We had our “childbirth in a day” class last Saturday. It was well worth our time, but it made for a long day. The only way we were going to be able to take such a class was to do it in one day. The alternative was to drive up to Columbia one night a week for five weeks straight, and that just wasn’t going to happen. Mondays & Tuesdays I work at Target and if things are really busy I could end up staying until 7pm or after. Wednesday nights I work with our church youth group and Thursdays & Fridays I work for my little independent pharmacy in California, MO until 6pm. It’s quite a hectic schedule, but we need to earn all we can before the baby comes to cover the cost of the house, etc.
Without going into too much gory detail, I can tell you we both received quite an education. We saw some video of the childbirth process, suggestions on dealing with labor pains, etc. I’m sold on getting an epidural - always have been. Michael is more pro on the “natural process”. Of course he is - he only has to watch it, not live it! His heart is in the right place. He just wants to minimize the baby’s exposure to drugs, but as a pharmacist, I can tell you that there is much greater risk of harm to mother than baby. I’m willing to take the risk. If I don’t have such medicinal assistance, who knows how many of Michael’s fingers might get broken/bruised as I endure the “natural process”. I’m only trying to think of his comfort ;0)
Delays -
We met with our builder on Wednesday and went over our construction time line and remaining expenses. What we will pay out by the time it is all said and done is a lot higher than we expected, mainly because they are building the shop, and worse yet, it exceeds what the bank had previously said they would loan us plus money we have access to right now. Our promise of a huge increase to our loan amount has hit a snag. When our lender passed the new appraisal & comps on to Feddie Mack (a national lender/loan purchaser) they weren’t as impressed with the recent huge sale up the road from us. The local loan officer is working hard to find other options, meanwhile, our current loan is nearly drained. Anyone have an extra $70,000 lying around?
The latest estimate for our move-in date is May 17th. We’d much rather be in the house BEFORE the baby is due, but at least the two dates have a gap between them now. Things are moving along out there. The drywall is up and the mudding process is well under way. We’ll have an opportunity to do some painting on the weekend of the 22nd. I should say Michael will have an opportunity to do so. I’ll be in Illinois attending a baby shower (for me), my niece Layla’s 1st birthday party and a Franklin family Easter dinner. Our builder has set aside Friday through Monday for us to do all the painting we can, so I will be able to help out on the last day. Maybe if I’m lucky Michael will be all done by the time I get back. (Listen for the sound of a big inhalation as I hold my breath.) My parents will be coming back with me to help lend a hand as well.
We’ll get things done and pay for them somehow. Maybe we could open a campground on some of our spare acreage. We’re already considering opening a fish farm in one of our ponds. (Thanks for the tip, Amy!) We welcome any and all suggestions!
Melanie,
I tried to go the natural route when I was in labor with Riley. In my case I also wanted the epidural and Chris was against it. I ended up having an epidural very late in the game. With both the girls I had an epidural right away and the difference was huge. Chris is now a big fan of epidurals (not the procedure itself but the result) The labor with the epidural was much easier on me, I felt more rested and enjoyed the babies a lot more when they were actually born. Have fun at your shower and I’m sure everything will work out great with the house.
Clair