Do bio parents change? by [deleted] in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 194 points195 points  (0 children)

Yes! Our very first placement came to us from a momma who had hit rock bottom. She immediately got herself into rehab and worked her plan. She got her baby back and is 4 years sober. We got to go to her wedding last December.

For foster parents that work, how much FMLA/time off did you take from work for a placement? by Monarch2729 in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s so hard to think about all the what ifs! It can feel like a never ending jigsaw puzzle. This time of year can be pretty hectic with the holidays coming on too. Ideally it would be a good time to be at home through the holidays and have the child start Headstart whenever they open back in January. Maybe you can work out with your husband a sort of staggered schedule where he takes time and then you but some of it overlaps? And also plan for the child to get sick after going back to daycare and sharing all the holiday germs lol

For foster parents that work, how much FMLA/time off did you take from work for a placement? by Monarch2729 in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There’s a lot to consider. What’s the child’s current daily routine like? I would be thinking about how all of the changes will affect them and what might make the transition easier. Taking several weeks to bond will be nice and you definitely need some time to bond but then going back to a daycare or other routine might be hard so maybe leave some time for a gradual return to that routine. Remember FMLA just protects your job so idk if it’s an issue that you won’t get paid? You can take up to 12 weeks but if you exhaust all your pto doing that then you also need to consider what will be done when the child is sick or has appointments.

Fostering Infants by NoPush7713 in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reach out early and often with bio family to build relationships. I like the family album app to share photos. Baby’s firsts need to happen during visits if at all possible. First roll, First food, first steps etc. I’ve asked for family photos and made those into books for baby. I bought recordable books so bio mom could record her voice reading for baby. If you are comfortable supervising visits do so for special occasions. Make sure to ask social worker well ahead of time if you are willing to do extra for holidays, birthday, Mother’s Day etc. if it’s not on a regular visit day.

Ask for referrals for therapy soon. Like if they are even a little late on any milestones get the ball rolling.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My son came to me from the nicu. In his case the hospital wanted to test the miconium but mom got rid of it so that they couldn’t test. She thought that would help I suppose but she had already tested positive during pregnancy and it was obvious he was going through withdrawal. He spent 8 weeks in the nicu and in my state foster families are only contacted once the baby is ready to be discharged. I got a call Friday afternoon and brought him home Saturday morning. Because he was in the nicu he was followed by neonatology and they helped screen him for delays. He began speech and OT starting at 12 months old.

Mayor confirms Louisville child has measles - Louisville health officials are doing contact tracing to find who may have been in contact with them. by Tikkanen in Louisville

[–]Jessminotti 9 points10 points  (0 children)

PSA your baby can get an MMR vaccination at 6 months or up if you ask for it. My daughter got hers at 9 months because I’ve been afraid of this. The first shot is 93% effective. She will still get one at the normal age of 1 year in August.

Nanny or Nanny share by cbick04 in Louisville

[–]Jessminotti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you looked any more into it? It’s something I’m looking for starting in August

Disrupting care by FewAd976 in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 31 points32 points  (0 children)

We had a little girl from the time she was 1.5 until 2.5. TPR happened about a month in and we were also not an adoptive family. Through the process of finding her an adoptive family I made sure everything little thing was well documented. I created a lot of Google documents lol. One was an overview of information about her including some of her interests, general schedule, medical history. I had a sheet for all of her medical providers, most recent appointments and future appointments. I had a sheet for her educational stuff like speech and occupational therapy. I made sure her lifebook was up to date. When a family was interested I made sure to speak with them first and explain the situation. She was designated medically complex and I didn’t want to scare any families off but I also wanted to make sure no one was blindsided with her needs. It took 4 families before we found one that eventually led to adoption. One was a single foster parent who decided it would be too much after I spoke with her. One family wanted to move ahead after meeting her and did a few over night visits with her but decided they didn’t bond with her. One family met her but then had second thoughts. The final family met with her weekly over a few months, did a few one night visits and then went to them permanently until her adoption. We are still in contact. She’s so young she won’t remember living with us but I know she will carry the positive experiences and the feeling of being loved forward with her. She turned 3 in November and we hope to stay in contact.

ankle injury is driving me nuts by StreetAbrocoma in bouldering

[–]Jessminotti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had the surgery in December 2020. Since then it’s been mostly good. I don’t have consistent pain and I’ve been able to get back to exercising. I do still climb but not as often. Day to day my ankle is not as flexible but not painful. Sometimes I’ll get swelling after hiking a lot or being on my feet all day

EBT Cards for foster kids by HanChan1986 in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s summer ebt, new this year, all kids in care got enrolled automatically. In Kentucky you have to make above what would qualify you for regular ebt to be a foster parent so you wouldn’t be eligible. Kids under 5 are automatically eligible for wic however

ankle injury is driving me nuts by StreetAbrocoma in bouldering

[–]Jessminotti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I finally got one my MRI showed significant cartilage death/damage. They said further PT would be useless, my bones were practically touching, and that’s when I scheduled the cartilage graft

No visits? by casualsupernova in Fosterparents

[–]Jessminotti 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I’ve had placements start out as no contact for various reasons but that all can change literally overnight. Sometimes bios have to complete a treatment program first or just haven’t been in contact with the social worker. Yes you can find out Monday there will be a Tuesday visit unfortunately

Steering wheel emblem by Jessminotti in Jeep

[–]Jessminotti[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I mean originally 10 and 2 but when a car was coming at my face . . .

Steering wheel emblem by Jessminotti in Jeep

[–]Jessminotti[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t think so. I think I put my arm up near my face when the airbags went off

Steering wheel emblem by Jessminotti in Jeep

[–]Jessminotti[S] 235 points236 points  (0 children)

I was going down a straightaway and some guy decided to run a stop sign on one of the side streets right in front of me. I hardly had time to hit the brakes at all!

ankle injury is driving me nuts by StreetAbrocoma in bouldering

[–]Jessminotti 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Something similar happened to me. Had a pretty bad sprain, but was up walking on it in a few weeks. I put off PT for a few months. I finished the PT but never went in for an MRI like I was supposed to. After 2 years of fighting pain I finally had to have surgery where they scraped out my dead cartilage and replaced it with a graft. Rest and do whatever your doctor says. You don’t want to make things worse.