Eye of the storm.

Things are better these days.

I think all that family stress with coming home early from vacation for the risky exchange transfusion played evil psychological games with my rationale. Once I heard it was over and that everything went all right, my psyche imploded and I lay on the floor and cried in relief for at least fifteen minutes.

But everything's okay now. The baby's fine, but she still might need to spend a little time in the NICU, because they're inducing labor a month early (July 29!), so she'll be small, and it doesn't help that her hematocrit came back at 38 (slightly anemic). I believe they gave her 40 ccs bld during the procedure, so that should help. Plus, all the signs point to bilirubin levels that will probably be off the charts, so it'll be phototherapy for a month or so, and then we're in the clear.

Her name is Grace.
Well, her first name will be Sandra (after my grandmother), but we aren't going to call her that.
Sandra Grace.
And she'll go by Grace.

^ For those of you who don't know my family, I'm not pregnant.
It's my mom's baby.

In other news, I've formulated a reading list for the next couple of weeks or so:
* I Am A Strange Loop (Hofstradter) (scientific; about self-awareness/identity)
* Godel, Escher, Bach (Hofstradter) (just sounded awesome; we'll see if it actually is)
* The Book of Lost Things (Connolly) (fun; I've wanted to read it since a recommendation junior year)
* The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky) (to appease a friend)
* Slaughterhouse-Five (Vonnegut) (recommended to me multiple times, but I've never picked it up) (plus, Lost references it: "unstuck in time")
* The Prince (Machiavelli) (shut up, I know I'm a slacker for not having started it yet)
* Assorted chemistry textbooks (I need to get moving on that)
* Carrie (King) (I've always wanted to read it)

Haha.
A nice combination of science books, random fiction, and classic literature.
Yay.