Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Justin Timberlake and Midwives. Oh, Yes.

I had my 16-week appointment this week – a bit late because as I was scheduling it at my 12-week appointment, the receptionist said my midwife would be on vacation during my 16th week. So I made it for today, when she would be back.

Mike has come with me to the last two appointments, but today was a boring old pee-in-a-cup-and-make-sure-the-baby-is-still-growing appointment. So, it was my first appointment alone and I was 15 minutes late (I’m late to nearly everything in my life – but I have ALWAYS been on time for my midwife appointments. All two of them.). I also was starving because I hadn’t eaten breakfast due to a spectacular gag-fest that left me weak and not ready for food. (The second trimester awesomeness? ALL LIES!) Hunger turns to nausea and my Clif Bar was tucked out of reach in my bag in the back seat as I drove. I nearly died. It was dramatic.
SO, it was a bit of a rough start and I was flustered as I arrived at the office.

After I peed in a cup (I learned my lesson at the first appointment – when I peed right before the appointment and had to down four cups of water to be able to “give a urine sample”), got my blood pressure taken, and stepped on the scale (I’ve gained 4 or 5 pounds. I’m hoping they tell me to start drinking a daily milkshake to increase my weight gain. Mmm.), I went to the exam room to wait for my midwife. 

The nurse closed the door behind her as she left and said, “Susan, Ashley is ready to see you.”

Susan? But that’s not my midwife’s name. Weird. Maybe she’s still on vacation?

In came Susan, who was much younger, smaller, and bubblier than my midwife. “Hi!” Susan said, “I’m Susan. Did you make your appointment with Jean?”
“Um, yes.”
“Jean is no longer with us,” Susan told me. “No longer with us” could mean she quit, she died, she got fired. It’s a confusing euphemism and I was a bit thrown off. Susan continued, saying something about health care and the economy and how there were still four midwives on staff and how my care wouldn’t be affected at all.

Huh. So I guess she was laid off. Didn’t see that coming.

The rest of the appointment was a bit blurry – we talked about scheduling my ultrasound in a few weeks, feeling baby movement, and taking Metamucil to *ahem* help things. The heartbeat was strong and the baby was wiggling away from the Doppler. My uterus is growing properly. Score.

I feel just awful for my old midwife. I really liked her, but I know I will really like Susan, too. She’s very young and sweet; I feel so comfortable with her. But, man. How sad. Layoffs suck.

On a happier note, this week is Spirit Week at school and it’s pretty much my high school dream world – the theme is “Bringing Back the Boys” as in BOY BANDS. The seniors are *Nsync, the juniors are Backstreet Boys, and the sophomores are LFO. The senior lockers are all plastered with *Nsync posters, the windows are covered with lyrics to *Nsync songs, and *Nsync album covers line the walls. I’ve had several embarrassing obsessions over the years – Amy Grant, Hanson, No Doubt, Titanic and Leo, but the biggest of all was *Nsync. Particularly Justin Timberlake. The first car I drove was a 1987 Chevy Celebrity, which thrilled me for obvious reasons. I taped a photo of Justin to my dashboard. I went to three *Nsync concerts in high school (there probably would have been more if we hadn’t moved to Malaysia after sophomore year) – even making halter tops with my friends with “celebrity” in glittery silver. I taped The Rosie O’Donnell Show when they were on and downloaded every possible obscure song  by *Nsync I could on Naptser (Spanish version of "This I Promise You", anyone?) I plastered my walls with dozens of posters and magazine articles about them.

Oh, 1999.

So, maybe you understand now how my heart gets aflutter and I am giddy as I walk down the halls, singing *Nsync and Backstreet Boys songs to myself. Twelve years since I bought my first *Nsync CD and they’re still popular with high school girls. Have I mentioned I love working at an all-girls school? This week. Is. Awesome.

22 comments:

  1. "No longer with us"...yes, that's indeed confusing! Sad to hear, but I suppose that's a better reason for "no longer with us" than it could have been!

    Love the Boy-Band inspired Spirit week...fun!

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  2. Sorry to hear about your Midwife. It is so scary how many people are getting laid-off these days. I am sorry for her as well. Hopefully you will have a great experience with Susan. Best of luck! Oh and Spirit week sure does bring back the memories! We did that in our school too and it was always a blast!

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  3. Wow, I used to love *NSYNC. My aunt took me to a concert in November 1998, and Britney Spears opened for them (we had NO IDEA who she was at the time). I, too, was obsessed with Justin. Ah, memories.

    Your poor midwife! I hope everything works out for her ... and I hope everything works out with the new midwife.

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  4. Your spirit week sounds fantastic! I was a HUGE BSB fan when I was in high school - the type that slept in line for tickets and drove 15 hours to concerts. Such a dork ... I think I'm going to have to pull out some of my CDs when I get home :D

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  5. I sort of want to work at your school. That sounds like it will be tons of fun! Yay for the baby growing as it should, but that is sad about your midwife.

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  6. I am so sorry that you had to change to a different midwife - seems to me that would be slightly depressing, especially if you LOVED her. But, I hope you love this one as well!

    Kids these days know about those bands? Just kidding. I bet they don't know all the words though!

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  7. I'm glad to know that some things are timeless-- you know, like the appeal of *NSYNC (gotta have that asterisk, right?).

    Oh, and you're totally right-- "No longer with us" just sounds plain ominous. It's good to hear that you're comfortable with the new midwife, though!

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  8. Adore Justin Timberlake. Absolutely adore. Sigh.

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  9. Glad you like the new midwife!! Gotta love me Backstreet. Heck. I'll admit. I'm STILL going to their concerts!

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  10. "No longer with us" is super ambiguous and a little scary - glad that your new midwife is sweet and lovely :)

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  11. I found this blog post via my googlefeed reader and LOVED the part about the Bring Back the Boys Spirit Week! What a great idea, but awwww the sophomores that have to be LFO......... LOL!

    I am co-admin of an NSYNC fan site (www.stillnsync.com) and I'd like to put an excerpt of this post on our website because it's so awesome!

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  12. LOL!!! Love the NSYNC walk down memory lane...they were in that box that went right past us--I'm sure of it :) You are awesome. Layoffs do stink, but hopefully your awesome midwife will find another awesome midwifing job.

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  13. i always LOVE spirit week. and the boy band idea is so cute! i was always an *NSYNC girl myself too, and that is awesome to have an excuse to sing them without getting weird looks. my students sometimes think i am super lame if i sing "old" songs from my middle school days. we aren't THAT old yet are we?! haha

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  14. So she's just gone!? That's kind of crazy.

    Spirit Week! FUN! My senior year we had Disney as our theme so I was Belle from Beauty & The Beast and it was so much fun. I'm pretty sure boy bands is way better than anything theme we ever had though!

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  15. aw man, you're right! "no longer with us" IS confusing. I'm glad that Susan seems to be someone you'll be happy seeing tho, it would suck to get some grouchy old hag of a lady instead of a cute bubbly one no? haha!
    I'm with Alyssa, do kids these days REALLY know who those boy bands are? lol! That question makes me feel old, but I guess it -was- 10yrs ago that I got the cartilage of my left ear pierced b/c of Justin Timberlake. Sigh, oh how time flies ;)

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  16. bye bye bye!!!!

    I still get all highschool girl giddy when I hear nsync. I cant imagine walking down those halls, id be skipping

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  17. I had no idea you were an *Nsync person. I am an *Nsync person!! I was OBSESSED with them in high school and the first concert I ever went to was the No Strings Attached tour and I sat in the second to last row and it was AMAZING. I was 17. Justin was my favorite, as well.

    10 years later, I was working for the SAG Awards, taking pictures at the afterparty and it was very crowded and Justin Timberlake and I had to maneuver our way around each other, which resulted in the ENTIRE FRONT OF HIS BODY sliding across my right shoulder. IT WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF THE 17-YEAR-OLD VERSION OF ME'S LIFE. Sigh. Dream come true.

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  18. I was more of a Backstreet fan. I was convinced I had to marry Kevin, or else.

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  19. Oh gosh, that sounds AWESOME. My aunt used to work at Disney (we lived in the Orlando area) and back when NSYNC was first getting started, they played a free concert in the park. My mom wouldn't let me go because I would have missed school. (I was in 5th grade.) Booo.

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  20. Adore Justin Timberlake. Absolutely adore. Sigh.

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  21. I'm glad to know that some things are timeless-- you know, like the appeal of *NSYNC (gotta have that asterisk, right?).

    Oh, and you're totally right-- "No longer with us" just sounds plain ominous. It's good to hear that you're comfortable with the new midwife, though!

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  22. Sorry to hear about your Midwife. It is so scary how many people are getting laid-off these days. I am sorry for her as well. Hopefully you will have a great experience with Susan. Best of luck! Oh and Spirit week sure does bring back the memories! We did that in our school too and it was always a blast!

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