Scheduling Conflicts

I started my part-time job about four weeks ago with the understanding that I would be working a total of 10-12 hours per week and 1-2 days per week with maybe a couple of Saturdays per month. Of course, this sounded perfect for what I wanted and after talking to my husband, we agreed that we could make it work.

Then, I found out I was pregnant right before I started working. I already had a start date and wasn't sure of what to do. I wasn't sure how I would feel being pregnant and wondered if I should tell my manager since we only have a total of four people working there. After talking about it, we decided that I should start the job and tell her after the first trimester at the end of this month.

I started working and everything was going well. Working two six hour shifts worked out well and I was learning a lot. I enjoyed the job and my manager was so happy with the job I was doing. In fact, she was so happy that she started adding more hours and days to my schedule. Now, normally, that would be great, but with the pregnancy, I get exhausted easily and super sore after I work. I thought it was just because she needed some coverage, but then we sat down to talk schedules.

She was changing the schedule daily and I kept getting more days and hours. I was originally scheduled for three days last week and one day this week, but the next day it was changed to five days this week...what?! Not only was I getting a ton of hours, but I was also scheduled for three weekends in a row. Once we sat down to talk about it, she asked how many I would be willing to do and I said two Saturdays.

She told me that wasn't going to work and she needed four weekend days per month. I let her know this is not what we agreed upon and she said she didn't remember that, but she probably did say it at the time. She asked me to talk to my husband about working at least three weekend days per month and being "on call" for the fourth and to get back to her on Monday.

Once again, we talked schedules yesterday. I let her know that we were not comfortable with me working more than 2 weekend days and more than 12 hours per week, but up to 18 would be the most. She told me that she had to find someone else and I told her I understood.

As of this point, I'm working as long as she has some hours for me, but it's honestly a little awkward. On top of that, it's 40 minutes away each way so the pay isn't worth driving there more then a couple of times per week and it adds to my exhaustion.

I'm looking forward to either working super part-time with very few hours for now or being able to stay at home and sew for my craft shows coming up this spring. I'm disappointed it didn't work out better, but there's always a reason and I've earned a little extra to help with some baby expenses so we're happy about that.

Diapering Decisions

Ever since we started TTC, I've done a lot of research when it comes to what we want to do with our children. While there are still many things that we are considering, one thing has been pretty consistent.

We want to cloth diaper.

Cloth diapering has come a long way since we were kids and the styles and options out there are incredible. As a nanny, one of the children I watched was cloth diapered through a service and it really wasn't that bad. Of course, we'll be doing our own laundry, but I'm certain that it's something we definitely want to try out.

I have already started our stash and plan on expanding it more over time. I want to have a decent selection of diapers so we're looking to purchase some and make some.

So far, I've ordered three and made two. The two I've made are OS (one size) AI2 (all-in-two) so they can have the soaker pad snapped or laid directly against the babies skin. I also will be making some pockets and maybe a couple of AIO (all-in-ones) so that I have more variety and see what we like.

The first one I made is a gender-neutral green one. It has green PUL with adjustable snaps and white minky on the inside. This is set to the smallest setting and I accidentally added two extra snaps in the middle...oops!

And this is on the biggest setting!

The second one I made is a girl one (because my mother-in-law really thinks it's a girl and I have some super cute fabric). It has a hidden layer of PUL and a cotton exterior. This one is made with velcro and an adjustable rise.

Set on the smallest setting...isn't it so cute?!

So, that's what I've been up to lately. I have a craft show coming up in the spring and hope to make some to sell there as well!

So What Wednesday

This week, I'm saying SO WHAT if...

• Most nights I opt out of the regularly scheduled dinner. I eat, but the food aversions do not have casseroles or red sauce as part of the plan.
• I was a little annoyed that my RE who put me on Metformin and had no problem telling me how long he wanted me on it during my pregnancy before I got pregnant would not remind me what that information was. Now, my OB might have to send me to a high risk doctor just to get an answer since he's not comfortable with making that decision.
• I'm already dreading the next four workdays. I agreed to 10-12 hours per week total (so about 2 days per week) and I'll be working 24 hours this week alone. Oh well, at least I'll like the paycheck!
• Watermelon is my new favorite food. So happy I finally want something healthy!
• I bought something for the baby. Target was having a great sale so I ordered the video monitor we wanted, got 5% off, free shipping, and a $40 Target gift card! My husband said we shouldn't pass it up so we didn't.
• I'm counting down to my sister's graduation in May and praying that I look pregnant. Starting off as a heavy girl means there's no guarantee!

Blessed

Lately, I have been feeling so overwhelmed with blessings. I really feel like God has turned my life around so much since I left California in July 2007 and I'm sitting here so thankful for His many blessings.

Today I checked my email and saw so much love from people who have been praying for me and baby. I hope you all know how much that means to me and how incredible you all are. Please know, that I have been praying for all of you as well and that you will, in turn, be blessed.

Once I was finished checking my email, I decided to check our Discover card account. I like to do so every couple of days to make sure the charges are correct and to know how much to budget every month. We like the reward points, but not a revolving balance so we make sure to pay it off monthly. Imagine my surprise when my husband's commuter card that normally costs us $133 per month was charged at a grand total of $13! We knew that a subsidy was in the works and that it would give us a savings, but an extra $120 per month extra is just what we needed to be able to put more aside for the house and upcoming baby costs!

In addition to all of this, both my parents and my husband's parents are now officially excited! We saw a heartbeat which puts us at a lower risk and even though we still have a month to go until we're out of the first trimester, we know that God is good and that He has told us that He is giving us this baby so we are trusting in Him and having faith.

Thank you all for being such a wonderful blessing!

September 1st

That's our due date! Hopefully Baby Reese will be right on time as we both love the month of September. However, if he/she is healthy and wants to be a tad early that's ok too!

Today I had my follow-up appointment with my OB. He was happy with all of my blood results and I passed my first 1 hr gestational diabetes test! My hemoglobin a1c levels were the same so "borderline" normal aka right above, but no cause for concern. He was super happy with the ultrasound and said that he's not concerned at all and that my symptoms are great! We see him again in one month for our anniversary and we'll be 13 weeks which means we can announce it to family and friends on facebook and really get it out there for people in our personal life that have been kept in the dark.

 

I've been feeling awesome symptom-wise so that's always a good thing. I don't have much nausea anymore unless I get really hungry and I still have some food aversions. I'm tired all the time, which is normal, but it makes for a long day. Sleeping at night is still lacking and I wake up every couple of hours and it's not very restful. Napping isn't working too well since I can nap in one hour increments before I wake up to go to the bathroom. I also wake up super cranky and feel a little sick, but only when I nap. Oh, and I'm hungry all day...seriously, about every hour. And the emotions! Sometimes, I have to laugh at myself!

I'm not complaining much because I honestly love that I get to be pregnant and I'm so grateful that we have this opportunity. We are praying every day for our baby and know what an amazing miracle God has given us!

For the next month or so, I'll be working on my sewing (some for baby, some for some craft shows) and working part-time at the sewing gallery. It definitely keeps me busy and I can only do so much, but it's good for me. I'm hoping to have more energy in the next few weeks and I'll be able to start walking a little bit. Other than that, I'm just really happy and tired.

So What Wednesday

This week, I'm saying SO WHAT if...

• We didn't listen to the first doctor and we have a VIABLE pregnancy! Praise the Lord for his miracles!
• I'm not thrilled with this headache that I had all day yesterday.  I really don't want to take Tylenol unless it's necessary since it rarely works.
• I'm considering getting a snoogle pillow sooner rather than later. I have a hard time getting comfortable and wake up 3-5 times per night.
• I didn't want to tell my brother-in-law about the baby yet. He has a tendency to say whatever he thinks and I was preparing for the worst.
• We ended up telling him since my mother-in-law asked us to now that we've seen the heartbeat. It was way better than expected!
• I get super moody so I stay in my bedroom. Only Phil gets to experience the crankiness.
• I love being pregnant! I'm feeling pretty well other than normal things and have little to complain about.     
• If we still don't have a due date! We should find out Monday. 

{Ultrasound Update} We Have a Baby!

"The battle determines the blessing." 

That's a quote I heard in church this past Sunday and it really hit home for me. Struggling to get pregnant then having it happen on it's own has been such an incredible miracle and blessing. I feel like this baby is more of a  blessing now than ever before because of the battle it took to get here.

We had our follow-up ultrasound today to check the size of the baby and to get a due date since the last doctor's office was less than helpful. We were a little nervous, but sure that God was telling us that it was going to be ok.

We went in to the office and got there 15 minutes before the appointment time per instructions. I drank my 16 oz. of water and was not allowed to empty my bladder until the scan was done. I started drinking the water an hour prior to my appointment, so by the time we got there, I was so uncomfortable that I thought I was going to have an accident! We waited a few minutes past my appointment time and I finally got called up to sign in with my insurance card.

After waiting just over a half an hour past my appointment time I was ready to explode and was finally called back! I went into the ultrasound room and the tech decided to do an abdominal scan on me first. This was shocking because I should have been around 7 weeks 2 days per the last ultrasound and I was sure she wasn't going to see anything this way. She assured me that if she didn't see anything, that we would do a trans-vaginal scan at that point.

She started moving the wand around and at first I saw a huge black hole with nothing in it and was a little confused. Then, I saw a smaller one further down, but she wasn't focusing on that just yet. Finally, she went to the smaller one and there was a baby! She explained that the bigger black hole was my bladder and that this was my baby.

There were a few measurements and I could see a little flicker so I asked if that was the heartbeat. I was so thankful when she said yes and it was beating at 160 bpm. The baby measured in at 8 weeks 2 days!

Without further adieu, here's Baby Reese...

We couldn't be more grateful for all of the prayers and well wishes. Thank you to everyone who thought about us and prayed for our baby. We are so blessed and relieved!

My next appointment with the OB is Monday and we should be getting our due date then! Please continue your prayers for our baby and thank you once again for all of the support.