Geography and Baby Registrations

I do hope that everyone had a loverly long weekend. I was a combination of really lazy or out drinking.
Let me clarify.
I only actually had drinks two nights. Friday and Sunday -- and Sunday was for a wedding. And once you read the story below you will understand why I felt the need to have cocktails on Friday.
So for those of you that know, Nate and Martine got their referral last week. Of course, we then had to go into full blown baby shower planning. Which means that Ms. Martine had to go register for baby stuff.
Lots and lots of baby stuff.
We began this little adventure in living on Thursday night. I met Martine and one of her co-workers at Babies R Us to register. Alicia was the voice of been-there-done-that-got-the-tshirt and I was the totally single friend who is offering fashion advice concerning whether or not the stroller and pack-N-play match. So here is what they don't tell you. Babies need stuff.
LOTS OF STUFF. MORE STUFF THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE.
There is a whole list of stuff that you need. And it is long. So, I had the list, Martine had the gun and prior to Alicia's arrival, we were on our naive own... to which we had a lovely -- trying to be helpful british mom. I know she was a Mom because she was sitting on a glider, breastfeeding, with no blanket. Just snack time at Babies R Us.
And I am fairly certain she thought that Martine and I were lesbians adopting together. Good stuff. So after 2 hours of a lot of shooting of things, we got Martine all set with more onesises, bottles, nipples, video monitors, bathing gear, binkies, blankets, you name it, she got it with the gun. And the urban commando stroller. Its huge. She might just need a new car.
So come Friday, left work around 1PM -- it was the Friday before a long holiday, the office was already a ghost town. I went and met Martine at this little baby boutique to finish up the registry. We spent some time there and got the remaining stuff she needed. The somewhat uptight woman that was assisting us recommended that we check out another boutique down the road that specializes in maternity wear, but carries a whole line of adoption shirts etc.
Specifically a shirt Martine had seen that said "Expecting from..." and it has the flag from the country you are adopting from.
So we head on down to Urban Belly. This is a high-end store. I mean, like baby clothes for $60 for a pair of pants high end. So there is this woman behind the counter, who takes like 5 minutes to even acknowledge us. And I can't tell if she is pregnant or not. Not that being pregnant is a pre-requisite for working there, but anyway.
So I finally ask her, do you have any adoption gear? She points at the one shelf I have already looked at, and I ask her, specifically " do you have the expecting from with the flag tshirts?" She replies -- what country?
Vietnam.

She steps behind a curtain and peeks her head back out and says --
"Um, where is Vietnam?"

I actually can't respond as I can't believe what I have heard. I mean, where is Vietnam??
Um, we fought a war there. For pete's sake, Angelina and Brad just adopted from there, for sure she would have seen something in her People.
Martine responds finally with "Asia" and she goes back in. And comes out with two of the smallest tshirts ever.
Apparently having to keep track of 7 continents is somehow easier.
So we say thanks but no thanks and go on our way.
Thus, my need for drinks on Friday -- the sheer stupidity of some people. I would like to think maybe she was pregnant and had pregnancy brain, but then again....
WHERE'S VIETNAM?
It hurts.

Special congrats to Bobby and Kim -- they had their vow renewal ceremony and reception on Sunday. They eloped about a year ago and used their upcoming anniversary as a great reason to have their big party. It really was a great night.
So tomorrow we are back to the grind.
Can't wait.

Medical Effieciency

Ok - So after whirlwind day or so here is where we are at:
My mom was admitted Tuesday night to the hospital. She had gone in for a follow up scan from her normal quarterly bone scan (PET, MRI -- some sort of acronym). The neurologist took one look at it and admitted her because there was what they called " a soft tissue mass" on her thoracic spine
English translation for those of you that are not doctors, don't spend time with doctors or you did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn last night... She has a tumor on her neck around her spinal column.

At this point, we are trying to figure out what they are going to do -- a year and a half ago she had a series of surgeries on the same general area, so we didn't know if we were going down that road again.
Of course all of this gets complicated by the following:

• I live in Iowa - my parents in Kansas
• My dad was scheduled to get on a plane today to fly to California as my sister Melissa is moving back to KS and needed someone to drive cross country with her.
• My sister Courtney had purchased a plane ticket for the holiday weekend to go to Dallas to see friends.
• My brother was scheduled to return to Iraq today.

Now while there is NEVER good timing for this sort of thing, clearly this was REALLY bad timing.
So being the tactics guy that he is -- and if you have never met my father, he IS a tactics guy. You make a plan, you execute the plan, you don't deviate from the plan.
Army inbreeding is what I chalk it up to.

Anyhoos
So, Patrick is trying to see if the Army will grant him a medical emergency extension of some sort, My Mom & Dad decide that he really needs to go out West as Melissa on her own -- well, that is a whole other post. Actually, could be a whole other blog. And I, well I have the most flexible schedule at this point (translation: I am lame and had nothing planned for the long weekend) So, I get to head home. Decide to come down today, rush through work yesterday, making arrangements, getting a loaner laptop to take with....basically chaos.
Head home to finish up some laundry, etc. And my dad calls around ..I dunno, later in the evening while I was at book club.

"Meghan, this is Dad. The neurologist reviewed your mom's films again and
decided that there is nothing that could cause any sort of permanent
neurological damage, so they are discharging her. And your brother got a week
extension on his leave".

He mentioned some other stuff, but that was the crux of the voicemail.
Call back home. No answer.

So, Long Story Short
I am not going home today, probably not going home tomorrow and debating on the weekend as I was going to have to cancel a wedding to go home.
So, in summary.
Spent the last day and a half jumping through all these hoops, GLUED to my cell phone for calls from home and it all came down to the same person that wanted her admitted, changing his mind about what he saw.
Doctors. They get paid all this cash, cause all this stress and one change of the mind = not a big deal.
Grr.
I mean, it is a big deal, we still have to address the fact that she has more growths of cancer, but that is back in the oncologist court. So at this point, no surgery.

What a difference a day makes ...

So here I have been -- merrily going out and buying some kick ass baby stuff (check out this website, it is really some great stuff Baby Wit ) and I get a call from my dad while I am in a meeting.
They are admitting my mom to KU Med. All I know right now is that they found a mass between her spine and her neck and that the spots on her ribs have gotten worse.
So, now I am at work, clearly not focused, waiting to hear from my Dad because just as he was telling me what was going on, he had to go because doctors were coming into the room.

As Courtney likes to say ...
"Who loves cancer?? The Smith family does!"

NARF.

An Amazing Day

For once I am in a position to not be selfish, bitter or otherwise disenchanted.
It is a GREAT day today.
Nate & Martine got their referral today!!!!! They are getting a little boy and he is beautiful. Click on their link on the right to get more details about their journey to this amazing little one. We are so glad to welcome him!!!!!!
Now I get to go buy all sorts of cool baby clothes!! Woo Hoo.