Friday, November 6, 2009

There's something ALIVE in my tummy!

Hello? ...Is anybody there? Hmm, I hear an echo... I guess it's been a while since I've been here! Well, I'm here now, so what should I talk about?

I attend a MOPS group at a large church downtown. They have an organization called Cradle Roll where older ladies mentor expecting and new moms. I let one of the MOPS organizers put my name on the list. About a week later I get a call from Linda. She starts the phone call by asking me if I need anything. Over and over she keeps asking! I don't know her, why would I accept her help? Then she says I should call her back later in the week to schedule a time to have lunch together. I'm thinking, "Lady, I don't know you, why would I call you back? If you want to arrange lunch, why not set up the date now? Why leave the ball in MY court??" Having sold Cutco I know better than to leave it to some unknown person to call me back to arrange something. They never call. Never.

Well, since Baby might arrive before mom-in-law Kim is here to help, I thought I should probably keep Linda's number so she can watch Zachary while I'm in labor. So I called her this morning to arrange to have lunch on Monday since I'll have the car. What does she do? Tells me to call her Monday morning to set it up. Come on!! Why can't we set it up now? I don't understand. I have MOPS in the morning and a dr's appt in the afternoon, having lunch out would be great, but I'd like to have it arranged! She says, "You call me Monday morning and tell me where you'd like to have lunch and what time, 'cause my schedule is completely open." She's real nice and all, but I'm a little frustrated with her lack of willingness to put something on the calendar. Oh well.

Here's a catch-22 for you: your child needs to see the dr for a checkup, because the calendar says so, but he's perfectly healthy. If you don't go, he'll miss his yearly exam. If you DO go, he'll come home sick from all the sick kids' germs on the toys in the waiting room. What do you do? You take him to the dr, because you're a "good" mom. What does it get you? A clean bill of health, followed by days of sick toddler, followed by days of sick pregnant mommy, probably to be followed by sick daddy. Yay!

We got the recommendation for the pediatrician from my OB. I really like my OB, but I'm not so sure about the pediatrician. It was just one short visit, so it's hard to say. I'll be able to form a better opinion in the next few months since we'll be seeing him a lot after the baby comes. Hopefully my first impression will be disproved.

Let's see what else can I complain about? J/k. I don't mean to sound so negative. Oh! I can talk about potty training. Z has no compunction about making our lives more complicated, so he's decided he wants to start using the potty, even though we have a new baby on the way. He's tinkled in the potty once or twice, and passed gas while sitting on it, but that's as far as we got. Now he won't sit on it, he just dances around on the step stool (playing with himself) until the parent loses patience, hauls him out of the bathroom, and puts his clothes back on. (Did I mention he likes to do all this completely in the nude?) I wouldn't mind spending the 20-30 minutes in the bathroom if he would sit on the seat and try to accomplish something, but this playing around with no serious attempt to use the potty is more than my tired, pregnant self can handle. So we haven't really gotten very far. Then the pediatrician tells me that RIGHT NOW is the best time to train. RIGHT NOW. DON'T HESITATE OR YOU'LL LOST THE OPPORTUNITY. I asked if he really meant that considering we have a baby coming so soon. He said it was unlikely that the older child would regress. That wasn't what I was getting at. I meant that was it really a good time to start potty training when the demands on our time and energy are about to increase so much? I mean, I hardly have the energy to potty train NOW, what's it going to be like when I'm 5x more sleep deprived and have another little body to take care? I won't have the 20-30 minutes to stand in the bathroom and watch Z play around. So we don't know what to do. So we haven't made a solid effort for anything.

What else is going on...? My new job is going well. I really like it. I like what I'm doing, and I like the structure and the amount of time it demands.

Hmm, there's a rumbly in my tumbly. Time for something to eat!


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2 comments:

ehart said...

Hmmm. Almost sounds like Linda is one of those people who want to do everything on the fly with no real plans tying her down. That's why her schedule is so open.

Sometimes first impressions are wrong. Sometimes they're not. Praying for you to be able to discern quickly whether this is the pediatrician for you and if not, who is.

Personally, I let my boys potty train themselves--which was not when a new one was on the way--much less this close. And when they were ready, they produced results and not 20-30 minutes of playtime in the bathroom.

Do what you need to do for your family--not what the doctor says. He's not the one who's tired and chasing a 2 year old with a baby in arms.

ehart said...

Just read your Tweet! Congratulations to the whole family!!!