Annoyed.

I’m annoyed that SOME PEOPLE abused the Babies-R-Us Loyalty Rewards Program in such a way that caused Babies-R-Us to change their Loyalty Rules – aka, I can’t be retro-credited for loyalty points for a purchase I made on Saturday when their system was down and they were unable to look up my loyalty number. (I’ve been waiting for nearly 8 weeks now for my replacement loyalty card – it takes 6-8 weeks to replace, so when I do make purchases they need to look me up by phone number.) I already had my ONE retro-credit back in August -> when the cashier had two separate purchases for me and neglected to add the loyalty number to the second purchase. So, it’s been their fault BOTH times I’ve needed the retro-credit. And because it’s their fault, I get screwed?

I know it must seem that I just go after companies for their faults. But I really don’t. I happen to have been screwed just in the past few weeks.

Thanks God, I get the message, you’re toughening me up for something. I’m preparing myself. Thanks.

PS. Nothing against Babies-R-Us, but this new system sucks. You should be able to tell who is abusing it (people who consistently add receipts from multiple stores and in large, frequent amounts) and who isn’t (<–me). I only patron one Babies-R-Us because there are few here in our Little City and the closest one is 20-25 mintues away from where we live. We buy our baby furniture there (on crib #3 now, dresser #2), not to mention the clothes, diapers, wipes, liquid formula for the first few months after our TWINS were born before they were allowed to have powder formula, strollers, car seats (four total, so far), baby soaps, a breastpump, baby accessories, toys, stuffed animals, bed sheets, etc.

My receipt should be able to be added ESPECIALLY during times when your system has been down and you are unable to look up loyalty numbers. Especially when it shows I’ve requested a replacement card AND it shows that the card is still being processed. Just as I honor your place-of-business by spending thousands upon thousands of dollars at your store, you should honor my business by respecting that it was “your fault” that the system failed on Saturday and add my receipts.

Growl.

Update: I called my local Babies-R-Us AND my local Toys-R-Us & explained my situations. (I also had a receipt from Toy-R-Us -> the cashier did not ask me for my loyalty number and I subsequently forgot to give it to her at the time of purchase). Both my local B-R-Us and T-R-Us said to come on down to the store with my receipt and they’d have no trouble adding my loyalty number to the receipt so I could get my points for my purchases. So off we (me + my pregnant belly + my two year old twins) went to get our loyalty number added! All the cashiers needed to do was make a straight return/exchange and add the loyalty number to the new receipt – not very difficult, nor time consuming.

Can anyone from Toys-R-Us/Babies-R-Us Corporate explain to me why your corporate customer service can’t accomodate your (corporate system’s) own faults but your stores can? … … Yeah, it doesn’t make sense to me either.

Grandma’s Visit, 19 pound babies, and Expedia Coupons

First things first – Tucker from Expedia explains to me that there was a technical “oopsie” that prevented all the supervisors with whom I spoke to figure out what was going on with my refund, etc. This oopsie will be corrected in the future so Expedia customers can be kept informed as to the status of their refund, etc. Then he gave us a $100 coupon good for travel use in the next year. That was really nice of him even though I’m not so sure we’ll be using it. Thanks Tucker! 🙂

Hopefully I’ve helped out a future customer to avoid such a ridiculous, blood-boiling, annoying occurrence that I unfortunately experienced.

Moving On…

Nineteen Pound Babies. Apparently the mother had gestational diabetes. I’m surprised that if the doctors were aware of her GD that they let the baby get THIS BIG. I mean, WOW. Talk about dangerous for mother AND baby. I’m glad the baby is doing well & seemingly healthy.

Can you imagine, NINETEEN POUNDS? Obviously, the baby would be delivered by C-Section or you’d really be looking at 4th degree tear. HAHA. Oh, I shouldn’t joke about tearing, I know. I’m sooooooo afraid of tearing. But I DO know that my baby won’t be nineteen pounds… and it’s very likely my little Snowdrop won’t even be nine pounds.

NINETEEN. WOW. I wonder what Michelle Duggar thinks of that?

I love the Duggars. I do. I think they’re a remarkable family and I think we could all learn a lot from them. They’re living debt-free, teaching their kids to be responsible for themselves and to give back to their world and community. The Duggars are amazing. I do wish I could be more like them. And that there were more people in the world like them.

Moving on again…. my Grandma’s visit!

I was so excited to hear she was coming to town. Hubby and I stayed up until 2am cleaning our house last night so it would look nice for when she came. We remarked that we think it’s actually the cleanest it has been since we moved in (yikes!). I’m not surprised by this, nor grossed out by it either. We’ve been busy. Lots of things have taken precedence over cleaning – like enjoying our newborn babies and sleeping when they did! 🙂

So our house is clean. YAY! I got sick last night – threw up for the first time in a while. I’m hoping it’s just a combination of the antibiotics I’m on, the two Flintstone vitamins I take before bed, AND the fact that I was up super late last night. I really hope I’m not more sick. Yikes, that would stink. I’m going to bed as soon as Curb Your Enthusiasm is over.

So I picked up my Nana from the airport and we headed home. She smells just like she always did. Not a bad smell, but the smell of her house – etc. You know what I’m talking about, right? I’m so glad she was here. She’s my only living grandmother (and has been for quite some time) and she had never met Juniper & Magnolia. It was about time!! 🙂 I’m one of her more than fifty grandchildren (but I AM the 2nd grandchild of them all!) and we live in different states so I’m not surprised it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. It was such a nice thing to see her.

The girls were really shy and wouldn’t go near her. We did get some pictures of the hour of us together, so I’m really glad about that. Magnolia gave her a hug at the end of the night but Junie wasn’t really cooperating. She’s a skeptical one, that Junie. 🙂 But the girls were really cute and funny at dinner so Nana really got a kick out of that! And she told us some funny stories about my dad. Like how he refused to potty train and how he drank out of a bottle until he was three. She also told a really great story about when he wasn’t doing well in school (third grade) and the teacher was sending home notes to tell Nana that he wasn’t doing well. My dad was throwing the notes in the creek on the way home so my Nana never got them!! HAHAHAHA. I really REALLY got a kick out of that. SOOOOOOOOO funny, especially if you know my dad. He always seemed a play-by-the-rules kind of guy to me.

Nana is doing well. She’s in town for a business meeting. I’m so proud of her. She’s a very religious (CATHOLIC) woman. She’s a super conservative Republican. And very involved in the things she believes in. At the ripe old age of 70-something, she’s still active and participating and fighting for what she believes in. It’s remarkable and I’m so proud to be her granddaughter. When I was a kid, she ran for Congress. Twice. Both times, we helped go door to door passing out literature and campaigning for her to win. She would have made a fantastic congresswoman and I think our country would be better today. She’s so strong in her beliefs and she really knows how to fight the good fights. Both times she ran for Congress, I prayed and prayed that she wouldn’t win because I didn’t want her to move away and not have time for me anymore. She didn’t win. Either time. And I knew at an early age that God listened to me when I prayed for something I really wanted.

Time for some Curb and lots of ni-ni.

Grandma’s Coming to Visit!

I’m so excited! My grandma is coming to visit tomorrow!! Only for the afternoon/evening but I’m excited just the same. She lives in Florida (as many of the older folks do) but will be in town for some political thingamabob this weekend. I haven’t seen her since before the girls were born AND she’s never met her great-granddaughters!! We used to spend a good amount of time together when we both lived in the Big City. She taught me to sew, to cook a few things, and basically just enjoyed my company. I’m soooooooooo excited to see her!!!

That being said… I’ve got lots to do today to clean up the house and make it look “pretty” for her visit. She had seven kids and never kept a “perfect” house so she doesn’t expect me to have my house that way – but I still want it looking fabulous. 🙂

I’m SO EXCITED!!!!!

Gardenia is having a name change…

Okay…. so Miss Gardenia is already having a name change!!

I love it when it snows. In the Big City, we got lots of snow in the wintertime (sometimes even in the fall and springtime!). I LOVE SNOW. I LOVE IT! The crisp whiteness of freshly fallen snow, the smell after it snows, the crunch of it beneath my feet, the sight of it falling soft or hard from the sky… snow is beautiful however it comes. In the Little City, it doesn’t snow enough for my liking. Our winters are mild & the very chance of snow sends the city into a tizzy with schools being canceled and people rushing to the grocery stores to stock up on canned goods. When I was in school in the Big City, school got canceled TWICE. TWICE. We went to school in a blizzard. Sure, sometimes we got sent home early but for the most part we dealt with the weather.

ANYWAYS… I love the snow. While both Hubby & I thought it would be fun for our next baby to be born in September (we were going to try next January for another September baby but God got to us first!), I’m excited for the idea that our third child is due in December – I just might have a snow baby! 🙂 We joke that I’ll probably have to drive myself to the hospital (with Hubby in the passenger seat) because I’ll go into labor during a big snowstorm and since I’m obviously a better snow driver than he is … I’d be the one to drive – haha. It’s true though, I’m a better snow driver.

I got to thinking how beautiful it would be to incorporate some “winter” theme into her name. At first, we thought Noelle for a middle name if she was born around Christmas. Friends of ours just named their new baby girl Noelle so… that’s out, more or less! 🙂 No worries there because I’ve found the perfect solution. Instead of her being Gardenia, to match her sisters Juniper & Magnolia, she is going to be called Snowdrop. It’s a simple but beautiful white flower with marvelous green tints on the inside. And the perfect name for my third daughter, in fact.

So, Miss Gardenia is no longer… as she has become Miss Snowdrop. I like it much better and it certainly seems to fit, regardless of whether she’s born on a snowy day. Once I said it out loud I KNEW it was the perfect “botanical” name for her. Perfect!

Juniper, Magnolia, & Snowdrop. My precious daughters. 🙂

****

In other news, tomorrow I will be 26 weeks pregnant with 14 weeks left to go!!! I’m so excited!!! I can’t believe how fast this has gone! I’m feeling pretty well… for the most part. Been having some real contractions here and there – never too many in an hour but it IS something I’ve been keeping watch over. I don’t think I’ll carry Snowdrop full-term but you never know. I’m still guessing Thanksgiving weekend for her birthday. I’m HUGE, getting bigger every day, it seems! I know they told me there is only one baby in there, but isn’t it possible that there was a second one hiding? Possible the ultrasound tech with twenty-four years of experience missed a second baby? Possible that they were just laying in such a way that it made it look like one, big baby? In light of my life and all the wacky things that have happened to me, I’d say it IS possible… not likely, but there’s probably some sort of chance.

Or maybe I’m just having a big baby? Not likely, but probably as good of a chance as a second baby hiding out! 🙂

Hubby & I spent some time last night (like two hours) clearing out & cleaning up our third floor, where Snowdrop’s room will be. We’ve managed to pitch a lot of trash (YAY!) and get a ton of “stuff” stored away in the closets. It’s amazing how big & nice the room has become just from what we did last night. I’m going on Wednesday to pick out carpet samples for our stairs/hallway/third floor & hopefully (HOPEFULLY) Hubby will be able to paint the baby’s room in the next two weeks so we can get the carpet installed, the furniture set up, and get the decorating done so we can just relax for the last few months of this pregnancy! 🙂 We’re working on the room more tonight so I’m super excited things are coming along! 🙂

Juniper & Magnolia are really surprising me every day with their speech improvements. It seems like they’re saying new words/phrases every day & really starting to excel and feel comfortable with trying to talk. They’ve also been singing quite a bit! Sometimes they even get the tune right! SO CUTE!! I really have to catch it on video some time soon.

No one has used the potty this week. Sad, but true. They’ll get back on the horse, so to speak, soon enough. We’re not pushing the potty training, we’re just letting them pace the process. Soon enough, soon enough. 🙂

The girls have also started pulling out our dining room table when it’s time for lunch!!! It’s so funny – I also can’t believe they’re so strong!! I’ll ask if they’re hungry and they’ll say “yes” and pull the table out and sit in their big girl chairs. We’re foregoing buying booster seats for the chairs as they seem to be able to sit, eat & not move for the most part. We’re also leaving the highchairs up here for now as some days they are not as well-behaved as others. When they don’t eat a good lunch (i.e. food on the floor, all over the table, etc) then they have to eat dinner in their highchairs. It’s a good system and seems to be working.

Speaking of… it’s time for Sesame Street & Lunch. I’ve begun keeping the TV off during the mornings and waiting until Sesame (followed by Caillou) comes on. They seem more interested in watching (which is great for keeping them in their seats and continually eating during lunch) & it’s obviously much better for them to NOT watch TV every hour that they’re awake. I’m also enjoying not listening to their TV shows, haha! 🙂

We got our money back!!!

What do ya know! Within HOURS of telling the last supervisor I spoke with that we were contacting our lawyer in the morning and taking legal action against the company, the money was back in my account.

Funny the way things work, isn’t it?

I’m just glad we got our money back, that I don’t have to call the Senior V-P of Expedia Corporate Customer Operations today, and that I no longer have to deal with this ridiculous BS.

I WILL however be canceling my account and never using them ever again.

STILL Haven’t Gotten Our Money Back from Expedia.

You can read all about my trouble with Expedia, here.

Hubby says to wait until tomorrow morning to check our bank again for receipt of the money. I shall do so. I’m also expecting a phone call today from, “___”, the woman who said the refund would be back in my account by today, “FOR SURE”.

For sure, I will never be using Expedia for anything after the money is back in my account.

Update: I am contacting Tucker Moodey, Senior V-P of Expedia Corporate Customer Operations tomorrow morning regarding our refund. I believe it kind of him to reach out to me upon reading my previous blog regarding Expedia. Clearly, he cares more about the company than the people working in the “customer service department” based on the fact that he found my little blog and cared to comment.

2 Year Check-Up went Fantastically! And a short Baby Update!!

The girls had their two year old check-up today with the pediatrician. Everything checked out fine! Both girls are in the 25th percentile for height and weight – not surprising or of concern because I was always less than that when I was growing up. In fact, at three years old I weighed only a pound more than they do right now (at two)… tiny people procreate more tiny people! Haha!! 🙂

Both girls are right on target as far as all the questions the doc asked us about talking, stacking blocks, responding to their names, etc etc etc. Neither girl tested positive for autism (we had to fill out a YES/NO questionnaire) although we admitted they do seem to wander aimlessly around our main room sometimes. The doc assured us that their wandering is not the same wandering a child with autism might have and that we need not be concerned. Awesome! 🙂 I wasn’t really concerned about autism but you never know.

My youngest brother is autistic but my parents have never admitted this to anyone & don’t have him treated or in therapy for it. It’s created a lot of issues for us, his schoolmates, and others & it’s really sad that they refuse to admit it. We have a friend who works with severly autistic children – like, she has a masters degree and is one of the top people in the city where we live who works with these children. When my family was in town last year & she met them, after they left she said to my husband, “Wow, I had no idea Lady’s brother was so autistic!” So, he’s autistic, big whoop – but it’s a shame my parents don’t admit it so he can get some help. We’d all be better off.

ANYWAYS… 🙂 Magnolia was better behaved (duh) and actually let the doctor look in her ears, her eyes, her mouth, and listen to her heartbeat. Oh did Juniper squirm and move around and squeeze her lips together so the doctor couldn’t get a great look at her. He got well enough a look though so that’s nice. 🙂 They each got a shot for Hep A (standard procedure vaccinations) and we declined getting a Flu Vaccine shot. I’ve never had a Flu Vaccine shot – not that I’ve never gotten the Flu, I just don’t think it’s really that important to get. Hubby feels the same way, most notably because the one year he actually got the Flu Vaccine, he winded up getting the Flu! We’ll take the chance and if they end up getting really sick we know we’ll be heading straight to the hospital for fluids and medical interventions.

We also got a prescription for Junie’s terrible constipation. Miralax. I haven’t decided yet if we’ll get it filled… I’d kind of like to try some more natural approaches to this issue. (She’s going to hate me later when she realizes I’ve spread her constipation issues on the web. Haha.) I kind of feel like it’s not even constipation… she can poop, she just doesn’t like to so she holds it in for days until it’s just, like, as big as her arm! I know, TMI. Or not? Does anyone else have this problem with their toddler? She’s always had big poops so this is not a potty training issue – it’s more of a “she’s older now” issue and she realizes she can “hold it” if she really tries… which just backfires in the end. *sigh* The life & times of a toddler with poop problems. LOL. 🙂

So the girls are doing well and the doctor, of course, is happy to take on another patient when our next little girl is born!

We have the middle name picked and her ‘third’ name picked. Our girls are not known by others as Juniper & Magnolia. I mean, people know that’s what we wanted to name them it’s just not what we ended up naming them. Too much backlash from both Hubby’s and my parents caused us to change their names to “something more normal”. Looking back on it, we were NUTS to listen to our parents about this. Also looking back, if Hubby was as stubborn as me and could stand his ground… we probably would have ended up giving them the legal names of Juniper & Magnolia. We’ve called them by J & M since birth, along with their “legal” names and they answer to all of them. It’s neat, and we really love their “real names” (Juniper & Magnolia). Word of advice to expecting parents -> do not under any circumstance share the names you’ve chosen for your unborn baby!!! Wait until the kid is born & THEN tell everyone his/her name. You will thank yourself for this later on. 🙂

In light of June & Maggie’s situation, we’ve decided to give our newest little girl her own, botanical “third” name. This time, it’s going on the birth certificate. First Second Botanical Last. That’s how it will read. And we’ll use it as a nickname/lovie-name like we use Juniper & Magnolia for the girls.

Drumroll please………. we’ve decided on Gardenia for our littlest lady. Both Hubby & I LOVE Gardenia flowers. He would have worn one at our wedding but he would have looked like a clown (with a water shooting flower) had he worn a huge Gardenia flower on his tux! He regrets not wearing one; I’m glad I was able to say the florist said so. Hahaha. 🙂 Hubby’s grandma also really loved gardenias so it’s also a small nod to her in memory.

Miss Juniper & Miss Magnolia & Miss Gardenia. I’m so excited for my little flower ladies!!! 🙂

Give me my money back NOW, Expedia.

“You will receive your refund within 7-10 business days.” -August 17th.

“Your refund has already been processed. You should see the money back in your account within 1-2 billing cycles.” – August 27th.

“Your refund shows it has been processed. Call your bank to expedite the payment.” -September 2nd.

Called Bank. They don’t have a clearing period for account holders like us. Our payments clear immediately.

“Delta has taken over your records for payment refunds. Expedia sent the payment refund to Delta on Aug 17th. Delta will be refunding your account… hold on a minute. (fifteen minute hold) Okay. I have arranged for your payment to be reprocessed. It will be in your account by next week Wednesday, September 16th. Please call us back to confirm this on the 16th.” -September 8th.

“The refund has been processed. Delta will be refunding your payment. The bank may be holding your payment. No one is available at Delta to check the status of your refund.” -September 16th, the day the refund was promised to be back into our account.

On hold right now waiting for a supervisor. GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK YOU FUCKING BITCHES.

UPDATE 9/17 (and boy is it a long one!): Spoke with a supervisor (9/16, I just didn’t have the strength to update this yesterday…) who informed me that he really “doesn’t know how all this refunding works” (oh, and you’re a supervisor why??) and that there is “no phone number for the refund department”. Oh. So the “supervisor” doesn’t know how the company or his job works AND the department that could expedite my payment & tell me more information on the status of it, is inaccessible.

This makes total sense. No really, it does. This way no one has to be accountable for anything. Awesome. <— Sarcastic Font Needed Here…

Also, he tells me I can try calling Delta mysef. And that he has put a $50 hotel coupon in my account for later use on our next trip. (HAHAHAHAHA. As IF I’d ever use Expedia after this ridiculous problem. In the words of Cher from Clueless “AS IF.”)

So I spoke with Delta later on 9/16. Apparently, the refund was processed – through Expedia. Not Delta. Delta is not the one refunding the money, Expedia is the one refunding the money. So I thought, of course, but it was still nice to have this confirmation from Delta themselves.

Called Expedia back to speak with a supervisor – After insisting that there’s a waiting period at our bank, she then suggested that we do a conference call with my bank. What, so she can prove me wrong?? Because as I had told her, I had spoken with our banker that morning to get the story on payments and payment waiting time, etc. She phoned my banker, spoke to him for a few minutes, and when she came back to me it turns out that everything I had told her about there not being any waiting period at our bank – was true. Hm. Imagine that. She said that she still did not know why it wasn’t posting to our account and that she would call me back in “a couple hours”.

Now. A couple is two. A few is three or four. Several is five to seven. I’m sure you understand where I’m going. My husband laughed and laughed at me saying I wouldn’t get a call back from her. So two hours later, I called back. Asked to speak to a supervisor, asked the supervisor to transfer me to “___” who was supposed to be looking into a refund problem. I wanted an update. Good or bad, I need to be kept in the loop.

The man had the AUDACITY to accuse me of being impatient. IMPATIENT for not waiting the normal 7-10 business days for my refund to be issued back into my account. At which point, I let it loose. I have been nice to everyone I’ve spoken to at Expedia. Nice in the sense that I let them know it’s not their fault but that I want my money back. I haven’t even used profanity. I haven’t raised my voice. Not once. I did not use profanity at this man, but the nerve of him to say that I’m being impatient. When I’ve been lied to by everyone I’ve spoken to at the company, when my refund has been “processed” twice and I’m still not recieving the money. When I’ve ONLY USED EXPEDIA SINCE 2002 – not Kayak, not Travelocity, not Priceline, not American Airlines or United Airlines websites – just Expedia. I’ve even been to Europe twice using tickets bought & paid for through Expedia. I’m actually a loyal customer.

So said man is an arrogant ass who insisted that if “___” gave me her word that she’d call me back then she will and he will “go to her spot” and let her know that I’m waiting for a return call. (Wait, so he can walk over to her desk but he can’t transfer a phone call to her???)

The woman supervisor, “___”, did call me back about an hour after that. All she was able to tell me is that the refund has been processed and it will “FOR SURE” be back in my account by 9/21/09 in the full amount that we paid for our plane tickets. She also said she will call me on 9/21/09 to confirm this.

So now I’ve been told for what seems the tenth time that my refund will “definitely/for sure” be in my account by ‘said date’. RIGHTO.

Of course, I’ll be updating this post on 9/21 to let everyone know what happened. Did I get my refund back? Did we take legal action against Expedia? You’ll just have to come back and find out. OOH, the suspense!!

Happy Birthday Girls!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughters. I can’t believe you’re already two years old!! I’m so proud to be your mommy & I’m so proud of you both every day.

I love you Pumpkinheads!! 🙂

The Big Birthday Weekend!!!

Today is my Dad’s Birthday. Tomorrow is mine. And Sunday… the girls turn TWO. I can hardly believe how fast time has flown…

Growing up, my Dad and I always shared our “Birthday Dinners Out” and almost always we shared a cake. Sometimes I hated this but as I grew up it became more special that we “shared” our birthdays.

When I got pregnant, and then married and then moved from the Big City to the Little City, I was finally due to have my very OWN birthday!! Despite saying the entire pregnancy that the girls were going to be born a month early on my birthday – I woke up that morning feeling great! I thought I still had a whole day to get through, but they’d probably end up being born closer to the end of September than their due date of Oct 14th. My very OWN birthday!! I was so excited. What would I do with MY day? I’d have my OWN cake… or cupcakes – I’d have to make it myself b/c Hubby wasn’t going to! I went shopping, walked around the Mall for three hours and treated myself to my favorite Starbucks drink (a triple tall carmel machiatto, yep a triple). For dinner, Hubby and I went to Maggiano’s… we had plenty of leftovers because by then I could only eat just a little bit before I felt “full”. 🙂 We came home, played the Game of LIFE and had some birthday sex. I guess taking a chance with that last one.

Within half an hour after that – contractions had started, an hour after that contractions were still going full force, and off to the hospital we went. 🙂 Sure enough, those girls weren’t born ON my birthday – they were born the day after my birthday.

So I had ONE birthday all to myself and will now share my birthday fun with them forever and ever. And I am happy to do for them as Dad did for me. This all being said…

I can’t believe how time has flown. It does seem like yesterday that we were headed to the hospital, that I was told it would be no time at all before they popped out… and then nearly 19 hours later to have them arrive via c-section. Last year for their birthday, my family came down from the Big City to celebrate. We had a nice sit-down family dinner at our house and spent time with each other just opening presents. My family isn’t coming down this year but we’re still having a nice sit-down family dinner here with Hubby’s parents and Grandpa. I feel like they don’t really NEED a party yet and since there will be no chance escaping parties once they get a little older – for now, it suits me just fine to have only immediate family over for dinner.

I’ve got a lot of baking to do before Sunday… two organic cakes, one for each girl. I wouldn’t dare have them share a cake. 😉

Blogs I Read

There are several blogs I go back to over & over & over again. I’ve found solace in reading about other parents’ trials & tribulations with their multiples (or singletons… although I’m pretty sure most of the ones I read are multiples blogs). I often wish that we had the Internet while I was pregnant with the girls. I begged & begged & begged and it wasn’t until I threw a HUGE fit when the girls were four months old that we actually got the Internet. We didn’t even have cable yet & being home with newborn twins, watching Maury Paternity Tests… I was losing my mind. Seriously.

So I kicked up the dramatics quite a bit & got my way. Seriously though, I NEEEEEDED the Internet. I’m about 300 miles from the Big City, my friends, my former life…. I needed to connect to them somehow. Sure we could phone each other but it’s so often faster and easier to send each other emails about our days and get back to each other when we have free minutes.

I didn’t start reading blogs for nearly a year. I wish I had! I would have learned so much. There are several blogs that I keep current on… some even checking daily for updates. Some little story sucked me in and now I’m hooked on them! Here are my favorite three blogs, in no particular order:

Three Cheers for Babies!

The stories of a set of triplets. I’ve been following them since their birth and was immediately sucked into the miracle that is their little lives. Lily, Charlie, and Annaleigh were born at 25w5d. All three babies had their ups & downs and then Annaleigh sadly passed a couple weeks ago. I think everyone who followed the blog has been touched by all the wonderful, and the heartbreaking, stories and posts from Joe & Brooke (the parents). I know that I have been touched. Charlie & Lily have been doing very well lately and soon they will be able to go home! YAY! 🙂

The Great Umbrella Heist

Another blog about triplets. These triplets however are identical! I think there is less than one in a million chance of a possibility for this to happen. AMAZING!! Their mother, Sarah, keeps up this blog (Dad, Rich, also has a blog, here, and he’s been writing more and more lately. It’s neat to see the two perspectives.) The triplets were miraculously conceived a few months after Sarah & Rich lost their daughter Abigail at birth. Their girls are a bit older than my girls and one daughter has had issues with her kidneys. Having a daughter who has had kidney problems… this speaks out to me. It’s rarely a focus of their blog however I think this is what first drew me to reading it. This is definitely one of my favorites out there.

JungleTwins

Ah, the JungleTwins. I wasn’t sure when I first started reading this blog that I would fall in love with it! Nearly a year later, I find myself hoping for new posts to see what’s new in the Jungle. JungleMom lives in the jungle (duh) on a remote Hawaiian island. JungleDad is a scientist who spends many days a month away from home and up in a volcano! (Thrilling!!) From geckos in the house to avoiding the other mothers on the island (they’re nuts!!)… I just love everything I read! JungleMom writes with such humor and honesty – I find myself laughing hardest because I’ve been there! … Well, I haven’t been in a yurt on an island with out-there-mommies but I’ve had days where food and poop are everywhere and everything seems to be going wrong! This blog is great! 🙂

Thanks to my favorite blogs for all the fantastic stories and for sharing with me! 🙂

C-Section vs VBAC?

My doctor is a supporter of either option I choose. She says I’m a good candidate for a VBAC because my previous c-section was mainly due to my not progressing after 18 1/2 hours of labor, the twin factor, & Baby A freaking out. So basically, it’s totally up to me to decide.

Oh, good. It’s so easy for me to make decisions. (Sarcasm Font Needed Here.)

When I had the girls, I went into the hospital with every intention of birthing them vaginally with no drugs at all. The labor pains weren’t terrible. (Seriously. I only progressed to 7cm before I stopped progressing & Baby A freaked out. Don’t hate me for not being in a ton of pain. Don’t get me wrong, it hurt – but it wasn’t awful or unbearable. It wasn’t the type of pain I’d need medicine for. It was more of a…. very uncomfortable hurting. Again, don’t hate me if you thought labor was the most painful EVER. Sidenote: Also, I rarely if ever get cramps before my period. Sometimes I think this attributed to why I didn’t progress. Maybe my lack of cramps had something to do with not having strong enough contractions to open me up?? I do get massive backaches before and after my periods so I’m not without some awful period pain…)

So like I said, labor didn’t hurt so bad. I’m not afraid of pushing a baby out my vag… I’m more afraid when I read things like my c-section uterine scar could rupture. Or, I could tear all the way through to my butthole. YUCK. OUCH. That just sounds… awful. I also don’t like the word “episiotomy”… Mainly, the rupturing is what got me questioning the whole VBAC. I’m not comfortable with the word “rupture” ESPECIALLY if it pertains to something inside my body. I just don’t like the sound of it! Based on my last “trial of labor”… my body wasn’t having it. Maybe I’m too tiny to birth a baby naturally… in which case I’d end up having a c-section after sitting in labor for another 18 hours or so.

If I DO go ahead with a VBAC, I don’t want drugs. I want to do it au naturale. A la prarie girls of the olden days…

A c-section, I’ve done. I’m “experienced” in that realm. The recovery was not fun… it took a good 8 weeks before I felt “normal” again. But it’s only 8 weeks of my life. My scar isn’t bad at all, it had practically disappeared before I got pregnant this time. I’m not really concerned about the scar anyways. So I’ve got a “battle wound”, good for me. I’m not posing for Playboy anytime soon and Lord knows I won’t be in a bikini ever again so I really don’t mind about having a scar on my belly. Meh, Playboy could always airbrush it out. 😉 I’ve also read that multiple c-sections aren’t good for the body (that makes sense, really) and that many doctors won’t perform more than three c-sections on a uterus because it gets too risky with each one. I haven’t discussed this with my doctor but I don’t want to just say “Okay, only one more baby after this!”… it’s not really up to me how many kids we have. Hubby and I have placed God in charge of that. He’s done a fine job so far! Thanks, Man! 🙂 I also really don’t like the idea of choosing my kid’s birthday – I want her to come when she wants to. I like the surprise of it all.

A c-section is more expensive than a vaginal birth. But if I attempt a vaginal birth and end up with a c-section it’s more expensive than going with a c-section in the first place. I know I shouldn’t let money decide what happens… but I can’t help but be aware of the costs of delivering a baby. We have insurance but it’s still going to be a f*ck on our savings.

Anyone out there have a VBAC? Or went through this same thing? I’d love to know how it all worked out. I have no idea what to do. 🙂

It’s a GIRL!!!

It’s a girl!! Two arms, two legs, a four-chamber heart, and two healthy looking kidneys. YAY!!!!

I think Hubby is disappointed. I’m not sure. I guess he probably IS considering he really wanted a boy… but that’s not what was intended for him, I suppose. Nor for me.

Three daughters. This will be our third. I hope she is also redheaded. 🙂 I’m so excited that I can finally start to decorate the nursery… and work on cutting down our name list. Which is only three names long but still. 🙂

Oh, and my due date is now December 30th, 2009. Officially, a tax deduction. 🙂

It’s a girl!!! YAY!!!