Magnificant Mama (Closed Group) May 2011

ckmama

Sheri -- I'm sorry, it appears those of us in the southeast are hogging summer. Please take some of it. I'm dying! This is our 5th day in a row reaching well over 95 degrees. Those in Tennessee say they're having lots of 90+ degree days this week, too. Hi weather, yeah, chill out, it's MAY!

I second this!

Me 3, it has been so freakin' hot and muggy here. Now my 8 yr old is out of school and I said go play outside, and 3 mins later he comes in "it's too HOT"

I said you better get used to it, this is only the beginning. We hit 95 here with super humidity yesterday, but at least the wind was blowing.

ckmama

We get our 8 week shots today.

I don't know why I am nervous, I never was with my first. But I start to think, how do they know these shots don't effect babies. I know sounds coo coo.

You noticed I said We, but it is really just poor Logan. Poor baby.

ckmama

Anne – I have similar issues, and I’m not sure if it’s pregnancy or because it’s been so long.

Brittony – good questions! I never thought about any of those.

Has anyone felt round ligament pain that extends down to the top of your “area”? It’s off and on, and really only hurts when I’m moving around. Today during my walk it was so bad that I had to sit down on the sidewalk for a while.

I had this pain, it lasted for the last 5 weeks of my pregnancy, and got worse as baby got bigger. It was really bad with walking and I made it worse 1 weekend by mowing the grass. After that I couldn't sit, lay down or stand without it hurting.

I insisted to my doctor that I must be in labor but no alas, I wasn't. Hope you feel better.

ckmama

So funny I missed all the vaccine discussion and I opened with Logan getting his shots today.

They give him 3 shots and 1 oral today. Although Logan isn't going to daycare, the childcare at the gym requires him to be up to date on shots just for him to go in there. CRAZY. BUt I understand.

I wouldn't think if your baby is going to full time child care you really have a choice on vaccines. 1 daycare with my oldest wouldn't let him come until they had an updated form. The old form had record of all of his vaccines it was over a year old and they wanted a new one. Daycares take that stuff seriously.

Shots, vaccines, medications are all scary for babies and even adults. You just have that thought of "you never know" in the back of your mind. But I figure it's better than the alternatives, well I guess.

See still confused. 8 weeks just seem so young for shots.:brokenheart:

AnneElise

Ckmama- I love your new picture. Logan is so cute!

AnneElise

So I feel bad because last night I got overly emotional about money. My DH works on 1/2 salary based and 1/2 commission based but the bad part is that his salary is paid out of closings (real estate) so he doesn't get it on an exact basis. I didn't want to transfer any money from our savings to our checkings so we are getting tight in checkings till he gets paid. He was suposed to have two closings tommorow but they got pushed to Tuesday and Wednesday next week... I got all emotional and he felt awful and it made me even more emotional because I know he works 50-60 hours a week (and makes good money its just sporatic) and here I was making him feel bad about money. yuck. I tried to explain it was a pregnancy emotion explosion but I am not sure it helped.

ron2282

Carina – that’s awesome your team raised so much money!!

Katrina – love your new picture!!! And the pain stopped thankfully, it didn’t last for more than a few days. Hopefully it’s gone for good.

Anne – I get emotional all the time about money, but it’s usually the other way. My DH is constantly think about money and savings, which is great, but he takes a little too far sometimes. We’re by no means rich, but we’re not poor either. I let it go until I’m so upset about it that I have a meltdown which starts me with crying “we are NOT broke!!!!”

You ladies aren’t the only ones dealing with heat. It’s been in the upper 80’s here the past few days. We finally turned our AC on last night and I slept so good!!!! I have a feeling this is going to be a very rough summer for me.

Rachickidee

Katrina, that is such a cute picture of Logan!

No heat problems here. I keep hoping for nice sunny days. We have had so many rainy gloomy days. We are actually having flooding issues here. Not in my city, but a lot of people are sand bagging, and our reservoirs are overflowing. Usually we have the opposite problem in dry Utah, lol.

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

I have breakdowns everytime I get paid, seems like everything that comes in goes right back out. But hey atleast we have it to send out. I used to work 50-60 hours a week plus a side job and just didn't have anything left for my family at the end of the day. During pregnancy I went down to only working 40 hours a week and have just learned to manage money a little better. We usually do not have the coolest or newest stuff but we are fed, have a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs. For all of you who are teachers you picked a great career because atleast you will have all of the time off with your little ones while they're growing up. School does not get out until the end of June here but is out until September which theorectically means that if hubby worked we would have to pay 3 day cares at close to $200 a week each, $600 a week is the equivalent of a $15 an hour job not including taxes so I guess you would need to be in the $20/hr range in order to afford that. Crazy to think that day care costs nearly $42000 a year, stay at home parents contribute so much. I guess one would need to make atleast $48000 just to bring home about $100 a week (not even grocery money) to make it worthwhile.

We had the biggest victory last night! Brooklynn slept from 8:30-1:30am woohoo a 5 hour stretch and she didn't get up again until 4:15 at which point I was pumping so I could head out to work. This was such amazing sleep, I had not slept that long a stretch since before I was pregnant. I hope that she can stick to this.

LittleSpy

I just got an email from BitsyBug (a group deal site like Groupon & Livingsocial) for a $10 credit to BabiesRUs.com for $5.
http://www.bitsybug.com/?r=49B12406-0310
(Click on "current deals" & you'll see the BabiesRUs.com deal)

It may be worth it if you're already planning to order something that qualifies for free shipping! Not much, but at least it would save you $5.

I bought a deal for Thredup.com through BitsyBug a couple months ago and had no problems whatsoever.

ckmama

Ok we are on our way to the docs office in a few minutes pray for Logan's little legs and my Heart.

I understand the money breakdowns, I've done that you get panicky. And yes for some reason it is worse around payday.

SInce I've quit working, I've pulled all of my IRA money out except $3K to help out so I don't stress too much.

We won't have any retirement so I figure I'll count this as retirement and just work until I die.:devil: :laugh:

AnneElise

Rachael- hmm flooding in Utah, that is unusual!

Sheri- Great on the extra sleep! Hopefully that keeps up.

Julie- Thanks for the deal!

Katrina- Good luck at the dr!

I guess everyone panics about money sometimes. It’s just scary to add new financial responsibility even when we really are fine. I just felt bad for how I handled it because I knew I made him feel bad.

jw17695

So is anyone a stay at home mom or do we all work?

MisdemeanorM

So is anyone a stay at home mom or do we all work?

I'm both. :happy: I work full time from home with my son and soon another new one here.

MisdemeanorM

So I feel bad because last night I got overly emotional about money. My DH works on 1/2 salary based and 1/2 commission based but the bad part is that his salary is paid out of closings (real estate) so he doesn't get it on an exact basis. I didn't want to transfer any money from our savings to our checkings so we are getting tight in checkings till he gets paid. He was suposed to have two closings tommorow but they got pushed to Tuesday and Wednesday next week... I got all emotional and he felt awful and it made me even more emotional because I know he works 50-60 hours a week (and makes good money its just sporatic) and here I was making him feel bad about money. yuck. I tried to explain it was a pregnancy emotion explosion but I am not sure it helped.

I feel ya here. We fight about money all the time. There's never a month our checking account doesn't get below $50 just before the 15th and the 30th (my pay dates) and it's SUPER stressful! Especially when he is wasting it on stuff like forgetting to take redbox movies back for a week or getting fast food! Unfortunately, our savings account is also at about $50. :grumble:

jamielangner

Hayley girl got her 2 month shots today also, poor girl! I've never heard her scream like that We came home and took a long bath so hopefully that made her feel a little better. The doctor also noticed a sacral dimple on her and we need to get an ultrasound of her spine! I googled that when I got home so now I have something new to be worried about...

I know all too well about money stressing.. when I was in a bad spot about a year ago I started couponing and it has saved me a LOT of money. It takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it has really helped me. Has anyone seen that new show on TLC "extreme couponing"? That's me Now as a single mom I'm having a hard time finding the time to do it but I'm thankful that I have the things we use most often stocked up so that I don't need to shop as often now.

MisdemeanorM

I know all too well about money stressing.. when I was in a bad spot about a year ago I started couponing and it has saved me a LOT of money. It takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it has really helped me. Has anyone seen that new show on TLC "extreme couponing"? That's me Now as a single mom I'm having a hard time finding the time to do it but I'm thankful that I have the things we use most often stocked up so that I don't need to shop as often now.

I watched part of an episode once. I wish they explained where they got all the coupons. I get a little mailer with coupons in it but they're never very good and only off super expensive stuff that on sale with the coupon is still more than the generic on sale. And what stores actually double coupons? None of ours!

Some of the people on the show it seemed actually took the couponing right up to the somewhat unethical line, IMO. Getting over 100 items each of like 6 different things free because you brought in 100 coupons? Really? I understand getting a good deal, but taking advantage, even if it is "just of a corporation" is a bit iffy IMO. Especially people who do it with like diapers and things when they don't have kids, and then they resell them at garage sales to make some cash.

jamielangner

I know all too well about money stressing.. when I was in a bad spot about a year ago I started couponing and it has saved me a LOT of money. It takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it has really helped me. Has anyone seen that new show on TLC "extreme couponing"? That's me Now as a single mom I'm having a hard time finding the time to do it but I'm thankful that I have the things we use most often stocked up so that I don't need to shop as often now.

I watched part of an episode once. I wish they explained where they got all the coupons. I get a little mailer with coupons in it but they're never very good and only off super expensive stuff that on sale with the coupon is still more than the generic on sale. And what stores actually double coupons? None of ours!

Some of the people on the show it seemed actually took the couponing right up to the somewhat unethical line, IMO. Getting over 100 items each of like 6 different things free because you brought in 100 coupons? Really? I understand getting a good deal, but taking advantage, even if it is "just of a corporation" is a bit iffy IMO. Especially people who do it with like diapers and things when they don't have kids, and then they resell them at garage sales to make some cash.

Shoprite is my store that doubles. I do most of my grocery shopping at shoprite or walmart. I get most of my coupons from the sunday paper or coupons.com. Most of the people on the show make couponing look horrible the way they do it clearing the shelves and checking out with 10 carts of only 5 different items, but we aren't all like that

MisdemeanorM

I know all too well about money stressing.. when I was in a bad spot about a year ago I started couponing and it has saved me a LOT of money. It takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it has really helped me. Has anyone seen that new show on TLC "extreme couponing"? That's me Now as a single mom I'm having a hard time finding the time to do it but I'm thankful that I have the things we use most often stocked up so that I don't need to shop as often now.

I watched part of an episode once. I wish they explained where they got all the coupons. I get a little mailer with coupons in it but they're never very good and only off super expensive stuff that on sale with the coupon is still more than the generic on sale. And what stores actually double coupons? None of ours!

Some of the people on the show it seemed actually took the couponing right up to the somewhat unethical line, IMO. Getting over 100 items each of like 6 different things free because you brought in 100 coupons? Really? I understand getting a good deal, but taking advantage, even if it is "just of a corporation" is a bit iffy IMO. Especially people who do it with like diapers and things when they don't have kids, and then they resell them at garage sales to make some cash.

Shoprite is my store that doubles. I do most of my grocery shopping at shoprite or walmart. I get most of my coupons from the sunday paper or coupons.com. Most of the people on the show make couponing look horrible the way they do it clearing the shelves and checking out with 10 carts of only 5 different items, but we aren't all like that

Does Walmart double? I THINK the packs I get in the mail are the same ones that come in the Sunday paper - not sure, don't get a Sunday paper but I've tried to look before at the grocery store for the coupon part - but they seem like a lot of stuff I wouldn't use for the most part. Like breakfast sausages and laundry detergent and makeup / hair dye, and M&Ms ... I might start trying coupons.com because after a year+ w/out, I finally have a printer.

Julie posted a site once that tells you what coupons match up with what circular ads, but I couldn't figure it out how to actually access or find the coupons. :laugh: I have Kroger and Publix here, and of course Walmart.

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

I tried couponing and bought a bunch of crap. Now we look through the store ad food4less which is part of kroger. Their stuff is pretty cheap and they put coupons on their stuff often. We look at the coupon mailer and coupons.com for stuff we need or use often. Our fabulous neighbors all bring us diaper coupons. We also eat most meals at home usually we eat out once a week.

ron2282

Sheri – yea for a good night sleep!!! How long did it take for your boys to get into a good sleep schedule?

Katrina – I hope the appointment goes well. I think most of time stuff like that is harder on mom than it is baby.

Jw17695 – I would LOVE to be a SAHM, but sadly it’s not in the cards for me.

Jamie – I hope Hayley is OK! I love extreme couponing, but I don’t think I have the energy for it. I cut coupons from the Sunday paper but sadly by the time I go to use them, most are expired. :ohwell:

mwilson1018

Hey ladies - haven't checked in with you in a little while because I had to work Tuesday and Wednesday. It was torture being away from Annabelle! :sad: So much so I had my mom bring her to school yesterday for the second half of the day! :laugh: I'm so glad she did though because I was done with all of my work, but I still had to be there until 3:30. My mom, Annabelle, and I were sitting in my room just watching the clock basically...they had even moved all the furniture out of my room so we were sitting at one desk and two chairs, lol. Oh well, they paid me just to sit there.

I was thinking about couponing today and was actually looking at coupons.com. I think I"m going to start getting the Sunday papers and using them. I don't want to be an extremist either (storing all the extras in every nook and cranny in my house, lol) but saving some money would be nice! Every little bit helps. We usually go to Walmart, but we have Ingles, BiLo, Publix, Kroger, and IGA around that I could go to. I don't know who doubles either.

Katrina and Jamie - I hope your LOs are ok with their shots!! Annabelle goes June 24th. I'm already sad for that day :ohwell: Did Hayley seem to do better with it after taking a good bath?

Sheri - So glad Brooklynn gave you a great night! Annabelle usually goes down around 10-11 and won't wake up until 5. It's such a blessing. Last night she did wake up at 1 though, but with allt he great nights she gives us, I'll happily wake up with her every now and then. Is your new routine getting a little easier with work, kiddos, exercise...? I hope so!

mwilson1018

JW - I am a teacher, so I work, but have the best job for time off! I'd loooove to be a stay at home mom, but it's not in the cards for me right now (I get great insurance, etc). Maybe by the time we have our second I can stay home for a while.

dragonfly74

Sheri- Sorry about missing the laugh. I am sure you will get plenty more from her

Bethe- Hope you got a good nights sleep.

AFM: Well ladies. I had my birthing class last night. This may get long sorry There were 4 couples in our class so it was nice and small. I was the earliest at 29 weeks but the others were 30 weeks, 31 weeks and 34 weeks so 29 weeks was just fine. I feel A LOT more informed about parts of labor, stages of labor, interventions, what to expect. It is a good thing… yet also a terrifying thing. Some little things scared me and made it seem really awful…. YET at the same time I understand more now how my body is made to do this. I also LOVED how the hospital I am delivering at talked about all the different options for pushing positions and such. I feel much more prepared just still equally scared I guess. Couple weird questions if you are willing to share… 1) those of you who have had the strep B test before. I figured it was a vaginal swab… they said and or rectum…. Was it vaginal for you? 2) Those of you who had a epidural… did you have to get a urinary catheter? One of my friends who is VERY VERY BLUNT I talked to last night and she told me that she had to get one and didn’t feel it at all so that calmed my nerves a bit. Oh and one of the four couples (34 weeks) had to leave in the middle of the class and go up to triage because she was having contractions…. We almost got the live show!!

Strep B test was vaginal for me. And I was positive with my second so they never tested me with my third and fourth. Not that big of deal. They recommend you get to the hospital ASAP if you are positive to hook you up to an IV with antibiotics. With my last three I went too fast and didn't get enough antibiotic in so they made the baby stay at least 48 hours to monitor them.

I had an epidural with two of my four and I NEVER had a urinary catheter (but I was 8 cm both times I got one, so I probably got a low dose), and I was up and about soon after with them both (with nurses' help). I never had ANY side effects from the epidural either. I had no back pain or headache . . . I delivered two babies without any medication and two with an epidural and there was not much of a difference to me afterwards between them. I was up and walking to the bathroom the same amount of time after every birth, epidural or not.

Please know that every person is different.

RFrick

I hate to make everyone jealous, but I am a SAHM. To my defense - I make all of my own clothes (not DH's or DS's though). And I'll probably sew for my little girl some. We have a huge garden in the summer and go to market one day a week. I also bake stuff to take to market. I can/freeze all the fruit and pretty much all the vegetables we eat all year. We only eat out several times a month and that's if you count McDonalds $1 menu. I don't really buy any pre-made food to speak of - most all meals I make from scratch. I am so very thankful that I am able to stay at home with my children and I feel for those of you that aren't able to.

On the subject of cupons - I did a lot of clipping for a while, but after some research I found that buying off-brand stuff was typically cheaper than using the cupons for name brand stuff. There is a few thing that we prefer name brand and I definatly look for cupons for those things. I shop Kroger's sales (because they're great!!!), Aldi for a lot of our groceries and Walmart for everything else.

Sorry I've been missing in action for so long. Our internet was out for several days and then I sorta had a little emotional breakdown. An hour before my midwife was supposed to show out up for our first visit my cat got killed on the road. I have lost cats to the road before, but somehow I DID NOT handle it well this time. I guess I thought that since we live on a dead end street with only three houses past us the chances of that happening were close to zero. Wrong!!! We only had her a little over six months! She was a beautiful calico (I had wanted a calico all my life and she was the first one I ever had), she got along amazingly with DS and he played with her SO much. I spent a couple days crying at random times, but I'm finally feeling a little better. It feels so crazy to get so worked up over a mere cat so I'm going to blame it on pregancy hormones. :grumble: I did make the exercise challenge last week but all that info was in the post that my computer ate on Monday. :grumble: I like my new midwife a lot! Which is nice after my struggles with my other one. Our visit went well but my blood presure was something like 158/80. I was quite worked up over my cat!!!

And I was going to add that I think Annabelle is a SAHM. I miss her and hope that her move is going well.

pmaria10

Wow, extreme couponing that's def something I would like to try. I wish I knew how they did it esp with all the restrictions most coupons have like limit one per person or can't combine with other coupons or use on sale items.

dragonfly74

Sheri – I have to go back to work after 3 months, I wish I could stay home longer but my last month will be unpaid and we need my income. How long does breast milk last? I know it can be frozen but I’m not sure for how long. Sorry about missing her laugh, but at least hubby got it on video for you.

Breast milk can be frozen for up to 6 months, once defrosted it has to be used within 24 hours. It can stay in the fridge (never frozen) for up to 8 days. I freeze all of my milk and take it out every night. Brooklynn is drinking 3 oz every 2-3 hours so it usually takes 12 oz a day to feed her. I can only pump 3 oz at a time which is supposidly pretty good according to kellymom.com but if I do not find time to pump 4 times at work she will have eaten more than I pumped for the day. It can be pretty stressful which is why I suggest you ladies start pumping before you go back to work so you have extra milk incase you can not produce enough or baby goes through a growth spurt and needs more breast milk while you are at work.

Oh my gosh my baby Wade is a little piggy!

Sheri, if you don't mind me asking, how much are you able to pump at a time? I try to pump every 2 - 4 hours and get between 3 and 4 ozs each time. But now he is eating so much during the day. He ate 4 ozs this morning and two hours later had another 4 ozs. He is non stop and I am not keeping up. He nurses well at night (usually he is up only once now) but during the day he prefers a bottle.

LittleSpy

I know all too well about money stressing.. when I was in a bad spot about a year ago I started couponing and it has saved me a LOT of money. It takes awhile to get the hang of it, but it has really helped me. Has anyone seen that new show on TLC "extreme couponing"? That's me Now as a single mom I'm having a hard time finding the time to do it but I'm thankful that I have the things we use most often stocked up so that I don't need to shop as often now.

I watched part of an episode once. I wish they explained where they got all the coupons. I get a little mailer with coupons in it but they're never very good and only off super expensive stuff that on sale with the coupon is still more than the generic on sale. And what stores actually double coupons? None of ours!

Some of the people on the show it seemed actually took the couponing right up to the somewhat unethical line, IMO. Getting over 100 items each of like 6 different things free because you brought in 100 coupons? Really? I understand getting a good deal, but taking advantage, even if it is "just of a corporation" is a bit iffy IMO. Especially people who do it with like diapers and things when they don't have kids, and then they resell them at garage sales to make some cash.

Shoprite is my store that doubles. I do most of my grocery shopping at shoprite or walmart. I get most of my coupons from the sunday paper or coupons.com. Most of the people on the show make couponing look horrible the way they do it clearing the shelves and checking out with 10 carts of only 5 different items, but we aren't all like that

Does Walmart double? I THINK the packs I get in the mail are the same ones that come in the Sunday paper - not sure, don't get a Sunday paper but I've tried to look before at the grocery store for the coupon part - but they seem like a lot of stuff I wouldn't use for the most part. Like breakfast sausages and laundry detergent and makeup / hair dye, and M&Ms ... I might start trying coupons.com because after a year+ w/out, I finally have a printer.

Julie posted a site once that tells you what coupons match up with what circular ads, but I couldn't figure it out how to actually access or find the coupons. :laugh: I have Kroger and Publix here, and of course Walmart.

Walmart doesn't double. And, unfortunately, in my experience they're also horribly coupon unfriendly. Some people have luck with them but I've stopped bothering. I now only go to the Walmart near where I work because they almost always have some meat that's about to go bad on mega-sale. I buy a ton of it & then go home and freeze it in meal-sized portions. My absolute favorite places to coupon are Publix and CVS. Today CVS paid me 83 cents for my transaction (which was mostly just a bunch of junk food for my friends' movie night tonight, but it's stuff I would've spent about 8 bucks on in a convenience store). I've also never had a problem with couponing at Kroger but it's really only worth it for me to go during their mega events. Publix and Kroger here both double coupons up to 50 cents. Bi-Lo doubles up to 60 cents here, I think, but they're not quite as coupon friendly and also not as convenient for me so I rarely go there.

I use www.southernsavers.com. A woman named Jenny runs the site and she lists the ads and the coupon match-ups. She tells you which coupon insert the coupons are in and gives you a link to a printable coupon if one is available. I love that method because it means I don't have to clip and sort coupons -- I just keep the inserts in a file and then look through the one she lists the coupon is in when I'm preparing for my shopping trip & clip it out then. It takes a minute to figure out the abbreviations & stuff, but it's very much worth it. I coupon on a very non-extreme level but I still save a lot of money doing what I do.

dragonfly74

So is anyone a stay at home mom or do we all work?

SAHM here. Have been since my first was born in 2002. I used to work at a steel company and it was awesome and to this day I miss it. But feel blessed to be home.

Soon2Bfitmamaof3

I pump 3-4 oz 4 times at work. I also pump B4 I leave if she hasn't eaten in the last 2 hrs so I do have a surplus.