Helping out in tough times... (Part I)

Okay, so everyone knows that the economy stinks right now and that most everyone is feeling the financial crunch.  Our family has been no exception, however, we've recently had some good fortune that has allowed me to breathe a little more freely.  Everywhere you turn, you see that food pantries and charities are having an increased demand in need for services/help, yet there's a decrease in organizations/individuals capable of helping out.  And with the approach of the cold weather season and the holidays, I tend to think of this sort of thing more.  Now, anyone that knows me knows that I don't have a long history of charity work, but that, in general, I try to at least help my friends and family when I can.  One of the values that I hope to instill in my own children is that of being thankful for what we have.  We've been talking more lately with the children about the difference between "want" vs. "need" and of course, this plays into the idea of being thankful for what we have.   I want my children to see that there will always be someone with less than they have, and that helping them out can make a difference.  So when I heard that Toys for Tots was going to host and event at the Desmond, Breakfast with Santa, I thought it would be a good opportunity to work on this value with the children.  I was disappointed when I called yesterday to make a reservation to learn that the admission was nearly $20 per adult (kids are free with toy donation).  Our feeling is that, we don't need a breakfast at a fancy place to teach our kids this valuable lesson.  So we decided not to do that and instead, I've found a local food pantry that's looking for people willing to sponsor families for Christmas.  I called and explained that while we can't sponsor an entire family, we'd like to donate a toy for a specific child on their list.  The representative called me back immediately and asked that our children purchase a toy for a boy 7-10 years old.  Our plan is to have each of our children take $1 from their piggy banks and use that toward the purchase of the gift.  For anyone that's interested in doing the same, the place where we are donating our toy is the food pantry/thrift shop at the four corners in West Sand Lake (behind Subway) on Rt. 150.  Their # is 674-4048.

PPD Test... is it safe for me?

Well, this seems to be the question of the week for me.  It all started with Part I of my physical exam required for my employment at Samaritan Hospital.  Employees are required to take a PPD (Tuberculosis) test unless otherwise noted by their physician.  I was advised by my future director to discuss the PPD test with my OB to determine if it's safe during pregnancy.  The director has indicated that other employees had opted to wait until after their babies were born to have the test done.  So I went online to do some research and found some sites that stated the test was completely safe and valid during pregnancy.  Other sites recommended against having the test because they stated it was a Class C injection, which meant that animal reproduction testing had not been done for the substance.  I also talked with a friend who is a nurse who told me that she waited with both of her pregnancies to have the test done.  Now, I've always taken a "better safe than sorry" approach to my pregnancies so I decided not to get the test done.  No problem, right?!?  WRONG!!!  I went to my routine OB visit on Friday and everything went fine, despite the rather monotone bedside manner of my physician, until I asked him to write a note excusing me from the test.  He refused to write the note and explained that the test was completely safe and he felt he couldn't lie and recommend that I not have it done.  

Well, needless to say, I was extremely upset when I left the office.  I'd had problems with scheduling of appointments with the practice in the past and was met with resistance by my doctor at another occasion and ultimately felt that I couldn't trust that my doctor would be on my side and communication with me throughout the pregnancy.  So I choose to request my medical records and now I'm in the process of finding a different OB and a different hospital.  I'm so frustrated because I feel like I've gone out of my way to ensure that everything goes smoothly with my doctor's office, yet it seems that no matter how much I try, it all ends up a mess anyway!  I just hope that I can find a doctor soon that will be supportive and informative so that I don't have to worry about all of this crap!  The doctors that delivered Alex and Emily gave me a hard time about WHERE I was going to deliver and tried to scare me into going to Albany Med instead of St. Peter's.  I even had to lie to my OB when I was in labor with Emily because she was arguing with me at 2am about which hospital we were meeting at (despite the fact that I made it VERY clear during the prior 9 months where I would be going).   I had hoped so much that I wouldn't have to deal with that sort of thing for this pregnancy, but sadly, it seems that with the way our healthcare system is run these days, my hopes may never be a reality.

Change is in the air.....

Yesterday was an historic day for our country, as we elected our first African American President.  And although I didn't vote for Barack Obama, I hope that he make decisions for our country that will not negatively impact our own futures.  

So it seems as though change is upon us, and for my family, in more ways than just one.  Today I accepted a position as a per diem PTA with the Samaritan Hospital Physical Therapy department.  I absolutely love being a stay at home mom and, particularly with the impending arrival of a new family member, am looking forward to hopefully continuing to stay at home with my children.  Although I did miss working with patients over the last year, my primary motivation in searching for work has been a financial one.  Extra income from this position will afford us a bigger cushion to our budget and allow us to live a little more stress-free (in the money department).  I anticipate that I'll mostly be working Saturday and Sunday mornings, but not every weekend, and possibly some hours during the week while Emily is in school.  

HALLOWEEN Festivities ...

After SEVERAL grueling hours of paper mache-ing and creative costume making, we finally were able to unveil our brilliant (okay, I'm being a little dramatic) idea for a family costume, which we wore at my sister's Halloween Party last night.  I was a jar of Prego sauce (get it!?!?), Tim was a box of spaghetti, and the kids were meatballs.  Of course, the kids weren't all that enthusiastic about our family costume idea, so they happily trick or treated in the costumes of their choice (Curious George & Fairy Princess) on Halloween, and were asked only to dress as meatballs for the party on Saturday! 

And what would Halloween be without a culinary creation from yours truly?!?!  Okay, so it wasn't an original, more of a copy-cat from something I saw in one of my Taste of Home Magazines, but it still looks cute!  Here's a picture of my "Cheese Mummy Man", which is

 basically just a cheeseball mix made to look like a mummy.

Growing Pains ... (or lack thereof!)

We awoke this morning with some excitement in the house. Apparently, while I was in the shower, Alex awoke and made his way downstairs where Tim was getting ready for work. Alex told Tim that his tooth felt REALLY loose this morning (it's been loose for about 3 weeks now). Tim replied, "Well, then pull it out!" To our surprise, he did! Alex came upstairs extremely excited and as I was stepping out of the shower came barreling into the room with a ziploc bag containing his first tooth lost. I was excited for him and surprised at the ease with which this new milestone has come and gone. As a child, I remember days, even weeks, of playing with the loose tooth and dreading the day that it was time for it to come out. I remember my father tying floss around the tooth that, really, was only barely hanging on by a hair and I was just too scared to pull it out myself. He'd say he was going to count to three but pull it out on two instead and it worked every time! When Alex came home from school one morning announcing he'd had a loose tooth, I anticipated weeks of "it" being the topic of his every conversation. I anticipated a solid week of him terrified to have us help pull it out. To my amazement, he's be so cool with it, that you'd almost not even know he had a loose tooth. And the way he handled himself this morning just makes me so proud, and breathe a sigh of relief that maybe, just maybe, this whole business of loosing teeth will be different for him than it was for me. But then again, he's a boy and maybe boys are just different about these sort of things?!? Time to prepare for the tooth fairy!

First Ultrasound of Baby #3

Today I had my first ultrasound done of baby #3 and it was exciting for us. I was happily surprised when Tim showed up for the appointment, which was not planned since the appointment was in the middle of the day and he had to get out of work for it. We arrived at Seton's Imaging place a little early and the technicians took us back quickly. There was a more experienced technician training another technician so I think we spent a little more time "learning" about the baby (and me) than we normally would have, which was nice. Overall, I'm a pretty happy camper, now that I've seen the baby in there, and saw the little tiny heart fluttering! They said that the baby is measuring on target for what we had predicted my due date to be and that they consider me now at 9 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Here is a video and picture of our first ultrasound. Enjoy!

First OB Appointment

Well, today I had my first OB appointment and it was somewhat anticlimactic. Since I'm a new patient to my doctor's office, I wasn't sure of ALL that I could expect from the appointment. The doctor seemed nice enough, although very monotone and serious, and the nurse was very friendly and chipper. The doctor was relatively thorough in going over my medical history and following our discussion, he completed the exam. He said that it seemed as though I'm around 8 weeks along and so he wouldn't even attempt to look for a heartbeat with the Doppler since he would likely NOT hear one (the instrument usually isn't sensitive enough to pick it up until 10 weeks). He scheduled me for an ultrasound next week just to get an accurate due date and check things out. So I walked away from the office, happy that I met the doctor and encouraged by his promptness in getting me in to the exam room, but disappointed that I didn't get to even hear a heart beat. Oh well, I guess it will be worth the wait another couple of days to get an ultrasound and see everything and hear a heart beat that way! Another disappointment - I learned today that they do not allow videography during delivery..... something that I was hoping to capture in a relatively non-graphic form since I wasn't allowed to tape Alex's birth and we accidentally taped over Emily's arrival! Hmmm..... Maybe I can get my sister to somehow sneak some shots of labor.... (wink wink) if she's there with us!