WIC

As I am sitting here waiting on our littlest one to arrive, I have been checking on getting WIC for him. Now that we are getting our 3rd baby, I am knowing to think ahead. Living in Little Rock has been so different from living down south....may things I didn't know how easy I had it down there. Not having choices, and just knowing "this is where I go, this is what I do" was so much easier. Up here....there are several health departments. When I was trying to get WIC for my other babies, I just picked the main one down town, but at the time, their appointments were about 2 weeks in advance, so I started calling around to the other units. There are several in our county. Crazily, every department has a totally different policy on WIC appointments.

When we lived in Maumelle, the closest one to me was in Conway....well you could only call between the times of 7:30-8:00 to make an appointment for that day. No exceptions....you couldn't make the appointment a day in advance, it had to be during that 30 min window for the day you wanted to go, in a first come first serve timeframe....meaning I couldn't even pick the time of day I wanted to come. They ran out of appointments quick, and I had to try a few days before I finally got an appointment. Then, I got there and realized that Z was already in the system, and I didn't even need an appointment, they could just give me the vouchers.

I tried a few days with Conway trying to get H's, and finally gave up, and tried another unit. I called one, but it was 30 mins away...you could only make your appintment for the day before you wanted to go. Man....that was hard to coordinate with everyone's appointments they had. Finally, I called the main branch, and had them look it up, and he was already in the system too. So I was able to just go pick up the vouchers.

So, b/c of all that pain, I have been sitting here calling all the health units, trying to figure out which one will get me in the quickest. That formula is $15 a can, and I want to buy as little of it as I have to. So far, the one closest to me can't get me in until the 18th, another can get me Monday, but their system is down, so I have to call back. Another said they could get me the day I wanted to come, but I had to call really early, b/c appointments fill up so fast...that Tuesday will be better. And, I have to try to coordinate these around a Doc appointment on Monday, and a staffing for the other baby on Tuesday. Which is kinda hard when you can't pick the time you need to come. Urgh....could they make this any harder???? Good grief!

I am hoping, once he gets here and I have his info, that I can call, and they will say he is already in the system.....crossing my fingers! Being 3 months old, hopefully his mom has already had him on WIC.