I'm going to preface this with a note: I am not a lightweight person. I started my pregnancy probably around 155. That said, today I clocked in at 170 and 30 cm (the vertical length of my baby bump). I've never been so happy to weigh so much. It's sort of been hard for me to gain weight, since food and I have a love-hate relationship during pregnancy. (I love to eat it, I hate to prepare it. Or even choose what to eat.)
I just wish they told me to get my little blood test done sooner so I could know the results. I rescheduled my doctors appointment to make sure I had the "couple days" the doctor's office told me to have... but today the assistant told me that the BYU health center usually takes about a week to get results back. (So why didn't they tell me that before?) Gestational diabetes isn't extremely common or anything, but it would still be nice to know I don't have it.
Huh. Why am I still awake?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Dear IRB...
You know, if I could do a study right this very minute, I think I would do it on nutrition intervention. (I say right now because I haven't taken the time to see what sorts of studies have already been done in this regard....) I just read an article about potentially taking severely obese children out of the home to help them have a better lifestyle and lose weight. They mentioned at least three different cases where the child lost significant weight within a year. However, two points were made that I think are more significant: one mother fed her son McDonalds because she worked two jobs and didn't have time to cook. The article itself said healthier food is often more expensive. I suppose that might be true... if you only wanted to eat ramen and mac and cheese. (Even then, I bet I could argue that buying pasta and sauce would ultimately be cheaper.)
So what I'm interested in now is do nutrition classes work? I have very mixed feelings about removing a child from their parents/caregivers, and that seems like the next most logical conclusion. One of the commenters suggested nutrition, budgeting, and meal planning classes. Sounds brilliant... but would it really work? I mean, parents of severely obese children tend to have their own weight management problems, so it could either be a win-win or a completely unwinnable situation.
On a random tangent, that mother who worked two jobs and fed her child fast food might be interested to learn that sometimes working two jobs can add up to being more expensive than just working one. I watched an interesting little clip for one of my classes where this finance guy looked at a two-income household and found that between commuting, daycare, and the cost of fast food from not having time to prepare lunches and things, (and apparently second incomes get taxed more than primary) this woman was bringing in only a few thousand a year. Wow! Not to mention the sacrifices in time they were making, because they had to juggle two children, so the couple rarely saw each other except on Sundays or something. Is it worth the extra 3000 a year? Anyway. Long random tangent.
I would be very interested to see if having families (yes, the whole family) attend a sort of nutrition class for a month would ultimately affect their eating and health over the course of a year or five years. Because really, if it would, then it seems a much better solution than removing kids from the home. Even if it were only temporarily, as the article suggested, wouldn't the problem come back once the kids returned home anyway?
The downside? I also read an article about government spending and the debt ceiling. People who feel they can't spend money on "healthy" food (which I still maintain is usually cheaper than premade food, it just costs extra time) probably won't find the money to attend a nutrition class. So who would pay for it? I guess it would probably cost less than throwing more children into foster care.
Sometimes I look at the state of people in America and it makes me sad... I guess I just have a lot to be grateful for, even when things aren't going as smoothly as we hoped.
So what I'm interested in now is do nutrition classes work? I have very mixed feelings about removing a child from their parents/caregivers, and that seems like the next most logical conclusion. One of the commenters suggested nutrition, budgeting, and meal planning classes. Sounds brilliant... but would it really work? I mean, parents of severely obese children tend to have their own weight management problems, so it could either be a win-win or a completely unwinnable situation.
On a random tangent, that mother who worked two jobs and fed her child fast food might be interested to learn that sometimes working two jobs can add up to being more expensive than just working one. I watched an interesting little clip for one of my classes where this finance guy looked at a two-income household and found that between commuting, daycare, and the cost of fast food from not having time to prepare lunches and things, (and apparently second incomes get taxed more than primary) this woman was bringing in only a few thousand a year. Wow! Not to mention the sacrifices in time they were making, because they had to juggle two children, so the couple rarely saw each other except on Sundays or something. Is it worth the extra 3000 a year? Anyway. Long random tangent.
I would be very interested to see if having families (yes, the whole family) attend a sort of nutrition class for a month would ultimately affect their eating and health over the course of a year or five years. Because really, if it would, then it seems a much better solution than removing kids from the home. Even if it were only temporarily, as the article suggested, wouldn't the problem come back once the kids returned home anyway?
The downside? I also read an article about government spending and the debt ceiling. People who feel they can't spend money on "healthy" food (which I still maintain is usually cheaper than premade food, it just costs extra time) probably won't find the money to attend a nutrition class. So who would pay for it? I guess it would probably cost less than throwing more children into foster care.
Sometimes I look at the state of people in America and it makes me sad... I guess I just have a lot to be grateful for, even when things aren't going as smoothly as we hoped.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Glucose
Today I had another pregnancy adventure! The short glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. Found out my aunt had it with her last pregnancy... but I guess it goes away after birth. I could handle that. I sort of thought it was a life time thing, and I thought, that would be such a bummer! I should probably eat more like a diabetic anyway... I don't want to think too much about that though.
So - the test! All I knew is I would have to take a glucose drink and then an hour they would draw my blood. I'm discovering that I must be somewhat paranoid, cause I thought that I was forgetting about all sorts of rules and what I couldn't eat and that this drink might be thick and nasty and, and, and.... I wasn't looking forward to it. All in all, it was relatively painless; the worst part was that I had to wait an hour in between, and while I meant to be studying, I just watched the food network that was playing in the little lobby, and the cute little kids that came in, too (poor things I think all had to get "poked"). The glucose drink was described to me as watered-down Sprite, but since I'm not exactly a Sprite connoisseur, I can't judge the truth of it. All I care about is that it wasn't even close to a gross medical brew. It was, well, very very sweet. Almost unpleasantly so, by the end. Fortunately it was only about the size of one of those mini water bottles, otherwise it would have been harder to drink. The taste was pleasant, and I would have enjoyed it all if it weren't so sweet. Haha. Go figure - a glucose drink is sweet...
Anyway, I'm going to find out the results of my lovely test on Friday when I go see the doctor. I could possibly find out sooner, but I don't feel like investigating. I'm just glad it all worked out... (I forgot my doctor appointment was this week, and they wanted me to do it "a few days before," and I lost the lab test order... fortunately they were able to fax it over).
Next test.... midterm. I can't just sit around for an hour and watch Food Network for that one, unfortunately, so I need to study. I think I can, I think I can....
So - the test! All I knew is I would have to take a glucose drink and then an hour they would draw my blood. I'm discovering that I must be somewhat paranoid, cause I thought that I was forgetting about all sorts of rules and what I couldn't eat and that this drink might be thick and nasty and, and, and.... I wasn't looking forward to it. All in all, it was relatively painless; the worst part was that I had to wait an hour in between, and while I meant to be studying, I just watched the food network that was playing in the little lobby, and the cute little kids that came in, too (poor things I think all had to get "poked"). The glucose drink was described to me as watered-down Sprite, but since I'm not exactly a Sprite connoisseur, I can't judge the truth of it. All I care about is that it wasn't even close to a gross medical brew. It was, well, very very sweet. Almost unpleasantly so, by the end. Fortunately it was only about the size of one of those mini water bottles, otherwise it would have been harder to drink. The taste was pleasant, and I would have enjoyed it all if it weren't so sweet. Haha. Go figure - a glucose drink is sweet...
Anyway, I'm going to find out the results of my lovely test on Friday when I go see the doctor. I could possibly find out sooner, but I don't feel like investigating. I'm just glad it all worked out... (I forgot my doctor appointment was this week, and they wanted me to do it "a few days before," and I lost the lab test order... fortunately they were able to fax it over).
Next test.... midterm. I can't just sit around for an hour and watch Food Network for that one, unfortunately, so I need to study. I think I can, I think I can....
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Emotional
I saw a pregnancy comic the other day where a husband was standing by his crying wife in the kitchen. The text underneath is simply, "The water's just taking so long to boil..."
That's how I feel right now, except replacing water with something equal silly. Maybe not quite that bad, more akin to when you were a kid and found out your friend couldn't make it to your birthday party. Like it was the only day the whoooole year you would see them. Such trauma.
I should get over it, I just feel like I'm going to start bawling at work, which would be really unfortunate. I mean, I haven't heard much about health codes and crying while preparing food, but I imagine it's frowned on. (Don't worry though; like many silly things, I'll probably stop worrying about this one soon enough.)
That's how I feel right now, except replacing water with something equal silly. Maybe not quite that bad, more akin to when you were a kid and found out your friend couldn't make it to your birthday party. Like it was the only day the whoooole year you would see them. Such trauma.
I should get over it, I just feel like I'm going to start bawling at work, which would be really unfortunate. I mean, I haven't heard much about health codes and crying while preparing food, but I imagine it's frowned on. (Don't worry though; like many silly things, I'll probably stop worrying about this one soon enough.)
It got better
Well, one day I might not fail at this whole procrastinating thing. For class, each student does a presentation on one of the sections we're reading, and the professor needs a copy of the presentation at least 24 hours before class so he can prepare, too. I hoped to get it to him sooner, since I don't know if he does stuff like this on Sunday, but as it is my presentation isn't quite done. And I can't actually work on it tomorrow morning, since I'm going to be at work getting ready for the missionaries to stuff themselves with ice cream and delicious toppings. (Mostly we do the toppings stuff in the morning.) At least what I'm teaching is pretty set? Hopefully that will be sufficient for my professor to feel like he can prepare... and not dock me points. That would be nice. :-)
So both Gary and I work tomorrow. Bummer. The worst part is that we don't work at the same time. I work from 9:30-2:30 and he works from 2-6. Sad day. Kind of like today I worked from about 11-2, and he worked 2-10. But at least we had a little time this morning. And, likewise, at least we'll have some time tomorrow night. I have a crockpot meal planned just for this occasion. I think. I've seen several recipes, and I can't decide if I need to cook it for 6-8 hours or for 4 hours. So I'm kind of compromising around 4.5-5...
Yeah. My life is so exciting, isn't it? I'm sorry to say that the point of this blog is mostly selfish, because I find that writing about random stuff/frustrations/excitements soothes me and makes me feel better about life. The funny part? When I go to bed... hopefully soon... yikes... I'll write in my journal. Maybe I just like to write about myself?
So both Gary and I work tomorrow. Bummer. The worst part is that we don't work at the same time. I work from 9:30-2:30 and he works from 2-6. Sad day. Kind of like today I worked from about 11-2, and he worked 2-10. But at least we had a little time this morning. And, likewise, at least we'll have some time tomorrow night. I have a crockpot meal planned just for this occasion. I think. I've seen several recipes, and I can't decide if I need to cook it for 6-8 hours or for 4 hours. So I'm kind of compromising around 4.5-5...
Yeah. My life is so exciting, isn't it? I'm sorry to say that the point of this blog is mostly selfish, because I find that writing about random stuff/frustrations/excitements soothes me and makes me feel better about life. The funny part? When I go to bed... hopefully soon... yikes... I'll write in my journal. Maybe I just like to write about myself?
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Too much food on my plate
Today is the day... for Gary's colonoscopy. You know what? I'm nervous. I don't think anything will go wrong, but my poor boy is not going to be a happy camper, and probably won't be fully recovered until sometime tomorrow. At least, from what I've looked at so far, nothing is going to prevent him from eating real, tasty, solid food when we're done. Except perhaps personal discomfort... I guess doctors pump a bunch of carbon dioxide into the colon so they can see better? Helloooo gas pain and bloating. Ugh. At least he'll be sedated in some form or other, so perhaps the discomfort won't be too bad while the sedation is wearing off.
I confess, though, it all has me very distracted. Why? Couldn't really tell you. Probably because I keep trying to imagine what he's going through. I don't want him to feel like he's doing it alone, you know? But at the same time I already have pregnancy discomforts (I mean, they aren't that bad yet but I still have them), so compounding the few discomforts I have with trying to imagine what he's doing isn't going so well for me. I'm pretty glad I dropped my other class because of all this doctor nonsense... though it turns out that I only "dropped" the class, because I'm currently still registered so I have to petition to get it deleted... sigh. At least one person I've talked with though seems to think BYU handles petitions pretty well, so that should happen. Especially if I mention my husband's medical conditions, right? And my pregnancy I guess.
Speaking of pregnancy, I also need to get a counselor. Um, not that dramatic, I mean one for school. One who can help me decide what's best financially and if I could perhaps take one online class in the fall (just so that financial aid can mostly pay for it). Cause I was looking at the way that BYU awards pell grants, and what they would give me, at most, for the credits I plan on taking, wouldn't fully cover the cost of those credits. Which is fine, I guess, since my scholarship was only half-tuition anyway; the biggest problem is that we're going down to one income this time. And I don't have my sweet summer job to pay for most of the other half of tuition. It isn't that bad, really, I just wish it were a tiny bit more to help pay for a few books and, well, the baby expenses will be having. At least Gary should be hired on this fall, complete with benefits and pay-raise. (He's technically contracted right now, but they're still really nice to him and letting him work overtime and stuff.)
Okay. I'm starting to feel like I'm complaining. I just want to get it all out, you know? Release some anxiety. Distract myself from the fact that I'm stuck in this office with little motivation to do anything productive. (Though I partially blame lack of motivation on anxiety... hence the blog post!) So, on the bright side, I got to get another ultrasound yesterday, and I got it recorded on a DVD. And they gave me some real cute pictures of her profile - complete with a tiny fist by her mouth! I wonder if she sucks on her thumb already. :-) Gary gave me a hard time yesterday because I kept calling our baby cute, and he only saw the alienishness of the ultrasound. But golly, feeling her move and then seeing her in there, moving, with her little arms and legs and beautiful face... Yeah, I think she's pretty cute. I just hope her abnormal kidneys don't cause her any pain, cause that would be so sad. At least the doctor said everything else looks just great. Yay for a mostly healthy baby!
I confess, though, it all has me very distracted. Why? Couldn't really tell you. Probably because I keep trying to imagine what he's going through. I don't want him to feel like he's doing it alone, you know? But at the same time I already have pregnancy discomforts (I mean, they aren't that bad yet but I still have them), so compounding the few discomforts I have with trying to imagine what he's doing isn't going so well for me. I'm pretty glad I dropped my other class because of all this doctor nonsense... though it turns out that I only "dropped" the class, because I'm currently still registered so I have to petition to get it deleted... sigh. At least one person I've talked with though seems to think BYU handles petitions pretty well, so that should happen. Especially if I mention my husband's medical conditions, right? And my pregnancy I guess.
Speaking of pregnancy, I also need to get a counselor. Um, not that dramatic, I mean one for school. One who can help me decide what's best financially and if I could perhaps take one online class in the fall (just so that financial aid can mostly pay for it). Cause I was looking at the way that BYU awards pell grants, and what they would give me, at most, for the credits I plan on taking, wouldn't fully cover the cost of those credits. Which is fine, I guess, since my scholarship was only half-tuition anyway; the biggest problem is that we're going down to one income this time. And I don't have my sweet summer job to pay for most of the other half of tuition. It isn't that bad, really, I just wish it were a tiny bit more to help pay for a few books and, well, the baby expenses will be having. At least Gary should be hired on this fall, complete with benefits and pay-raise. (He's technically contracted right now, but they're still really nice to him and letting him work overtime and stuff.)
Okay. I'm starting to feel like I'm complaining. I just want to get it all out, you know? Release some anxiety. Distract myself from the fact that I'm stuck in this office with little motivation to do anything productive. (Though I partially blame lack of motivation on anxiety... hence the blog post!) So, on the bright side, I got to get another ultrasound yesterday, and I got it recorded on a DVD. And they gave me some real cute pictures of her profile - complete with a tiny fist by her mouth! I wonder if she sucks on her thumb already. :-) Gary gave me a hard time yesterday because I kept calling our baby cute, and he only saw the alienishness of the ultrasound. But golly, feeling her move and then seeing her in there, moving, with her little arms and legs and beautiful face... Yeah, I think she's pretty cute. I just hope her abnormal kidneys don't cause her any pain, cause that would be so sad. At least the doctor said everything else looks just great. Yay for a mostly healthy baby!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Doctors
Whoo boy. Let me make a confession. We have a lot of doctor going on right now in our (small but growing) family... and it sort of stresses me out. I feel pretty lucky to go see my little girl again via ultrasound, but the co-pay at the hospital is pretty high. Gary's colonoscopy is a little stressful cause they're going to sedate him and there is potential that something could be wrong in there. But you know what stresses me out more? The co-pay, which is even more than the co-pay for my ultrasound. Not to mention if there is anything wrong that some insurances don't fully cover the procedure. I don't know about Gary's though; whatever the case, we hope to find out what's wrong and that he'll be just fine.
I love modern medicine. It does lots of good. And I really love insurance. I... just don't love the way we've handled our money necessarily. Paying cash for our car seemed like a really good idea at the time. Until the car suddenly got a little more expensive. Oh well. I guess every couple should go through financially trying times, right? It builds character or something. On the bright side, we aren't really overwhelmed with debt, just... not quite financially stable. This month should be a better month. That is, unless our doctor visits significantly increase again. Oh the joys.
I love modern medicine. It does lots of good. And I really love insurance. I... just don't love the way we've handled our money necessarily. Paying cash for our car seemed like a really good idea at the time. Until the car suddenly got a little more expensive. Oh well. I guess every couple should go through financially trying times, right? It builds character or something. On the bright side, we aren't really overwhelmed with debt, just... not quite financially stable. This month should be a better month. That is, unless our doctor visits significantly increase again. Oh the joys.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
It's happening
You know those funny moments, when you sort of catch a glimpse into the future and begin to realize things are really going to change? I had one of those yesterday, as we stood in Babies R Us and picked out a crib and tested a stroller. Bought a couple of crib sheets. We won't have the crib for another few weeks and the stroller/travel system is still in the box, but they are ours. Weird. Next up I consider stashing up on diapers... yikes.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Since I'm sooo educated
I read a lot of potentially worthless things when I'm bored. Or, in this case, when I'm too tired to want to do anything besides sit here. Anyway, I've seen quite a bit of hype about toys and kids meals at fast food restaurants. Look at child obesity! McDonalds, we blame YOU and your little toys and attractive packaging!...
(Well, not to point fingers or anything, but it's not like the kids walk in and buy it themselves...)
All blame aside, though, based off my purely personal experience, when I wanted to go to a fast-food place, my mom usually wouldn't buy us the kids meal with the fancy toy. We were lucky if we got to go at all. So, in my mind, I wanted to go for the food. Still, most of the time my mom said no. Probably not entirely based on health, since with five kids fast food became expensive food. As we got older, occasionally we would take our own personal money and go buy fast food... again, not for the toy.
Basically this was a really long way of saying that I don't really think it's the toys in kids meals that lead to childhood obesity.
And lets be real... they don't have toys for adults, so what are we blaming for our obesity?
On a more positive note, my baby is kicking around so hard I literally see my stomach twitching and bouncing. Fun!
(Well, not to point fingers or anything, but it's not like the kids walk in and buy it themselves...)
All blame aside, though, based off my purely personal experience, when I wanted to go to a fast-food place, my mom usually wouldn't buy us the kids meal with the fancy toy. We were lucky if we got to go at all. So, in my mind, I wanted to go for the food. Still, most of the time my mom said no. Probably not entirely based on health, since with five kids fast food became expensive food. As we got older, occasionally we would take our own personal money and go buy fast food... again, not for the toy.
Basically this was a really long way of saying that I don't really think it's the toys in kids meals that lead to childhood obesity.
And lets be real... they don't have toys for adults, so what are we blaming for our obesity?
On a more positive note, my baby is kicking around so hard I literally see my stomach twitching and bouncing. Fun!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Pregnant face-off!
Okay, not really. Last time I worked on a Friday, my nice supervisor was there and made me cashier. Tonight, not only was nice supervisor not there, another pregnant lady was working! And I'm assuming she's actually scheduled on Fridays, so she cashiered. Sigh. I could have used it, but maybe the hard work made my headache go away. Working on salads is my next preference, mainly because it doesn't involve a lot of lifting and it isn't next to hot foods. Tonight, however, it wasn't as pleasant as usual because, first off, the supervisor was a little behind so we didn't even get job assignments until 5 minutes after the shift started (usually it happens at least five minutes before, if not fifteen), and second, the other guy working salads with me had never done it before. Oh well... hard work is good for me right? Serving probably would have been easier, since it was just pizza night, but last time I "just" served, I got soo hot from the food and everything that it wasn't fun, either. Maybe I'm just pathetic. :-)
On the bright side, today started out... not very nice. I would say perhaps I had a minor bought with depression (that I totally blame on hormones) where I didn't see the point of doing anything and just felt bad. Fortunately, I had class which forced me out of the house (and possibly my gloom) and into the sunshine. Class started great, but we ended it with a lecture about statistics... and don't get me wrong, I find a lot interesting about statistics now that I've taken it, but the presenter went a little too much into the theoretical "why we have statistics" for me. Ended with a headache. I feel better mentally, though! Just tired. Real tired. Work did feed us dinner, though, which very rarely happens.
Speaking of dinner, poor Gary had an incident at work today. Well, incident implies he had something to do with it... turns out they cleaned out the fridge at work and threw his dinner away (tupperware and all!). I was able to pick up a burger for him, and, humorously, for two other co-workers, but he was understandably upset when he found out (since it was late and he was hungry!). I learned that... when he was angry with what happened... he managed to put a dent in the fridge. Hah! Am I a horrible wife for thinking that is hilarious? My husband dented a refrigerator. I am sorry the cause was anger/frustration... but... hahahaha there's a dent in that fridge now. I'm just glad it isn't ours.
Well, I'm going to stand under the swamp cooler and cool down for a few minutes. It's good to be home. Next big decision: do I work two shifts tomorrow or just one?...
On the bright side, today started out... not very nice. I would say perhaps I had a minor bought with depression (that I totally blame on hormones) where I didn't see the point of doing anything and just felt bad. Fortunately, I had class which forced me out of the house (and possibly my gloom) and into the sunshine. Class started great, but we ended it with a lecture about statistics... and don't get me wrong, I find a lot interesting about statistics now that I've taken it, but the presenter went a little too much into the theoretical "why we have statistics" for me. Ended with a headache. I feel better mentally, though! Just tired. Real tired. Work did feed us dinner, though, which very rarely happens.
Speaking of dinner, poor Gary had an incident at work today. Well, incident implies he had something to do with it... turns out they cleaned out the fridge at work and threw his dinner away (tupperware and all!). I was able to pick up a burger for him, and, humorously, for two other co-workers, but he was understandably upset when he found out (since it was late and he was hungry!). I learned that... when he was angry with what happened... he managed to put a dent in the fridge. Hah! Am I a horrible wife for thinking that is hilarious? My husband dented a refrigerator. I am sorry the cause was anger/frustration... but... hahahaha there's a dent in that fridge now. I'm just glad it isn't ours.
Well, I'm going to stand under the swamp cooler and cool down for a few minutes. It's good to be home. Next big decision: do I work two shifts tomorrow or just one?...
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