Today is Louis' birthday. It may be his worst birthday yet. But let's start at the beginning.
Louis' cousin from Florida recently emailed us about wanting to come out for a visit now that she is in remission from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and feeling pretty good. She hoped to visit her friend in Oregon, then see Louis and both of his siblings. It sounded great to us, because I really like this cousin and I feel like I never get to spend enough time with her. Anyway, after a bunch of back and forth amongst the three siblings, Louis basically ended up with last pick and got the dates of February 13th, 14th, and 15th. Okay, fine, it's not like we had grand plans for Valentine's Day anyway. Still, we were looking forward to her trip.
And then, Louis got a Facebook message from the cousin's boyfriend saying that he wanted to fly out and surprise her for Valentine's Day and oh, by the way, could he also stay at our place? Well, how could we say no? The only thing I asked was that he rent a car while here because I didn't want them to have to rely on Olivia's nap schedule to be able to go anywhere. Louis responded with my request and a ton of helpful specifics about planning the trip. Dude later claimed he never got that message. Strike number one.
Okay, so the cousin flies out to Oregon, then flies down to LA to see Louis' sister, then I pick her up from the airport on the 13th. We have a great day together and I love watching how Olivia quickly grows to absolutely adore her second cousin. We stop at the grocery store so I can make sure she has food she likes to eat while she's staying with us and she thoughtfully shares the cost with me, then buys and cooks Louis a steak for dinner that night. He was super touched and really happy to see her and we stay up late catching up. Yay, everything is going so well!
Thursday morning was also a great time. Cousin is super thoughtful and really helpful around the house and with Olivia. She's just so pleasant to be around. No wonder she's Louis' favorite cousin. Louis gets off work in the early afternoon to pick up the boyfriend from the airport (he's never gotten off early on Valentine's Day for me before, but that's neither here nor there). He brings the boyfriend home, where he surprises the cousin with roses at our front door. Cousin looks a little stunned, so Louis and Olivia and I leave for awhile to give them some time. Later that night, cousin tells Louis she's kind of disappointed that the bf came, because she was really looking forward to spending time with us. Aw, man. So much for the sweet surprise. They borrow Louis' car and go out to dinner while we enjoy a nice meal at home. Our first Valentine's Day as a family of three! Not at all romantic, but a good time nonetheless.
Thursday night I wake up in the middle of the night with a sore throat. Huh. I thought it was totally odd because I so rarely get sick. Friday morning I wake up feeling totally lousy. Their bedroom door stays closed until noon and for a while I didn't even know if they were here or if they had gone out. When the bf finally emerges, he tells me the cousin is so sick she can't get out of bed. Lovely. All I want to do is crawl back in bed, too, but little miss is determined to play all day long. Louis can't get off early and grandma is out of town. Awesome. Sure enough, next thing I know I get a text from T that our client is finally contracting and it looks like it will be later that night. I'm still in denial about being sick and desperate for the money, so I tell her I'm ready to go whenever she needs me.
I feel worse and worse as the day drags on and when Olivia takes her afternoon nap, all I can do is lie next to her absolutely seething with anger at the situation. Clearly I have NOT resolved my PTSD from the summer of 2010 when Louis' entire family bombarded us, everyone got sick, Louis' mother had a psychotic break, and our marriage was strained while I tried to finish school and study for my licensing exam. I keep reliving memories of that summer plus thoughts about how bad I feel for the cousin, since it's not her fault that she has no immune system and overdid it in LA with my sister-in-law who should have known better. I'm so determined not to lose the money from the birth that I drag myself and Olivia off to the store to stock up on some birth food in case the birth really does happen that night. Before I leave, I invite the bf (who is playing computer games) if he wants to come with us. Seriously I have to ask him three times before he finally looks up from the stupid screen to say he just has to put his shoes on. Is there anything at all that is a bigger waste of time than computer games? Strike two, bud.
At dinner, cousin finally emerges from the bedroom (the cleanest room in the house which is now totally contaminated) and joins us. I'm relieved that she's looking and feeling much better. The four of us enjoy a meal while the bf continues to play computer games! DURING DINNER! WTF! He even has Louis put his food together for him because he has to finish the game. Strike three! I feel like I am about to collapse. But first I must pump. It is just before my second pump of the night that we're all watching tv and we hear a loud thump from the bedroom. Oh my god. Olivia fell out of bed! She's howling and I want to howl with her. My baby! I'm not sure which body part she landed on, so I give her a once over and everything checks out. Still, I'm not sure how hard she's hit her head, so that whole night while I should have been sleeping, I check on Olivia every half hour or so to make sure she doesn't have a concussion.
At some point during that feverish night, I remember this Oprah show I just watched about a time when everything in her life was going wrong and she just started telling herself, "I surrender." So I give it a try. There's chaos in my house. My baby is hurt. I hate all my (Louis' side) in-laws. I just lost a lot of money AND disappointed T and the client. And I feel like I want to die. So I just tell myself, "I surrender." At some point in the night I doze off.
The next morning, Olivia wakes me with her usual smile and babbling. Phew. She's okay. Louis takes her so I can get some rest. The fever is brutal and I keep getting intense chills and sweats. I honestly don't remember ever being this sick. Today the cousin and the bf are supposed to start their two days with Louis' brother in SF so Louis drives them because they can't take BART because they have to bring sleeping bags and pillows because my BIL doesn't have that stuff in his SF apartment. Yeah. So off they go, including my baby :( even though I'm fairly sure by now that she's okay. While I'm resting, I get a message from T that the client's labor completely stopped, for now. A few hours later I get a message from the couple I just interviewed with. They want to hire me! Yay! I eventually manage to drag myself into the shower and onto the couch and I'm feeling a lot better.
We have to cancel the birthday party I had planned for Louis that night, but our friends are awesome and one brings over dinner for us and another brings pork buns for the birthday boy :)
Today is Louis' actual birthday and while I'm feeling nearly back to normal, he's now sick. We canceled birthday plans with my family and in the afternoon we discovered that our Olivia now has a slight fever. Maybe the best news is that I got this rage out of me and now I am able to take care of my family again. I'm still on call for the birth and Louis has to drive back to SF to pick up the cousin and boyfriend tomorrow so they can stay with us for another two nights. Once they leave, I can clean Olivia's room and re-plan Louis' birthday celebrations. I feel like the worst wife ever for not being able to do anything nice for Louis today. He was awesome taking care of me and Olivia while I was sick. What a great guy he is. Maybe I can redeem myself this weekend when things are back to normal.
We will get through this. The "I surrender" works.
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