The Cost of Getting Sick

At our home, there is one thing we always seem to share: colds and flus. The typical cycle is Kaia gets sick, then she shares it with Mo, he shares it with me, and I may or may not pass it on to Dana.

This last bout with a cold that turned into sinus infections for Dana and I was a bit different. Dana got sick, then I got sick, then Mo, and finally Kaia. This last bout also got me to thinking how quickly a little cold became an expensive venture.

Here are the costs involved:
Dana missed 2 days of work due to the sinus infection. I'm not going to give an exact figure, but that is more than $150.
2 boxes of tissues (cloth is what I use for regular nose blowing, but when we're sick, we use tissues) $3.40
2 packages of psuedoephedrine: $9
An ER visit for me after being awake in pain all night: $0, but only because I have supplemental coverage through the State right now. Otherwise it would have cost $75.
A trip to my family doctor: $30 copay
Antibiotics and Pain meds for Dana and I: $40
2 night's of takeout because we were both too sick to fix dinner: $35
A bag of Vitamin C throat drops: $1.40
Diflucan for the yeast infection that follows a round of antibiotics: $2

Total out of our pockets: $270.80

The boys will be born during cold and flu season, so the key this year will be prevention! The cost of prevention is much better too!

Hot Water: $5 a month? I suspect that is a high number, as our highest water bill has never been over $45 a month, and that is during the summer when we are watering the lawn and garden.
Soap: $1 This is also a high number as I have a huge bottle of antibacterial soap in the kitchen that only cost $1.50 and we've owned it since before Mo got sick with pneumonia. The other sinks have free soaps from hotels.

Total out of our pockets: $6

I think with some good handwashing, and not sharing cups in our home we can definitely save ourselves some money, and feel better!

First Day of First Grade

It's hard to tell who is more excited. Kaia, or the rest of the family?

Kaia's t-shirt was on clearance at the Osh Kosh outlet for $3.99 and the shorts were $7.99. She really wanted a spaghetti strap top, which wasn't school appropriate. The $4.99 shorts we found that matched the t-shirt were not in her size, and then she found these jean shorts with embroidered flowers on the pockets and it was a good compromise.

No News Means Good News

Hopefully no one was worried about where I disappeared to. I didn't mean to not post for an entire week. I wanted to post. I had ideas in my head, a head that was so clogged and painful with a sinus infection that simple tasks like typing and making sentences were too great a challenge.

Even now it's a stretch. I'd love to say I'm feeling better, but really I'm not. I've had an ER trip at 4 a.m. Sunday morning after being up all night in pain, a doctor's visit Monday, after almost no sleep Sunday night, and I have taken my entire Z-Pak. Relief should be around the corner... I pray!

Wednesday was the boys' growth scan, and while the travel was exhausting, the news was fantastic! Bryce weighs in at 2 lbs 8 oz and Brendon weighs in at 2 lbs 5 oz. The doctor said that between the growth, the fluid levels, and the doppler numbers you cannot even tell the boys needed surgery for TTTS! That's right, it's like they were never sick they are doing so well.

Now the consulting begins between my 3 doctors to determine at how many weeks they should be delivered, and my local doctor's comfort with the delivery. And I need to take a 3 hour glucose test because I failed the 1 hour pretty miserably. All looks good though for an October delivery of 2 healthy boys!

Thank you so much for all your prayers! God has really worked some miracles here, and I'm still looking forward to more. Adding these two to our household will really stretch and already stretched budget. But, I know things will work out. We'll find a way to get finances in order and our family will thrive, even in the abundance of dirty diapers and spit up cloths that will become our new normal.

2 little heads sitting down in my pelvis.

Show & Tell: Benchmark 2, Baby Belly, and Baby Clothes

It's here! Today is week 28, and benchmark #2 for pregnancy. I made it, and plan to keep going. I've told the boys they can come in October, now we'll see if they listen.

As for my belly... Well I've outgrown my comparison shirt, but I put it on to show you.



And I promise there are stretchmarks on the belly, they just don't show up well in photos. In person, you can see them. I'm not one of those pregnant ladies with perfect skin, I wish I were, but I'm not.

And for the wrestlers in my growing belly, I received these items this month.

Preemie Baby Gowns my mom found at the Carter Outlet

Preemie Baby clothes

Now just pray with me that the boys will fit some preemie clothes. Kaia and Mo were both 8+ pounds, and I'm worried about having 2 boys that weigh more than 6 pounds each. That would be 12 pounds of baby in my belly!

Last my aunt and uncle brought by the boys' first Halloween costume. Too cute!


Thanks for stopping by! Please visit Kelli's for more Show & Tell!

Welcome Back!

That first Monday back to work after vacation can be killer. You are working so hard to get caught up, and you want to be productive, but you are just so out of it from a week off that the day goes on and on and you leave feeling that nothing was accomplished. Multiply that by 2 as both my coworker and I were gone last week. We did end up with the best laugh at the end of the day, and it was all worth it!

A short, older Native American lady came into the office just before we closed. She had her little hand cart and was awfully cute (I think it was the height and her floppy hat). She came in to the office to ask about volunteer opportunities. I told her where to find out about different opportunities and wished her well on her search. She seemed so normal, and then said God Bless your baby. I said thanks, and then she went on to tell me to Bless my baby everyday and he won't kick so much and hurt me. And if I don't Bless him, and he kicks then I'll be angry, and if the baby's angry it will make birth more difficult and it will hurt. Ok... I refrain from telling her I'll be having a cesarean birth, so I don't plan to have any pain. Instead, I smile and nod.

Then she told me to avoid alcohol because it's sugar and wine would wind them up and she calls it Kool aid, so avoid the sugar. And I need to avoid cocaine and heroine. I'm still smiling, wondering if I look like a crack head. But, I nod and mumbled something like that wasn't a problem. Then she told me to avoid tasers because they'll send you 90 feet high. And that is bad for babies. Really? I had no idea. I assured her I didn't plan to be tased anytime soon.

Then she began to rub her belly and say that I should avoid vitamins and that powdered milk from China. Because you know China, it's really sperm. And that sperm if you put it outside in the sunlight it will just shoot in all directions. And stay away from cash machines because you win money and they have electrical current.

So I am managing a straight face until she got to the sperm comment, but that was it. I couldn't stand it anymore, I told her thank you and have a nice day as I began to walk back toward the back office. Then she blessed me again and said bless you to have elders to talk to. I nearly died once I was behind the partition. My coworker was crouched at her desk silently laughing, and I started to silently laugh. When the door closed behind her we both came out of hiding and laughed so hard I had tears running down my face and neither of us could articulate what had just occurred. There was so much more said, and each time I thought, I have to remember that. But it kept getting crazier and I'd forget the first thing. Before we left, we both agreed. That was the best end to a Monday ever!

The Return

We are back from the Oregon Coast! The kids really did have a great time, hard to see with the frog faces in the above photo taken from the deck of the beach house. The weather was nice. Low to upper 60's most of the week. A welcome relief from the 100's!

I'll post more about our trip, and some photos soon. Dana was the photographer and he took all his photos raw, which means more editing before they are ready to view. They should be excellent though, as his photos always are.

10 Random Things

1. I love to eat sweet potatoes, but everytime I see a recipe that has sweet potatoes in chili or meat casseroles or in soup, I cringe! Yuck! I'll take my sweet potato plain or with some butter and brown sugar.
2. Kaia loves zucchini, or at least she swears she does, until I cook it and put butter on it. Then she refuses to eat it. That left me to eat an entire cooked zucchini by myself one evening.
3. I have a very short fuse these days. Just ask Dana. He tries to tease me only to see the smoke start to roll out from my ears. "I'm just teasing babe," is a phrase he's used a lot lately. I'm sure he's counting down the days til our boys come and I become somewhat normal again (with a good dose of antidepressants).
4. You could also ask Rocks about my short temper. I was ready to duct tape her mouth shut the other night when she wouldn't quit yipping and barking at Sampson. I settled for attaching her bark collar, it was the first night she wore it in over 2 weeks. I think she's in heat, and we really should get her fixed, but not with this weather.
5. Dana's job is going great, but the new schedule is kicking both our butts! We're getting up an hour earlier and while it's easy when it's once a week for a doctor's appointment in Seattle, it's tough to do every day.
6. Good news, we'll be able to get some sleep on our vacation on the coast. Bad news, we'll have to go through this adjustment all over again.
7. I cannot get enough of watching the video of Brendon and Bryce. I get to feel them all day (and all night) and see ultrasounds on a weekly basis, but seeing their little faces is just so much fun.
8. Mo is all boy now! He loves to burp and fart, and make sure we know it was from him. As long as he doesn't start doing that at church or the library, I'm totally ok with it.
9. Yes, I'm one of those moms. The standard of behaviour in public is much higher than the standard of behaviour at home. We should all be able to kick back and feel comfortable at home.
10. Our house is has stayed semi-clean. The bedrooms aren't in good shape, but the main living areas are liveable, and right now, that's all I ask for. See that extra hour in the morning is actually going to good use.

Co-Conspirator

Cinnamon not only enjoys the messy room, but she loves to help in the oversleeping department. What more could a little girl ask for in a best pet friend?