Roundup

It's been a busy week in the house of Addition Problems. We're still reeling. Here's a summary:

The Good

• We went to see a new Lyme specialist in New Jersey on Monday. While the 10 hour round-trip odyssey wasn't the "last trip without baby" of our dreams, it was worth it. The new doc is knowledgeable, pleasant, aggressive about the disease, and thorough. She thinks the Lyme may have triggered an autoimmune response, and ordered new tests to check into that. We should hear back within the next two weeks. As crazy as it may sound, I’ll be thrilled if something shows up, because then at least we’ll have an answer.
• We met with a lawyer Tuesday night, and finally have the legal paperwork underway. We’ll be signing everything but the adoption stuff (which requires a six-month waiting period after the baby is born) next week.

The Bad

• The trip to New Jersey did confirm some suspicions we've had for a long time yet. The doctor said that while I could consider getting pregnant IF we get my current symptoms under control, it would be a high-risk pregnancy and possibly not the best choice for me or the baby. Also, there are no OBs in the DC area who know Lyme, adding to her hesitation. She did not waver at all on the question of breastfeeding: she recommends that mothers with Lyme NOT breastfeed. Period. Fuck. Part of me is devastated. The other part of me can’t deal with that right now because I just want to GET BETTER.
• Jen finally got around to asking the GP to send her pap results (from last spring) to the midwives. To which the doctor replied, “you know it was abnormal, right?” Uh, NO. In fact they called or sent a note saying it was NORMAL. Apparently, they ran an HPV test, which came back negative, and the pap was only slightly abnormal, so our doctor is not worried. Still this would have been good information to have BEFORE getting pregnant. And we’re not sure what the midwives will have to say about this.
• If we’re really lucky, we may have just cleared the house of useable uteri this week.

The Ugly

• We found out while talking to the lawyer on Tuesday that although the DC courts have been willing to waive the requirement for a home study for second parent adoption for the last 10 years, they stopped doing so LAST WEEK. So now, to become a legal parent to the child I helped plan and create, I have to be fingerprinted, background checked, assessed, have my home inspected, and whatever else is required. Oh, and pay a thousand or so to make sure that we get a non-homophobic social worker. It’s all so degrading. I recognize we're lucky to even be able to do the second parent adoption, but each extra hoop adds a little more sting.

We’re exhausted. We have a huge list of things to finish, which only seems to be getting longer. But Harpo continues to grow and kick, and Shelli and Narda are getting a baby, and many other wonderful mommies are just waiting for their babies to finally make an appearance, so not all is evil in the world.