Let's review the interviews of possible Team WIP members from this week, shall we?
1) Possible daycare provider #1 - A "corporate-style" daycare (ie - not homecare) with a really great staff. Both Joe and I felt super comfortable there. WIP probably would dig it, too. As far as Metro-Detroit daycares go, it was priced moderately. Grade: A-
2) Possible daycare provider #2 - A gem! This place was referred to me by a coworker, and is run by two older women who left "corporate daycare" 22 years ago because they felt the business model was overpriced, unfair to parents and didn't provide the best care for each individual child. These women are amazing. They not only provide an excellent level of care for all the children, they also have learning time, read to the children and give them all 1-on-1 time. Lucky for us, they have exactly one spot left before they max out the number of kiddos they are licensed for. How fast did I write my deposit check? Um, it's in the mail right now. Grade: A++++
3) Possible daycare provider #3 - Obvi, I'm skipping this interview.
4) Possible Pediatrician #1 - Eh. The location is absolutely perfect - in a brand new Beaumont facility about 2 miles from our house. I liked the doctor enough, but she got a bit defensive when I started asking questions about vaccines. It was almost as if she immediately took me for an "anti-vaccine" mom, which I'm totally not! I just don't want the Hep B shot at the hospital and I want the MMR vaccine given all by itself. I did, however, appreciate her asking me why I made those decisions, and in the end she did say that while the practice has a vaccine schedule they use, she would work with me on whatever I wanted for WIP. I'm not totally sold on her, yet, but we'll see. Grade: B+
We're visiting 2 more pediatricians next week and then I'll make the call.
In other news, I learned that the OB-GYN does the circumcision. Go fig. Seems weird to me that the pediatrician doesn't do it.
Happy weekend!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Pediatrician!
So, apparently you need to know who your Pediatrician is BEFORE you check into triage for labor & delivery. Time to get on top of that to-do list...
Today I'm visiting some potentials. Any advice on what I should ask them? I mean, besides the obvious, "Do you watch E.R. or Grey's Anatomy?"
Leave a comment or shoot me an email (kveedub@gmail.com) with some mom-a-licious advice!
Today I'm visiting some potentials. Any advice on what I should ask them? I mean, besides the obvious, "Do you watch E.R. or Grey's Anatomy?"
Leave a comment or shoot me an email (kveedub@gmail.com) with some mom-a-licious advice!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Hump Day, Bump Day!
Yippie skippie! We are at week 34!
Joe left early for work this morning, so I had to operate solo on the HDBD pics. The self-timer on the camera was being weird, but I did manage to get these beauties:
Joe left early for work this morning, so I had to operate solo on the HDBD pics. The self-timer on the camera was being weird, but I did manage to get these beauties:
I wasn't pleased with them, so I opted for the silly mirror pic. Not bad.
"Congratulations, Kristi! You're 34 Weeks Pregnant. Your baby measures about 19.8 inches from head to toe and weighs about 5 pounds. Baby has probably settled into the head-down position and is moving less frequently. Organs are now almost fully mature, except for the lungs, and the skin is pink instead of red. Fingernails reach the ends of fingers, but toenails are not yet fully grown. As your uterus prepares for labor, you may be feeling more Braxton Hicks contractions."
The updates are getting rather boring, and I secretly love it because it means that little WIP is finished with all the really hard growing stuff and is just incubating until it's time to make his grand appearance in the real world. For some reason, a lot of people are guessing he'll come early on 4/11. Maybe we'll start a friendly little betting pool to see who can guess closest.
In related news, we finally finished the nursery. The quote and graphics are up on the wall and they look so, so, so cute! Pics tomorrow or Friday, promise.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
My Happy Place.
Last night's class was actually relatively normal. I don't have any silly anecdotes to share, as both Joe and I were on our best behavior...and Miss Priss barely gave me a second glance.
We learned about different pain medications (I took copious notes), Cesarean birth and other rare but emergency birth situations. Then we pulled out the pillows and yoga mats to practice more breathing techniques and labor positions.
I'm pleased to report that we weren't the ones giggling through the breathing exercises this time - it was totally another couple. Love them!
The labor positions were actually kinda neat to practice. It wasn't cool watching perfect strangers propped up on their husbands all spread eagle (isn't that what got us in this situation in the first place?) and it was even WEIRDER watching Madelyn do them. I believe I've mentioned her weeble-wobble-like stature before...but she was surprisingly very limber. Go fig.
We also did some really cool visualization/relaxation techniques, and while I usually find things like that to be a bunch of mumbo jumbo, I really enjoyed myself last night. Madelyn had us all close our eyes and relax as she talked us through experiencing our "happy place" with all five senses.
She started by telling us to go to a safe place. And with no rhyme or reason I was instantly in my Grandma Neveau's kitchen. She passed away a few years ago, but was as vividly present in my mind as she's ever been. (Which is SO weird because my sister has been experiencing some of the same weird "Grandma is here" moments lately.) Anyway, I was sitting at her kitchen table and she was wearing her kitchen coat and open-toe slippers. She smelled of smoke and soap and was standing at the stove, like always. I could even feel her rough hands and raspberry kisses on my cheek. My Grandpa was there, too (he's still alive) and was smiling and laughing and talking at an unnecessarily loud decibel.
Again, I usually think this kind of stuff is hogwash and silly...but I was somewhere else entirely last night and it was so very cool. I certainly hope it works in a month or so when I would probably rather die than continue with labor pain. Help me out, Grams, will 'ya? :)
We learned about different pain medications (I took copious notes), Cesarean birth and other rare but emergency birth situations. Then we pulled out the pillows and yoga mats to practice more breathing techniques and labor positions.
I'm pleased to report that we weren't the ones giggling through the breathing exercises this time - it was totally another couple. Love them!
The labor positions were actually kinda neat to practice. It wasn't cool watching perfect strangers propped up on their husbands all spread eagle (isn't that what got us in this situation in the first place?) and it was even WEIRDER watching Madelyn do them. I believe I've mentioned her weeble-wobble-like stature before...but she was surprisingly very limber. Go fig.
We also did some really cool visualization/relaxation techniques, and while I usually find things like that to be a bunch of mumbo jumbo, I really enjoyed myself last night. Madelyn had us all close our eyes and relax as she talked us through experiencing our "happy place" with all five senses.
She started by telling us to go to a safe place. And with no rhyme or reason I was instantly in my Grandma Neveau's kitchen. She passed away a few years ago, but was as vividly present in my mind as she's ever been. (Which is SO weird because my sister has been experiencing some of the same weird "Grandma is here" moments lately.) Anyway, I was sitting at her kitchen table and she was wearing her kitchen coat and open-toe slippers. She smelled of smoke and soap and was standing at the stove, like always. I could even feel her rough hands and raspberry kisses on my cheek. My Grandpa was there, too (he's still alive) and was smiling and laughing and talking at an unnecessarily loud decibel.
Again, I usually think this kind of stuff is hogwash and silly...but I was somewhere else entirely last night and it was so very cool. I certainly hope it works in a month or so when I would probably rather die than continue with labor pain. Help me out, Grams, will 'ya? :)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Strollers Are The Devil.
As promised - a brief recap of the Mom2Mom sale I nearly didn't survive on Friday evening.
It was at a church in Farmington Hills, about a 40 minute drive from work. So, we packed it up early and jetted out west. The flyer indicated doors opened at 6 pm, and wanting to get while the gettin' was good, I timed our life in order to get there right at 6.
Turning the corner, I saw that there were literally 80 people in a long, long line waiting to get in. Note to self: these things are apparently very popular. Get there early.
Once they opened the door it was fairly smooth sailing. My advice to a M2M newbie would be to go to the "large item" room first, if that's what you're looking for. Those seemed to be the items that went fastest (strollers, bouncers, cribs, carseats, swings, etc.). If you're not looking for big items and just want to peruse the tables, don't start at the door. Do the circuit backwards and avoid the mayhem.
Also - if you want to live past 40, I recommend going to the M2M sales that list "no strollers" or going only during the time slots where "no strollers" is indicated. As you can imagine, there are lots of PG women at said sales, but there are also a lot of NEW moms. New moms that don't get babysitters or leave baby w/ daddy. New moms that take their giant, double-wide strollers into a church that's already packed with millions of people and tables and small, small hallways. I nearly lost both my feet in a few close calls.
This was one of the smaller sales on the schedule with ~35 tables. I cannot imagine what the 70+ table ones are like. Attend those at your own risk.
Now, onto the goods. We snagged the following:
It was at a church in Farmington Hills, about a 40 minute drive from work. So, we packed it up early and jetted out west. The flyer indicated doors opened at 6 pm, and wanting to get while the gettin' was good, I timed our life in order to get there right at 6.
Turning the corner, I saw that there were literally 80 people in a long, long line waiting to get in. Note to self: these things are apparently very popular. Get there early.
Once they opened the door it was fairly smooth sailing. My advice to a M2M newbie would be to go to the "large item" room first, if that's what you're looking for. Those seemed to be the items that went fastest (strollers, bouncers, cribs, carseats, swings, etc.). If you're not looking for big items and just want to peruse the tables, don't start at the door. Do the circuit backwards and avoid the mayhem.
Also - if you want to live past 40, I recommend going to the M2M sales that list "no strollers" or going only during the time slots where "no strollers" is indicated. As you can imagine, there are lots of PG women at said sales, but there are also a lot of NEW moms. New moms that don't get babysitters or leave baby w/ daddy. New moms that take their giant, double-wide strollers into a church that's already packed with millions of people and tables and small, small hallways. I nearly lost both my feet in a few close calls.
This was one of the smaller sales on the schedule with ~35 tables. I cannot imagine what the 70+ table ones are like. Attend those at your own risk.
Now, onto the goods. We snagged the following:
- 1 pair of uber cute OshKosh B'Gosh (seriously, such a stoopid name if you really think about it) denim overalls - $2
- 1 Disney "baby" Tigger outfit - bright yellow and blue plaid short overalls with a matching onesie and socks - $3
- 1 pair of irresistible Levi's jeans - $4 (Baby denim is my kryptonite. I cannot resist it.)
- 1 pair of leather soft sole shoes w/ monkeys on them! (new!!) - $4
We also got this for $20 - it seriously looks like it's never, ever been used. It retails for $80. YESSSSS!!!!!!
And a monitor for $15. These are exactly the ones I wanted - highest rated on Consumer Reports and BRU...for $30 less than retail, thankyouverymuch.
All in all, totally worth it. Here's the calendar for SE Michigan if you're interested. We can make a date of it...have your people call my people.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Shut The Front Door.
So guess what I learned today, childrens?
YOU CAN TOTALLY USE THE 20% OFF BED, BATH AND BEYOND COUPONS AT BABIES 'R US.
No joke. I about peed when I learned of this. A girl in front of us in line was using one and Joe asked if it was allowed...and much to our delight, they totally are! The only catch: they can't be expired. But, who cares? I get like 2 a week in the mail, anyway.
So, we opted to not purchase the high chair and pack 'n play today. Gotta scrounge me up some coupons and go back!! (Note: you can also use the BBB coupons at Buy Buy Baby.) Weeeeeee!!
In other news, the Mom2Mom sale was ridiculous...in a good way. More to come on that, later.
Don't forget about Daylight Savings!
YOU CAN TOTALLY USE THE 20% OFF BED, BATH AND BEYOND COUPONS AT BABIES 'R US.
No joke. I about peed when I learned of this. A girl in front of us in line was using one and Joe asked if it was allowed...and much to our delight, they totally are! The only catch: they can't be expired. But, who cares? I get like 2 a week in the mail, anyway.
So, we opted to not purchase the high chair and pack 'n play today. Gotta scrounge me up some coupons and go back!! (Note: you can also use the BBB coupons at Buy Buy Baby.) Weeeeeee!!
In other news, the Mom2Mom sale was ridiculous...in a good way. More to come on that, later.
Don't forget about Daylight Savings!
Friday, March 6, 2009
I'm Getting A Pedometer.
It's no secret that I work in a relatively large corporate office - on a "campus" of 3 buildings.
The loo on my floor is on the other side of the building. I visit it no less than 3x an hour.
I also visit the other 2 buildings regularly for business meetings and personal shenanigans. For instance, I'm headed over to the "main" building in about 5 minutes to drop something off for a friend (Hi, Beth!). There and back is a solid 1/4 mile. Probably farther if I take the underground tunnel system (I know...cool, right?)
SCRATCH THAT.
Beth totally just appeared at MY desk...with an ICE CREAM SANDWICH!!!!!!!
I adore her.
But now I really need that pedometer to walk off the ice cream.
The loo on my floor is on the other side of the building. I visit it no less than 3x an hour.
I also visit the other 2 buildings regularly for business meetings and personal shenanigans. For instance, I'm headed over to the "main" building in about 5 minutes to drop something off for a friend (Hi, Beth!). There and back is a solid 1/4 mile. Probably farther if I take the underground tunnel system (I know...cool, right?)
SCRATCH THAT.
Beth totally just appeared at MY desk...with an ICE CREAM SANDWICH!!!!!!!
I adore her.
But now I really need that pedometer to walk off the ice cream.
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