INTO THE FUTURE... with hope (Part 94d) 

When it came time to bring Elle home the doctor had a really serious meeting with me. It became obvious that I hadn’t grasped how serious the operation was and how much effort was going to take to get her back to good health. He said a number of things that hit me upside my head just like a 2x4 would. First of all was that without a thyroid Elle would have to take a medication that would replace what the thyroid gland produced. The problem with that was there was no specific recommended dosage because each person’s system produced a varying amount. He said he was just guessing with the initial prescription and would have to monitor Elle weekly until such time he was satisfied that she was stabilized. A second concern was that he couldn’t be sure how the meds would affect the baby. There was the possibility that they would have a negative effect on her and she would have to be monitored closely as well. Only time would tell. The third was that he didn’t really want to release her but Elle had pretty much demanded it saying that she’d been away from her kids for five days and she wanted to be with them. At that point he looked right at me and said I would have to make sure that Elle did nothing but rest for at least a week, if not more, regardless of what she said. He definitely got my attention.

Elle’s mother stepped up and agreed to come to look after her and the kids a few days during the weeks that followed. On the days she couldn’t make it Janice took her place. The new neighbor, Marge, volunteered to make supper on the days that Janice was there (she was definitely NOT a cook!). On a personal basis, the situation caused me to spend a lot more time at home on the weekends. Basically, the only time I was away was to do grocery shopping and to take the kids to Sunday school and my grandfather to the hospital. All thoughts of the new motor and the race car were put aside. In a way it was a trial run for when the baby was born. With everything else that was going on the doctor had moved the expected birth date up to April first. For reasons that only a female would understand, that upset Elle. She didn’t want to have an April fools day baby. 

Jay was true to his word and wrote the program to produce the Civil Service Clerk Typist ”lists“ using the computer. I got Mrs K to approve a test of the program using an existing list that had been double/triple checked for accuracy and it passed. It was fun working with Jo again but the due date for the revisions on the Police exam was right there upon me. I had to step back and let Marty finish up as different municipalities were demanding valid lists. However, the door had been opened for working with the DP department and I was looking forward to it.

The other PT’s including Wilson and Marty were the guinea pigs as far as testing out my revisions on the Police exam. Even though the test wasn’t to be given until the third Saturday of the month (March), the office had over one thousand applicants with almost a week to go before the cut off date. Supposedly, the Police department was planning on the largest class of rookie patrolmen in the history of the department. There was a lot of attention being given to the exam which made me a bit nervous. When they finished and the test was scored they gave me the thumbs up. As far as work was concerned I was definitely on a positive roll.

The Saturday of the test was the first day that Elle was on her own. The doctor had been playing with the dosage of her meds and, based upon what Elle had told him, was somewhat satisfied with the results. She was definitely looking forward to having the baby as her pregnancy had become a definite burden following the surgery. I had spoken with the new neighbor, Marge, to find an excuse to stop in after lunch to make sure she was doing OK. Speaking of Marge, I was disappointed in that I had yet to see any ”unmentionables“ hanging on her wash line. Although not really pretty she had a ”girl next door“ look about her. I was really looking forward to seeing some panties on her line. Another thing was that her husband seemed to be invisible in that I’d rarely see him or his car. Elle had tried to get some information from Marge but she just let Elle’s questions slide by. It was strange.

The Police exam was an eye opener. Six schools were used. I got assigned to the one closest to home because of the situation with Elle. Teachers from each school were hired as monitors and each of us from Civil Service "ran" the program. Even though the exam was only two hours didn't get home until late in the afternoon. Marge was there and it was the first time I'd gotten even a hint of a VPL. That meant there really was hope.

Much to Elle’s relief, baby Kaye arrived at 2:30pm on March 31st and there would be no April fools day baby. When Jan heard that the baby had arrived she managed to switch with one of the nurses in the nursery. When Elle saw her walk in the room she thought she was just coming for a visit. When she found out that she would be one of the daytime shift nurses it made her very happy. It made me happy as well. I hadn’t seen her but for a few minutes a few times since Christmas. I didn’t have to wait long to get a VPL and it showed she was wearing band leg panties. It was what I expected. I remember wondering when, if ever, she wore the fancy Rogers panties. I knew from when Elle had worn hers that I’d be able to tell just by the size of the crotch line in the back. Of all the panties Elle had the Rogers had one of the widest and, for sure, the longest (from front to back) crotch. 

Because of the thyroid operation and what effect Elle’s meds might have had on the baby it was decided that she should stay for five days. As far as costs were concerned it didn’t make that much difference as, under the new health care coverage, it was included. The hard part was making sure that the kids were cared for and happy. They, of course, missed Elle but they’d seen Janice and Elle’s mother enough not to have a major problem with the situation. Right after the baby was born Elle’s mother picked them up and took them to her home for that weekend which meant that for the first time in about six weeks I’d have some time to myself. It wasn’t a hard decision what to do with it... RACE CAR! 

To be continued...