Right after those adorable pictures Lisa took, we realized Georgia was jaundiced, and also struggling with breastfeeding. She had to go get her bili levels tested daily. She did not have to do the light bed or be admitted to the hospital, fortunately. Even though I had a new baby with jaundice and was recovering from yet another c-setion, life didn’t pause. Work on the basement continued, the older four kids had a dance recital, Adam and I went to the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards. Life was as busy as always, but busier. The nice thing was she was born right after school got out, so no rushing anyone anywhere in the mornings.
Kimball got a nasty cut on his finger.
Caisen did Daisy’s hair for me.
The boys doing their hip hop dance.
Brinlee shaking a tail feather.
All of my rock stars after the recital.
Every woman wants to squeeze into cocktail attire three weeks after a c-section to deliver her sixth child in six years. It was actually a formal event, but I couldn’t zip any of my formal wear. Cocktail would have to do. When I pulled up to the Grand America, the valet informed me it was $8. I told him I didn’t have any cash with me, and he said that was ok. Then I looked at him and said, “I don’t know why you think I’m here, but if I don’t have any cash walking in, I won’t have any cash when I come out, either.” He just took my keys and drove off.
Right after that I got mastitis. I knew it was happening, I’d had it before, but they won’t give you an antibiotic until you have the fever. The 103.5 can’t stop shaking from the chills and delirious and Advil won’t break it fever, and it hit at 7 pm on a Friday. By the time the on-call doctor called back and quizzed me thoroughly (it was a man) and reluctantly called in the Rx, it was late, and Adam had to drive 30 minutes to the 24-hour pharmacy, which means I got my first dose after midnight.
The next day Adam and his brothers had tickets to see the Salt Lake Real play (soccer). I told him to go. All I had to do was feed the baby. The other kids would just play, and I’d stay in bed in between. Ladies: Learn where the water valve to your dishwasher is. Because one day your dishwasher might randomly start filling with water WHILE THE DOOR IS OPEN AND IT’S NOT TURNED ON and it might start spilling all over the floor while you are in the middle of feeding your newborn and you have mastitis and want to die and your husband is not home and at the same time your 3-year old breaks a glass on the floor by the dishwasher where you and five of your very young kids are all standing barefoot as you are trying to figure out how to turn off the water and throwing down towels and the baby is screaming bc she had just started eating and you are trying to carry each of your barefoot babies away from the broken glass without cutting your own feet and you can barely stand bc you are so sick and water is still going everywhere and you grab a kid cup and start bailing water out of the dishwasher and you go to run the disposal to see if that will by some miracle help drain the water in the dishwasher and you find your favorite pen in the disposal instead and you scream at your kids to run and get your (very handy) neighbor but he’s not home. Because that could hypothetically happen to you. But if you know where the water valve is you could skip several of these steps and have a much less interesting story to share.
Then on Monday morning I woke up covered in hives from an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. Great. They told me to stop taking it (obviously. I’d already figured that part out), and didn’t give me another one. They told me to wait and see if it came back. Fortunately it didn’t.