Giggling Granny

Yesterday morning Gene, Alivia and I spent the day in Omaha which is an hour away . Two years ago my husband started having back pain and has had enough. Physical therapy, 2 rounds of steroid injections, a discogram and many pain killers later he is going to have surgery Thursday, April 3rd. Yes, two days before Baby Girl is due. Postponing surgery isn't an option to prevent permanent nerve damage, plus the man is in pain 24/7. So yesterday we had all day appointments for all of the pre-op stuff. So informative, but my brain is on education overload because as soon as we got back into town Alyssa and I had to go to her last Lamaze class.

My neighbor's mother, Nancy blessed us with private classes. She has been teaching for over 30 years and this was her gift to Alyssa...so sweet! The first class, a few weeks ago for some reason as soon as we got to the part that I had to help her with her breathing I got a BAD case of the giggles. Poor Nancy thought I was crying which made me laugh harder until I actually did have tears streaming down my face as she reassured me that "all Grandma's feel like this Lelia, you're just reliving when you had your babies."

What made me have to excuse myself from class though and go to the bathroom to regroup is when Alyssa looked at me as a mom looks at her out of control child and asked,

"What is wrong with you?".

So yesterday I was determined to be on my best behavior. What I failed to mention earlier is that for 2 nights in a row I had worked until 2:30am and got up early both Thursday and Friday mornings. I'm trying to get much in order in the office before taking time off to be with Gene pre & post-op. So needless to say, Friday at Lamaze after spending hours between the hospital and doctor's offices with Gene, Lelia was very tired.

With Gene there was only one time when I laughed and that was toward the end of the day. He had to have a physical done by a doctor we had never met and when we did meet him... he was just interesting. Short with the type of body shape that would look perfect in a Santa suit, he had dark thick-rimmed glasses on and and did something weird with his lips. Then I noticed he had braces and he was just trying to keep his lips over them as he kept sucking the extra saliva back into his mouth. He started questioning Gene and then interrupted him when the phone on the wall begin to ring. When he loudly answered "YO!" it was all I could do to maintain maturity so I just looked down at my shoes and counted my lace holes. Then after he hung up he asked Gene to lie down on the table and every time he touched Gene he would close his eyes. It was just funny. Afterwards when he gave Alivia stickers for being so good, I wanted to ask for the one that said "AWESOME" because I was just that!

Okay, back to Lamaze...this last class we had out at Nancy's beautiful home. After taking a brief tour we started class with a review. All of a sudden, my eyes were so heavy. I felt like I did when I was young the day after a Saturday night slumber party trying to keep my eyes opened in church.

Oh it was so tough and being the retired middle school teacher that Nancy is, I know she caught me with my eyes closed and head jerking a few times as I was falling asleep. But I didn't laugh...until Nancy explained to Alyssa how to handle constipation if she gets it after she gives birth. I just have to quote this because I don't even know how to re-word it, "You probably won't get any Alyssa, but if you do, you just take the suppository and stick it up your anus and you'll be fine."

Now keep in mind I have worked in health care for over 15 years. Many of those years in home health care and so I have even done for others exactly what Nancy told Alyssa to do. No big deal. But yesterday, with only 2 hours of sleep under my belt I just could not handle her verbal instruction. I felt like a pre-teen squirming and giggling during their first Birds and Bees talk. I hid the lower part of my face behind the couch pillow I had in my lap as I tried to keep it together.

Focus, focus. I lassoed my thoughts and giggles quickly and sat there as the mature adult that I am and made sure to avoid all eye contact with Nancy or Alyssa. Back to counting the laces holes in my tennis shoes.

Then we started doing some more breathing and when sweet Nancy asked me to participate, simply put...I lost it. It made me sad that I was giggling so hard---you know when you can't talk or breathe and the tears are flowing type of giggling? Alyssa and Nancy started laughing too. Then Nancy tried to move forward and Alyssa rudely interrupted Nancy to ask, "Can she leave or something? Seriously, Mom you need to go to the bathroom or something." I didn't try arguing as I could tell these giggles were not done running their course and also because I couldn't talk. As I got up off the couch Nancy was laughing as she said, "Just come back when you feel like it. There's some pictures you can look at in there."

I was laughing so hard and my vision was blurred from the tears that all I could do was nod my head as I left the room. As I leaned over the sink, I looked into the mirror and asked the same question Alyssa had asked me 2 weeks earlier...

"What is wrong with you?"

So...this upcoming week I'm really just trusting that God works out ALL the details of this craziness.

Gene's surgery is a major one...3-4 hours long as they are fusing the bottom discs together which will leave him with 6 screws and rods and months of recovery ahead of him. We will spend the night in Omaha Wednesday night as he has to check into the hospital at 5:30am. My sister is spending the night with our kids and getting the 2 youngest to school for us.

Gene wants me to be with Alyssa when she goes into labor, but I want to be with both of them. After surgery on Thursday, Gene will be in the hospital for 3-4 days. Did I mention he'll be in Omaha which is an hour away?

So, for ME, it would be ideal if Alyssa doesn't have the baby until Gene is back home OR she is born tonight! Only God knows when Miss Amiyah will be making her grand entrance into our lives, but I pray He remembers to look at my planner first!

Also, please pray that I'm mature when Gene's surgeon talks to me post-op and also during labor for Alyssa. I don't want to be kicked out of either hospital room and sent to the bathroom!

Everyone of you who left a comment on my last post...WOW!!

Alyssa, Gene and I were all just overwhelmed & blessed.

Thank you all so much for the prayers, love, concern and just being Jesus to our family.

I love you all.

~Many Blessings~

Lelia