Back to Normal

Well, mostly back to normal, anyway.  I'm still having occasional random moments of weepiness, but that's beginning to fade.  Today I got all the laundry finished and put away (I washed a lot on Friday, then ran out of energy before folding everything and getting it hung up), cleaned the house, washed the kitchen floor, went to an insurance appointment with Ben, stopped in the local precinct so Ben could vote (I still have to vote at my old precinct and I got an absentee ballot last Thursday since I didn't know how much I was going to be ready to be up and around), and made three normal meals instead of the sort of sketchy ones I've been making over the past few weeks.  I did not have a nap attack and did not have to sit down at 5:00 because I was feeling queasy.  For pretty much the first time in my married life (and today is our three-month anniversary!), I feel myself.  It's kind of weird.

One of the strangest things about this is feeling like nothing happened.  Physically, I don't feel any different than I've felt most of my adult life.  I can't tell I was carrying another little person around with me.  This has actually been at the root of some of those random weepy moments, because it's as if I had a baby that just vanished without a trace.  I'm not sure this would've made such an impact on me if I had other children, but it certainly made an impact this time around.  A friend of mine described the weeks after a miscarriage as bringing her a lot of sudden thoughts like, "Wait, this is just wrong - I'm supposed to be pregnant right now!" and I know what she means.  On the other hand, being pregnant was a whole new experience and not being pregnant is something I'm used to.  I have no frame of reference for what was coming next, no memories of what it feels like to get really big and uncomfortable or have the baby move or give birth or nurse or any of those things that were "next on the agenda" a few weeks ago.  So most of the time, the occurrence of thoughts like, "today would've been Week 13" only brings a sort of wistfulness because I have nothing in my brain to really tie that thought to.  

Then there are other times when I am suddenly and intensely sad and Ben has assure me that all is still well.  I'm glad this is fading, because it's sort of like being ambushed - you're walking along and everything's fine until suddenly wham! you're crying over practically nothing at all.  Mom is often like this after a new baby is born.  The family joke is that she cries over Hallmark commercials in the weeks after a new birth.  I didn't expect that to be a part of this week because I guess I sort of figured this baby was so tiny and so new and my body had never had to make such big adjustments that it wouldn't have to adjust too much going back to normal.  In a way, that's true; but apparently I'm still susceptible to crying at odd moments.  Ben keeps getting concerned I'm going to think he's taking this all too lightly because he isn't having the same kind of difficulty and I keep telling him I'm really glad he still has that beautiful Turner smile always ready because it reminds me that all really is very well.

In other news, Grandma Lila has been officially cleared to walk and make all "transfers" (getting in and out of bed, into the bathroom, etc.) on her own since she has strengthened up a lot and is doing so well.  The physical therapist will probably continue to come for a few more weeks, but then she'll mostly likely be discharged from care and will be back to where she was before she fell in November.  Sort of like me: it's as if nothing ever happened.  I think we're all getting more sleep these days, as Grandma doesn't have to wait for someone to come help her to the bathroom and we don't have to get up every few hours either.  It's a lot quieter around here than it was for a while at night.

We're also gearing up to get drawings and plans ready for our addition as it looks like this winter was pretty much nonexistent and spring is coming early.  We have to consistently have some warmer weather before we can pour the concrete footings for the addition, but that time seems to be approaching fast and we need to get our act together and get things nailed down (ha, ha) and ready to submit for permits.  We have a pretty good idea what we'd like to do indoors, but we have some interesting challenges when it comes to things like designing the roof and figuring out exactly what dimensions would suit Grandma's bathroom best.

And I think maybe it's time to resume taking walks.  I've missed them the past few weeks.  There has been a sudden appearance of birds singing in the morning again which makes me think spring really is just around the corner and I've been inside a whole lot lately.  Maybe early tomorrow Ben and I can go out and take a brisk stroll around the neighborhood.

Now that would really be getting back to normal.