If this post rambles or doesn’t make much sense, I apologize.  I’m functioning on NO sleep.  Two nights ago I stayed up with a friend until 3am.  Not the most responsible choice, but the conversation was good.  Yesterday I woke up at 6am with a sleep-deprived hangover and a big dark cloud following me around with a reminder that last night would also bring no rest.

The rules were, that Sofija could not have more than four hours of sleep.  Chad and I came up with a plan.  He would stay up with her until 2am, I would go to bed as early as possible (which ended up being midnight).  I would wake her at 6 and take her with me to drop the big kids off at school and then head into DC for her EEG at Walter Reed.  The EEG was scheduled for 9am.

Glitch 1: Tropical Storm Nichole “fell apart” and decided to cop a squat on top of us for a while.  Chad grew up in Colorado and I grew up in south Louisiana.  Driving in snow and rain are just the norm for us.  Not so much for the greater DC population.  A tropical storm comes to town and people forget how to brake and accelerate.  The end result of this mass inability is a list of accidents on the local traffic report  about as long as the health care bill.

Glitch 2: A fifteen year old girl wearing an outfit that her mom did not approve of.  By the time she had on something I approved of, she had missed her bus.  The end result of that calamity was a mad dash around the neighborhood in an attempt to catch up with her bus.  Three stops past where she should have caught it….Success!

Glitch 3: A thirteen year old sick boy.  Mama doctored him up and sent him back to bed.

Glitch 4: As a result of the endless list of traffic problems, we arrived at 9:30am.  Just in case you didn’t catch it earlier, that’s half an hour after her scheduled appointment.  Quick stop at pediatric neurology on the 1st floor.  Rush to the neurology lab on the 6th floor.  All accompanied by cries of , “Let’s go to bed!”, “Edemo spava!”, “Take a nap!”, “Sleep pleeeease!”.  While the staff discussed whether or not to show us some grace, I took baby girl to the bathroom and a had a wonderful encounter between a stainless steel shelf and my forehead that literally brought me to my knees.  Grace was given to me, Sofija and the brain sprouting at my hairline.  Just as we were being led into the EEG room, an alarm sounded.  Evidently a girl was brought into the ER actively seizing.  We were asked to wait while the team went down to monitor her.  AT 1PM, somebody had a great idea to call the naval hospital at Bethesda and see if they would be able to squeeze us in.  The three hours in between were absolute torture for my poor baby girl who just wanted to sleep. It took an hour of phone calls to make it happen, but we left Walter Reed with a plan to be taken back as soon as we could get there.

Glitches ended.  We arrived.  They took us back.  Sofija cooperated as they put glue all over her head.  She then laid down, opened and closed her eyes when asked and fell asleep just as planned.  If she had not fallen asleep,we were scheduled to return to Walter Reed where we would have been admitted to the sleep lab and had to remain for the entire night.  The EEG tech did not speak great English and he kept asking me to translate for him.  Just for the record, I do not speak any dialect of Kenyan and I’m pretty sure that my daughter understood about as much of his English as she does of mine.  Communication issues aside, he got all of the information that he needed from her test.  His only question for me was, “Why isn’t she on medication for her seizures?”  My reply, “Ummmm, I think that’s why we’re here today?.?.”

The princess is now sleeping soundly in her bed.  The Mama will soon be sleeping soundly in hers as well.  My hope is that we will have clear answers by Monday and in the meantime that we’ll get plenty of rest.

I can’t go to bed without mentioning that on this day in 1947, my mother came into this world.  I would give just about anything to be able to pick up a phone right now and wish her a Happy Birthday.  I’d love to be able to tell her about my day and have her tell me that no matter how weary I am, God never grows weary and that He’s give me the strength to get through this part of parenting.  I would love to have the chance to thank her for pounding the idea into me that families aren’t always made of blood and that every human being, no matter what their abilities or lack of abilities, has worth.

Isaiah 40:28-29

“…He won’t become worn out or get tired.
No one will ever know how great his understanding is.
He gives strength to those who are tired.
He gives power to those who are weak.”

I don’t care when your Mom’s birthday is.  If she’s still there to pick up the phone, you should call her just because you can.