Black Friday

Let's keep it in perspective, people. How much we spend on each other for Christmas presents has nothing to do with how much we love each other. And I am not just saying that because we are trying to save money here. I would much rather receive a small item handmade with love than anything else.

Recently Jim found a news story featuring a crazy lady who "felt guilty because she is unemployed this year and can't treat her THREE YEAR OLD to the $600 Christmas shopping spree she got last year." You know, last year when she was TWO.

Are you kidding me?? Guilt over not spending a ridiculous amount of money (that she probably didn't really have last year, either) on a kid that young when they don't know the difference between a toy that costs $5 or $50 as long as it is entertaining? What kind of expectations is this mother setting her daughter up for with behavior like this? Fast forward 13 years and I bet we find a girl demanding a BMW for her birthday. Fast forward 23 years and I bet we find a young woman with impossible monetary standard for any mate to be able to live up to. This girl believes she is entitled to the world - and will probably end up miserable because she can't have it - all because mommy let her have a $600 shopping spree at the age of two.

I think this is an important lesson we need absorb as parents and we need to pass on to our children. Money is not what is important. So when you hit those Black Friday sales (for those of you crazy enough to do this - I know who you are), keep this in perspective as you are being lured by all those sweet deals. What REALLY matters? That big ticket item you can get 25% off for, or something smaller that, perhaps, you spent time on and made by hand?

Happy shopping.
Love,
Your Conscience

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please don't eat your children...


(via Martha Stewart)

lmnop: Issue 5

It's out!

I've said it before, I'll say it again: if you appreciate tyke clothes and toys that border on art, if you have little ones in your life that you would like to instill an intrinsic sense of style and beauty into, then you MUST follow this quarterly e-zine, downloadable for free here.

As with all issues, I can really only covet the high-priced items featured, but it's fun to pick out the one or two things you might, one day, when you win the lottery, splurge on. OR, just see if you can find something that is actually affordable that you love (for instance, I wish I had the $14 Constructable Drinking Straws when I was a kid!). If nothing else, the beautiful layout of this publication just overflows with tons of inspiration.

I am also pleased to see that I don't have to wait for JUST the quarterly issue anymore! lmnop has started a blog! Ahh.... a daily dose....

Oprah: Just thought I'd mention...

For mature audiences only... (we're all adults, right?)

On Friday, if you missed Oprah, she had Dr. Laura Berman on - a sex therapist. I thought it was interesting that one of the couples had the specific problem of the husband not being able to "look" at his wife the same way after he watched their babies being born. In fact, he wasn't able to look at "her" at all, let alone get close enough for any recreational activity.

Dr. Berman went on to say that this is perhaps the one biggest mistake men make (watching birth) and one of the most common problems she sees within sex therapy. She recommends daddies stay up near their baby-mama's head, perhaps to support her through breathing and pushing via eye-to-eye contact.

I thought this was interesting because this is something that has come up in more than one conversation amongst friends and family. "Jim, will you watch? Will you cut the umbilical cord?" This question puts a father to be in a very awkward position... Amongst some crowds, say NO and it's as if he's a loon, unwilling to share in the experience, embrace this "beautiful" birth, and neglecting his wife and offspring from the get-go. There seems to be a belief that a man is supposed to have an internal switch with which he can turn on and off his sexuality in the birth situation. Men are just not wired this way. They are visual beings, and it seemed a no-brainer to me that this may pose a problem in the post-baby bedroom.

A long time ago, before Lemon was a glimmer in our eyes, we decided that whether to watch or not would be up to Jim. The way I see it there will be very little about the labor and birth experience that he can control. This is one of the things he is able to decide how to play out for himself. It was almost as if there was audible sigh of relief from Jim when I told him how I felt. If I remember correctly, he held back the "thank god" and went for a more sensitive, "I don't think I want to watch." And I am perfectly fine with that. In fact, more than fine.

If you have already had children, I am interested in hearing how you all handled the situation (if you don't mind sharing). If you have not yet had your kidlets, feel free to pipe in with your thoughts, too. Maybe we'll learn something we haven't thought of before...

Blood Sugar: Update

I finally got a call back from the doctor's office after faxing my first week of blood sugar numbers last Wednesday (sure am glad I didn't have an emergency!). She said my numbers look great, but to keep monitoring - better safe than sorry. Thursday will mark 34 weeks so it really won't be too much longer (6 weeks, give or take).

So, I will keep poking my fingers 4x a day until Lemon arrives. That's 176 times, if she arrives on her due date. Ouch. My poor fingers.

Blue or Brown eyed girl?

I like my browns eyes but I'd be lying if I said I don't not-so-secretly hope our little Lemon is born with her daddy's big blue gems. They are melt-my-heart stunning.

So, when I found this eye color predictor site this morning, I had to give it a shot! I learned in 7th grade biology how dominant and recessive genes work, and that brown eyes are dominant but that won't stop this girl from hoping, especially because I have seen recessive genes in action - my sister has the only blue eyes in a family full of brown. And our odds must be better since Jim's family is all blue and green eyes - no brown in his immediate family.

This is what our chart looks like based on six children (right!):


As predicted, there is a 50% chance Lemon will have brown eyes, 25% chance of blue, and 25% chance of green - which surprised me. As much as I can't wait to have my curiosity satisfied, we may not REALLY know what color eyes she will have until about 9 months after she is born anyway. Chances are if she is born with brown eyes they will stay brown. BUT, if her eyes are gray or muddy, it can take up to 9 months for the true pigment to build up and reveal a permanent color, whether that is brown, blue or green.

It really doesn't matter to us - I just can't wait to meet Lemon! But this is a fun little site to check out... if you haven't had your kids yet, or haven't had ALL of your kids yet, let us know what your results are!

Blood Sugar Update

I attended my gestational diabetes class on Wednesday. Two hours worth of info I could have gotten on WebMD in 10 minutes. Yes, I am an instant gratification-driven generation X'er. The interesting part of class was getting the meter and testing it out... it's sad when the best part of class involves pricking your finger.

Anyway, right after class I had my 32 week OB appointment. I discussed my concerns about "over-reacting" and being quick to diagnose - especially after I was given my full results from the GTT and all of my post-Glucola sugar levels were WELL within range. She and I agreed to go ahead and test for a full week (4x a day) and we can review the results together and see how to proceed.

Her biggest concern is that my fasting blood sugar, taken before eating in the morning, was a little high (104). Unfortunately this is the one reading that, if off, you can't control with diet. If it is consistently high it may require taking a slow acting insulin before bed at night so that my reading is normal (<95) in the morning.

Today I took my first fasting reading - 96. Just a point high. All my post-meal readings (taken 2 hours after eating) were perfectly fine (<120): Breakfast - 111, Lunch - 82, Dinner - 114).

We'll see how the week goes...

Of Completely Poor Taste

Who needs a Gingerbread man or Santa sugar cookie this holiday season when you can have a dozen of these in the oven?:


If any of you buy this cookie cutter for $9.99 here, it will definitely change my opinion of you - and not in a good way. Now if only they made placenta-shaped cookie cutters, this person would be happy.

Birth Prep Class

This past weekend was full of fun as Jim and I spent both days in an intensive birth and baby prep class. I'm glad we nailed it in one weekend... If I had to go 6 weeks straight I could easily have seen us blowing this off after a few weeks. It seemed like most of the information was stuff we already knew. I guess that is a good thing, but I was looking forward to the class but ended up being bored by most of it.

Saturday was focused on the birth. We watched what was probably TOO MANY birth videos. I know it is good to see many different possibilities but we (and by we I mean mostly Jim) squirmed through the whole thing, all wide-eyed. I also caught him laughing and pointing at me when I looked at him during particularly intense or stomach-turning parts... thanks for the support, honey. You are lucky I have a sense of humor!

We also went through many different laboring positions to see what was most comfortable for us (me). Jim and I are obviously going to have relaxation breathing issues. It is like dancing. You need synchronization and rhythm. Jim is supposed to lead me through breathing so I can focus on him instead of the pain. The problem is that he has no rhythm and I wanted to lead the whole time. We were SO BAD we couldn't help but laugh the entire time. We are going to have to find another means to relax me during labor. I am confident I can employ my yoga and meditation breathing. I think Jim is going to have to just make sure he is up on his massage skills and be OK with being bossed around and yelled at. I have warned him several times by now that I am not really expecting to be a nice person through all that pain. I do feel like I am more ready now and anxious for the whole labor and delivery thing. We are feeling more confident and really can't wait for Lemon to arrive!

Sunday was focused on care for baby after birth - both in the hospital and at home. Again, feeling pretty good about my knowledge level. We had a fake baby to practice on and I LOVED watching Jim change the diaper and dress the baby! All in all, a successful weekend that I am glad is over. Now let's get on to the real thing...

Baby Shower!

Last Sunday, Nov 2, Lemon's Aunty Em (my sister, Emily) threw me a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our little girl! We had a great time despite a few snafu's. Here are the highlights:

I had TWO east coast visitors! Aunty San (Sandy, my BFF from high school) flew in from New Jersey, and Aunty Karen (one of my roommates from school) flew in from Vermont to join in the festivities! THANK YOU both for making the trip!

For some reason the TIME of the party was unclear. The three of us walked into Emily's house and she promptly yelled at us for arriving an hour early... uh... no we didn't. Party starts at noon. She insisted it was 1pm. Luckily Aunty Dana arrived 10 minutes behind with the invitation in the car that clearly states a 12:00pm start. HA!

Uncle Chad, Emily's husband, was still home, in his pajamas, helping Emily clean the house. Double HA!

On the opposite end, I had to remind Aunty Laura (a friend from Hawaii who lives in Seattle part time) that the party started noon and not 2:00pm as she left on my voicemail the night before! Yikes! Unfortunately Laura never made it to the party... I didn't hear my phone ringing in my purse as she drove around Snohomish county as lost as she could be. Boo... Again, SO sorry, Laura.

Party attendees included (in addition to myself, Emily, Dana, Karen and Sandy) Aunty Bree & Lemon's new friend Metztli, Aunty Lisa, Aunty Caitlin (Caitlin's little Athena stayed home with daddy that day for the first time ever! Still waiting to hear how that went!) it was a fun little crew full of girly chatter. Perfect.

We did have a couple of last minute cancellations - Aunty Kristen, I hope you grandfather is OK; Aunty KC, I completely understand how hectic it can be to have family in town... both of you were sorely missed, though.

We did not play any shower games (thankfully). Instead we stenciled and painted onesies that Lemon will be able to wear during her first year! This was what we did for Caitlin's shower back in February and I am so glad we re-created it for my shower. They came out GREAT! (Note to Bree: as your hands were full with your toddler the entire time, rest assured that Lisa went ahead and finished your cute elephant - see photos!)

(L to R): Dana, Karen, Sandy, and Emily hard at work!

Maya Played babysitter for about 3 minutes so mommy Bree could at least TRY to make a onesie!

The results - I will have the best-dressed baby in town.

Thanks again to Emily for our hard work, to all of you who were able to make it - especially those who traveled by plane! And for those of you who were unable to join us, we missed you! It is one of the downfalls of having moved around a lot - most of my friends are flung across the country and across oceans. Love to you all.

New Poll!

Please participate in the poll to the right... time to start taking bets on Lemon's arrival!

If you want to choose a specific date, still vote in the poll but add a comment to this post with the exact date. We'll keep track! If you choose the correct time frame outlined in the poll, you get bragging rights, but if you choose the exact DATE you get a special prize!

Poll closes December 1. Hopefully she'll wait at least THAT long!

An Unusual Doctor's Appointment

Warning: Very long post.

Up until last week we have been having pretty standard doctor's appointments. Blood pressure normal, urine protein and sugar normal, weight gain normal, baby heart rate normal. Uneventful, up until last week.

When we went to check Lemon's heart rate it was high. Normally her heart rate has been sitting comfortably between 145 and 155 beats per minute. I'm not sure where it was when the doctor was checking it but it was high enough to hook me up to the monitor for 30 minutes. The monitor measures the baby heart rate while I pushed a button every time I felt a kick or movement. I wasn't too concerned as she had been active all morning and even kicked the doctor while she was checking her heart rate. The way it has been explained to me is that when she is kicking, it is the equivalent of when you or I would run on the treadmill. Naturally the heart rate increases. What they wanted to check on was whether or not it was staying steadily high or if it was increasing with the kicks. The monitor should show healthy peaks and valleys that correspond to the kicks.

As I was laying there I could tell by looking at the print out that her heart rate was fine. Healthy peaks and valleys with resting rate at 150. Phew.

The next thing I asked was how my 1 hour glucose tolerance test score was (done at the previous appointment). I assumed no news was good news. I had passed, but only by 1 point.... oooh. Narrow margin. She may have overlooked it but it turns out that the urine test I took at that day's appointment put my sugar output at 4+. Too high. As a precaution, the doc decided to send me for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Yikes.

With friends coming in a couple days later I scheduled it for two days later (Sat, Nov 1). I needed to get it done so I didn't have to worry about it while they were here. Besides, it was the perfect motivation to keep my hand out of the Halloween candy bowl.

I had to fast from 10pm Friday night until the test was done, so I had a big glass of milk at 9:45p hoping it would keep me feeling full for a while (lots of protein, right?). I showed up early for my 8am appointment - at about 7:30am. During the test there are FOUR blood draws (ouch!) - the first one is your fasting blood sugar. You then drink the glucola (lemon-lime flavor syrup containing 100g of sugar - YUCK!). You then have three consecutive blood draws an hour apart from eachother to see how your body metabolizes the sugar.

I got the results last Monday. FAIL! Are you kidding? I was shocked. I really wasn't expecting that result. The doc told me that it was actually my fasting blood sugar that failed, not the others. It measured at 104. A good result is <100, but when pregnant they actually like to see your sugar level at <90. SO, this basically means that my blood sugar level is either an indicator of Gestational Diabetes (GD), pre-diabetes (Type II), or a fluke (which I am personally thinking is the case).

Here are some things we need to think about with GD:

• Big Baby Syndrome - because there is so much more sugar in a GD mom, baby tends to pack on more weight causing a higher birth weight... this is where 10lb + babies come from! NIGHTMARE! And, of course, this increases the c-section rate, which I am trying to avoid.
• Low blood sugar in baby - I know that sounds weird, right?
• Jaundice at birth - when your baby's body can not properly break down the excess belirubin in it's system.
• Development of Preeclampsia (high blood pressure for mom at birth), which can be very dangerous for both of us.

Now, back to the test results. My gut is still telling me that my results may be a fluke. Why, you ask? Several reasons:

• I had been indulging in some Halloween candy a couple days before my urine test the day of my last doctor's appointment. I am SURE I had more sugar in my system than normal and I think my body was just dumping the extra sugar through my urine.
• Note I drank a whole, big glass of milk just before fasting for the GTT. One of the first things I read when looking up diabetes diet changes is that if you drink cow's milk you may need to switch to soy because of the amount of SUGAR in cow's milk - I HAD NO IDEA!
• I arrived at the appointment a half hour early so I didn't get my full 10 hours fasting in. My fasting blood test is the only one that failed. My body actually handled the glucola fine.

Maybe I am fooling myself but I am thinking my doctor is being a little over-cautious. I can't really fault her for that as I would rather her be safe than sorry, BUT I feel like my results were SO borderline that I am considering asking for a re-test at my next appointment on Wednesday. Not that I am planning on some heavy sugar consumption - in fact I feel like I will be more conscious now on my own anyway. But when you are labeled GD you are automatically put through the wringer with extra monitoring of the baby, which equals extra medical expenses. My insurance is good (although a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes) but I would like to avoid spending unnecessary money if possible.

Will keep you all posted.