You're Never Too Old To Learn

THINGS MEMA LEARNED ON DESTIN TRIP:

*You don't go over the Mississippi River twice between Little Rock and Destin. That other big bridge goes over the Yazoo River

*Those big box things are grain silos.

*Southeastern Louisiana State University is not in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.


*Self-checkout. She had "never seen anything like that before!"

THINGS MARGIE DISCOVERED ON DESTIN TRIP:
*You don't have to read any street signs while travelling with Mema. She will read them all to you.

*The way to keep Mema from talking non-stop is to get her up early to leave. The talking only starts after she's been awake past 9:00.

*Mema and Aunt Boochie stopped at some random field while driving through the Delta onetime and picked a cotton ball to see what it was like.

*Mema's idea of a few minutes is 45 so plan accordingly.

Mema Moments

Most of you know I have come to Destin. My heart is in Little Rock with Melissa, Scott, and Emma (as well as a sick Matt and the rest of my family), but there were things that needed to be taken care of here that couldn't wait. With things at home looking up and with my family's blessing, I headed to Florida with Mema along for the ride. And there were a couple of Mema Moments along the way.

In one stretch between Hattiesburg and Mobile, we got stuck behind a big truck hauling some big green piece of equipment. One car was riding along with it, blocking traffic from going around it on a narrow stretch. We did finally get around it and go on our merry way. We later stopped for gas. After we got back on the road, as we were passing the truck weigh-in station, the green equipment truck was reentering the roadway with a car in front and in the rear riding along with it. I made the comment that I didn't remember there being a lead car when we passed it before. "Yes there was," Mema explained. "It was behind it."

My favorite was as we were passing through Hattiesburg. Mema asked, "Margie, is Southeast Louisiana--that team we played--in Hattiesburg?" I was speechless.

Great News

Melissa is home, and glad to be! Tests came back that she does not have preeclamsia. It's pregnancy induced hypertension. She needs to rest, but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. The doctor says for her not to go back to work until she sees the doctor in her office on Wednesday.

She does still have gestational diabetes, but she seems to be managing that well with diet.

The rest of the drama is left to Emma!

Thanks for the prayers. They worked.

PROBLEM CHILDREN

It seems the Duncans are not destined to have normal pregnancies or non-dramatic babies. As most of you know, Noah was in NICU for a few days after he was born. In fact, he had already come into this world by c-section since he weighed in at almost 10 pounds, but he was dehydrated. A couple of months after his birth he decided a stay in Children's Hospital was in order. It turned out all his problems were just minor setbacks but not before scaring us all to death.

Then Brady decided he wanted to top Noah and be born a month early. He weighed in at 5 pounds and 5 ounces, but went home after a couple of days. And not to be outdone, he, too, decided to pay a visit to Children's Hospital at around 3 months of age. That one set me and Alan on a flying trip home from Destin. After minor surgery for a common, correctible problem, he was back on the right track.

Then there's Emma. She isn't going to let those boys outdo her, and she isn't even here yet. I'm sitting at the hospital with Melissa right now. She has been having high blood pressure issues, and they are testing her for preeclampsia. If she has this condition, she could be looking at a five-week stay in the hospital waiting for Emma to reach the 36 week point, so she can be born with fewer problems. Her vitals are looking pretty good today, though, so we're hoping this is just a scare. Afterall, the boys scared us, so why not Emma?

We could use all your prayers for Melissa and Emma. The doctors assure us that even if Emma were to be born today, they are highly optimistic that she would be OK. We sure could do without all this drama, though. We'll have test results back this afternoon and have a better idea what we're facing.