A blog about babies: the babies I lost, the babies I never had, the baby who made me a Mama.

Monday, March 28, 2011

What's Goin' On; or, Taking a Sabbatical

Things have been moving in the Sloper household the last few days. After a whirlwind of social activity, all of our immediate family (including Sister #3, finally) knows about Smudgie. We also had dinner with two separate sets of friends and told them (four more people). And Lawyer Guy wanted to tell his closest aunt and uncle on each side of his family when we saw them over the weekend at our niece's first birthday party (though we are not informing any other family--including cousins--until after the Level I anatomy scan). We each have a few more friends on our lists of people to tell, but that can be stretched out over the next month.

You may remember that my sister-in-law burst into tears when we told her about Smudgie two weeks ago, and even my stoic brother-in-law got choked up. Apparently, this is a common reaction. One of LG's step-sisters also stared crying when we told her, as did--separately--three of our friends (one of them male!).

I can't deny that there's something very warming about seeing people react so enthusiastically to the news that we're (we hope) expecting. It's nice to know that so many in our lives support us and have been supporting us throughout these two years. I remember my youngest sister saying after we miscarried the m&m, "Maybe now everyone will be even happier when you have a baby and it will be even more special, because we'll all know how sad you were." And it seems like that is coming true, to a certain extent. Two years trying to conceive, a lost pregnancy: they're not always easy things to share with the people in your life. But I'm glad that I did.

Unfortunately, after such a busy, social weekend, I'm feeling pretty drained and very anxious. But fortunately, for once the anxiety is not about Smudgie (though I'm sure that will return soon enough). Nope...it's about school!

I've mentioned that I have my orals (aka qualifying exams) coming up. They're in about two months. My work pace up until now has been, shall we say, sluggish. I've been distracted, I confess. But now I need to read 60-70 texts in April and May and prepare myself to converse with my committee on any aspect of any of them. And because I'm a Victorianist, most of these tests are 800-pages long.

With sadness, much like the robin or the Canada goose, I'm going to have to say goodbye to you all until the weather is warmer. I need to focus on preparing for this test for the next 8 weeks, and I won't be able to give this space the time and attention I like.

I will update after our scans (one in two weeks, the other at the end of April, and--I hope I hope--more in May). I'll try to check in with your blogs at least once a week, maybe on the weekends. But for the sake of my academic career, that's all I can manage for now.

Ta-Ta! I wish everyone warm weather, good cycles, happy pregnancies, healthy babies, and all happy things until I return.

12 comments:

  1. Noooooo! Please tell me you'll be on Twitter at least. Can I stalk you there? :)

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  2. good luck Sloper. Good luck with your exams and studying. Looking forward to your next update, whenever that is. Hoping everything goes smoothly and we here from you next happily passed your exam and well into T2!!!!

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  3. Good idea-- if you don't announce your hiatus, maybe you'd never actually leave the blogosphere long enough to study! And 60-70 texts in 2 months????? Holy crap. I do think studying for my quals was the most academic stress I've ever faced. It was also really rewarding to immerse myself in the material. I hope you are able to experience the rewarding aspects, which will of course be harder to reap while pregnant (who cares about books when there's a BABY in your belly??).

    If you stop by from time to time, I promise not to mention quals again on my blog... :) Sorry to have sprung that on you!

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  4. We all completely understand! Good luck preparing...we will all miss you and keep you and Smudgie in our thoughts.

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  5. Completely understand, but will miss you!! Can't wait for your updates and good luck with all the school work.

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  6. Good luck with the studying. You should have chosen comic strips instead of Victorian lit :-)

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  7. totally understand you needing to take some time off, but glad you'll be able to keep us updated on the big things.

    hooray for a wonderful NT scan!!

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  8. Sloper, it's a smart decision. Step by step. And your next step is to read those text and pass your exams.

    Good luck and I'll enjoy you're updates when you post them.

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  9. G'luck with all the reading and studying. Sending constant good vibes to you and sweet Smudgie! (and yay, again, for a wonderful NT scan and starting to share the news!!)

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  10. Best of luck with the Victorians, but we're better company ;) Will be thinking about Smudgie while you're away...

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