H1N1- getting vaccinated

When I came in to work yesterday and found out the flu shot I was supposed to get got canceled due to a short supply, I started to panic. The H1N1 shot I was supposed to get from my obstetrician also was canceled, as was Ella’s shot she was to get at her pediatrician. Everyone is out.

So, I began asking people at work where the next shot clinics were. And I was very grateful yesterday I worked at a newspaper. My coworkers had all the information. One told me that there was a clinic in Fort Wayne – but it started at 2 p.m. It would be impossible to leave work that early and even if I did, it was only for kids, not pregnant women. She also said there was a clinic at 4 p.m. in the nearby town of Albion, for kids AND pregnant women, but she figured I needed to be a county resident, which I’m not.

Then my other coworker told me his county was having a special clinic for pregnant women next Tuesday. He called a health official for me on the phone that minute to see if I had to be a county resident. I did not.

This made me wonder if I really needed to be a resident of the county for the Albion clinic. This was my best option. It started later in the day, so I could get more work done, and they could vaccinate both Ella and I. My coworker gave me the name of the Noble County Health Officer. I called and was told that we would not be turned away.

So, I worked as quickly as I could. Then I raided the “healthy snack” pantry at work and grabbed some of my markers and notebooks as well – I would also be taking my nephew Grant. And I knew we would be waiting a long time. Grant’s mom couldn’t leave work quite as early as I could, but she would meet up with me soon.

When we arrived and I saw hundreds of people in line, and was directed to park in a fourth parking lot, I really feared what was ahead of me.

Luckily though, a friend (Rachel’s cousin) and daughter arrived right then. As did another friend and his little boy. And it wasn’t long before Rachel called and was on her way – and she was bringing chicken, fries and an activity bag for the kids.

The line seemed to move fairly quickly. In all, I think we were done in about 2 1/2 hours. It’s a lot, but the weather was decent, the kids were good and we had each other to talk to. And I feel better that Ella and I have the vaccine.

And as I write this – a coworker just leaned in to tell me that her husband has H1N1 and is very sick. I hope these vaccines take effect quickly.

So, if you haven’t gotten the vaccine, just stay tuned to the news for your local clinics, and be prepared for long lines. And hopefully all this hype is worse than the reality …

This is just some of the line in front of us. You can’t see it all because it goes around the building. And it was bigger behind us.

These are the four kids in our group. Luckily they could sprawl on the ground and color during the wait. They were pretty good, I have to say. Thank goodness!

What does a girl have to do to get an H1N1 shot?

Yes, I know I know, H1N1 can be very severe in pregant women and several have died from it. Everytime I turn on the TV I hear this information. And I keep hearing of local students getting it, a kid from my mom’s group has it … Yet after waiting and waiting for my ob/gyn office to have it, they don’t have enough and I’m not getting one. Maybe I’ll get in on the next round. Nice.

And to top it off, Ella hasn’t gotten her regular flu or H1N1 shot either. I hear her doctor’s office doesn’t have any available appointment until late November so I’m hoping something else will come up where she can get hers …

Exhaustion

The good news is I have a new desk to put my laptop and our tray of bills/paperwork on. It’s the little $55 one I posted a photo of, and it’s great. Sure it’s not some high-quality piece of furniture I’ll have forever, but for around $50 if it gets me through the next year, I’ll feel good about that. And I managed to get the thing home, unload it, bring it in the house and assemble it all by myself. (I used Ella’s wagon to get it into the living room – it is way too heavy for an 8-month-pregnant woman to carry.)

I also have done a lot of cleaning around here this week – the bathrooms mainly. The toilets were long overdue. I’m trying to avoid chemical cleaners during my pregnancy, but I don’t really think filthy toilets are really the best health practice either. So something had to give. And I cleaned out our shed. Then carried every ride-on toy, bike and toy into it for the winter. And I did some cleaning of the garage. I guess all this stuff that’s been building up finally annoyed me to the point where I took care of it all.

The bad news is that Ella did not take a nap today and hopefully that is the reason that she turned into demon child tonight at dinner. UNSTOPPABLE SCREAMING AND CRYING. Once, because I wouldn’t let her sit in a booth with her 5-year-old cousin and once because I would not leave her in the bathroom by herself. Nothing worked to stop this crying. Not counting to 3. Not timeouts. Not scary mommy voice. Not threats of no candy.

So yeah, I’m exhausted. No more organizing or shed cleaning or desk assembly or storytime or walks with Ella tomorrow. We’re resting. And there will definitely be a nap, possibly for both of us.

Little things excite me, like swaptree

I just initiated my first trade at swaptree.com. If you’ve never heard of this site, it’s a place where you can trade items such as books, music, movies and games.

I had about six newer books I had just thrown in my “garage sale” box when I remembered someone telling me about this. And I don’t know about everyone else, but I never seem to make much money or even sell many books at garage sales. I’d much rather have some new books to read myself …

Anyway, this is how it worked so far: I entered the ISBN code on my books, listed the condition they were in and a list of over 800 possible trades came up. Apparently you can not only make a list of things you have but you can also make a want list – so these things that came up were all from people who want one of the books I have. I must have some good ones!

So now I’m waiting on the other person to agree to the trade. I actually got to pick from a couple different people. But this person was closer, in Ohio. and has done more trades, therefore I thought he/she would be more reliable. Hopefully they’ll want to do the trade with a new person!

OK, so I’m a dork. And by the way, if you’re curious I am getting The Doctor’s Wife by Elizabeth Brundage for trading Marly and Me by John Grogan.