, binkies, and outfits with outstretched fingers. They touch and grab and then quickly withdraw their hands after a few moments as if the sensation has become too much to bear in that instant. 

I keep seeing glimpses of their future selves in their little faces. The faces we will help learn to crawl and walk, ride a bike and drive a car, coming into focus for brief seconds at a time. Pieces of the day where they look less like babies and more like little girls. I do my best to interact with them in their awake times. Touching their skin with various toys of different textures, calling them by name and trying to decide if they are looking at me or through me- mostly through me right now. 

I hope this sunshine lasts outside, it's shaping up to be a great day for a walk.