I can't believe Miss Emmaline is already three weeks old! Time sure does fly, faster and faster with each child. In case you were curious, we are pronouncing her name Emma-LEEN but it can also be pronounced Emma-LINE (which I like as well, but prefer the LEEN). I promised you her birth story and here it is...
My parents came down the week of February 18th to help us out with the kids and to be here in case my doctor decided to go ahead and induce me. That Friday I felt somewhat foolish having "rung the alarm bell" maybe too early. I was feeling pretty good and was able to run some errands, which I hadn't really felt up to the past few weeks. However, my spurt of energy was short lived and by Saturday my headache had returned along with the nausea and just general malaise. We went to dinner that evening and by the time we left, I literally thought my head was either going to explode or roll off of my neck. I took some Percocet that night with the hopes that it would help, along with an early bedtime. I should also mention that my OB had made me swear up and down to call her if I started not feeling well. As most of you know (and if you've spent any amount of time reading this silly blog), I HATE to cause a fuss, especially if it seems like it should be no big deal. My OB had told me that she was the one on call that weekend and to not hesitate to call...
Sunday morning I woke up feeling the same, which was SO frustrating. Honestly, my patience at this point was waning, mostly because I really hated feeling like half of a person. We decided to go to breakfast and I went because I needed to eat and I wanted to get out of the house. After breakfast, I decided that I HAD to lay back down and that it was going to be a long day. At that point, I was on the verge of calling my doctor to see if there was anything else I could take to kick the stupid headache. Steve came up to check on me and made the decision for me - I was calling the doctor. So, since it was Sunday, I had to use the answering service and wait for the doctor to call me back. I figured it would be awhile, so I settled in to try and sleep for a bit. My doctor called me back in less than a minute!! She said she'd been worried about me, knew that if I had called things were taking a turn for the worse, and wanted to go ahead and deliver. Another birth plan out the window!! Although, I felt so terrible at that point, I just wanted whatever was going to help me feel better. I grabbed a quick shower, threw a few last minute things in my bag and off we went to meet our baby!
Once at the hospital, I was admitted quickly and an assessment was done to see whether I needed to be induced immediately or wait until the morning. Bloodwork was done (I was surprised I had much blood left to give considering how much they'd taken from me). We had absolutely amazing care from the staff - so wonderful, in fact, I'll save that for it's own post - totally worth it! Anyway, my head was hurting so bad I couldn't fill out the paperwork, so Steve ended up writing for me while I narrated. By the way, once you've had cancer + complicated pregnancies + plus surgeries, filling out paperwork is a LENGTHY process...
My doctor came in to check on me shortly after that and thanked me for calling her - she was relieved that I was in the hospital and under her watch :). We went over the birth plan - it was decided that we would induce in the morning. She encouraged me to take the morphine she had prescribed as we just couldn't seem to manage the pain with the headache. So, with her encouragement and reassurance, I said YES! to the drugs. The morphine was a lovely shot in the ass, but oh my lord, SOOOOO worth it. It also had my old pal Phenergan in it, so within five minutes, I felt like a new person. One of my best friends was visiting at the time and both she and Steve remarked at how quickly my personality changed, back to my delightful, cheerful self (LOL! kidding, my normal, sarcastic highly entertaining pregnant self is more like it). Anyway, it was such an incredible relief to have the pain under control.
As for the induction, it was the easiest of the three! Everything went mostly according to plan. The Pitocin was started at 6am and my OB broke my water around 9:30. My nurses were monitoring me VERY closely and were insistent that I not be in any pain (fine by me!). I was ready for the epidural by 11am and things progressed very quickly after that. In fact, Emma arrived so quickly (one push and out she came!) that the staff wasn't ready and had to be paged! It was amazingly quick, NOTHING like Simon's birth which was an exercise in frustration and pain. Steve had said he wanted to announce whether it was a boy or a girl at the birth, but it happened so fast he didn't have a chance to see! So, the nurse ended up spilling the beans, which was funny.
Emmaline Hope was 7lbs, 8oz and 20 inches long. She was also 5 weeks early, so she would have been HUGE had she gone full term. She is absolutely the sweetest, cuddliest and most wonderful addition to our family. It's funny how we didn't realize our family wasn't complete until she arrived. I feel like we have been given the most precious gift and such a challenging few years. Emmaline is the true embodiment of what HOPE represents for our family. I'm so excited to share her with all of you!!
xoxo
The Gang's All Here!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
So Much Baby Mama Drama
I'll start this post with a giant apology! I know that I have been absent and not good about updating the blog, and well, a lot has happened since my last post. I am so sorry for the delay, but hopefully once I share the details you can forgive me? And the best part, our sweet, sweet baby GIRL has arrived!! Emmaline Hope Hinman arrived via induction on February 23 at 1:29pm weighing in at a whopping 7lbs, 8oz and 20in long. And yes, she was early, born at 35 weeks, 2 days.
The biggest reason for me not updating the blog was my declining health. At the beginning of February, I started to have headaches. They started off mild enough, but gradually increased to pounding, relentless pain everyday. My blood pressure was also on the rise, but not alarmingly high at that point. My nausea returned with a vengeance and along with that came feeling just "blah" which is the best way I can describe it. I was having a particularly bad day on February 10th. I had been awake most of the night before with what I thought were contractions, but wasn't 100% sure. My head was pounding and I was just plain miserable. I had an appointment scheduled with my OB for the morning of the 10th, so I decided not to call, and just go in at my regular time. Thankfully, Steve decided to work from home since we also had a house full of contractors working on our master bath reno (again, never a dull moment...). My OB took one look at me, decided I needed to head over to the hospital for 24 hours of observation and "rest". Once admitted (which is wonderfully quick in labor and delivery!), the doctors started a battery of tests to rule out preeclampsia (I had this with both Stella and Simon) and HELLP syndrome, which is a much more serious complication from preeclampsia. I also had an emergency ultrasound to determine baby's size, in case they felt delivery was immanent. I had really mixed feelings on being delivered at that point. While I was 33 weeks and change, my goal all along had been to make it to 35 weeks (to hopefully avoid another stint in the NICU) and ideally to 37 weeks. I desperately didn't want to have my third baby in the NICU for any mount of time. The baby weighed (an estimated) 7lbs, 3oz on the ultrasound, which is GIGANTIC for 33 weeks. I spoke with not only my OB, but perinatologist as well. We determined a "wait and see" approach would be best along with a 24 hour urine collection (so.much.fun) to determine where I was on the preeclampsia scale. Oh, and I was also contracting every 5 minutes, so an IV was started to hydrate me. They couldn't control the headache (which was unbearable by that point), so I ended up on two Percocet every 4 hours with Phenergan. That combo finally kicked the headache by the next afternoon.
I was released from the hospital the following night and placed on modified bed rest. A completely practical solution when you already have two kids and two dogs. Thankfully, I had stabilized and the contractions were back to random. We decided that perhaps it was time to bring in some reinforcements and asked my parents to come down and help us out the following week.
Stay tuned - my computer time is short lived these days - I'll update with Emmaline's birth story soon - it's a good one!!
The biggest reason for me not updating the blog was my declining health. At the beginning of February, I started to have headaches. They started off mild enough, but gradually increased to pounding, relentless pain everyday. My blood pressure was also on the rise, but not alarmingly high at that point. My nausea returned with a vengeance and along with that came feeling just "blah" which is the best way I can describe it. I was having a particularly bad day on February 10th. I had been awake most of the night before with what I thought were contractions, but wasn't 100% sure. My head was pounding and I was just plain miserable. I had an appointment scheduled with my OB for the morning of the 10th, so I decided not to call, and just go in at my regular time. Thankfully, Steve decided to work from home since we also had a house full of contractors working on our master bath reno (again, never a dull moment...). My OB took one look at me, decided I needed to head over to the hospital for 24 hours of observation and "rest". Once admitted (which is wonderfully quick in labor and delivery!), the doctors started a battery of tests to rule out preeclampsia (I had this with both Stella and Simon) and HELLP syndrome, which is a much more serious complication from preeclampsia. I also had an emergency ultrasound to determine baby's size, in case they felt delivery was immanent. I had really mixed feelings on being delivered at that point. While I was 33 weeks and change, my goal all along had been to make it to 35 weeks (to hopefully avoid another stint in the NICU) and ideally to 37 weeks. I desperately didn't want to have my third baby in the NICU for any mount of time. The baby weighed (an estimated) 7lbs, 3oz on the ultrasound, which is GIGANTIC for 33 weeks. I spoke with not only my OB, but perinatologist as well. We determined a "wait and see" approach would be best along with a 24 hour urine collection (so.much.fun) to determine where I was on the preeclampsia scale. Oh, and I was also contracting every 5 minutes, so an IV was started to hydrate me. They couldn't control the headache (which was unbearable by that point), so I ended up on two Percocet every 4 hours with Phenergan. That combo finally kicked the headache by the next afternoon.
I was released from the hospital the following night and placed on modified bed rest. A completely practical solution when you already have two kids and two dogs. Thankfully, I had stabilized and the contractions were back to random. We decided that perhaps it was time to bring in some reinforcements and asked my parents to come down and help us out the following week.
Stay tuned - my computer time is short lived these days - I'll update with Emmaline's birth story soon - it's a good one!!
Friday, January 30, 2015
The Bitch Factor
It's been an interesting week. But, let me start by sharing some of my "favorite" comments I've received in the past couple of weeks. While returning something at Macys last week, the cashier asked me if she was going to have deliver a baby that day. She actually shocked me speechless for a few seconds. I gave her my best withering glare and said "hopefully not". The men seem to be into making remarks as well. I mean, I cannot possibly be the first visibly pregnant person they've ever seen, right?!?! I constantly get the comment, "are you sure it's just one in there?". Yup, damn sure, in fact. Or the other old reliable, "is your due date right?". Um, yeah, but thanks for your professional medical opinion. I'm seriously considering not going out in public until this baby arrives because it's more and more difficult to hold my tongue. Plus, if you've spent any amount of time with me, you know that sarcasm and swear words come quite naturally to me. Consider yourselves warned, the bitch factor is in full effect!!
This has been a marathon week for doctors appointments. I met with my breast surgeon on Monday for a check-up. I'm happy to report all is well in that arena. She was more than shocked that I was 8 months pregnant, but she was excited and demanded a baby announcement. I saw my OB on Tuesday to start my two week appointments. While I'm doing okay, I'm definitely not feeling great. The exhaustion alone would be enough to send anyone screaming. Add to that, I'm uncomfortable (who isn't at 8 months pregnant, I'd like to know?!?!), achy, contraction-y and just blah feeling. My OB is convinced that my recent medical history is not helping my cause. I left with her orders to "take it even easier" than I'm already doing and let them know if I start having more contractions etc.
Yesterday I had my monthly ultrasound to check on baby's growth and my fluid levels. Boy oh boy was I in for a shock. At my last ultrasound, 4 weeks ago, baby weighed in at 2lbs, 12oz. Yesterday, at 32 weeks, baby weighed in at 6lbs!!!!! Yes, you read that correctly. 8 weeks to go and Porker is already 6 lbs. The tech did the measurement three different times because she was sure it had to be a mistake. Never fear, no mistake, we have one VERY healthy baby. No wonder I'm uncomfortable! And yes, the thought of baby's size at birth is the stuff my nightmares are made of. While we had great news involving baby's health, mine has started the downhill slide. For whatever reason, 32 weeks seems to be my nemesis. My BP was up yesterday. Thankfully not high enough to earn me a direct ticket to Labor and Delivery for observation, but high enough to for them to draw labs and start being concerned. Given my pregnancy history, this is not at all shocking. I also landed myself on the weekly doctor visit with the maternal fetal specialist (where I have my ultrasounds). So...fingers and toes crossed that baby keeps cooking for at least a few more weeks. The first goal is 35 weeks, but ideally 37 if we can manage it. I'll keep you posted and hopefully Chunk doesn't gain another pound this week!!
This has been a marathon week for doctors appointments. I met with my breast surgeon on Monday for a check-up. I'm happy to report all is well in that arena. She was more than shocked that I was 8 months pregnant, but she was excited and demanded a baby announcement. I saw my OB on Tuesday to start my two week appointments. While I'm doing okay, I'm definitely not feeling great. The exhaustion alone would be enough to send anyone screaming. Add to that, I'm uncomfortable (who isn't at 8 months pregnant, I'd like to know?!?!), achy, contraction-y and just blah feeling. My OB is convinced that my recent medical history is not helping my cause. I left with her orders to "take it even easier" than I'm already doing and let them know if I start having more contractions etc.
Yesterday I had my monthly ultrasound to check on baby's growth and my fluid levels. Boy oh boy was I in for a shock. At my last ultrasound, 4 weeks ago, baby weighed in at 2lbs, 12oz. Yesterday, at 32 weeks, baby weighed in at 6lbs!!!!! Yes, you read that correctly. 8 weeks to go and Porker is already 6 lbs. The tech did the measurement three different times because she was sure it had to be a mistake. Never fear, no mistake, we have one VERY healthy baby. No wonder I'm uncomfortable! And yes, the thought of baby's size at birth is the stuff my nightmares are made of. While we had great news involving baby's health, mine has started the downhill slide. For whatever reason, 32 weeks seems to be my nemesis. My BP was up yesterday. Thankfully not high enough to earn me a direct ticket to Labor and Delivery for observation, but high enough to for them to draw labs and start being concerned. Given my pregnancy history, this is not at all shocking. I also landed myself on the weekly doctor visit with the maternal fetal specialist (where I have my ultrasounds). So...fingers and toes crossed that baby keeps cooking for at least a few more weeks. The first goal is 35 weeks, but ideally 37 if we can manage it. I'll keep you posted and hopefully Chunk doesn't gain another pound this week!!
Monday, January 12, 2015
A quick update...
Ack! Two posts in under a week- what is going on in the universe?!?! Just wanted to let all of you know that I passed the 3 hour glucose test with flying colors! It wasn't even close, which begs the question, what on earth did I do on the fist test? Oh well, no complaints from this chick! I will be 30 weeks tomorrow - historically when the shit hits the fan in my other pregnancies. Yeehaw! We're in the homestretch now, fingers crossed my body continues to cooperate and baby cooks for at least seven more weeks. Thanks for all of your support!!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Doctor, Doctor, Doctor
Why, hello there. I know, I know, I have been terrible about updating the blog. In my defense, we have been incredibly busy. We had a lovely holiday and had lots of much needed family time, from both sides of our family. That has, by far, been the toughest part of living in Georgia. We are not remotely close to any of our family, so any time we do get to spend with them is extra special. WE spent Christmas in South Carolina at the Hinman Family Compound. We had gorgeous weather for the most part. My parents came to see us for New Years/ Stella's/ my birthday which was also lots of fun. We went to a Japanese steak house to celebrate our birthdays and the kids had their socks blown off by the fire/ grilling at the table!
For the past week, I have been slammed with multiple doctors appointments. I had my one hour glucose test with my OB which I promptly failed, awesome. More on that in a minute. The next day I had a follow-up ultrasound to check on baby. I'm happy to report that baby looks great! It was a growth measurement day, which are always fun to check out baby's progress. The baby would NOT stop kicking the ultrasound wand, so the poor tech had a helluva time getting measurements. This child is destined to play soccer, I've decided. Baby is measuring right on track and weighed in at 2lbs, 12oz, which, in case you were wondering, is LARGE. The third appointment I had last week was with my oncologist. At this point, I'm seeing her about every three months to check on blood counts and to make sure I'm not having any new problems. Thankfully, all is well from cancerland! I will follow-up with her after the baby is born to schedule scans, etc.
So, I mentioned that I failed my one hour glucose screening test. This is new territory for me, as that was one issue I didn't have when pregnant with Stella and Simon. The glucose screening test determines whether further testing is needed to see if I may have gestational diabetes. Yesterday, which was my birthday, I headed back to the OB office to take the three hour glucose tolerance test. I can't think of a more delightful activity to do on one's birthday... Anyway, the three hour test is a fasting test, so I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight. Pure torture for a pregnant woman. I arrived at the office at 9am and had to have my fasting blood draw immediately. Then, I was given the delightful Glucola drink to chug. The one hour test also has you drink Glucola with 50g of sugar. The three hour test Glucola has 100g of sugar in it. GAG. The fridge in the office was broken, so I had the added bonus of chugging that sucker warm. And it was fruit punch flavored. Double gag. I'm not a fan of sweet beverages to begin with, so this was like drinking a bowl of sugar.
Once I finished the drink, I had three more blood draws, once an hour. My poor arm was over it by the end. One neat side effect from my mastectomy is that since they took lymph nodes from my right arm, I can no longer have any kind of blood draw, needle stick or blood pressure taken on that side. If I were to use my right arm, I am at great risk for lymphedema. So, my poor left arm pulls all of the weight these days. As a side note, yes I do still have my port, which I wish I could use, but unfortunately, the only people allowed to access it are specialized oncology nurses. I was nervous about how I would feel after chugging pure sugar, and I've many a horror story about the three hour test. The first fifteen minutes were a little rough, but after that my stomach settled and I felt fine. The baby was having quite the party and a few times I wondered if it was going to just jump out of my stomach. Again, this is not a quiet child, we are active both day and all night.
By the end of the test I was ravenous and working on a serious headache. I have a serious caffeine addiction, so not having my coffee in the morning was a doozie. I was happy to grab some lunch, but I was seriously wiped out. I picked the kids up from school and attempted to take a nap. Attempted would be the key word there. Stella basically refuse to nap most days, yesterday being one of them. My headache would NOT go away. I took Tylenol (useless, but all I'm allowed these days), drank coffee but nothing helped. I thought my head might just roll right off of my body. I ended up just going to bed early and thankfully it was gone when I woke up this morning. I'm assuming it was some sort of reaction to all of the sugar, but who knows.
I should have my results in a few days and then we'll come up with a plan if I do indeed have gestational diabetes. I'm really hoping I don't, but I've certainly dealt with much worse when it comes down to it. Until then, I'm off to enjoy a birthday cupcake ;)
For the past week, I have been slammed with multiple doctors appointments. I had my one hour glucose test with my OB which I promptly failed, awesome. More on that in a minute. The next day I had a follow-up ultrasound to check on baby. I'm happy to report that baby looks great! It was a growth measurement day, which are always fun to check out baby's progress. The baby would NOT stop kicking the ultrasound wand, so the poor tech had a helluva time getting measurements. This child is destined to play soccer, I've decided. Baby is measuring right on track and weighed in at 2lbs, 12oz, which, in case you were wondering, is LARGE. The third appointment I had last week was with my oncologist. At this point, I'm seeing her about every three months to check on blood counts and to make sure I'm not having any new problems. Thankfully, all is well from cancerland! I will follow-up with her after the baby is born to schedule scans, etc.
So, I mentioned that I failed my one hour glucose screening test. This is new territory for me, as that was one issue I didn't have when pregnant with Stella and Simon. The glucose screening test determines whether further testing is needed to see if I may have gestational diabetes. Yesterday, which was my birthday, I headed back to the OB office to take the three hour glucose tolerance test. I can't think of a more delightful activity to do on one's birthday... Anyway, the three hour test is a fasting test, so I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight. Pure torture for a pregnant woman. I arrived at the office at 9am and had to have my fasting blood draw immediately. Then, I was given the delightful Glucola drink to chug. The one hour test also has you drink Glucola with 50g of sugar. The three hour test Glucola has 100g of sugar in it. GAG. The fridge in the office was broken, so I had the added bonus of chugging that sucker warm. And it was fruit punch flavored. Double gag. I'm not a fan of sweet beverages to begin with, so this was like drinking a bowl of sugar.
Once I finished the drink, I had three more blood draws, once an hour. My poor arm was over it by the end. One neat side effect from my mastectomy is that since they took lymph nodes from my right arm, I can no longer have any kind of blood draw, needle stick or blood pressure taken on that side. If I were to use my right arm, I am at great risk for lymphedema. So, my poor left arm pulls all of the weight these days. As a side note, yes I do still have my port, which I wish I could use, but unfortunately, the only people allowed to access it are specialized oncology nurses. I was nervous about how I would feel after chugging pure sugar, and I've many a horror story about the three hour test. The first fifteen minutes were a little rough, but after that my stomach settled and I felt fine. The baby was having quite the party and a few times I wondered if it was going to just jump out of my stomach. Again, this is not a quiet child, we are active both day and all night.
By the end of the test I was ravenous and working on a serious headache. I have a serious caffeine addiction, so not having my coffee in the morning was a doozie. I was happy to grab some lunch, but I was seriously wiped out. I picked the kids up from school and attempted to take a nap. Attempted would be the key word there. Stella basically refuse to nap most days, yesterday being one of them. My headache would NOT go away. I took Tylenol (useless, but all I'm allowed these days), drank coffee but nothing helped. I thought my head might just roll right off of my body. I ended up just going to bed early and thankfully it was gone when I woke up this morning. I'm assuming it was some sort of reaction to all of the sugar, but who knows.
I should have my results in a few days and then we'll come up with a plan if I do indeed have gestational diabetes. I'm really hoping I don't, but I've certainly dealt with much worse when it comes down to it. Until then, I'm off to enjoy a birthday cupcake ;)
Monday, December 8, 2014
The Quarantine
We definitely did not have the Thanksgiving that we hoped and planned for. We were supposed the leave the Saturday before Thanksgiving for Virginia. However, the universe had other plans for us. Stella's class was having a Thanksgiving feast on the last day of school before break. She spiked a low grade fever the night before. which should have been my first clue that our holiday would be of to a rocky start. She had a rough night and still had a low-grade fever the next morning, so I couldn't send her to school for the feast. She was devastated (and I felt like the meanest mom on the planet). She and Simon played at home that morning. She seemed happy and acted mostly like herself, so I assumed she just had a virus. That afternoon, she feel asleep for a little while and then came downstairs with flaming cheeks. I took her temperature which was at 103 (this was after Tylenol). And, alarm bells went off in my head, especially since we were headed out of town the next day. So, I woke poor Simon up and dragged both kids to walk-ins (one of my MOST dreaded of places to be) at the peds office. We waited for an hour to be seen, and Stella's little face kept getting more and more red. By the time we were called back, her temp was over 104...yikes! She was one sick kiddo. The immediately gave her a whopping dose of motrin and a popsicle, which cheered her up a little. The ran a flu test and low and behold, it came back positive. I was shocked!! We had all gotten the flu shot back at the beginning of October. I nearly cried because I knew what a flu diagnosis meant. We weren't going anywhere, anytime soon.
We quarantined ourselves at home and tried to make the best of a sucky situation. For the first time ever, I broke my "no Christmas décor before Thanksgiving" rule and put up the tree. Stella wasn't up to doing much more than watching, but it at least kept her occupied. By Sunday afternoon, Stella was feeling better but Simon woke up from his nap with a fever. Round two of the flu!! I did not leave my house for 6 days... On Wednesday I ended up taking Simon to the doctor because he was complaining of ear pain. Turns out he had an ear infection AND the flu. Poor kid. Meanwhile, I managed to catch a cold during our week of fun, but thankfully, did NOT have the flu. I finally went to the doctor this week and was diagnosed with a sinus infection (shocking).
I did have a check-up with both my OB and maternal fetal specialist last week and baby looks great! They have moved up my due date four days, as baby is measuring ahead. One advantage to being stuck in Atlanta for the holiday, was that we (Steve) had a chance to set up the baby's room. So, we may be completely out of control when baby arrives, but at least baby will have a place to sleep!
We quarantined ourselves at home and tried to make the best of a sucky situation. For the first time ever, I broke my "no Christmas décor before Thanksgiving" rule and put up the tree. Stella wasn't up to doing much more than watching, but it at least kept her occupied. By Sunday afternoon, Stella was feeling better but Simon woke up from his nap with a fever. Round two of the flu!! I did not leave my house for 6 days... On Wednesday I ended up taking Simon to the doctor because he was complaining of ear pain. Turns out he had an ear infection AND the flu. Poor kid. Meanwhile, I managed to catch a cold during our week of fun, but thankfully, did NOT have the flu. I finally went to the doctor this week and was diagnosed with a sinus infection (shocking).
I did have a check-up with both my OB and maternal fetal specialist last week and baby looks great! They have moved up my due date four days, as baby is measuring ahead. One advantage to being stuck in Atlanta for the holiday, was that we (Steve) had a chance to set up the baby's room. So, we may be completely out of control when baby arrives, but at least baby will have a place to sleep!
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Roasted & Toasted
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the official John Riley Roast. It was such an amazing night filled with so many old friends, memories and laughs. Yes, I flew up to Virginia by myself (glorious!!) while Steve graciously stayed in Atlanta with the kids for the weekend. It would have been great to have us all there, but at the current cost of airfare, we decided that I would fly solo for this event.
For all those not up to date on current events of our family, my dad will be retiring at the end of 2014. He's been the Frederick County (VIRGINIA) administrator for 32 years. That's a long damn time in this day and age, especially in government. Some wonderful friends (in cahoots with many, many others) hosted the roast for my dad. Now, like many of you, I've really only seen the roasts done on Comedy Central, so I wasn't quite sure how "wild" things were going to get. Honestly, I'm not sure who was more nervous - my mom or my dad. My brother and I had a great time making them sweat before the event ;).
More than 200 people attended the roast, which was such a testimony to my dad's impact on not only the county, but state of Virginia. For me, it was like walking through the years of my childhood in the best possible way. We had people in attendance from my very early years (I'm sort of ancient at this point) up until present. How cool is that?!?! I sort of compared it to being at a wedding, but not having any of the responsibility of planning. Seeing old friends and reminiscing about the good days gone by is and always will be the best medicine, hands down.
My dad claims he was skewered, but let's be real, the roasters were very fair and didn't dig up too much dirt ;). There was lots of material to choose from! But, oh gosh, did we laugh until we cried. If you know my dad at all, then you know of the gazillion nicknames floating about, most stemming from John Riley himself. It was so funny to hear them mentioned after all of these years. Lest, we not forget the infamous Chicken Song, which shall now live on in infamy, much to my father's horror. If anyone got a video of that...
On a more serious note, I could not be any more proud of my dad than I was that night. He has done so much for the community, both in leadership and example. His strong values and emphasis on helping others has helped shaped me into the person I am today, and for that, I will never be able to thank him enough. So, here's to you dad, for a remarkable run and a well earned place at the top - Cheers! Also, that was only water in my tequila shot glass Saturday evening ;)
For all those not up to date on current events of our family, my dad will be retiring at the end of 2014. He's been the Frederick County (VIRGINIA) administrator for 32 years. That's a long damn time in this day and age, especially in government. Some wonderful friends (in cahoots with many, many others) hosted the roast for my dad. Now, like many of you, I've really only seen the roasts done on Comedy Central, so I wasn't quite sure how "wild" things were going to get. Honestly, I'm not sure who was more nervous - my mom or my dad. My brother and I had a great time making them sweat before the event ;).
More than 200 people attended the roast, which was such a testimony to my dad's impact on not only the county, but state of Virginia. For me, it was like walking through the years of my childhood in the best possible way. We had people in attendance from my very early years (I'm sort of ancient at this point) up until present. How cool is that?!?! I sort of compared it to being at a wedding, but not having any of the responsibility of planning. Seeing old friends and reminiscing about the good days gone by is and always will be the best medicine, hands down.
My dad claims he was skewered, but let's be real, the roasters were very fair and didn't dig up too much dirt ;). There was lots of material to choose from! But, oh gosh, did we laugh until we cried. If you know my dad at all, then you know of the gazillion nicknames floating about, most stemming from John Riley himself. It was so funny to hear them mentioned after all of these years. Lest, we not forget the infamous Chicken Song, which shall now live on in infamy, much to my father's horror. If anyone got a video of that...
On a more serious note, I could not be any more proud of my dad than I was that night. He has done so much for the community, both in leadership and example. His strong values and emphasis on helping others has helped shaped me into the person I am today, and for that, I will never be able to thank him enough. So, here's to you dad, for a remarkable run and a well earned place at the top - Cheers! Also, that was only water in my tequila shot glass Saturday evening ;)
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