Miranda, my friend I met through him (he once dated her), had died that morning.  She was 30 years old, a mother of a 7 year old son.  Miranda had asthma.  She wrote off the shortness of breath and the chest pains she was having Wednesday as being an asthma attack.  She used her inhaler, went to bed and never woke up.

I feel like a horrible friend.  Miranda and I have been trying for 6 months now to get together for lunch.  We have both been too busy or couldn’t get our schedule to mesh.  I never even took Chloe by to see her when we were in town because we were always so rushed.

So please, call your friends, meet them for lunch.  They might not be there next week to meet you for lunch.

Miranda

What is your earliest childhood memory?

My earliest childhood memory:

My dad has always had a beard and mustache. When I was about 3 or 4 he shaved his face completely. I was scared to death. I hid under the covers of my bed and cried.

Mitchell normally keeps a beard and mustache. I cannot stand for him to shave his face completely. I think I’m still traumatized.

Note: Dad has never since that day shaved his face completely

First, let’s go for my health background. I have Hereditary Spherocytosis. Basically I have some funky looking red blood cells. They jerked my spleen out when I was 5. All has been well, except living without a spleen makes me more prone to catch an infection. There is a 50% chance Chloe will inherit this, so I’m considered a high right pregnancy.

Let me add here, I’m allergic to Tylenol. I am not supposed to take Motrin while pregnant.

Here is the highlights of my past 2 weeks.

Wednesday the 20th of Feb. I had a Braxton Hicks contraction. I’ve had them a few times in my back, but this time I had it one in my uterus. I called the doctor to make sure everything was ok since it was a new feeling. She told me to lay down, if I started having more contractions, or if they formed a pattern, to call her back. Everything was ok after this contraction-wise.

Thursday the 21st of Feb. I start feeling very crappy and running a low grade temperature. I called the doctor again mid day. She called back and asked for me to come in for a urinalysis he next day just do double check he fever and contraction had nothing to do with each other.

Friday the 22nd of Feb. Melanie called to let us know Gage tested positive for the flu. I called on my way to the lab to see if I could get a flu test while I was there. It was negative.

Friday I stayed home from work. I just felt like couldn’t hold my head up long enough to be productive. My fever kept creeping up through the day. I had called my doctor’s office, but by 4pm they had not gotten back with me (I’m guessing my 2 calls including the call about the flu text got combined into one and thrown away). I decided to head on to the ER when my temp hit 101.5F. I go through the whole story about having a flu test that morning, but for some reason these people could not get it through their head. I requested a flu text because I was already at the clinic for lab work. I did not have a doctor’s appointment. They used a thermal thermometer (which is going off Chloe’s registration NOW, they suck) right after I walked in from outside. Seems my temperature was 97F and they thought I was stupid and full of shit. I was treated like crap, asked why I didn’t wait around for my doctor’s appointment… again, I did not have a damn doctor’s appointment… and told there was nothing wrong with me and sent home. Let’s hope I don’t get a bill for this visit, they do NOT want the phone call they will get about it.

Saturday, Feb 23rd the fever just kept creeping and creeping up. Finally it hit 102.7 and I called my doctor. She had me meet one of her partners (she was in the middle of an emergency at the time) on the OB floor of the hospital. They used the thermal thermometer and showed my fever was 98F. Once I explained what happened last night, they retook my temp under my tongue it was 103.4. I got to spend the night.

Sunday, Feb 24th, Happy Birthday To me! My fever broke overnight, and I thought all was well and I was going to get to go home. Boy was I wrong. The nurse steps in to ask me my preference of ambulance services, I was heading to Little Rock.

I have now had iv’s in 3 different places, blood drawn in every vein to where nurses are warning each other about me at shift changes.  I look like a druggie with all this holes and bruises.  I have been hooked to monitors where there seems to be a cord coming out of every inch of my body.  Basically tortured while they were trying to find how to heal me.   I’ve been packed in ice, given breathing treatments, and been in 6 different hospital rooms.

I’m told I get to go home tomorrow, but I have to work with home iv nurses to continue 10 more days of antibiotic therapy.  I can hardly wait.  I’ve sat up numerous nights just crying wanting to go home.

They say the worse time to have a pneumonia is while you are pregnant.  You already have a baby pushing up on your lungs, and then you can get the abdominal strength to really cough like you need. I’ll have to say having a pneumonia anytime is horrible.

I come home from work to this on the door:

We found out a little over a week ago. Peeing on a stick is very hard when your hand is shaking. My first test turned positive before I could even place it on the counter. That wasn’t good enough for me though, we went BACK to the store to get another test. This time I missed the stick all together and got about 2 to 3 drops on it, still positive. I honestly didn’t need the tests anyways, my body knew something was different.

Mitchell and I defiantly were not planning for a baby. He is finishing his last year of his undergraduate degree in Physics, I just started a new job 4 months ago. Bad timing. I started to feel better about things as people told us, there is never the perfect time to have a child. You are never prepared, there is never enough money.

The last week has been an emotional roller coaster. We broke the news to our families, which luckily they were all excited. See, my sister got knocked up a couple years ago out of wedlock. She is now happily married to her “baby’s daddy” and has the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world.  They just bought a new house btw!  My family had already been through that shock. I’m glad they weren’t in too much shock, because I still was!

I cried for a week straight. I wasn’t crying because I was pregnant, because I don’t want a child, I didn’t know why the hell I was crying half the time. I’ve read this is normal the first trimester. Mitchell tried cheering me up once by stating: “Just think, you have a piece of me inside you”. I replied I was pretty sure that is what got us into this mess to begin with.

I’m just now getting over the shocked phase. I’m starting to get excited. I know it is still early. I know anything could happen. I don’t need to be told this again. I worry about it every day.

My first doctor’s appointment is October 29th. I already have a list of questions a mile long. Using an internet due date calculator, it seems I will be due the end of May and I am currently 6 weeks along. Funny, Mitchell graduates May 10th. I’ve been told I better not go into labor during his finals! I told him I’d keep my legs crossed, but after he got his diploma, it was fair game!

We are making several lifestyle changes. First and foremost, I’ve almost completely quit smoking. I had cut back taking the chantix, but never completely stopped smoking. I’ve read not to completely quit smoking, but to ween yourself off. Stopping cold turkey can throw your body, and the baby’s, into shock. I’m down to 4 or 5 a day and not even smoking a whole one when I do smoke. I’ve also cut the caffeine down. Instead of gallons of diet mt dew a day, I’m drinking decaf tea, juice, water and milk. We have also cut down on spending. Instead of going out to eat, we cook at home. The savings is a pack of diapers!

So now I have someone else to put first. There is no room to be selfish now. It’s all about the baby. Luckily I also have Mitchell who has been taking wonderful care of me! He has been helping around the house, cooking dinner, and more than anything, just telling me everything is going to be ok.

I’m pretty much the luckiest girl in the whole wide world right now!

I’ve now had my first camping experience and I love it! Some friends of our purchased some very raw land for everyone to gather a couple times a year for a big camping weekend. They have invited everyone to feel free to camp there throughout the summer, as long as they helped clean out a few camping areas. So not only did I camp this weekend, I also did manual labor!

When we first got out to the land, Chuck, Dustin and Chasity had already been out all weekend. They had cleared a majority of our camping area, but Mitchell and I did work on our camp site and a trail to lead there. We then helped clear out two more camp areas along with trails to them also.

The greatest thing of the weekend was I didn’t hate it! I actually enjoyed myself. I did learn a few things…

1. I would never make it on my own in the woods. I would get lost and starve.
2. Sleeping under the stars is very underrated. It has to be the most amazing thing in the world.
3. It does take a while to lose uptight, prissy Jennifer and relax enough to be camping Jennifer. The transition is weird, but once that happened, I didn’t want to come back to the busy real world.
4. The no shower thing is the hardest part for me. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled as bad as I did coming home.
5. Sitting around a fire in the woods, drinking, talking, laughing, joking really brings out the “real” in you.
6. I didn’t bitch and moan as much as I thought I would. Mitchell actually bitched more than I did.
7. Bug bites itch.
8. I made a new friends. I spent only a few hours with Dustin and Chuck and one day with Chasity and I feel I’ve known them my whole life.
9. Air mattresses are a life saver.
10. Sleeping on a slope suck.
11. Chasity kicks Mitchell’s ass camping. She can start a better fire and cook better.

I did also realize the biggest difference between Mitchell and I and our views of camping and the outdoors is, he could live in the outdoors and come to the town just to get stories to tell around the campfire. Me, I like to go camping to get away, but I can’t wait to get home and blog about it

Oh, I forgot the most important part!  Chasity taught me to pee in the woods!

My opinion of Internet Dating
I think it’s rather neat.  Where else can you get a catalog of men that you can flip through?  At first when I tried it, I was … embarrassed.  I’m a cute, fun girl.  Why did I need to turn to the internet to meet men?  The answer came to me one night I was clubbing with my friends.  I met a guy who was very good looking and sweet.  He was not only buying me drinks, but drinks for all my girls.  We danced, we had a great time, and then I found out he just got out of prison for man slaughter.   Seems on top of being cute and sweet, he had a temper and killed a man with his bare hands.  Seeing as I didn’t want to die, I thought it might be a good idea to leave before guy got anymore personal information out of me.   At this time, I figured internet dating couldn’t be any worse.

And how did I meet Mitchell?  Funny story actually.  I met Mitchell, the love of my life, on Myspace.  Yes, I know you just cringed, but there is a story behind it.

Late one sleepless night I’m laying bored in my bed going through Myspace people in my area to see if I knew anyone that I could add to my friend list.  My list was looking pretty pitiful.  I don’t think I had 8 people to form my top 8 and make me look super cool.  I saw Mitchell’s picture and thought he was really cute.  Being the nosey girl I am, I looked at his profile.

Divorced – at least he wasn’t married
Proud Parent – I like some kids
Pisces -  OH me too!
Computer Tech – I get all giddy inside… A nerd a nerd!

Then the part that won me, a Physics major!  How sexy is that?

So I added him as a friend, honestly just because I need Advanced Calculus to finish my math degree and I knew with his degree he had to have had it.  I go on searching for people I knew and mostly forgot all about the physics nerd, until he sends me a message a few days later.

He saw I had graduated from Gosnell and asked if I knew Wesley.  As a matter of fact, I adore Wesley.  I graduated with him and considered him a great friend.  Turns out, they are step-brothers.   A few months go by and I’m planning my class reunion and I need Wesley’s phone number.  I message Mitchell to find out Wesley is coming to town this weekend.  We make plans for the three of us to go out that night.

There was never any plans for Mitchell and I to “hook up”.  I tease him because that very night we all went out, he had 3 other “dates”.  They ended up not working out for him, so he decided to go ahead and hang out with me and Wes.  We haven’t been apart since.

The first few week, Mitchell and I just pulled all-nighters playing old school Nintendo.  We still had no intention of dating.  It’s still an argument over who put the moves on who first.  He put the moves on me, but he says it’s because I was giving out a vibe.

We have been together over a year now and I’m happier than ever.  He’s my best friend and the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. No, marriage is not in the works yet.  Keep your panties on. Now instead of Nintendo, we play Champions of Norrath all night.

So Root, I know you were probably talking more of meeting online, living across the country or world from each other, but my “internet relationship” works for me.   I’m honestly happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.

Mitchell left to go see his dad in West Virgina.  I’ve forced all my friends to baby sit me one night each this week.  Tonight Nita and I went to dinner then shopping.  I came home, talked to Mitchell for a few minutes then started playing on the computer.  I thought all was going to be ok tonight.  Then I smell this plastic burning smell.  I sit up and turn to see that I’ve caught Mitchell’s plastic plant on fire.  I had a candle lit beside it, as it started to burn down, flame got higher, plant catches fire.  To top it off, as I’m going to blow the fire out, I step on my makeup mirror and crush it.

I’m hoping he gets home soon before I do burn the house down.

We normally celebrate our anniversaries based on the moon phase.  The night we met, there was the must beautiful full moon.  We both have busy lives, but the night of a full moon, we put everything off and spend take the night for us.  It’s date night.  Our date night might just be dinner and movie at home, but it is always just the two of us.

This weekend we celebrated our calendar anniversary.   Friday night we had planned to go to Brickhouse, a restaurant/club here in Jonesboro.  Neither of us have been before, but we have heard wonderful things about it.  Crystal told us we were old because we got there and decided it was too loud, so we left.  We went at 9pm thinking we could have dinner before the club crowd came.  About the time we were finished with dinner, we could have a few drinks and socialize a bit.  We were wrong.  At 9pm the place was already packed.  The band was already playing.  There wasn’t a table free.  So we left and went to Ruby Tuesday’s to eat.

Saturday we get up and go have breakfast.  I laid down for a nap once we got back.  I woke up to flowers, a card, and the first season of Grey’s Anatomy.  He’s getting a PS2 hopefully today after we go see Harry Potter.

When Mitchell and I met a year ago, the last thing we expected/wanted was to date, much less fall in love with each other.  We both just wanted someone to hang out with.   I look back now and wouldn’t change a thing.  One year ago I met my best friend and the man I’m in love with.