Another Ultrasound...again

Everyone,

Meet Baby A on the left, and Baby B below him. I had my follow up perinatologist appointment this afternoon for the baby's PAC issue. There is no issue anymore since there is no PAC. Amazing! The doctor wasn't convinced that I had not done anything except not eat chocolate this week. And really, I don't eat a lot of chocolate in the first place. I attribute no more PAC to a lot of prayers sent our way.

Just because it's gone, doesn't mean it won't come back. So they are just going to keep an eye out for it and be happy that it is gone for now.



Baby A flipped back around and is back to being breech. His head is near my right hip, and bottom is sitting right on my cervix. His feet are floating somewhere up towards the middle of my belly. Baby B is head up and jammed in my ribs, with his feet on A's feet. Makes me very uncomfortable. Especially that head in my rib part.

The fact that A is jammed down in my hips which is why the picture of him is not great. I don't see Butterfly in him at all. His mouth is a lot wider than her, and he looks to have Juice's small forehead. Who knows though since the picture is not great.

B was a picture boy today and I must have 4 or 5 great ones of him. I like this one with his thumb by his face because just after she froze the frame, A kicked him. His hand is on the way up to protect his head. You can see the membrane separating them on the left, that bright line next to his head. I see a lot of Butterfly in him, although his mouth is a lot wider than hers.

Okay, the ultrasounds are amazing in the detail they can show you. I am starting to really get excited to meet these guys in a few short weeks! (I am 25, almost 26 weeks. My little ticker says only 100 days to go. Go us!) I am almost to the point of viability (28 weeks) and that was my next goal. After that point, 32 weeks. And then, 36 weeks. I bet it will go fast (ish).

Next visit in 2 weeks, next OB visit in 3. And since my Dad is going to Japan for the next 3 weeks and we won't be able to chat, I will try very hard and update my blog more often for him. Check back frequently.

Safire

Hello Insomnia

Everyone,

Sooo...close to midnight here. My family is all sleeping away peacefully. Including Soot who I can hear is snoring in her crate in the next room. And why, why does sleep have to be so elusive to me?! When I was pregnant with Butterfly, I could sleep at the drop of a hat. And I did. I slept so much and so often I wondered what I would do when she was born. But she slept a lot too, and those newborn days of hers are hazy and pajama ridden.

There are lots of pajamas in this pregnancy too, but probably because I remember them more. I'm awake a lot more. And I never seem to be able to sleep at night. During the day, no problem! Butterfly and I took a 4 hour nap today. This could be encouraging the insomnia at night.

We all had a very early day today. We had dentist appointments starting at 8am. Butterfly typically doesn't get up until about 9am these days, and I sleep as long as she does. But today, I was up at 6am so I could get ready before facing "the beast" as we call it. She is NOT a happy camper when she gets up. Okay, she's not a happy camper for me. She loves Daddy. Anyway, back to teeth. We all had a nice cleaning and no cavities. Yay!

I have been tagged for 2 different memes. I'll do one tonight since the other needs me to take pictures and my internet is out on the computer my camera is hooked to. So, meme #1, from jw4mkc.

Rules:

• Link to the person that tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
• Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
• Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

My 6 things...again. (I'm pretty sure I've already done this so I'm going to do a pregnancy version.)

1- I drool. A lot. It wakes me up at night with how much I drool. Juice will not let me sleep on his pillow anymore and I had to give my word of honor that I wouldn't sleep there when he wasn't around to police me. Turns out, this is a normal thing of pregnancy because of all the heartburn.
2- My belly button is so close to poking out. It never did this with Butterfly's pregnancy because I have a crag of a belly button. But this time around, I can see my innie becoming an outie and it's strange. (Also strange, the stupid skin tag I have in the middle of my belly button. I want it removed it bugs me so much!)
3- I have been denied chocolate and now that is all I want to eat. I went to the store the other day and they had all their valentines stuff out and I was sad I couldn't eat anything. Even the smell was driving me crazy.
4- With Butterfly's pregnancy I had food aversion like you would not believe. Now, I have food cravings. I eat so much cereal and string cheese these days. I also like fresh food, no leftovers please!
5- I take 5 pills every day. 3 prenatal vitamins (that's the dosage on the bottle...it's supposed to be conveinant to take at meal times but I never rememeber), one heartburn supresor so I might actually be able to lay down to sleep, and a Flintstone chewable. Man those things taste so good. They are my reward for actually remember to take all my pills every day and probably the only reason I do.
6- I forget. I forget things like words of things (cabanet, mail being my favorite), I forget people's birthdays. I forget to pay bills or I forget that I have already paid a bill and pay it twice. I never forget to eat, though. Or anything important with Butterfly. But everything else, so sorry if I've forgotten.

There you go. I was resting my arm on my belly thinking of something to write and I got a definite hand or foot swipe, along with a very hard push against my arm. It was slowly lifting my arm in the air and then suddenly went away when I felt the other baby move. It's fun to be pregnant with twins. :)

Safire

PS- The spell check function seems to be on the fritz. Sorry about the misspellings.

PPS- No tags for anyone...if you wish to play along, then do so! :)

Another Ultrasound and News

Everyone,

Every 3 weeks I go to my perinatologist for an in depth ultrasound of these boys. Think of an anatomy scan that everyone gets around 20 weeks, I get that every 3 weeks. They just want to check and make sure they are growing well, there are no problems and things continue to develop properly. It's really fun to see them, and to see their little stomachs and brains and such. Things I will never be able to see after they are born. :) I watch, I ask a few questions, and try not to throw up when the tech gets to Baby B who is on my stomach.

Baby A is finally head down, and Baby B is head up. So they are basically head to feet, B on my left and A on my right. I feel like B is jammed in my ribs and lungs and A is floating down between my hips. They are both about a pound and a half, and their heads are about the same size. This is all good things in the twin world, showing that my body is doing a good job at feeding them both and is not favoring one over the other. Good job. :) Both placentas look very good and healthy, and they both have great blood flow, fluid, leg bones, etc.

But Baby A, the one on the bottom, was scanned a lot more than B yesterday. The tech spent a lot of time looking at his heart yesterday, and I noticed her measuring a pocket of fluid next to it. I thought that it was probably nothing and just something they were going to keep an eye on. Well, it is something they are going to keep an eye on, but it's not nothing. When the my perinatologist came in (we'll call him Dr. SA because he is from South Africa and makes me think of a friend in high school that was from South Africa too every time I see him) and said that there is a problem with A's heart. I lay back on the table, and he scans the heart again and shows me the problem. It looked like it was jumping every few beats instead of beating. Dr. SA said he thinks it's probably what is called a premature atrial contractions, where one part of the heart contracts faster than the other.

Dr. SA's office has a neonatal cardiologist that comes into their office every 2 weeks or so and sees their patients that need her. Yesterday happened to be her day in the office. And she was going to be in in about 30 minutes. Can we wait and have her look at this? Or would we rather go down to Children's Hospital in DC and have a scan there. We will wait! Of course! I'm glad Juice was with me. We had to take Butterfly this time because my friend Laura's kids were sick and she was going to watch her. I brought my ipod and she watched movies on it the whole time like a champ. Every time they put the sound on the baby's heart, she pipes up and says, "It's the brudders saying hello! To me! Their big sista!" It's very cute.

Dr. Cardio came in, and flipped the screen away from me and proceeded to scan A's heart. It was interesting to watch their faces and hear them trying to get a good angle on it. His heart is well formed. It has all 4 chambers, and all the veins look good. The ducts are working properly, as well as the valves. The only issue is the PAC.

Baby B's only issue is that he is folded in half but seems to be handling it well. :)

Dr. Cardio explained it to us like this. The upper chambers of the heart beat first, followed by the lower chambers. That's why you get the thump-thump, thump-thump of a regular heartbeat. In A's case, the upper chambers are contracting a few 10ths of a second sooner than they should be and the bottom chambers can't catch up so they don't beat at all. It's a pretty common occerance, and even adults will have a few instances of it throughout a regular day. They want to watch A's heart a little closer, to make sure that these instances of PAC (happening every 3rd or 6th beat) doesn't interrupt normal heart function and make his heart race. That can be very dangerous because the heart will tire out and stop. But she said there is only a 1-2% chance of this happening.

It will either work itself out in the weeks before he is born, or a few weeks after. If he still has them when he is born, she will order an EKG just to make sure that there is nothing seriously wrong with the heart. And even then, they may not treat it. Most cardiac problems in children even themselves out as they grow. But now they know about it and if there is a problem, they will be looking for it.

Both Dr. Cardio and Dr. SA are not worried. Dr. SA said that I am doing remarkably well for twins. If they were worried, they would have sent me to the hospital, given me medication, or put me on bed rest. They did none of this. I just have to take it easy. Oh, and I'm not allowed to have any sort of caffeine as sometimes that makes these instances of PAC worse. It was funny to hear Dr. SA tell Dr. Cardio that we are Mormons and stay away from that stuff anyway. Wow, we only mentioned our faith in passing to him the first time we saw him and he remembered, and knew that fact! He's a really great doctor.

No more chocolate for me though. And while that's kind of sad, it's not a huge deal. Only about 4 more months until I am full term so I can not each chocolate for that long.

Safire

Christmas Pictures

Everyone,

When I was little, my parents took our picture twice a year. Once at birthdays, and once at Christmas. Our birthday pictures we were alone, and Christmas pictures we took together. When we got our old dog for Christmas, we automatically included her in the pictures. And did every year after that.

Now that I have my own kids, I really liked that tradition. So I continued it. Including the dog too. This year, since I have my new awesome camera, I thought I'd take them myself instead of going to a professional place. So I did. What do you think?



I think Soot is being a good sport.

Safire

Preparing for Twins- Stuff

Everyone,

When we first started telling everyone about the twins, they would ask us "Are you excited?" I always found that a strange question because yes, we are excited about bringing new life into the world. Most people don't know the ins and outs of the infertility world so I suppose twins could be a surprise, and sometimes not a welcome one.

Now that people have gotten used to me having twins, I get another question all the time. They put their face close to mine, hand on shoulder, and ask very softly, "Are you prepared?" Like it's some kind of secret. My answer to this is, "No, and I don't think we will be until they are 6 months old."

BUT, one thing we can do to prepare is the stuff. I really do think that that is what people are asking, but it's funny to see their reactions. Let's talk stuff.

Cribs- yes I have 2. One from Butterfly, and one from my friend Laura. (Thanks Laura!) There are rumors that my parents will buy the crib mattress and we have 2 bassinets to use when they are small. We are set in the bed department. Except for sheets. I remember taking Butterfly when she was very small to the store to buy more sheets because I think I only had one set. I'd like to not do that with these boys and so, sheets are on my list. And blankets. All of my blankets (of which I SO MANY) are all purple and pink. I used to say that I wouldn't care what they put on them because they can't even really see color but I would like them to have at least one baby boy blanket. (For those of you who are interested, we are doing their room in blue sail boats.)

Clothes- oh yes, we need clothes. But I figure that people love to buy little clothes so I'm just waiting to see what we get before I make any official lists.

Bath- we did not buy a bath with Butterfly because I figured I could use the sink. Oh how wrong I was. We ended up washing her in the shower with us until she was too big to hold, and then moved her into the big tub. I do not want to do this with these guys and a little baby bath is on my list.

Feeding- I suppose I ought to have a few bottles on hand, even though I plan on breast feeding these guys. We also would like another high chair because frankly, we only have 3 chairs at our table now. A new table is on my list, but not for awhile. (New car has to come first.) Anyone else have anything I should get for feeding? I think I may be set in that department from all of my leftover stuff with Butterfly. Oh, I do want a nice nursing pillow designed for twins.

Car seat- I think we are set on this one with a generous donation of a used but barely car seat of a friend of ours. And of course, the bigger car seats will come a little later.

Stroller- This is the biggest item I think we have to buy. I want a super nice double stroller. My reasoning is that I want something big enough to fit Butterfly in if she wants to ride (and I can wrap up one of the twins) and I want it to last many many years. I have one picked out. See it here. Yes, I am sure there are other, cheaper strollers that are just as good, but I fell in love with this one and that's the one I'm going to buy.

I can't seem to think of anything else to get for these boys. Am I covering it all? If you'd like a peak at our registry, email me and I will send you the link.

Next up, preparing for twins medically.

Safire

13 Years part 2

Everyone,

Since Butterfly is enamored with Ariel right now, I thought I'd take a few moments and type up the conclusion to the first date story. You can read the first installment here (or just look at the picture again).


Our date began early at around 1pm that Saturday afternoon. When Juice told me, I had visions of having to haul my dress around in plastic in the car all day and changing at his house. And what would I do with my hair?! Juice must have seen the expression on my face and quickly explained what we would be doing. Since the first weekend in October is our church's big semi-annual conference, we were going to plan our date around that. The second session starts at 2pm. He was coming to get me before that, and we would have a picnic and listen to the session before heading off to the dance at the school.


1pm came, and I was ready. He came to pick me up in his dad's tiny white car, and drove me over to his best friend's house to pick him up. And then Max's date. (Alisha was her name I think.) We went back over to Max's house and listened to the session while eating BLTs. Now, I hate tomatoes. So I picked mine off and just had a bacon and lettuce sandwich. Yummy! Max was horrified that I didn't like tomatoes and then promptly ate mine. Juice confided in me that he wasn't a fan of them either but liked them on sandwiches and in things. More conversation about ketchup, spaghetti sauce, etc. followed. In between listening, of course.


After the session was over, they ran us girls home so we could get ready for the dance and the guys went to the men only session that evening. I had plenty of time to get ready. When Juice showed up (looking very handsome and tall in his suit), he met my dad at the door. I was coming down the stairs and Juice looked up and saw me and said, "Wow." He also took a step back and we all laughed.


Now, this is how I remember it. Juice says that he was sitting on the couch and stood up to meet me and sat back down because he was surprised at how good I looked. (And I did look nice!) My parents side with me so that is how the story is going to be written out.


Flowers were exchanged (with a lot of hand shaking on my part. I was nervous!) and he walked me back out to his dad's tiny white car. Max was in the back. Juice put his hand on my back and whispered that I looked really good as I got in the car. I'm sure my smile went from big to huge at that point.


We drove about 20 minutes back to Juice's neighborhood and picked up Alisha. She was also wearing blue. We all looked very nice together. Once Alisha was in the car, Max was very quiet and nervous. I think he liked her.


Back at Juice's house, the guys escorted us out to a table that they had set up in the field behind Juice's house. (Juice's parents own the field...think of it as an extension of their back yard but with grape vines and various fruit trees in it. Oh, and a duck pond.) Apparently the table had been decorated before they left but it was slightly windy and it had blown all the decorations all over the field. They managed to find the lantern and the table cloth. They spread the cloth (refusing any help from us), lit the lantern and left us to go get dinner. Alisha and I chatted about dresses and the boys for about 3 minutes. I knew her from band at school, but we had never really talked.

The lantern blew out. Suddenly, we were plunged into darkness. We gasped, "Oh no!" and started to laugh because we said it the same time, the same way. The guys were coming out with the food at that point and heard us. They rushed over, tried to light the lantern and couldn't. Then the table cloth tried to blow away and take the food with it. I was quick and grabbed Juice's plate (and mine too) and watched the table cloth envelope Juice and the lantern. Hehe...he struggled, balled up the table cloth and said, "Let's go inside." Yes please! It wasn't cold, but it was too windy.

Inside, Juice's new brother in law (who had just spent 2 years in Italy on his mission) was cooking pasta for us. It was delicious! I think his sister and bil joined us at the end, and we had a great time eating and talking and laughing. Then, we decided that it was probably time to go to the dance.

The dance was at the high school, only minutes away from Juice's house. We walked into the main hall, showed our ticket (I believe it was black with silver stars all over...I think I still have it) and went into the gym. We had our pictures taken, and then started to dance. I still remember the song we danced to, since Juice complained the whole time that it kept changing beats. (You can listen to it here.) We were so late to the dance, that we only danced 6 or 7 songs and then it was over. It was probably the shortest dance I ever went to in high school and I had one of the best times with it.

We dropped of me first (I think) and Juice gave me a hug on my doorstep. That was it. Who knew that this first date would lead to other things...such as being married, having a 2 year old and twins on the way. Juice really is a very thoughtful person when he puts his mind to it. And he was very thoughtful this date. It's probably one of the main reasons that I really liked him in high school. And still like him now. :)

Safire

New Year, New Camera, New Pictures

Everyone,

Did I not talk about Christmas? No? Oh, oops. Butterfly got a huge train set and a bear that reads her stories. The train, loved it for a day. The bear, has 4 stories that he has to read to her every single morning. I love our little book worm. Juice got a very cool little puzzle, and I got a new camera. It's awesome but hard to use. It's a new Cannon Rebel. For those not camera savvy, it's not a point and shoot camera. I am enjoying learning how to use it and who better to test it on than Butterfly? Isn't she cute. I love how this one really brings out her Daddy's eyes in her.

In other news, we had a ton of snow today. Juice and Butterfly went out to play and enjoy it and I stayed home on the couch all propped up to get rid of the baby falling out feeling. I ran a bunch of errands this morning and I think I might have done too much. They are doing well, and moving around crazy. I am drinking my water and enjoying some shows I have on my DVR. I love my DVR. And my new camera.

Safire

Closed Forever!

Everyone,

About 2 weeks ago we discovered that our regular grocery store is closing forever. I am sad because people that worked there knew us by name. They said hello to Butterfly and we had been going there since she was itty bitty. We had been talking about trying out different grocery stores in the area anyway, and this just forced us to do that.

Do you know how annoying it is to go shopping at a brand new store? I had my list of things I need, and I had to wander up and down each isle looking closely for each of my items. Of course, we also went to the cheapest place in town, and we had to dodge everyone and boxes and pay attention. Most of the time I just go down the isles that I know have my stuff. It took us twice as long. How annoying.

Also annoying: the store does not have some of our staples, like natural peanut butter and diapers. So now I have to try yet another store in the area. Which means in 2 weeks when I go again, I have to pay attention yet again! Not happy.

Safire

PS- Very tired today...don't know if this makes any sense or not.

A Few Days Rest

Everyone,

It's amazing what a few days of rest will do for you.  After begging Juice to stay home from work yesterday and him having enough stuff to do from home, I feel loads better today.  I took about 3 naps yesterday, drank about 2 gallons of water and barely lifted my head from my pillow.  This morning, I woke up feeling about 50% better.  Yay!  

Butterfly is steadily improving as well.  She still has a nasty cough but she still has about a week of high doses of antibiotics to go through.  And it's a ton of antibiotics she takes every day.  I just hope that this is the last of the sickness that we will have to see in a long time.  

In other words, Butterfly has learned to jam to music.  She closes her eyes, weaves her head around and has a tiny smile on her face when she is doing it.  It is SO FUNNY to watch and I wonder where she learned it.  Zen out baby.  :)

Safire  

Guess who is on antibiotics?

Everyone,

Guess who is on antibiotics and guess who is not. Guess who is sick? Yep, me. And Butterfly has perked right up and wants to run and jump and play. But I do not even want to move. Pregnancy + cold + coughing + not sleeping at night = one grumpy mama. I've been having more contractions because of all the coughing and being dehydrated, even though I've been drinking more water than I'm supposed to. At least the boys are moving (more like freaking out every time I cough) and I know they are okay. A call is into my ob today to see what I can take.

Safire

We interrupt this program...

Everyone,

If there is one thing I will remember about this winter is how sick we have been. We are sick, yet again. But this time Butterfly has the worst of it. We just got back from her doctor and the pharmacist with high doses of antibiotics to give her. There's a lot. Good thing she really likes it.

Anyway, she weighs around 37 and a half pounds, and is a very good patient. She opens her mouth, says 'ahhh', takes deep breaths, and does all that the doctor asks her to. Thank you Corduroy and Nurse Nancy books. One ear is very very infected. She says to watch out in case of puss running out of it, it's so infected. The other ear is runny and red but not hugely infected like the other one. She also has a very wet cough (again! Ed go away!) and a temp of about 101. Poor baby is very sick. She won't eat anything, and all she wants to do is snuggle. So far today we've watched Nemo and the Brave Little Toaster. That's kind of a scary movie! And so '80s! She is now napping and hopefully will nap long and hard.

Both Juice and I are feeling a little cold-ish but nothing as bad as Butterfly. If anything gets worse, I intend to call my ob again and go on antibiotics for the 3rd time this pregnancy. I just keep getting sick. But I hope that after 2 days on the meds for Butterfly will improve her well being. Poor thing.

One thing the doctor said is that she hasn't been in to see them in over 8 months. She is normally a really healthy girl. That's nice to hear. We also discussed the boys briefly and she said she was looking forward to meeting them in May.

Let's just hope that Juice and I don't get worse.

Safire

PS- Still working on the first date post, look for it in a few days.

Thoughts

Everyone,

About a week ago I had a ton of things to write on. Now, I can't remember a thing. I am woefully spacey when I'm pregnant. I always manage to forget to pay bills, return calls, emails, etc. At least I make sure we eat. And are dressed. That's about as good as it gets. I have to haul my day planner around with me because I have so many doctor visits this time around that I have to write them all down the moment they make them or I forget.

Speaking of doctor visits, I had another one yesterday. I see my regular OB once a month, and my perinatalogist (specialist pregnancy doctor) every 3 weeks. Yesterday was a visit to my peri. I have to say that this is the most inconvenient doctor's visit ever. Each time I go they scan the kids (most definitely both boys!) for an hour. It's not something I can take Butterfly with me because do you know any 2 year old who can sit for an hour? Juice can't always get off of work (like yesterday) and when he can, he'd rather go see the ultrasound and not sit at home with Butterfly. And I feel weird about asking for so much babysitting because there is so much more coming in the future. This is one of those times I miss my mom.

The boys are doing very well. Both are about a pound, both have all body parts they are supposed to (kidneys, hearts, stomachs, etc.) and both are busy in the circle of reaction. What is that circle you ask? Well, say A kicks B. B reacts to A. A then reacts to B reacting to A. B then reacts to A reacting to B reacting to A. And so on. They are both breech with their little heads leaning towards each other like they are whispering on how best to kick me. The doctor said that I was the easiest twin pregnancy he had seen all day and he had seen about 6 before me. To use his words (and think of this in a South African accent since he grew up there), "Two very normal and active baby boys. Good luck when they are born." He also admonished me to drink more water (if I do, I may as well live in the bathroom...sheesh what is the issue with these doctors and their water?!) and call if I feel nervous at all. We would rather be safe than sorry. Check.

Butterfly is desperately trying to give up her nap, but then crashes by 6pm without dinner (because I can't get it together to feed us any sooner than 6:30pm). So then she wakes up at 3am starving and cranky and will not eat anything. So I am exhausted. And Juice is exhausted. Although I am feeling slightly annoyed at him that he is exhausted because the only reason he is tired is because he stays up till midnight playing on the computer. I go to bed early but am growing people here. He could not be tired if he chose. I can't.

I guess the only family member I haven't talked about is Cinder. She is doing well. Fine. Nothing to say about the dog.

Safire

Bad Food Service

Everyone,

I don't know what it is about my pregnancy and the fact that I hate to eat any food I cook myself. I also hate to eat home cooked food so Juice cooking is not a good change either. (Juice can cook basic bachelor stuff...mac and cheese, frozen pizza, etc. Not what I like to eat these days.) I figure this is the time in my life that I can splurge a little and eat out. Mostly, Butterfly and I go out for lunch or swing by someplace on our way home. I've had two kind of bad food experiences lately that have made me rethink where we eat.

So, first one. We are at the famous fast food place getting chicken nuggets. Instead of running through the drive through like we normally do, I thought it would be nice to go in and eat for a change. Butterfly was good, all was going well. Until the worker who's job it was to clean dining room came out. He cleaned the top of the ceiling fans. Not the best idea with a bunch of people eating around (dust is now flying in the air) but he stood on a table to do this. And then, just walked away. No cleaning of the table at all. You could see his big greasy dirty foot print on the table for as long as we were sitting there. I attempted to tell the manager about it and at least get the table cleaned off. No one understood me because no one spoke English. We left and I vowed not to eat at that place again. Yuck!

Second one. Butterfly and I were in mall (not the one by our house...closer to DC) for a doctor visit. Apparently my doctor's practice has an office in this mall. And since I had to see the doctor who saw me in the hospital for my follow up, down to the mall we went. Doctor visit was short and sweet (always is...and I always wonder about it. I mean, I know they will answer all my questions I want and listen to my complaints, but for some reason I always feel a little rushed. Could be because most of my doctor visits are during lunch since I always call with questions and they always tell me to just come in.). I figured we may as well eat in the mall before we go home and down to the food court we went. What a pitiful food court. 4 food places and very little seating. We got pizza (what mall does not have pizza?) and sat down. I was done and waiting for Butterfly to finish her slice. A huge cockroach crawled right across the table. I freaked, jumped up and grabbed Butterfly while trying to kill the awful thing. I flag down a worker, and am pointing to it (on the floor now). All three workers looked at me with blank stares. I tried cockroach in Spanish. Again, blank stares. Seriously, if I see an enormous bug crawling around a food service place I worked, I would be flipping out. Nope, nothing. So I hustled Butterfly out of there ("My pizzzzza! My pizzzza!") and went to tell the gals at the concierge desk. I have done that job before and I knew they would be able to at least get in touch with mall management to tell them. They appropriately freaked out for me and called the manager right away. I told him where I was sitting, and how the workers really did nothing for me there. He promised to take care of it, and at least they know now. But I am also never eating in that mall food court again. Gross.

What kind of bugs are lurking in other food places? Okay, maybe I shouldn't have gone down that route. Especially since I found a dead cricket in one of my pans the other day. At least mine was dead and could be cleaned. And was. And all other pans around it. And underneath the stove. No wonder my uterus is unhappy.

Safire