~~Sept 04 Mamas--Summer is Here!~~ - Page 6

[3boobykins]

Meg, good point. We are actually still paying for ds' NICU stay, have been for 7 years at $20 per month. We have considered a high-deductable insurance plan. I hate health insurance, too. We need reform in thsi county so badly!

So we spoke to our producer a few minutes ago. He listened to my reading, and he's going to cast me in a project that will probably be recorded in August. I'll be reading a couple of short stories for Best American Erotica 2008. They've done a bunch of these collections--I could be reading some pretty raunchy stuff--should be fun! He liked my reading overall--I need to scale back and "invite the reader in." I have a tendency to push it too hard and project too much--theatre background. But he said my characters (reading dialogue) was "spot on." I just need some direction, which he's willing to give me. So LA, here we come! I'm pretty excited! I might also be reading for a collection of Penguin's children's stories some time after that. I would love to make this somewhat of a career, at least a part-time one. I don't want to move to LA, though!

[crazyeight]

3bobbykins- that sounds incredibly fun!!! i would love to have an unnormal job that lets you go to different places without having to have a 9-5 job even part time. erotica huh??? will have to share some stories.... and then childrens books!!! ROFL!!!

[banana girl]

Hey all!

It's been a rough weekend. Mielle has been vomiting for days and days and days! She seems to be improving, but is still quite whiny and clingy. It's hard to remain compassionate and calm after days and days stuck in a hot house holding a feverish whimpering child. She threw up like a dozen times a day for 3 days straight! I can't believe what a big girl she has been about it, throwing up into a bucket, carrying the bucket around herself. Poor like thing she has been sleeping a ton, asking for movies and then staring at the wall instead... it was like she just wanted the noise there. She's been very loving, stroking my arms, face and breasts. She was even throwing up breastmilk, which was frustrating because Jasper actually needs it! So, it was great to have her showing some energy and appetite today.

So, the new internet connection at home.... it keeps causing our computer to shut down. Yeah, super slow time consuming process (10 minutes or more!) of powering the computer on, connecting with dial-up... waiting for the peoplepc site to load to have it shut down as soon as I begin browsing the web.... over and over. I spent 45 minutes trying to get online yesterday. Jerome is trying to fix it, but so far, no real success. Hopefully soon i will be more in touch... currently using my mom's computer. I brought the kids here to get out of the house and out of the heat!

Well Jasper's howling at my feet and Mielle is whimpering in my lap... gotta go!

[AugustineM]

Poor, poor Mielle. And poor you!! Thor just got over that. For 3 days he threw up at least 5 times a day. The first day it was like 10 times. Oh, I felt so badly for him. He had rotavirus, I think, which I diagnosed by the awful smelling, watery poo.

Meg -- I laughed at your preschool method. Good idea!! There is a new preschool starting up here in Homer this fall and we're registering Thor for three half days. It's mostly because he doesn't know any other kids and we don't know any other parents, so we figure this is a good way to get some socialization for all of us and make some friends. If we were still in Seattle where I had a large group of friends (and friends for Thor) who we met up with 2x a week, I wouldn't bother with preschool until he was 4 or 5. The preschool here charges 220$ a month for 3 half days a week, and it's partly co-op, but mostly not.

Oh, and we'll be mostly down at the beach just south of Clam Gulch when you're here. That will be the real busy time, as you know, but honestly I'm starting to wonder really how much the kids and I will be down there versus only Tony. I mean, it's an exercise in danger -- there are 5 heavy equipment type loader things to look out for, plus a menagerie of junky beach trucks, plus 5 or more mangy dogs, plus large boulders with 10 year olds running around on them, plus often windy and rainy.... hmmm.... so you get what I'm saying... it's not very kid friendly and it's a LOT of work for me to keep them out of the way of everything. So we were planning on pretty much living there but I think I'm going ot have to break it to DH that I really don't want to be down there 24/7. A lot, sure, but not full time. So I bet you can come visit us at our little cabin on the river in Soldotna. I'll PM you our cell number and our home phone number. It will be so cool to meet you!!

Oh, and Tony feels the same way as you do. If you know you want 3, 4 kids whatever, why not just have them all now? I'm more of the mind of letting the older ones get a little older to where they can be helpful and then having another... I don't know. I can see the benefits both ways.

Oh, and boobykins, I love the idea of doing recordings of novels/stories. Seems like such a good, fun way to make money!

[Almamiel]

Been reading but not posting - so much so that there's a little note at the top of the screen that scolds me for not 'posting on the forum for several weeks'. What can I say, I go in spurts.

Just popping to suggest Juno, Anna - when we were using free dial-up, it was a great service.

Recording Erotica? Awesome!

[3boobykins]

Danielle--yes, quite a contrast! And the erotica in this collection is very, umm...diverse? Something for EVERYONE. DH has done a bunch of these collections, and I've done Quality Check on all of them, and wow, people are interesting.

Anna--Poor Mielle--and you, too! Our 3 have had the pukes a bunch of times, always all at the same time, and sometimes dh and I have had it too. There's nothing like wiping up barf when you can barely keep from barfing yourself.

Ashley-That beach sounds stressful! And as for spacing of kids, I think there are so many factors involved. It's always easier in some ways and more challenging in others no matter what the spacing.

[StacyL]

Alex peed for the first time standing up yesterday!

He has been potty-trained for quite a while, but always sitting down to do it. We went to the park, and after a few minutes he said he had to go potty and there were no bathrooms around so we went behind a tree. Yay!

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by StacyL

Alex peed for the first time standing up yesterday!

He has been potty-trained for quite a while, but always sitting down to do it. We went to the park, and after a few minutes he said he had to go potty and there were no bathrooms around so we went behind a tree. Yay!

That's so cute!!

[3boobykins]

Originally Posted by StacyL

Alex peed for the first time standing up yesterday!

He has been potty-trained for quite a while, but always sitting down to do it. We went to the park, and after a few minutes he said he had to go potty and there were no bathrooms around so we went behind a tree. Yay!

We've "watered" lots of trees. Parking lots too, if the need arises and it's urgent.

[JenInMpls]

T also needed to pee at a park recently and when we got to the port-a-potty there was a urinal, which he eyed curiously... he really wanted to know how it worked and I told him the only way we could see how it worked was if he peed in it! And he did!

At home, though, most of the time, he's a strictly-sitting pee-er. Which I don't mind much, it reduces the mess...

[Yo Becca]

This is *SO* telling about what DH and the ILs are like - but MIL and FIL actually have a urinal in their guest bathroom. (they had 3 boys, so I can sorta understand it, but all 3 of them and FIL tend to pee more outside than in) Robin is so jealous that she can't use it! Congrats to Alex!

(but really, who has a urinal in their home? Weirdos)

I just found a coop preschool that looks so awesome - for about 2-3x what we were hoping/planning to spend. I do get that the costs are high partially due to their costs - but the effect of that is that 90% of residents in this city couldn't afford the schools that offer any sort of alternative model, so these schools are only available to the very wealthy. So that sucks for us, b/c we believe in the model and would love that opportunity for Robin. But not more than we love feeding her and providing her with health insurance. So we'll probably do a non-denominational church program a few days a week. Not perfect, but it'll work.

Heather - I do plan to go back full-time eventually, but not for a while. I'd like both kids to be in elementary b/f I go back F/T. But I'm definitely hoping to go back p/t. Congrats on the offer - it sounds fantastic!!!!!

Ashley - If the beach is as stressful as it sounds, I'd probably limit my time there also. I hope it's not as bad as it could be.

Anna - I'm sending some healthy vibes ya'll's way - I know they are in need. Hope mielle is on the mend, and everyone else is staying healthy. Good luck sorting out the internet issues. Have you tried spybot or other security solutions?

We spent the day vounteering with the social forum - and walked in to find a friend volunteering also. I haven't seen her in about 3 years, and was so glad to see her and be able to work with her again. She's an amazing early childhood educator (public schools, low-performing schools esp.). There are actually lots of folks attending/volunteering from my pre-baby social and work circles doing social justice/movement work, so I got to run into LOTs of old friends today. It's been so awesome for Robin to get to meet them, especially since now we're all scattered all over the country .

We spent the morning in the children's section, which included a lesson in Capoeira (the african/brazilian dance/self-defense method - it involved a bunch of fun movement), then participated in the very LONG and HOT opening march at the GA capitol. Now I need a nap! Tomorrow I actually plan to attend a few workshops in the afternoon, including one put on by girlmom about supporting young mothers and another on non-traditional education in public schools and universities.

[JenInMpls]

woohoo, my friend (former Sept 04 mama badomama) had an unmedicated waterbirth last night and had a baby girl

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by JenInMpls

woohoo, my friend (former Sept 04 mama badomama) had an unmedicated waterbirth last night and had a baby girl

Congratulations!

[zen-ozz]

I am off to Pittsburgh tomorrow for a weekend with my father and my two brothers. Just me and Eli. What will I do without 3-6 other children to keep track of? I fear I might lose my mind or have a total breakdown. It should be an interesting weekend I will see relatives that I have had little to no cnotact with over the years . . . my father's father and brother. They are just fine people, but my dad had some kind of falling out with them and I have only met them a handful of times. It should be interesting.

Jen ~ Congrats on your friend's birth. Sound like a great experience.

Take care!

K

[banana girl]

Hey Jen! Give Steph our love and congratulations! Way to go, badomama!!!

Just popping in to say hi and complain about getting sucked into the world of modern medicine... I spent about 8 hours at the Dr's office and then the hospital dealing with Mielle's ongoing illness. So fun. She has been throwing up since last wednesday... 8 days. And she had a weird discharge in her dipe this morning (coulda been a diahrea squirt, but it looked more like a big green booger... eww.) We had blood drawn for some testing and then had her upper GI track examined by having her drink some funky "contrast" muck, which looked white when she drank it, but black on the screen. Kinda cool looking at her stomach digesting, but not fun making her wait 5 hours to eat or drink, just so they could do the test. Thankfully all tests support that she's just sick and getting better, no sign of infection or bowel obstruction, or anything super weird. So, end of the whole rigamarole, they tell me we can stay overnight in the hospital and push liquids, or we can go home and push liquids... which I leapt at. Yes, please let me take my kid home so she can get some sleep!
So, we are back to the common sense approach, but at least we eliminated some possibilities. I'm trying not to say "I told you so" too loudly or obnoxiously... it was Jerome that really felt she needed to see a Doc. I just wanted to get her adjusted by our chiropractor, which we never had time for today, because we were so busy dorking around the hospital! So, here's hoping she is way better tomorrow.... poor kid, she lost about 2 pounds since her last weigh in and she's such a skinny little monkey to begin with. (only 26 pounds when healthy)

And of course, she's turned her nose up at Pedialyte and Jello, I guess it's time for breastmilk to the rescue!

Love to all

[MommyofPunkiePie]

Originally Posted by JenInMpls

woohoo, my friend (former Sept 04 mama badomama) had an unmedicated waterbirth last night and had a baby girl

The vagina strikes again! :

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by MommyofPunkiePie

The vagina strikes again! :

:

[Yo Becca]

Anna - that sounds like a sucky experience, but glad you eliminated some scary possibilities. I have a friend who when she was younger started throwing up a lot, not eating well, lost weight - turned out she did have a bowel obstruction, and sections of her intestines were being killed by it. So she had to have surgery to remove the section of her bowel. She still has IBS and other bowel/gut issues, although not as severe. but apparently the first sign that she had problems (which her parents didn't realize until after the problem became evident in a more severe way) was that she was always super small and super slow growing. they just assumed it was her body type, but it turns out it was b/c she wasn't really getting all the nutrients in her food. After the surgery, she shot up 4 inches in just a few months and finally hit puberty! Long story - just to say, good thing you went ahead and ruled out the scary possibilities, now you just have to deal with everyday sickiness! (Does that make you feel any better about dealing with a sick kid )

Congrats to Steph and her fierce vagina!!

Kristen - have an awesome trip. and let us know if a LACK of children causes craziness. I haven't seen evidence of such yet!

In the march we did on Wednesday, my friend Aileen, who is butch, was helping me push the stroller and check on the kids. There were several organizations in attendance who do work with and for queer families - and after the second or third time we got stickers and pamphlets and supportive comments, we realized that everyone was assuming we were a queer family. So now my new purple double jogger is covered with rainbow stickers!

[JenInMpls]

Originally Posted by MommyofPunkiePie

The vagina strikes again! :

and my friend was discharged from the hospital today and came home wearing a t-shirt our friend and doula bought at a thrift store that said "UTERUS POWER!" on it!

Her little one is so sweet and perfect and adorable we stopped by completely on accident, we were planning on just walking by their house and then friends of theirs appeared at the door, as they were just leaving. T's best friend saw him through the window and started yelling his name, and... well, we were invited up yay! The boys got some good play time in which was awesome.

eta becca - yeah rainbow stickers!!!!

[MommyofPunkiePie]

The July Thread is here!