Olivia was so good yesterday, until midnight. Then she decided that she did not want to sleep and had to constantly be at my breast. I wasn’t able to get her to go to sleep until 3:45 am! She woke me again less than an hour later, but I got away with just putting a dry diaper on her. I expected the next wake-up call to be around 8 am (per her usual 4 hour schedule) but the phone woke me instead a little before 9 am.

I really think we’re going to have to get our number changed. The one we have now used to belong to an air conditioning repair place and we get 1-2 calls a day for them even though the number is now unlisted. This morning’s call was from some place doing a survey of local businesses. *sigh*

At least the call woke me because Olivia hadn’t and she was overdue for a feeding. So I dragged myself out of bed and got her changed and fed and changed again. Then I decided I might as well deal with some other stuff, like calling her pediatrician. Since yesterday morning, Olivia’s left eye has been watering and getting icky discharge, so I think it might be infected. I left a message with her pediatrician.

Then I called about a disconnect notice we’d received for our Austin house. Was able to pay over the phone and not get the water shut off by explaining we’d moved and the bill hadn’t reached us in time. They’re so spastic anyway. If the bill is two days late getting paid, you get a disconnect notice.

Next I called in to correct the spelling of our last name on the new cable bill.

Then I called some of the other utilities to switch the billing from my father-in-law’s name and address to ours.

Wow. I’ve only been up 1 1/2 hours and I’ve been so productive! Still, I’m thinking about going back to bed, except that I’m waiting on the call back from the pediatrician. *sigh again*

Happy Birthday, Dale!

You’re my beloved, my best friend, and now the father of our child. Thank you for all of that!

p.s. You sure look cute in scrubs!

More baby photos are up

Update: I forgot to add that the cap was crocheted by Leesa and the pajamas were provided by Genevieve! My friends know me so well.

There is a new blog for the baby, Olivia and a gallery of photos. The blog and gallery will probably be set to restricted access soon.

The Birth Story, part 2

Thanks to the spinal, I couldn’t feel any pain, just dull sensations. It felt like the docs were getting…

I just filed this report at the National Fraud Information Center.

Starting this morning, I began receiving calls to my mobile phone from this number (866-714-9379). I missed the first four calls and no messages were left. I did not attempt to call the number. When I answered the fifth call, a woman identified herself as being with the “Government Grant Information Agency.” She told me I had been randomly selected to receive an $8,000 grant. She wanted to confirm my personal information. She knew my name, previous address (I moved just a week ago), and mobile number. She began asking for more information such as my middle name and current address (because I mentioned I had moved). I was suspicious so I told her I didn’t want to give out any more info until I learned more about her organization. She claimed they had an info packet to send me, but they wouldn’t send it until I had given them more of my personal information. She said my name had been entered into a pool of some sort because I had regularly paid my taxes. But if I didn’t give her the info she was asking for, they wouldn’t send me the info packet and they’d move on to the next person on the list. She got angry when I said I wouldn’t give her any information over the phone and to just move on to the next person on the list, then I hung up my phone. After the call, I Googled her phone number and discovered that the whole $8,000 grant was a scam to get people’s bank account information. I never even let her get as far as asking for that, though she did ask if I had a bank account. I still thought that I should report this call.

This is a classic example of why you shouldn’t give out personal information to callers and to restrict its access. If you receive a call like this, report it to your local police or go to fraud.org to fill out an online incident report.

Update: This was left in a comment below, but it’s useful information so I’ve added it to this post.

I have been researching grants for a variety of non profits for the past few years. There ARE legitimate companies, and some do charge a fee, but before engaging in any transaction it is important to research the company.Here is a list of a few factors to look for when companies contact you about grants that will let you know whether they are a scam or not.

1. Did they call you out of the blue, or did you request that they contact you? - Grants are not awarded like lotteries, so there are no “out of the blue” calls that are legitimate.

2.Do they guarantee you a certain amount of money? (I.e. Do they say “You are guaranteed to receive $5000 or more!”) - There is absolutely no way to be guaranteed a grant, so if they tell you you are guaranteed, it’s probably a scam. NO grants are awarded unless you have filled out a lengthy application.

3. Do they say a grant will be deposited into your account? - This is not the way that government grants are awarded. Again, if you have not sent in an actual application package and gone through the process, anyone telling you that they will DEPOSIT a grant is most certainly a scam. The trick is to ask the right questions - if the company is charging you money and needs to withdraw it, make sure you are clear about exactly what services they are providing and that the fee is for only those services.

4. Do they guarantee a grant within a certain period of time? (Say, 4-6 weeks?) - Applying for a grant takes time: there is a process that you have to go through to apply, and generally after the application deadline has passed, it takes an additional 30 days minimum for the agency to choose a recipient. All together, the process takes more than 4-6 weeks to complete - It is definitely a scam if someone promises you otherwise.

5. Do they promise you “Free Money” or emphasize words like “..never repay!” or “everyone qualifies!” ?? - NOT everyone qualifies for a grant, and if you do, you need to know exactly which programs you qualify for. “Free Money” does not really exist, even if you win a lottery you have to buy a ticket first. So anyone using words like “Free Money” shouldn’t be trusted.

It is important to get contact information (a phone #, a website, etc.) from the person you are dealing with, and to ask a lot of questions so that you know what is going on.
There are a few legit sites that I have encountered where you can find more information:
Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance = lists grant programs
www.grants.gov = provides info for mostly NON PROFIT organizations
www.grantability.com = determines your eligibility and provides assistance through the process for a reasonable fee
www.grantzine.com = a forum where people looking for grants can post what they learn

Sorry for the long post, but I have been “in the game” for a long time and hate seeing people get scammed, and I have really done my research!

Diaper Changing: A Cautionary Tale

A warning: The following post contains lots of baby poo. If you can’t handle that, stop reading now.

Olivia Dean was born on January 12, 2005 at 7:58 am.
At birth, she was 7lbs 4.9 oz and 19 inches long.

I am finally started to write about the last week. You can find the first installment at Operation: Conception - The Birth Story, part 1

Tons of photos have been taken and will be posted soon, I hope (hint, Dale).

Thanks to everyone for their love and support!

38 wk Checkup / Final Pre-natal

We had our final prenatal visit today. My vitals were fine. My final weight seems to be 16lbs more…

10:30am
Well, the movers were supposed to meet Dale at the house in Austin at 8:30am this morning. At 9:15, Dale called me, and he was there alone. He’d already called the movers’ office five times and no one was answering. We bitched for a couple of minutes, then he hung up to try them again. A few minutes later he called back to let me know that he’d finally gotten an answer at the office, and the movers were supposed to arrive at 9:30. He didn’t bother to complain that he’d originally been told 8:30.

At 9:45am I called Dale to let him know that the cable guy had arrived to re-run the lines out here in Houston. No big surprise, but the movers still hadn’t arrived in Austin. And the cable guy forgot to bring out a new modem. (The one he’d brought on Saturday won’t maintain a connection for more than a few seconds every once in a while, and it even has “BAD” written on the UPC sticker.) Cable guy told me we’ll see how the connection is after he’s done replacing the line, and if it’s still bad, he’ll bring out a new modem tomorrow. *sigh*

1:30pm
Dale just called to say that the movers are done, the truck is full, and they were about to head to Houston. Dale himself was going to detour to Best Buy to look at and possibly purchase a digital video camera. I’d suggested he ask for one for his birthday, but he wants to have it for Wednesday. I asked how he planned to manage the video camera and the still camera at the same time, and he said someone else would have to do video duty. I have no idea who that’ll be and he probably doesn’t either, but it makes him happy, so that’s good enough.

2:00pm
On the way to lunch with Grandmom and Al, we stopped by Time Warner’s office to swap out the bad cable modem. There are two people working. One is helping some man who’s swapping out four HD receivers and remotes. The other is patiently listening to an obnoxious woman tell an elaborate story to explain why she hadn’t paid her full bill and righteously declare why she shouldn’t have a) been cut off, and b) charged a collection fee even though she hadn’t paid her full bill. And it’s not like she can’t afford to pay. After all, she’s driving a 2004 Lexus SUV. (I’m not trying to be obnoxious. I’m quoting the woman. That garbage was part of her story. She even told the Time Warner gal that she’d honk at her on her way out of the parking lot to prove she was driving a Lexus.) Just to shut her up and get rid of her (I’m pretty sure) the Time Warner gal apologized for any hassle, made sure that the obnoxious woman’s cable was turned back on, and waived the $25 collection fee. I must have been quite a relief after that other woman’s 15 minute tirade. It took two minutes to swap out the cable modem.

4:15pm
Either I’m doing something wrong, or the problem wasn’t with the other cable modem. I still don’t have internet access. I think I have everything plugged in properly. Oh well. Dale will have to troubleshoot when he arrives.

4:45pm
The movers have arrived. Dale hasn’t. I’ve tried to corral all the cats in the master bedroom. I have 5 confirmed in place. Velcro and Pumpkin are missing.

5:00pm
I found Velcro. He was in Dale’s closet. I didn’t know that door had been left open. Pumpkin is still missing and I’m pretty sure he’s not in the master bedroom. This is bad.

5:15pm
I found Pumpkin. I remembered something odd I’d seen yesterday, so I checked that place, and there he was… inside Dale’s pinball machine. The head hasn’t been put back in place yet and there was an opening for all the connecting wires. It’s pretty small, only about 4″ wide and less than a foot long, but Mr. Big Orange 16lb Cat had managed to fit himself through the hole. I tried to coax him out through the door in the front panel, but he’s too scared, so I put a cardboard box lid over the hole and closed the access door. At least he won’t be bolting out the front door.

5:30pm
We have a full sofa!!

5:50pm
The phone rang. As I was answering it, the movers started hollering that a cat was loose. Thor had arrived and between him and the movers, the master bedroom door didn’t get closed when it should have and Velcro bolted. I thought I got the front door closed in time, and the caller was Dale, so I got him off the phone immediately and started crawling around the front room looking under the furniture. I didn’t see him, so I warned everyone to keep their eyes out for Velcro. I continued to look and a second check under the green sofa revealed him. He’s still under there and it’ll be too much effort to try and flush him out and catch him now, so the movers are just having to open and close the front door as they go in and out. Fortunately, they’re nearly done unloading.

6:40pm
The movers are gone. Dale is here. We’re about $3,300 poorer. And we’re in unpacking hell. This house is 600sq ft smaller than our last one and has two less rooms. I’m almost glad I’m about to spend a couple of days in the hospital so I don’t have to unpack and sort during that time!

8:00pm
Pumpkin finally emerges from the pinball machine.

(this entry was post-dated)

I massively overexerted myself yesterday. My feet were sore by the time I went to bed, I had a backache (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just a symptom of labor), and my hips were starting to ache. My hips got really bad overnight. I woke up after a couple of hours, needing to pee. Getting out of bed was agony, thanks to the pelvic split pain and the added ache in my hips. I couldn’t even stand up for a minute or two, then I had to hobble to the bathroom. After the potty break, I walked around for a couple of minutes and my hips eased up. Getting back into bed wasn’t an issue. But I woke up again a couple of hours later. This time, my gasp of pain when I sat up was loud enough to wake Dale. My hips were aching so badly, I couldn’t even stand up. Dale had to come over and help me to my feet, then I had to lean on him just to make it to the bathroom. It took me a couple of tries to get up off the toilet. Then Dale was sweet enough to run out to the car to get me some Tylenol. After that, I decided to go to sleep in the guest room/baby room, because the mattress in there is a lot firmer and would give my pelvis better support. Either that, the Tylenol, or the combination of the two worked. The next time I awoke, I was able to get out of bed and to the bathroom with no more pain than usual.

I normally wake up on my own between 7-9am to do my morning blood check and have breakfast. This morning, I discovered it was already 10:30am by the time I hauled myself out of bed. Dale was still sleeping too. We’d gone to bed hours earlier than is usual for us, so that was a good indication of just how tired we were. I also had a bad sore throat and Dale had a terrible headache.

The rest of the day went better than yesterday. Assorted relatives came by to help unpack and clean. Jill, Dale’s sister, returned to hang the last set of blinds and shorten the ones in the baby’s room and master bedroom. (I failed to mention yesterday that she’d been out then doing the same thing.) She carefully removed the base of the blinds, cut the cords to remove the extra slats, and then replaced the base of the blinds. Now they look like they’d always been the right size.

I started to tell the story of the refrigerator saga yesterday but forgot to finish it. Well, Thor (Dale’s stepdad) and Adam ended up taking the front door off its hinges. That left just enough room to wheel in the fridge. The next hurdle was getting it over a low brick half-way that separated the living room from the dining room/entryway. Scrap carpet was laid over the wall and the movers lifted the fridge over it and got it to the breakfast area. They had to leave it there, because the passage between the kitchen counter/bar and the wall with the double-oven was again too narrow. The fridge spent the night plugged in but sitting just outside the kitchen. Today, Thor and Dale removed the ovens and freed up just enough space to finally get the refrigerator into the kitchen and into its nook.

Dale and I had to open and dig through a number of boxes to find a remote control. He’d set aside the Time-Warner cable box in Austin so he could return it, but the packers had beat him to the remote. Fortunately, he found it, so he’ll be able to return the box and remote tomorrow. Once he had the remote, he loaded up the car with the boxes that had been emptied and took off for Austin, while still suffering from a raging headache.

My poor husband!

My mother- and grandmother-in-law went to work in the kitchen. They got so much unpacked and washed. Dale’s grandmom even cleaned all the shelves for the fridge. And Karen (mother-in-law) finished putting shelf liner in all the cabinets. In an afternoon, this house became much more livable and much closer to being a home, though it’s still filled with boxes and missing a lot of furniture.

I spent some time working on the baby’s room. I got Dale and Thor to move a small bookshelf into the room. I placed the few baby books, toys, and stuffed animals that we’d gotten onto it. I then had a really fun time hanging all the tiny baby clothes. The room is fairly small, especially with a queen-sized bed in there, so I only moved in a small dresser. The closet is nice and roomy, so the majority of Olivia’s clothes will hang. I really wanted to wash some of the newborn items, washclothes, caps and such, but the washing machine and dryer still aren’t hooked up. But Jill generously brought over a bunch of Allison’s old newborn items, already washed, so we have those if anything unexpected happens before Wednesday. Once we get Jill’s bassinette (on loan until the crib arrives), it’ll really start looking like a nursery!

I’m finally alone in the house. Everyone is gone, including Dale. It’s a bit lonely, but the quiet is nice. The cats might even start to venture out from the bedroom now. I think I’ll be going to bed early again because tomorrow is going to be another busy day.

(this entry was post-dated)

Today has not been a good day. It has been tiring, stressful, and Dale and I have both gotten royally pissed at the movers. First of all, they showed up more than two hours later than they said they’d arrive. Then we though they’d have one guy start packing while the other two loaded the already-packed items, but all three of them working on loading the truck. Dale and Aaron (yes, Aaron returned for more!) went back to work in the office and I went back to the closet. Dale’s brother, Adam, had also come up from Houston in the morning to move our computer gear for us, so he was an extra set of hands as well.

Dale and I had further cut back the work the movers would need to do by telling them to skip the craft room. None of it was stuff we’d need any time soon, and we knew we’d be going back to Austin to clean and fix up the house, so we could just move that stuff at our leisure. But dropping three rooms off the list still wasn’t enough. The movers came to us in the afternoon and told us the truck was nearly full.

Remember my last post where I quoted the mover saying, “we’re going to need a bigger trailer?” Well, they’d come back with the same trailer as the day before. And, yeah, it was nearly full. So the older guy came over to discuss what we needed to prioritize. The already-packed stuff, obviously, the furniture, washer/dryer/fridge, etc. The movers finished loading their truck, got directions to the new house, and left, after saying we could call the office to arrange a second move for the rest of our stuff. Aaron departed with another load of stuff for Goodwill. And then we sent off Adam with our computers and some other stuff, like our overnight backs and a cooler of food.

Dale and I left about an hour after Adam. We grabbed some more stuff we had to take, drugged Loki, Pumpkin, and Velcro, wrestled the cats into carriers, then loaded the cats, the dog, and the other stuff into our car and got on the road.

Before we left, though, Dale noticed that the movers had left half of our sofa behind. Yeah, half the sofa. It’s a sectional, and they’d LEFT HALF THE SOFA BEHIND!! They’d also left the coffee table, all the end tables, and two large comfy chairs and an ottoman. So, we’re about to have lots and lots of visitors over the next few weeks, and we’re missing half a sofa, tables, and chairs. Dale and I roundly cursed the movers on and off for the entire drive. We weren’t the only ones bitching. Even though we’d drugged half the cats, they still let us know exactly how displeased they were with the situation. Pumpkin (one of the drugged ones) spent a good amount of time trying to claw his way out of his carrier while letting out the saddest sounding wails.

Since we were the last to leave Austin, it was nice that Dale’s parents were able to meet the movers at the house. Unloading was well underway by the time Dale and I arrived, but there was already a snag (and this wasn’t the movers’ fault). Our refrigerator had been measured to make sure it would fit into the space in the kitchen, but its dimensions hadn’t been compared to the doors of the house. The fridge was too big to fit through both the front and back doors, so it was set aside for the time being.

Even before that update, the cats and dog were unloaded, though the cats were left in their carriers in the master bedroom. Zoë got a backyard potty break before being sequestered in the guest bath. Dale then took off to buy new bins and litter for the cats. I mostly tried to stay out of the way and just said where to put stuff as it was brought into the house. I discovered that Dale/Aaron and the movers had failed to label a bunch of boxes, so we weren’t sure what went where. Dale’s Mom had also mixed up which rooms we wanted for office and storage, so I had to instruct the movers to start swapping the stuff around. The family was very determined to make sure I didn’t exert myself, so I was often instructed to go and sit on the half a sofa that had been unloaded and do nothing.

After Dale returned, he pushed to have the washer and dryer unloaded and put into the laundry room so that he could set up the litter boxes and we could get the cats out of their carriers and shut them in there. So, the movers brought in those appliances, but didn’t hook them up. Dale and Adam went to do it and discovered a) the gas hookup cable was missing and b) the grounding prong on the washer’s plug had been badly bent. When Adam tried to straighten it, it broke. Dale queried the movers and after they went round and round with each other, it was determined that they’d left the gas hookup cable in Austin. With the other half of our sofa. So, we couldn’t hook up the dryer.

I’m having a baby in four days and I can’t do laundry at my own house. Or provide decent seating for guests.

After the movers were done unloading, Dale and I discovered a few more issues. I had specifically washed and set aside clean sheets and towels for us, but I’d packed them into some plastic storage bins. Bins that the movers didn’t move. Fortunately, sort of, the unwashed sheets made it to Houston along with two mismatched towels, so no fresh bedding for us, but at least we had clean towels. Then, we hadn’t noticed it while it was happening, but the youngest mover (looked like he wasn’t even old enough to do this full-time or without parental consent) had gotten lazy and just started unloading dolly after of dolly of boxes in the kitchen. He actually filled up the back half of the kitchen with boxes, leaving us unable to access the cabinets and pantry in the back. He also stopped checking to see where boxes were supposed to go. When I tried to start unpacking the kitchen, I found boxes of books, knick knacks, and other non-kitchen items. There was even a box clearly labeled “master bedroom” sitting in the pile in the kitchen. Dale had to move out almost half the boxes before I even found one that contained dishes.

Dale had been talking about going back to Austin and having them complete the move in a week to a month, but that was just too long for me. Dale had tried to call the movers’ office before we left Austin, but he just got an answering machine. I told him I was pretty sure he’d be able to get someone on the phone when the movers were done unloading and wanted to get paid. I was right.

Dale spoke to the owner (who he’d made the original arrangements with) for some time. Afterwards, he said the owner was polite and apologetic, but I’m not completely satisfied with the concessions he’d made. The owner said he’d deduct $100 off this move and they’d make the second run for $200 less. Still, this means Dale has to drive back up to Austin tomorrow in order to be at the house by 8:30am on Monday to meet the packers. They are supposed to finish packing everything (craft room, rest of office and bedroom as well) and move it all on Monday. I hope they don’t forget anything this time!

(this entry was post-dated)

Today was my last day as an Austinite. (OK, so I technically lived just outside of Austin, but “Cedar Parkian” doesn’t have the same ring.)

The packers arrived yesterday. They walked in, took one look, and the older guy said, “we’re going to need a bigger trailer.” Then they seemed surprised that nothing was packed. Dale and I explained that we were told they would be packing on Friday and moving on Saturday, but they’d been told they were just moving us today. So they ended up calling into the office and Dale spoke with the office as well, and it was finally settled that they’d be packing today and moving us tomorrow. The younger of the two movers (looks early 20s) was pretty unhappy about this. Dale later heard the older guy tell him to, “stop whining and get used to it.”

I had really wanted to start prepping the house for the packers weeks ago, but Dale and I are lazy master procrastinators. So, the house was a disorganized mess and I was too embarrassed to let them into the master bedroom to do any packing. I made the executive decision that Dale and I would pack up the master bedroom and office.

The movers called it a day late in the afternoon, saying they’d be back at 7:30 am tomorrow, with an extra guy, to finish the packing and do the move.

Aaron, dearest Aaron, came over and helped Dale in the office while I worked in the bedroom. We kept working long after the movers left. I did get the master bathroom sorted and cleaned, tossing out lots of old make-up and junk and setting aside a couple of boxes of stuff for Goodwill. Then I worked on the closet. Even though I only have a few days left, I made sure my maternity clothes were put into a garment box, then I finished filling it with more hanging clothes.

I kept getting tired, so I took a number of breaks. Aaron even caught me napping in the closet one time. My slower, break-filled pace meant I made a lot less progress in the bedroom than Dale and Aaron did in the computer room. I felt like such a slacker. Aaron stayed pretty late, then after he left, Dale and I de-stressed and geeked out on our computers for a bit before bed.

36wk Checkup

Yesterday I had my first prenatal appointment with the ob/gyn in Houston. This doctor and her partner had been…

Another Gestational Diabetes update

Last week I had the last appointment with my endocrinologist. We went over my logs, he did a quick…

37wk Ultrasound, Checkup, and BIG News

This afternoon I had my second prenatal visit with my new Houston ob/gyn. We started out with an ultrasound….

I think the best moment of last night was just before bed when I looked at Dale and said, “It’s a new year.”

His reply was, “And this will be the best one yet.”