My Cutie Pie

I just can't help it... I have to show her off! :)

We're planning on going to a local fair this weekend - Margaret's first fair. I'm hoping she's in a mood to tolerate it. I can't wait to see her reaction to the animals! Too bad she's too young to try the fair fare. :) (Not that it's exactly something we should be rushing into, given the lack of nutritional value to that food...) I know she won't appreciate it much this year, but I'd like to make it an annual tradition in our family. Something for her to eventually look forward to every year. I'm looking forward to starting many family traditions, now.

I Love This Picture

She wasn't too fond of the hat and her reactions to it were hysterical ( more photos in her September 2005 album ).

Yesterday, the head teacher at daycare told me that she swears Margaret said "hi" last week. She said she was feeding another baby in the glider and Margaret was in the Exersaucer, staring intently at her. She felt bad that she couldn't hold Margaret, so she said, "Hi, Maggie!" and Margaret said "hi" back! She said she wasn't sure if she should tell me because she was afraid I'd think she's crazy, but the other teacher in the room as well as the director of the center both heard her say it. :) I believe it because I swear she's said "yeah" to me before when we were talking (poor English, I know, but I do tend to use the word often when we're talking), as well as "mama" (but that was a totally accidental "mamamamamama"). I couldn't be prouder!

School Pictures

We got the school pictures back on Thursday. They were taken on September 9, 2005. I think they could have been better (I really hate where they put her bow, for example) but they're not too bad. :)

In contract, on the sidebar is a picture I took that morning before bringing Margaret to daycare.

Still sniffly today. Poor thing. She screamed for a good hour or so this morning, too. No idea what's wrong with her, other than her sniffly nose. She doesn't have a fever, but I gave her a little Tylenol for the apparent pain she's having. And I'm encouraging naps as much as possible today. She doesn't always cooperate, but she definitely needs it right now. In fact, I think I'll go join her...

Sniffles

Margaret is sick again. No fever, but she's congested and coughing a bit. It's been a struggle to get her to eat even with sucking out her nose before each feeding. And she's been really cranky. Poor thing! So far, Brian and I show no signs of having acquired this cold as well, but I'm not crossing any fingers. It's pretty likely that whatever she gets, we'll get, until her immune system works better.

100 days. That's how old Margaret was today. Triple digits! I remember how excited I was when I hit 100 days pregnant. And 100 days left until my due date. Now, our little girl is 100 days old. Time really flies these days.

That Warm & Fuzzy Feeling

I think the people at Margaret's "school" are experts in saying just what you need to hear. Every time I go to drop her off or pick her up, they say something that warms my heart and makes it swell with pride. This morning, the head teacher (Miss E) told me that she thinks Margaret will be a smart baby. She said that normally when she talks to the babies, they look about not paying any attention to her. But when she talks to Margaret, she stares intently at her, responding like she understands what's being said, even trying to take part in the conversation. I've noticed this, too, and found it pretty eerie, but didn't think much about it since I figured it was normal. Maybe it is and Miss E is just saying this to make me feel better about leaving Margaret there every day. Regardless, it did the trick. It's nice to brag about your baby, but it's even better to hear someone else do it. :D

ETA: Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Margaret had her 3 month check-up on Friday (her pediatrician likes to see them a little more frequently than the guidelines suggest). Drumroll please... Our little chub-a-lub is now 17 pounds 8 ounces and 25.25 inches tall! She is only 12 ounces away from doubling her birth weight (probably less by today) and has grown nearly 5 inches since birth! I think her head was 16.5 inches, too... Forget 90th or 95th percentile...she is off the charts! Even the pediatrician (Dr. C) said "You're not a 3 month old!" when he came in to see her. Dr. C said she has excellent coordination for a baby her age and great muscle tone. :D The people at the daycare had been pestering me a little bit about Margaret's issues with gas, asking me what the doctor said. I told Dr. C and he told me to tell them "Too bad! Deal with it!" LOL! We ran into her other pediatrician on the way out (Dr. C's wife, Dr. M) and she was also impressed with Margaret's size, even though she only saw her a week and a half before for her sick visit. I hope she slows down on her growth soon, though... We have so many beautiful fall clothes that she'll grow out of soon and the weather simply isn't cooperating in letting me put them on her!

Stupid Insurance

I am responding to your inquiry concerning coverage for an intrauterine device. I confirmed our benefits and I regret to
inform you that intrauterine devices are not covered under your
policy.

Let's for a moment just ignore the glaring misspelling... What sense does it make for an insurance company to cover 6 pills a month of Viagra (or similar product for female sexual dysfunction) AND elective abortions, but not contraceptive devices? Obviously it's not for moral reasons since they would pay for me to have an elective abortion, if I so chose (which I would not). Wouldn't it be cheaper to help in family planning than to make it somewhat cost-prohibitive, thereby potentially increasing what they have to pay out by having the subscriber end up with more dependents who require health care, as well as $11,000 hospital deliveries? Or maybe there's no logic at the health insurance company...

I guess Mirena is out for me.

Stupid insurance...

Guess How Much I Love You

I've been meaning to post about this for a few weeks now! When I went back to work, Margaret and I made a trip to K Mart to pick up some CDs for her to listen to in the car. I figured that since she was listening to kids' songs all day, maybe I should learn some of them or at least have them available for her at home. On this trip, I found a 2-CD set called "Guess How Much I Love You." It starts with a reading of the book of the same title by its author. And I have to say, I LOVE his reading! He has an awesome accent (Scotch?) and a wonderfully expressive way of reading the tale. The rest of that first CD also has soothing lullabyes. The first time I listened to it in the car, I was pretty sleepy and it did NOT help me with that. Which means it does what it's supposed to. The 2nd CD has nature sounds incorporated into music. I really do love this set and I find that I oftentimes leave it on even when she's not in the car.

On a more sensitive level, I'm having issues with the birth control pills I started at my 6 week post-partum visit. The first 4 weeks were fine, but after AF arrived, she hasn't seemed to want to stay away for long. I've probably had some sort of bleeding for at least 22 of the last 28 days. Not fun at all. And now AF is back again. Hardly seems to be worth the trouble of trying to remember to take them every day (which I only had 1 day that I was a couple hours late taking it) if they're not going to regulate my cycle. I am mainly taking it because of my irregular cycles due to PCOS. Well, that and that we won't be ready for #2 for another 3 or 4 years. Someone on FF recommended getting Mirena implanted instead. I guess it's supposed to be good for 5 years? It would certainly help with the problem of remembering to take a pill every day... But the side effects listed include irregular bleeding for up to 6 months! Yuck! I'm also not sure if my insurance will pay for it. I looked at my policy today and it said no contraceptive products. I imagine an IUD would fall under that. Which is stupid because they'll pay for Viagra and elective abortions. :( In Connecticut, a law was enacted on October 1, 1999 requiring all insurance providers to cover the cost of contraceptives... however, mine still doesn't. I believe they used the argument before that because we are on a municipal plan, we have to negotiate for that coverage. Doesn't make sense to me, but I've tried several times now to get the bargaining unit of our union to negotiate for it and they still won't. I finally sent them a letter today asking them specifically why they're not covered and I included the text of the law, mentioning that if I do not find a satisfactory resolution, I will take it to a higher authority. I did hear that 2 women in another municipality successfully sued them over this problem when the law first was enacted.

But I'm going off topic... Anyway, do any of you have experience with Mirena? Would you recommend it? Any problems I should know about? Did it negatively affect your fertility after you had it removed? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

My Busy Week

I've been trying to get more organized lately. No easy task when you have an infant. But the house has fallen into disarray for long enough...it's time to crawl out from the muck and grime and get it back in order. However, when I actually made out my schedule for the week, I was at a loss as to when I would fit in the menial tasks. Sure, there aren't many. But I prefer to keep weekends as time with Maggie. Well, I actually prefer to keep any time that she's awake as her time. And since her naps are entirely unpredictable (for example, Friday she napped almost all day...and Saturday, she napped for a grand total of 1 hour), it's hard to schedule out when I can do things. But maybe just having a schedule in front of me of what MUST be done, with a note as to what SHOULD be done (which again, isn't as much as it seemed like before putting it down on paper) will be enough to get me back in line. My Week ... I only hope that none of you are grossed out by my infrequent cleaning. I'm no Fly Lady, after all! :)

The good news is that Maggie slept through the night again last night. She made it to 6AM today. Of course, she was noisy during much of the night so I didn't sleep well. I kept expecting her to wake up at any moment. I guess I'll never get restful sleep again...

Baby Stuff

Wow, over a week has gone by since my last post!

I'm still sick...Margaret is fine. We actually kept her home from daycare on Tuesday and brought her to the doctor because she was fussier than usual and had a temp of 99.6 degrees. I wondered if she had an ear infection, but her doctor said her ears looked fine. Our big piggy is now 16 pounds 15 ounces!! And that was almost a week ago, so I bet she's over 17 pounds now! She has her 3 month appointment on Friday so I'll find out then, as well as how long she is now. I had been holding aside some 6-9 and 6-12 months clothes for her, but when I put one of them on her the other day, I found they're already fitting her perfectly (and some are too small!). Wow!

On Friday they had school pictures at Margaret's daycare. I couldn't resist and had hers done. I can't wait to see how they turned out! :) I just thought it would be so cute to be able to say that her first school pictures were done when she was only 12 weeks old...

Does anyone know why a baby would consistently sleep through the night for 6 weeks and then suddenly stop? For 3 nights in a row now, Margaret has woken up at 3 or 4AM, when she usually sleeps until around 6AM. I checked her gums just in case she was teething early (especially since she's been really cranky these last couple of days, too) but it doesn't look or feel like anything is trying to come through. Although she did chomp down on my finger and chew on it, something she's never done before. Usually she just sucks on your finger if you put it in her mouth.

Doing Well...and Not

Maggie is doing very well at daycare. She's happy to be there and I hear their biggest problem is that she smiles too much when they feed her. She has quickly become a favorite of much of the staff (at least, that's what I've been told). Her head teacher told me they were arguing over whose favorite Margaret would be, but she said they can't have her because Margaret is HER favorite. :) I'm feeling a lot better about daycare this week. She seems to be enjoying it and she's getting the attention I've been hoping for (I haven't seen her in the swing in a week now!), so I figure, "if it ain't broken, don't fix it!" I'll leave the arrangements the way they are for now.... But will keep in mind alternatives should they become necessary down the road.

We have our first daycare cold. Both of us. I figured she probably was coming down with something when I started to cough a little and get a sore throat. Yesterday, Maggie was coughing and a little congested when she woke up. But seeing as she did not have a fever, and coughing and congestion are not on the "forbidden" list of symptoms, she went to daycare anyway. It was a 9 hour work day for me and I couldn't afford to be giving up sick time so soon. I expected a call from them at some point, but never did hear from them. And when I got home last night, she was sounding a lot better. Lucky duck! I feel like I've been hit by a bus! I warned my boss yesterday that there was a pretty good chance I wouldn't be in today... Not sure yet if I'm staying home, though. She's still asleep so I don't know how she's doing yet. If she's still sick, I will stay home and take her to the doctor. Just to be safe...

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A bit of a rant here... I'm so PO'd about the gas prices right now! I feel for all of the hurricane victims, but yowsers! Jumping over $.60 per gallon in 24 hours is ridiculous!! With the whopping 14 mpg I get with my Blazer (which I was not aware the fuel mileage was so poor when I purchased it, otherwise I never would have!), I'm getting hit hard...and there's no breathing room in our budget for this! They're saying it will hit $4/gallon shortly (yesterday, I saw $3.24/gallon). I remember when I worked at the gas station... it was one of my first jobs. Gas was $1.25/gallon when I started, and people were outraged when it went up to $1.35/gallon. This was only 10 years ago. It seems that inflation is out of control. The cost of things is rising at a much faster pace than incomes, and it's getting harder and harder to keep up. Think of how many years it took to get to $1.25/gallon...yet, we'll have tripled that soon in only 10 years' time. Ridiculous!! If I'm struggling, how is it that people on minimum wage are surviving? It doesn't seem possible!