Would Somebody Tell Me What The Eff Is Going On?

So, I finally spoke with my perinatologist's nursing coordinator last week. I asked questions about the Heparin and labs, since the others nurses in the clinic couldn't answer my questions. Now, I know that Heparin is very unstable, unlike Lovenox. There is a risk of developing what is known as "HIT," or Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. For those of us that work in the medical field, when you hear "HIT," you think, "Oh, SHIT!" In other words, it ain't good. :) So, with that in mind, I was discussing my concerns with the nursing coordinator. She said that we would NOT be doing weekly OR bi-weekly labs; they would only be done with each dose change (i.e. every trimester). Um, what?! A.) That is NOT what I was told in the first place by YOUR staff. B.) That is just plain effing stupid. C.) That is effing SCARY! I mentioned this to a couple of staff that I have worked with in hematology, and THEY found it to be preposterous, as well! Trust me, I would MUCH RATHER be on Lovenox, but given the cost difference, I don't think we can afford it, at least not with this insurance that we currently have. However, I WAS thinking that, with the labs that I would be getting (or so I thought), the cost may be a wash in the long-run. Now, it's not looking that way. :( The only other thing I can think of doing is calling my hematologist (VOID help me), and see what his opinion is on the matter. Perhaps I would get labs done through him instead?! Here's a nice journal article I'd ran across on HIT, in case anyone is interested! Enjoy! 


Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia 
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Just Keep Drinking...

So, with my exciting history, I have a tendency to dehydrate very easily and very quickly. It's been a couple of years (knock on wood) since I've ended up hospitalized for fluids, and I don't miss it. I've learned to catch it and reverse it fast. However, that wouldn't be the best idea while being pregnant...heck...it's just a bad idea anyway! I am one of those people that hates water. It gives me a tummy-ache, and I easily go days/weeks without drinking water. On top of that, I'm NEVER thirsty, so I don't drink much of anything in the first place. Well, I fell pretty ill in the matter of about 8 hours the other day. I thought I felt it coming, but I realized I was dizzy and having a hard time concentrating. Whoops. I tried and tried to get fluids in, but I was too late. Luckily, I didn't end up needing the ER or hospital. I did see someone at my work, and they helped me get the right things before I got worse. Thankfully, I was feeling better that day. It's ironic, though...last week before all of this, I was at Walgreens and saw this cute water bottle on sale for $2.50. I bought it and measured (realistic for me) amounts and wrote the goal times on the bottle. I only did times for the days I work, since those are my most "fluid-depleted" days of the week. I was in a class and noticed that I'd surpassed my goal by hours, so I took a pic to prove it to Jim. lol 

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Our Honeymoon Seashells!

I've still got a few truckloads of wedding/honeymoon keepsakes that I need to go through, but we'd intended on keeping the seashells that we'd collected while on our honeymoon in Florida. Problem was, we didn't have any ideas! So, they they stayed in the beach bag. I came up with the idea of using that with a map of where we were in Florida. Jim suggested that we use our beach picture (on the windiest day of that week) and put the shells around it. I knew they wouldn't fit in a regular frame, so I used one of the leftover shadowboxes from when I made AJ's ballet shadowbox, since it came as a set of 3. We tried to "swirl" them around our photo, but that didn't work. So, I glued them with super glue around the picture and used leftover black cardstock from our wedding. I double-sided taped the picture on beforehand. One of the shells got stuck to my finger and broke, so we had to glue it back together. :( Anyway, here it is! (Another bad iPhone pic. Sorry!)

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Decisions, Decisions...

Neevo DHA

Retail:
$298.47 (We pay $74.62) for a 90-day supply

Mail-Order:
$277.17 (We pay $69.29) for a 90-day supply

Okay, so that's not TOO bad....but I would have to supplement with 3mg more of Folic Acid...at least that's what my perinatologist recommended.  I don't know how much that is, but I doubt it's very high.

Heparin

This is a bit more tricky, as I would have different doses for each trimester. He said 5,000 units for the first, 7,500 for the second, and 10,000 for the third. I would need two doses, one every twelve hours. They also said that I would need more lab draws at least bi-weekly, if not weekly with Heparin vs. Lovenox, though they couldn't give me an explanation as to why. Anyway, trying to price Heparin on the insurance website is a bitch, and when Jim called the company to infer about the prices and doses, they were quite confused. They told him it would be somewhere around $10 a month, but I don't buy that, since the first lady he'd talked to said Lovenox would be $16 a month, then someone else said that it was $16 per injection (just a little over). Uh huh. Heparin is a bit more dangerous and has more side effects, from what I've read....so I'm not sure on what to do. I want what's best for my well-being, as well as the baby's. If anyone has had experience with Heparin or both, please let me know your thoughts and experiences! I would love to hear about the differences.

Here's a chart I'd found regarding Neevo DHA, which kinda sums it up. I found it on the Neevo DHA Website

The mutation C677T makes it so that the body cannot fully process folic acid. L-methylfolate, which is the active form, is available through Neevo DHA, which decreases the chances of homocysteine levels increases. However, my perinatologist said that I would still require additional folic acid. Since discovering this little prenatal vitamin, I'd found that MANY women, some of whom have at least one of the mutations, are not covered with insurance for this and had to pay 100%, which is VERY expensive. I'm glad that it isn't TOO bad for me, however, the Lovenox would be a deal-breaker. I don't feel like planning my own funeral anytime soon....so I'm still pretty irritated with the insurance companies right now. Hopefully we will find a better suited one for us next year and we can start planning more. :S


EDIT:
Here's my original post with the Lovenox prices...just to give you an idea if you didn't already see it...

"So, I looked into the prices for Lovenox. This is the quote I received from the insurance company:

Mail-Order:
Brand-$3084.26
Generic-$2523.29

Retail:
Brand-$3073.33
Generic-$2462.50

These are for 3-month supplies. Out-of-pocket for us would be $600, no matter what. Gah!"
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Please Remove Your Shoes Sign

I'd seen something similar on..you guessed it...PINTEREST! I HATE stained carpet (though I should try to get used to it, what with two dogs, two cats, two kids, and a man, right?), but we do make a habit of removing our shoes. However, not everyone sees us in socks or barefoot when they come over, nor do they notice the pile of shoes nicely displayed on the rug RIGHT NEXT to the front door prior to the stairs coming into the house. SO, when I saw cute little signs, I decided that I had to have one. This was quite simple, however, I couldn't place it where I originally had intended, as the wall wasn't quite as wide as I thought. I was at Michael's (shocker) and found these frames in the clearance rack (it said $1, but somehow it rang up at .75....no complaints here!), some $1 ribbon, and I had bought some orange scrapbooking paper for the frame...HOWEVER, I was exhausted and messed up, so I was going to buy some more this week, but remembered that I had A TON of paw print paper left, which I'd used for Oscar's big shadowbox, AJ's Mom and Me book, and our "barf bag container" in my car. lol It matches our orange and green walls, so I figured, what the hell. Mod Podge and made a pic of AJ and me after her first pedi blue-ish. I copied lettering from a font online. I tried to trace it, but the paper was too dark, so I had to free-hand it, then went over it with a Sharpie pen. Mod Podge again. I took a furniture touch-up pen to the lighter wood color to make it match our decor. Drilled small holes into the top to thread in the ribbon. The "hangers" were a PITA to find. It's not at all what I'd envisioned, but it works. They're actually little letter "G's," but I'd flipped them. I had to take a permanent marker to them, as all of them were pretty torn up at Michael's. Whatever works. There ya have it!

Coloring kinda sucks...It was taken from my iPhone. Sorry!

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Doggie Cookies!

I get so annoyed with the prices of pet treats, ESPECIALLY dog treats. My dogs don't even chew the small treats, let alone taste them! Since Sam had known food allergies as a puppy, I've always been skeptical about home-making anything for him. Now that he's older and we've tested a few different foods treats that we KNEW he'd had reactions to before, I know what he can and can't tolerate. (Go figure, I pick the dog with health issues. Apple, Tree....?!) I'd found a bunch of recipes online, but so many of them called for either off-the-wall ingredients that I wasn't about to purchase (or knew I couldn't find), OR they called for garlic (dogs shouldn't have garlic) or corn, which is one of his triggers. So...after much searching, I'd found a handful of recipes I wanted to try. I was planning on doing a couple of them, but I didn't realize that we were out of a couple of things I thought we'd had, and we only go to the store every 2 weeks after payday (except for essentials that run out, i.e. milk). So, I planned on making these cookies I'd seen that sounded simple. I'd bought cute dog cookie cutters at Michael's a while back, but hadn't used them yet. I didn't use one of them with these, but I did use the bones, dogs, and paw prints. I chose to leave out the dog houses. The only thing we struggled to find was carob, which I'd been searching for for months. Last weekend, I thought, what if a "health food store" had it, since it's "vegan?" We went to Whole Foods and found carob chips in with the bulk items that you bag yourself. WOOHOO! However, it was somewhat pricey. The only issue I had with making these nummies was, I'd microwaved the chips after baking the cookies, as the recipe said to, BUT it turned really thick and oily...almost like molasses, but worse. It wouldn't stick to the cookies. I'd wasted a whole cup of those babies. :( Jim melted them on the stove over boiling water, and that worked MUCH better. The pups LOVED them. It was funny...as I was making them (they STINK, btw. If you're a nurse, you know what I'm talking about when I say that the fragrance of molasses made my stomach roll. haha), they were sitting patiently right behind me and under my feet, which they don't usually do when I'm baking or cooking, unless something was dropped on the floor. They gobbled these up! I just stuck them in a big ziplock bag....I'm not sure on the proper storage. I suppose they should go in the fridge or freezer at some point if not eaten soon. I don't see that happening with our mutts. :) P.S. It didn't make as many as I thought it might, BUT I may have made them a little thick. Not sure.

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Front Door Sign

So, this wasn't that complicated, but took some time, considering we had to go to Kinko's to get it printed out, as it was bigger than what our NEW printer could handle. :( Anyway, I'd seen many different "No Soliciting, Don't Bug Me About Jesus" signs online, but I couldn't find one that had EVERYTHING I wanted to be said on it. So, Rachel decided to make one. :) I got this wooden plaque on sale at Michael's. We bought picture frame hooks and some pretty ribbon selections that we can change out. I'd never used Mod Podge, and was planning on just making some at home, but with our rockin' coupons, I decided to buy some outdoor Mod Podge anyway. So, here ya go! The only bad thing that happened was some Mod Podge leaked to the bottom and DID NOT dry clear, but otherwise, it's just dandy. :)

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AJ Won 2nd Place!

I'm so proud of her! She stayed up SUPER LATE working hard on this. She even busted out her beloved glitter glues and used them almost completely, just for this! She was kind of sad that she didn't win, but the person that DID win was (we believe) written in an adult's handwriting. BUT...she goes to a big school with a large student body, so I'm impressed that the NEW GIRL got second place out of EVERYONE. Way to go, Girl!

(Yes, I blocked out her school name again. There isn't really black streaks all over her poster. :) )
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FINALLY Getting Some Work Done Downstairs!

In preparation of an addition to the family (human, NOT another four-legged, furry friend!), we need another bedroom. We would wait and work on it later, but since I'm very high-risk and having to be SUPER DUPER careful, not to mention the extreme possibility of me being on bedrest for much of my pregnancy, PLUS the high chance that I'll deliver early, we have been forced to start everything BEFORE conception. Kyle will be moving into the BRAND NEW bedroom that we are building in the basement, AJ will move it Kyle's BIGGER room with the BIGGER closet (which she's not looking forward to at all...not planning her new walls, decor, or anything, nope), and the nursery will be AJ's old room. We'd purchased some drywall and other things for the basement, but just haven't had time, what with work, school, his football and music, her dance classes, Jim's foot causing us more grief than ever, etc. We finally got to moving on it last week. Jim's been working hard down there. I keep offering help, but he denies the need. I think he just needs some "man time." Hence, why I've been working on all these crafts...for one, to get them out of the damn way, since they're taking up space in the basement, which is where we need more space, and for two, just to get shit organized and done before I'm indisposed of and unable to work on anything except ROM to prevent DVT's while on bedrest. :S (maybe, maybe not..but I'd rather just have shit done, just in case. Plus, I'm sure I'll fall even more behind once there's a baby in this house. Just sayin'.) :) Here, he's working on insulating the "gutted fireplace" that was there when we bought our house. Fun times!

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So...I Have This Obsession...

Or maybe I just want to get all of this crap out of boxes in the basement and on display?! Here's my wedding shadowbox I made. I wanted my bridal bouquet in there, but I knew it wouldn't fit. I also wanted my ring pillow, but again, too big. I did manage to get Jim's flower, my hairpiece, garter, hankies, and Jim's shooter of Captain that was part of his wedding gifts from me. I wanted an inside AND outside look at our handmade invitations, so I made that happen, as well as our coloring book, program, and STD magnets we handmade. The petals are some that were actually on the aisle runner, which AJ was diligent about picking up. :) I also threw in our vows that we carried that day. Of course, I wanted an actual printout of our ceremony, the song list printout, DVD, rehearsal dinner card (front and back), and our keepsake certificate, but that would be too much and too big of a box. I guess I'll have to figure out what to do with the rest of our stuff....one day. :)

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Bridal Bouquet is FINALLY on Display!

Since it wouldn't fit in a shadowbox, I was frustrated on how to display my gorgeous, handmade bridal bouquet. As I was walking through Michael's for something unrelated, I saw doll stands. Perfect!!! I did have to twist-tie one of the stems to make it stand up straight, but that was it! Simple and cheap!

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Lovenox Stings!!!!

So, I looked into the prices for Lovenox. This is the quote I received from the insurance company:

Mail-Order:
Brand-$3084.26
Generic-$2523.29

Retail:
Brand-$3073.33
Generic-$2462.50

These are for 3-month supplies. Out-of-pocket for us would be $600, no matter what. Gah!

Bake-Sale Blues

Jim and I have been working hard to help out the school with the bake sale. Since we both work a lot and our weekend is pretty packed, we had to bake our items this week. We were up until almost 1am one day, and I was up again until midnight the next night...and we both had to work during the day! (Remember, I get up at 5am and work until around 8pm...so don't judge!) Anyway, here's what we made!

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AJ's Kick-Ass Poster!

We stayed up until almost midnight last weekend working on this...and I had to work every day! :/ It looks pretty awesome, though. She had a bunch of glitter-glue, so we used that on and around the stars. Love it! I hope she wins the contest! (I blocked out her school, for all the creepers out there! :) )

Ballet Shadow Box

See a theme going, here? :) Anyway, this has been on my "To Do" list for quite a while...I'd just been putting it off. So, here it is! I used Velcro for the shoes and just placed a large picture for the background. Didn't turn out exactly how I expected it, but she likes it, so that's all that matters. I'd promised her long ago that I would do it.

Paw Print Shadow Boxes

When we took Oscar to be put down, we also had paw prints made for the kids, but I didn't know what we would do with them. Since they're so fragile, not to mention irreplaceable, I kept then hidden and didn't tell the kids until I had made these. Once I made the big shadow, which we placed in our living room, I thought about making a smaller box with the kids' prints and pictures. I waited for more Michael's coupons and bought these. We just used the backing that was already in the boxes, pinned their pictures, and used Gorilla Glue for the paw prints. I left them on the table where the kids eat breakfast as their "morning surprise." They love them!

RSVP Book

While I still have a LONG way to go :(, I have continued to work on our wedding keepsake items. I still have a huge green bin the basement FULL of items, plus things on top of that! :( However, I did manage to get one more thing accomplished while the kids were at school the other day. :) I made a binder book with our RSVP cards (the ones we received back, anyway). I was out of cute stickers, so I just free-handed the same lettering with a pen and marker. Not my best, I know, but it works! :)

Organization/Menu Board

I'd seen these little buggars all over the Internet, and while there was something about nearly ever one of them that I adored and felt the need to have on my board, I knew that if I included everything I wanted, I may as well use up an entire wall. With that, I decided to cut it down to our grocery shopping list, weekly menu, and a to-do list. I ended up buying new cookie sheets, as we were needing another one anyway. Originally, I wanted a different look for the design, but ad I was in a hurry and frustrated, I ended up buying this orange wrapping paper. I found a magnetic pencil cup in the school supplies section, and decided to go with green. The frames were previously purchased at Dollar General. I made the templates on Publisher I asked Jim to wrap the cookie sheet, as he is amazing with wrapping items beautifully. While he did that, I ripped off the props on the back of the frames, and DS-taped magnet strips onto the backs of them. I also bought magnet dry-erase markers. Jim screwed the sheet onto the inside of the door, and bam! It cleared up a bit of space off the fridge, and the kids like to see what's for dinner every night (and I like that they don't ask me every 30 minutes once home from school!), and it's helpful to plan ahead on what to take out of the freezer the night before or that morning. :)

Halloween Is Just Around the Corner!

So, you remember my cute, sweet stepdaughter? Well, she decided last year that she wanted to be a zombie for Halloween this year. Actually, she wanted to the year before, but she wasn't able to since it wasn't our year with the kids for Halloween. So, I promised her I wouldn't let her down. I'd found a super cheap skull cheerleader outfit at K-Mart around X-Mas last year. It was off the hanger and without any tags, so it was dirt cheap. She was with me at the store and was super excited with my idea; a zombie cheerleader! I had a black long-sleeve shirt that had shrunk, but we haven't found it. May have ended up in the donation pile?! Anyway, I grabbed a black and gray-striped long sleeve shirt and we tried it on the other night. The top is cropped, and we get cold here in Omaahaw during October evenings. Last year, Jim and I were at Nobbies after the season (though I don't recall why), and I'd found these blood-splattered leggings and a spiked ring. Perfect! After getting her from school, we ran to DG to return some items, and they had Halloween makeup out! She was so excited, she wouldn't let go of it until we were in the bathroom at home and putting it on! I may use some fake blood on the night-of, but this is the general idea. She actually managed to scare the hell out of her brother when the boys got home from football. Haha! Oh, and I didn't need to give her any coaching on her "look." I grabbed my phone for a picture, and she was doing this all on her own. :) All we need now are the pom poms, which we plan on making.