Weekly Randoms 4/3

KirstinH88

KirstinH88

I know you all are in the same boat as me, most are even further along, but look at my siggy!!! My elephant tracker is on the last elephant!! Say WHAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?!?! 

HGRich

I think I have used the desktop version of the bump a grand total of twice this pregnancy. I keep forgetting I have a siggy because they don't show up on mobile! I need to get on the desktop version and look at everyone's signature who has them! 

M&Max

Pretty pumped that the dr this morning was willing to go ahead and schedule my induction for next week - here's to hoping I go before then but if not then the 14th it is!

KirstinH88

@HGRich I bump while at work. On my work computer.  But in the evenings and weekends I'm all mobile. 

HGRich

@KirstinH88 man--I bump at work during slow times too, but since my computer faces outward and my cubicle is on a busy aisle, I feel like everyone would see what I was doing. My phone I can keep hidden behind my body. lol. 

KirstinH88

@HGRich My computer faces the aisle of what we call "manager's row" because all the managers sit on my aisle and are constantly walking back and forth down it. I've apparently given up and just don't care anymore!  I mean, I do still try to click over tabs if I hear footsteps, but meh...

schef070911

KirstinH88 said:

@HGRich I bump while at work. On my work computer.  But in the evenings and weekends I'm all mobile. 

Same here!

mrsstuessy

So, I finally got on the ball and tried to figure out insurance stuff and doctor stuff that I have been putting off for a month. We are currently on medicaid, but will be able to be on DH's insurance at the beginning of June. So, for now we are good to stay under Medicaid and everything should be ok with the rest of my pregnancy and delivery stuff. In May we will deal with what insurance plan we want, etc. But, we will probably still have medicaid for backup insurance for the kids and it looks like the new baby will still qualify for newborn coverage under medicaid for the 1st year. So, hooray for all of that going smoothly. But, then I decided I really need to find a doctor for the baby. DD1 technically has a doctor, that we have never seen in our last town, 15 minutes away. But, I decided to just go ahead and try and find a doctor in our new town. It is a small town, but they do have a decently sized hospital for how small the town is. I'm not even sure we will be able to keep this doctor once we get our new insurance in June, but obviously baby will need one before then and hopefully we will be able to keep this one. So, I called the pediatric clinic today to ask about new patients. They basically said they don't do anything until after the baby is born and then I should just call to set up an appointment. It seemed a little weird. Like, she didn't ask me anything about my insurance or tell me which doctors were accepting new patience. So, I am assuming they are all accepting new patients? And I guess they just work as a group so I don't necessarily really choose which doctor exactly my daughter will see? It seems weird, but unless I want to drive an hour for the doctor this is pretty much my only choice. Oh well, at least I looked into it a little and don't feel like such a lazy mom now. 

mrsstuessy

Also, I bought this shirt for DH to wear during L&D. I am cheesy like that, but I think it's cute.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RGCUY4/ref=ya_st_dp_summary?th=1

It should get here tomorrow, so as long as I don't go into labor before then we are good.  

KirstinH88

@mrsstuessy I just looked into a ped for this one as well. I wanted him to have the same ped as the other boys just to keep them all at the same place with the same person. But when I went to go look at his "page" it said he wasn't accepting new patients. I'm just going to wait until he is born and then have someone see him within the same ped building/practice. And I'll keep an eye out for when/if the ped I want is actually accepting patients and transfer baby over to him. Oh well...Guess I shouldn't have been such a slacker. Haha!

HGRich

@mrsstuessy my peds office is the same. I specified a doctor I wanted to see primarily, but it's whoever is on call is who will come check baby in hospital, and then after that I can try to always book with my preferred doctor and if he's unavailable, see any of the others instead of he isn't. They told me the same--specify a doctor to the hospital on my pre admission interview, and they'll call him or whoever is on call, and then afterward I call in and schedule a first check up and do the new patient paperwork then. They didn't ask me about insurance because I just looked it up on their website and saw they all took our insurance. So not ideal to me, since I'd like to always have the same doc, but at the same time, if she's sick and he's unavailable, I have the whole practice available to see when it works for me. Which also means same day appointments nearly every time, which is nice. 

chelle087

@mrsstuessy I called our practice recently too. It's a relatively large practice with several locations around the city. Apparently the office that DS went to when he was an infant sees newborns at the hospital that I will deliver at, but the office that we currently use because it is closer to home does not. I felt kinda dumb when they were explaining this to me.

anyways, they said that I just need to call before leaving the hospital (like that will be the first thing on my mind) to schedule a newborn appointment within the first few days.

visualcircus

I'm having a Pinterest freezer meal party at my house this week. Originally I didn't want to since I'm super lazy these days but now there will be 3 other ladies this should be fun and hectic. XD I think 2 or working solo is best since every family has their own preferences. Regardless I'll have 10 extra meals after this party... it's more fun than doing it alone while a toddler is actively sabotaging me. 

shaunessa

i'm loving all the baby announcements!!!  

HGRich

My coworkers have decided the balloons leftover from my work shower which are still floating three weeks later are symbolic of when baby is coming. Five balloons, and one has officially drooped. Four more and it's baby time, they say. Also, my dog has been following me around and staring at me with her tail wagging slightly. I don't know what it means. This isn't normal for her. 

KirstinH88

@HGRich haha! I'd be interested to hear if the balloon theory is "accurate."

M&Max

@HGRich I like the balloon theory! 

bww_0331

@HGRich I like the balloon theory too! My ob said to watch in animal behavior-sometimes they know you are in labor before you do. Didn't hold up for me, but my dog is basically cat so maybe that doesn't count! Ha

Taylor72

Not to jump the gun here but I've decided that on the next kid, I'm going to tell everyone my due date is like 2 weeks later than it actually is. I seriously can't stand people and for some reason I'm like extra grouchy about it today. I just want to say "leave me the F alone and I will tell u when she's on her way" 

rachelgreene-2

@Taylor72 I made the mistake of telling two older ladies at work that I am full term this week and they acted as if I told them i was crowning. One even said "I'll call 911!!!" Ummm you better not unless you want to foot that bill.

For the next baby I think I will go the same route you are. 

KirstinH88

So, I previously spoke with my HR lady at work about maternity leave. She said that I would only get 12 weeks, so if I used 2 weeks before baby was born, I'd only get 10 weeks after. Which is why I decided to work up until baby is born, to maximize my time with him. At my appt today, my OB said that I should be able to get up to 4 weeks before (if wanted) as well as 12 weeks after (6 weeks SDI and 6 weeks baby bonding). I'm sure this is a CA specific thing. And honestly, I don't trust my HR lady because she is dumb as rocks. But I found this on the Internet (CA specific). So I'm going to email her and her boss tmrw to see if I really could take time off using disability beforehand and still get the full 12 weeks after. 

beemaya83

@kirstinh88 I'm in CA and yes it is correct that you get SDI 4 weeks before baby due date and 6 weeks after if vaginal birth or 8 weeks c-section baby is born. In addition 6 weeks baby bonding (paid family leave). 

rachelgreene-2

@KirstinH88 yeah... your HR lady is all sorts of wrong. You definitely should talk to her. So this is my understanding and this, to my knowledge only applies to California. You are legally allowed 4 weeks before your estimated due date for disability that won't go against the time after the baby is born. Either you use it or lose it, you can't add what you didn't use to after the baby is born.

Once the baby is born you'll either get 6 (for a vaginal) or 8 weeks for a section. If at your first post-partum appointment your care provider decides that you haven't healed, or you've had a complicated delivery, etc., your disability can be extended up to 17 and a half weeks. After you are signed out of disability, that's when bonding starts and you will get up to 6 weeks of paid FML. You can either use the rest of the 6 weeks (unpaid) concurrently or you can save it for later - and you have up until the baby's first birthday to use it or lose it. 

I'm not some expert, I really don't know what I'm doing, but I recently took a training with the leave coordinator within our HR department specifically regarding maternity leave. I just know that you can't file anything until the first day of your disability because the date you give EDD has to match the date that your doctor gives you.

I hope this helps!

KirstinH88

@beemaya83 @RachelGreene Thanks ladies! Definitely helps to have people in CA that are experiencing this. I'm so happy to hear about this 4 weeks before the due date. I'm going to try to stick it out another week and a half, mostly just to get some work accomplished, and then I'm hoping to make the 14th my last day of work (2 weeks before due date). I'm just so done mentally. It's really hard to stay focused at work, but hopefully with an actual end date in sight, it will give me a little more focus.

Lovable Bump

@KirstinH88 we have the same policy here in nj and I was also under the impression that the 4 weeks off prior to birth counted against time after birth until recently.  I was trying to stick it out until my due date for the same reason, but put in my notice once I was corrected and my luckily my boss completely understood (we're a small office of 8 with no hr dept, he was also clueless about maternity policies haha).  At this rate I'm only taking 3 of the 4 weeks, but man it's so worth it to be able to get any rest I can get since I was basically dying at work lately...I completely know how you feel!  Hope your last week and a half goes by super fast so you can get some much needed rest!

KirstinH88

Calling @BecNJake. Didn't want to comment on the announcements thread, but that picture of your DS meeting Benjamin...  My heart basically did like 20 backflips.

beemaya83

My mom was on a mini vacation for 16 whole days. She came over today and helped with DS. She cleaned my kitchen and my living room. My sister brought bagels too. Can baby come already? 38 +4 today...

ETA: seriously contemplating of taking the credit since DH doesn't know mom came over. This should really be a FFFC

KirstinH88

@shaunessa Thinking of you today!! can't wait to meet baby Jake!

mrsstuessy

So, I was supposed to have my 39 week appointment on Tuesday. (at 39+3) I got a call today saying the midwives won't be in clinic that day so I need to reschedule. I call back and the lady asks if Friday morning would work. (that would be 39+6) She said that was their first available appointment. I asked if I could come to one of their other locations because I really needed to get in before that. I said I would prefer Monday or Wednesday if Tuesday isn't an option. She says, oh yeah, because of your due date. Then she asks if Monday at 10am or 2pm would work. So, I am going in on Monday afternoon. Not a huge deal because my sister will be in town  helping me and she can watch DD in the waiting room. But still.... don't lie to me lady! Why would they say Friday is the first available appointment and then offer 2 others on Monday? I wouldn't care so much, but I am really, really hoping to go before Easter and the midwife said they could give me a membrane sweep at my appointment next week so I really don't want to wait until Friday for that. 

KirstinH88

Paging @shaunessa again. Hope all is well with you and baby Jake 

LittleChick2

@KirstinH88 I would call or message the Dr about taking Samuel. My doctor is never taking new patients but has said she'll take the baby once he's here. She's done that in the past with a couple friends as well.

Taylor72

I'm an idiot. After my appointment today I came back to work and I just haven't been having a good day.  So what did my dumbass decide to do? Google. I am seriously so frustrated about having to be induced especially at more than 41 weeks.  Reading induction stories of cervidil and Pitocin was not a good idea but I wanted to get an idea what I was in for.  My OB said she thinks I will need 2 12 hour rounds of cervidil alone. major eyeroll to myself and I'm already calling myself and her a TW for tomorrow.

KirstinH88

@Taylor72 Google is not your friend! Stay away! Read @catem07's birth story for a happy induction story. 

HappyAnjel

@KirstinH88 I would call too.. most Drs will make an exception for patients who already have siblings at the practice.. worst they can say is no right?

Blueberry85

@Taylor72 You still have 5 full days (plus tonight) until you pass 41 weeks. Don't freak yourself out unnecessarily. A lot can happen in 5 days!