We have another bun in the oven as they say and for me number three has not gotten any easier.
I haven’t consistently posted in about 5 months mostly do to the lovely nausea and tiredness I’ve been dealing with. I really hate whiners so enough about that, it’s over and done with and I now feeling much better. We are due to have another sweet baby in August and we’ve been told its going to be a girl!!!
Some stuff I’ve learned this time around…….so far.
- We are what is considered a middle-income family and live in California. With insurance being as pricey as it is I chose to look into AIM(access for infants and mothers). It’s a California state-run program and there are income minimums and maximums that you have to fit within but over all I am very pleased with the program. I was able to down load the application and fill it out and send it in without any hitch. You have up until the 30th week of pregnancy (7 1/2 months!!) to complete your paper work. I have no complaints so far. Its 1/4 of the cost then when I was working and had what I thought was great insurance for my first baby, and again 1/4 of the cost of the second baby with another insurance. They charge you 2% of your yearly income. We chose to break it into monthly payments for the 10 months that I’m pregnant (about $85.00) and we don’t have co-pays when we go see the doctor. I put this as something I’ve learned because I have quiet a few friends who are young, married and starting family’s and had not heard about this program. It will even extend to the health coverage of your child (for $5.00-$24.00 per month) as long as you qualify, up until that child turns 18yrs old.
- I’ve learned what a Doula is. I wont be in need of one (I have 3 supportive sisters and a great mom, my hubby doesn’t do well with blood and things of that nature so he’s present but more of a cheerleader at my head) but I have watched and learned with the women around me how truly important and calming a doula can be for a pregnant mama who needs good solid support during pregnancy and labor. I good friend of mine is a Doula and has her own blog where she shares other women’s stories of labor and delivery. Through her and mutual friends I have seen how she can help answer a range of questions that you might feel silly calling your doctor about, as well as supporting you through some of the toughest emotional and physically demanding moments of your life. If you’re at all unsure who is going to be your support during this stage of life I would look into finding a doula.
- GRACE, is huge. Having grace on my 2 toddlers that run around the house making noise and messing with the general order of things is a must. Having grace on my husband when he doesn’t always understand my emotionally charged moods is a must. Last but not least I need to have grace on myself when I don’t pull the house back into order after a day of kid chasing or get dinner on the table when I know it should be time to eat or understand my own emotionally charged moods. Life happens and without grace life can be very disappointing. A book I finished right before I became pregnant with this 3rd bundle of joy really brought parenting and grace into perspective for me, it’s a good read and I think I will be reading it at least a couple more times. I plan on going more in-depth about this book in a future post but for now, The title is “Grace-Based Parenting“, By Dr. Tim Kimmel
I am sure to add more to this list later but as of yet these are the 3 that stand out the most this time around the 10 month stretch(yes 10 months, they all lie when they say 9 months, do the math).
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