The other day, I looked at a plate that Noah made Thong for Father's Day back when he had just turned 3 years old. I was amazed at how big his hand was. I took the plate over to Lourdes and had her put her hand on top of the painted piece where Noah's hand once imprinted and noted a full 1" difference between sizes. It is amazing to see how much of a difference there is in size between siblings at the same age. Anytime I hold Landen or Noah's hand, it's actually like holding a man's hand. I will tell them that too. Landen's hands are now officially bigger than mine and Noah's are almost as big. How are they getting so big so fast?! Thankfully, Lourdes is my slow grower and has kept that feeling of having a baby in the house a little longer than it felt with either one of my big boys.
Before you know it, we'll have another sweet little girl in our house to hold our hands and steal our hearts. :)
I went to MD Anderson and had my ultrasound done. Normally they don't have wait but this time they did. Once I was finally taken back into the ultrasound room and left there for another 30 minutes to sit on the barely-cushioned gurney in my gown that opened to the back, I realized how cold it was in there. The tech finally came in and introduced herself. She seemed pleasant enough but spoke not a word to me the entire time, unless it was to tell me to turn my head to the left, right or look straight up. After she was done, she told me that my results would be sent up to my doctor and he would go over them with me at my next appointment on March 3rd. The last ultrasound I had done (2 years ago), they told me they did not see anything abnormal so that I wouldn't wait in wonder between ultrasound day and appointment day. This time she didn't say that, and I didn't dare ask. As much as I wanted to know, I didn't. And I didn't want to hear her tell me that it's "policy" that they do not discuss the findings with the patient. So I just left.
As I walked down the long hallway, I saw Thong step out from one of the many waiting rooms. He told Lourdes "Here comes mommy!" She saw me and took off running as fast as she could toward me with her little arms stretched outright toward me. She hugged me as hard as she could when she reached me and said "Mommy did you go and get your baby out of your belly!?" Sweet little soul. She thought we were there to get the baby out of my belly. I told her no and she disappointedly said "So the baby is still in your tummy?" Yes, dear heart, the baby is still in my tummy.
Non-patients fall into one of two categories. They either are overly chatty and try to find out what kind of cancer everyone with a wristband has/had, or they deliberately try not to make eye contact with anyone for fear the patient will feel like they're being stared at. I encountered both. I also encountered children. The sunglasses were immediately lowered from the top of my head down onto my face. Thankfully, I was able to keep any tears from falling out of my eyes while I was in the building, but once the car was brough back around from Valet and I got inside and we pulled away, they freely flowed. The look of despairity among the children whose little bald heads walked the hallways or sat silently in their wheelchairs is so much more sad than I could ever accurately describe in any post. I saw both boys and girls with big blue surgical masks and latex gloves hanging on their little hands, too big to fit right, but doing the job of keeping germs away from their bodies. Not one of the little ones I saw yesterday was older than I'd say 8 years old. It's not a children's cancer center specifically, but it is the best cancer clinic in the world, so it's no surprise people take their children there for treatment.
Thong treated me to the best Mediterranean food EVER at a little restaurant about 5 minutes from the clinic. It's my favorite place to go and a must-stop location any time I go downtown. I was starving and got a little carried away with everything I was ordering. We left there having spent $68 and carrying 3 big plastic bags stuffed with food. Delicious food. I will eat it all in the next few days. Just you watch. It's THAT good. Plus, I'd feel awful to waste any of it, especially after he didn't even blink twice when we were given our total as he handed over his credit card.
Today is a beautifully cloudy day and right now it's 61 degrees. I am motivated to get this laundry done if it's the last thing I do today and don't worry, the socks WILL be folded right. :)
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