One of the problems with being a working mother is those damn phone calls. The kind that stop your heart.

“Hey, it’s me. We have…a problem.” Meanwhile, I hear Button screaming in the background.

You can strap the baby in the bouncer, but you cannot strap the bouncer to the counter top, and hers had fallen off with her in it.

This particular bouncer has a very sticky rubber bottom, so sticky that I can’t even move it when I try to wiggle it on the counter. So nobody’s sure how, in a split second while the nanny turned her back to put the bottle in the warmer, the bouncer tumbled off the counter onto the floor. The only thing we can figure is that maybe one of the base corners wasn’t all the way on the counter.

Anyway, I was relieved to hear Button crying, because at least that meant she was conscious. I grabbed my purse and headed home. Then came the next phone call.

“I’m having a hard time keeping her awake. Button. Button, wake up, sweetie. BUTTON. I’m trying to keep her awake in case she has a concussion or . But her eyes keep closing. Button, WAKE UP HONEY. YOU HAVE TO STAY AWAKE”

I drove up to the front and we piled Button into the car, with the Nanny in the back seat to keep her awake as long as possible. She succeeded until about 5 minutes before we reached the doctor’s office.

During the visit, Button was virtually inconsolable. The only time she stopped crying was when I held her tight and let her bury her head in my neck. But of course, that isn’t too conducive to doctor examinations or x-rays, so she was in hysterics during much of the visit, as well as the subsequent trip to the diagnostic center.

The x-rays were negative for signs of fracture or trauma, so we’re home now. She finally took a bottle (for the first time in 7 hours) and went down for a nap. She’s been asleep for an hour, but I have to wake her up every 15 minutes to make sure there aren’t any signs of head-injury-induced-oversleeping. She’s exhausted and if I know her, she’ll be asleep for much of the rest of the day.

Wish I could be too.

She has a nice bruise developing on her cheek, but it doesn’t appear that she hit her head anywhere else – at least, the doctor couldn’t find any additional lumps or indication of injury.

So if we don’t see anything unusual in the next 48 hours, we can assume everything’s . And breathe a huge sigh of relief.

J has a Job! It’s The Virtual One and I’m totally excited for him. All our previous anxieties about this whole unemployment situation have been aleviated and we don’t even have to miss a week with the Nanny. He starts Monday and they’re going to pay for our internet and buy him a computer and a dedicated phone line.

This has been a true blessing. I ventured over to Phantom Scribbler’s place for my typical Wednesday Whining appointment, but I couldn’t even think of anything to whine about for the occasion. If you’ve gotta have a problem…

You know how every time you’re looking for a job, and you ask everyone you know if they have any contacts, and you usually get about 50 people to call, etc. but nothing EVER. EVER. EVER. materializes from those contacts?

It’s possible that J is about to break the rule. He MIGHT be getting a job at a company his friend works for and it would be one of the coolest jobs he’s ever had, in my personal opinion, because it’s a completely virtual job.

He just had a great interview this afternoon and seemed really pumped about it. It appears that he’s virtually exactly what they’re looking for.

All in all, it would be a virtually PERFECT fit and we’re both really hoping that it works out. A virtual job that isn’t stuffing envelopes - who knew they really existed?

And I have not failed to realize that if he DID get this job, it would virtually eliminate my guilt delimma re: the nanny.

Well, we had The Conversation with the Nanny and it was every bit as painful as I was expecting it to be.

Basically, they are really really tight on money and she can’t wait around for J to find another job, so she’s going to have to look for another job.

Which, aside from making me feel terrible, means that if she DOES get another job, even if J finds the career of his dreams, we’re still out of a nanny. Again.

Have I mentioned that we’re ALREADY on our 3rd Nanny since February?

This whole thing is such a headache.

I’m having an episode of cowardice. Since J is out of work as of today, we will no longer be needing (or be able to afford) our nanny, who we just hired like a week ago.

The nanny who quit her job so she could work with us.

The nanny who just spent the last two days with her son in the hospital because he inhaled a chip and was having to undergo tests and procedures that consequently incurred an uncomfortable amount of medical bills (I don’t think they have insurance).

And I’m having a hard time bringing myself to the point of being able to tell her that now she’s out of work.

But I don’t have a choice.

Ick.