This breaks my heart.
Option 2. 100% online. My mom soul is crushed thinking about all of the things she will miss out on, but until we know that she would be safe at school…we will rest assured knowing that she is loved, safe, and educated at home.
I hope you have all the things that second grade brings, my dear. I hope third grade will be a return to something safe and social. We love you and will do our best to be patient and flexible as we all work together from home for 2020.
This is week five or six (I can’t keep track anymore) of working from home and school being closed. The days are pretty similar when you can’t really do anything. However, we are trying to keep the kids (ages 7 and 3) in some sort of schedule.
We start our “school/work days” with a schedule that approximately looks like this:
Some days are filled with more instructional time, more reading, more hands-on activities, and some days are us just trying to hang on until 5pm.
Emma seems to be doing ok with the whole routine, but Ava is struggling some days. This poor child will be a mess when she goes back to preschool. Ava is just DONE at 3pm every day. There is no more ability to listen or be helpful. We’ve tried to give extra snuggles and silly time to acknowledge the fact that this is all out of the normal routine for all of us.
Work got extended to be at home until June 1. At a minimum, I can’t even see myself going back to work until public school is officially over because I still have to make sure Emma does school work.
School was phasing in instructional time over the past 6 weeks, so we just started phase 3: new instruction. Emma is getting the hang of meeting weekly with her class, doing activities on a computer, taking pictures of her work, submitting work online, reading books on iPads, and using Google Classroom LMS. She’s such a good kid, and she is a super helpful big sister. Sometimes we give her treats after Ava goes to bed just so she knows that we appreciate how good she is.
Some things we have done to keep busy:
I made some masks for my mom, dad, and grandmom for Easter because I knew that they might have to go in and out of doctors’ offices with Meem. I told Emma and Ava that I would make them some masks, and you would think I offered to take them to Disney World or something. They are so excited about it and ask me often when I’m going to make them masks.
I just ordered some new fabric since they are so excited. I will let them pick out their patterns and be a part of the mask-making process. Hey, it’s something to do, and they can be proud of their creation in the end.
Honestly, I have no idea what they will do with these masks because the kids have not gone anywhere, and I don’t plan on taking them anywhere either. Once we had to drive to the store, and Peter went inside, and they saw him put a mask on. Then they noticed that everyone coming out of the store was also wearing masks. They were intrigued.
I saw that a few schools overseas are having children return to preschool with masks, so if that becomes a thing here, we will have some for them. I would imagine it might be a slow return to normal even when things start to open again. Our area is still essential businesses only, six-foot distancing, 10 people maximum in a place, no dine-in, take-out only, only go out if you need to, etc.
Ava has been telling me lately that she has “the germ.” Then she says, “I have coronavirus.” This kid. I think she has heard that term maybe twice. She hears EVERYTHING. I informed her that she is healthy and should not be saying that to people. We don’t listen to the news or watch a lot of TV with the kids, so I know she just has a crazy good memory and likes to get a reaction out of people.
In an effort to have more exciting #QuarantineFoods, we made these.
To make three (3) eggrolls, we used:
To get this party started:
By some stroke of luck, our children even loved these. Just remember to cut them in half and let them cool for the little ones because these will be hot, flaming lava pockets when they come out of the air fryer.
Today the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, canceled school for the rest of the academic year. I can’t even begin to process what this means. I haven’t told Emma yet because I do think she will be a little sad about it. Right now she is loving the ability to sleep in, not have to go to PE, etc. She is thinking about how fun it is…but I don’t want to tell her that she won’t go back to her 1st grade classroom again. She won’t see her teacher again, not as “her teacher.”
The teacher called today and said that they are all planning a parade through the neighborhoods with the PTA. Thinking about it now, it kind of makes me want to cry. Emma loves her first grade teacher.
I have no idea how life is going to be for the next few months. Even thinking about it seems insane. Today in Virginia, we only have 254 cases. It doesn’t sound like that many. Of course, some are not diagnosed, so we can’t count those people in that number. With numbers this low, though, it means we still are at the bottom of the soon-to-be rapid climb. That means that whatever craziness we are feeling today will be completely different a week from now, and then a week from then.
Will my job be okay with me working from home? Will I have to keep writing lesson plans for my first grader so that she can be up to speed when she goes back to school for second grade? How can I keep a preschooler busy while I am trying to work? Will I be able to keep Ava stimulated and educated while I am also trying to homeschool her sister? Do I have to keep paying the vacation fee for daycare even though I am not sending my kids in? Will my kids have a daycare to go back to? Will I have a job after this? I had a job before that laid me off when they had a time of financial distress. I didn’t think I would have to worry about that again, at least for a while.
The answer to the question, “I wonder what things will look like when this is all over,” seems to change from day to day. I can’t even imagine what my thoughts on the answer will be a week from now, let alone a month or three.
Watching the news and hearing about a whole country going into isolation and panic because of a new coronavirus is definitely a crazy way to start the year 2020. Maybe we were oblivious to the rest of the world’s news in January and February, but sometime in March we started hearing about this new virus that was spreading like crazy and was worse than the flu, attacking people’s respiratory system. Soon after a bunch of countries started paying attention, they named it COVID-19.
Once Italy was in the news, things really started to kick off. The story began to unfold just as it did in China, but this time in another country. And it seemed to keep happening. Johns Hopkins created a map that would create a red dot each time a person contracted the disease. At first, the disease was pretty much in a few areas, but things began to get real…real fast when the maps quickly filled with so many red dots that they just decided to put a large red color over the whole country or state.
The news is like we’ve never heard it before. You can’t turn on the TV or read the news online without hearing about COVID-19. We don’t know much about it yet, but we do know that people who travel internationally may have been exposed, people who have flu-like or respiratory symptoms may be have been exposed, and that this virus is worse for those who are immunocompromised and the elderly.
Schools started closing in other countries. Then it happened in California. Then it happened in Washington state. Then it happened here in Virginia. Seniors will most likely not be able to attend prom. Plays have been cancelled. Schools are closed for at least two weeks. And just yesterday, I was sent home to work remotely until at least April 1.
Walking around, you’d think this was a zombie movie. First it started in another country…people were getting sick…we weren’t listening…then it happened here…schools are closed…people are going crazy at the grocery stores…
The crazy thing is how quickly things are changing. You can hear news in the morning that is no longer true in a few hours. No more than 500 people can meet…no more than 100 people can meet…no more than 10 people can meet…no more than 5 people can meet. Don’t touch your nose. Don’t touch your face. And don’t dare sneeze because of allergies in a public place because you will get death stares from everyone. (Of course this all had to happened during allergy season to make us more paranoid).
Hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes are everywhere–except for in the store for purchase. There is none. No toilet paper. No bread. No eggs. It is kind of funny what people buy. You can, however, buy egg substitute, flour, and yeast. So this house is good to go!
If you visit a friend or go to the store, they immediately sanitize their hands after you give them something or after they come into their home.
Restaurants are closing and laying people off. Stores are starting to close early. Daycares are closing.
People are walking more, though. Neighbors are waving. Dogs are wagging their tails on their evening jog. Kids are riding bikes. Italians are singing songs and playing accordions on their balconies for all to hear. People are starting to decorate their windows for kids to see. There is talk of Christmas lights going back up to bring a little cheer to our social distancing.
And “social distancing” is a term that we all know now.
Parents have to find ways to work a full-time job while they home school their children and attend meetings virtually.
To be continued.
This time around, we had to schedule an induction due to being considered “high risk” from GD, but luckily everything was looking good for baby #2. Her heart rate was great, her estimated weight and size looked great, and my blood sugar levels were completely diet controlled. The nurse scheduled us for November 22 (Tuesday) at 7am. I had to call in at 6am and make sure they were still on schedule, and they most definitely were. The hospital said to come in at 7am to get started.
Emma was a wonderful child, and she only minimally complained when we got her up at 6:05am to go to school super early. I don’t even think we fed her breakfast because we knew that the school would feed her breakfast that morning. Our bags were already packed and ready to go. I slept as well as I could the night before, but it wasn’t the best sleep ever. I know Peter was also slightly nervous, too, but he didn’t show it much.
When we got to the hospital, we checked in with a very nice woman and were immediately taken to the labor and delivery suite #7. I figured maybe it was a nice sign to have room #7…that’s a lucky number, right?
When we got to the room, I had to take off my clothes and wear the hospital gown. Getting in and out of the hospital bed very excruciating with my hip/pelvic pain. I think the nurses thought I was a wuss, but it hurt like crazy! I had to use this huge peanut pillow to relieve some of the pressure while I laid on my side. It helped, but I felt like a nut with this HUGE inflatable peanut between my legs.
The nurses, Laura and Laura, were very nice but the IV–not so much. Apparently my left arm had wavy veins so then they had to take out that IV and do it again on the right arm. Ouch! Once they got it settled, they started me on a slow Pitocin drip to get contractions started. I actually can’t complain about the Pitocin. The contractions very pretty smooth and very gradually increased in intensity. I had heard horror stories about how Pitocin can give you TERRIBLE, sharp contractions, but I really didn’t let it get to that point.
Peter sent out a text message to the family to let everyone know that we were in the hospital. I didn’t really want everyone knowing about the induction beforehand because my hope was that labor would happen naturally. It didn’t work out that way, but that is ok. Since the delivery was scheduled, my actual doctor was able to be there, which was really nice, because she made me feel a million times better about the epidural that I wanted and making sure that the “area” was numb if she had to do any stitches after delivery.
My parents came to visit and stayed for a while. It was a nice distraction, but contractions were starting to build up in intensity while they were there. When the anesthesiologist came to give me the epidural, my parents left for a little while. The whole time my parents were visiting, there was a woman screaming bloody murder down the hall. Apparently she missed the window for the epidural, and, man, was she loud. I’m not sure if she was just a screamer by nature or if it really hurt THAT bad, but I am glad that I didn’t have to find out. Since the anesthesiologist wasn’t as busy as he planned, he came into the room for me pretty quickly. Now I have to say, I don’t think I will ever be ok with getting needles in my spine. No matter how much I wanted an epidural, I was still terrified knowing that it was coming. I squeezed Peter’s hand as tight as I could, and I know I started shaking from nerves. Luckily, the anesthesiologist got it right the first time, and there were no complications.
I expected that my legs would go cold and numb the way they did the first time (with Emma), but they didn’t. I could feel them, I could move them, and that was slightly terrifying to me. The nurses assured me that this was normal and that I wouldn’t feel pain. Needless to say, I didn’t really believe them and was still terrified that the epidural wasn’t working…it was slightly reassuring that I couldn’t feel contractions anymore though.
Since I was still only about 1.5 cm dilated, the doctor had to come in and break my water, which also terrified me, but it wasn’t bad at all. I could feel the warm trickle of water breaking very soon after she did her thing. What a strange sensation! Very soon after, the nurses said I was dilated to 5.5-6 cm.
My parents came back in, and we chatted for a while. The doctor had come in to tell us that she had two other second-pregnancy moms that she had just delivered recently. She said their labors were pretty quick, but she also said it’s hard to know if you will deliver in an hour or in ten hours. Because of this comment, I was sure it would be a while since I was only 5.5 cm dilated. Peter and my dad were chatting about something silly so I suggested that they go get some food. It was about 5:30pm, and poor Peter hadn’t eaten anything but a protein bar all day. Peter laughed and told me there was no way he was leaving the room and that he knew better :).
Once or twice in this timeframe, I thought I started to feel a contraction or two, but I couldn’t tell if I was imagining it or not. The nurse came in a few minutes later to tell me that I needed to flip onto my other side for a while. She moved my legs from the right side of the bed to the left side, and then I immediately had the sensation of a baby wanting to come out ASAP! I started to panic a little bit, “I feel pressure! I feel pressure!” Let me just say that every aspect (which felt like having to cross one hurdle at a time) of childbirth terrified me. I know I did it once before, but that didn’t make me feel any less stress about it. At this point, I was now nervous that the baby was just going to pop out or something before the doctor came back into the room.
They quickly called the doctor into the room, and I started pushing. I am told that it was about 4 sets of pushes and then out “popped” a baby at 5:50 pm. I don’t recall the whole situation happening like this, but I know it was significantly quicker than Emma’s delivery.
The doctor plopped this little tiny, blue, slimy baby on my belly, and I just started automatically crying from all of the craziness that just transpired and the hormones and EVERYTHING! I kept thinking, “Her head is so tiny!” She was crying and had all of her limbs and things so that was good ;). Peter had some wet eyes, too, and assured the doctor that he did not want to cut the umbilical cord.
They took the baby over to the baby station, and she weighed 6 lbs 9 oz, was 20 inches long, and had Apgar scores of 8 and 9. When they brought her back over to Peter and me, I was amazed at how much she looked like her big sister, Emma. I couldn’t get over the resemblance. I expected some similarities, but I felt like I was looking at baby Emma again. When baby #2 opened her eyes, I noticed that they were a slate grayish color with a slight beige tone in the right light. So far we still don’t know what color her eyes are, but Peter and I are guessing brown.
The doctor did some sewing while we held the baby, and she asked me if I needed lidocaine down there before she started. I was scared (once again) that I would feel the sewing happening like I did the first time so she gave me some lidocaine and did her thing. Apparently everything was still numb, and I didn’t feel the needle–which is fine by me. I do NOT mind being extra numb in this kind of situation :).
Peter fed the baby her first bottle, and it was cute to see him talk to her so much. I feel like when we had Emma, we weren’t really sure how to do this whole parenting thing, but this time, we actually knew how to interact with a newborn from the start. I told Peter thank you for not leaving the room when I told him that he should go get something to eat with my dad. I honestly never thought all of that would transpire in a timespan of about 15 minutes.
On Monday, November 14th (my birthday), we had the 38th week doctor appointment accompanied by an ultrasound to see how big Baby Franza is. I was hoping we might get some good shots of her face and head, but apparently she is “in position,” face down, head down already–which is great for labor, bad for pictures. One good thing we saw was that Baby Franza is still predicted to be a girl so hopefully no surprises there! 😉
The readings on the ultrasound screen seemed to read between 36 and 38 weeks for various measurements. It looks like she will be between 6.5-7.5 pounds, which is perfectly normal. Yay! Emma was 7 lbs. 1 ounce so I am ok with those measurements!
Also, she has hair, a thumb, a thigh bone, a good looking heart with a strong heartbeat, and a cute little spine. We didn’t get to see any face at all, but these are the random parts we did get to see :).
The doctor asked me if I would like to have a physical portion of the visit, which is the first time (and last time) in my life I’ve ever opted for a physical exam at the gyno. She said I’m about 1.5 cm dilated, and I have not dropped yet.
For my birthday, we went over to my parents’ house for make-your-own taco night with some birthday ice cream cake and brownies. Yum :).
In other news, I got a few hiccups on camera. I think hiccups are one of the things I will miss about pregnancy. They are pretty benign, don’t hurt, and it’s cute to know those little bumps are hiccups.
We have finally put all of the pictures up on the walls, hooked up the baby monitor, washed all the bedding, and gotten the baby’s room into the best shape it will ever be in. Then we took pictures to prove that, once upon a time, her room was clean and organized.
