Before I was pregnant I had started a work out routine. I HATE working out, I get bored so I had asked for the Wii Balance board for Christmas thinking it might encourage me to work out since it would kinda be like playing a game. I love playing video games and I am competitive so I was always wanting to do better at the games on the Wii Fit then Casey which would spark over an hour of me trying to top him on certain stuff. Was a great motivator. I started losing weight pretty quick, I was also watching what I was eating and logging everything into myfitnesspal.com (LOVE that site). I have several friends on there and its a good way to encourage healthy eating and exercise habits. Initially after finding out I was pregnant I kept with the work out routine just scaled it down a little to keep my heart rate at a safe level (Dr recommended) but as the morning sickness got worse and the fatigue from being pregnant and having a toddler I gave up on working out while pregnancy. I also wasn't gaining weight so I knew I shouldn't worry about "burning calories" since I wasn't getting enough anyway.
During the pregnancy I vowed when Dr gives me the green light I was going to get back to my workout routine. Yesterday I had my 6wk post par tum check and everything looked great. Granted I forgot to make sure it was ok with the Dr but I knew it should be since everything was good. So I decided to restart my routine just start off easy like I did last time.
This morning Willa woke up at 6am and after eating she was wide awake so I decided that since Eli is asleep still this would be the perfect time to do my work out. So I put Willa in her bouncy seat and she lay ed there watching me work out. Towards the end she decided she was hungry again and started fussing, I let her fuss while I finished my cool down and then started to feed her.
I also have been lacking in my bible reading lately and have wanted to get back into that so what a more perfect time to read the bible then after a good workout to wake me up and while feeding the baby while the toddler sleeps? I thought so too so I grabbed my bible before sitting down to feed Willa. I read aloud to her and she was soon sound asleep with a happy tummy. Just as I was finishing up Eli woke up and I got him up, dressed and got him his breakfast.
After getting him his breakfast I proceeded to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher and get myself something to eat. Wow its been a productive morning so far for me and I'm not near as tired as I normally would be. I think I'll try to keep this routine going, :)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
I found one!
For those of you that have been following me on Facebook you know that I've posted statuses about trying to find a Dr I feel comfortable with that takes medicaid. We have healthwave which is not full on medicaid but still state assisted. We were told to pick one of two plans, so I picked the one that had the thicker book and more Dr's listed. Might have been a mistake as I have had trouble finding Dr's accepting new patients even though the book says they do. Some can only take the OTHER plan of healthwave, coming from 6yrs experience working in a Dr's office I understand the reasons and all that but still its made it harder. Every time I think I've found one I feel comfortable with when I call they aren't accepting new patients. Its been hard for me having to change the Dr I take the kids to because I love and trust Dr Nash so much! I love College Park Dr's and I've been struggling with accepting the fact that I can't use them for the kids Dr's. My Healthwave is only effective a few more weeks so I won't be changing Dr's unless I get pregnant again (which hopefully won't be for another couple of years).
So I finally ended up just looking for a female, in her 30's-40's (I wanted someone I could relate to) and was able to find her picture on the Internet and thought she LOOKED friendly. But that was all I had to go on, one of my major struggles has been that our Dr is a Christian and prolife which is big to me. I didn't want to get a Dr that was against prolife and pushy about things. My Dr understands that I am slightly hesitant about getting certain shots for the kids and is fine about that. I didn't want to get a Dr that was super pushy with that stuff.
While I was looking in the book I noticed that the Dr that my aunt goes to is listed as a provider. Thats awesome cause I know she's a Christian and actually I used to go to her before I started working at College park. The problem was she's about an hour drive from our house. Ugh after discussing with Casey he feels its best not to use her as the kids PCP. So I booked the appointment with the lady I could only HOPE was as nice as she looked in the picture.
Yesterday I was talking to my aunt and I just casually mentioned that her Dr is a healthwave provider. She says "huh I didn't know that!" I tell her it was cool but the problem was she was so far away and Casey didn't want me driving that far with the kids alone that often. While discussing my Aunt came up with a GREAT plan, you see she also just had a new baby. In fact she was due 2wks BEFORE me and was going to have a C-section due to medical issues that require C-sections. With Willa being born early that meant that her baby is actually 5 days younger then Willa. We've had great fun being pregnant at the same time and discussing how we feel etc. Its been GREAT having the babies so close in age, while we haven't been able to hang out much yet we will! Anyway she suggested that since they are the same age why don't I schedule Willa's well checks at the same time as Patricks and we can just ride together! Genius! So I call Casey and discuss the idea with him. We decided that would be a good plan, if one of the kids gets sick and we don't want to or can't drive the hour to see her we can just take them to Children's mercy urgent care center but have my aunts Dr be their primary Dr.
Of course now the concern is is she REALLY accepting new patients on our plan? Also Patricks well check was schedule for the next day is there a way they can get Willa in at the same time? Well my aunt is good friends with the Dr and knows the staff well so she offers to call them up and talk to them. In the end they ended up working Willa in at the same time as Patrick. We would just have to be in the same room at the same time and she would just do their checks together if we were ok with that. I'm like "thats great!". So now we have found a PCP for the kids that I already know and trust and I can breath a big sigh of relief.
Once again, God provides!
So I finally ended up just looking for a female, in her 30's-40's (I wanted someone I could relate to) and was able to find her picture on the Internet and thought she LOOKED friendly. But that was all I had to go on, one of my major struggles has been that our Dr is a Christian and prolife which is big to me. I didn't want to get a Dr that was against prolife and pushy about things. My Dr understands that I am slightly hesitant about getting certain shots for the kids and is fine about that. I didn't want to get a Dr that was super pushy with that stuff.
While I was looking in the book I noticed that the Dr that my aunt goes to is listed as a provider. Thats awesome cause I know she's a Christian and actually I used to go to her before I started working at College park. The problem was she's about an hour drive from our house. Ugh after discussing with Casey he feels its best not to use her as the kids PCP. So I booked the appointment with the lady I could only HOPE was as nice as she looked in the picture.
Yesterday I was talking to my aunt and I just casually mentioned that her Dr is a healthwave provider. She says "huh I didn't know that!" I tell her it was cool but the problem was she was so far away and Casey didn't want me driving that far with the kids alone that often. While discussing my Aunt came up with a GREAT plan, you see she also just had a new baby. In fact she was due 2wks BEFORE me and was going to have a C-section due to medical issues that require C-sections. With Willa being born early that meant that her baby is actually 5 days younger then Willa. We've had great fun being pregnant at the same time and discussing how we feel etc. Its been GREAT having the babies so close in age, while we haven't been able to hang out much yet we will! Anyway she suggested that since they are the same age why don't I schedule Willa's well checks at the same time as Patricks and we can just ride together! Genius! So I call Casey and discuss the idea with him. We decided that would be a good plan, if one of the kids gets sick and we don't want to or can't drive the hour to see her we can just take them to Children's mercy urgent care center but have my aunts Dr be their primary Dr.
Of course now the concern is is she REALLY accepting new patients on our plan? Also Patricks well check was schedule for the next day is there a way they can get Willa in at the same time? Well my aunt is good friends with the Dr and knows the staff well so she offers to call them up and talk to them. In the end they ended up working Willa in at the same time as Patrick. We would just have to be in the same room at the same time and she would just do their checks together if we were ok with that. I'm like "thats great!". So now we have found a PCP for the kids that I already know and trust and I can breath a big sigh of relief.
Once again, God provides!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Further proof God provides.
When I was first pregnant with Eli we were expecting/hoping for a normal non complicated pregnancy. Most of you know that wasn't the case as towards the middle my blood pressure started climbing and I ended up spending time in the hospital before he was born. Not having insurance you can imagine the bill we have, the hospital advised us to apply for medicaid which we did but since we had to provide taxes from the previous year which was 2009 we were declined because I had worked 6mo out of the year. When I found out I was pregnant with Willa I thought I should try applying again but as I do when it comes to this sort of thing (I hate filling out paperwork) I dragged my feet. I was actually almost done with the paperwork when we ended up unexpectedly in the hospital 4wks early planning on delivery (see earlier posts if you need that story.)
Once again due to lack of insurance the patient advocate came in the next day and was talking to me about medicaid. She helped me finish the paperwork and get everything submitted shortly after Willa was born. She had told me based off Casey's monthly income she didn't think we would qualify for full medicaid but the kids might at least qualify for Healthwave. For those that don't know what that is its state assisted medical insurance but the parents have to pay for it. Its not as expensive as regular insurance and it covers more. She said that full on medicaid could possibly back pay for medical bills up to 3 months but healthwave wouldn't. However the hospital would give us a reduced rate for the bills which with Willa being in the NICU for 9 days we figured would be a HUGE bill.
So we submitted the paperwork, me fully expecting to not get full medicaid and waited. Last week I got 2 calls from medicaid asking questions to finish my application. One question was about my photography that I had to list as an "employer" but they understood there has been little to no business so far. The other was what I was hoping to have covered for me that was within the last 3 months. This question amused me because I have both kids listed on there and its clear that Willa was JUST born and she wants to know what medical bills we need help with for me. I say pregnancy/birth and she asks which one, ok lady first I'm half asleep, second their dates of birth are listed on her sheet its clear I don't expect help for Eli. Anyway, me being half asleep I say "the 2nd one" Haha like that really answers her question, I realize after a minute and say "Willa, we would LOVE help for Eli's bills but figured that was out of the question" she agrees it is. Thanks me for answering the questions and says we should hear something in the next week or so.
Earlier this week we get something in the mail from KS Healthwave, its a letter announcing they now have an Internet and auto phone service you can log into to manage your accounts. It gives instructions for logging in and such and it says to use your member ID number listed on your health cards. So we are wondering does that mean we've been approved? And if so is it for Medicaid or Healthewave? We waited a few more days and sure enough we get like 5 letters from them (one for each of us and one with the cards and one other). First one I open is the one with the cards (I could feel them) and there are 3, (Casey has insurance through his work) I get excited but them I'm like "Is it medicaid or healthwave?" Casey opens a letter explaining what changes would cause us to need to report to them (change in job, income etc). I open a letter that is saying that Eli has been approved (doesn't say if its healthwave or medicaid) and that it is effective till May when I would have to re-apply. Next I open a letter that is explaining that I have been accepted for medicaid effective June 2011 to 2 months post partum which means I can submit the card info to the hospital and get it covered! I got very excited but I knew Willa's bill was the BIG one we would need to have help with. Finally I open her letter and it says she's been approved and that its effective starting Sept 7 2011 which is the day before she was born! YAY! Praise God that means I can submit her info to the hospital and the Neonatal Dr's that kept checking on her for coverage. What a relief, I know we would have just had to make payments and all but I hate having to do that and to be honest we are pretty strapped money wise monthly anyway. I also didn't want to have a HUGE bill hanging over us for so long.
LOL
All in all we are so thankful for everything! We have a healthy growing baby girl, bills will be paid and while things will be tight for awhile we know that there should be relief at least at tax time as adding another kid to the list will give us an even bigger tax break! Haha
Once again due to lack of insurance the patient advocate came in the next day and was talking to me about medicaid. She helped me finish the paperwork and get everything submitted shortly after Willa was born. She had told me based off Casey's monthly income she didn't think we would qualify for full medicaid but the kids might at least qualify for Healthwave. For those that don't know what that is its state assisted medical insurance but the parents have to pay for it. Its not as expensive as regular insurance and it covers more. She said that full on medicaid could possibly back pay for medical bills up to 3 months but healthwave wouldn't. However the hospital would give us a reduced rate for the bills which with Willa being in the NICU for 9 days we figured would be a HUGE bill.
So we submitted the paperwork, me fully expecting to not get full medicaid and waited. Last week I got 2 calls from medicaid asking questions to finish my application. One question was about my photography that I had to list as an "employer" but they understood there has been little to no business so far. The other was what I was hoping to have covered for me that was within the last 3 months. This question amused me because I have both kids listed on there and its clear that Willa was JUST born and she wants to know what medical bills we need help with for me. I say pregnancy/birth and she asks which one, ok lady first I'm half asleep, second their dates of birth are listed on her sheet its clear I don't expect help for Eli. Anyway, me being half asleep I say "the 2nd one" Haha like that really answers her question, I realize after a minute and say "Willa, we would LOVE help for Eli's bills but figured that was out of the question" she agrees it is. Thanks me for answering the questions and says we should hear something in the next week or so.
Earlier this week we get something in the mail from KS Healthwave, its a letter announcing they now have an Internet and auto phone service you can log into to manage your accounts. It gives instructions for logging in and such and it says to use your member ID number listed on your health cards. So we are wondering does that mean we've been approved? And if so is it for Medicaid or Healthewave? We waited a few more days and sure enough we get like 5 letters from them (one for each of us and one with the cards and one other). First one I open is the one with the cards (I could feel them) and there are 3, (Casey has insurance through his work) I get excited but them I'm like "Is it medicaid or healthwave?" Casey opens a letter explaining what changes would cause us to need to report to them (change in job, income etc). I open a letter that is saying that Eli has been approved (doesn't say if its healthwave or medicaid) and that it is effective till May when I would have to re-apply. Next I open a letter that is explaining that I have been accepted for medicaid effective June 2011 to 2 months post partum which means I can submit the card info to the hospital and get it covered! I got very excited but I knew Willa's bill was the BIG one we would need to have help with. Finally I open her letter and it says she's been approved and that its effective starting Sept 7 2011 which is the day before she was born! YAY! Praise God that means I can submit her info to the hospital and the Neonatal Dr's that kept checking on her for coverage. What a relief, I know we would have just had to make payments and all but I hate having to do that and to be honest we are pretty strapped money wise monthly anyway. I also didn't want to have a HUGE bill hanging over us for so long.
LOL
All in all we are so thankful for everything! We have a healthy growing baby girl, bills will be paid and while things will be tight for awhile we know that there should be relief at least at tax time as adding another kid to the list will give us an even bigger tax break! Haha
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Always learning something new.
I've learned a few things since being a mommy of two. Wouldn't think it would be much different then being a mommy of one but it is. Here are some things I've learned in no particular order.
1. They sync their bad moods. Case and point, today. Eli is grumpy and Willa is clingy, Eli wants to hold Willa but Willa screams when he holds her, if I take her away Eli screams. There has been no winning this battle today.
2. Getting up with a baby who is wide awake at 5:30am encourages getting some stuff done. Such as laundry I've been putting off.
3. Two screaming kids at the same time that has been going on for more then 5min is a good motivator to go down stairs and work on aforementioned laundry. Side note on this, Willa was in her swing in her room and Eli was in the living room blocked off from going upstairs to torment her.
4. They almost ALWAYS are in bad moods till Daddy gets home then they are little angels. Why is that?
5. They tag team Mommy in the middle of the night. Example: Willa wakes up at 2:30am for a feeding, around 3:15 I am putting her back to bed, just as I lay down Eli starts screaming I end up staying up another 20min to take care of him.
6. They can sure be cute when they want to be!
7. You get twice as much love.
8. You give twice as much love, who would have thought your heart could expand so much?
9. Spit up is still gross even when you should be used to it.
10. You change twice as many diapers, especially if the older sibling is still in diapers.
11. Due to number 10 I now have a deeper appreciation for parents of twins. Can you imagine? I mean at Eli's age we are changing about 5 diapers a day. A newborn its at least five times that, can you imagine having 2 newborns? Or maybe more?
12. The house becomes even more of a mess cause your so busy taking care of 2 kids you don't get as much done.
13. Due to number 12 the husband pitches in a lot more in the house work! Although Casey has always been REALLY good at helping period. He is always cleaning something.
14. If you weren't a morning person before you will be now!
15. Having 2 kids makes for an entertaining blog. :)
1. They sync their bad moods. Case and point, today. Eli is grumpy and Willa is clingy, Eli wants to hold Willa but Willa screams when he holds her, if I take her away Eli screams. There has been no winning this battle today.
2. Getting up with a baby who is wide awake at 5:30am encourages getting some stuff done. Such as laundry I've been putting off.
3. Two screaming kids at the same time that has been going on for more then 5min is a good motivator to go down stairs and work on aforementioned laundry. Side note on this, Willa was in her swing in her room and Eli was in the living room blocked off from going upstairs to torment her.
4. They almost ALWAYS are in bad moods till Daddy gets home then they are little angels. Why is that?
5. They tag team Mommy in the middle of the night. Example: Willa wakes up at 2:30am for a feeding, around 3:15 I am putting her back to bed, just as I lay down Eli starts screaming I end up staying up another 20min to take care of him.
6. They can sure be cute when they want to be!
7. You get twice as much love.
8. You give twice as much love, who would have thought your heart could expand so much?
9. Spit up is still gross even when you should be used to it.
10. You change twice as many diapers, especially if the older sibling is still in diapers.
11. Due to number 10 I now have a deeper appreciation for parents of twins. Can you imagine? I mean at Eli's age we are changing about 5 diapers a day. A newborn its at least five times that, can you imagine having 2 newborns? Or maybe more?
12. The house becomes even more of a mess cause your so busy taking care of 2 kids you don't get as much done.
13. Due to number 12 the husband pitches in a lot more in the house work! Although Casey has always been REALLY good at helping period. He is always cleaning something.
14. If you weren't a morning person before you will be now!
15. Having 2 kids makes for an entertaining blog. :)
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