August 15th… a very special day to say the least…

Today was the day our daughter and Mikey got married!! And Julie was the Officiant!! 🙂

I left at about 10:30 to run home, get the dogs pottied, then snag the other half of our finger roll order and pickup the wedding cake…

Then back home, cake in the fridge, a quick shower, get dressed, dogs pottied again and head for the 2:00 ceremony…

Of course I got hung up a Cumby’s trying to pickup 10 more bags of ice with only 1 person working (with the key to the ice) and a steady stream of customers… I made it to the ceremony with the cake, the rolls, 2 meat platters, 2 sub platters, 10 bags of ice and 5 minutes to spare… which I didn’t need because Mikey’s parents didn’t arrive until about 2:30… whew!!

While I was gone, guests and food started to arrive, tents were assembled and tables setup and everything started to take shape… lots of homemade food, platters, and the smell of brisket and pulled pork from Mikey’s smoker…

The whole thing was very ‘chill”… just as the ceremony started, the flower girl melted down… then a large group of motorcycles and pickup trucks bearing American flags rumbled down the street… they spotted the wedding and started honking…. after a couple minutes the group passed and the procession started… the first song was right then the 2nd tune got messed up and they played the first one again…

I returned a little before 5:00 and people had already started breaking down… we had everything – tents, tables and chairs – packed and loaded onto trailers and secured and Julie and I were home before 7:00.

Julie’s brother Adam handled the photography duties… I’ll be sure to share some of those pictures when they’re finished…

It was an amazing day!! Congratulations Selena & Mike!!! 🙂

I created a rough video from my GoPro, Tascam audio recorder and my cell phone (I had time and an angle after I gave Selena away)… we wanted something we could show Selena’s Nana (my Mom) who unfortunately couldn’t make it to the ceremony… details of that ordeal are below…

Over a month ago Mom started complaining to the nurses about pain in her side and back – especially when she coughed (at the Pines in Glens Falls where she’s a resident)… she told one of them that she’d had Pleurisy before and that was what this felt like… the nurse looked at her like she was crazy but said she’d note it… she didn’t… for over a week no one even checked on her – even when she put her light on for assistance… I ended up having to go down and raise a stink until I saw the Assistant Head of Nursing who finally went up to the room and told her they’d put a pain patch on her… that eventually came much later… it didn’t help much be she got a little sleep through the weekend… the admin that saw her Friday had said if she wasn’t better Monday she’d get her ‘seen’ by a ‘provider’ (visiting wannabe doctors) who visit periodically…

It was late afternoon Monday when one finally showed… Mom told her the same thing she told the nurse weeks ago – that it felt like Pleurisy… the provider told her her lungs were fine and left… after a few more days and no improvement we got the Assistant Head of Nursing again and she agreed that she needed to be X-rayed… the portable rig arrived mid-afternoon and Mom was told the provider would stop with the results before they left… she didn’t… Mom started making calls about 5:00 and was told the provider had entered it in the computer and left… the results?? You guessed it – PLEURISY!! I guess the provider didn’t want to face Mom after telling her that her lungs were fine…

The next day a different provider showed up and put her on an antibiotic… this made her sick as a dog… only then did anyone think to tell her it should be taken with food…

August 18th… Mom’s been so weak she can barely walk – mostly because she still can’t eat normally because the antibiotic really messed up her stomach… she’s been walking the past few days… a little further each time… and today she made it back down to the lobby after almost 5 weeks and wanted to get out for a bit just to get fresh air and see something different though she still wasn’t ready to eat… I can’t help but think that maybe, if anyone had listened to her sooner, she might have made the wedding… I’m hoping she’ll like the video at least… 🙂

September 29th… Another very special day… but this one starts a few day earlier…

As you can tell from the wedding pictures, Selena’s either smuggling basketballs or she’s 7 months pregnant with a Sherman tank… 🙂

Early last summer I saw a concert advertised that I thought we’d all enjoy (Post Modern Jukebox or Three Dog Night, etc… I can’t remember)… the date was September 29th and I thought ‘Nope – even though her due date was October 18th, that would be about the time the baby would decide to come’ so I forgot about whatever show that was…

Around the end of August or so Selena ended up in the ER because her blood pressure was through the roof… after several hours there, they determined that she had some pregnancy anxiety… they sent her home and told her if she got up and was feeling dizzy or nauseous she should come back… about 2:00am she got up to use the bathroom and was dizzy and nauseous so they headed back to the ER… this time they thought her body was just starting to settle down and she got up a little too quick… nothing to worry about…

A few weeks later they would diagnose her with severe Preeclampsia and because of her blood pressure issues they made the decision to induce labor on September 27th… they also told her that the baby had a big head and shoulders so she might have to have a C-Section…

Selena, Mike and Julie all moved into the Snuggery at Glens Falls Hospital on September 27th at 7:15am and the staff started preparing Selena for delivery… there were a number of painful steps to get Selena’s body to the right size for delivery and it turned out to be a struggle to get there…

The afternoon of the 28th, the delivery team felt Selena was to the correct size and induced labor… movement was slow, then seemed to stall so they put Selena on her side to try to get the baby in a better position…

Everyone got to go home on Friday 10/2… we knew my Mom was excited about becoming a Great Grandma and surprised her by meeting the kids at the hospital when they were discharged that afternoon…