A rough week, but a good day

The last seven days have been really rough for me. Last Wednesday I left work early running a low-grade fever and with a burning in my chest, and I ended up missing Thursday and Friday, too. I took a Covid test Wednesday night, which was negative, but I developed a really bad cough and chest congestion that was way worse than my Covid experience over Christmas. By Friday night, I was afraid I was going to have to go to the ER because my asthma was flaring so badly, but I kept putting it off because I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday afternoon. (The appointment was one I made several weeks ago for a full physical with bloodwork to try to get to the bottom of some other health issues I've been having lately). 

I was feeling marginally better on Monday, but still very, very weak and with a lot of lingering congestion. It turned out to be a bad case of bronchitis and the doctor prescribed prednisone and antibiotics. I had been overusing my asthma inhaler for days just to get enough breath, as well as taking over the counter decongestants and expectorants. One indication of the distress my body was in was that my blood pressure was sky high. Hopefully when I go back for a follow up in a few weeks it will be back to normal. My doctor went ahead and did all the blood panels we had planned on, too, despite the bronchitis. I felt so bad and worn down by the time she was examining me that I kept breaking into tears. I just couldn't help myself. My issues with anxiety and depression always flare up at times like this. And to be honest, those things have been getting worse for a few months now anyway. I've really been struggling. Getting bronchitis on top of it all has been kind of overwhelming.

I discussed some of this with the doctor, so we're meeting again in a few weeks to go over my test results and to try to work on my mental health problems and also any issues that turn up in my blood tests. In the meantime the prescriptions she gave me should have me fixed up in a few more days. I'm still apt to cry at the drop of a hat, but at least I can breathe somewhat better now. Today was the first day I've felt like I'm making my way back to the land of the living.

BUT! To end this depressing blog post on a happy note, I have some really good news to share!!

Our great-nephew, Joseph, was born this morning!

He weighed in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and he's 20 inches long. Baby and Mama are both doing great, and Daddy is over the moon with joy. 

Welcome to the world and your loving family, sweet Joseph!

Quick trip and baby shower

This past weekend was fun. Going out of town (even for a day or two) makes a nice change. The hotel I booked in Raleigh was a bit pricey, but since we only stayed one night it wasn't too bad. We drove up early Friday afternoon, and after checking in and putting our bags down in the room we went out to explore. The hotel sat in the middle of a few blocks of restaurants and businesses in North Hills. It's very walker friendly and safe, everything we needed was easily reachable on foot. It was only about 4pm, and since we weren't planning to have dinner until around 8:00 (when my sister-in-law got off work) we decided to stop for appetizers and drinks at a Chuy's.

I love the bright, funky decor! We ordered margaritas, along with chips, guacamole, and cheese dip. The waitress asked if we wanted a floater shot on top of our drinks (it was happy hour and floaters were $1) so we thought, "Why not?". It's not like we had to drive back to the hotel! Sipping margaritas topped with extra shots of tequila is how we ended up slightly tipsy in the afternoon, walking around downtown Raleigh. Haha.

Later, when Karen got off from her hospital shift, she met us at another restaurant that was an easy walk from our hotel, Cowfish Sushi and Burger Bar. They have an amazing saltwater aquarium, which I filmed for about 30 seconds to show you! We really enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere, and the food was good, too. 

The next morning, after a breakfast of Eggs Benedict at Another Broken Egg Cafe, we checked out of the hotel and drove 30 minutes north to attend the baby shower. Here's the finished Diaper Castle we built for our gift, which everyone seemed to love!

Sister-in-law Karen with her son (and father-to-be) Tyler. I still can't believe he's going to be a dad. He was just a little kid five minutes ago! :)

 

Tyler and Jessica. One person who attended bought them matching "Mom" and "Dad" 2024 mugs. They're getting really excited about the arrival of their baby boy. Little Joseph is due in May.

Late Saturday afternoon, Marla and I drove home. It would have been nice to stay an extra day or two, but she needed to get home ahead of Easter morning. (The Easter Bunny had a basket to leave for her little girl).

It was a quick trip, but a fun one! I'm glad I got to spend some time with the family. Gregg and I will probably visit early in the summer so we can meet the new baby.

Fun day planned (updated)

Have I mentioned that our nephew Tyler and his wife Jessica are having a baby? They're the ones who got married last summer. They're expecting a little boy at the end of May! The whole family is pretty excited.

Two weeks from now I'm headed up to Raleigh to attend the baby shower. Since Marla is a longtime friend of the family, she's going with me. We're heading up the afternoon before and staying the night. (The hotel I've booked for us has a really cool rooftop lounge overlooking the city, so we're looking forward to checking that out!)

Anyway, I decided to get creative for a shower gift. I wanted something fun but also practical, so after much perusing of Pinterest I decided to buy them a huge box of diapers and to build a castle out of them! Here are the two main photos that inspired me:

Marla and I went shopping last night for ribbon, cardstock, and notions to use for the castle, and she's coming over today to help me build it. We're going to drink wine and make an afternoon of it! :) I bought the sweetest little (infant safe) stuffed dragon to go on top. It's baby blue and silver, and it's going to look really cute perched on top of the castle! 

Of course, I'll post pictures later on and show you how it turns out. 

So we're not quite done, but we're going to add some finishing touches next weekend. And this picture was a quick one before we disassembled the various parts for storage, and some of the turrets aren't straight, etc. But here's what we have so far!

In other family news

On Gregg's side of the family, there's some happy news to share.

Last month, our dear niece, Melissa, graduated (with honors) from law school! She's staying in Oregon for the foreseeable future and studying to take the bar later this summer. We're incredibly proud of her!

And next month, Melissa's older brother is getting married! This is our nephew Tyler with his sweet bride-to-be, Jessica. 

We're wishing the two of them a long and happy marriage!