Urushiol

The word urushiol is derived from the Japanese 'urushi' which means lacquer. This substance was in the lacquer used to preserve the gold leaf inlays of lacquerware. It's been 9 days since I tugged on a possible poison ivy seedling but now I can't sleep for the lesions that have spread from my neck to my groin. Other sources of urushiol? Mangoes of all things. My former house guest left a box of these behind: 2 kinds. Now I haven't touched these things though I ate an already peeled one. The fruit is free of the poison but the rind contains it. I've eaten mangos happily without any symptoms but I have never peeled one. Another example of good intentions turning into poison. I looked for the seedling for Steve to dig up and bag but it is gone; must have dried up in this incredible heat wave we are having.

I have to water the plants several times a day and wake up very early to run. I haven't run as much as usual due to all the activity going on.  Maya was here yesterday during the day too. Still a very sleepy little girl. Loves to nurse though.

Dakota was romping at full tilt using both legs. On the next visit, we'll take the movie camera to document this.

We took her in for her first check-up Tuesday morning. She had gained 2.5 oz since the nurse weigh-in the day before. 35%tile for head and weight: 79%tile for height though an ounce either way really changes those numbers. All the staff seemed very surprised to see a young mom nursing, I guess it's rare. Some comments were made about Maya's unusually long feet but we know where she got those from. Naomi strolls in there with short shorts and a tight tank top. Definitely did not look like a new mom. She did have an uncomfortable moment in the waiting room when she needed to nurse and a man was there. It was hard to construct a privacy tent with a receiving blanket. Shanna has since given her her "Hooter-Hider" as Daniel's needs aren't so pressing. He will be cut off on his first birthday.

Some of my friends came over to see the boys. Maya wasn't there though but she will be around other times. The grandboys won't be. They are both active little guys. Oliver is constantly chattering in his language mixed with American sign language. Very hard to understand him. His aunt was watching him the other day and he complained of something in his eye. Bee! Bee! She looked for insects and was puzzled. The culprit was sand which he associates with the beach. But he doesn't say beach, just B. He reverses sounds: Vee-Tee instead of TV. He can indentify written letters and figure out what letter a word probably starts with but is having trouble repeating words. He has an amazing receptive vocabulary and puts 3 words together. It is just hard to understand these words. We do hear Me and No alot. While his mom was out and he had snuck out of bed, I took him on a night walk looking at fireflies and all my color changing lights. Daniel smiles alot and tries to charm people with his tricks: clapping, showing how big he is and vigorously shaking his head no. He is very cute, a little dumpling weighing just slightly less than his 18 month older brother. He does not sleep through the night. I hear him now as I type fussing. But during the day, he's an angel.

We watched Germany vs Spain soccer semi-final which I am sure the whole town where Josh is staying was watching. Alas the Germans did not show up with their A game. They are lucky Spain didn't have more goals. I am sure he helped them drown their sorrows in Koelsch, the one German word he has learned.

Cleome

Cleome from the web. My camera is in Germany and I hate to use Steve's plus he hides it

I planted several cleomes a few weeks ago. They are tall and lacy. The leaves look like marajuana plants. Wouldn't Cleome make a nice name? The downside of them is that they smell like a skunk sprayed them.

I have been trying to control the itching from the poison ivy with benedryl but I must keep myself awake today to deal with many things. I have since read that washing with soap after possible exposure is counter-productive and spreads the oil. I should have washed myself with rubbing alcohol instead. Meanwhile the lesions have spread from my neck to my arms and I have a patch around my waist.

On the 4th, Don'Tae brought one of his brothers over for our dinner, a very polite 11 year old boy. During labor, two of his sisters were in the room. Naomi's favorite was certainly not my favorite. She asked (demanded) the nurse to fetch her something and while Naomi was trying to concentrate on contractions, she amused herself noisily with texting. When I asked her to take it to the waiting room (where there is no reception, ha!), she glared at me defiantly. Just love those teenage girls with their thinly disguised contempt!I told her that things have changed, any distraction wouldn't be good for Naomi. Also I stopped Don'tae from talking to Naomi in the middle of the contractions (Wait until the needle goes down!) but then there wasn't many breaks. Finally Don'tae got the message and sent the sisters packing. Don'tae seemed puzzled over the many aspects of labor and delivery. He must not have been paying attention in that class I sent them to but at least Naomi did. She was very good at breathing through the hard contractions. When I had Naomi, they remarked how large the placenta was. I do have a rather disgusting picture of my mega placenta. But Maya's placenta was only one third the size. No wonder she's tiny.

We are taking her to her first doctor's visit and then to put her on her own health insurance. The offices have been closed up to today.

Maya in action

Josh is accounted for and had a good time in Paris.

Shanna and Ramy are on a mini-honeymoon. Won't see them until tomorrow.

Baby Maya is getting her first nurse visit for a weight and bilirubin check. As Naomi has real milk now, I'm sure she has stopped losing weight. Update: She weighed the same as she did when she left the hospital-7#8oz but that's normal. No jaundice either so all is fine with her.

Attached (hopefully) is Maya thrashing around. She has the cutest cry.

Poison ivy

Baby and me shortly after birth. Maya still has the antibiotic ointment smeared across her eyes. They need a water soluble replacement. They had given Silver Nitrate to my first two (water soluble) but that has changed. Note my new glasses picked up just the day before. Please do not note the roots that need retouching badly. When my babies aren't around, then maybe I'll deal with roots. My chemo curls have morphed into chemo waves.

I am very sensitive to poison ivy. I am constantly scanning my surroundings for it and refuse to walk on paths where it may be brushing up against me. A month ago, we were walking Dakota down a path and I had to keep her on a very short lead due to it presence. The person with me saw no such danger so I had to do the dog leading. A few years ago I started to tug on it in my garden when I realized what it was. I quickly ran to wash it off and did not touch anything including my body. But 3 days later, the rash was all over my belly (which I certainly didn't touch). The other day, in a part of my yard I never saw poison ivy, I started to pull on a very small plant..ugh! baby poison ivy but so small the leaves weren't completely formed (it did have a red squarish stem though) I touched everything with my left uncontaminated hand and washed with fatty soap forever. Too late. It is all over my neck and under my chin 4 days later. I am nervous about Sunny's romps through the woods. She's given it to Julia a few times, who must be as sensitive as me. Last year I was careful to garden with gloves on at all times due to how fragile my nails were (thanks Taxol!!) and my immune system not being its usual self. I wore through the finger tips..need new gloves.


Maya had her first period yesterday. I had asked Naomi earlier and she thought I was crazy but Don'tae remembered that I said this was a possibility and didn't panic when they saw a bit of old blood.

All the babies (and their parents) come later today.
Happy Fourth!!!!!

Invasion of the grandbabies

Such tiny hands

Hard to believe that less than a year ago, Daniel was smaller than Maya

Sleeping peacefully on Grandma's bed

All the grandkids-2 days, 10 months, 29 months

Naomi was released today. Lots of hurry-up and wait situations getting her ready to leave. Since it is a Saturday and a holiday weekend, the hospital was empty with little services. Noone to check to see if we installed the car seat correctly (a very time consuming chore and we still don't think it's in right).

Shanna was too tired to drive through the night so they stopped but eventually made it here.

While Naomi was off showing the baby (I tried to float the idea of visitors coming to see her..not her driving all over the place with a newborn) I ran in the oven like heat. At least the humidity is low though it is baking my plants to a crisp.

No word from my world traveller. Hopefully he is safe.

Priority of the right

I feel uneasy when my kids are on long trips. I breathe a sigh of relief when they are safely there.

Shanna is driving from Boston to here trying to take advantage of the boys' sleep cycles. They have a video player to amuse them but they like to move after a while and don't suffer in silence. She left 12 hours ago, which means if she were me and didn't have her paasengers she'd be here already.

Josh is driving from Cologne, Germany to Paris, France. I mapped out several iternaries for him (as I am a map freak and love to do stuff like that). One going through Belgium, the other mainly through France but going by some cool cities and through Luxembourg. These will probably be ignored. He is with co-workers who hopefully understand French driving patterns better than he does. Their hotel is right across from the Loevre. Wish I were there.

One difference is the placement of traffic lights. Here they are in the middle of the intersection overhead. If I am the first car, I pull up to the crosswalk or all the way to the intersection. In France, if you do that, the light mounted on the side, will be behind you. It took a while for me to adjust to that and prodding by irate drivers behind me to go when I couldn't see the light.

And their cryptic "Vous n'avez pas la priorite de la droite!" In France, there is the priority of the right meaning people coming in from the right to a road get preference. Here we have the unspoken priority of the straight: meaning if you are on the road already, others coming in from the side will just have to wait their turn. In traffic circles (which are more common than lights), they will have "Vous n'avez pas la priorite de la droite!" as it ends up with less accidents. In Belgium, European capital of traffic accidents, that isn't so clear and it is the unspoken, priority of whomever jumps the gun first.

Maybe I should not have included Belgium in his road trip. Damn. I hope he bought the map I told him to.

Well they do what they want to do.

Steve told his mom who lives in Seattle, last night that she is a great-grandmother again. She of course was surprised. What, was she pregnant??!!!! Photos are being sent to her. She did get to meet Oliver in person when he was 14 months.

But I will have 3 babies here soon!

First day on earth

Asleep in her bassinet

Getting clean for their big trip

I've yet to see Ms. Maya with her eyes open but Don'Tae took this shot while I wasn't around. From this, it appears she has Naomi's eyes and mouth. Naomi says the eyes are green but there's a good chance they will turn brown. No sign of red hair.

Since Naomi had the baby after 8 pm, she isn't being kicked out until tomorrow. So far Maya appears to be quite healthy and eager to nurse. We visited her today and all is well.

When Dakota jumped off a bed onto a carpet and had trouble walking, Naomi did take her to the HS but without her paying cash up front, they wouldn't see her. So much for wanting to help dogs. Just as well they didn't see her as then they would seize the dog if she didn't have resources to fix it. Apparently dog ownership is only for the rich.But she seemed to get better and clearly was not in pain, we assumed she'd heal (and now she is using her leg even more!).Even the vet who first examined her agreed that the dog was not in pain. We have this in writing. Today was the day we had to prove we have a surgery scheduled or they seize the dog. In their eyes, this was way more important than Naomi being in labor. Imagine being in labor and some bully comes in threatening to take your dog away!!! No word from them yet. Dakota is no longer with us. One would assume they have bigger fish to fry with all the dog fighting going on but this investigator seemed fairly committed. Meanwhile our house guest denied launching this. She has said that they asked her if she would like to file a 'cruelty' charge but said no.She said she had no idea that they would pursue this. I am angry at her because she knew how much the dog was loved and cared for. How come she couldn't tell them that?

And would people take their animals to the HS if they knew that if somehow some rare condition is found, they would be prosecuted for not knowing about it?

And my adorable grandsons should be on their way as I type to visit. They (the parents) will try to drive while they sleep. They aren't so adorable being confined and awake. So tomorrow, I will see all my grandbabies.