So I got my results back already from my 1hr glucose test yesterday...
They want me to come in Friday at 8am to do the 3hr version as I "failed" the 1hr version. They said the cutoff is 130 and I was at like 150.
So not looking forward to it!
They gave me an outline of what to eat, meal-wise on Thursday which is pretty much all just protein (eggs and sausage for breakfast, hamburger patties and veggies for lunch, grilled chicken and a salad for dinner) and I can't eat anything after midnight. I'm going to feel like crap when I go in, I just know it.
Honestly though, I'd be surprised at this point if I didn't have the gestational diabetes, as I previously mentioned my mom was borderline with it while pregnant with my sis, my aunt had it and their mom had it too. The GD would also most likely explain why Jay is measuring big too.
Oh well, wish me luck!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
28 week photo
People who view my Facebook have been telling me lately I need to take and post more belly shots, so since this week is our first week of the 3rd trimester I figured it was probably time for an updated photo anyway - last one I took/posted was at 20 weeks!
Since the news from the doctor today is that Jay is measuring a bit on the "big" side for his gestation age, hubby is jokingly referring to him as "Ginormo Baby" lol...
Fortunately most the weight I gain in these last 9-12 weeks will be mostly him and not me, so if I do get any bigger it's all him!
Honestly though, despite what people have said and told me and the average pregnant first timer is about 8 days late, I've always had this gut instinct that he's going to be early by maybe a few weeks. I guess we'll see, but right now he's only 28 weeks in there and his fundal length is measuring about 32cm - "normal" would be 28-30cm.
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| 28 weeks, 1 day |
Fortunately most the weight I gain in these last 9-12 weeks will be mostly him and not me, so if I do get any bigger it's all him!
Honestly though, despite what people have said and told me and the average pregnant first timer is about 8 days late, I've always had this gut instinct that he's going to be early by maybe a few weeks. I guess we'll see, but right now he's only 28 weeks in there and his fundal length is measuring about 32cm - "normal" would be 28-30cm.
Monday, November 29, 2010
3rd Trimester and Glucose Testing
Well everyone, we've made it this far - as of yesturday we are 28 weeks along and according to most pregnancy sites and books, that marks the beginning of the third trimester! Yay!!
Size you're considered being full term at 37 weeks, this means only 9-12 more weeks and Jay should be here in the flesh!
Today I had the Glucose Challenge Test.
They had told me last time I was there not to eat anything sugary or sweet today prior to taking the test and recommended I stick to eggs and sausage for breakfast. We don't have sausage but I did make myself some eggs when I woke up. Gotta say though, for having low blood sugar, not being able to eat or drink anything sweet or sugary prior to my 145pm test really sucked! Fortunately I didn't feel my blood sugar levels begin to drop until we were almost there. I could feel my face start to get flushed and I was starting to get a little lightheaded with the feeling in my stomach that the worst was coming soon if I didn't get sugar in my system ASAP.
They took my weight and got me set up with the drink right away. They had orange and fruit punch available and of course I opted for the fruit punch as I like that flavor better and I've heard the orange version is just gross. I had 5 minutes to finish it finished it with about a minute and a half left - as soon as I started drinking it I felt A LOT better, it had a A LOT of sugar in it. It didn't taste horrible, but wasn't all that great and had a strange after taste while drinking it.
Since I had to wait an hour before they could draw blood I had my check up with the doctor.
Turns out, according to their scale, I lost a pound in the past 2 weeks - take that, Thanksgiving!
The doctor commented though that it seems the odds of me having the gestational diabetes is stacked against me, as my mom and her sister as well as their mom all had it while pregnant once they reached a certain weight (which I've already passed).
Also, she checked Jay's fundal height and... she said he's measuring big! Eeep! She said if he's still measuring big next time I come in they'll send me over to have an ultrasound to make sure he has enough room and get more exact measurements.
Other than that she said everything seems great - his heartbeat was in the 140s, a little lower than what it's been, but usually he's more active at the doctor too and since I hadn't eat much and didn't have any sugar this morning prior to the glucose drink, it doesn't surprise me.
They sent me to wait out in the waiting room until my hour was up (I had about 30 minutes left), and then drew some blood, which wasn't too bad this time. They said to consider no news to be good news, and that my results should be back by the end of the week. They said if I "fail" this version of the test then I have to come back next week for a 3 hour version. Hopefully I don't though, as I did the best I knew to prepare. They said if it comes back and I do have the gestational diabetes then they'll put me in touch with some women's center or whatever that can go over how to watch my diet and prick my finger, etc.
Size you're considered being full term at 37 weeks, this means only 9-12 more weeks and Jay should be here in the flesh!
Today I had the Glucose Challenge Test.
They had told me last time I was there not to eat anything sugary or sweet today prior to taking the test and recommended I stick to eggs and sausage for breakfast. We don't have sausage but I did make myself some eggs when I woke up. Gotta say though, for having low blood sugar, not being able to eat or drink anything sweet or sugary prior to my 145pm test really sucked! Fortunately I didn't feel my blood sugar levels begin to drop until we were almost there. I could feel my face start to get flushed and I was starting to get a little lightheaded with the feeling in my stomach that the worst was coming soon if I didn't get sugar in my system ASAP.
They took my weight and got me set up with the drink right away. They had orange and fruit punch available and of course I opted for the fruit punch as I like that flavor better and I've heard the orange version is just gross. I had 5 minutes to finish it finished it with about a minute and a half left - as soon as I started drinking it I felt A LOT better, it had a A LOT of sugar in it. It didn't taste horrible, but wasn't all that great and had a strange after taste while drinking it.
Since I had to wait an hour before they could draw blood I had my check up with the doctor.
Turns out, according to their scale, I lost a pound in the past 2 weeks - take that, Thanksgiving!
The doctor commented though that it seems the odds of me having the gestational diabetes is stacked against me, as my mom and her sister as well as their mom all had it while pregnant once they reached a certain weight (which I've already passed).
Also, she checked Jay's fundal height and... she said he's measuring big! Eeep! She said if he's still measuring big next time I come in they'll send me over to have an ultrasound to make sure he has enough room and get more exact measurements.
Other than that she said everything seems great - his heartbeat was in the 140s, a little lower than what it's been, but usually he's more active at the doctor too and since I hadn't eat much and didn't have any sugar this morning prior to the glucose drink, it doesn't surprise me.
They sent me to wait out in the waiting room until my hour was up (I had about 30 minutes left), and then drew some blood, which wasn't too bad this time. They said to consider no news to be good news, and that my results should be back by the end of the week. They said if I "fail" this version of the test then I have to come back next week for a 3 hour version. Hopefully I don't though, as I did the best I knew to prepare. They said if it comes back and I do have the gestational diabetes then they'll put me in touch with some women's center or whatever that can go over how to watch my diet and prick my finger, etc.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Working and shopping
Today (Saturday, although I guess it's technically Sunday now) I worked my 2nd shift at The Children's Place, this time getting some training in on the cash register.
I think it went pretty well - I seem to do just fine with normal transactions, although I'm not completely comfortable yet when it comes to doing returns and exchanges.
It doesn't help that they have a whole new process for returns/exchanges as well that requires scanning a state ID or driver's license, which many places in our mall have also adopted a similar policy, although quite a bit of customer's don't seem fond of the idea and got a little snooty about it as it takes a tad bit longer (one woman complained it was taking 15 minutes, when really it was more like 5 and that partly due to them explaining what they were doing to me as they did it so I knew what was going on to get some idea of how to do it). The reason behind this "new" policy (which I guess Victoria's Secret has been doing for awhile now) is because people were abusing the return policy, returning things every other day to get a better sale price on it and with scanning the ID now, it automatically keeps track how many times the same person returns the same things and let's us know when they reached the return limit for that item (I think it's like 3 times in a 45 day period). Sure it's a bit of a pain and takes just slightly longer, but it makes sense and clearly we're not the only store at the mall that's adopted this method for returns.
It was a bit amusing though, as several customers (and employees) asked me about my baby bump. This one customer, I swear she was playing 20 questions with me, lol... she asked one question, and then another, and then another and just kept going! At one point I was thinking "okay, you're starting to get a tad too personal for being a complete stranger!" when she started asking about his name and other details, lol...
I did notice a really cute sweater in the newborn section though and decided to get that and the long sleeved polo I had my eye on for awhile for Jay. Both were on sale too, and when I went to pick out the sweater I saw this really cute polo onesie that matches and can be layered with the sweater so I picked that up too. I got all 3 for under $20 with my employee discount.
I bought the sweater and onesie big enough that he should be able to fill it out well enough come easter, assuming it's not like a million degrees at the end of April like it was for the first part of November here! The polo I got a little bigger too, but I figure it's lightweight and it's long sleeved so he should be able to wear it for awhile, even in the "colder" summer months when he doesn't need to wear a jacket out.
I also stopped at Kmart to buy myself a pair of Joe Boxer slippers. I saw they have them for $2.50 on Black Friday and they were having their "pre-Black Friday" sale this weekend with reduced prices and the slippers were advertised as $5.99 so I figured why not - I don't feel like rushing through Kmart on Black Friday and $5.99 for slippers isn't a bad idea, especially when I'll probably need them when we go to the hospital to have Jay. I have a pair of blue fluffy slippers, but they're really worn and nasty looking as I had them back in college, so it's about time for some new ones.
I also bought myself a pair of dual fingerless/mitten gloves and a black knit cap to go with my new jacket. I have a nice pair of leather gloves, but my fingers are a bit swollen right now due to being preggo and I figured these mittens would probably work better this year than trying to stuff my fingers comfortably in the leather gloves. Plus the hat and mittens and were each 40% off and only a few bucks to begin with so I figured why not.
I think it went pretty well - I seem to do just fine with normal transactions, although I'm not completely comfortable yet when it comes to doing returns and exchanges.
It doesn't help that they have a whole new process for returns/exchanges as well that requires scanning a state ID or driver's license, which many places in our mall have also adopted a similar policy, although quite a bit of customer's don't seem fond of the idea and got a little snooty about it as it takes a tad bit longer (one woman complained it was taking 15 minutes, when really it was more like 5 and that partly due to them explaining what they were doing to me as they did it so I knew what was going on to get some idea of how to do it). The reason behind this "new" policy (which I guess Victoria's Secret has been doing for awhile now) is because people were abusing the return policy, returning things every other day to get a better sale price on it and with scanning the ID now, it automatically keeps track how many times the same person returns the same things and let's us know when they reached the return limit for that item (I think it's like 3 times in a 45 day period). Sure it's a bit of a pain and takes just slightly longer, but it makes sense and clearly we're not the only store at the mall that's adopted this method for returns.
It was a bit amusing though, as several customers (and employees) asked me about my baby bump. This one customer, I swear she was playing 20 questions with me, lol... she asked one question, and then another, and then another and just kept going! At one point I was thinking "okay, you're starting to get a tad too personal for being a complete stranger!" when she started asking about his name and other details, lol...
I did notice a really cute sweater in the newborn section though and decided to get that and the long sleeved polo I had my eye on for awhile for Jay. Both were on sale too, and when I went to pick out the sweater I saw this really cute polo onesie that matches and can be layered with the sweater so I picked that up too. I got all 3 for under $20 with my employee discount.
I bought the sweater and onesie big enough that he should be able to fill it out well enough come easter, assuming it's not like a million degrees at the end of April like it was for the first part of November here! The polo I got a little bigger too, but I figure it's lightweight and it's long sleeved so he should be able to wear it for awhile, even in the "colder" summer months when he doesn't need to wear a jacket out.
I also stopped at Kmart to buy myself a pair of Joe Boxer slippers. I saw they have them for $2.50 on Black Friday and they were having their "pre-Black Friday" sale this weekend with reduced prices and the slippers were advertised as $5.99 so I figured why not - I don't feel like rushing through Kmart on Black Friday and $5.99 for slippers isn't a bad idea, especially when I'll probably need them when we go to the hospital to have Jay. I have a pair of blue fluffy slippers, but they're really worn and nasty looking as I had them back in college, so it's about time for some new ones.
I also bought myself a pair of dual fingerless/mitten gloves and a black knit cap to go with my new jacket. I have a nice pair of leather gloves, but my fingers are a bit swollen right now due to being preggo and I figured these mittens would probably work better this year than trying to stuff my fingers comfortably in the leather gloves. Plus the hat and mittens and were each 40% off and only a few bucks to begin with so I figured why not.
Friday, November 19, 2010
C-sections are scary!
So we had our last Childbirthing class last night.
Last night was slightly boring for me, as I had gotten bored earlier this week and read through the book and other materials they gave us during the first class, so it was basically just a review and going over what I had read recently.
We talked about birthing plans, C-sections, epidurals and other medication and postpartum stuff.
I have to say, reading the materials and then class last night... C-sections seem so scary!!! Hubby reminded me that they give you an epidural and other anesthetics so you don't feel it, but still... you're awake while they cut you open! And then you can't see your baby right away either as you have to go through recovery and yeah... doesn't sound fun! I hope I don't have to have one!
Epidurals don't sound fun either - I'm thinking of opting for some of the lesser pain medication they can give you. I would rather not be drugged out the whole time and risk having Jay be all drugged out too and too sleepy to try breastfeeding as they say it's important to get your baby to do that right away if you're planning on breastfeeding.
Last night was slightly boring for me, as I had gotten bored earlier this week and read through the book and other materials they gave us during the first class, so it was basically just a review and going over what I had read recently.
We talked about birthing plans, C-sections, epidurals and other medication and postpartum stuff.
I have to say, reading the materials and then class last night... C-sections seem so scary!!! Hubby reminded me that they give you an epidural and other anesthetics so you don't feel it, but still... you're awake while they cut you open! And then you can't see your baby right away either as you have to go through recovery and yeah... doesn't sound fun! I hope I don't have to have one!
Epidurals don't sound fun either - I'm thinking of opting for some of the lesser pain medication they can give you. I would rather not be drugged out the whole time and risk having Jay be all drugged out too and too sleepy to try breastfeeding as they say it's important to get your baby to do that right away if you're planning on breastfeeding.
Monday, November 15, 2010
26 week appointment
Today we had our 26 week doctor's appointment - the last of our 4 week check-ups as we now start going in every 2 weeks.
No ultrasound photos today as we're done with ultrasounds for awhile (probably won't have another one until closer to the end) however the nurse practitioner they have me seeing (since my regular doctor retired from the practice in the time since our last appointment and they haven't assigned me to one of the other 2 doctor's on staff yet) said my ultrasound photos and stuff from our anatomy scan we did last time all look good, so nothing major there!
She said weight-wise I'm right on target (I've gained about 25lbs so far and most weight I gain from this point on should be all Jay), my blood pressure is good and my length (from measuring the top of my belly to my pubic bone) is good too.
We went to listen to Jay's heartbeat and clock it, however - like usual - he didn't want to stay still enough to make it easy for her to find and hear with the doppler!
She was moving it all around my belly and all we could hear was him moving around like usual, then she would stop as she thought she had found a good spot to hear it and count and WHAM! Jay would kick or punch the doppler! lol... It was pretty funny and I even started laughing as he kept doing it! She asked me if my previous doctor had trouble finding and hearing it due to all the movement as well and I assured her that yes, all the previous times they've used the doppler it's taken at least a minute for them to be able to hear it well enough as he doesn't seem to like to stay still, lol...
She finally was able to hear his heartbeat well enough to do a quick count and said his it's in the 150s which is good.
She went over the Glucose Challenge Test that I get to do next time I come in, which is how they check for gestational diabetes. I'm not supposed to eat anything sweet the day of the test (she recommended eating eggs and sausage for breakfast with water), as they'll give me a sugary drink when I get there and then I wait an hour and then they draw some blood. She said it's important not to eat anything sweet that day prior to the test because if I fail it then I have to come back in for the 3 hour version and they stick me a lot more.
No ultrasound photos today as we're done with ultrasounds for awhile (probably won't have another one until closer to the end) however the nurse practitioner they have me seeing (since my regular doctor retired from the practice in the time since our last appointment and they haven't assigned me to one of the other 2 doctor's on staff yet) said my ultrasound photos and stuff from our anatomy scan we did last time all look good, so nothing major there!
She said weight-wise I'm right on target (I've gained about 25lbs so far and most weight I gain from this point on should be all Jay), my blood pressure is good and my length (from measuring the top of my belly to my pubic bone) is good too.
We went to listen to Jay's heartbeat and clock it, however - like usual - he didn't want to stay still enough to make it easy for her to find and hear with the doppler!
She was moving it all around my belly and all we could hear was him moving around like usual, then she would stop as she thought she had found a good spot to hear it and count and WHAM! Jay would kick or punch the doppler! lol... It was pretty funny and I even started laughing as he kept doing it! She asked me if my previous doctor had trouble finding and hearing it due to all the movement as well and I assured her that yes, all the previous times they've used the doppler it's taken at least a minute for them to be able to hear it well enough as he doesn't seem to like to stay still, lol...
She finally was able to hear his heartbeat well enough to do a quick count and said his it's in the 150s which is good.
She went over the Glucose Challenge Test that I get to do next time I come in, which is how they check for gestational diabetes. I'm not supposed to eat anything sweet the day of the test (she recommended eating eggs and sausage for breakfast with water), as they'll give me a sugary drink when I get there and then I wait an hour and then they draw some blood. She said it's important not to eat anything sweet that day prior to the test because if I fail it then I have to come back in for the 3 hour version and they stick me a lot more.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Less than 100 days!
With the hustle and bustle of things going on yesturday, I completely forgot to check and mention that yesturday marked the countdown that we have 100 days left til Jay is expected to be here in the flesh!
How exciting!!
Also, thanks to my regular "What to Expect" emails I get, I learned that this week (26 weeks along, week 27 of pregnancy) that Jay opens his little eyes inside there. They say there's a neat flashlight trick you can play, where you can point a flashlight at your belly and baby will most likely respond to it by kicking/punching and increasing movement, like they're trying to bat the bright light away, as they say the inside of your womb is more of a burgundy color. They were telling us about this neat little trick at our first childbirthing class too. We tried it last night, but I couldn't tell if he was increasing movement or not as he was already moving around to begin with, lol...
In other news, I started my first day at The Children's Place yesturday. It seemed to go pretty well - they had me come in at 1130am to fill out paperwork and read through the handbooks and all that which took a good bit of time. Then they were going to have me shadow someone on the registers but it got a bit busy and they ended up having 4 people behind the register as it was and there wasn't much room to squeeze me in so they had me help a girl unload boxes in the stockroom - security tagging clothes and putting them on hangers and taking them out on the floor as they had a bunch of boxes to get through this weekend before another huge shipment comes in later this week! It was a pretty easy work day if you ask me and I didn't mind helping out in the stockroom - it's something to do and I'd much rather help and do something than have nothing to do and be bored.
There's also another pregnant girl working there too - I think she's a little further along than me and was having some Braxton Hicks contractions as she suddenly came in the back and just squatted in pain for a minute or so until it went away. She said she was fine though and after drinking some water she went back out. So it's nice to know I'm not the only preggo on staff! A lot of the other girls were talking about their young kids too, so it seems like most are mothers and should make for a pleasant work environment since they've all been pregnant too!
How exciting!!
Also, thanks to my regular "What to Expect" emails I get, I learned that this week (26 weeks along, week 27 of pregnancy) that Jay opens his little eyes inside there. They say there's a neat flashlight trick you can play, where you can point a flashlight at your belly and baby will most likely respond to it by kicking/punching and increasing movement, like they're trying to bat the bright light away, as they say the inside of your womb is more of a burgundy color. They were telling us about this neat little trick at our first childbirthing class too. We tried it last night, but I couldn't tell if he was increasing movement or not as he was already moving around to begin with, lol...In other news, I started my first day at The Children's Place yesturday. It seemed to go pretty well - they had me come in at 1130am to fill out paperwork and read through the handbooks and all that which took a good bit of time. Then they were going to have me shadow someone on the registers but it got a bit busy and they ended up having 4 people behind the register as it was and there wasn't much room to squeeze me in so they had me help a girl unload boxes in the stockroom - security tagging clothes and putting them on hangers and taking them out on the floor as they had a bunch of boxes to get through this weekend before another huge shipment comes in later this week! It was a pretty easy work day if you ask me and I didn't mind helping out in the stockroom - it's something to do and I'd much rather help and do something than have nothing to do and be bored.
There's also another pregnant girl working there too - I think she's a little further along than me and was having some Braxton Hicks contractions as she suddenly came in the back and just squatted in pain for a minute or so until it went away. She said she was fine though and after drinking some water she went back out. So it's nice to know I'm not the only preggo on staff! A lot of the other girls were talking about their young kids too, so it seems like most are mothers and should make for a pleasant work environment since they've all been pregnant too!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Loans, jobs, cars, and labor
It's been a busy last couple of days!
Wednesday hubby and I went back to the bank to see where we were at with our credit and getting pre-approved for a home loan.
Well, we're close - VERY close.
If it weren't for stupid Chase we would have gotten it and been signing paperwork for a home-loan on Wednesday ><
We figured out that the problem was that on my credit report, Chase was correctly reporting the balance each month, but on hubby's they hadn't reported it since January so it still showed him with a balance of like $1300 which is NOT what the balance is. So basically, Chase shows up for him, but isn't correctly giving him credit like it is for me, which makes all the difference in the world as with the correct balance on it, hubby's score is just over the 620 that we need it to be to get the loan.
Here's what happened:
I opened the card about a year ago when I started Mary Kay to purchase my inventory and hubby and I had discussed putting him on the card as well so he would have some revolving credit as the bank lady had suggested we do for hubby as he had no revolving credit. Well, we went back to the bank 3-4 months later and met with a guy that time as we couldn't remember the lady's name and couldn't find her card (I found it after the fact) and he said that because the card was so new, it was hurting hubby's credit a lot and that it would be best to take him off that. So I called Chase and requested he be removed. Then we went in this past September and met with the original lady again and it showed that hubby was still on the Chase card, but since it had been almost year, the balance was a lot lower and counts as revolving credit it was actually helping his score - we figured the girl I talked to at Chase was just an airhead and didn't actually take him off when I requested it, but we decided it's working in our favor now so whatever.
So they took his name off the Chase card but reported the $1300 balance that was on it last January when they took him off to the credit bureau and haven't reported any activity in his name since!
Our bank lady said that since it's already under his credit, adding him back on won't hurt his score at this point as all it will do will report him monthly along with me with the updated balance and will help his score.
So I called Chase as soon as I got home and explained it them - they confirmed hubby is not on the card/account and said we could dispute it to get it completely off his credit, but instead I told them just to add him back onto it and they did. They said "big" changes to the account like that would report quarterly, which won't be til January, however it is possible it'll start reporting for him on this cycle.
Regardless, we're just going to wait to go back in in January - hubby's swamped with work in December so we wouldn't even have time to house hunt together.
Hopefully the next time we go in, all will be good and we'll be signing paperwork!
A little annoyed, as it was a bit last minute and nearly a week earlier than expected, but we were able to figure something out and I drove the 300miles down to St. Louis yesterday with my mom to keep me awake and help with driving on the way back (it's a 4-5hr drive one day, which is A LOT of driving for a preggo lady to do in one day!). I needed to be back in town just after 6pm too as hubby and I had our childbirthing class at 630pm too so we had to leave by 8am to allow enough time. We did it though and the car looks pretty good!
This portion of the class consisted mainly of going over the different stages of labor. We got to watch several birthing videos - hubby admitted, that's something he probably could have done without ever seeing, as he's not planning on standing near that end of me when Jay pops out, lol...
I don't want to say I'm scared, but ouch! That's going to hurt - I'm not really looking forward to that part!
It was pretty informative though as they explained some more about contractions and that until they're a minute long, 3-5 minutes apart and last like that for at least an hour then we don't really need to rush to the hospital yet and can work on distracting ourselves at home... unless of course my water breaks, then they want us to come in right away.
I'm still not sure about having an epidural vs. natural - I guess I'm leaning more towards natural, although it might hurt more, but yeah... still not decided which is okay as I should have a good 2-3 months still til it's time. We're going to be talking/learning more about epidurals and all that stuff next week.
Wednesday hubby and I went back to the bank to see where we were at with our credit and getting pre-approved for a home loan.
Well, we're close - VERY close.
If it weren't for stupid Chase we would have gotten it and been signing paperwork for a home-loan on Wednesday ><
We figured out that the problem was that on my credit report, Chase was correctly reporting the balance each month, but on hubby's they hadn't reported it since January so it still showed him with a balance of like $1300 which is NOT what the balance is. So basically, Chase shows up for him, but isn't correctly giving him credit like it is for me, which makes all the difference in the world as with the correct balance on it, hubby's score is just over the 620 that we need it to be to get the loan.
Here's what happened:
I opened the card about a year ago when I started Mary Kay to purchase my inventory and hubby and I had discussed putting him on the card as well so he would have some revolving credit as the bank lady had suggested we do for hubby as he had no revolving credit. Well, we went back to the bank 3-4 months later and met with a guy that time as we couldn't remember the lady's name and couldn't find her card (I found it after the fact) and he said that because the card was so new, it was hurting hubby's credit a lot and that it would be best to take him off that. So I called Chase and requested he be removed. Then we went in this past September and met with the original lady again and it showed that hubby was still on the Chase card, but since it had been almost year, the balance was a lot lower and counts as revolving credit it was actually helping his score - we figured the girl I talked to at Chase was just an airhead and didn't actually take him off when I requested it, but we decided it's working in our favor now so whatever.
So they took his name off the Chase card but reported the $1300 balance that was on it last January when they took him off to the credit bureau and haven't reported any activity in his name since!
Our bank lady said that since it's already under his credit, adding him back on won't hurt his score at this point as all it will do will report him monthly along with me with the updated balance and will help his score.
So I called Chase as soon as I got home and explained it them - they confirmed hubby is not on the card/account and said we could dispute it to get it completely off his credit, but instead I told them just to add him back onto it and they did. They said "big" changes to the account like that would report quarterly, which won't be til January, however it is possible it'll start reporting for him on this cycle.
Regardless, we're just going to wait to go back in in January - hubby's swamped with work in December so we wouldn't even have time to house hunt together.
Hopefully the next time we go in, all will be good and we'll be signing paperwork!
*******************
In other news, The Children's Place called me back on Wednesday - I start Saturday morning, just to go in and do paperwork and that sort of stuff you do on your first day. I'm pretty excited though as I'm looking forward to having something to do and somewhere to be!*******************
Also, Progressive called us on Wednesday morning to inform us that our car was ready to be picked up and that the rental needed to be returned by 6pm Thursday otherwise we'd have to pay $30 for each additional day.A little annoyed, as it was a bit last minute and nearly a week earlier than expected, but we were able to figure something out and I drove the 300miles down to St. Louis yesterday with my mom to keep me awake and help with driving on the way back (it's a 4-5hr drive one day, which is A LOT of driving for a preggo lady to do in one day!). I needed to be back in town just after 6pm too as hubby and I had our childbirthing class at 630pm too so we had to leave by 8am to allow enough time. We did it though and the car looks pretty good!
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And as mentioned, we had our 2nd childbirthing class last night.This portion of the class consisted mainly of going over the different stages of labor. We got to watch several birthing videos - hubby admitted, that's something he probably could have done without ever seeing, as he's not planning on standing near that end of me when Jay pops out, lol...
I don't want to say I'm scared, but ouch! That's going to hurt - I'm not really looking forward to that part!
It was pretty informative though as they explained some more about contractions and that until they're a minute long, 3-5 minutes apart and last like that for at least an hour then we don't really need to rush to the hospital yet and can work on distracting ourselves at home... unless of course my water breaks, then they want us to come in right away.
I'm still not sure about having an epidural vs. natural - I guess I'm leaning more towards natural, although it might hurt more, but yeah... still not decided which is okay as I should have a good 2-3 months still til it's time. We're going to be talking/learning more about epidurals and all that stuff next week.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
And... it's done.
So I know I said that our car wouldn't done til around the 15th... well hubby got a call today and it's done early!
Sweet, right?
Wrong.
We weren't expecting it to be done until at least Monday, so we're going to have to put the deductible on my lone credit card for now, although hubby said we can pay it back down ASAP since we'll have the money very soon.
Also, they're only extending our rental until 6pm tomorrow (Thursday) and hubby can't get off work which means I have to drive the 4-5hours one way to St. Louis to go drop it off and pick up our car (although my mom or someone is tagging along with so I'm not driving alone and can maybe do some of the driving on the way back). This sucks because Thursdays are the only day I'm working at my main job! Also, we have our 2nd childbirthing class tomorrow night too so I'll have to leave here at the crack of dawn to get down there and back here before 630pm.
Ugh...
While I am a little annoyed that I have yet to hear back from The Children's Place regarding when they want me to start, I guess it is a bit of a blessing as I can just check with my first job and see if I can come in Friday instead of Thursday and then tell The Children's Place I can't start until 430pm Friday. I figure, they said the manager that does the scheduling and all that was out on a mini-vacation until yesterday - I'm guessing (hoping) maybe she was just swamped with a lot to do when she got in and is planning on making the calls today. If I don't hear anything by the end of today I'll definitely call tomorrow and find out what's up.
Now I have a few phone calls to make, watch last night's episode of Glee, get cleaned up and meet hubby at the bank as we have another meeting there later today regarding trying to get pre-approved for a home loan - I really hope it goes well and we have good news this time... this whole thing is getting frustrating and I just want to get pre-approved so we can finally start looking for a house and hopefully get moved in (or at least be in the process of it all) by the time Jay is here.
Sweet, right?
Wrong.
We weren't expecting it to be done until at least Monday, so we're going to have to put the deductible on my lone credit card for now, although hubby said we can pay it back down ASAP since we'll have the money very soon.
Also, they're only extending our rental until 6pm tomorrow (Thursday) and hubby can't get off work which means I have to drive the 4-5hours one way to St. Louis to go drop it off and pick up our car (although my mom or someone is tagging along with so I'm not driving alone and can maybe do some of the driving on the way back). This sucks because Thursdays are the only day I'm working at my main job! Also, we have our 2nd childbirthing class tomorrow night too so I'll have to leave here at the crack of dawn to get down there and back here before 630pm.
Ugh...
While I am a little annoyed that I have yet to hear back from The Children's Place regarding when they want me to start, I guess it is a bit of a blessing as I can just check with my first job and see if I can come in Friday instead of Thursday and then tell The Children's Place I can't start until 430pm Friday. I figure, they said the manager that does the scheduling and all that was out on a mini-vacation until yesterday - I'm guessing (hoping) maybe she was just swamped with a lot to do when she got in and is planning on making the calls today. If I don't hear anything by the end of today I'll definitely call tomorrow and find out what's up.
Now I have a few phone calls to make, watch last night's episode of Glee, get cleaned up and meet hubby at the bank as we have another meeting there later today regarding trying to get pre-approved for a home loan - I really hope it goes well and we have good news this time... this whole thing is getting frustrating and I just want to get pre-approved so we can finally start looking for a house and hopefully get moved in (or at least be in the process of it all) by the time Jay is here.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Random pains and working for the holidays
Just wanted to mention a few things today.
First off, I awoke earlier this morning with the worst lower back pain on my left side EVER!
I've been at the stage where sleeping isn't very comfortable, regardless of which side I sleep on. I usually start on my left side but switch over sometime to the right side and then back again. And yes, I sleep with a body pillow between my legs as well, but I always seem to wake up whatever side is on bottom feeling numbing and hurting and needing to roll over. Honestly, laying on my back seems to be the most comfortable however after our trip to the ER they specifically told me not to lay on my back when sleeping or resting as the weight of my uterus is pushing down on everything else.
Anyways though, like usual, I woke up shortly after hubby left for work to go empty my bladder since I can't make it through the night/morning without having to get up at least once for that and when I got back in bed to sleep a little more... omg the lower left side of my back hurt soooo bad - I almost thought I was going to have to lay in bed all day til hubby got home to rub it, it hurt that bad! Fortunately I laid on my right side and it went away eventually, but ouch!
Also, yesterday I got a call from The Children's Place, saying they'd like to offer me a seasonal position! Yay!
I was half awake when they called in the morning (hubby and I decided to sleep in since he didn't have to go into Verizon until later in the day) so I called them back a few hours later and told them that I was definitely still interested! They said the 3rd manager (who seems to be the one in charge) is out til Tuesday but they would put me on her list of calls to make so that she could figure out what day this week I can come in and start training.
Yay!!
Like my friend that also works retail was saying, there really wasn't much she couldn't do while she was pregnant at work - the only thing I can think that might be a problem is if I need to lift/carry boxes. I can carry/lift some, but not a whole lot. Other than that though, I don't think there's much that should be an issue so I shouldn't have any problems.
I get a 25% employee discount there too, which is also good on sale and clearance items. I could see this being bad, especially since I started eying some cute little long sleeved polos while there the other day! Mom said though that if there's anything I want, to let her know and she'll give me the money for it so I can buy it and use my discount, even though it'll be from "Grandma" hehe... they'll start getting their spring stuff in come mid-December or so too and I'd like to get a cute little suit-type outfit for Jay for Easter, so I'm sure the discount will come in handy for that too!
I am excited though - I've been sitting home bored for far too long and I look forward to having something to do during the days!
First off, I awoke earlier this morning with the worst lower back pain on my left side EVER!
I've been at the stage where sleeping isn't very comfortable, regardless of which side I sleep on. I usually start on my left side but switch over sometime to the right side and then back again. And yes, I sleep with a body pillow between my legs as well, but I always seem to wake up whatever side is on bottom feeling numbing and hurting and needing to roll over. Honestly, laying on my back seems to be the most comfortable however after our trip to the ER they specifically told me not to lay on my back when sleeping or resting as the weight of my uterus is pushing down on everything else.
Anyways though, like usual, I woke up shortly after hubby left for work to go empty my bladder since I can't make it through the night/morning without having to get up at least once for that and when I got back in bed to sleep a little more... omg the lower left side of my back hurt soooo bad - I almost thought I was going to have to lay in bed all day til hubby got home to rub it, it hurt that bad! Fortunately I laid on my right side and it went away eventually, but ouch!
Also, yesterday I got a call from The Children's Place, saying they'd like to offer me a seasonal position! Yay!
I was half awake when they called in the morning (hubby and I decided to sleep in since he didn't have to go into Verizon until later in the day) so I called them back a few hours later and told them that I was definitely still interested! They said the 3rd manager (who seems to be the one in charge) is out til Tuesday but they would put me on her list of calls to make so that she could figure out what day this week I can come in and start training.
Yay!!
Like my friend that also works retail was saying, there really wasn't much she couldn't do while she was pregnant at work - the only thing I can think that might be a problem is if I need to lift/carry boxes. I can carry/lift some, but not a whole lot. Other than that though, I don't think there's much that should be an issue so I shouldn't have any problems.
I get a 25% employee discount there too, which is also good on sale and clearance items. I could see this being bad, especially since I started eying some cute little long sleeved polos while there the other day! Mom said though that if there's anything I want, to let her know and she'll give me the money for it so I can buy it and use my discount, even though it'll be from "Grandma" hehe... they'll start getting their spring stuff in come mid-December or so too and I'd like to get a cute little suit-type outfit for Jay for Easter, so I'm sure the discount will come in handy for that too!
I am excited though - I've been sitting home bored for far too long and I look forward to having something to do during the days!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
25 Weeks!
Today we are officially 25 weeks! That means there's only 15 weeks left until Jay's estimated due date!!
I'm sure with the holiday season getting in full swing soon, these next 2 months are going to fly by - it honestly seems like December goes by way too quickly each year!
That also means that he is now the size of an eggplant - which it makes sense that he's grown more as his kicking/punching has picked up quite a bit the past few days and I've been a bit sore down in my abdomen for a good week or so now! I noticed last night that now when he kicks/punches there's some force behind it as it makes my belly move, lol... Hope he's not claustrophobic, as his "space" is starting to get a bit smaller on him!
I also can't decide who reacts to the vacuum worse - Jay or our 2 year old kitty Tiger! Yesturday I was doing some massive cleaning on the whole apartment and that included vacuuming. Tiger has never liked the vacuum as the noise scares her so she usually runs off somewhere and hides - last night she chose to sit in the bedroom window, with her tail all fluffed out, only when I started vacuuming the bedroom she completely spazzed out, trying to scale the window in a frantic to get away from the vacuum! Also, the ENTIRE time I was vacuuming, Jay was kicking and punching the crap out of me - I take it he could hear the noise and was wondering what in the world it was and was reacting to it! lol... guess in the future when I vacuum when Jay is little, the 2 of them can run off and hide from the vacuum together, lol...
I'm sure with the holiday season getting in full swing soon, these next 2 months are going to fly by - it honestly seems like December goes by way too quickly each year!
That also means that he is now the size of an eggplant - which it makes sense that he's grown more as his kicking/punching has picked up quite a bit the past few days and I've been a bit sore down in my abdomen for a good week or so now! I noticed last night that now when he kicks/punches there's some force behind it as it makes my belly move, lol... Hope he's not claustrophobic, as his "space" is starting to get a bit smaller on him!I also can't decide who reacts to the vacuum worse - Jay or our 2 year old kitty Tiger! Yesturday I was doing some massive cleaning on the whole apartment and that included vacuuming. Tiger has never liked the vacuum as the noise scares her so she usually runs off somewhere and hides - last night she chose to sit in the bedroom window, with her tail all fluffed out, only when I started vacuuming the bedroom she completely spazzed out, trying to scale the window in a frantic to get away from the vacuum! Also, the ENTIRE time I was vacuuming, Jay was kicking and punching the crap out of me - I take it he could hear the noise and was wondering what in the world it was and was reacting to it! lol... guess in the future when I vacuum when Jay is little, the 2 of them can run off and hide from the vacuum together, lol...
Saturday, November 6, 2010
First Childbirthing Class
Thursday night hubby and I attended our first childbirthing class at the hospital.
There's 2 other sets of people in our class - another married couple, expecting twins in December, who looked to be about the same age as hubby and I and then there was a slightly younger looking girl, expecting a boy in January, who was there with her mom.
It was interesting and not quite what I was expecting, based off what you see in movies!
The RN that taught this session went through a Powerpoint with us and gave us a bag of goodies (which I have yet to go through as hubby keeps leaving it in the car) as well as a pretty informative book/guide that the hospital put out. We went over a few relaxation and early-labor breathing exercises. We also saw pictures of the Labor and Delivery ward upstairs, explaining how the whole process goes and she showed us some of the devices and such that they use to monitor stuff such as that funky contraction monitor belt I mentioned they had me wear when we were there last week getting checked out after the accident.
We got done a bit early but I felt it was informative - I learned some stuff I didn't know and WOW! She passed around a palette that had circles that showed the different sizes your cervix gets as it dilated - 10cm (which is when they say you can start pushing baby out) is HUGE! I can't even fathom that stretching out that big! Almost kind of scary (and painful) to think about!
They also made hubby and the other soon-to-be daddy try on the pregnant suit and waddle around it for a minute! Hubby claimed it "wasn't that bad" as he's used to lifting and carrying packages at UPS - whatever, having the extra weight on you is only part of it, try dealing with all the hormones and the soreness, etc on a daily basis! lol...
We have 2 more of these childbirthing classes which are this Thursday and the next so we'll be done by Thanksgiving, and then I have a breastfeeding class I'm taking on Monday the 15th, which is also the same day as our next doctor's appointment. We have a newborn care class we're taking also, but that's not until January.
We're going to try and breastfeed if we can and pump a little bit as well. Looking over the price of formula - it's expensive! So we figure if we can do it, it'll save us a bit in the long run and I'd like to pump some as well as I'm not a fan of breastfeeding in public not to mention it'd be nice for hubby to be able to feed Jay at times and then if he's with grandma well, I can send a bottle or 2 of the pumped stuff when she's babysitting so he doesn't have to go hungry. I'm thinking we'll probably breastfeed til about 6 months or so, as that sounds like a good age to wean them off, especially since they can start eating the baby food by then.
I have nothing against those that choose not to - to be honest, I was originally thinking of just doing formula until I realized how expensive that can be. I was formula fed, as was my sister and my cousin that lives near us and while "they" claim it's better to breastfeed than formula feed, we all turned out pretty fine.
There's 2 other sets of people in our class - another married couple, expecting twins in December, who looked to be about the same age as hubby and I and then there was a slightly younger looking girl, expecting a boy in January, who was there with her mom.
It was interesting and not quite what I was expecting, based off what you see in movies!
The RN that taught this session went through a Powerpoint with us and gave us a bag of goodies (which I have yet to go through as hubby keeps leaving it in the car) as well as a pretty informative book/guide that the hospital put out. We went over a few relaxation and early-labor breathing exercises. We also saw pictures of the Labor and Delivery ward upstairs, explaining how the whole process goes and she showed us some of the devices and such that they use to monitor stuff such as that funky contraction monitor belt I mentioned they had me wear when we were there last week getting checked out after the accident. We got done a bit early but I felt it was informative - I learned some stuff I didn't know and WOW! She passed around a palette that had circles that showed the different sizes your cervix gets as it dilated - 10cm (which is when they say you can start pushing baby out) is HUGE! I can't even fathom that stretching out that big! Almost kind of scary (and painful) to think about!
They also made hubby and the other soon-to-be daddy try on the pregnant suit and waddle around it for a minute! Hubby claimed it "wasn't that bad" as he's used to lifting and carrying packages at UPS - whatever, having the extra weight on you is only part of it, try dealing with all the hormones and the soreness, etc on a daily basis! lol...
We have 2 more of these childbirthing classes which are this Thursday and the next so we'll be done by Thanksgiving, and then I have a breastfeeding class I'm taking on Monday the 15th, which is also the same day as our next doctor's appointment. We have a newborn care class we're taking also, but that's not until January.
We're going to try and breastfeed if we can and pump a little bit as well. Looking over the price of formula - it's expensive! So we figure if we can do it, it'll save us a bit in the long run and I'd like to pump some as well as I'm not a fan of breastfeeding in public not to mention it'd be nice for hubby to be able to feed Jay at times and then if he's with grandma well, I can send a bottle or 2 of the pumped stuff when she's babysitting so he doesn't have to go hungry. I'm thinking we'll probably breastfeed til about 6 months or so, as that sounds like a good age to wean them off, especially since they can start eating the baby food by then.
I have nothing against those that choose not to - to be honest, I was originally thinking of just doing formula until I realized how expensive that can be. I was formula fed, as was my sister and my cousin that lives near us and while "they" claim it's better to breastfeed than formula feed, we all turned out pretty fine.
Clothes and Candles
Yesturday was a bit of a fun day.
I went out shopping with my mom for a bit as I needed to find a coat for winter that I can actually fasten shut as my casual coat and my warmer coat both won't shut over my baby bump. I also needed to find a pair of boots for winter that didn't have much of a heel on them as the only pair I have have a decent sized heel on them and I don't want to risk slipping on ice and falling while pregnant (as I slipped and fell on my butt a few times last year!).
We went to Burlington Coat Factory and found both, plus we got me 2nd pair of maternity jeans in a lighter color since I just have the one pair and my lighter pair of regular jeans are fitting a bit too snug around my hips these days.
I had originally wanted to get a warm, puffy coat but as I tried some on, they didn't look too good on me - they only made me look bigger. As we looked around, I found some that had more of a trench and pea coat style to them and those actually looked pretty nice. We found one that fit pretty well and looked good on me and got it - mom said if I needed more room too we could always just move the buttons on the front over a bit.
Also yesturday, a friend of mine became a PartyLite candle consultant and had her debut. I went and brought my mom and mother-in-law. I haven't bought any PartyLite since the last party she co-hosted with her cousin's wife nearly 2 years ago and I wanted to get some tealights in another scent; my mom hadn't bought PartyLite in years as last time she did she bought enough to last awhile and just now needed to get some more.
I pre-shopped online to get an idea of what they have and picked out a few of the "guest offer" items to get as gifts which hubby approved, so I bought those last night and a pack of tealights to split with them so we got my aunt and mother-in-law's gifts for Christmas done and out of the way. I already know what I'm getting my mom too, just a matter of finding it in town or ordering it on Amazon.com. They had a special going on too where you can get 3 dozen (3 boxes) of tealights for $25 so I picked out 2 more fragrances (I wanted to get at least 1 box so I can put different ones in our kitchen table centerpiece) and then if you spend more than $40 you get an item half off so I got this really neat Angel aroma melt warmer for $12.50 and then a pack of melts to go with it - I figured it'd make a nice piece for Christmas and then after the holidays a nice piece for the bathroom.
They also have this new S-Pod travel fragrance thing that you can buy refills for - they say it's great for the car or a bag - I figured it would be perfect for Jay's diaper bag so I got one of those and a pack of refills (since it doesn't come with any). They say it lasts at least 45 days, but the candle lady said she used one for 8 months before she had to put a refill in.
I think I made out pretty well - the only part of our "joint" money I spent was on the 2 gifts, a pack of the tealights to split (since what good is a candle holder if it doesn't come with a candle?), and part of the tax/shipping. The rest of the items and tax/shipping I used my own small stash of money I had been saving (my "allowance" if you will, as it's the percentage of my paychecks I get to keep to myself and spend as I need/want on food, gas for my car and whatever else I want to save for or spend it on).
I'll probably host a party for my friend in the Spring as right now I just can't commit to a date/time for a party like that - we got the car situation which when it's ready we have to figure out a day to go pick it up, if I get hired seasonal somewhere my hours will be on a week-by-week basis, we have our baby classes the next 2 weeks plus another doctor's appointment in just over a week and then I've got appointments every 2 weeks... oh and we're meeting with the bank again this week so *hopefully* that goes well and we'll have to squeeze in house hunting and all that too... and with the holidays coming up, yeah... I just don't want to commit to hosting a party or anything like that right now. My friend mentioned hosting one around the time Jay is born - either before or after - as we could have it at her house and it'd be sort of a gift/gesture from her and I can get some candle freebies. So maybe I'll do that =)
I think burning candles is sort of my way of "nesting" as until the last few months I never really consciously burned candles or worried about having nice fragrances in our home. But lately, I've noticed I'll sit in bed with a book and burn a candle on our nightstand, or I'll light the candles in our kitchen centerpiece while we're eating dinner or I'll light a candle while I'm cleaning or doing the dishes... and I also finally refilled our Airwick Mini that's in the main hallway with a vanilla scent (it helps cover up any smells from the bathroom that might go in the hallway, as well as the litter box that's in the closet near the front door and just makes it smell nice in here when you first walk in).
I went out shopping with my mom for a bit as I needed to find a coat for winter that I can actually fasten shut as my casual coat and my warmer coat both won't shut over my baby bump. I also needed to find a pair of boots for winter that didn't have much of a heel on them as the only pair I have have a decent sized heel on them and I don't want to risk slipping on ice and falling while pregnant (as I slipped and fell on my butt a few times last year!).
We went to Burlington Coat Factory and found both, plus we got me 2nd pair of maternity jeans in a lighter color since I just have the one pair and my lighter pair of regular jeans are fitting a bit too snug around my hips these days.
I had originally wanted to get a warm, puffy coat but as I tried some on, they didn't look too good on me - they only made me look bigger. As we looked around, I found some that had more of a trench and pea coat style to them and those actually looked pretty nice. We found one that fit pretty well and looked good on me and got it - mom said if I needed more room too we could always just move the buttons on the front over a bit.
Also yesturday, a friend of mine became a PartyLite candle consultant and had her debut. I went and brought my mom and mother-in-law. I haven't bought any PartyLite since the last party she co-hosted with her cousin's wife nearly 2 years ago and I wanted to get some tealights in another scent; my mom hadn't bought PartyLite in years as last time she did she bought enough to last awhile and just now needed to get some more.
 |
| Angel Aroma Melts Warmer |
They also have this new S-Pod travel fragrance thing that you can buy refills for - they say it's great for the car or a bag - I figured it would be perfect for Jay's diaper bag so I got one of those and a pack of refills (since it doesn't come with any). They say it lasts at least 45 days, but the candle lady said she used one for 8 months before she had to put a refill in.
 |
| S-Pod Travel Fragance Sticks - I figured one for Jay's diaper bag would be perfect! |
I'll probably host a party for my friend in the Spring as right now I just can't commit to a date/time for a party like that - we got the car situation which when it's ready we have to figure out a day to go pick it up, if I get hired seasonal somewhere my hours will be on a week-by-week basis, we have our baby classes the next 2 weeks plus another doctor's appointment in just over a week and then I've got appointments every 2 weeks... oh and we're meeting with the bank again this week so *hopefully* that goes well and we'll have to squeeze in house hunting and all that too... and with the holidays coming up, yeah... I just don't want to commit to hosting a party or anything like that right now. My friend mentioned hosting one around the time Jay is born - either before or after - as we could have it at her house and it'd be sort of a gift/gesture from her and I can get some candle freebies. So maybe I'll do that =)
Job Woes
So the other day I got another bit of unfortunate news.
I was just finishing up a project for one of my bosses and she was the last of them to leave for the day, she stopped by and broke the news to me:
The sale we had started last week in Joliet didn't go as well as we had anticipated and it was closing up early - 2 months early - which means that we currently have ZERO no business and no work for me to do there til after the 1st of the year or until we sign some new clients and start some new sales. Because of this, unfortunately, they have to cut my hours/days back (again) and I'm now only working 1 day a week. I could tell my boss felt really bad about it too - she looked like she was struggling not to tear up as she said she understands we're probably saving every bit we can with Jay on the way and the holidays coming up... and she kept saying she hated having to do this too. I totally understand though and while it was a bit of a surprise, I wasn't really *that* shocked as business has been slow for a long time (they cut me back from 4 days a week to 2 about a year and a half ago and things still never really picked up).
I don't think I've really mentioned what I do for work on this blog - I do graphic design work for a furniture sales promotion agency, which means that we try to help furniture stores have successful sales. Say the owner is retiring or the store is closing or having a grand re-opening or liquidation sale - we try to get in touch with them and using the successful sales methods and techniques my bosses have come up with, we bring in our people to run the sale and help the store get the most profit from the sale. I do all the print advertising work for the different stores, such as the ads that run in the newspaper or the mailers and fliers that get sent out in the mail and any other print media that we might use to draw in customers. I also do all the print advertising and promotional materials for the company itself that appear in several different national furniture magazines to try and draw potential clients to come to us, although I also send out a mailing of letters with a flier and our brochure to potential stores that might need our help in which we get their info from a credit agency.
It's not a bad job, but there just hasn't been a lot of work since I started there and like I said, it's never really picked up but instead it seems to be declining.
Hubby took the news how I expected he would - he was a bit upset and frustrated, not me but at the situation, which I get, I just hate seeing him like that.
Financially we'll be okay as hubby works a lot and this isn't as big a paycut as it was the last time I got my hours cut - hubby just likes to have that extra cushion so when things like the car needing repaired and such come up we have that extra money to cover it. Or with the holidays and buying gifts... and the upcoming hospital bills. We can manage, it'll just be a little tight and we'll need to stick closer to our budget. What we REALLY need is for UPS to start promoting people to full-time again, as once hubby gets that, we won't have to worry about things as it's such a huge pay increase from part-time to full-time.
While I doubt any place would want to hire a clearly pregnant lady for long-term (I'm at the point where it's not really possible to hide my bump), the holiday season is just around the corner and I guess there are some places still hiring their seasonal staff.
I went online and searched the listings for Monster.com/HotJobs and Careerbuilder but only found 3 that looked legit. I also went to several store's sites and applied as they had seasonal positions listed. A friend of mine that's worked on and off at The Limited out at the mall suggested I apply there as she said they just started taking apps for seasonal spots and my mom suggested I apply at The Children's Place too so I went out and did that yesturday.
When I turned in the app for The Children's Place they asked if I could come in this morning for a group interview and of course I said yes! (Honestly, I have nothing going on on Saturday's anyway, so this gave me an excuse to get up and do something and go somewhere!)
It seemed to go well - I hate group interviews as the last one I had was just me and 1 other girl and it was all about one-upping the other person to make yourself look better, however this one was alright. There was 5 of us and I got the impression I was one of the older girls in the group. The manager asked us some questions and spent most of the time just go over all the details about the store and company, etc. I spoke up a few times, asking good questions, etc so I think that helped make me stand out a little bit. I didn't have to mention I'm preggo (which legally, I don't have to) but I'm pretty sure the manager could tell - she mentioned they have hired pregnant women in the past with no problems and while they have had to pick up the slack on some, others have turned out to be some of their best workers. They said they won't be able to let us know until probably Wednesday at the earliest as the 3rd manager is gone til Tuesday and they need to go over everything, confer, and decide how many they need to hire.
She said they usually keep their seasonal employees on through the 2nd week of January and then they reevaluate how many they can keep and how many they want to keep on. I'm sure I won't last past that since they'll know I'm pregnant and be having Jay soon, but still, a good 2 months of work to make some extra cash isn't bad! Hopefully it goes well - any little bit will help, even if it is just seasonal!
My only fear is that you get a 25% off employee discount and when the 50% off sale comes around, that means we get it for 75% off... she mentioned some of the employees that are moms tend to spend a good bit of their paycheck there because of the discount, which I fear could be bad for me! As it is, they had us wander around the store a bit while we waited for everyone to get there and I spied some really cute long sleeved polos!
Also, when I got home, I checked my email and there was a request from Macy's for me to go on their site and schedule an interview. I did, but I'm a little skeptical as I applied and group interviewed for them last year and didn't get the job (that was the group interview where it was me and 1 other girl and all she did was 1-up me the whole time). We'll see how that goes though. My friend at The Limited said she works next on Sunday too so she mentioned she'd put in a word for me too.
Hopefully I'll get something, right?
I was just finishing up a project for one of my bosses and she was the last of them to leave for the day, she stopped by and broke the news to me:
The sale we had started last week in Joliet didn't go as well as we had anticipated and it was closing up early - 2 months early - which means that we currently have ZERO no business and no work for me to do there til after the 1st of the year or until we sign some new clients and start some new sales. Because of this, unfortunately, they have to cut my hours/days back (again) and I'm now only working 1 day a week. I could tell my boss felt really bad about it too - she looked like she was struggling not to tear up as she said she understands we're probably saving every bit we can with Jay on the way and the holidays coming up... and she kept saying she hated having to do this too. I totally understand though and while it was a bit of a surprise, I wasn't really *that* shocked as business has been slow for a long time (they cut me back from 4 days a week to 2 about a year and a half ago and things still never really picked up).I don't think I've really mentioned what I do for work on this blog - I do graphic design work for a furniture sales promotion agency, which means that we try to help furniture stores have successful sales. Say the owner is retiring or the store is closing or having a grand re-opening or liquidation sale - we try to get in touch with them and using the successful sales methods and techniques my bosses have come up with, we bring in our people to run the sale and help the store get the most profit from the sale. I do all the print advertising work for the different stores, such as the ads that run in the newspaper or the mailers and fliers that get sent out in the mail and any other print media that we might use to draw in customers. I also do all the print advertising and promotional materials for the company itself that appear in several different national furniture magazines to try and draw potential clients to come to us, although I also send out a mailing of letters with a flier and our brochure to potential stores that might need our help in which we get their info from a credit agency.
It's not a bad job, but there just hasn't been a lot of work since I started there and like I said, it's never really picked up but instead it seems to be declining.
Hubby took the news how I expected he would - he was a bit upset and frustrated, not me but at the situation, which I get, I just hate seeing him like that.
Financially we'll be okay as hubby works a lot and this isn't as big a paycut as it was the last time I got my hours cut - hubby just likes to have that extra cushion so when things like the car needing repaired and such come up we have that extra money to cover it. Or with the holidays and buying gifts... and the upcoming hospital bills. We can manage, it'll just be a little tight and we'll need to stick closer to our budget. What we REALLY need is for UPS to start promoting people to full-time again, as once hubby gets that, we won't have to worry about things as it's such a huge pay increase from part-time to full-time.
While I doubt any place would want to hire a clearly pregnant lady for long-term (I'm at the point where it's not really possible to hide my bump), the holiday season is just around the corner and I guess there are some places still hiring their seasonal staff.
I went online and searched the listings for Monster.com/HotJobs and Careerbuilder but only found 3 that looked legit. I also went to several store's sites and applied as they had seasonal positions listed. A friend of mine that's worked on and off at The Limited out at the mall suggested I apply there as she said they just started taking apps for seasonal spots and my mom suggested I apply at The Children's Place too so I went out and did that yesturday.
It seemed to go well - I hate group interviews as the last one I had was just me and 1 other girl and it was all about one-upping the other person to make yourself look better, however this one was alright. There was 5 of us and I got the impression I was one of the older girls in the group. The manager asked us some questions and spent most of the time just go over all the details about the store and company, etc. I spoke up a few times, asking good questions, etc so I think that helped make me stand out a little bit. I didn't have to mention I'm preggo (which legally, I don't have to) but I'm pretty sure the manager could tell - she mentioned they have hired pregnant women in the past with no problems and while they have had to pick up the slack on some, others have turned out to be some of their best workers. They said they won't be able to let us know until probably Wednesday at the earliest as the 3rd manager is gone til Tuesday and they need to go over everything, confer, and decide how many they need to hire.
She said they usually keep their seasonal employees on through the 2nd week of January and then they reevaluate how many they can keep and how many they want to keep on. I'm sure I won't last past that since they'll know I'm pregnant and be having Jay soon, but still, a good 2 months of work to make some extra cash isn't bad! Hopefully it goes well - any little bit will help, even if it is just seasonal!
My only fear is that you get a 25% off employee discount and when the 50% off sale comes around, that means we get it for 75% off... she mentioned some of the employees that are moms tend to spend a good bit of their paycheck there because of the discount, which I fear could be bad for me! As it is, they had us wander around the store a bit while we waited for everyone to get there and I spied some really cute long sleeved polos!
Also, when I got home, I checked my email and there was a request from Macy's for me to go on their site and schedule an interview. I did, but I'm a little skeptical as I applied and group interviewed for them last year and didn't get the job (that was the group interview where it was me and 1 other girl and all she did was 1-up me the whole time). We'll see how that goes though. My friend at The Limited said she works next on Sunday too so she mentioned she'd put in a word for me too.
Hopefully I'll get something, right?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Another new addition to the family!
Yesturday, hubby's 2nd cousin's wife gave birth to a baby girl!
Eliana Joy was born on November 1, 2010 at 2pm weighing 7lbs, 7oz and 19 inches long!
Momma went in to get induced as baby was about a week late, but turns out they didn't need to as the contractions had gotten worse and so they just broke her water - she was only in labor for 5 and a half hours too!
Gotta admit, while I'm NOT hoping for the next few months to fly by (which I know they will due to the holidays - December always seems to fly by!), I am a bit jealous as I can't wait for Jay to be here in the flesh too!
Hopefully Eliana and Jay will get to play together someday!
Eliana Joy was born on November 1, 2010 at 2pm weighing 7lbs, 7oz and 19 inches long!
Momma went in to get induced as baby was about a week late, but turns out they didn't need to as the contractions had gotten worse and so they just broke her water - she was only in labor for 5 and a half hours too!
Gotta admit, while I'm NOT hoping for the next few months to fly by (which I know they will due to the holidays - December always seems to fly by!), I am a bit jealous as I can't wait for Jay to be here in the flesh too!
Hopefully Eliana and Jay will get to play together someday!
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