Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Big Plastic Cup of Wine

I'm not even sure where to begin to describe the past two days. I suppose it can be summed up by telling you that I'm sitting cross-legged on an air mattress, drinking red wine out of a huge plastic cup while JP is in a nearby hospital hooked up to an IV. For those who'd like to know more, I'll take it day-by-day:

Tuesday: JP thought he was feeling better Monday morning, but did too much taking care of Landon all day. And I let him because I was overwhelmed and at the library and wasn't around to watch him deteriorate (and on the phone he insisted everything was fine and he was feeling great and I should STUDY and stop calling to check in). When I dragged myself home at12:30 AM he was on fire and shivering underneath the mountain of blankets on the bed. I took his temp and it was 104.4. He said he'd forgotten to take tylenol all day, so I gave him some and his temp dropped fairly quickly. When I fell asleep at 2 he was hovering around 99.0. He sweated through all our sheets again and woke up looking like hell. I had a final in two hours, but there was no way he could handle Landon, so I made a frantic call to Maya and she immediately agreed to take him during my final (a new baby has taken his spot, so she couldn't handle him all day). I drove to campus in unusually terrible traffic, dropped the little guy off, and entered the law school 60 seconds before my M&A final began. The exam itself was okay- my analysis was very superficial and I hate that, but it was all I could do. I was supposed to spend the next 12 hours at the library learning something about environmental law for the first time in two months, but I had to go get Landon from Maya's. So I spent the afternoon taking care of both my boys. I finally started studying at 10 when they were asleep and called it quits at 2 AM. I was reading so slowly by the end that I didn't even make it all the way through the outline a good friend and classmate so graciously gave me. Luckily I was too tired to let the fact that I had never read the names of the some of the statutes and most of the cases that would be on the final in seven hours(!) keep me from falling asleep.

Today: JP had terrible night sweats twice - once on our bed and once on the couch after he moved there. This morning he was burning up again but I had to take my final at 9 and the movers were arriving at 8. I showed them around the apartment, told Landon to be nice to his daddy, and left the apartment 5 minutes later than I absolutely had to. I had hoped to finish reading the outline before the exam but didn't have time. I ran into the room to find it full and had to make a whole row of people scoot over a spot just so I could sit down, all flustered and clutching my stack of unopened books. Luckily, oh so VERY luckily, our esteemed professor wrote the exam with four separate questions, each focusing on a different statute, so I could read the question, ctrl+f the outline to find the statute at issue, read about it, and then answer it. Less luckily he reduced the time for the exam by an hour so I spent about 10 minutes teaching myself the topic and 20 minutes writing about it. It was a crazy, unsettling way to take an exam, but I think my end result was satisfactory. I picked up lunch for JP, me, and the four movers on the way home and arrived to see an apartment almost completely empty. It feels so zen; I now want to get rid of half our stuff. The movers were very nice and did an excellent job (I'm trying very hard to focus on some of the positives).

JP had deteriorated to the point of curling up on our borrowed air mattress under two blankets and shivering. We decided it was finally time to go the ER (he had been very resistant and the nurse I spoke with Sunday said that as long as his temperature responded to Tylenol, we were okay). So we piled in his car and drove to the hospital a few blocks from us. JP walked in while I got Landon in the stroller. Once there we found out the wait was several hours so the nurse recommended we try a different hospital in our neighborhood. We walked back out to discover that I had locked the freaking keys in the car. I have never done this before so of course it had to be when JP is really sick, it's freezing outside in May (in the 40's!) and none of us are dressed for it, and the only spare is on a semi-truck headed to Austin. I called AAA, renewed our expired membership over the phone, and they dispatched someone to rescue us- which already pays for the cost of renewing our membership. Despite our misfortune we had some luck on our side - the realtor was showing our apartment to prospective renters so she could let JP and Landon in to get warm. (Thank goodness it was a short walk). I waited outside his car in a crappy neighborhood wearing flip flops and a thin long sleeved shirt until a very nice man broke into JP's car in about 45 seconds and retrieved the keys (it was frightening to see how easy it was to get the doors unlocked).

Once I got home with the keys I will never again lock the door without, JP took off to the other hospital and I bathed, fed, and cuddled the Landon. For the past several hours I've been watching the Top Chef weekly marathon on Bravo, trying to do things without necessary objects (like eating without any cookware or sharp utensils - I finally broke into a package of turkey with my car key and ate that standing up by the counter. I believe that was my dinner), and thinking about JP. The last time I talked to him he was hooked up to an IV and they were running a bunch of tests. He said he was freezing though they kept putting warm blankets on him. I just realized that all our pillows were packed and I'm wondering if he'll be admitted to the hospital. The cat is freaking out about the empty apartment and Landon is snoozing in his play yard. He has been a perfect child since I threatened to take away his future siblings- sleeping 11-11.5 hours a night and doing absurdly cute and smiley things. I just realized this post is very rambly and possibly incoherent, but my god I am tired. Tired and worried and suddenly very preoccupied with our lack of pillows.

20 comments:

  1. My god, girl, will you ever get a break? :(

    You're doing great; you're almost there; and soon JP will be better again! These are all known knowns (not unknown knowns). Hope you are sleeping soundly.

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  2. I hope JP will get better soon. In the meantime, get some rest and hang in there.:)

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  3. Wow, never a dull moment. I am glad you made it through finals and the movers got all your stuff. I hope they can get JP all fixed up and well for the drive down. Keep us updated.

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  4. Oh, jesus. I hope JP is better with fluids (and quickly discharged) and that the rest of the moving saga wraps up quickly! Congrats on being done!!

    Good wine, in whatever stemware, always helps. :)

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  5. If it's not one thing...man! I hope everything and everyone is better soon!

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  6. How much you want to bet that you get to your new house and everything just goes swimmingly forever? That way you'll think of your last year here as something of a dream (slash nightmare?) and probably never return. Sigh. But if we have to take the fall so that your karma can change, we'll do that. :-)

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  7. Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry! I pray for you and JP to be well tomorrow. Please keep the updates coming, I am very scared for you guys to be going through such a rough time!

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  8. Wow - you've had so many challenges this year!

    Take care of yourself as best you can - after all this stress and make sure you get lots of sleep (Landon willing) and water and good food if you can.


    Am thinking of you and wishing you and JP well

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  9. I'm telling you, I took all my exams like that (one I only studied 1.5 hours for and never made it through reading the outline). And I did fine. You'll be fine. And hell, they're over - so who cares?

    As for JP - I hope he's doing better today. Keep us posted - and glad Landon is giving you guys a break!

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  10. Congrats on finishing law school. I'm sorry it was so rough and I hope you have an easy breezy summer.

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  11. Holy crap! Maybe you tempted fate by asking how much more you could possibly take? I hope JP is doing better and that whatever has him feverish isn't too serious. Also that Landon or you don't catch it! KUP. Sending lots of prayers and positive thoughts your way.

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  12. I am so sorry! It sounds like you had a hellish couple of days. Things never seem to be simple and straightforward for you. :(

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  13. Oh my gosh, that's unbelievable! Poor JP! And poor you! I hope he gets better quickly.

    If it makes you feel any better, another exam horror story: My aunt was in law school when her kids were elementary school age. She had just picked up an 8-hour exam and brought it home when her son accidentally sliced his hand open with a knife in the kitchen. She spent 6 hours of the exam in the ER, but still passed.

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  14. holy shit! just when i thought things were settling down! oh ll, i am SO sorry! if you were in austin now, and i weren't ready to drop a child, i would SO bring you real wine glasses and a smooth red, as well as pillows.

    thinking of jp this morning and hoping he is home and stronger...

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  15. Oh my gosh! I'd be having a big cup of wine too! You poor family! I hope JP recovers quickly and you have an uneventful ride down to Austin!

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  16. I hope JP is okay and that you catch a break! Why is it that when it rains it pours?

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  17. I hope JP is feeling better soon! What an awful time for all of you.

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  18. Oh my gosh, I can't believe all that you've had to deal with...and you've managed to do finals on top of it? You are a rock star! I feel so petty for complaining about finals alone...

    And yay for good movers! Out of curiosity, what moving company did you (or your firm I guess) use? Good movers are a rarity!

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  19. did they have an idea of what might be ailing JP? the flu? some other nasty bug? Poor guy, I really feel for him! Thank goodness Landon wants siblings and started sleeping. :)

    if you get a chance (and I know you are super super busy), email me your mailing address...I've got a graduation/happy-Landon-sleeping/house-warming gift for you guys. :)

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  20. I have really come to believe that few things in life worth anything come easily.
    You have an amazing life ahead of you with your boys, and perhaps other little ones if Landon continues to be so sweet, and you will only appreciate it more because of the challenges you have faced.
    You know that damn saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"? That is so true; and perhaps the meaning of life.

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