Shallow

This has been such a whirlwind week.

We had the emergency trip to Pittsburgh, which, thankfully, turned out fine.

A friend lost her baby and I had the memorial service for that. We all knew the outcome because of the baby's Trisomy 18 diagnosis, but it was still gut-wrenching. There's never a good way to say goodbye.

I got a note from Rebekah's teacher that she has some concerns she'd like to discuss with me. She said she doesn't think it's anything serious, but of course my mind is reeling.

John had an out-of-town trip, and I was "single-parenting" it for three days and two nights.

In the midst of this, we had water problems, so we had someone come in and work on our water heater and put in a new toilet. (Have I ever mentioned that we only have one bathroom?)

Rachel's hip brace has been leaving some marks so we had a "special" appointment today at Shriner's. We were just stopping in to see about the brace, but she's WAY outgrown it. The orthopedic doctor was in town (from Philly) and decided to just x-ray her hips now instead of waiting until April. If she was not responding to the hip brace, we would not get a bigger size. But she is responding very well. The doctor told us, "Whatever you are doing with her, just keep doing it." :) So, she had to get measured for a new hip brace.

I was pretty sure that Rachel would need surgery to repair her shunt. Everyone we talked to about the swelling said that it was a classic sign of a malfunction. Though not imperative, it needed to be dealt with soon. I packed clothes for us to stay several days. I emailed the kids' teachers to let them know of the disruption. We were elated when the doctor was mystified as to what the problem was.

I realized that for Rachel to have surgery, they'd have to cut off some of her hair. Not a big deal, but she's scheduled to have her one year old pictures taken this week. I was so thankful that she didn't have the surgery now so that she didn't have a bald spot or stitches.

I said to John that I wish we had the luxury of being so shallow that a bald spot in a picture was the greatest of our worries. I wish I was innocent enough that that's all that mattered right now. I wish that I didn't know what a baby's funeral looked like. I wish...