New job, new life

So I've finally left the huge corporate man, and I'm working for a much smaller, shorter, stockier man. It's amazing how a new job seems to change all of the other aspects of your life. I don't dread going to work anymore, so my mornings run smoother. I'm less testy with Will, so he's in a better mood. I actually have interesting things to discuss with Scott at night, so the work-related conversation is more than just one-way. Amazing.
- posted by Sarah @ 11:59 AM

 
I'm sure I have work to do, but I'm not really in the mood. So much important stuff to do, so little of it involves a paycheck!

So, Kate, my sole reader, I am about to treat you to one of my not-so-rare political diatribes. In the spirit of bloggers everywhere, a certain corporation has pissed me off, and I'm going to use the power of the Internet to amass support for my cause against said company. In this case: Wal-Mart.

Disclaimer: I am a hypocrite of the worst sort. I receive my paycheck on a bi-weekly basis from a major insurance company. What's more, my sole responsibility at this company is to promote their health insurance products. Let's just say that they're beginning to suspect my political leanings, and should any of them ever find this blog, I'll probably be severely reprimanded.

Anyway, on with the diatribe. For years, I have pooh-poohed the Wal-Mart naysayers and boycotters. They say that Wal-Mart is bad for small communities, forcing mom and pop shops out of business and spoiling the small-town atmosphere with their big box stores. Whatever. In the town where I grew up (Creston, IA), Wal-Mart came in when I was in high school. All of a sudden, we could do our shopping all in one place, and it was much cheaper than the other store (K-Mart) and had a wider variety of merchandise. Other than that, it didn't cause much of a stir. No small shops out of business, main street really didn't change, and the employees seemed satisfied enough - most of them had been stay-at-home moms before, and they just liked having a bit of spending money.

Well, in light of the publicity that the situation in Georgia has garnered for WalMart's abuse of their PeachCare program, I've been rethinking my views. The fact that a mega-corporation led by the richest family on earth thinks that taxpayers should subsidize their employee health care program is the last straw for me. Our healthcare system is broken, that much is clear. I've sat here in my cushy desk chair writing brochure copy for a health insurance company, knowing that I don't believe what I'm writing, but at least I'm not hurting anyone. Well, now I'm not so sure. I think I've got to do something, and the first step has got to be boycotting Wal-Mart and encouraging others to do so as well. Leaving my job may be the next step (as soon as it's financially possible). From there, I'm not sure, but I know it's people like me that need to start paying attention to these things and not just sitting idly by "not hurting anyone."

Here's what they're doing in Maryland...

More to come - I'd better get some work done today. They might not sell as much health insurance if I don't.
- posted by Sarah @ 10:20 AM

 
So, I'm at work now, and my employer won't grant access to personal email programs. Also, I tried to post a comment to Jenny and Kate's iPalimpsest blog, and the netnanny blocked that as well. So, Kate, you said you would read my blogs - here's a personal blog just for you:

I feel your pain with the refrigerator situation. I have the reverse: we bought a fridge too big for our kitchen. It's a stainless steel work of art, but now it's displayed in the kitchen as an inconvenient centerpiece. I don't know what to do, since it will be years before we can afford the $100,000 addition I have planned.

I also wish I could afford to come out and visit you with my handsaw. My mom and I are obsessed by ceramic tile right now, but cork flooring seems pretty cool, too. My advice on vinyl tiles - you get what you pay for. They are easy to install, but they don't always last very long. If you're not starting out with a perfect floor, their lifespan is even shorter. They also (usually) look as cheap as they are. I would plaster the floors with Hello Kitty stickers before I would use vinyl tile. But that's just me! And I like Hello Kitty.
- posted by Sarah @ 12:15 PM

 
So . . . it's been a year and a half since I last blogged . . . no excuses!

Will is almost 20 months old now. Do you stop using the number of months once the kid turns 2?

For those of you who don't know (which is pretty much all of our friends who aren't family or co-workers), we moved from Boston to Des Moines in October. I apologize to everyone that I didn't send out those cheesy "we've moved!" postcards to announce our new address and all that. I bought them, I swear I did. I even filled them out and addressed them. But we didn't have any stamps at the time, and there were boxes everywhere, and I think they accidentally got stored somewhere. Rather than buy more, I thought I would just announce it in Christmas cards. But, amazingly, the same thing happened! No, not really. I got lazy and didn't even write them.

I'm a bad friend. But, you know, I kept the same cell phone number for six months, so you obviously didn't call me. You're a bad friend too!
- posted by Sarah @ 3:51 PM

 
Ok, I know it's been a long time. My expectations of both available time and interest were sorely overestimated. When it comes down to spending time writing about Will in his baby blog or actually spending time playing with Will, playing wins every time.

But now I'm back at work, and I may be able to spend a minute or two every once in a while, depending on how busy I am or how big the project is that I'm trying to procrastinate doing. Will seems to be really enjoying Mulberry Child Care Center, and it's a good thing, since I don't know what we'd do if he didn't. He smiles all the time now, and he even giggles once in a while if Scott and I try really hard to entertain him. The commute to and from work gets a little hairy at times, but we've started to use the time by reading Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein books to him. I'm amazed every time that a little baby can seem to enjoy books so much. I know he can't really understand, but the rhythmic sound of my voice and the pictures seem to really soothe him. If I read really animatedly (is that a word?), I can even get a laugh from him every once in a while.

Well, my minute is up. Better get back to work.
- posted by Sarah @ 11:20 AM

 
Oh, and I wanted to apologize to all the people who have called in the last week. I thought that my phone was on all week, but it turns out that Mom or Grandma must have thought they needed to turn the phone off completely to hang it up. So I checked my voicemail a minute ago and had 10 messages! I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to be antisocial!
- posted by Sarah @ 4:44 PM

 
Well, yesterday was my first day home alone with Will. My parents and grandparents left early in the morning, and I was a little nervous knowing that I wouldn't have anyone to hand him to just to be able to go to the bathroom. But everything went amazingly well! I think it must have been the noise and excitement of having all that activity around that made him fussy for a few days. But he slept a fair amount, and he even let me put him in his chair for a while so I could get dishes done and stuff.

Today has gone just as well. He was an angel while we were at the grocery store, and he let us run a few other errands without much fussing. Now if we can just get him to sleep in his bassinet all night...
- posted by Sarah @ 4:43 PM

 
Will is here! Here are the vital statistics:

born October 14, 2003
time: 8:58pm
weight: 8 lbs., 3 oz.
length: 20"

And here's the story:
Mom and I were doing some serious shopping all day on Tuesday. I was feeling some inconsistent contractions and "stabbing knife" pains, but overall still good. I had my weekly doctor's appointment at 3:15, and a million things to get done (renting a truck to do some landscaping projects, shopping for some interior home improvement projects, and getting all our information together to buy a new car), so we were running around all day.

At my appointment, the doctor said everything looked good. She didn't tell me until later that she had done a little procedure called "stripping membranes" that often puts women into labor. (WARNING: the rest of the story gets pretty graphic -- not for the faint of heart!)

Well, I hadn't even left the doctor's office before the pain started. Mom and I had planned to do some more errands on the way home, but we went straight home instead since I didn't really feel like driving anywhere. We got home around 4 or so, and I started making Thai shish kabobs for dinner, but I had to turn that job over to Mom and Mike before too long. The confusing thing was that I was definitely having pains, but they didn't feel like contractions. By 5, the pains/contractions were getting more regular at 3-4 minutes apart, so we decided to be on the safe side and call Scott to come home from work. Then we could have dinner and head for the hospital.

Well, we ended up taking dinner with us to the hospital. I was nauseous and throwing up by the time Scott got home, so they packed the kabobs in some tupperware and packed everything up in the car. Unfortunately, I didn't think to call the OB practice, so we got some nasty looks when we got to the hospital. It took them at least a half hour to get me into an exam room, then another hour and a half to get the doctor there to examine me. By the time he did, I was dilated to 8cm. They got me to a delivery room fairly quickly, and within 5 minutes, I was feeling the urge to push. The doctor came back, examined me again, and said I was ready to go, so he broke my water.

I pushed through one contraction, but Will's heart dropped from 135 to about 80. It came up slightly when I laid on my side, so we knew there were complications. The doctor made me get on my hands and knees so that Will's heart rate would come up, and he started prepping me for an emergency c-section. I was upset, of course, and when Will's heart rate came back up to normal, I begged him to let me try one more time. Luckily, the doctor agreed, and we gave it another try. Will's heart rate dropped a bit, but not quite as low, so they let me deliver him vaginally. It turned out that his cord was wrapped around his neck once, then around his shoulder, then around his arm. The doctor had to use the vacuum to help get him out fast, and poor Will's head was pretty bruised. I had lots and lots of stitches (I was afraid to ask how many!).

The aftermath of the birth was pretty horrible, simply because the hospital staff wasn't extremely friendly, and they didn't let me hold Will and feed him for nearly 5 hours after he was born. All I will say here is that Salem Hospital is one place I hope never to set foot in again. But Will is perfect and they didn't do any lasting damage, so I'll drop the subject.

The last few days have been wonderful and a little scary at the same time. My parents are here helping out (enormously!), but the pain of recovering from childbirth is much more than I ever imagined - much worse than the birth itself. Jaundice has been threatening Will with another hospital stay, but I think we've finally put that one behind us. And he went 3 days without pooping, which had us all a bit worried. But with the help of a great lactation consultant, I've learned how to be better at feeding him, and he pooped this afternoon!

So it looks like we're in the clear for now, anyway. He's sleeping sounder and longer, and he seems much more satisfied and happier when he's awake. I'll post some pictures very soon.
- posted by Sarah @ 2:44 PM