all of this crazy severe nyc weather has made our area turn upside down and for those of us that were not very affected (and those that were), it's been hard to find normalcy again. my work schedule has been turned upside down and i've barely seen any clients in the last 2 weeks. severe weather, the gas shortage, and public transportation disturbances have been the main issues. i've only seen 8 clients and worked 4 days this pay period (usually i see about 4 a night and about 22-26 a pay period). tonight and tomorrow are the last two days in this pay period for me, so im praying for a huge turnout both evenings. as i've mentioned before, i only get paid when clients show up. i could do paperwork for hours, but if my clients dont show up, i dont get paid a dime. needless to say this adds quite a bit of stress to our world, as i had imagined that we'd be able to bank more money on the side for my unpaid maternity leave. whatever, we'll manage.
speaking of financial woes, i've just about had it with disa's vet office. the docp shot, that she needs monthly to be healthy is being given to us at a crazy marked up price. long story short. the drug is called percorten v. wholesale cost of a 4ml vial (in 2009) was $153, which is probably what the vet pays for that size vial, maybe a little more with inflation over the last few years. disa's current dose is 1.9mls, so that vial would have 2 months worth of medicine in it for her. at her injection appt last monday, i was charged $220. i tried to fight it in the moment as we've paid $75 the first 2 times, $130, the 3rd time, and now that. i wasn't going to get all up in arms that day bc i didnt have time or my past receipts. i went back the next day with my other receipts and talked to the bitch who overcharged me. she swore that the other receptionists had undercharged us. possible, but i think people would be losing their jobs if they undercharged a client by $150 twice. i left a message for the owner of the clinic asking to be spoken to about the pricing, and who calls me back? the bitch jen who overcharged us this last time. she's all "i know the medication is expensive, but this is what we charge for a dog that is 68 lbs". um no bitch, you're fucking price gauging, and either you're going to work with me and my family (they've admitted that they only treat about 3{they treat about 10,000 in total} dogs w Addison's disease) and cut a break for the two other families in the neighborhood whose dogs are afflicted with this rare condition, or you're not. we'd love to pay $75, but thats probably the base price w no surcharge for doing the injection, and without any mark up. we'd pay the $130 w no problem. $220? bitch please. show me the math. thats all im asking for is math. show me how you get to $220 when the entire vial (with 2 of disa's monthly doses) costs less than the price you're quoting me for one injection. needless to say im furious and will be trying to see if disa's dr can help us at all with this, or else we're going to have to look elsewhere, which is another headache i dont want to take on. i guess that wasn't long story short. whoops.
other stresses? um how about im almost out of testing strips because my regular endocrinologist doesnt know how to complete paperwork properly and in a timely manner, and im running out of insulin because my insurance company changed some of their providers, and i've been trying to remedy the situation for weeks. today i have to trek to my endo's office to pick up a sample pump and another vial of insulin to hold me over until all of this is resolved. i hate having to do follow up work when its other people's job. just do your job and make sure i have the shit i need. its so stressful. i want this situation to be sorted out already.
baby sprinkle #1 is this saturday. im excited, but a lot of our family guests cant make it bc we're doing it kid free at my mom and dad's apt. its not too large, and we have a ton of little cousins. i dont want any kids around me (to be completely honest, bc im going to be surrounded by our 2 children for the next 18 years, god willing) at my parties, but space was also an issue for my mom. it should be really nice w yummy food. on another grumpy note, my sister asked me what time it starts, when i saw her yesterday. clearly im irritated with that. she's a pretty self centered person in general, which isn't a dig, it kind of just is, but i wish that the party to celebrate my pregnancy, and the upcoming arrival of her second niece was higher up on her list of priorities, that she knew what time it started. ps, she still technically lives at my mom's house, but im pretty sure has not had one second of thought/input contributed to the party planning. that kind of hurts.
speaking of hurting, this week brought some back/lower spinal cord pain, no fun, but only here and there, and it usually goes away by the next morning. my lower pelvic pain continues every other day or so, but i guess its just my body starting to make more room for baby. baby also seems to be head down now so ive been feeling lots more kicks near my lungs which is kind of annoying but cute at the same time.
(i wrote most of this post before 8am... its now 1pm and im just coming back to this)
sofia has been so much of a challenge in the last week. clearly you (if you are us) give a sick kid anything they want when they're sick bc they're so pathetic and miserable and all you want to do is make them happy/see them smile. the down side of that is returning to normalcy with rules, reprecussions, etc. sofia hit me in the face today with a book and it took everything i had not to lose it on her. i kind of just picked her up by her upper arms and grunted at her (i grunt a lot for a human when im mad) then i put her down, and locked myself in the bathroom for 2 minutes and cried. that was probably 10am. i then needed to dress her, ride out to my endo's office (the amazing nursing staff there gave me 3 bottles of huma.log for which im super duper grateful, not what i usually use but im so desperate ill take anything i dont have to pay out of pocket for) and then to sofia's dr for a follow up. sofia behaved for the most part at the dr, doc said she looked good, gave her a lollipop and a sticker. when we got home i let sofia eat said lollipop, with the one stipulation that she remain seated while she ate it. after 2 warnings and 3 attempts to walk around with her lollipop i threw it out, and locked the garbage can (simp.le huma.n items are amazing) and sat down for a minute to rest. realizing she could not open the garbage can, she intentionally peed her pants.
i am so completly overwhelmed with the constant "to do" list that never gets shorter. im starting to feel scared about parenting 2 kids at once and how much of a change that will be. i am so tired all of the time. the only consolation is that my belly is big enough now that people kind of feel bad for me when they see me in difficult situations. nice people are holding doors open for us (sofia and i), the nurses were extra nice to me today, etc.
all i want to do is nap but i still need to call disa's doctor, go to post office, and find out what the hell sofia is doing in her room instead of what she should/is supposed to be doing, napping.
i want nap time for us both right now.
<3 <3 <3
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