Hellobee Boards

@Sadieloo: @Mrs. Yoyo: @TFrances: Thanks ladies! I talked to my midwife, and she thinks that everything is okay, especially because I had a headache afterward and it doesn't happen very often (this is the third one this pregnancy). The headache was gone this morning, so we think it was just a run-of-the-mill migraine with a visual disturbance. Blood pressure was good, pee was good, and we talked about my one day of terrible blood sugar (last thursday; basically I ate too many carbs and it took a day for my glucose to get back to normal).

One thing my childbirth instructor mentioned is to ask if your hospital has wireless (telemetry) monitoring available and that the nurses know how to use it, especially if you want to be able to move during labor. Just thought I'd pass that on.

And...we scheduled all my appointments through 39 weeks. Cue the freakout!

@Sadieloo: I know! It feels so real now!!!! I've got so much I need to finish: diaper bag (I'm making it...couldn't find anything I liked in store), finishing the dresser, buying last minute things for the nursery/baby/momma/daddy. How is it almost September? Where did the time go?

@Sadieloo: I'm not feeling more well-rested. Tony (my husband) forced me to go to bed at 10 last night (I asked him to do it), but I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and couldn't fall back to sleep. I eventually went to the couch at 4:45 this morning and once my mind calmed down I slept and dozed until my alarm went off at 6:45.

I need to find my pediatricians and work on my birth plan (that has to be submitted in two weeks GAH), and the IN ped has to sign off on my birth plan as well. Plus we have homework for our birth class that I need to do, and my mind kept going over the things that I need for the hospital and how I need to pack my bags and get the car seat base installed.

I think for the KY pediatrician I'm just going to look for one near me that takes my insurance and then go to them. If I hate them after the first visit, I can switch if needed. There is an office that comes highly rated near the grocery/Target I go to and that isn't too far from the house. I might go there, but it's getting hard to take time off to visit these offices now that my appointments are becoming more frequent and our events are picking up at work.

@evansjamie: Good man! The restless/I can't get comfortable nights are really a drag, eh? I had the realization yesterday that I may never sleep through the night again -- ever!

Arrrrgggghhhh...pediatricians and birth plans! We don't take our birth class until Sept. so at least we have some time to work on all that stuff as well. I think we've found a pediatrician that's a little more holistic in their approach. The only problem is that they are a 20-30 min drive from us, so I am wondering whether we need to find a place closer to home. Decisions, decisions!

We also really need to look into daycare options as there are waiting lists at almost all the places we are looking at. The list never ends!

Hi mamas!

We have been in and out of town, so I haven't been able to get on here much, but I've been checking in from my phone (:

I wanted to share something that any of you other first time moms may find interesting. I collected info from 162 other FTMs to try and figure out when most women go into labor! I read that it ISN'T true that most moms go past their due date, but more of just something that everyone always believed and continues to tell FTMs. To see if this was true I did the survey. It was really encouraging info about birth dates, inductions and c-sections!

http://www.wifessionals.com/2013/08/when-will-your-baby-be-born.html

@evansjamie: Aw, sorry. I used to do similar work and printers vary so much in what they will and won't do. Ours was awesome but some won't touch your file at all ...

@evansjamie: Ugh, I wish I had worked more in InDesign (usually used Quark). I believe the standard is a .025-inch bleed around each page. So if you can set your guide marks to that, then drag any images or colors or anything else that go to the edge off the page and to that mark, that's what they want. As for hashtags, in Quark there was a setting that you could apply that would automatically add them when saving the file.

@Mrs. Yoyo: Thank you! That is better than what I found on Adobe's website. I prefer Quark myself (that's what I used at the paper), but we are all Adobe here. I've already got everything set up to include the bleed, the hash marks are showing and all the registration marks are there. She's in a meeting, so now it's a waiting game as to if this is going to work or not.

I have been working on this for three weeks (this does not include the two weeks I spent on it before they decided it needed to be a 4 panel brochure instead of a 3 panel brochure), it was supposed to mail prior to our calendar (which dropped today). There has been so much back and forth over this that we are seriously considering never working with this company again.

@evansjamie: Glad something is working in your favor today. Fingers are crossed that it is a good fit. I also judge companies/orgs/people by their websites. If you can't put time and energy into something relatively inexpensive that represents you, what does that say?

@Redmini1: sorry to hear your nausea is back. Hopefully it will go away soon. At least we are in the final stretch!

@KaitlynB: Super interesting. I always felt like the majority of my friends went late with their first, so that's what I am planning for. You can plan these things, right?

@evansjamie: Oh wow. Huge difference! Don't you just love crossing some of your 'to do' items of your list? We unpacked half our kitchen stuff and things for the bathroom and I felt so much better about getting our house unpacked. It really is the little things in life

@evansjamie: We need to see our lawn too and our backyard is a mess (lots of weeds). I hope the landscaping fairy's came to our house last night while we were away. Fingers crossed!

@Chillybear: My situation is different because I work for a non-profit and don't have STD or qualify for FMLA. I have already submitted my maternity leave request and had it approved (I did this in July). I will be taking 12 weeks which will start October 1, unless I go into labor before then. When submitting my request, I made sure to include a clause stating that the dates of my leave (October 1-January 2) were subject to change if medically necessary.

So, I'm working until September 30 unless the doctors say I can't work anymore.

@Chillybear: I'm a teacher and here is how mine works. For a natural birth I get 6 weeks off, for a C-section I get 8. If I get a doctors note stating that I need 8 for whatever reason I can get 8. It is up to me to save my sick time year after year so I can have my 6-8 weeks paid. After my 6-8 weeks paid I can take more unpaid time. I can take up to 12 weeks total and come back to the same position and still get my STEP and seniority for the year. If I don't work a certain amount of days (I think 180) out of the year I don't get my STEP or seniority.

I will try to work up until I go into labor. If I can make it till October 28 (I'd be 41 weeks, not likely) my paid maternity leave would take me into Christmas break. While that is what I want, I think it's more realistic that I will go earlier than that and will need to set up some daycare since we can't afford for me to take paid time off. Our day care isn't set up till January.

@evansjamie: What state are you in? I also work for a non-profit (a very small one at that) and I will get 4 weeks paid disability before my due date and 6 weeks paid disability after delivery. This is my second pregnancy with the agency and I did not have any trouble either time. I do know that California is a little different in this sense and even though I don't qualify for FMLA I love knowing I have those 10 weeks of paid time.

Interesting.... Like i said many of my coworkers have no idea how STD works for my company, so was getting conflicting information from various sources. From what they were saying yesterday, we have 5 day waiting period at the beginning of our STD, my plan was to use my last 5 vacation days but one coworker said i had to take those 5 days with no pay for it to count. another rumor was that you actually only get paid for 5 weeks not 6 bc the first week doesnt count. Also a fun rumor is that while STD pay is 60% of your gross pay, you do still pay taxes on that money and you can choose to take from each check or when you file your taxes.

Let's say in a perfect world I go on my due date. 6 weeks STD and 1 week vacation puts me at the week of Thanksgiving. They are still paying me for holidays so i'm going 21 days with out pay and going back to work 1/6. If i go early that date may change but if i go late i'll still go back 1/6.

My HR lady said I get paid STD, she said "6 weeks for most births, including most cesarians." I asked who determined the length and she said the doctor. So while she seems to think 6 I am pretty sure I'd get 8 for a c-section, but I"m asking my OB tomorrow.

I just ordered my breast pump through insurance. I get a double electric pump 100% free. I was hoping for a Medela but I got an Ameda Purely Yours. No idea if I'll be happy or not with it Can't complain about free though!

My employer is being pretty great about maternity leave (one of the only things haha!). I am taking PTO from Oct 4 until I go into labor (due date is Oct 15). Once I deliver, or am put on bed rest, STD kicks in. I haven't heard anything about a waiting period but I do know I have to notify the insurance company they use for STD immediately.

I get 6 weeks STD for a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for a C-section, at full pay. After that it gets a little weird... money comes from a few different places, but the bottom line is that I will have another 5 weeks at full pay after that, so 11 weeks vaginal or 13 weeks C-section.

I have told them I am taking the full 16 weeks I get under TN state law, even though not all of it will be paid. Those last 3-5 weeks I will have to pay them to cover my health insurance premiums which are usually deducted from my check... but by then, I will have probably enrolled under DH's health care along with the baby.

@mrs. mochi: OOOOOOOOO good idea!!!!

I also have decent maternity care here, I'll take the 6-8 weeks paid depending on type of delivery, then I'll use vacation and sick to get through the rest of the year, I'll get paid for both holidays and then use STD for the first two months of next year which won't be paid. DH and I have been saving since we found out we were PG for the unpaid time off so that all our bills will be covered.

@Kjpugs: I've been thinking about freezing meals too and I definitely need some help in that area. I'm thinking of making things in 8x8 pans like enchiladas or stuffed shells that way its at least enough for one dinner meal and leftovers the next day but I'm not reheating a whole 9x13 with the rest just sitting there. I struggle just to make meals for only two people, I always end up with more food but DH likes leftovers so it usually will get eaten.

My STD doesn't kick in till after 14 calendar days, so I will have to use up whatever sick/vacation leave I have during those 14 days before STD kicks in... I think STD lasts 4 weeks at 60% salary coverage, and then if medically necessary LTD would kick in, but I doubt that'd be the case for me.
I plan on taking off 6 weeks entirely and then coming back 2 days a week for a few weeks, then 3 days a week, etc. and stretching out my FMLA for a couple more months. My office is pretty flexible- my boss took off 6 months with her last kid, though she'd come in for meetings and answer emails here and there. I don't have much sick/vacation leave, so I'll end up taking a fair bit of my leave without pay, but we're ok with it.