Chiropractor

I had enough of the constant rib pain that baby is inflicting upon me, so I decided to try out a chiropractor. I've never been to one before, but my primary physician once adjusted my back because my eye wouldn't stop twitching, and it immediately stopped. I'm hoping chiropractic care helps relieve some pain.

I went to my insurance company's website, got a list of potentials, and did a little research. I found a place nearby that has some special knowledge about prenatal chiropractor care, and made an appointment there.

It went well. I told them about my rib pain, some back pain I'm having, and this sharp pain I get in my lower back when I walk. However, a couple things made me kind of nervous. They hooked me up to these electrodes, it's called electric modality. It sends electricity pulses through your muscles. I would think they wouldn't do anything to harm me, but it still really freaks me out to have electricity pulsing through my back muscles. Could this stop baby's heart or something?! I figured that they know what they're talking about, so I just let it happen. It did feel really nice. When I got home I researched it, and some websites say things like "We recommend avoiding electric modality during pregnancy." and others say "We would recommend a treatment such as electric modality for pregnant women." So, totally mixed opinions. I have another appointment today, so I suppose I will bring up my concerns.

They also adjusted my neck and back. It felt nice, but so far no real relief or anything. I did discover that my insurance completely covers all aspects of chiropractic care, including MASSAGES! Naturally, this means I have a massage appointment tomorrow. I can't freaking wait.

Today is Mr. D's last day of summer school, and I am so excited to get to spend the next few weeks with him. I'm sure he'll be fed up with me by the time summer vacation is over, but I for one can't wait, haha.

As of yesterday, I am 35 weeks pregnant. Woah! Next week, I will be "full term." Obviously still hoping to make it to 40 weeks, though. It's just weird to think about.

In other news, I wish we had a Dunkin' Donuts nearby, because I really want some of their chocolate donut holes.

Doctor's Appointment

I had my 34 week appointment yesterday! It went well. The standard two-minute in-and-out visit with my OB.

I'm measuring "perfectly," (I still don't really know how they tell that just by measuring my stomach on the outside, but that's ok) and had good blood pressure. My pee looks great (when you're pregnant, the nurses and doctors love to analyze your pee).

However, you know it's a bad sign when your doctor walks in the room, does a double take when she sees you, and then says "I don't say this very often, but I'm actually concerned you will run out of room in there." She was joking, but seriously - I think I'm running out of room. This baby feels like it's trying to break my ribs. They're in a constant state of pain. I was actually writhing around the bed moaning last night while trying to watch TV. And not because I was having fun with Mr. D. The pain was just that intense.

When you're 4'11" and your husband is 6'5", your baby doesn't fit so well.

Anyway, I finally ballsed up and made an appointment with a chiropractor on Monday. My doctor just keeps telling me that the pain will go away when the baby is born, so I've been popping Tylenol sometimes and hoping it goes away. I'm tired of doing that, so hopefully the chiropractor can help me. I've been saying for two weeks I should make an appointment, but rationalizing putting it off, thinking "I only have 6 weeks left, I can stick it out!" I'm done with that attitude.

I hope the chiropractor helps, but if not, I will just keep in mind that this baby is SO worth any pain I am experiencing. It could break every single rib in my body and I would still love it so freaking much.

My, how time flies...

Here I am at 34 weeks, 2 days, and I cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday Mr. D and I discovered that we were having a baby, and I was a mere 4 weeks along. That was THIRTY WEEKS AGO. How did time go by so fast? I stayed pretty busy these past 30 weeks so I guess that has something to do with it.

When I discovered I was pregnant, I was a teacher's aide in a special ed classroom for emotionally disturbed children. I had been doing that for a couple of years and it was stressful but I enjoyed it. I love the teacher I worked with, and even though my students were so nuts at times (and violent at others), they were pretty hilarious sometimes. But I had the opportunity to take a better paying job (being a teacher's aide pays absolute crap) - a real teaching position of my own!

I'm certified to teach middle & high school English/Communication Arts/Language Arts (whatever you want to call it). I'd just never had the chance to interview after I got certified. I knew it was risky taking a new job while I was pregnant, but seeing as we did have a baby on the way, I couldn't pass up the moolah! I had money signs in my eyes, so I was constantly searching for open jobs.

A position opened up in my district and I applied, interviewed, and was hired. It pays much more than my paltry teacher's aide paycheck, and I didn't have a lapse in insurance because it was still in my district. Perfect!

However, I quickly discovered that regular education middle schoolers are more nuts and sometimes just as violent as special education emotionally disturbed children. I cried and cried and wondered why I had switched jobs. I thought of ways I could get out of my contract, and wondered if maybe I could convince my doctor to put me on medical leave because of stress.

But gradually it got better. I told myself I had to take it one day at a time, and before I knew it, the school year was over, and now I am 34 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant. That was fast. So even though I hated coming into a middle school halfway through the year (they'd had a sub the ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR, and it was second semester!), I think that might have helped the days go by faster. I needed them to go by fast or I would've gone insane.

In baby news, I had a dream last night that we had the baby. It was a boy (who oddly enough kind of looked way more ethnic than either Mr. D or I. Cute, but not as shockingly pale white as we are), and he could laugh as soon as he was born. It makes me wonder if it really is a boy in there! Before I knew I was pregnant, I dreamed I had a baby girl, so for awhile I was convinced that was a sign it was a girl. Now, I feel myself leaning more towards boy.

In other news, Mr. D and I have been looking for a shelf for this one tiny wall in our nursery. We had always intended on buying the dresser that matched our changing table and crib, but once we got our furniture put together in there we realized, holy cow, that's one small room. A dresser in there was NOT happening. But Mr. D's mom had already bought us this super cute lamp, basket, and bucket that matched our bedding and I HAD TO have them in the room. I set off on a search for a shelf. Shelves are expensive, man.

I eventually found one that looked cute for 90 bucks or so on Amazon. I've been toying with the idea of ordering it, but really didn't want to pay 90 bucks. Last night, Mr. D and I took a small outing to Starbucks, Pier 1, and Target. Starbucks for a delicious black tea lemonade, Pier 1 just because we love it, and Target because I needed some cheap plastic storage bins for the hall closet. While perusing the storage options, I saw this cute cube shelf that you put canvas baskets into. It was way too big, though. I said to Mr. D, "Gah, those would be PERFECT for that space in the baby's room if only it were two cubes wide instead of three. And espresso." Then I glanced over, and guess what?

They made a shelf that was two cubes wide and three tall. And espresso.

Best of all, it was on sale for 35 dollars! The optional canvas storage cubes were on sale for 5.99! After a quick search on my iPhone, I saw it had pretty good reviews, and knew I had to have it. How perfect. All because I had the nesting urge to organize the hall closet.

Now the nursery is one step closer to being done. All we need to do now is hang up some floating shelves we've got.

We'd better hurry, though, because this pregnancy is flying by.

Untitled

Quick review: Dairy Queen's Strawberry Golden Oreo Blizzard is AMAZING. You all need to go get it ASAP before it's gone for good. My mouth is watering right now thinking about it.

In other news, Mr. D and I decided to switch our cable provider. I don't want to post any company names, but let's just say we're part of a UniVERSE now.

So, the cable guy was scheduled to come today. My ribs have been in so much pain that I can hardly stand to wear a bra anymore. Sorry, guys. This led me to make the executive decision that I would not put on a bra for the cable guy. I was worried this would lead to some awkward moments, but if he noticed his eyes didn't linger too long. Luckily he didn't appear to be interested in pregnant women :)

Now we have new cable and Internet. So far, so good. In fact, our Internet is even FASTER. Which is amazing for an addict like myself.

Mr. D's grandmother was sweet and brought me lunch since I was stuck here with the cable guy. It was an extremely unhealthy lunch, complete with delicious sweet tea. I feel slightly guilty, but I've really stepped up the healthy eating lately so I don't feel too bad.

Mr. D and I went out of town this weekend for a friend's graduation party. It was a great time and it was fun to get out of town, even if it was just for a day. Although it left me completely paranoid that I was going to go into early labor at any time. I'd already made the decision that we would drive back home if I did. It's only a 3-4 hour drive, and I was banking on a long labor. I didn't have to make an emergency drive home, though. Baby thankfully stayed put and is still baking away. 6 weeks left starting tomorrow. Yikes!

Pediatrician Follow-Up

I was so wrapped up in our daycare drama yesterday that I forgot to talk about how my pre-natal pediatrician consult went.

I was pleased to see they had two waiting rooms - one for the sick kids, and one for the kids just there for their check-ups. Luckily they let me sit in the check up room while I waited for my consult. They started to send me in the sick room, but changed their minds. Whew. I don't want to be exposed to all those sick children while I'm pregnant!

I go into the waiting room and it was totally empty, but then all of these adorable newborn babies started coming in for their first appointments! They were all so adorable! I wanted to take them all home (I even e-mailed Mr. D from my phone about them! But he told me we'd have our own soon enough, so I refrained from trying to take them).

One woman had just had her baby on Saturday, and it was only Tuesday. She told me she wished she was still pregnant. I am sure I will feel like that too, but right now my body gets in so much pain sometimes that I'm ready for Baby D to arrive!... mentally, but not actually prepared at all. We still need to finish the nursery. We have one pack of diapers (and a few one-pack free samples), one container of wipes, and maybe two days worth of clothes. I probably shouldn't have scheduled my baby shower so close to the end of my pregnancy! It's not until July 11, and I'm due August 3. Oops.

Anyway, I digress. I was at the doctor. A nurse came to get me and she was so friendly, and seemed really genuine. She took me into a room and spewed out tons of information. I didn't feel any pressure to ask any questions, which was what I was worried about - I didn't know what to ask! She was extremely informative about their practice, and totally sold me on it. You don't just see ONE doctor, you rotate through all of the doctors at the office - I think there are around 10. If you decide you prefer one doctor, of course you can choose to only see them. They're open 7 days a week. They have a room full of nurses whose job it is to only answer phone calls from parents who have questions! I like that. When I am feeling crazy and paranoid I always have advice a phone call away.

They gave me some free magazines, bottles, and formula if I choose to supplement. I love free stuff!

It was a great experience, I feel very comfortable there. Now we've gotten our daycare AND our pediatrician. I'm making progress :)

Child care

As I mentioned in my last entry, as soon as I found out I was pregnant we got on the day care waiting list at my husband's school. He works at a high school that provides a day care for the student's children at no cost, and offers teachers a REALLY reasonable rate to enroll their kids. We were so excited that Mr. D would get to take the baby to work with him every day, go visit him/her on lunch, and be right there if any problems arose.

Then a couple of weeks ago the school board, for no reason whatsoever, voted to disallow teacher's children from going there. It's especially weird because our district is facing some major budget issues, so you'd think they'd want the hundreds of dollars coming in from teacher's children. I understand that the day care is primarily for the children of the high school students, but teachers are only allowed to enroll their kids there if room is available. No students are turned away because a teacher's kid is enrolled.

Anyway, this left us with quite the dilemma. We now needed a day care for Baby D!! Luckily, a woman Mr. D works with told him about this place her grandchild goes. It's right in between where I work and Mr. D's school. The cost is not much more than we would've been paying at the other place! Perfect.

Or so we thought.

I should've realized something wasn't quite right when I called SEVERAL times to inquire as to whether they had any openings. No one would return my call if I left a message. If I spoke to someone, the director was never in and she wouldn't return my call. I finally spoke to the director, and she said she'd just returned from vacation and "didn't know" if there were any openings as a result of just getting back from said vacation. You'd think this was something they could practically memorize, or had ready for calls like mine. I taught preschool for 3 years, I know how day cares are run. However, I took pity because I know sometimes returning from vacation can throw you for a loop. So she said she'd call me back after a "few days."

She did not.

I called her again on Monday. She told me right away there were openings when we needed. I asked if I could stop by for a tour or if I needed to make an appointment. She said either way was fine. I decided I'd rather pop in unannounced to get an idea of what it was really like.

Mr. D got home from teaching summer school today and we headed over there. We had to be buzzed in, which we liked. But I am still not sure who in the hell buzzed us in, because there was no front desk or anyone to be found. That's not a good sign. It's also not a good sign that we freely wandered around the place for 5 or so minutes and no one asked who we were. Especially because this place is NOT in a good part of town. We could've been killers or crackheads!

Anyway, we finally saw a sign that said "NURSERY" so we poked our head in there. Two women were sitting in there on their cell phones, not engaged with the babies at all. The babies were all awake, too. Cell phones and sitting are actually totally ok with me if it's naptime, but it clearly was not nap time for any babies.

One asks if she can help us, and I explain that I'd spoken to the director who told me I could pop by any time. She gets flustered and says she doesn't know where the director is and to hold on. Mr. D and I awkwardly hang out and 5 minutes later she appears in the hallway next to us, yelling in her cell phone about the missing director. "This girl is here, said Director told her to come by for a tour, and Director's car ain't even here! I don't know where she is!" First of all, I didn't have an appointment, and she was acting like I did, so I sort of felt stupid. Secondly, she is now in a separate hallway and NOT in the classroom, so I know that the one remaining woman is now very much out of state-mandated ratio. That made me uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, the woman still in the classroom is yelling at a baby who is in a cage-like thing (there was no lid on it, but still). She said "You ready to stop biting?!" This kid is like 8 months old. He can't answer you, probably has minimal understanding of the English language still, and he is 8 months old so OF COURSE HE'S GOING TO BITE. Kids bite!

Mr. D later told me he saw a newborn in a "hamster cage." I'm not sure exactly what that means but it sounds sad.

The lady on the cell phone is still flipping out to someone, I'm pointlessly trying to address her and say that I don't have an appointment, I was just told I could drop by any time. She ignores me and keeps talking on the phone. When she hangs up, she explains that Director is nowhere to be found and if I had questions I could ask her. Mr. D quickly said that we'd call back for an appointment and we left.

Yikes.

Not to mention the place was run down and dirty anyway. I'm not sure about Mr. D's coworker, but she must have low standards if she thinks this place is great.

We left and headed to another day care which I'd seen online advertising an open door, drop by anytime policy. Mr. D actually went to this place when he was in preschool! We stop by and it's miraculously better than the other place. The director immediately took us into the infant room and gave us a tour. If you can take parents into your day care spontaneously, you obviously know your shit is together and you're doing things right. I like that. The teachers that worked there were all engaged with a baby or toddler, depending on what class they were in. The babies seemed so happy! It was clean and organized. The teachers looked like they enjoyed their job.

Best of all, they offer a 4 day a week rate, which is fantastic, because Grandma D has said she wants to watch the baby one day a week. No other day care that I'd researched offered any rate other than 5 days a week. Now we'll be saving some money!

It all worked out in the end, but was really stressful. I'm glad I stopped by the bad place so I could see for my own eyes how disorganized and unprofessional it was. I'm also glad Mr. D came because I might have been murdered in that part of town.

We've found our baby's day care. Whew.

Pediatrician??

One thing I had never thought about was that once I give birth, my OBGYN doesn't take care of my baby. I have to have a pediatrician! I should have realized this in my first meeting with my OBGYN when she casually mentioned finding one.

It really hit home when I went to the doctor two weeks ago and she brought it up again, and seemed shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, that I had not begun the search for a pediatrician. It made me feel like the world's worst mother and the baby isn't even here yet.

My problem is that we have NO friends with babies. We're the first. Now, I actually have several pregnant friends, but I'm going to be the first to deliver, so asking them for a recommendation is pointless.

So I put it off. Then Mr. D and I went on our pre-delivery tour. We were filling out the paperwork with the nice nurse and she asked that dreaded question again, "Who is your pediatrician going to be?" I felt more guilty than ever when I had to tell her I didn't know. "Well you need to find one!!" she responded. I know, I KNOW.

I made it a point to start researching. I googled "pediatrician" for my city. Lots came up. I was kind of hoping only one or two would appear and it would make my choice much easier.

I finally found a place that looked great on their website. It was a group practice. They even had two separate waiting rooms - one for sick kids and ones there for their regular non-sicky checkups. The doctors looked nice and seemed well-educated and experienced.

...but they didn't take my insurance. Ok, moving on. I found another group practice that seemed fabulous. Only they don't come out to the hospital I will be delivering at! Dammit.

I posted a topic an an internet message board for moms and moms-to-be, and a local girl who I've been talking to gave me a recommendation. Yay! And better yet, it's perfect. Close to my house, convenient hours, they take my insurance, AND they come out to the hospital I'll be delivering at. Perfect! Sign me up!

Except now I have to go in for a "pre-natal consult." Yes, apparently you are supposed to interview potential pediatricians. You aren't supposed to just choose one and call it a day.

Obviously my child's first doctor is something very important. I care. But I have NO IDEA what questions I'm supposed to be asking. I am having Baby D vaccinated, so I don't have any questions as far as delaying those goes. If it's a boy, we want him to be circumsized, so I guess I can ask about that, although I don't have any questions. Any questions I might have as far as after-hours needs and when they're open, etc etc, are answered on the website.

So what do I ask?!

My appointment is today and I'm really nervous that I'm going to look like an awful mother because I have no questions to ask and no real reason to be there other than I know that's what I'm supposed to do. Plus the website told me to come in for a pre-natal consult. Haha.

Wish me luck. I hope I don't end up looking like a complete moron.

Next on my mommy-to-be to-do list: Go check out our potential day care. We had a perfect situation all lined up, and then two weeks ago discovered that it was no longer an option. The only waiting list I signed up for (and Mr. D signed us up when I was a mere 6 weeks along, so we did get that out of the way in a timely manner), and now it's no longer an option for us. It was at Mr. D's school. They just decided for no apparent reason that teacher's students can no longer attend, only student's babies. Which is what it's always been intended for, but they let teacher's students pay to go if there was room. Not anymore.

I hope this day care pans out. It was recommended, but Mr. D and I have both worked in day cares in the past, so our expectations are probably pretty high.

I'm getting nervous about motherhood.