Well, Jessica and I went to visit Sophie and Marianne in the hospital.  I saw Sophie, who looks happy, full of energy, and very much ‘herself’ – she was even up and walking, if a touch unsteadily at times.  I spoke to her doctor, who has given her a clean bill of health cardiologically, neurologically etc.  They’re going to keep her in overnight tonight just in case – there’s an outside chance it may be some odd virus – but if she’s fine tomorrow, they’ll be home.  It’s hard to know for sure, but I think everything’s going to be fine.  Scary shit, this parenthood.

Well, not much sleep last night.   Spoke to Marianne, who’s still at the hospital with Sophie.  They’ve done some tests, all of which were clear.  They think it could be some kind of virus, but don’t know yet. Sophie’s not been out of bed yet, so we’ll see how things are then.  Marianne should see the doctors in about two hours, and that should map out what next.  I spoke to Sophie too, who seems calm, in good spirits, and very much herself.  I don’t know if that makes it more or less worriesome.  Anyway, more as I hear it.

…quietly freaking out. My eldest daughter is fast asleep in bed. Marianne has taken our youngest, Sophie, to hospital to get checked out. She had a great day and was well and fine throughout, but about three quarters of an hour ago she came in complaining she had trouble standing up, she felt sore and weak. She had good limb strength and could sit up, didn’t have a temp, and seemed pretty bright and chirpy overall. She was just sore ‘all over’ and struggled to stand. It was weird so we rang medic alert, and decided she should get checked out. Given that Jessica was fast asleep, Marianne suggested one of us should go and the other stay home. Since she had taken Sophie to the doctor most regularly Marianne seemed the logical choice to drive her to the hospital. I am watching the clock, trying to work out when it will make sense to call Marianne. I am going crazier and crazier. I’m almost certain that everything is fine, but only almost. Parenthood.

Updated:

Spoke to Marianne.  They’ve seen the doctor and Sophie looks fine, except for being too weak to stand (chatty, happy, not in pain, good muscle strength, not dizzy etc), so he’s pretty puzzled.  He thinks it might be a virus, so they’re going to keep her in overnight for observation.   This is a good thing, I guess.  Hopefully it’ll prove to be nothing. The only thing that makes sense is sleep, I guess. It sounds like it’s going to be a long night and day till this is worked out.

Spontaneous Derivation is doing a fun overview of this year’s Hugo Awards and Hugo Nominees, providing profiles with photos, links to blogs etc.  You can see me and my peeps here. I think I need a new photo.

Matt Staggs has a very good post about communicating openly and honestly on the internet. Jeff VanderMeer then declares Global Blogosphere Amnesty Week (for Apologies). I think it’s a good meme — we all probably have something we should apologise for. There are no doubt other things, but right now this is what I apologise for:

• I apologise for the times when I’ve not considered a question carefully and given it a full, careful and considered answer. Tiredness is no excuse;
• I apologise for the times when I’ve been offensive or dismissive when responding to questions about what I do or what I’ve done; and
• I sincerely apologise for ever using the term ‘gender blindness’. It was insensitive (lack of awareness is no defence), inappropriate, and failed to convey what was intended. I am now very much aware of what it means and would not ever use it again.