Daycare Woes
February 21, 2003 - 11:39 a.m.
Finding daycare sucks.
I've been on the phone since 7:45 this morning and so far I've landed myself on two waiting lists (no openings), set up one meeting with a pay-out-your-butt daycare and left a message for one at-home daycare. I still have one prospect on my list to call. But so far, what I've found out is, daycare ain't cheap and it ain't easy to find.
It certainly was depressing when I found out that my at-home daycare of choice was booked solid for the next two years. The next one on the list had a possible adoption on the list and a kid who *might* be going on to kindergarten, leaving *possible* openings....a few calls to answering machines that just left me a little unsettled.... and one closed daycare.
I was discouraged but kept plugging, I finally got through to a great, liscenced, best in the area daycare. With an opening. With all the bells and whistles. For $700 a month.
[Cough, gag, choke, cough!]
Did I just say $700 a MONTH? For an INFANT? With breast milk, formula and diapers provided by ME?????
Yes.
Well they are the only ones in the state with an opening.
I'm off to call just one more last resort home daycare.
Depressed
February 20, 2003 - 10:42 a.m.
Today just sucks. It's been against me since I woke up this morning. Sure, I slept through the night just fine, but the second I got out of the shower I knew it was going to be "one of those days".
I was ravenous more than nauseous, so I had a granola bar and felt great afterwards. Then I was able to eat a small serving of oatmeal. Right afterwards I went to a meeting that though it should have lasted a half hour, ended up being an hour and 15 minutes long. The whole time I am thinking, "I'm going to puke," but I just kept sitting there and sitting there. 5 seconds after leaving the meeting I was in the bathroom puking my guts out. It just wouldn't stop! And I had to pee! I drank like a gallon of water at the meeting, and that's all that was coming up. I could only taste the lime that I used to flavor it with. It just kept coming and coming, I didn't think I would ever stop. At the end I was spitting blood, so I though I might have another nosebleed but when I blew my nose it was clear. I'm thinking all the yakking aggravated the back of my throat or something. Once I got back to my desk I got a serious case of the shakes. I tried to eat my way out of it, but the shakes wouldn't stop. I'm just a miserable mess. Vomiting has always, always since I was a little girl, depressed me. I would cry so hard if I ever got sick. So now I am sitting at work, shaking and feeling like a mud puddle and wanting to go home and cry.
Waaa.
Stuff I Want, Need, whatever. Just Get it for me.
February 19, 2003 - 4:27 p.m.
Just when I was about to start writing about how this has been a great, morning sickness-free day, it strikes again. This time I am armed...cheese and crackers. It works instantly. Tim made me some before I went to bed last night and I actually went to sleep for the first time without feeling like the bed was out on the open sea. I woke up with a weak tummy and just not feeling very well but I ate well and got lots of fluids throughout the day and I didn't get nauseous, not once, until now.
I'm worried about going to my dentist appt tomorrow...it's right around my normal sick time and I just don't think I can handle the smells and sounds and someone's hands in my mouth. And I really don't want to barf on the dentist, he's a nice guy. I've waited FOREVER for this appt, I made it back in November. The next available is in June! I said I would see how this afternoon went and make my decision then...it's looking like I need to cancel.
I did order the crib last night, and the carrier. The only thing I have left to do is order the doppler....and I am holding steady until Friday. That way I won't get it until Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
My friend sent me a picture of her ultrasound at 19 weeks. It was amazing, she had a cute little button-nose and was pointing her little finger. Very sweet. I can't wait till my next one! I want to see fingers and toes!
libbyo pointed out that painting during pregnancy is a no-no. Thanks for the advice! I've read that latex paint isn't bad during pregnancy if the area is well ventilated. I've watched enough trading spaces to see preggos opt out of oil-based paints but they don't stop at latex. Of course, I have time to ask my doctor. Even if she says no I can just get one of those groovy masks to work with and I probably will anyway. I have to paint my nursery! The last people that lived in this house were creepy slobs and those walls are rather disgusting.
Last night I pulled out all the fun baby stuff that I have. I found out that the cat likes to sleep in the car seat. So far I have the following:
* Diaper Bag
* Bottles, nipples and caps
* Breast Pump
* Stroller
* Car Seat
* Beach Bassinet (It's like a Dome-Away-From-Home)
* Nightlight/ Lamp set
* Diaper Organizer
* Rocker/ Glider
* Ordered the crib
* Ordered the front carrier
* Hats, booties, bibs and tons of girl clothes
* Spare stroller and monitor to leave at my parent's house, also an older pack-n-play
* Books
* My niece's baby bath tubs, both the cheap kind you put in the tub and a cool inflatable ducky one
So what I think I might still need:
* Pack - n- Play (doubles as a changing table)
* Boppy Pillow
* Bassinet
* Crib bedding
* Crib bumpers and dust ruffle (I'll be making these)
* Crib wedge
* Baby monitor
* Mobile (I'll probably make this)
* Cool-air humidifier (Tim's aunt is getting us a vaporizer)
* Diaper Genie
* Dresser (Thinking Rubber-Made)
* Curtains (I'll be making these)
* Bouncy Chair with the little motor or the Kick & Play
* Swing
* High Chair
* Excersaucer
* Doorway Jumper
* Clothes Hamper - I'm making this too.
* 3 to 5 hooded terry cloth towels
* 3 to 5 soft washcloths
* The Bottle/Pump Sterilizer (it goes with my set)
* More sleepers, socks, diapers, wipes, bath stuff, creams, toys, hangers, receiving blankets, boy clothes if it's a boy
Can you guys think of anything else I'll need? The stuff on this list I don't plan to buy unless we don't get it for our showers.
I'm afriad of getting stuff I don't need or want...it's a just a fact of nature. In my opinion, Tim's family holds baby showers too late to be any good, and no one goes off the registry.
People, we register FOR A REASON. Anyway, the last shower I went to in this family was a bunch of pacifiers, receiving blankets and cheap bottles. No thanks.
All the New News..
February 18, 2003 - 4:23 p.m.
Well, last night was fun. We picked out the crib that we want. Now that we know what we're getting, I am so excited to start on the nursery. I wanted to wait until my second tri to start paining, but I have a lot to do, since I plan on painting all four walls bright yellow, then ragging a border across the top, then stencilling stars and moon onto the ragged border. Aside from that, I still have curtains to make, the dust ruffle for the crib and the crib bumpers. I'm done apolstering the rocker, but I haven't finished the ottoman. Oh yikes, I only have 31 weeks to do this!!!
As for the crib, we decided on the Ashley Convertible by DaVinci. It was exciting to pick it out with Tim last night because we both liked the same one for the same reasons. We decided against the others because of the open space in the headboards and frontboards. It just looked like little arms (or legs) could get stuck in there. We liked the Emily too, but this is a HUGE crib. We have a tiny little nursery so the Ashley actually fits better. The only problem is the Ashley is the most expensive out of all the cribs we picked. It's still in my price range, just at the very top. I wanted to spend the leftover money on the Bjorn carrier and the rent on the doppler. Looks like I'll have to use my savings for that! But oh well.
Now that we've made a decision, it's going to be hard for me to wait until Friday to order it. I want to order it ASAP because it takes 6-10 weeks for delivery. It really sucks that the delivery charge is $128. Bah. I wanted to wait until Friday to order all of this stuff but since it's confirmed what we want, I'm just going to order it. I have no patience.
Now on to morning sickness. Since the nosebleeds started I've been scared to death to puke again, but I'm still getting sick all day long. I try to do all the things that the books and web sites tell me will help, and nothing helps. I eat protien, carbs, drink ginger ale and wear acupuncture bands. Everyone says by now the hormones should be leveling off and the morning sickness should be waning....so why isn't it? Not only that but I'm getting god-awful headaches now too. As it is, I'm napping for an hour each night and going to bed at 9pm, I don't do dishes, laundry, cooking or anything. I still feel like a plow has driven through my digestive system on most days, too. It's like you feel sick all damn day long, and you just want to go home. Onceyou get home it only gets worse, because you have less to pretend to concentrate on, but you still just want to be there and no where else.
My husband has had a condition for the last five years involving the balance nerve near his brain. He is dizzy and had vertigo 24/7, unless he is lying still. He asked me if I would trade with him, and the answer is, I would. Because at least I could lie down and make this go away.
I might be done whining for the day.
Bad Stuff, Buy Stuff, Wear Stuff and Chinese Food
February 17, 2003 - 4:28 p.m.
Whew. What a day. Weekend. Whatever. Can't I just got to sleep for the next 3 weeks? Seems like every time we get a little bit ahead we fall back again.
So I started spotting again today. Not very much, but it was bright red. It only lasted about an hour or two. I called my nurse and we talked, she wasn't too concerned and said it could be normal. She wanted me to stay home from work. Of course, I was already AT work. So she just said to rest up and get plenty of fluids. I've just been sitting at my computer all day, except for the frequent bathroom checks. I ordered Chinese for lunch. Nothing too interesting aside from that.
Since Friday I've had two major nosebleeds. Minor hemmoraging from my head. The first time it happened I was puking and though I was puking blood. But when I was done, blood just kept running down my face, then it was oozing. Everywhere. I had it on my hands, my knees, my shirt. I was in the puplic bathroom at work. There was no one in the bathroom at the time but before I could reach the sink, a co-worker came in. I totally freaked her out. I cleaned up as best I could and then waited for TIm to come get me. It happened again when I slid down the stairs yesterday and landed with a thump. All of a sudden there was blood everywhere. Not something that someone with a very high-risk pregnancy needs to see. Somehow you reason that the blood coming out your nose signifies that you've lost your baby....I know it doesn't make sense. After that settles down you start to think you have a brain tumor or something. It appears that I just have a fragile vessel up in there and an increased volume of blood. No need for mass hysteria, but scary nonetheless.
I'm shopping cribs left and right. I'm sold on DaVinci hardwood cribs, but it's between the Lauren, the Ashley, the Emily and the sleigh. My grandma gave me some money this weekend and I want to spend it on a nice convertible crib. I'm an impulse buyer, but this is a huge purchase so I'm holding myself off till the end of the week. On Friday I will make by big purchase of the crib, the Bjorn carrier, and the BabyBeat doppler. I'm just renting that until I can feel Baby Boo moving consistantly. I rented it last time but never got to use it. I'm purposely waiting until 10 weeks to order it since you can only hear the heartbeats STARTING at 10.5 weeks to 12 weeks. So by the time I get it, I hope we can hear something. A lot of people think these things are a waste but I really disagree. My next OB appt isn't for 4 more weeks, I'll be 13.5 weeks by then. If I can hear the heartbeat at home at 11 weeks, why shouldn't I do it? And I really trust the company, seeing as how last time I sent the doppler back and I told them that we'd had a miscarriage so we weren't able to use it. They completely refunded my money even though I had it for over a month and a half. That was really nice.
I have to dig out all my old files tonight and look up daycares again. Last time I found the perfect at-home daycare and she even had a newborn opening when I needed it...I am really hoping that she has something available starting in December of this year. Daycare is so expensive and books up so fast...I know people that have had to quit their jobs because they couldn't afford - or couldn't find - daycare.
Man, Chinese doesn't fill you up for very long, does it? I can't wait to go home and pick out a crib with Tim and then lay on the couch and watch Joe Millionaire.
As for Maternity wear, I think my wardrobe is just about set. I have several pairs of jeans and khaki's, a few pairs of bibs, plenty of dress pants. A really cute maternity swim suit (since I'm determined to go to the open swim at the highschool 2 nights a week in my 2nd trimester), some summery shirts, some dressy shirts, a sweater or two. I just bought some camisoles in white and black...so all I really need is some T-shirts and some shorts. I hope my sister-in-law shares some of her clothes, she hasn't offered, but she had a ton of cool shorts and T's. I ain't too proud to beg, I just thought I would wait until I actually needed them. I also need two special occasion dresses, as I have 2 weddings to go to this summer. Same place, 2 months apart.