Hello! It’s me, ya girl, with the annual letter, just a bit late this time. Kind of like my period was around this time last year. Ba dum tsssss.
Last May, we were in the midst of some unknown RV troubles. Despite our desire to go to a CAT dealership (preferably in Kansas City) we had to defer to a truck repair place close to the park we were staying at in Kentucky. We got a hotel while the RV was in the shop, and Isaac continued to work in the area. After a few days, we got a call from the shop claiming they fixed the issue. Sounds legit. We picked up the RV and headed for South Carolina. We were about 500 miles into our trip when the same issue with the RV happened again—we lost power, check engine light pops on. Thankfully we were going through North Carolina and it’s basically all downhill. We coasted our way to Isaac’s parents’, but still had to figure out what was going on with the RV in time for our annual trip to Michigan.
To add to the list of vehicle issues, I was driving to visit my sister when my car shifted harshly… and my check engine light came on. An all too familiar situation (reference this post). I took my car in to confirm what we probably already knew.
While all this was happening, Isaac and I were trying to figure out prenatal care (surprise!). I had a blood test to confirm in KY, but we needed to find an OB. Doctors visits aren’t always easy when you’re constantly moving on short notice. And it turns out, practices will straight up deny you care if you don’t sell your soul to their office (sign on for the entire pregnancy). So far my experience with the OB was less than ideal. I had gone to a women’s clinic because I was having terrible cramps for maybe 3 weeks. My period was late, so I suspected I was pregnant, but nothing I was reading online said anything about cramps so bad you wake up in the fetal position at night. Maybe I was miscarrying? But there was no blood. When I told the nurse practitioner administering my blood test, she said “mild cramps” are normal. To which I responded, “these are NOT mild.” She asked if I was experiencing them right then, which was a no, they were random and mostly at night. She told me to go to the ER if I was having bad cramps. So I’m in a doctor’s office, telling them I’m having an issue. Why do I need to wait to go to the ER for me to potentially not be having cramps when I arrive, then to also be dismissed?? I’m right here in front of you now, telling you. </rant>
We weren’t telling anyone about the pregnancy for a myriad of reasons, and part of the motivation to go to SC was because Isaac’s insurance was valid only there. After being turned away by Isaac’s doctor for a referral, some frustrating phone calls and rude receptionists, we found an OB. I had my first ultrasound (and official appointments) around 14 weeks. All was looking well.
By then, we had gotten the call about my car I expected: its transmission needed to be replaced… again. Last time it needed to be replaced, it took around 3 weeks. Time we didn’t have if we wanted to make it back to Missouri then to MI.
Good news though, Isaac found a Freightliner shop, not far from the house, that had free parking spaces with an electric hookup so customers wait in “line” until the availability freed up. They said they could get to us within a few days.
Bad news: we waited almost a week only for them to tell us they didn’t do engine work! You couldn’t have told us that when we told you why we were there?? Isaac had them do some other needed maintenance so the time wouldn’t be a complete waste, then he scheduled an appointment at a CAT dealership he located in NC. More time waiting while the countdown to our vacation ticked away.
On the bright side: my car got completed faster than expected!
After many a repair shop appointments and time spent with family and friends in between, we finally were ready to take off for MO, with time to spare!
But wait! The RV broke down AGAIN. There was a huge burst from the exhaust and we lost power, being stranded on the side of the highway. I was lamenting in our family chat, we were all panic-planning for the MI trip and various other time-sensitive events depending on us when my younger brother asked some specific questions about our engine issue. “In my unprofessional opinion it sounds like a turbo issue,” he said, and directed Isaac exactly what to look for. And guess what, that’s what it was! How could my brother diagnose the issue in a group message from thousands of miles away, but the two places who had the RV physically couldn’t fix it? At this point it was late in the evening so no stores were open. Isaac zip tied the offending part in place and we were able to carefully make our way to a hardware store where we could get the necessary supplies to make a more solid repair in the morning.
Finally, we had the issue pinpointed and fixed (after a couple thousand dollars wasted in repair services) and we were able to make our way to MO without any other issues, with about a week before vacation.
Prepping for the trip went as normal. I was giving no signs of my pregnancy, despite major food aversion, nausea, and vomiting.
While we were in MI, we had a major issue to fix: grandma’s plumbing mystery. Her downstairs toilet wouldn’t flush, and the plumber she hired just told her it was the seal on her toilet, replaced it, charged her 200 bucks, and left her with the same problem as before. Another guy told her it was because her septic was full. When we arrived, it was our top priority to fix the issue, as one bathroom for around 10-15 people was not going to fly.
Isaac, my dad, and my brother-in-law, Dan, climbed under the house to investigate, and what did they find? A very obvious septic pipe coming detached from the plumbing and slowly draining under the house (whenever a flush was attempted). Wow, who would have thought that maybe inspecting the plumbing would enlighten you about the issue?! (Is my frustration with repair services obvious??)
After some tedious repairs, the plumbing was fixed before the rest of the family arrived. We had all the family together again, finally. Isaac put on another fireworks show for the village (despite a national fuse shortage), I had strategic trips to the bathroom to hide my “morning” sickness, we went on a float trip, enjoyed beach days and craft fairs, had our family reunion, making it an all around good vacation.
We stayed in MO with my parents for a bit after vaca, then set off for SC as I had a routine OB appointment. We were only there for my appointment, then went up to Delaware to the family farm and transferred my care to an OB in Maryland. Isaac became salary at his job which granted him better insurance we could use anywhere. We decided DE would be the ideal place for me to be pregnant in peace as Isaac’s brothers were off working in California and we could park at the house with a full hookup. By now I was around 20 weeks (it was August).
Since we would be stationary for the foreseeable future, I seized the opportunity to get a job. I accepted a job from the first place that offered: a dental assistant. It was a learning curve, and rough to be on my feet all day in the beginning, but my coworkers made me feel very welcome and it was a privilege to work there.
A few weeks after we arrived in DE, Isaac had to fly out to Arizona for work, returning to a 10 day on, 4 day off schedule. He was able to make it to a few of my OB appointments before his schedule shifted.
It was an uneventful few months (besides a fear my car’s transmission had to be replaced for a THIRD time. False alarm apparently, my car is just a troll). I worked 4 days a week. My pregnancy was “perfect on paper:” low risk, no concerns, and progressing normally. Our gender reveal was the technician asking us if we wanted to know the gender, saying it was a girl, then us both being like, “cool.” The end. Haha.
Isaac’s brother came back into town earlier than planned, by then I was showing pretty obviously. My oldest sister found out via Reddit. Another one of Isaac’s brothers came into town (and a brother-in-law), so a few people here and there knew about the baby but were sworn to secrecy.
We went to a few local events and landmarks in DE and MD, like Apple Scrapple (we won second place in the Apple Scrapple recipe contest!), the Maryland Corn Maze, and VikingsCon.
The days went on, I got bigger, life got more uncomfortable. Thankfully a doctor gave me some over the counter suggestions for my nausea, because it was bad. I couldn’t ride in a car without vomiting. I couldn’t even look at most food (Isaac had to remove items from our pantry because I couldn’t even THINK of them without gagging and/or throwing up), I threw up just trying to grocery shop one day. The meds kept the nausea at bay until the last week or so for whatever reason. I worked at the dental office up until exactly a week before I gave birth.
December 10th, Eirlys came pretty quickly. Side note, at a previous job one of my coworkers was in labor and another coworker had been giving us updates. I asked, “so it could be any time now?” The women just laughed, saying NO, it would be HOURS, possibly DAYS, before the baby came. Well let me tell you, I had my first major contraction at around 10:30 AM, got to the hospital dilated at a 5 around 2:30 PM, had my water broken at 8, and she came less than half an hour later. The only reason it was so late was because I had to have IV antibiotics for Group B Strep. The last couple hours she was just chilling down there, WAITING. As soon as that IV was finished, it was POP, push, push, push: baby.
We stayed in the hospital for a couple days for all the routine checks. Everything was looking great except my sleep deprived self because of the revolving door of nurses every time I had the chance to rest. We had the RV in the parking lot so Isaac would occasionally go out to check on Avid.
After we got home and settled, I called my mom to surprise her. We did a video chat where I showed her her new grandbaby. It took about five minutes of convincing for her to accept that, yes, I had been pregnant, and yes, this baby was mine, AKA her grandchild. She was sworn to secrecy until Christmas, where we would tell the rest of the family (Isaac’s family on Christmas Eve). Everyone reacted pretty much as I expected.
Late January, I got a job offer from a former classmate to do design work at the marketing agency he is a director at. I had planned to come back to the dental office early February after maternity leave. I came back to give my two weeks, but they told me they didn’t need me to come back at all. OK, I guess! Since my schedule emptied, Isaac planned a birthday trip to Cancun the third week of February, and we took off to SC to visit Isaac’s family before then.
Just kidding! Babies need passports to go to Cancun (we hadn’t even gotten her birth certificate yet). We stayed in SC and had a small party for my 30th. The next week we flew out to MO to visit my family. We returned to SC for a couple more weeks, getting the RV serviced (AGAIN) while Isaac flew to Boston for a week to finish up a side project. We finished up a few errands in SC, like filing a typo form for Eirlys’ BC because both mine and her name were spelled wrong (alas, the tradition continues), then moved back up to DE, with short trips up to Philly and down to Orlando for robot expos. We recently left for Chicago, and are now in MI until our annual vacation, then off to a more stationary destination in either Seattle or Denver.
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