Friday, July 27, 2012

Confessions of a Mom (of Twins)

  1. Ice Cream is my kryptonite.  I don't know how to serve a small bowl of ice cream.  I grew up in New England and their idea of "small" is completely different than the rest of the country.
  2. I'm a Democrat.  I have always been pretty moderate, but the actions recently of Republicans have completely driven me away.  Old rich white men have no business trying to make decisions about women and their reproductive rights. 
  3. I (not so secretly anymore) love romance novels, especially period ones.  Currently I am reading 50 Shades of Grey and I can't put it down.  If you are looking for a profound piece of literature, it's not for you.  If you a looking for a naughty bit of fluffy romance, than this is totally for you!
  4. I used to love having long fingernails, but since I have become a mom I prefer to keep then short.  Mainly it's more practical, but I get annoyed if my nails get too long (it makes it much harder to text apply diaper cream)
  5. I have a bad habit of sending texts while in the bathroom
  6. I gave up a long time ago of trying to keep the boys food, silverware, and sippy cups separate.  They share EVERYTHING and resistance is futile. 
  7. We are huge Disney nuts here!
  8. When I was pregnant I was convinced Owynn was a girl.  After I found out they were both boys I quickly started mentally referring to each one by name.  I kind of freaked in the delivery room making sure each baby had the proper name.
  9. I support gay marriage.  It's not our job to determine who can and can not be married.  It wasn't that long ago that interracial marriages were illegal.  If two people love each other, that's all that matters.  On a more practical note, everyone deserves the legal protection that marriage can provide.  It's just not right that two people can love each other and build a life and family together, but can't marry, and have no legal right to make decisions for the other.  (Child custody, medical, end of life issues, etc.)
  10. I secretly miss my Boston accent, I want it back
  11. Everyone in our house absolutely adores My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  It is an adorable show and if you haven't seen it, you need to.  You can find it on The Hub channel and also Netflix 
  12. I carried and gave birth to twins, my body did an amazing thing.  Despite telling myself this repeatedly, I still hate how my stomach now looks.  Please?  When will you go back to looking somewhat normal?? 
  13. I am starting to get baby fever and it needs to stop! The boys are only 18 months and I don't think we are ready to welcome anymore children yet.  Besides, the boys are fraternal and that means we have a 3-4 times greater chance of having another set of twins.  4 kids under 4, no thank you! I wouldn't mind having another set of twins, but the last trimester of my pregnancy was pretty rough.  
(8/2/12) PS I finally finished 50 Shades of Grey and I think I was expecting too much based on the hype.  I still haven't decided if I'm going to read the other books.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Why did it have to be a Rotary???

My workplace is located at the busiest intersection in the city.  And for years and years and years there has been a stoplight at said intersection.  The city though, in all it's brilliance decided that this stoplight was no longer the best option.  With shocking speed, the city decided, got approval, and started construction on a rotary.  Or for those of you who live in the mid-west "roundabout".  The research the city did showed that this intersection has the most accidents in the city; and that rotaries are statistically safer than traditional stoplights.

The thing is though, we are not a city of rotaries, I'm pretty sure we are not a state of rotaries.  They are pretty darn rare out here.  I grew up in New England, and they are much more common out there, so I understand how they work.  Apparently drivers out here are pretty clueless, and it is frightening.

And the city, oh the city, they decided to make the rotary a 3 lane rotary.  3 LANES!  What were they thinking?!  The outermost lane has to make the first right after they enter the rotary, while the middle lane can go around the whole thing.  I'm afraid of what will happen when they open the inner most lane, because once you get into it you are going around in a circle several times before someone let's you merge into the middle lane.  Currently the construction is not finished yet, but they opened one lane of the rotary on Monday.  Surprise surprise, there was an accident the very first day. 

Drivers here just don't understand how to drive around a rotary.  Our city is not terribly large, and it has been a big topic of conversation around here (especially at work).  A rotary is a large circle with several spokes at which you enter and exit.  Cars trying to enter the rotary must yield to those already in the rotary (as evidenced by the GIANT yield sign at every entrance).  This fact has been lost on a large amount of drivers, because as I have heard and frighteningly experienced this evening, many drivers are stopping in the middle of the rotary to let people trying to enter the rotary in.  OMG people, NO!  Please please please stop doing this.  I can only imagine how many more accidents are going to take place.  I would avoid the rotary if I could, but the back entrance to work is closed and I can't turn left onto the main road, so I am forced to go around the entire rotary every day when I leave.  I am not a happy camper about the whole thing.  Construction has been a mess, it's hurt our business, and people don't know how to drive in a rotary.  Ugh!  I really really hope that with time people will start to understand how the rotary works and there will be less accidents. 

Friday, July 13, 2012

Thoughts On Going Back to School???

We had an intern help us out at work the other night.  And I found out that one of the schools of ( x career) in the state offers a completely online degree.  What?!  I lived in the city where the only 2 schools of X in the state are located for years and I NEVER KNEW this!  I've only been doing my current job for the past 8 years.  Seriously, how did I not know?

Anyways, this put a little bug in my brain and I have been doing some thinking lately.  One of the reasons I have not thought about what I currently do as a career (or teaching, which was what I originally started school majoring in) is that I would have to spend 3 years of school on a very strict class schedule.  And really there isn't a very feasible way currently to go back to school full time during the day.  I work full time and I have John and the boys to care for.  So finding out that this school (although the more expensive of the 2, by A LOT) offers the entire degree on-line makes a big difference. 

I have to decide though, do I want to stay on this path and actually do this as a career? I see the company I work for and they have an increasingly large "do more with less" mentality and it is really starting to take it's toll.  Plus the hours vary so much and when you first graduate you have to "float" around town so you are rarely at the same store for any length of time.  At the same time I could always work in a different environment in the same field with more normal hours.

If I do decide to do this, many many years from now when I would finally finish I would be getting paid at least 3 times what I am currently.  Which to me would be an awful lot of money, and make us a lot more financially secure.  Maybe we could actually afford to buy a house!   My current work also offers sign on bonuses if you elect to move to an under served area of the country.  Plus I can do this anywhere, so if we ever moved it wouldn't be an issue. 

One of the cool things is that I would graduate with my doctorate degree in just a 4 year program (plus at least 2 years at full time for undergrad).  How awesome would that be to technically be a "Dr."  Mommy the Dr. =) 

I have been thinking about this quite a bit and have started thinking of some of the logistics.  I would have to do a lot of undergrad work before going to actual X school (3 years classroom, 1 year in field rotations).  I think we could swing it financially, I never took out student loans when I originally started school, so I would be eligible for what ever the current amount the government lets you borrow now.  My work also has a tuition assistance program, they will help you with both undergrad and professional school, increasing with each year you complete.  I think ultimately in the long run I would end up going to 3 different schools to complete the whole thing.  X school that offers the distance program is a costly private college (but it has a distance program!).  I have to look into it some more, but I think I can do a lot of my basic core classes at the community college, then transfer to the state university to get into the pre-X program to finish my pre-reqs.  Then complete the x-program using the online distance learning program at the private college.  I'm a little bummed that the state university medical center doesn't have a program like this.  From what I have learned is that this college is the only school in the country that offers a distance learning program for this particular field.  At first I would go back part time to see how I can handle it on top of everything else.  But if I decided to take just a class or two first I think we can swing paying for it without having to take out student loans.  Especially if I wait until we file taxes again next year, I can put some of our refund towards classes.

I know it's only been a few days since I found out about the distance learning option, but my brain is starting to kick it into over drive on this.  It is a huge commitment to make to do something like this, and will take years to complete (especially at part time), then X school is 4 years at full time.  And just thinking about the massive student loan debt has me more than just a little worried.  But I would be able to provide so much more for my family I think it makes it totally worth it.  Current grads in this profession are being offered about $50 an hour right out of school (omg!)  Here is my little thought process on this.   
At $50/hour = approx $8,000/month before taxes
Say that leaves me with $7,000/month after taxes
$7,000
-$1,000 student loan payment monthly
-$1,000 mortgage monthly
-------------
$5,000 to do with as we please (well you know, after utilities and insurance, etc...)
So say, $4,000, but still, that is a lot of money.  To me this means: John doesn't have to go back to work part time if he doesn't want to.  He has a lot of anxiety issues and being home with the boys full time has been a huge help to him.  It also means we don't have to send the kiddos to daycare.  Not that I have a problem with daycare, but it's something we want to avoid for our kids.  We can actually save money! And be able to afford to buy a home.  Plus if something happens, like my glasses or the tv breaking for example, it wouldn't cause a huge money crisis (because both of those things have happened recently and it is).  We could actually afford to go out to dinner (instead of me thinking that $50 spent on a nice dinner out would get us soooo much more in groceries), go on vacation (not even a big one, just a weekend trip to KC would be nice), not having to monitor every penny we spend.  The 2 biggest things though that would be amazing is 1: not having to live paycheck to paycheck (it is no fun) and 2: Owning our own home, which I want to BADLY.  We struggle right now, quite a bit, and I don't want to live like this forever.  I've been trying to come up with ways to better our situation and going back to school  seems like it would be the ticket to a better life for us.  Right now, at the very beginning of the potential journey, it seems daunting, but I know everyone would be so much better for it in the end. 

So it seems like I have managed to talk myself into this.  I guess the next step is to start gathering as much info as possible.  Find out if I am able to get student loans, if I can at part time if I need to, and will credits from the community college transfer to the 2 other schools I would end up going to.  Also what undergrad classes I need, and when they are offered.  I can do this, I know I can!  I am stronger than I think I am =)


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

HIDA Scan

So I had my HIDA scan on Friday...  It wasn't as bad as I had feared, but it was still yucky and my stomach felt off for the rest of the day.  My Dr. is most concerned about the gallbladder function part of the test, which was the part that had me the most worried.  I have been having a lot of stomach pain, nausea, and acid reflux lately.  The reflux has been going on for a few years, but it's been getting progressively worse, and has been pretty bad recently.

Essentially what the HIDA scan does is watch how your body processes things.  They injected me with a radioactive tracer first.  The syringe for the medication was metal, METAL!  Luckily it just went into my iv, but the sight of it really threw me off.  The first hour of the test they put you under a camera that catches the gamma radiation you are now emitting.  (According to John, "Jessie smash!")  This part was easy, boring though.  They watch and see how it flows from your liver, to the gallbladder, and finally into the small intestine.  If your gallbladder does not show up during this then they give you a nice dose of morphine (I was soooo hoping for that!).  Unfortunately for me mine did show up.  I got an iv dose of a synthetic hormone they called the cheeseburger and fries.  What it does is simulate you eating a large fatty meal and forces your gallbladder to contract.  They gave it to me over the course of a half an hour and watched how quickly my gallbladder contracted to deal with it.   I was full of questions during my procedure, and apparently years ago they used to give you the dose all at once; that caused people to have all sorts of really bad reactions to it.  Mostly horrible nausea and vomiting (joy!)  It was weird feeling like my stomach was full even though I hadn't eaten.  About 10 minutes into that part I started feeling a little nauseous, but by the 20 minute mark the feeling had mostly gone away.  Although my stomach did feel somewhat off the rest of the day.  I was very thankful that my reaction wasn't severe (I was soooo worried it would be).  The nurse who gave me the drug assured me that it really doesn't bother most people and shouldn't make me sick.  The man who did my test (from nuclear medicine) told me that if the gallbladder functions at 40% or greater than it is considered normal.  If it functions at 5-10% then the Dr usually recommends having it removed.  If it functions somewhere between those percentages then they usually talk about changes to diet and lifestyle to try and help make you feel better.      

I should hear back from my Dr this week, hopefully before the 4th of July.  If my gallbladder is functioning normally then I will probably need more tests.  If it isn't really functioning then I would have to have it removed.  Boo for surgery, but then at least I would know what's wrong and could finally start feeling normally again.  I really don't want to fall into the diet changes category.  I'm tired of having to be careful about what I eat.  Fatty, greasy, acidic, and fried foods all upset my stomach pretty nicely.  Depending on the food I can only eat them in small amounts.  I have given up orange juice all together, it just makes my stomach hurt too much.  But some days no matter how good I am my stomach will decide to completely freak out.  I get super nauseous, and once that passes I feel like I am recovering from the stomach flu.  I have to eat bland foods for a few days until my stomach finally settles back into relative normalcy.

 Hopefully I get some sort of answer soon.