I decided to torture myself further after the Registration failure and epic crying jag last night. My husband has laughed at me and officially taken over the Registration process. He came home to a sobbing/hiccuping melted down me curled on the sofa last night. Not one of my better pregnancy moments I can tell you.
So today, determined to be a better mother than yesterday indicated, I decided to accomplish something for my child's future.
I now have a list of classes, dates offered and fees required at the hospital including: beginner parents, Infant/child CPR certification and Breastfeeding. I will be going over those with my husband this weekend and making a decision on what/when to take them.
We are also pre-registered at the hospital as of today.
I still need to find a pediatrician but that is for another day I think. I have enough of a brain overload after dealing with the hospital and looking into 4 different daycare providers/facilities.
I am waiting to hear back about the In-home lady that was referred to me by a close friend. She has three children of her own, two of which are in school and she's looking for a child to keep during the day to bring in some money. She has kept other people's children and does a lot of short term day care/ babysitting for her church members but is looking for a full time child for extra income. She only lives about 2 miles from my house so that's a plus but I haven't met with her yet.
Daycare 1: Was hit by THE TORNADO last year and has been completely rebuilt and upgraded. The CLEANEST of all the facilities it offers new everything, passcoded door to get into the building as well as a computerized passcoded system to check your child in and out. They do provide formula and food but if you want specifics (which we will be doing breast milk if all goes well) you bring them in. They are not opposed to cloth diapering and just ask that you provide a pail for soiled items and empty it daily when you pick up the child. (YAY!) I met with the teachers and got to watch her interact with the babies which were all super content, clean and happy. In that whole place there wasn't a fussy baby anywhere and I dropped in unannounced so I know they didn't drug them for show..LOL. They just finished moving some children up to a new room and emptied their infant waiting list so I would be the first person on the waiting list and there are a few kids scheduled to move up in age around the time I am needing care. Clean and sanitize Everyday. The registration fee is $55.00 and will hold my spot for 6 months. Weekly fee is $139.00 and i have to pay even if my child won't be there for vacation etc to hold my spot. 2 miles from our house.
Daycare 2: Homestyle Atmosphere in a remodeled old home, older equipment, not as clean. More relaxed environment but they do not provide anything, no pass codes or security system. While I was there, friends of the teacher just came right in and picked up one of the kids to play with. Was not impressed with the facility though the owner was super nice and caring and definately worked hard at a friendly atmosphere. $150.00 per month with a $35.00 registration fee. No discounts for weeks you will be on vacation and not using services...you have to pay full amount to hold your spot. This one is definately out of the running. I was just not comfortable with the lay out and lack of security. 3 miles from our house but in the normal direction both of us take for work (though I can go a different route to go by Daycare 1).
Daycare 3: A well established facility that also provides afterschool care. It is on the older side and you can tell some things (carpet, paint) are worn but still has an essence of cleanliness. 4 star facility. Registration fee of $55.00 with a short waiting list. They were confident they would have a spot for me by the time I need it as they have kids moving up to a new room soon. Weekly Fee of $151.00. They do offer a discount if you will have your child out for a full week (for vacation etc). You only pay 1/3 of the weekly fee to hold your spot so that's nice. They do have a passcode to get into the door but nothing for checking your child in and out other than a teacher's sheet in the classroom. So some security. They are also not opposed to cloth diapering though they have not had anyone request that. They do not provide foods or cereals until toddler age. 4-5 miles from the house but on my normal route to work (half way between my home and work) and only a mile out of the way from DH's work route. They encourage parents to drop by and breastfeed during lunchtime. The main teacher for the infant room was like someone's grandma and the infants seemed very content and she was on the ball. One of the infants was a happy little boy with blue eyes and blonde hair who kept trying to hand me a block and grin at me. I wanted to smooch his little face but did good about keeping my hands off! LOL
All three facilities provide some type of daily sheet with changes, feeding, etc. information. The standard ratio is 5:1 apparently as all facilities claimed that. Until I hear from the In-home lady (and maybe even after) I am leaning toward Daycare 1 because of the ambience, security and overall feeling I got from there. All of them claimed Infant CPR training and state certifications for all their teachers. I'm going to go over the info with DH tonight and we will probably go back and visit Facility 1 and 3 if he wants to compare. I am not opposed to 3 if he prefers it because of location (since he wants to pick little man up every day) and because they have the discounted spot holder fees for weeks we have off (like me this week!) though I'm not sure if it would really save us that much money if any since its $11.00 higher per week then facility 1. There are other options a little further out/out of the way that we can look into but we were trying to stay as close to home/driving route as possible to increase time WITH him, reduce time away from him and in a car. All facilities will work with our schedules so no problem there.
UGH, decisions decisions! On one hand, I'm a little more comfortable now that I have visited with the idea of daycare and leaving my child somewhere but on the other it breaks my heart that I even have to make this decision right now before he is even here! I haven't even held him in my arms and i'm looking at these women who will cuddle him every day in my absence and I want to hate them for that but instead I'm searching their faces for love and compassion so I know they will care for my son.
I feel accomplished for having done all this and i feel like I have made great strides toward providing for my son but it sucks having to do all this "technical" planning when I just want to enjoy feeling him wiggle and dream of his sweet face. For now, I think I will enjoy my decaf Starbucks and relax. It was a fairly busy but productive morning!
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