Wow…9:30 pm, and I’m home and have 2 sleeping children. I feel like the luckiest person in the world! I’m sure this bliss won’t last (Maya has not been cooperative about bedtime the past week), but I thought I’d take a few moments and try and blog now.
Once again, Maya woke up extremely early again today – 7:00 am. I was still downstairs, trying to finish up my post, so please excuse all the typos – I was trying to type one-handed while I fed the baby. Maya and I snoozed on the couch for a bit, and Micah woke up around 8:45. We took care of breakfast, dressed the kids, and Elliot took Micah to services while Maya and I drove up to Levindale.
I spent most of the trip trying to figure out tomorrow with my brother and sister-in-law. Elliot is leaving at 6:00 am, and I will have the children by myself all day long. I was toying with the idea of leaving him with them for a few hours, but that is turning out to be much more complicated than I thought. Instead, I’m going to try and handle them on my own. It doesn’t sound like that big a deal, but I’m a bit concerned about managing Micah and the baby during my visit with Mom. I guess we’ll see how it goes. There should be a few other hands around to help keep Micah in check, and if he melts down, I’ll just have to leave early.
When I arrived at Levindale, Jeremy, Jen, Paige, Peyton and my father were all there in the cafeteria with my mother. We joined them and spent a bit of time together. After an hour or so, my mother said she was tired and needed to go back to bed. Jen, Jeremy and the girls said goodbye, and my father and I took my mother back to her room.
Today, my mother was complaining a bit that the skin on her head hurt. This is a common side effect of radiation – the skin can feel a bit raw and burned. We requested some cream, and they have placed an order for Aquaphor to rub on her head. We will start applying it daily after each radiation treatment to try and help the skin heal. We will ask the radiation oncologist if there is anything else we should use on Monday. Additionally, I noticed yesterday (and today) that my mother’s hair is starting to fall out. By the handful! I was stroking her hair today, and it was coming out in clumps. I think she is going to look gorgeous bald! She keeps joking that she now has a big “C” on her head (the scar from the surgery) and she’d like to draw a matching mirror-image “C” on the other half of her head…maybe make them look like the Chanel or Coach logos…then paint her scalp gold or other vibrant colors. I might just have to get some fun sprays when radiation is done and she has a chance to heal up. Perhaps just in time for Halloween!
After we returned to the room, my mom had a few visitors…Suzette, Joel, Bonnie and Pat! Pat brought an amazing gift from my mom’s co-workers…several different gift certificates! Thanks to all of you at the Montgomery College Libraries who participated (and also for the beautiful flowers that were sent to us back at Hopkins). We’ll use them to bring in some good food for my mother while she is at Levindale (we are already planning to bring her a chicken salad sandwich from Panera tomorrow).
Pat, Bonnie, Suzette and Joel had a wonderful visit. The best part for me? I got to sneak away for about 45 minutes without Maya to go visit my friend, Jen, who is currently on bedrest in the labor and delivery ward at Sinai. I returned around 4:00, just in time to say goodbye. I stayed for another 45 minutes or so (just long enough to feed Maya and give her some more cuddle time with Mom). Dad stayed behind to help Mom with dinner.
When I arrived home, Elliot and Micah were still out. Today was Taste of Bethesda…I had forgotten all about it, and I’m sad to say that I missed it this year. After services, Elliot took Micah over to the open house at the Bethesda Fire Station and he got two balloons and a fire hat! Then the two of them went to a bbq at one of Elliot’s friend’s houses. They came home around 7:00 pm, and we spent the rest of the evening relaxing together. Micah wore his fire hat and played with the balloons most of the night, so I think his visit to the fire station was a smash hit!
Perhaps the best part of my day…Micah actually said “I love you, Mommy” today! It was prompted…I said I loved him, and then asked him if he could say “I love you, Mommy” and he said it right back to me (followed up with a hug and a kiss). That has to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard! I then asked him to say “I love you, Daddy” and he did that, too. Maya also hit a big milestone today…she was able to hold a sit!! She was sitting up for about a minute – I could not believe it. Micah was definitely older before he was strong enough to hold a sit – maybe 4 months or so before he could hold a sit briefly.
Overall, today was a good day. My mother seemed to be in good spirits and feeling well. We had a wonderful day with visitors, and I actually got home at a reasonable hour, spent some time with my children, and now have a quiet evening at home with sleeping children. Why is it that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop? Hopefully, they’ll both sleep through the night, and Elliot won’t wake them up when he leaves at 6:00. I hope tomorrow is another good day!