Great news!

Here's an answer to a prayer I hadn't even verbalized: WOW - GTU's health insurance rates just plummeted. It's only going to be $381/month ($4,572 annual) for ALL THREE of us to have insurance! That means we can actually afford it for not only me & Maggie but John too (though he will protest - and for just me & Mags it's $2856 for the year, so we might go that route - though I do think that, as a daddy, it's important that he can get medical care if he's sick, especially since he's the primary care provider!). The rates went down 62% from last year (it was $11,525 for a family last year). That's a huge blessing for all of the GTU community!!

This means that insurance won't even take up my whole stipend! And we might even be able to consider not taking out a student loan, which would be really good since I'm a little worried how much we've already taken for my master's.

I'm so relieved. I'm really glad because now I feel like I don't have to try to get the government program. I don't know - the gov't program is really cheap - only $15 a month - but I'm just not sure we'll qualify. At least if we try for it and don't get it, I will know we can get insurance at a reasonable cost anyway.

What a relief!

What to read

Since I have no time to blog these days, may I refer you to my friend Mary Marjorie's blog? She is writing from Lambeth, where she's a Steward, with her insider's perspective. Should be really interesting.
http://seminlambeth2008.blogspot.com/

John's blog is still going too - don't know how he finds the time. Video ut Intellectum, there in my links.

Berkeley is about perfect except I've been cold since we arrived. There are worse problems to have, I know.

Don't know when I'll be back, so have a great summer.

Help!

Our movers showed up a day early, unannounced! We didn't have the house packed at all, and now they are packing it and charging us for that, plus we are trying to scramble to get everything together that we need in the car (some of which got packed by them when we weren't looking), and get ourselves ready (mentally and otherwise) to be driving away from here today instead of tomorrow, with our fridge still full of food and our goodwill bag not gone and all kinds of stuff not ready. This is about the worst thing someone could have done to us at an already stressful time.

Don't know when you'll hear from me again but please pray for my sanity. I'm not taking this well. Thank God the baby finally started sitting in her bouncy chair, allowing me two hands some of the time. But yeah, I'm sitting with her and the cats in an empty apt in our complex, unable to see what they're doing to my stuff, not knowing how much this is going to cost me.

It's just a crap day all around. OK, I'll be back someday when I have internet access again - and I'll be in Berkeley! Geez!!

Very quick update

Here is my very quick update because I'm supposed to be sleeping because baby's sleeping (and I got 3 hours last night - which has been a regular occurence, and actually caused me to get a little sick). Mostly I have to sleep in 1 hour increments, interrupted by an hour or more awake, and that's not a very great way to get rest.

I did my postpartum checkup today and lost 7 lbs from my prepregnancy weight (that is, all baby weight plus 7 lbs - this is probably because I only gained 20 lbs anyway, and I've been barely eating and breastfeeding which burns major calories). I also was advised no sex for another month. Oh DARN (that is so sarcastic).

Maggie is doing WAY better and although she had a growth spurt last week that cause some fussiness and crazy-eager nursing, she's mostly not screaming as much and we're able to respond better to her. We still have our marathon feedings now and then, but I've been doing some bottle feedings so I can take her off earlier (I'm doing breastmilk in the bottle). My one side is still horribly sore and even hurts to pump, but it's getting better with her on it so I might skip pumping it altogether. The other side pumps like crazy anyway.

Maggie has been doing these amazing explosive poops - it's really astounding the noise level that comes from a baby's tiny ass. Mostly anymore she fusses only when hungry, when about to poop, or when I take her off the breast because it hurts (and then I fix it by either giving the other breast or a bottle). And we have gotten those most rewarding smiles - when it actually seems like she's recognizing us. That's super cute.

I haven't been sleeping enough but I guess I already said that. I got scared because my breasts got engorged and painful and I was running a little fever and feeling very out of it, but a little sleep helped with that. So I know sleep is super important now, and I might just let John take one of the night feedings to help me get more sleep overall.

OK, I need to get to my nap now - she sometimes will sleep all evening and I need to start taking advantage of it, even though it's very inconvenient for me to nap through dinner. Oh well. Thanks for keeping in touch.

Oh, and we are moving next Friday (11th) so wish us luck with that. Am trying to keep sane.