|
Monday, December 06, 2004 Don't Ask Me. I'm Just a Girl. A team of female Volvo engineers have created a car just for women - and it has no hood. That's right. If something goes wrong in the car, the car sends an email to the dealership and schedules an appointment. Because the hood can only be opened at the dealership. I'd find this extremely sexist, but given that the idea comes from women, can it be called sexist. It does give the impression that women will never want to tinker with a car, nor will they ever want to do their own maintenance, or even attempt to fix the car if it does break down on the side of the road. It also further alienates that ability of local mechanic to fix a car - if they can't get to the interior workings without a computer code, it becomes way to much of a hassle. Has Volvo managed to make a car that now can only be repaired by a technical specialist, like a TV repairman? Should there by a "Warranty Void if removed" sticker place on the car? ------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 03, 2004 Getting the Word Out I'm mortified. Right before Thanksgiving we met with our midwife and the OBGYN regarding their insistence that Kristin do daily glucose monitoring so they can monitor her for gestational diabetes, despite the fact that Kristin had passed the three-hour diagnostic test. When we stated that we were refusing, the doctor said that he would drop us if we did not, and that we had 24 hours to make the decision. The next day at work Kristin and I had a lengthy instant message conversation about the situation and what we should do. Finally we decided to stick with him and take the silly tests (which Kristin is passing just fine, unsurprisingly). Today my supervisor asks me to look at one of the pages on our website, which had some pdfs of college taskforce reports. One of the reports is incorrect, she says. When I click on the link, I discovered that instead of saving their word document last week, I saved my instant message conversation and posted it to the website as the report. Who knew the Middle East Task Force thought so much about gestational diabetes and a certain doctor at North Florida Regional Medical Center? ------------------------------------------------
Thursday, December 02, 2004 Who Watches the Watchmen?
Uhm, maybe the names of the games should have tipped off these clueless wardens? Hitman? Grand Theft Auto? It isn't as if the games were named Fuzzy Lumpkins, was it? I'm also amazed at the amount of disposable income at the hands of the prison populace for their "Recreation Center". Up to $20,000 a month? Why doesn't some of this go towards paying the basic services in the prison instead of the video games? Or to books? ------------------------------------------------
|
|
Friday, December 24, 2004 He's Back He did finally show back up at home, 5 hours after he left. The lines were just unbelieveably long -- he ended up going to two different hardware stores to get all that he needed. Guess we weren't the only ones planning to do home renovation/construction over the Christmas break. We are now discussing getting cell phones again, so this won't happen again. But they are so darn expensive!! ------------------------------------------------
I KNOW this has got to be pregnancy hormones, but... Jeff has today off and is supposed to be home with us. Parker took a nap earlier, falling asleep at around 12:45p. So, Jeff was going to "run" to the hardware store and buy the timber and plywood to build the bookshelves in our office, which we plan to do this weekend. Parker woke up from his nap just before 3 pm. It is now 4:38pm and Jeff is still not home. He keeps asking if Daddy is home from work yet, and I jsut want to cry. I had not planned to be home alone with Parker today, and I'm honestly resentful of the fact that I am. We're watching a freaking Baby Einstein video right now, because I just feel like crawling out of my skin!! I am so angry at Jeff, and he's done nothing wrong. I just feel cooped up and trapped right now, and I hate it! ------------------------------------------------
Thursday, December 23, 2004 I've gotten a summons for jury duty Of course, I'm going to file for the exemption (I qualify for 2: expectant mother and primary caregiver to child(ren) under age of 6). However, this is my 4th Jury Summons in my life. My husband has never had any. My sister has never had any. My dad has had one (they disqualified him immediately -- too opinionated ). My mom has had two, I believe. Why does it seem that certain people get picked over and over? A few of my friends who've also been called have been called multiple times. It almost seems like you've either been called several times or not at all -- doesn't seem quite so random... ------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 21, 2004 35 Week MW Appointment Ahh -- it was nice, and non-stressful!! I'm measuring right-on at 35 cm; I'm actually down 2 pounds (I SWEAR I'm eating!! AND with all the cookies I've been eating, I should have been up 2 pounds in 2 weeks!!); my diastolic was slightly up, but still ok (??/80); and my iron level is 35 (perfect -- actually unchanged from each time they check). I had to do the GBS swab this time, and I had to do it myself -- it was confusing!! My midwife was telling me that just this Sunday, she attended her 10th VBAC this year!! It is so exciting to hear of each success (knowing that the numbers are so low because of how VBAC is discouraged) and knowing that with each additional one she does, it looks better and better for me. AND on top of all that, my local friend is coming in to see her at noon today for her initial consult!! She's about 8/9 weeks pregnant, and I'm thrilled for her!! Parker was ADORABLE - he went up to Jane when we first saw her and told her we were here to listen to Sprout, and the feel the baby. We all just grinned!! When we got into the room, he wanted me immediately up on the table and a chair puleld over so he could listen. Then he was fine playing with the toys. The midwife told me that it would be fine if Parker were there for the birth, as long as we had someone who could mind him/take him out if he needed it, so we wouldn't be dealing with that. I'm so glad to hear that!! I haven't decided whether or not I want Parker there, but having the option open is awesome!! OH! AND baby is LOA (best position for labor/birth) and still vertex (I'd thought twice this week that s/he might have moved to breech). I'm sooo excited!! My midwife keeps talking too like I'll go early -- she has a "feeling". That really makes me nervous, but I know that she isn't precognisant or anything, so I'm not believing it -- still an nice thought!! ------------------------------------------------
Thursday, December 16, 2004 Our Christmas Disney Vacation View here. We went to MGM Studios and went to Playhouse Disney to see the Bear in the Big Blue House show. Parker enjoyed it, and the whole time I was thinking of the Disney Channel commercial where the little girl says, "And the bubbles came down!! I popped them!!" Parker got to as well. We then looked at the Osbourne Family Festival of Lights, which was really awesome! They had fake snow which I enjoyed, and all the lights were fascinating. Unfortunately, right at the end, Parker fell and scraped his chin, so you'll see that in the other pictures. We went to the Fantasmic park closing, and Parker slept through most of it -- which was a good thing. He's been frightened a lot lately, so we would have left if he'd been awake and watching. He did get to see the unscary ending, at least. Our last day there, we went to Chef Mickey's character breakfast, where Parker was MOST interested in Pluto (though none of the pictures were great), Minnie had a double take when going to wipe off Parker's dirty face -- she got the chocolate off, but practically froze halfway to wiping off his chin, which was scabby from the fall . Parker was really uninterested in Mickey, though -- we found it very odd, but hey, he enjoyed the rest, so I'm not complaining!! All in all, it was a good trip, but I'll never again do Disney at 8 months or more pregnant. ------------------------------------------------
Kira's Crib Feeling brave -- belly pic, 33.5 weeks   I can't believe I'm already 34 weeks! I really feel like I'm smaller this time that last, and I know I've not gained nearly as much weight (I gained 20 last pregnancy, and have only gained about 8 so far this one), but after just looking at some pictures of me on my due-date last time, I'm not seeing much of a difference!! ------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 10, 2004 3-Year Well Visit Well, today we went to get Parker's 3 year well visit. He did ok. It wasn't AS bad as last time, but he still cried. They wanted to take his blood pressure, and he freaked. He freaked standing on the scales, and we had to hold him up against the wall (me at his feet, Jeff at his head) to measure him. Then, we had to take his shirt off --- we might as well have been skinning him. He calmed down after about 5 minutes with just the three of us in the room, but then the doctor came, and he freaked again. He cried and fussed the whole time his heart, lungs, and stomach were being checked. He clamped his hands over his ears and closed his eyes tightly when Dr. W. was ready to check all of that. He did consent to looking for "Trainmice and robots" in his mouth, at least -- it was the only thing he cooperated with. Then it was time to check his legs, which required laying down -- this did NOT go over well at all. But, he was checked and all looked fine (from what he could see). Finally, he got his MMR -- the build-up was much worse than anything else. Parker wanted to leave so badly, and tried to pull his short sleeves down to his wrists. After the shot, though, he didn't really cry much or anything, especially once we told him we were leaving. He was thrilled to leave the office. He weighed 32 pounds, and was 37.25" (I think), which is 75th and 50th %ile respectively. He made a point to say that he isn't concerned about his weight, probably because of the disparity in numbers -- I wasn't concerned either. So, he's a healthy boy, and we don't have to go back for a year!! ------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 07, 2004 33 week MW appointment Well, things were much better this time. My midwife just got back from a visit home to Scotland, and you could see that she was re-energized by it. I've gained 1/4-lb since the last time I was weighed (on Oct 11), but that's because I'd lost a bit from stress and had just gotten around to making that up. I'm hungry all the time now, so I'm sure I'll be gaining more steadily from here on out. Only 4 weeks until I'm considered full-term by current obstetrics guidelines !!!! Of course, I have up to 9 more weeks of "acceptable" pregnancy (after which I'll be "past-due" ), and even that number is scary!!! Let's see, what else: no protein/ketones/sugar/etc. spilled, everything right on, blood pressure was 120/78 (typical for me). My FIRST measurement ever this pregnancy of fundal height was 33 -- so spot-on. Baby is still vertex. Oh, and about the blood sugars. I gave her my printout of numbers, which she said looked good, and then she took them over for the OB to review. I overheard him say through the door "very impressive" about them -- ohhhh, it kinda made me want to just ask him for my $50 for the testing supplies!!!! Oh well. I am supposed to do two random draws per week from here on out. I'll try to remember. I refuse to stress about that anymore. Next time I do GBS testing, iron levels testing (apparently it is now standard to test every 4 weeks or so, to prevent the development of anemia??). Then, she brought up wanting to do an U/S at 38.5 weeks to estimate fetal weight, but even said that it was highly controversial but they needed to do it because of "standard of care". I'm still considering refusing that one, because of the high false positive, and the fact that we discussed what would happen if the baby was estimated to be big, like Parker was last time. She essentially said that they would recommend a c-section, and I could refise. I asked her straight out if I really could refuse, since I wasn't able to on the blood sugar monitoring. She said yes, that at that point they would have to support our decisions. So, knowing that, I don't see the point in us spending $100 for an U/S that isn't going to affect my decision to proceed with labor. We also talked briefly about labor. I told her I hadn't honestly focused on it this time, because I've been so focused on just getting the chance. I told her how I had planned a completely natural, non-intervention birth last time, but it didn't matter then. I told her that of course I want the same thing this time. She said her goal is for us to stay home as long as possible, to be very far along when we come in (she was thinking 5 or 6 cm). I told her we'd found a doula we have yet to meet with and talk about our "plan", and that I hoped we wouldn't come in until like 8 cm or so. We talked about what to do if I come in too early, and she said she'd try to get us able to be sent home (even if she had to be "creative" in the reporting of how far along I am; such that if I were a 4, she'd say 2 or 3 for the records, as she can't send home a VBAC mom if she's reached 4 because of liability). Sooo, I go back to see her at 35 weeks, on the 21st. I need to start focusing on labor plans and stuff like that, and try to reduce my stress. Overall, I think it was a good visit. Parker LOVED hearing Sprout's heartbeat, and was telling Jane all about Sprout moving around inside Mama's belly. So, all looks good!! ------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 03, 2004 I swear, I'm just one big pile of stress over here. We are at our all-time low on freelance work, and I'm freaking out!! Literally, we have THREE current clients ... that's IT!! We normally have at least 10 at one time, and there was once that we had 25 (we couldn't handle that right now, but still!!). Regardless, with only 3 -- I'm just freaking!! We NEED freelance work to make ends meet!! We have too many bills we're paying off to get by without it. If we had no student loans or credit card bills, we'd be fine, but couldn't afford anything extra. As it is, we DO have those things AND there are other things we want/need right now!! BLAH!!!! Then, there is this whole blood monitoring situation. Yes, I know, it shouldn't be stressful, but it is. I am now having to watch the clock, worry about numbers, and think of what the doctor is going to say about it. I have to wait to eat at times, and just the whole situation I could do without. And of course, there is the whole VBAC thing. I know most of you don't get why this is such a big deal or why it should be an issue to have to fight over or anything, but knowing that I have so much stacked against me (because of liability), and that I have few choices, it is just stressful. I really, really, just want to sit back, enjoy all these kicks, and not be constantly wondering if at my next appointment I'm going to get another thing stacked against me, or if the overseeing OB decides not to do VBACs anymore because of his malpractice insurance, or if the hospital will at some point between now and then decide they won't do VBACs anymore. And, finally, Christmas. My family wants to do it up in Tennessee at the house my sister should be closing on the 13th. Which means a plane ride for us, to a just-moved-in house. Of course, that house will be much bigger than ours, but still!! A lot of me just wants them to come here instead, and for me to be able to have family around without having to travel. And yet it feels selfish to think that way. I'm sure my sister would love to celebrate her new home with Christmas. ------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 Food!! I am soooo hungry right now, and I have to wait another HOUR before I can eat anything, because I have to test my d@mn blood sugar levels!! Sigh. I normally snack throughout the day as I'm hungry, and don't really eat "meals" as much, so this is really sucking!! But, of course, I need to do this to reassure everyone that there isn't something going on (besides my already being overweight) that will cause an abnormally large baby, so I know I shouldn't complain. But I AM SO HUNGRY!!!!!! ------------------------------------------------
|