Mommy's day out!

If you have been paying attention then you probably missed yesterday's post. On the twentieth day of my twenty one day blogging streak I didn't post. Oops, I doubt anyone but me really cares, if you even noticed at all, haha.

Yesterday was such a great day but I got home late and Matt wasn't feeling well, before I knew it we had gone to bed. We always go to bed together, have I ever mentioned that? I don't know if that is common or not. Admittedly, it is usually me who wants to go to bed before Matt and more often than not he sits in bed and works long after I have fallen asleep.  I don't like to go to bed alone and the clickety clack of his typing doesn't bother me one bit. Anyway, when he wanted to go to bed before 10 last night I figured I owed him one.

Wednesdays are "work from home" days for Matt. We all woke up yesterday feeling off. I am definitely coming down with Lily's cold. Matt on the other hand seems to be fighting off the virus that Ben has. I can't say that I would want it the other way around, but I am definitely the toughest when it comes to being sick so in some ways I wish it was always my turn. I had a doctor's appointment in MA so the plan was to leave the kids with Matt even though he was working and just let them run wild all day. We knew it wasn't a great plan but Matt's mom is in Florida and she is our most flexible midweek babysitter extraordinaire.

I had originally thought that my appointment wasn't until 2 but when I double checked I realized that my ultrasound was scheduled for 12:30. Unfortunately for Dingle that meant that I had to leave Maine around 10:30 and that Daddy Daycare had been extended by 2 hours.

It was frigid yesterday and parts of MA had gotten quite a bit of snow the day before so I left a few minutes early just to make sure that I had plenty of time. The drive was easy, the roads were fine, and I made it to our old neighborhood in about an hour and a half. Since I was early I popped into CVS to get a thank you card for one of our old neighbors who had sent the kids some gifts at Christmas. I  arrived at the OB's office at about 12:10 fully prepared to wait at least a half hour but figured I would have time to write out the card and goof around on my phone.

The receptionist informed me that they had a ton of preemptive cancellations due to the storm so the appointments were wide open. Less than five minutes later the ultrasound tech came out to get me. My u/s went great. That baby is measuring right on track. It took the tech a long time to take her neck measurement (nuchal fold) but I didn't mind one bit because it meant more screen time. I cried like a baby again and I was very sorry that Matt couldn't be there. Baby's heartbeat is now 149, down from 164, so wive's tale says boy but we'll see.

After my u/s I got to see my doc right away. Blood pressure was good, weight gain was a reasonable 2 lbs, and my OB was happy to hear that overall I have been feeling better. We won't know until my next appointment if the iron supplements are really working but he seemed encouraged by my increase in energy, slight as it may be. Next it was off to the lab. I had my blood drawn for the first of the quad screen tests and got my long overdue flu shot. When everything was said and done I was finished at the doctor's by 1:15, almost two hours early. I had dinner plans at 5:30 so I had a lot of time to kill.

I filled out the thank you card and dropped it off at the neighbor's, did a slow drive by of the old house, and decided to got get my nails done. I got a leisurely mani/pedi (in a great dark purple color) and read a magazine. Afterward I was craving something sweet so I went across the street to Panera for a hot chocolate but school had just let out and the place was packed with hungry teenagers. I decided that it was no place to relax and decided to make the drive towards the Boston area (where I was meeting my friend for dinner) to beat the traffic and figured I could do a little shopping. Of course I came home with 50 dollars worth of clothes for the kids and nothing for myself. Old Navy is having a huge clearance sale in case you are interested!

I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was to have a full afternoon of leisure. The nails, the magazines, the shopping alone. Oh my goodness. I felt totally guilty but not because Matt was with the kids, more that he was supposed to be working a regular day and he wasn't feeling well. I know I say that I am going to make more time for myself but I never do. I learned something yesterday though. I don't just want an hour to get my nails done and then rush back to the kids, that isn't relaxing. What I need is so much time that I run out of things to do and want to go home, which by 4pm yesterday was totally the case. Don't get me wrong I was thrilled to go out to dinner and like I said, stayed too late (which is always the case) but as far as getting a break from the kids I was ready to go back. I don't expect four hour blocks of time to fall into my lap with any regularity but I bet I could make it happen again with a little planning!

Huge shout out to my amazing husband who worked a full day, held down the fort, and battled a stomach bug all so that I could have some alone time. I owe you one babe!