From the monthly archives:

October 2009

H1N1 vaccine: Lucky to get one

by selfmademom on October 29, 2009 · 4 comments

It’s hard to put into words what it took for me to finally get the H1N1 vaccine yesterday, 38 and 6 days pregnant. There were the phone calls, the texts, the emails (yes, we’re quite the tech-savvy pair) to my OB/GYN office. There was the nagging of pediatrician offices (they had it for my son before I could procure one for myself, which is cool), other people’s (read: husband’s) internist for a dose. (They wouldn’t bite – only for patients.) I was like a reformed HFCS addict looking for a hit of a Twix. Where could I get my dose?

I didn’t really think it’d be that hard to obtain the vaccine while pregnant. I was at the top of the priority list according to the CDC and from what I’d read, they’ve been working on the vaccine for months. I figured by the time it came out, there’d be ample supply to quell my nerves about stories like these. Yes, I’m neurotic and yes, I wanted the vaccine before I delivered. (Can I throw a “dammit” in here just for fun?)

As it turned out, my road to H1N1 vaccination took me Uptown, Downtown (ok, fine, the Loop) and was hard fought with blood, sweat, almost tears (not mine), and a potential to make some hard cash. (Twix are really hard to come by, apparently).

You can only imagine what I was thinking Tuesday morning after what must have been my 40th call in 2 weeks to the OB’s office. They had no supply. Oh, they had their “Top 20 list based on delivery dates” but NO SUPPLY. So I went on a mission. I called all above-mentioned health care providers. I checked the Chicago Board of Health site for updates over and over.

And when those didn’t work out as planned, (My attempts to blackmail their healthy care practices over Twitter, Facebook and my blog were met with silence on the other end. Kidding people.) I knew I had to take it to the streets. Literally. I looked up the closest Chicago City College offering the vaccine to my house, and hightailed it there faster than you can say swine flu vaccine. Or Twix. Seriously, people, I have only 7 days left to fully indulge my sugar cravings.

I thought trekking to Uptown to get in line at the free clinic by 2:30 p.m. for the vaccine would give me a prime spot in line and a sure bet to be vaccinated by at least sundown. Instead I was met with this:

h1n1line

And that wasn’t half of it. When the nice 16-week-preggers-who-considered-wearing-a-fake-bump behind me in line and I realized that we could cut the line because we are pregnant, we raced to the next zone of H1N1 in waiting. Mind you, I’m pushing my 3-year-old around in his stroller the entire time while he’s screaming “I’m not getting a shot am I mommy!?”

Yes, it was that pleasant. Only, in that room, we were met with this:

h1n1waiting

Hundreds of those “high risk” people just waiting for the vaccine, you ask? Oh, if only. I think I saw more elderly, low-risk ninnies in line than I care to mention. Oh, and protocol, you ask? By all means, there was none. And if you don’t believe me, you can read for yourself. I was number 373 in line, well behind the old man wearing the medical mask. How is it possible that he would get it and not my 39-week pregnant friend whose son has H1N1? Surprisingly I found a chair to sit on and stuffed my son’s blankie in his face. And then decided to make a call to change me from number 373 to number 1. My OB had a dose for me. Saved.

I’ve never hustled my 167 lb. (yes you read that right) ass so fast back down Lake Shore Drive to the Loop in my life. Sweating, completely out of breath with a dirty-faced toddler in tow, we showed up at the desk of my OB ready to go. Twenty minutes later, I was injected.

But I can’t stop thinking about that 16-week preggers I left behind. Did she get it? Did it all work out for her like it did for me?  That’s the problem at hand. Amidst the chaos, there were no good systems in place to ensure the high risk were put at no risk. I got lucky. My delivery date is imminent. But I know about the teacher at my son’s school who waited in line for 3 hours on her feet for the vaccine while my other friend’s low-risk over-50 years-old aunt got it for free at her internists’ office.

I’m not political, or vocal about much. But if we all want to fix what’s wrong with health care in this country, doling out medicine to those in need would be a good start.

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Happy Health-a-ween

by selfmademom on October 21, 2009 · 11 comments

I can’t believe I did it, but the lack of high fructose corn syrup must have gone straight to my non-sugary brain: I bought pencils, puzzles and card games to give out to kids for Halloween this year.

puzzles

Oh, yes, I did.

My friend Caitlin was on the fence about the candy-overload dilemma. Me? I took one look at the Halloween candy aisles (yes, plural) at Target last week, and nearly vomited up my vegan animal cracker. Too many treats, too many chemicals and artificial flavors. Too much junk.

So I went the way I never thought I would and opted out of candy-buying for this Halloween. What the heck, I figured. The kids will survive. They’ll get plenty of candy elsewhere, right? They may scoff at my offerings, but I’ll feel better knowing I’m not contributing to their dental decline.

And then I presented my case to my better half. Who simply said. No you didn’t. But, oh yes, I did.

Upon further thought about it, however, I regretted my decision. Isn’t this what Halloween is about? It’s not about pushing my anti-HFCS stance on poor innocent kids knocking on my door. It’s about the sugar high, the rush of counting out our candy stockpiles, trading with friends. Where would my lame-o Disney puzzles end up in the piles of Skittles? Likely on the floor or in the trash. And pencils? They’re worse than the pennies my grandmother used to give out of her plastic pumpkin.

So I caved and went for the full monty.

candy

Because nothing says Happy Halloween like good ol’ fashioned Hershey bars, right?

Plus, the dentist told us chocolate was better than gummies.

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Still here…

by selfmademom on October 12, 2009 · 1 comment

I knew this would happen. Motivation to do anything but nap, clean up around the house and fret about having another child has officially set in. I have stopped all “professional” commitments before my “maternity leave.”

I did, however, write a couple more articles for Chicago Parent before the newborn phase sets in. This month’s article is about … wait for it … Dr. Harvey Karp’s “Happiest Toddler on the Block” book. After this one, I promise I’m done drooling over his books and blog posts. Promise.

And, I’m still wearing lululemon consistently, but now, it’s more out of necessity.  The thought of putting real pants on these days makes me cringe.

So don’t be surprised if I teeter on the fringe of the blog world for a little while… I’m still here.

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This is the end

by selfmademom on October 2, 2009 · 2 comments

It’s clear the end of my pregnancy is nearing. With about one month to go, I’m getting those looks. The ones where people look fearful I may give birth on their store floor. Or, people are starting to give me hearty congratulations and wishes of good luck.

As I head into the home stretch I’m increasingly grateful and wistful at my *hopefully everything will go okay* last pregnancy. I’m not terribly uncomfortable, I have a lot of my energy back and am generally feeling good. I mean, I’m not gonna lie – sleeping is massively uncomfortable, I can’t wear my normal shoes and I haven’t worn anything but lululemon in the past 27 days – but holy cow, in about a month a new living thing is going to magically come out of my tummy! (That’s how I explain it to my toddler son.) I’m finally going to set eyes on the creature who punches, kicks and tosses and turns inside me. We’ll add to our family and my son will get a new brother or sister. I’ll go back to changing diapers, making bottles and practicing shushing, soothing and calming.

Holy crap, I’m nervous.

p.s. if you follow the “Opt-Out” debate and discussion, this NY Times blog post is a must-read. It’s definitely time to stop debating the details and try to figure out a solution.

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