Thursday, April 23, 2009

Walgreens this week

Transaction #1
Skintimates Shave Gel - $2.99
OOP = $3.13 (on a Wags gift card)
RR earned - $3

Transaction #2
Edge Infused Shave Gel - $2.99
-$3 RR
OOP = $0
RR earned - $3

Transaction #3
Physician's Formula Bronzer (40% off this week) - $8.39
PF Foundation - $7.19
-$3 RR
-15% off coupon (for Earth Day)
OOP = 10.24
Submit to Walgreens for $11 rebate AND $7.13 PF rebate

Final OOP = -$4.76

CVS this week

Okay, so I started w/ ECBs so it's not quite fair, but here's what I did:

Transaction #1
Natural Dentist Mouthwash - $6.99
Edge Infused Shaving Cream - $2.89
Bayer Advanced Crystals - $2
TOTAL = $11.88
-$2.00 ECB
-$2.00 ND coupon
OOP = $7.88
ECB Earned = $8.89

Transaction #2
Dove Skin Vitalizer - $4
Natural Dentist Mouthwash - $6.99
TOTAL = $10.99
-$3.50 Dove coupon
-$2 ND coupon
-$4.89 ECB
OOP = $0.69
ECB Earned = $4

TOTAL OOP = $8.57 (but I used a prescription gift card so really nothing OOP)
TOTAL ECBs remaining = $8

And on top of it, there's a rebate for the ND mouthwash - $10. So that means I will have spent -$1.43, and will have $8 in ECBs. Pretty sweet!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Delayed vaccine schedule

Because a few people have asked, here is the delayed vaccine schedule we developed. We tried to minimize the mercury Sadie gets, eliminate ones that we felt were too new, too risky, or unnecessary, and still meet all of her kindergarten entry requirements. Obviously, this is somewhat contentious and not everyone will agree with us. But for what it's worth, here's our schedule in all its glory.

Here's my schedule:

2 months – DtaP
4 months – DtaP
5 months – HIB/Pc
6 months – DtaP
7 months – HIB/Pc
9 months – HIB/Pc
12 months – DtaP
15 months – Polio
18 months – HIB/Pc
24 months – Polio
36 months – Hep B, Polio (Can be done at the same visit, or Hep B can be given earlier to avoid two-at-a-time)
39 months – Hep B
48 months – Varicella AND Hep B, Polio, DTaP (These three are all boosters – do them one-at-a-time over the course of the year so they’re all complete before kindergarten entry.)

What’s not listed here is MMR. Currently, Merck is not producing them separately. IF they do not resume production, I will do MMR at 42 months and a booster at 5 years old. My reasoning is that autism is always diagnosed by age 3, so if I wait until my child is 3-1/2, I’ll be less concerned about that. IF Merck does go back to producing them separately, I will do the following:
Mumps – 12 months (separate visit from the DTaP)
Measles – 27 months
Rubella – 42 months

I used a few things as references - Dr. Sears' Vaccine Book, the AAP's delayed vaccine schedule, and a great blog I found. If you have questions about how or why we did what we did, please email me or leave a comment and I will answer as best I can.

If you use a delayed schedule, you have to be completely responsible for staying on top of it! My doctor's office didn't double check one of my appointment dates and we got a Hep B shot two weeks too early - now Josh has to repeat that one :(

I learned my lesson, and now I keep my printed schedule in my diaper bag and set up reminders on my Google Calendar w/ each vax date and what we need.

Good luck!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

So long, Sasha...

We have to put our dog to sleep tomorrow. It's really, truly one of the saddest things I've ever done. I have had pets my whole life, but I was never particularly attached to any of them - Sasha is different. She was my dog - I picked her out and brought her home, an 8 lb teeny little runt that was smaller than the bone we bought for her to chew.

Only six years later, she's 85 lbs and just as energetic. She's happy, sweet-tempered, and an absolutely wonderful companion for Josh. And she's going to die tomrrow. It's absolutely gut-wrenching...but unavoidable. She's started to develop symptoms of a congenital problem that all her littermates had...every one of them died pretty horribly, and they were fairly dangerous while sick. It's a risk to the kids, and selfish to put Sasha through it.

I'm so very sad for us, but much, much sadder for Josh. We've not told him yet - I was just fondly remembering when we took his binky away and he never even noticed. I don't think this will be a similar experience...life is going to be rough around here for a while. Pray for us if you think of it - she may be furry, but she is still very much a part of our family, and going to be very much missed.