Monday, December 26, 2011

How To Install a Ceiling Fan

I know, I know, all those design shows talk about how ceiling fans are such a eyesore and that they should never be in your house. Well, we like to have decent air flow and coolness when it's hot, so we have fans. In fact, every room that would need a fan, now has one. We spent our Christmas night cleaning out the loft and tidying the soon-to-be nursery. That's when Al decided that he needed to install the fan in the nursery. Yeah, it was ten and I was getting tired.

This brought me back to the time we installed the fan in the guest bedroom. The fan was up, and well, not working. We flipped the switch and either the lights worked or the fan worked, but not both together. For some reason, Al decided to have me check the wires to make sure they were correct. However, the switch was not flipped down and as soon as wires were touching, my body was jolted with electricity. It took me a minute to realize what happened, then...waterworks. It wasn't a totally big deal, but it scared me enough that I just stood there, couldn't move, and wept. Al was stuck there holding the fan parts up while I broke down. He didn't know if he should comfort me, laugh at me, or yell at me. I think a little bit of all of that happened, but I don't quite recall all the details. I just remember feeling the electricity go thru my body and standing there not being able to do anything. As you know, I survived with minimal damage.

Last night, in the three times that Alex had to recheck the wires and partway dismantle the fan, I was sure to flip the switch in the down position. I wanted to make sure that we didn't have a repeat electricity offense. Although we did almost have a broken leg or concussion on Al's end, all ended up well and I was in bed a little after 11.

With the room painted, fan installed, and room partway cleared, the nursery is starting to come together! Next project on the list is to re-arrange the loft and to get Al started on the bookshelf. WOOHOO!! Having a baby really gets you in the mood to have your house in order. :)

Happy Installing!
--Am

Sunday, December 11, 2011

How To Rock Out in the ER on Thanksgiving

Yeah, that was how we spent two hours of our Thanksgiving evening. Before I go into any sort of detail, I should say that everyone is fine and no body parts were harmed!

Our trip began by driving 12 hours in the non-stop rain from Indy to Cortland, NY on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We and off listened to Harry Potter and took bathroom and food breaks. We got in around 11pm and headed to bed shortly thereafter. Wednesday was when all the trouble began. Shortly after playing a round of putt-putt and lunch, I started to feel like my allergies were getting the best of me. I got some pregnancy-safe meds hoping they would take my sniffles and headache away. Wednesday night was a little rough as I was having a hard time breathing and falling to sleep. Even with a dose of Tylenol PM I couldn't seem to get comfortable breathing-wise.

On Thanksgiving day, we headed to the park, and I was really hoping the fresh air would help clear me up. It was nice, but it didn't help me at all! We at lunch/dinner around 3 and that just seemed to make matters worse. I had a full belly and climbing the stairs seemed like the biggest chore! It finally got bad enough that Al called the OB back home and decided it was best to hit the ER. Boy, was I excited...NOT!

We get there, wait a bit, take my vitals, and stick me in a room. The nurse or someone listened to my lungs and heard wheezing. The doctor came in and said, it could be one thing or it could be another. We're going to run some blood tests, give you a breathing treatment, hook you up to an EKG, x-ray your chest, ultrasound your legs, and give you a CT scan. At this point, I start to freak out. I'm thinking, I'm pregnant and I don't want to put the baby through all these tests and I don't want to go through all these tests. So, after lots of talking about options, we decide to wait to see what the blood work says as that will determine which route to take. The doctor was sure it would come back positive for the possibility of a blood clot because I was prego. If it was negative, then it was most likely a breathing issue and not a blood clot issue.

During this time, there were six people that came in to do different things to me. A very nice man gave me the breathing treatment; a very rude lady that wasn't sure how to ask if I was pregnant or fat hooked me up to the EKG; a lady named Gloria and dressed in street clothes checked the baby's heart rate; a nurse drew my blood; a youngin' took all my insurance information; and a lady came in to talk to me all about the x-ray that I wasn't going to happen. All these people were in addition to the 2 triage nurses I had when I first arrived, the resident that saw me shortly after, and the doc. Really? Is it necessary to have all those different people? Freaking crazy town! No wonder ERs are a mess. Too many hands in the honey pot.

Overall, the blood tests came back negative for a blood clot, so the doc was fine sending me home with an inhaler. With the baby, a full stomach and a very bad cold, it was the perfect storm for pressure on my lungs causing breathing problems. I still have a bit of the cold left, but it's nothing like it was. And I have only had to use the inhaler about five times and none since I've been back in Indy. So, all things considered, I'm good and baby's good! Now, if only this cold would leave me alone!

Happy Easy Breathing!
--Am   

PS: How was your Thanksgiving? Hopefully less eventful!