Monthly Archives: November 2010

I love saving money, but not as much as I love sleeping

I’ve never been a big fan of Black Friday. I don’t like crowds, and I don’t particularly like to shop. I do love saving money, but I can usually find pretty good deals throughout the year if I look hard enough. Maybe I could save a little more on some things on Black Friday, but honestly, the inconvenience isn’t worth it for me.

Last night, after a fantastic Thanksgiving Day with my family, Tony and I drove home. We slept until 8 a.m. (pretty late for us these days). Our new recliner was delivered around 10 a.m. We chose a recliner instead of a glider for late night feedings, because I think it will be useful for longer than a glider.

Today I’ll be decorating for Christmas. I usually wait until the first weekend in December, but I’d like to get it done now just in case I have the baby in the next week. Beyond that, we have nothing planned. It’s 33 degrees outside, and we’re staying home all day watching movies and staying warm.

No Black Friday deal is better than that.

Photo by andrewb47

Waiting

So I bet when I didn’t post yesterday, some of you wondered if my next post would be an adorable picture of my baby. Especially since Sunday night was the full moon.

HA. Nope. Still pregnant! Despite my wishing, hoping, and guessing that he’d come yesterday sometime.

We had a lovely weekend that included an early Thanksgiving celebration with Tony’s family. They came to us since I’ll be too close to my due date this weekend to travel several hours from home. Tony made the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and I once again reminded myself what a good move it was to marry a man who can cook (take note, single girls).

I’ve been having irregular contractions on and off since Sunday evening. In fact, I honestly thought I’d be heading to the hospital early Sunday morning when they suddenly fizzled out. Boo.

The contractions returned throughout the day yesterday, but stopped again in the late afternoon. So Tony and I took a long walk, and then we went to 25 cent wings night in the hopes that the old wives’ tale about spicy foods and labor holds some truth (it does not in my case).

Hopefully these contractions are a good sign that things are progressing, and the baby will be here sometime before his due date. I know this week is probably asking too much, but I’ve already eaten Thanksgiving dinner so I’d be totally okay with spending the holiday in the hospital if it means leaving with my baby. But really, I’ll be okay with it as long as he comes before December 9th.

I hope he’s reading this.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, head over to this post and make a guess about when he’ll arrive.

So close yet so far away

Today I’m 37 weeks pregnant. That means I’m medically considered “full term.” At this point, baby is pretty much done with all of his major development. For the next few weeks, he’ll just be gaining weight.

Since big babies run in both of our families and rough estimates from my midwives have already determined he’s likely on the large side, I’d really rather he didn’t stick around too long to gain too much weight.

I figured now would be a good time for all of my lovely readers to make some guesses! Here’s some information to help you:

  • I’ve only had two ultrasounds — a very early one around 9 or 10 weeks, and an anatomy scan at 18 weeks which pretty clearly showed a boy. But I guess we won’t be 100% sure until he’s born. (Sure hoping it’s a boy, though, or a girl who really likes blue and green.)
  • Tony was close to 10 pounds at birth, and I’m pretty sure he was born after 40 weeks. I was born on my due date, and I weighed roughly 8 and a half pounds.
  • My belly has measured exactly 2 weeks ahead consistently since they started measuring at around 20 weeks.
  • My original due date was December 5 based on measurements taken during the initial ultrasound. I’ve been told this is a pretty accurate way to estimate due dates, but I felt like the dates were off, so I talked them into pushing my due date up to December 9 to avoid an early induction.
  • *TMI alert* At my appointment last week (11 days ago), I was 2 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and the baby was at -1 station (almost completely dropped). In the past week, changes in his movement patterns and increased pain and pressure lead me to believe he’s dropped even lower. My midwife at this week’s appointment felt my belly from the outside, and said it feels like he’s pretty locked in, so I’m guessing he’s at 0 or lower at this point (completely dropped and in position for birth).
  • Most babies are not born on their due dates. He could come at any time between 37 and 42 weeks. My midwives won’t let my pregnancy go past 42 weeks, so December 23 is the latest he can be born.
  • I plan to let baby come on his own without any induction methods unless it becomes medically necessary, which is unlikely unless I go all the way to 42 weeks.
  • The full moon this month is this Sunday, November 21.

Here are my guesses:

Gender: Boy
Birthday: November 22
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Weight: 8 pounds, 2 oz.
Length: 19 inches

I think that’s more wishful thinking than actual guesses, though. :) Now make your guesses!

Photo by photosavvy

I think I might be nesting

One of the most noticeable pregnancy symptoms I’ve faced (one of them) is extreme fatigue. I was told myths about a burst of energy at some point in the second trimester. I never experienced it. As my due date rapidly approaches (21 days!), I’ve been wondering if I’d experience the pre-labor burst of energy accompanied by the “nesting” urge.

While the extra energy has yet to arrive, the nesting instinct is in full force. I just take lots of breaks (and naps) in between getting things ready.

Last week, Tony came home from work to find me knee deep in piles and piles of baby laundry. Clothing, bedding, towels, blankets, all of it. He asked, “Is this a bored thing or is it a nesting thing?” At this point, I don’t really know the difference. I’m constantly adding new things to my to-do list, but most days I’m lucky if I have the energy to check off one or two things.

I guess the last couple weeks I’ve come closer to a “burst” of energy than I have in the entire 9 months I’ve been pregnant. The baby laundry is washed and organized in his closet and dresser, the diapers are pre-washed (despite the fact that we probably won’t need those until a few weeks after the baby is born), and as of last night my hospital bags are finally packed.

Yesterday I woke up, looked at my floors, and decided they needed to be mopped. We have a Swiffer WetJet that we normally use to keep the floors clean. But no. Yesterday the Swiffer would not do. The floors were dirty, and they required the kind of mopping that can only be accomplished with a bucket, scrubber, and a lot of elbow grease.

So I filled up a bucket, painfully lowered my 9-months pregnant self to the floor, and scrubbed both bathrooms and the kitchen. On my hands and knees.

An hour later when my lower back was screaming at me in angry pain, I regretted the decision. But my floors are clean! You know, in case I decide to let my newborn infant roll around on the bathroom floor and/or lick it. People do that, right?

I better make sure the toilet bowl is thoroughly disinfected in case he wants to drink some toilet water. You can never be too prepared!

Photo by robertvega

Oh, health insurance. Why must you be so difficult?

With baby due in the next month, I finally decided to stop living in denial and start dealing with the issue of health insurance for him. Unfortunately, it’s not a simple situation. Because I’m currently covered through my former employer’s insurance on COBRA and my husband is covered by a private insurance policy, we’re trying to figure out the most affordable way to provide coverage for the new baby.

I’m waiting on a quote from my COBRA insurance, but I’m pessimistic about cost. When I first started working at the company, the cost to add only my husband to my insurance plan was over $300. That’s why he ended up with a private insurance policy. Not to mention, my COBRA coverage will run out October 2011. I’d prefer that the baby have something more stable.

My husband’s policy was due for renewal this month, so we were also able to examine his coverage and make some changes. We were paying about $175 a month for pretty comprehensive coverage with a $2,500 deductible. He’s had the policy for three years, and he hasn’t had a single claim — fortunately. However, because we have money in savings and most hospitals are willing to work out a payment plan for high medical bills, we decided that we could safely reduce his yearly deductible.

We chose a plan with a $5,000 deductible. Unfortunately, we’ll have to pay 100% of his health costs up to the deductible, but beyond that, he will be covered 100%. So our maximum out-of-pocket costs for a year will be $5,000. Preventative care such as routine physicals will be covered 100% with no deductible. This reduced his premium by $100 a month.

If we decide to add the baby to his policy, their combined premium will be $250 — an increase of only $75 a month for our total health insurance costs. Well-baby care will be covered 100% as preventative care. That means all of the baby’s check-ups and immunizations will be covered with no out-of-pocket cost, but anything beyond that we’ll have to pay up to $5,000. Between our emergency fund and the option of a payment plan for more expensive medical costs, I’m comfortable with carrying a higher deductible. I’m also much more comfortable with a $75 premium increase instead of $300 a month.

This will hopefully be a temporary fix. I’ve been unable to apply for private coverage since I left my job due to the pregnancy — most private plans don’t even offer maternity coverage, let alone coverage for an existing pregnancy. Once the baby is born, I hope to find an affordable private policy for our entire family. I’ve received some quotes for $300-$400 for comparable coverage for all three of us, but until I can actually apply I won’t know any solid numbers.

The application process for private health insurance is long and arduous, so the baby will need to be added to my husband’s policy immediately to avoid a lapse in coverage. My fingers are crossed that I’ll be approved for a private policy so I can reduce the monthly payment I’m making.

Whew.

If you have a job that provides you with health insurance benefits, don’t take it for granted. My husband’s employer doesn’t provide health insurance, and I’m self-employed, so dealing with health insurance is a complete nightmare. I’m just relieved that we found a solution that will keep all of us covered without costing us a fortune.

If you’re currently uninsured, do yourself a favor and look into private coverage. Depending on your medical history, you may qualify for surprisingly affordable coverage. Unfortunately, if you have pre-existing conditions, you may have to wait until health insurance reform takes effect in 2014 to qualify for private coverage. If you’ve been uninsured for at least 6 months, though, you may qualify for health insurance through your state’s high risk pool. You can find more information on your options here.

Photo by mkmabus

Seeing a midwife does not mean I’m giving birth in a hut in the woods

One of the funniest things I’ve noticed throughout my pregnancy is how little people know about midwives — especially young people who haven’t yet considered having children and older people who gave birth during a time when hospital births and obstetricians were pretty much the only option in the United States.

Midwives are still much less common than obstetricians in the United States — in 2003 only 8% of births were attended by midwives. That’s likely gone up in the past 7 years as natural birth has become increasingly popular, but the majority of births are still attended by obstetricians. This leads to a lot of misconceptions about midwives.

I don’t know if it’s because the word sounds New Agey or what, but when I tell people I’m seeing a midwife, they often make the following assumptions:

  • I am planning a homebirth.
  • I am somehow opposed to modern medicine.
  • I’m taking a great risk with my health and the health of a baby by refusing the care of a doctor.
  • I’m a crazy hippie lady who wants to give birth in a hut in the woods.

None of the above assumptions is true.

I’m sure most of you reading this are quite familiar with midwives and what they do, because I have smart readers. But I just want to clarify for my own sanity.

Midwives are modern care providers. They are highly educated nurse practitioners who happen to specialize in child birth and female reproductive health. Instead of medical school, they attend a graduate program in midwifery — a form of medical school condensed to include specialized education in caring for pregnant women and female reproductive health. Because they’re not learning a variety of specialties, their education is shorter, but still comprehensive.

Midwives typically have a different style than obstetricians. Because they are nurses and birth attendants, they often stay with patients throughout the labor rather than showing up to catch the baby at the end. (I’m sure there are obstetricians that also do this, but it’s less common.)

Midwives are also more likely to encourage natural birth practices such as unmedicated birth, but that doesn’t mean they’re not qualified or capable of administering pain medication during birth if you choose to have it. Choosing a midwife does not limit you to a natural birth, but if you want a natural birth, choosing a midwife can make it easier for you to achieve it.

Choosing a midwife also doesn’t mean you’ll be giving birth outside of the hospital. Most midwives have hospital privileges.

Midwives also deliver at freestanding birth centers and some do home births. Freestanding birth centers are sterile, modern medical facilities that are often dressed up to provide a more homey atmosphere than a hospital. They are not huts in the woods. Women who choose freestanding birth centers always have an emergency back-up plan in place to transfer them to a hospital in a hurry in the event of complications. However, complications are rare, because midwives generally only care for women with low-risk pregnancies.

Midwives cannot perform surgery, so if an emergency c-section is required, a surgeon will need to perform it. The good news is, all midwives are affiliated with obstetricians, which means there is likely a doctor on call within their practice who can take over if you become high risk or a c-section becomes necessary. Because they’re unable to perform the surgery themselves, midwives are less likely to push for unnecessary c-sections.

I don’t think home birth is for me, but I would have liked to use the birth center affiliated with my midwives’ practice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t covered by my insurance, so I’ll be giving birth in the hospital.

So you see, midwives aren’t just for crazy hippie ladies who want to birth in a hut. It’s just another option for prenatal care and delivery.

If you’re considering getting pregnant in the near future, and you’re not familiar with midwifery, definitely look into it as an option for you! I have been so happy with the care I’ve received from my midwives. It’s possible that you’ll decide to stick with an obstetrician for your prenatal care, but you should be aware of all of your options in case it turns out that a midwife would better suit your needs.

If you suffered complications during your birth and you’re facing a medical negligence claim, be sure to contact a lawyer as soon as possible.

Photo by jonlarge

Are you familiar with your car’s warranty?

A little over three years ago when Tony and I moved from Indiana to North Carolina, we had to make a tough decision about our cars. At the time, we were both driving old cars with 100,000+ miles on them. Both cars had recently had some issues. My car needed about $600 in work that I’d been putting off.

We had to make a choice: buy a used car, buy a new car, or keep both of our old cars and hope that they’d keep running. We were really nervous to buy a used car with a payment. We didn’t like the idea of making a payment on a car that frequently needed to go to the shop. Because we were sharing a single car, any car problems would have left both of us without a vehicle. We were afraid to risk buying a used car when we were moving 800 miles away from all of our friends and family.

In the end, we made the decision to buy a brand new car — a Hyundai. The 100,000-mile, 10-year warranty and 5 years of roadside assistance sold us. We knew if something major went wrong with our car, we wouldn’t be stranded, and we wouldn’t have to come up with the money to fix it.

Of course, we made this decision before we had an emergency fund saved. If I had to make the decision again, I’d say it’s smarter to have enough money saved to cover repairs instead of counting on a warranty. But the car has served us well, it’s been very nice not having to worry about anything but basic maintenance since the car is new, and we’ve had it for almost 3 years with no issues other than a replaced battery and a few tires. It was also very reasonably priced, so I have no regrets.

It seems now we’re facing our first non-maintenance repair. Today on my way home from an appointment with my midwife, the vents stopped blowing air. My first instinct was to check the fuse. I went to a parts store to buy a new fuse, and one of the customer service representatives was nice enough to bring a fuse checker out to my car to confirm that the fuse was in fact blown before I purchased replacements. The fuse was fine. His hunch? Our blower motor was out.

I called my dad (a former mechanic), and he confirmed it: if the blowers aren’t working and the fuse isn’t blown, the blower motor likely needs to be replaced.

This wasn’t the news I wanted to hear. Thankfully, we have an emergency fund, so coming up with the money wasn’t an issue. But we’ve been working hard to replenish our emergency fund after a summer with no income. The last thing I wanted to do was pull a bunch of money out of our savings for car repairs.

Then I remembered: we bought the car because of its supposedly awesome warranty — a warranty that we haven’t yet used because items like tires and batteries are not included in the coverage. I thought to myself, “I bet this part isn’t covered either. Wouldn’t that be just my luck?”

A quick call to the Hyundai dealership proved otherwise. If the problem is the blower motor, the repair will be covered. We have an appointment tomorrow to have it checked out and hopefully get it fixed.

I was hoping they’d supply a loaner vehicle as part of our warranty as well, but no. If it’s going to take longer than a day to fix, we’ll have to borrow a loaner car at a rate of $10 a day. Hopefully we won’t have to do that, but if we do, $10 a day is less than we’d pay at a car rental place, so it’s better than nothing.

If you’re driving a car purchased new in the past 5 (or even 10) years, don’t get anything fixed without calling the dealership first. You may be surprised to discover that your warranty covers the repair.

The other moral of the story? Don’t buy a new car unless you intend to drive it for a long time. These days it’s common to buy a new car every 3 years. Because warranties are non-transferable, any warranty is void after the car is sold. Because new cars are unlikely to have problems for the first 50,000-75,000 miles, you’ll never get to take advantage of new car warranties if you get rid of the car too soon.

We plan to keep this car for at least 10 years so we can get the most for our money and avoid another car payment once it’s paid off.

Making the holidays as simple as possible

I hardly ever do stuff like this, so bear with me, okay?

Unless this is the very first time you’re reading my blog, then you know I’m having a baby very soon. Literally, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’ll be welcoming an adorable, pooping, crying, time-consuming bundle of joy into our home.

Some of my blogger friends who are in this position are very organized and motivated, and they’re getting their holiday shopping done early. For a number of reasons, though, I’ve decided to take Christmas off this year. Not only are we short on time, but our budget is very tight. As much as we love shopping for our families, we’ve asked to be excused from any holiday gift exchanges this year. We typically only exchange gifts with our parents and buy toys for our nieces and nephews anyway. The way I see it, our parents are getting a grandbaby for Christmas. It took me 9 whole months to make this baby for them, so they better like it. :)

For a hot second, I thought about baking instead of buying gifts. Or the old frugal standby — making gifts. Then I remembered that for the entire holiday season I’m either going to be very pregnant and preparing for baby, or I’ll be caring for a newborn. It’s just not happening this year. And that’s okay.

So what about other holiday traditions like holiday greeting cards? I usually send handwritten notes to friends and family wishing them a happy holiday and letting them know how we’re doing. This year, I’m simplifying our greeting cards by sending holiday photo cards from Shutterfly. With any luck, the baby will be here in time for us to include a photo of him on our cards along with a printed greeting. I’ll just pop them in an envelope, address them, add a stamp, and I’m done.

If you’d still like to add a handwritten message, there are plenty of stationery cards available with blank space for writing. I’m choosing to send photo cards with a printed message to make things as simple as possible.

If you want to make things even simpler, Shutterfly also has Christmas address labels and Christmas gift tags.

How are you simplifying the holiday season this year?

In exchange for this blog post, I’m receiving 50 free holiday greeting cards from Shutterfly. If you’re a blogger and you’d like to participate in this giveaway, you can get more information here.