We need sleep.
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As you may be aware, kandlin and I are expecting a new addition.
For medical reasons, I am scheduled to have a c section on June 5th. I will say, neither of us expected all the issues that came with this pregnancy, and I have already been to the ER twice for blood pressure issues. We wanted to have a second child, and with time running out, I will be 40 in less than 2 months, and a miscarriage last year, we were both surprised and elated when I got pregnant again so soon...The Bean took almost 5 years to get pregnant with.
But, despite our excitement, the last couple years have been kind of crazy too. In January of 2018, kandlin lost his full time job of 10 years, due to budget cuts. Budget cuts that were caused the the owners of the company he worked for letting their daughter spend $800,000 of the companies marketing budget on her own personal stuff at Amazon. Note, he was making just at $40,000 a year after 10 years, but they closed the entire graphics department when thet got rid of him.
Since then, we have been making a living on commissions. 4 streams a week of timed sketch commissions and alternating Wednesday streams for working on owed artwork like Patreon rewards or owed commissions, or free art streams for Patrons. He tries to spend mornings and 2 other days a week working on owed art, as well. Then 1 day off to take care of house stuff, general upkeep and chasing a toddler. This has been thrown into disarray with my being put on bed rest. The doctor wanted full bed rest, but has had to settle for me watching The Bean in the morning, so kandlin can work, and trying to rest in the afternoon so I can help with streams at night.
I know he is an adult and capable of running streams without me, but I also know it help to have a second set of eyes and hands for moderating, invoicing, watching for change requests, and general customer service. I know he can do it, and since I will be down for 2 to 3 weeks after surgery, he will have to. I can help some from my phone, but I will also be watching a newborn, most streams are after The Bean is asleep, we hope that the changes happening at home do not throw his schedule too far off.
The point of all this is that we were trying to build up a financial cushion so that when our little girl gets here, we could take a couple weeks off (other than the guaranteed art slots owed to patreon supporters), and try to get our sleep schedules in order with needing to wake up every 3 hours for feeding. Unfortunately, with my health issues, and kandlin having to take over more toddler time, even with not taking any days off to rest his hands, our cushion is pretty flat.
I would much rather ask family to help...but my family does not help, having already told me that I don't need help and I can handle anything that comes my way. His family lives on the other side of the country, his dad takes care of his stepmom full time, as she has Parkinson's and is not expected to make it through the year, and his mom works full time and is paying off funeral expenses from when his step dad passed away from a heart attack suddenly last year.
Thankfully, we have had one friend and former co-worker step forward and offer to keep The Bean for a few hours while I am delivering, so that kandlin can be present. Otherwise, yeah, technically my parents were right, we do stuff on our own.
Without a lot of savings we can't take any time off...we could manage a week, but if we have any emergencies come up, we would be pretty fucked. So, I am trying to raise 700, which would cover an average week of streams. Each stream varies depending on commissions, color, complexity, and the roulette wheel. But that would let us take a week off and try to adjust.
For medical reasons, I am scheduled to have a c section on June 5th. I will say, neither of us expected all the issues that came with this pregnancy, and I have already been to the ER twice for blood pressure issues. We wanted to have a second child, and with time running out, I will be 40 in less than 2 months, and a miscarriage last year, we were both surprised and elated when I got pregnant again so soon...The Bean took almost 5 years to get pregnant with.
But, despite our excitement, the last couple years have been kind of crazy too. In January of 2018, kandlin lost his full time job of 10 years, due to budget cuts. Budget cuts that were caused the the owners of the company he worked for letting their daughter spend $800,000 of the companies marketing budget on her own personal stuff at Amazon. Note, he was making just at $40,000 a year after 10 years, but they closed the entire graphics department when thet got rid of him.
Since then, we have been making a living on commissions. 4 streams a week of timed sketch commissions and alternating Wednesday streams for working on owed artwork like Patreon rewards or owed commissions, or free art streams for Patrons. He tries to spend mornings and 2 other days a week working on owed art, as well. Then 1 day off to take care of house stuff, general upkeep and chasing a toddler. This has been thrown into disarray with my being put on bed rest. The doctor wanted full bed rest, but has had to settle for me watching The Bean in the morning, so kandlin can work, and trying to rest in the afternoon so I can help with streams at night.
I know he is an adult and capable of running streams without me, but I also know it help to have a second set of eyes and hands for moderating, invoicing, watching for change requests, and general customer service. I know he can do it, and since I will be down for 2 to 3 weeks after surgery, he will have to. I can help some from my phone, but I will also be watching a newborn, most streams are after The Bean is asleep, we hope that the changes happening at home do not throw his schedule too far off.
The point of all this is that we were trying to build up a financial cushion so that when our little girl gets here, we could take a couple weeks off (other than the guaranteed art slots owed to patreon supporters), and try to get our sleep schedules in order with needing to wake up every 3 hours for feeding. Unfortunately, with my health issues, and kandlin having to take over more toddler time, even with not taking any days off to rest his hands, our cushion is pretty flat.
I would much rather ask family to help...but my family does not help, having already told me that I don't need help and I can handle anything that comes my way. His family lives on the other side of the country, his dad takes care of his stepmom full time, as she has Parkinson's and is not expected to make it through the year, and his mom works full time and is paying off funeral expenses from when his step dad passed away from a heart attack suddenly last year.
Thankfully, we have had one friend and former co-worker step forward and offer to keep The Bean for a few hours while I am delivering, so that kandlin can be present. Otherwise, yeah, technically my parents were right, we do stuff on our own.
Without a lot of savings we can't take any time off...we could manage a week, but if we have any emergencies come up, we would be pretty fucked. So, I am trying to raise 700, which would cover an average week of streams. Each stream varies depending on commissions, color, complexity, and the roulette wheel. But that would let us take a week off and try to adjust.
Organizer
Galadreal Simmons
Organizer
Springdale, AR