Roslyn, Part 2: "The Long Weekend"
Saturday & Sunday, July 14th & 15th 2007
We woke up today (Saturday) both feeling a little out-of-sorts and jittery. Things are REALLY closing in fast: my class is done, as is the home renovation project for the summer...all we need now is a damn BABY! Last night's scare made us edgy with excitement and impatience, and we're having trouble knowing what to do with ourselves.
First order of biz, though, is to hit the farmer's market. It's really a pathetic little affair, with too many kitschy nailed-together birdhouses and a rather poor supply of actual FOOD. Hmmm...I wonder if that's because "big-box" retailers have bought up all the land in our county?!? Anyway...once we really got looking we saw lots of good foodstuffs: big quarts of fresh blueberries, the sweetest black cherries you ever did eat, lots of sweet corn and fresh tomatoes and a whole table of baked goods priced to sell. We made our purchases, and on the way home discussed the importance of teaching good food consupmtion and community support to Roslyn. Who could pretty much show up ANY DAMN TIME, NOW!
With the afternoon looming before us, we decide to just get the hell out of the house, and so we head off to that hell-hole we very rarely visit: The Mall. We actually ended up making several purchases: new work shirts for me, of the wrinkle-free variety (normally I enjoy a good monthly ironing session, but I'm pretty sure that baby will force a cessation of this activity), new bath rugs, of the non-rubber-backed variety, and a few other odds-&-ends. One important thing happened as we were leaving, though:
Oh, this is very exciting! We hurry home to consult all our books, the internet, and various friends. And we find out...exactly zilch. Losing one's mucus plug means that labor COULD be imminent...or, it could be two, maybe three weeks off. Shit-a-brick. Looks like ANOTHER walk to the video store is in order! Yeah, that's right: we've been hiking to our local Chart Hits Video on a near-nightly basis, a round-trip trek of about 1.5 miles that is refreshing and reassuring in its familiarity. We're convinced that all the people we regularly greet on our route must be wondering WHEN we're having that damn baby! We're wondering the same thing, as we try to literally WALK Tess into some meaningful contractions.
(Side note: Saturday's rental, Never Was, is a great film of intriguing story and quality acting. May be my favourite rental of the summer. Check it out.)
Sunday becomes another day of restlessness and anxious excitement as Miss Tessmacher continues to dribble. Much discussion ensues as to how to interpret the color, consistency and smell of her meager output. DOES is smell like Clorox? IS it clear and wet, or is it more brownish and sticky? In all the time I've known Tess, I must say I've never considered her nether-regions in quite this way before, but suddenly it all seems very important. We deliberate heading to the hospital: if this near-constant trace IS amniotic fluid, we should go because the docs (in their "infinite wisdome," nudge-nudge, wink-wink) would like the baby to be born within 24 hours of amniotic rupture. But our sources are all over the place: a trusted friend and nursing student says "Go," while other reputable friends & moms aren't so sure. We dread going to triage, only to be told 1) it's just your mucus plug draining off, you're still a week from labor, OR 2) it IS your "water," you're not having any contractions, the baby is in distress and we're gonna CUT HER OUT! Another walk to the video store ensues...
this time for some trusted favorites. The "3 for 3" special allows us to get Valley Girl (Tess had never seen), Grosse Pointe Blank (strangely, I had never seen) and Office Space (yeah...gonna have to ask you to...bring the movies back on SUNDAY...yeah...), all of which will be due on Friday. Tess, for the most part, enjoys Valley Girl, but looks a little askance at my obvious worship of Randy. We're starting to endure countless phone calls as well, something I had read about but never actually anticipated. Now that we're so close, though, they're starting to pour in. I aggressively push for a simple solution: take the damn think off the hook! (Something that is emminently feasible given my penchant for antique, working rotary-dial phones.) But no...past 10:00pm the ringing dries up, leaving us to wonder: are we making the right decision by not going in? Will we cause permanent damage to the baby because we were loathe to make a (probably) needless trip? And even more pressing: what will TOMORROW bring?!?
We woke up today (Saturday) both feeling a little out-of-sorts and jittery. Things are REALLY closing in fast: my class is done, as is the home renovation project for the summer...all we need now is a damn BABY! Last night's scare made us edgy with excitement and impatience, and we're having trouble knowing what to do with ourselves.
First order of biz, though, is to hit the farmer's market. It's really a pathetic little affair, with too many kitschy nailed-together birdhouses and a rather poor supply of actual FOOD. Hmmm...I wonder if that's because "big-box" retailers have bought up all the land in our county?!? Anyway...once we really got looking we saw lots of good foodstuffs: big quarts of fresh blueberries, the sweetest black cherries you ever did eat, lots of sweet corn and fresh tomatoes and a whole table of baked goods priced to sell. We made our purchases, and on the way home discussed the importance of teaching good food consupmtion and community support to Roslyn. Who could pretty much show up ANY DAMN TIME, NOW!
With the afternoon looming before us, we decide to just get the hell out of the house, and so we head off to that hell-hole we very rarely visit: The Mall. We actually ended up making several purchases: new work shirts for me, of the wrinkle-free variety (normally I enjoy a good monthly ironing session, but I'm pretty sure that baby will force a cessation of this activity), new bath rugs, of the non-rubber-backed variety, and a few other odds-&-ends. One important thing happened as we were leaving, though:
TESS LOST HER MUCUS PLUG!!
Oh, this is very exciting! We hurry home to consult all our books, the internet, and various friends. And we find out...exactly zilch. Losing one's mucus plug means that labor COULD be imminent...or, it could be two, maybe three weeks off. Shit-a-brick. Looks like ANOTHER walk to the video store is in order! Yeah, that's right: we've been hiking to our local Chart Hits Video on a near-nightly basis, a round-trip trek of about 1.5 miles that is refreshing and reassuring in its familiarity. We're convinced that all the people we regularly greet on our route must be wondering WHEN we're having that damn baby! We're wondering the same thing, as we try to literally WALK Tess into some meaningful contractions.
(Side note: Saturday's rental, Never Was, is a great film of intriguing story and quality acting. May be my favourite rental of the summer. Check it out.)
Sunday becomes another day of restlessness and anxious excitement as Miss Tessmacher continues to dribble. Much discussion ensues as to how to interpret the color, consistency and smell of her meager output. DOES is smell like Clorox? IS it clear and wet, or is it more brownish and sticky? In all the time I've known Tess, I must say I've never considered her nether-regions in quite this way before, but suddenly it all seems very important. We deliberate heading to the hospital: if this near-constant trace IS amniotic fluid, we should go because the docs (in their "infinite wisdome," nudge-nudge, wink-wink) would like the baby to be born within 24 hours of amniotic rupture. But our sources are all over the place: a trusted friend and nursing student says "Go," while other reputable friends & moms aren't so sure. We dread going to triage, only to be told 1) it's just your mucus plug draining off, you're still a week from labor, OR 2) it IS your "water," you're not having any contractions, the baby is in distress and we're gonna CUT HER OUT! Another walk to the video store ensues...
this time for some trusted favorites. The "3 for 3" special allows us to get Valley Girl (Tess had never seen), Grosse Pointe Blank (strangely, I had never seen) and Office Space (yeah...gonna have to ask you to...bring the movies back on SUNDAY...yeah...), all of which will be due on Friday. Tess, for the most part, enjoys Valley Girl, but looks a little askance at my obvious worship of Randy. We're starting to endure countless phone calls as well, something I had read about but never actually anticipated. Now that we're so close, though, they're starting to pour in. I aggressively push for a simple solution: take the damn think off the hook! (Something that is emminently feasible given my penchant for antique, working rotary-dial phones.) But no...past 10:00pm the ringing dries up, leaving us to wonder: are we making the right decision by not going in? Will we cause permanent damage to the baby because we were loathe to make a (probably) needless trip? And even more pressing: what will TOMORROW bring?!?
posted by Animal at 7:14 AM
3 Comments:
Ooou, the anticipation is killing me! ;)
PS - I was SO worried that you had a picture of the ACTUAL mucus plug.
Valley Girl, Grosse Pointe Blank and Office Space are some of my favorites. The anticipation must be overwhelming.
Love the story....can't wait to read the third installment.
Post a Comment
<< Home