Habit= something you do as naturally as flushing the toilet after going potty. This blog is a habit. Even on busy days, I automatically just think I have to do it now. Last night after drama practice (thank you Becca for walking me safely to the car :D) it was almost 10 getting home and I still had papers to grade, my nightly web cam with the sweetie, and I just couldn't unwind. Too many wheels cranking in my head. Plus with a field trip on the agenda for the first half of the next day, I knew it'd be a lighter load in the morning mentally so I stayed up getting things done till 1:30am (not a healthy choice) then went to bed. At 2:30am the son-in-law came and woke me up to say Mandy was having labor pains. I'm the labor coach (besides the mom) so we loaded all the pre-packed bags and drove to the hospital which is about 35 minutes. It was a full moon.... I don't know if I need to say more. They checked her into "triage" instead of the hospital and told us only one of us could go back there. The son-in-law went first (I'm reserve for the harder pains). I had only slept an hour and the waiting room chairs were uncomfortable, but 35 minutes later I found myself nodding off sitting up.... quite embarrassing. It was 4am and still no word on if the labor was the real McCoy. In the meantime two other women had been wheeled into maternity triage. One was expecting twins.

I kept thinking about the full moon and how my students and I had just had this very talk about why more activity happens on a full moon (it's really quite scientific). I smiled in my delirium. Then another lady came in and I could tell there was no doubting her urgency. Her husband had her in the wheel chair as they stood at the check-in window of the maternity triage and she was giving one syllable responses with a very focused look. I recognized that face and mentality and knew she had on her game face and it was the fourth quarter. Okay, don't make fun of me... it's how I think. So the lady at the desk keeps asking the usual annoying questions that you could care less about at a time like this and the pregnant lady keeps giving nods (without looking) or one syllable responses. Then the lady says, "So do you have a living will?" Response: "No." "Would you be interested in learning about one?" SERIOUSLY!!!??? The lady went past one syllable: "No, I don't think right at this minute I would be!" I thought she was going to pop the lady one. Then the lady says (without sensing the sarcasm apparently), "Oh, I see you're having triplets, I better go get a third monitor." I thought, "Holy Cow! Triplets!" This lady ended up having the babies 20 minutes later via emergency C-section because the third baby wasn't having a heartbeat. But..... we're more concerned about talking to you about a living will.

So at that point "the mom" kicked in and I needed to see my daughter. I wasn't so comfortable with how she was being cared for now. I switched w/the son-in-law and asked what was going on. The contractions were only 2 minutes apart-- consistent, but only 2 minutes- - and she was only dialated to a 4 or 5 so they were going to send her home. It was now 5:30am before they came in to render their decision. The young nurse (I'm guessing 22 w/no wedding ring on while this is my daughter's second child and obviously I've had a few) then began to tell us what a contraction feels like. "And if it's mild we point to the chin," she says. If it's moderate... nose. And if it's hard, we point to the head... well for obvious reasons. And you'll feel your tummy get really hard and...." I am very proud of myself for not explaining to her that she sounded one cell short of an ameba and that her lack of experience only added to our irritation. We packed the daughter up and headed home as I called my principal to see if I could get a sub and reclaim some of my sleep hours.

Of course, I neglected to check my gas gauge before heading out this morning and ... I was on empty. $3.11 per gallon!!! That's crazy. Even with my fuel rewards (.60 cents off) it was outrageous! All the stress drove me to comfort eating. A crispy kreme donut called my name clear from the gas pump. I really just went in for some hot chocolate to wake me up for the drive home, but at 6am exactly, she didn't have the hot water yet. So donut it was. I haven't had one in quite some time. Yes, it was good, but all the sugar gave me a headache. Or... maybe it was the lady in the waiting room.. or the young nurse... or the fact that I was operating on one hour of sleep. Anyway... I ate it.

Getting subs on a Friday-- priceless. They couldn't get one. I went in (same hairdo as the day before and one hour of sleep). I came home for lunch and slept and went back and made sure my daughter was resting. I had dropped little REllo off to my son and his wife at 3am so he was taken care of. The other son and his wife offered to have him come over later and play with the cousins on the new trampoline if needed (and he did that later). I love my family. I have such great kids. Okay... I'm not just saying that because I'm deliriously tired. After school and after I fed the sore pregnant lady some blueberry/banana pancakes (it was the craving of the moment since she hadn't ate all day), I went off to sleep from 5:30-8pm. So, you now know what my after school eats were along with one egg and a can of pears. I ate a bowl of Mini-wheats when I woke up at 8pm because I knew I'd be up at least two more hours (I don't generally eat after 8pm) but I knew I didn't have enough fiber in my days, so had to get some in, plus cereal is easy when you've had such a crazy day.

Went a little over on my calorie goal today, but pretty sure I burned them off and we have a new night ahead of us. So now, I'm going back to bed because I sense that it could be a weekend of little sleep.


BREAKFAST: Donut (Boston Crème- 280 cal. and 1g of fiber, bad sat. fat though)
Snack: Quaker Granola Bar (90 cal. and 1g of fiber)
LUNCH: Dannon Fit Yogurt (90 cal.) Carnation Tuna Pouch (90 cal.) w/16 wheatables (160 cal. and 1g of fiber)
AFTER SCHOOL EATS: 2 blueberry pancakes (water mix, not milk w/bananas smashed in) =200 cal. and 2g of fiber, plus one egg (90) and 1 can of Del Monte 100 cal. pears (4g of fiber)
DINNER: Bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats- 230 cal. and 7g of fiber

Total Calories Today= 1300-1400
Total Grams of Fiber= 16g of fiber