March 24, 2009
Didn’t mean to panic you all!
J closed his law firm, but it was a conscious decision and thankfully NOT made due to economic necessity. Without going into many details, he wasn't happy with the field of law that he'd somehow gotten into. He'd left a law firm of the same type to open his own because he didn't like doing it, but took a couple of cases when things were tough at first. Somehow, that ballooned into being the only thing he was doing because a) the money was good, and b) he's really good at it. But he was miserable doing it, which was not good for anyone in our family.
So he decided to call it quits. He wasn't interested in trying to switch focuses for the firm and he was a little tired of working so very hard with so little ultimate payoff–everytime the money got really good, the workload was too big and so he had to hire someone else. At his max, he employed 5 people and it was a huge amount of stress.
We planned for it and knew it was coming, and saved up about 8 months of living expenses at our current standard before he closed. So it isn't stressful for us financially to have him out of work, which is huge in this economy (seriously–we're still planning to take the kids to Disney in May and a vacation for our 10th anniversary in June). And it's been less stressful for our family as well, because he's not so unhappy and miserable and working 5 million hours a week. We like him–it's nice to see him every once in a while 😉
Thankfully, he can get temp work as a lawyer at any time if we need it or he gets bored searching for the perfect job. It would be enough to cover what my (very limited) income does not cover, and gives him a lot of flexibility in terms of time. But right now, he's enjoying not having to work like crazy and I'm really glad he's getting a break.
March 23, 2009
Damn, but I wish I didn’t know that
A guy I work with and his wife have struggled with IF and conceived their child with IVF. They thought about pursuing adoption for the second but have decided that it's not the right decision for their family. He and I had talked a lot about that when they were still in the decision-making process. Ultimately, though, they decided to pursue IVF again.
He came in today and said that his clinic, which is different than mine, is offering a half-price special on IVF right now–$6500 + meds. The clinic would rather skip most of the profit and keep employing everyone than fire people, and they want to help make it more affordable for those who are struggling. And apparently, several other clinics in the area are offering similar specials.
AND, get this! Not only are they offering the fresh cycle for that price but the price ALSO covers procedures (but not meds) during FETs for embryos produced in that cycle. For someone who's IVF plan centers around single-embryo transfer, that's awesome.
AND it's good as long as you start meds for the cycle by September.
I REALLY wish he hadn't told me that. SUPREMELY REALLY wish he hadn't told me that.
And now I supremely really wish that J gets a job soon so that the money that we saved to cover our living expenses after he shut his law firm can go towards IVF.
March 20, 2009
There’s a lot going on
It's messing with me in ways that I hadn't expected. So my blog has been silent.
During the days, something will happen and I think "Oh, I have to blog about that!" Then I sit at my computer and no words come into my head. Nothing cohesive. Nothing insightful. Not even anything whiny. Just nothing.
I don't know what to write. I can't even seem to call people I know IRL. I don't e-mail back. I don't think I'm particularly depressed. I just don't seem to have anything to give.
But just so you know, K is better from his pneumonia.
That's all I can write now.
March 4, 2009
Some good thoughts, please *UPDATED*
K is sick. He's been sick for a couple of days–fever that goes away with Ad.vil, breathing treatments pretty much every 4 hours except at night. He's barely been eating, which is worrisome with my 32-lb 2-year old. He's barely even wants to drink juice, which he would normally kill to get. He's not sleeping much at all. Last night, he spiked a fever of around 103, developed a rattling/raspy sound to his breathing that didn't go away after a treatment, and started pulling on his ears. He was up 4 times last night between 7:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., then thankfully fell asleep around 2 a.m. (after more Ad.vil, yet another breathing treatment, and lots of cuddling with Daddy followed by Mama) and slept until 6. The wakings are accompanied by lots of intense crying and it's hard to calm him, which is also worrisome since we're trying to keep him calm to help his breathing.
This is not him. This is not my sweet-natured, strong-willed boy. This is a child who is feeling utterly miserable and we just don't know why.
J is taking him to the doctor this morning–hopefully they're there now. If you could spare some good thoughts for him, I would really appreciate it.
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K has pneumonia. Poor baby, no wonder he feels so bad! He's going to be on antibiotics and have nebulizers around the clock every 4-6 hours for the next week, and we're to take him back to the pediatricians or to the ER if he starts needing them more frequently than that.
I feel so bad for him. Sweet boy.
PCOS Baby 