Counting My Blessings

Posted by Lizzie on May-28-2008

I have issues with budgeting and planning. I don’t like to do either. However, with the way gas prices are today, I think it’s a good time to start. My husband and I aren’t going to retire any day soon and we’d like to keep our home, so this is something I really need to get a grip on. Right?

Lately I’ve seen a lot of people asking “What are you doing to cope?” That’s a good question. The economy is tanking and people are feeling the pinch. It’s come down to “Do I keep all 5 cell phones? Cut down to basic cable? Eat day old bread?” While I’ve been trying to learn to cut down on our expenses and find extra dollars here and there, I’ve been thinking of what my grandparents had to endure. And somehow managed to survive.

My great-grandmother was born before the Great Depression. They managed to live on $2-5 a week- if that. They didn’t have a car (much less two) and couldn’t afford to buy their children a different pair of shoes for each different outfit. As a matter of fact, my grandmother once told me that they had their “Sunday best”- which was only worn on Sunday - and their everyday clothes. Two outfits. That’s it. How did they do it? And meat was only eaten once a week- or twice if there was a holiday. They convened at the neighbor’s house when there was an interesting radio program playing, otherwise they did without (no TV mind you).

I look around my house and realize that we’ve got it good. I’m typing this on a PC and posting it via the Internet and if we were really that bad off, I would have neither of these luxuries. I wouldn’t have a special shampoo or be able to choose whole grain bread over white bread. I wouldn’t be able to say “Hey! I need new sandals because these are just ugly!” Nope. I would be canning and hoarding and scraping to make sure my kids had a roof over their heads, not worrying about going to basic cable instead of America’s Top 150 on Dish. My children have closets full of clothes and have milk and meat everyday. I’m scrimping and saving to keep these things. So they don’t go without them. Not so they’ll survive. Because I have no worries that our money woes are going to cause our kids to get sick, go homeless or die. We are LUCKY. I don’t think enough people realize just how lucky they are.

I’m still coming up with a budget, though. I like our little luxuries and don’t want to have to give them up. I like having cable and the internet and being able to buy my kids little cheap toys every so often. I like being able to choose between good food and processed. I like that I can take my girls to a decent doctor and not have to worry about them dying from an ear infection (my great-uncle died from an ear infection when he was 1 year old). We have one car (and it runs!), two tvs (we married our households so one of them is 15 years old), and one PC. Our bills are paid on time every month and our refrigerator is always stocked. We’ve got it good. I’m not complaining. I’m counting my blessings.

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He’s here!

Posted by Lizzie

Born at 7:09am May 9,2008. He weighed 5lbs. 8oz and was 18 inches long. I introduce my new grandson, KJ!

Pee Wee went to the doctor on Thursday and her blood pressure was way up. So we had to go to labor and delivery where she could be evaluated. Her BP spiked to 173\104. They decided to induce labor. We moved from triage to a birthing room and they commenced with the magnesium sulfate (to prevent seizures) and the pitocin. They inserted a foley ball, inflated it and waited for it to fall at- which would indicate she’d reached 3 cm. and that an epidural could be placed. It fell out within the hour. But there were so many babies coming on Friday morning that we had to wait for the anesthesiologist. Pee Wee labored like a champ for those few hours. She breathed fine, didn’t panic and didn’t start screaming and cussing. Finally she got her epidural and all was well.

Around 6:30am the doctor came in to check on her and noticed that the babies heart rate would drop with each contraction. They thought something like this could happen because of the combination of magnesium and pitocin, so they decided it was time to do a section. At this time she was 6 cm.

I was there when my grandson was pulled out at 7:09am. My daughter and I both cried when she heard him cry (I had already seen him placed on her belly, but she couldn’t see above the curtain). Then Pee Wee promptly fell asleep. I stayed with the baby until Pee Wee and he were ready to go to recovery.

She stayed until yesterday and I stayed with her. I have to tell you that I have a HUGE amount of admiration for post-partum support people (most often dads, of course). I didn’t sleep any more than she did while we stayed there. She needed a little more help than usual, of course, because of her incision. I helped her in every way that I could and she managed just fine. She’s having some issues with breastfeeding, but they gave her a hospital grade pump to help her get it going (she’s got large breasts and the swelling from the pre-eclampsia didn’t make that any better). Also, he’s a little “tongue-tied” so breastfeeding is a challenge for them both.

Mags is having a little difficulty adjusting to the new baby now. I try to give her the most attention and let Pee Wee tend to KJ, but when Pee Wee calls for help I go and, well, Mags doesn’t like that. So far I’ve had to pretend to pump my breasts, hold her like a baby, pat her butt, and show her pictures of her babyhood. I’m hopeful that she’ll get through this phase soon because she’s kind of driving me batty.

Oma¹ and KJ in the hospital chair.