August/September Chat Thread - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[PoetryLover]

Lyn, maybe you could find a used treadmill. Sometimes I think that a treadmill would be nice, but we have no place for one, unfortunately.

Regarding potty training, it's recently occurred to me that DS1 might be hanging on to his diapers due in part to a bit of jealousy towards his brother and insecurity as to his place in our hearts. So I try to give him more attention and let him know that he is loved very much, still. I, too, feel that at some point it will just "click" for him. He has actually said that he wants to wear underwear and pee in the potty like a big boy, but then he showed little interest afterwards. I'm just being patient with him.

I actually JUST got them both down for nap. They really fought it today.

[Peony]

Potty training is a dirty word around here now. We've been working on it for a over a year now. And no, we are not anywhere close. He is pushing 3.5 years old. Sigh. At this rate I could probably get the two boys to potty train together eventually! 

We thought we were going to be able to change health insurance but after them reviewing it again and again, they increased the quote by 500.00. Increased.  And it wasn't cheap to begin with. I spent DAYS dealing with that. Hours and hours and hours. The final phone interview was two hours alone while two of the kids had rotavirus and were either pooping or puking all over my house, it was like a very bad comic strip. 

My schedule is all over the place. School started again last week. Two kids are in school full time, one two days a week. I have a sitter two days a week, one day with just Dominic home so I can work then and one of Julian's heavy therapy days so that Dominic doesn't spend 3 hours that day just sitting in waiting rooms with me. The sitter is new, our old one is moving so this one just started today. Dominic already likes her which is good, he isn't so fond of the old one but I think by now he sees her and then know Mommy is going to disappear. 

[Lynann]

Health Insurance is such a racket. And now that we are all supposed to have it we have no choice but to play their games.

We've just finished paying for Seth's birth because the insurance refused to pay the whole amount that it was supposed to. We had an out of network exemption because no network providers would do a home birth. So our CNM was supposed to be treated as if she was in network. In network we have a $500 deductible and 100% coverage for maternity. They applied the out of network deductible of $1000 and then still only paid about 50% of what was left. It would have cost us less and been less hassle for our midwife if we had just done a straight out of network claim. AND this is when if I had gone for a network provider it would have been an automatic c/s which would have cost the insurance company a whole lot more money. I really, really hate the way health insurance works here.

Seth has been ill for the last couple of days too. Yesterday his temp got up to 101.6, but he has been sleeping it off and was much better by last night.

[Peony]

Like 1300.00 a month with a 5K deductible (10K family deductible) is affordable. I'd pay that and they still only cover 20 speech and OT visits a year. We do 4 speech therapy sessions a WEEK and one OT, at 75 bucks a pop. It is just better to continue having my crappy, crappy insurance that still isn't cheap and doesn't cover anything. Just because my kid is autistic. And the kicker is that because one kid takes antidepressants, that is the ONLY 
"mark" against her she has, she has never been severely ill, injured, nothing, just her meds, they jacked up her rate by 200%. I guess if wouldn't have her on them and she is suicidal again, then the insurance company would be happy. And this is before Julian's genetic testing came back. We just found out that he has a duplication. On the good side though, I thought ahead and booked an appointment months ago with the genetics clinic for 3 weeks from now. So I get to find out more details then otherwise I would be waiting until next year to have someone decode the results. 

I guess at least I can't ever complain of boredom in this house! 

That is crappy about the birth Lynn. I hate playing that "game" which is exactly what they make it. 

[Lynann]

Wow, what happened to "affordable" healthcare. It certainly doesn't exist when we depend on Insurance companies.

If DH didn't have such a "good" (if you stay in network that is!!!) plan then I think we'd be skipping the Health Insurance and going for a medical share type program, which I believe still counts as coverage for the legal purposes of the Affordable Care Act. Insurance just seems like such a rip off to me, but I grew up with socialized medicine in the UK where it is free at point of use. (It isn't free as some people think because it is funded through taxes taken straight out of your pay check.) I just think that there has to be something better than either of these systems.

I did read recently, but can't remember where, that before most people had health insurance and everything was paid in cash the costs for all healthcare was a lot more reasonable. The provider was paid directly by the person receiving care, and when they couldn't afford to pay there were charitable organizations that provided it free. Most big church groups operated clinics and hospitals that were free because the people who worked there did so out of a sense of vocation and costs were paid for by the church groups. Back then the emphasis was on maintaining good health and trying to prevent the need for doctors etc where ever possible. Medical share schemes seem to be more like that. Care providers are paid directly by the fund and everyone in the fund splits the costs, but the emphasis is in maintaining good health to keep the costs down for everyone. They are non-profit so there are no share-holders pockets to line and no profits to maintain.

I do think it is terrible that you are expected to pay so much and that they can get away with increasing the rates that much. I'm glad you had the foresight to make the appointment for the genetic clinic so far in advance. Health Insurance companies are one of the big scandals of this country, and yet everyone just keeps on buying in to it.

[Beckily]

A trip to Florida and tiramisu? Yeah, he'd certainly go for that :D

[Lynann]

Originally Posted by Beckily 

A trip to Florida and tiramisu? Yeah, he'd certainly go for that :D

Any time you want to come down let me know. We have a guest room ready and tiramisu can be made to order. The "Happiest Place on Earth" is only a day trip away too, and if you flew into Palm Beach International we'd even come pick you up from the airport.

[Beckily]

Originally Posted by Lynann 

Any time you want to come down let me know. We have a guest room ready and tiramisu can be made to order. The "Happiest Place on Earth" is only a day trip away too, and if you flew into Palm Beach International we'd even come pick you up from the airport.

Thank you :) If ever we go, I will let you know! I love knowing that almost anywhere I want to go, I have an MDC mom nearby :)

[Italiamom]

I get 10 minutes with the computer, and I wanted to pop in and say happy birthday to all of my favorite babies.

And love to all of you ladies.  You were such support for me during an awful, awful pregnancy.  I think of you all almost every day.  I am still toying with the idea of getting a fake FB just so I can join the MDC chat group, as that's easy to do from my phone.

I loved the regional meetup.  It is amazing to me how vibrant you all were in real life.  I had so admired all of your photos and kind words all those months, and then, POOF!  In real life it was so surreal and wonderful.

DD is 1 now, and such a handful.  She has 4 molars coming in.  She's days away from walking.  She wants mama every minute of every day.  Sigh.

We are working on potty with DS, and it's such a nightmare, the little shit.  Ooops, did I say that outloud?  Sorry.  He is doing alright with it, although he has recently started spite peeing if you send him to his room.  And we're battling with when he's wearing underwear, he seems less aware about when to pee.  But when he's not wearing underwear, he just plays with his penis constantly.  My mom is visiting (I'm her only child), and I think she's pretty horrified by the constant penis show.  Gah.

Love to you all.  Love love love.  And congrats on surviving that first year!!

[cat13]

Ditto on the meetup, it was so wonderful to meet you in person :)

Please consider the FB thing. There are quite a few mamas who have fake FB names and only use it for this group. I miss you!

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by Italiamom 

I get 10 minutes with the computer, and I wanted to pop in and say happy birthday to all of my favorite babies.

And love to all of you ladies.  You were such support for me during an awful, awful pregnancy.  I think of you all almost every day.  I am still toying with the idea of getting a fake FB just so I can join the MDC chat group, as that's easy to do from my phone.

I loved the regional meetup.  It is amazing to me how vibrant you all were in real life.  I had so admired all of your photos and kind words all those months, and then, POOF!  In real life it was so surreal and wonderful.

DD is 1 now, and such a handful.  She has 4 molars coming in.  She's days away from walking.  She wants mama every minute of every day.  Sigh.

We are working on potty with DS, and it's such a nightmare, the little shit.  Ooops, did I say that outloud?  Sorry.  He is doing alright with it, although he has recently started spite peeing if you send him to his room.  And we're battling with when he's wearing underwear, he seems less aware about when to pee.  But when he's not wearing underwear, he just plays with his penis constantly.  My mom is visiting (I'm her only child), and I think she's pretty horrified by the constant penis show.  Gah.

Love to you all.  Love love love.  And congrats on surviving that first year!!

I have to admit I LOL'ed at your PT'ing comments!  Oohh doesn't it just make your blood boil sometimes!?  I am so not looking fwd to doing it again!!  Ha!

Please come to the group on FB.  You don't need to have a feed or friends or anything, just join the group so we can catch up and stay in touch.  As hard as I try to come on MDC I have so little time with 2 hands (as we all lack that time) but FB is just a click away on my phone.  And it's much easier to upload pictures from my phone!

Originally Posted by cat13 

Please consider the FB thing. There are quite a few mamas who have fake FB names and only use it for this group. I miss you!

Big hello to everyone else!  I'm reading along and sending positive PL vibes to all!  

I'm actually going to run quick and take my first shower in 2 days, before these kids start fussing.  Gotta run fast!

[Beckily]

I don't think I know any little boys who don't constantly play with their penis when they get the chance. That's just pure joy of ownership :D

Come to FB! I'd love that so much! So many conversations over there I think "Michelle knows so much about this!"

[Beckily]

  http://www.jamieglowacki.com/

This site sounds reasonable for potty training advice/buying the book.

[Baby_Cakes]

Oh becky thank you for that site!  I did a 3 day bootcamp last time with Nora, and while it was fast and successful it was also stressful for me (and probably for her) and I made the choice that I wouldn't do it that way again.  I've been waffling b/w letting Finn train on his own and worrying he'll be in diapers til 4, and doing the bootcamp again.  So.  This looks like middle ground!  Thanks!!

Going out tonight for sushi with chris and the kids for a friend's birthday!  I haven't had a chance to get her a gift w/all of us being sick this week so I'm going to run to barnes and noble I think and see what I can find book wise for her.  Maybe a gift card if nothing seems right.

Edited by Baby_Cakes - 9/1/12 at 5:57am

[Lynann]

Originally Posted by Beckily 

  http://www.jamieglowacki.com/

This site sounds reasonable for potty training advice/buying the book.

I have the PDF of her book if anyone wants a copy. A coworker of DH sent it to us. This is the book we have been kind of using (we're trying to be more flexible with DS1)

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by Lynann 

I have the PDF of her book if anyone wants a copy. A coworker of DH sent it to us. This is the book we have been kind of using (we're trying to be more flexible with DS1)

Oh Lyn I would love it!  Thank you!!!  Do you just need my email?  

[Peony]

My girls were so easy to potty train. My first boy though, I am just hoping by K. We had to get approval from the state licensing board for him to attend preschool in diapers. He had to attend to get services through the school district (speech, OT, special ed) but then he had to be potty trained in order to attend, yeah right. So he goes in pull ups. We had a two week trial and the school just confirmed on Thursday that he could stay the year. Thank goodness because he loves it. he comes home from his two days there happy and eating! Which is huge for him, he rarely eats and has been having hours long screaming fits almost daily for months now. 

The penis play grosses out my mom as well! It is constant if he doesn't have pants on. I actually just started trying to keep him in underwear around the house, which he promptly pees in usually because I almost think that his penis play is turning into a stim. He can't stop it and when he gets upset, he HAS to hold it. Another mom with an autistic DS said that his stim was his penis and that was a light bulb moment for me. I really don't want it progressing, the other mom has to tape the shirt to the pants because her DS does it constantly otherwise. My DS has fine motor delays and can't reach into pants to find his penis, yet anyway. 

Sad day here. DH has not had a day off since the middle of June. He has Sat and Sun off and then has to leave Monday for a week long trip. We were going up to my parents house in the mountains, and I was really looking forward to it. We had had ZERO fun all summer. Dominic has been sick over the week and he is not getting better. Today I woke up with his nasty cold so we decided I should stay home with Dominic instead of infecting my parents as well. Boo! I was really, really looking forward to it. We were going to walk around Telluride and then another small town is doing the 4th of July fireworks tonight that they couldn't do over the summer because of wildfires. 

[Lynann]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes 

Oh Lyn I would love it!  Thank you!!!  Do you just need my email?  

Yes, you can PM me your email if you like.

[PoetryLover]

Originally Posted by Lynann 

I have the PDF of her book if anyone wants a copy. A coworker of DH sent it to us. This is the book we have been kind of using (we're trying to be more flexible with DS1)

If you can share the pdf with more than one person, I'd  love it, too! :-) I'll pm you my email address. :-) Many thanks in advance!

[Baby_Cakes]

I dropped my girlie off for her first day of school this morning at 9 am and it's 230 and I can't stop looking at the clock!  Is it time to go get her yet!?

Hope everyone is doing well!

I'm not getting anything done today.  I had huge plans to do dishes and laundry while she was at school but Finn is taking a good nap and I'm watching Dr. Who. 

They opened a hobby lobby by me and I went this morning with my friend and we poked around!  That store is DANGEROUS!!  Hahaha!