Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Totally Random Roller Coaster: A Doctor's Appointment, A Cat (and 1000 mice), and one busy day

We're kicking today off to an early start and hopefully it will all go smoothly and work out the way I'd really, really like it to work out.

It's been a roller coaster couple of weeks.

My favorite part of today is how it starts.  I have an OB appointment this morning with the nurse practioner at my OBs office for my first appointment and while I know today will be mostly paper work and answering questions it still puts me one step closer to the appointment I really can't wait for, which will be the one at twelve weeks when we have an ultrasound.

Four-years-ago-me was all about passing up ultrasounds.  Me-that-saw-Christian's-little-60-beats-per-minute-heartbeat-at-12-weeks-and-got-the-news-that-all-was-not-well is all about hardly being able to wait until that ultrasound to make sure everything is all right.  If all goes smoothly hopefully this baby will have far less than the dozen or so that Patrick had over the course of my last pregnancy (not done frivolously, but because of spotting at 6, 10, 16 and 20 weeks and then more during the hospital stay and amnio four weeks before he was born and then to figure out what kind of crazy position he was in when I was in labor although we still missed that we was transverse by the end), but I'm still counting the days until I will hopefully relax a teeny tiny bit and stop worrying so much because I worry now... oh how I worry!

In totally unrelated news, we may be adding a new member to our family today, because yesterday, the mice broke me.

Sure I could (barely) handle a mouse jumping out at me while I was sitting at my sewing machine.  I could even almost not have a nervous break down about one jumping into a bag sitting next to my leg.  At this point I hardly flinch when they'd run across the room at night after the kids were in bed or skitter by when I walked into the kitchen.

But yesterday at 4 pm a mouse ran across the room in front of me and Sadie and Maggie and Patch and I was done.  This is not part of the you-don't-come-out-before-bedtime agreement we had.  Did I mention that Terminix didn't show up to our appointment last week?  Because they didn't.

So I messaged Paul on Facebook and told him that if he found a Russian Blue (one of the cats that our children may not be allergic to), we could get it, provided Sadie didn't have a reaction when we went to see it.

Because these mice.  They are insane.

It took him about a minute to find three shelters claiming to have Russian Blues.  And so this afternoon we will be driving around seeing if any one of these thankfully full grown cats is a good fit.  Hopefully if we find one it will also be a good mouser.

And the roller coaster part?  I had to make a few tear filled phone calls/texts/and emails yesterday and then have Paul call to ask that one of Mae's therapists be replaced.  It just wasn't working and had become a nightmare for everyone involved and was effecting every aspect of Mae's life and so I finally had to overcome my not-hurting-someone-I-likes feelings and do the right thing for Mae.  But oh it wasn't easy.  And this whole thing has me asking so many questions about types of therapies and what's right for us... but that's another post.  Now to get ready to go to that appointment!

8 comments:

  1. Oh, good luck Cam! I hope all goes well with the therapist. Just remember, Mae is your priority. To me, therapists are like doctors: if one doesn't exactly fit, move on. It's not personal, it's business (which I know sounds really cold but is true!).

    As for the cat...I wouldn't give up my 3 kitties for anything. Two of them are the best mousers...though when we did have a problem (which we don't anymore), they would love to bring me their "treasure" in the middle of the night for some "praise."

    I hear Siberian cats are great with extremely allergic people. Our neighbor has one, and her son is really allergic. But as a kitten he cost $800! OUCH! :)

    Cathleen

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  2. Exciting about the cat! That's how we got our cat. Several years ago we had a slight mouse infestation in our house and I went right out to the animal shelter and we came home with an orange, striped cat. Now...he never was a good mouser, and he never caught a single mouse. But....he DID/DOES chase them away. I think just his scent and presence around is enough to deter them (and he is a good pet too) I'm hoping you can find a good cat and it works for you!

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  3. In Michigan I always had an ultrasound done around five-six weeks to check gestation. Don't be surprised if they want to do one earlier than twelve weeks, which really wouldn't be bad, would it? ;)

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  4. We had mice in one of our old houses that we rented, and it was awful! Because the mice were known to run around at night, none of the kids were willing to even look over the side of the bed. After getting two outdoor cats (we lived in the country), they all disappeared. Good luck on the cat hunt!

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  5. Not to discourage you from getting a cat, because I love cats and agree that they are the safest way to control mice around kids (no poisons or traps to keep kids away from), but especially if the cat decides it really likes you, it will likely bring you dead, or not-quite-dead mice as presents to thank you for its happy home (because of course you are just dying to both eat and play with mice - who wouldn't be)! Having a slightly alive mouse delivered to your pillow at 4 am is an exciting experience, to say the least. Also, as a secondary warning, most of the cats I have know tend to develop tender tummies in response to stress - crying from a new baby or a tantrum from the older ones usually leads to cat vomit. Now after four babies in five years I have changed enough diapers and been spit up on by enough small people that cat vomit doesn't bother me, as long as I make sure the baby doesn't find it and eat it first, and I keep important papers shut in a drawer after an unfortunate incident with the bills on the kitchen table - don't know how to avoid the occasional issue with a heat register getting thrown up on (and into) since cats love to sleep in warm places - guarantees I keep my vents clean! But be prepared that if your kids are having a rough day, your cat may too, leading to another complication in your life. And be very certain to keep the litter box somewhere the kids cannot get to - my experience is that it is way more attractive to toddlers than it should be, and I don't even have any sensory seekers (litter looks a lot like sand or rice, which I know you use for Mae). And be sure to ask at the shelter if the cat was given away for litter box issues - once a cat develops these it is very hard to break, and you have a lot of fabric and blankets around, which misbehaving cats can gravitate to instead of litter - I had a roommate in college with a cat who would owe in any basket of clothes left out, so had to keep my laundry hamper in the closet, and fold and put away clothes as soon as they came out of the dryer - OK when I was single, but would not work today!

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  6. Oh, a Russian Blue!! I was privileged at one time in my life to have the company of a Russian Blue in my home. (I was going to say, "privileged to own" a Russian Blue, but in my case it was hard to say who owned whom!) She was a great mouser, and I didn't really have any problems until she passed away. They are such pretty cats.
    Really, you should check out "Do Your Own Pest Control" website to see if you can get some effective poison. If it's well placed (behind stoves, refrigerators, cabinets, in the basement) you will be able to get rid of these pests. I also saw they are stocking Tom Cat mouse killer at Menards again (it was off the shelf for about a year) and I always had luck with that brand too.
    Don't worry too much about the therapist. I think if you have legitimate concerns, that's a teaching moment for them too. They do want to know what works, what doesn't, and to know how to improve the therapy and therapist. Don't fret too much about it.
    I'm praying for you and this new baby. (Don't tell Sadie, but I'm hoping it's a boy!) May your and his guardian angels watch over you both.
    God Bless. ~ Bonnie

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  7. Just saw from Facebook you got a cat, a "Blue"!!!! Oh, YEA! Watch out, meeces, you're done for! (Humming the theme from James Bond, 007!)
    God bless. ~ Bonnie

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  8. I'm guessing that the last part about the therapist may be related to the ABA post on your facebook? In any case, I'm not comfortable connecting on facebook but wanted to reply to that.

    There is a lot of dislike for ABA within the autism community. Here's one commentary to start with: http://thecaffeinatedautistic.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/the-good-bad-and-the-ugly-my-assessment-of-our-experience-with-applied-behavior-analysis-aba/

    I hope you find the right mix for Maggie. It sounds like you have a lot of resources available which is awesome.

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