This is amazing. Courtesy of Holly.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Last of Las Vegas pics
I've been back in Columbus since very early on tuesday. Chris is on his way back tonight. It's wet and cold and snowy in C'bus, very sad. Here are some more pictures from Las Vegas. First one is me and Chris at the Wynn. I think he looks exceptionally handsome in this one. Maybe it's the blazer? Next one is Chris dancing like an Egyptian in front of the Luxor. Next two are from when we stopped by this "oxygen bar" in the mall. The contraption that we are hooked up to is supposed to concentrate the oxygen to help relieve headaches and give renewed energy. I'm pretty sure we were just breathing regular air... but I still sort of think it worked. Last one is me in the pool, sigh....
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Las Vegas Strip
If Fremont felt a little like slumming it, The Strip makes me feel.............................. rich.
(and really poor at the same time.)
The Wynn hotel is beeeeaauauuuutttttiful. You walk into the lobby and the first floor is a garden with orchids and vines dripping from green twisty trees. Everything is marble and luxurious. Our room is a bright tan and white color palette. The drapery and lights and music in the room is controlled by a touch pad by the bed and front door. There is a huge bathroom with a gigantic soaking tub and a glass enclosed shower. And the complimentary shampoo and lotion is fabulous. There is a mini-fridge stocked with ridiculously expensive liquors and Perrier water, which we both try to pretend doesn't exist, but we look it in every now and then just to peak at the glittering assortment. And then.... there's the shopping. You constantly find yourself funnelled into some beautiful mall, it's brilliant. Dior. Chanel. Manolo Blahnik. Oscar De La Renta. There was even some super high end cell phone shop that sells phones of a brand I've never even heard of... in case you are too rich to have such a plebian thing as a blackberry.
We are heading out to set up the booth for Chris's trade show he is working tomorrow for Boltaron (the Bolta-Booth). Then we are going to take a cab all the way down to the end of The Strip to Mandalay Bay and work our way back up. I'm excited to check out the Luxor (that's the pyramid shaped one) and eat more good food. We got to see The Phantom of the Opera last night at the Venetian. Fantastic! We lounged by the beautiful pool at the Wynn and I had an amazing streak at the Cabana black jack tables. I was up a few hundred and I skipped around all last night feeling like a million dollars. But this morning we had some coffee and played a few hands, and now, I'm only a little bit up and I'm right back where I started. Which isn't so bad I guess... we won't talk about how Chris is doing at the tables.
Ok, we are off for another day!
(and really poor at the same time.)
The Wynn hotel is beeeeaauauuuutttttiful. You walk into the lobby and the first floor is a garden with orchids and vines dripping from green twisty trees. Everything is marble and luxurious. Our room is a bright tan and white color palette. The drapery and lights and music in the room is controlled by a touch pad by the bed and front door. There is a huge bathroom with a gigantic soaking tub and a glass enclosed shower. And the complimentary shampoo and lotion is fabulous. There is a mini-fridge stocked with ridiculously expensive liquors and Perrier water, which we both try to pretend doesn't exist, but we look it in every now and then just to peak at the glittering assortment. And then.... there's the shopping. You constantly find yourself funnelled into some beautiful mall, it's brilliant. Dior. Chanel. Manolo Blahnik. Oscar De La Renta. There was even some super high end cell phone shop that sells phones of a brand I've never even heard of... in case you are too rich to have such a plebian thing as a blackberry.
We are heading out to set up the booth for Chris's trade show he is working tomorrow for Boltaron (the Bolta-Booth). Then we are going to take a cab all the way down to the end of The Strip to Mandalay Bay and work our way back up. I'm excited to check out the Luxor (that's the pyramid shaped one) and eat more good food. We got to see The Phantom of the Opera last night at the Venetian. Fantastic! We lounged by the beautiful pool at the Wynn and I had an amazing streak at the Cabana black jack tables. I was up a few hundred and I skipped around all last night feeling like a million dollars. But this morning we had some coffee and played a few hands, and now, I'm only a little bit up and I'm right back where I started. Which isn't so bad I guess... we won't talk about how Chris is doing at the tables.
Ok, we are off for another day!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Las Vegas !!!
I fully intended for my next post to be a detailed review of the current literature concerning the effects of various medical interventions on moms and babies during birth, the safety of natural birth, the benefits of using a doula, and a general discussion of the fears associated with giving birth and how our culture perpetuates these fears in TV shows (like, "one born every minute", and "I didn't know I was pregant").
Well, that will just have to wait, because we are in LAS VEGAS!!!! Sin City!!! The land of Fear and Loathing!!
It's about 8:50am here in Nevada. Chris and I just played a few hands of blackjack while having our morning coffee down in the hotel casino. Chris is still down there sitting at a table with a some half-drunk dudes from LA, I'm up in our hotel room looking out over the view of the rocky, Spring Mountains and the enourmous blue sky. It was amazing seeing all the desert and mountains as we were flying in yesterday, I've never seen anything like it. Last night, we hung out in downtown Las Vegas, on Fremont street (This is considered "Old Las Vegas"). So far, downtown Vegas is exactly what I had imagined it would be like. Its like a sparkly carnival everywhere you go! We started off at The Gold Nugget, which is the oldest hotel in Vegas, opened in 1905. There is a giant cylindrical aquarium that runs through the center of the hotel with sharks and huge fishes swimming around. You can even go to a fancy, overpriced restaurant that surrounds the aquarium (totally worth it to watch the sea creatures glide by). And of course there is an enourmous casino. Ok, basically the entire place is an enourmous casino.
Fremont street is covered by a huge light screen for about 10 blocks and every hour they put on a light show with music. In the middle of the street there are DJ's and people dancing. There are street magicians, performance artists, strippers dancing on bars... you get the idea. We went to a few more casinos on the street, hit some more black jack tables, and I ended up 80 dollars up!
From what I have gathered, we are kind of slumming it down here. We noticed that the strippers looked a little *ahem* trashy and the clientelle were mostly drunk dudes ogling the trashy dancers and making stupid bets at the tables. Don't get me wrong, we loved it! But, I'm looking forward to checking out the real classy places. We are staying on the strip tonight and tomorrow night at the Wynn, which is supposed to be an entirely different experience. I will let you know how it goes.
Back to baby news, I'm definetly starting to show. I can't button any of my pants anymore, I'm sort of losing my waist and I can't suck in my little tummy anymore. I'm somewhere in between looking pregant and just looking like I gained 5 pounds. I was still deluding myself that I looked normal, but Chris was away for 4 days and when he got back he exclaimed, "Babe, you look pregnant!". So I guess something happened in that short time. No pictures yet, I tried, I think they just made me look fat. More to come later.
Well, that will just have to wait, because we are in LAS VEGAS!!!! Sin City!!! The land of Fear and Loathing!!
It's about 8:50am here in Nevada. Chris and I just played a few hands of blackjack while having our morning coffee down in the hotel casino. Chris is still down there sitting at a table with a some half-drunk dudes from LA, I'm up in our hotel room looking out over the view of the rocky, Spring Mountains and the enourmous blue sky. It was amazing seeing all the desert and mountains as we were flying in yesterday, I've never seen anything like it. Last night, we hung out in downtown Las Vegas, on Fremont street (This is considered "Old Las Vegas"). So far, downtown Vegas is exactly what I had imagined it would be like. Its like a sparkly carnival everywhere you go! We started off at The Gold Nugget, which is the oldest hotel in Vegas, opened in 1905. There is a giant cylindrical aquarium that runs through the center of the hotel with sharks and huge fishes swimming around. You can even go to a fancy, overpriced restaurant that surrounds the aquarium (totally worth it to watch the sea creatures glide by). And of course there is an enourmous casino. Ok, basically the entire place is an enourmous casino.
Fremont street is covered by a huge light screen for about 10 blocks and every hour they put on a light show with music. In the middle of the street there are DJ's and people dancing. There are street magicians, performance artists, strippers dancing on bars... you get the idea. We went to a few more casinos on the street, hit some more black jack tables, and I ended up 80 dollars up!
From what I have gathered, we are kind of slumming it down here. We noticed that the strippers looked a little *ahem* trashy and the clientelle were mostly drunk dudes ogling the trashy dancers and making stupid bets at the tables. Don't get me wrong, we loved it! But, I'm looking forward to checking out the real classy places. We are staying on the strip tonight and tomorrow night at the Wynn, which is supposed to be an entirely different experience. I will let you know how it goes.
Back to baby news, I'm definetly starting to show. I can't button any of my pants anymore, I'm sort of losing my waist and I can't suck in my little tummy anymore. I'm somewhere in between looking pregant and just looking like I gained 5 pounds. I was still deluding myself that I looked normal, but Chris was away for 4 days and when he got back he exclaimed, "Babe, you look pregnant!". So I guess something happened in that short time. No pictures yet, I tried, I think they just made me look fat. More to come later.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Birthing Options
I have an appointment to go meet with the staff at CHOICE (the Center for Human Options in Childbirth Experiences) on Wednesday. We are interested in checking out their doula program. You might not have ever heard of a doula before (I hadn't until just recently). So, a doula is kind of like a birth coach. She meets with you a little before its time to have the baby and helps you come up with a plan. She will help you decide when your contractions are strong enough that it is time to head to the hospital. She helps you through the labor by massaging you and helping you relax and focus, and she helps out with the immediate after birth stuff, like early breast-feeding.
And that's all I really know at this moment, because I haven't been to the meeting to talk to these people yet. But it sounds like a good idea. I'll let you know how everything goes on Wednesday night. I expect to learn a whole lot and have a lot on my mind.
Expect a post on the merits of natural vs. medicated birth, etc.
And that's all I really know at this moment, because I haven't been to the meeting to talk to these people yet. But it sounds like a good idea. I'll let you know how everything goes on Wednesday night. I expect to learn a whole lot and have a lot on my mind.
Expect a post on the merits of natural vs. medicated birth, etc.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
St.Patricks Day Heartbeat
On Thursday, which also happened to be St. Patrick's day, I had my 2nd OB/Gyn appointment. I brought Chris along with me and we both got to hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler machine. It sounded really strong and this means that the baby is getting bigger and everything is going well. Chris also got to watch me get a pap smear.... and this made him extremely uncomfortable for some reason.
So after the heartbeat and pap smear excitment, everyone went out for St. Patricks day, which brings me to the secondary topic of this post: NOT DRINKING WHILE PREGNANT. No, it's not that bad to not drink, but it's not that awesome either. Not to mention, that I automatically become the designated driver for a bunch of people that look like this:
I can do without having tequila shots and $3 unlimited Long Island ice teas.... but, I like having wine with dinner and the occasional mug of green beer, dammit. Is that so bad? (It turns out, it really isn't that bad, more on that in a moment.) But the doctors, and everyone else that you could possibly ask for that matter, tell you that pregnant ladies shouldn't drink alcohol at all. And this is exactly what I have been doing. This advice is actually a relatively new extreme, though. Up until the 70's, women were advised to "limit" their alcohol intake. At about this time a strong relationship between chronic binge-drinking and fetal alcohol syndrome was established. This is a fact, being an alcoholic while pregnant is really bad for you and your baby. But the effects of light to moderate drinking during pregnancy haven't been studied nearly as much. Nevertheless, there is information to be found on the topic. In a study by Bakker et al. published in the June 2010 issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology, a large population of 7333 pregnant women in the Netherlands was studied. They examined the women in early, mid and late pregnancy and quizzed them on their alcohol use and measured the growth of their fetus. The categories of alcohol use were none, less than 1 drink per week, 1-3 drinks per week, 4-6 drinks per week, 1 drink per day, and 2-3 drinks per day. 37% of the women drank during their pregnancy, the majority of which had 3 drinks or less a week. The researchers found no connection between any amount of alcohol use and differences in fetal growth or the occurence of gross abnormalities. This study is limited in that the stats are tilted in the direction of very light drinking during pregnancy, because so few women had 1 or 2 drinks each day. Also, this study did not look at the babies after they were born. But what we can conclude from this study is that have 3 drinks or less per week will not affect fetal growth.
In another study that I find a little more interesting, actually, they looked at about 11,000 5-year old children in the UK and correlate their socioemotional and cognitive scores with the self-reported drinking of the mother while she was pregnant (Kelly et al, 2010, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health). The groups were kids born to mothers that never drank, didn't drink while pregnant, light, moderate, and heavy/binge. They found that the light-drinker kids had a reduced risk for high total difficulties compared with kids born to Moms that did not drink while pregnant. Furthermore, the light-drinker kids had higher cognitive scores; these kids had better verbal scores, better pattern reconstruction and picture matching skills than no-drinking-while pregnant kids. So lets get this straight, this study shows that light drinking might actually make your kid smarter and more well-adjusted? Holy Crap! Get me some red wine!! Of course, this doesn't show whether the light drinking actually caused the smarter child. It's possible that the women that had a few drinks per week were just less stressed out, or maybe they are just more laid-back individuals to begin with. Maybe light-drinkers while pregnant just tend to be better educated in this particular study? This would explain the slightly smarter babies. Regardless, this study indicates that having less than 3 drinks per week while you are pregnant will have no negative effect on the cognitive and emotional qualities of your child, at least by the time the kid is 5 years old.
So, why are we all dutifully abstaining? and why are the doctors still telling women not to drink at all while pregnant? and why aren't any of these studies done in the United States? As for the last question, I think that this is because the NIH just doesn't feel that this is an important enough question to study. It's easier to just tell women not to drink at all then to do expensive, large population, controlled clinical studies. I'm sure the doctors are afraid of being sued for letting anyone in on this knowledge. Also, and more importantly, there seems to be a puritanical hysteria surrounding the whole issue. French women would laught at us. I know the argument well, "If there is even the tiniest chance that it might harm your baby, why take the risk? Is it really that bad to just not drink for 9 months?". My reply to this argument is as follows: What if there is a 100% chance that having 1-2 drinks a week will have NO negative effects on your baby? What if there is even a tiny chance that abstaining from alcohol will make your baby turn out ever so slightly dumber than it could have been? And you know what, it is "that bad" to not drink, especially when the decision is based on fear-based irrationality rather than any sort of evidence.
Well.... now that I'm all worked up... I'm going to go do some prenatal yoga and eat strawberry ice-cream. And maybe, I'll have a small glass of champagne on our anniversary.
So after the heartbeat and pap smear excitment, everyone went out for St. Patricks day, which brings me to the secondary topic of this post: NOT DRINKING WHILE PREGNANT. No, it's not that bad to not drink, but it's not that awesome either. Not to mention, that I automatically become the designated driver for a bunch of people that look like this:
I can do without having tequila shots and $3 unlimited Long Island ice teas.... but, I like having wine with dinner and the occasional mug of green beer, dammit. Is that so bad? (It turns out, it really isn't that bad, more on that in a moment.) But the doctors, and everyone else that you could possibly ask for that matter, tell you that pregnant ladies shouldn't drink alcohol at all. And this is exactly what I have been doing. This advice is actually a relatively new extreme, though. Up until the 70's, women were advised to "limit" their alcohol intake. At about this time a strong relationship between chronic binge-drinking and fetal alcohol syndrome was established. This is a fact, being an alcoholic while pregnant is really bad for you and your baby. But the effects of light to moderate drinking during pregnancy haven't been studied nearly as much. Nevertheless, there is information to be found on the topic. In a study by Bakker et al. published in the June 2010 issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology, a large population of 7333 pregnant women in the Netherlands was studied. They examined the women in early, mid and late pregnancy and quizzed them on their alcohol use and measured the growth of their fetus. The categories of alcohol use were none, less than 1 drink per week, 1-3 drinks per week, 4-6 drinks per week, 1 drink per day, and 2-3 drinks per day. 37% of the women drank during their pregnancy, the majority of which had 3 drinks or less a week. The researchers found no connection between any amount of alcohol use and differences in fetal growth or the occurence of gross abnormalities. This study is limited in that the stats are tilted in the direction of very light drinking during pregnancy, because so few women had 1 or 2 drinks each day. Also, this study did not look at the babies after they were born. But what we can conclude from this study is that have 3 drinks or less per week will not affect fetal growth.
In another study that I find a little more interesting, actually, they looked at about 11,000 5-year old children in the UK and correlate their socioemotional and cognitive scores with the self-reported drinking of the mother while she was pregnant (Kelly et al, 2010, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health). The groups were kids born to mothers that never drank, didn't drink while pregnant, light, moderate, and heavy/binge. They found that the light-drinker kids had a reduced risk for high total difficulties compared with kids born to Moms that did not drink while pregnant. Furthermore, the light-drinker kids had higher cognitive scores; these kids had better verbal scores, better pattern reconstruction and picture matching skills than no-drinking-while pregnant kids. So lets get this straight, this study shows that light drinking might actually make your kid smarter and more well-adjusted? Holy Crap! Get me some red wine!! Of course, this doesn't show whether the light drinking actually caused the smarter child. It's possible that the women that had a few drinks per week were just less stressed out, or maybe they are just more laid-back individuals to begin with. Maybe light-drinkers while pregnant just tend to be better educated in this particular study? This would explain the slightly smarter babies. Regardless, this study indicates that having less than 3 drinks per week while you are pregnant will have no negative effect on the cognitive and emotional qualities of your child, at least by the time the kid is 5 years old.
So, why are we all dutifully abstaining? and why are the doctors still telling women not to drink at all while pregnant? and why aren't any of these studies done in the United States? As for the last question, I think that this is because the NIH just doesn't feel that this is an important enough question to study. It's easier to just tell women not to drink at all then to do expensive, large population, controlled clinical studies. I'm sure the doctors are afraid of being sued for letting anyone in on this knowledge. Also, and more importantly, there seems to be a puritanical hysteria surrounding the whole issue. French women would laught at us. I know the argument well, "If there is even the tiniest chance that it might harm your baby, why take the risk? Is it really that bad to just not drink for 9 months?". My reply to this argument is as follows: What if there is a 100% chance that having 1-2 drinks a week will have NO negative effects on your baby? What if there is even a tiny chance that abstaining from alcohol will make your baby turn out ever so slightly dumber than it could have been? And you know what, it is "that bad" to not drink, especially when the decision is based on fear-based irrationality rather than any sort of evidence.
Well.... now that I'm all worked up... I'm going to go do some prenatal yoga and eat strawberry ice-cream. And maybe, I'll have a small glass of champagne on our anniversary.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
I Want a Bump!
A lot of people have been asking to see pictures of my tummy. I could post pics... but right now it would just look like my normal tummy. I'm afraid it won't start getting interesting for another month or two. Which is slightly astonishing, really. My usually small, pear-sized uterus is about the size of a cantelope (It's interesting that these things are always described in fruit metaphors, btw). So if my abdomen isn't getting bigger, where is everything going? I can't figure it out.
I probably shouldn't be so impatient, because I hear that having a belly the size of Africa can get old pretty quick. Either way, I'm prepared for when it starts happening. I stopped by Eric and Moriah's house last night and got to chat for a long time and hang out with their little 6 month-old, Evan. Moriah was so nice to let me borrow her maternity wardrobe. They are beautiful clothes and it really is wonderful to be able to save hundreds of dollars and not have to buy all this stuff new. Also, Eric and Moriah are quickly establishing themselves as baby experts, in my mind, and I'm so happy they are around.
I probably shouldn't be so impatient, because I hear that having a belly the size of Africa can get old pretty quick. Either way, I'm prepared for when it starts happening. I stopped by Eric and Moriah's house last night and got to chat for a long time and hang out with their little 6 month-old, Evan. Moriah was so nice to let me borrow her maternity wardrobe. They are beautiful clothes and it really is wonderful to be able to save hundreds of dollars and not have to buy all this stuff new. Also, Eric and Moriah are quickly establishing themselves as baby experts, in my mind, and I'm so happy they are around.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Marsupial Birth
This is a newborn baby grey kangaroo. The fetus has to get from the vagina to the pouch, while being a fetus. Check this out. (Warning: I realize that this is a bit gross, but it is really cool. I've been watching birth videos for a while now, so I'm immune)
This is amazing. Can you believe that this fetus has the genetic program in place to make a 3 minute long (and very dangerous) journey to the nice warm pouch? It barely has a functioning vascular system... or back paws! And dare I say.... as for the mother's situation... I'm a little jealous. This seems like a far more efficient way to do things. Marsupials definetly had the right idea.
This is amazing. Can you believe that this fetus has the genetic program in place to make a 3 minute long (and very dangerous) journey to the nice warm pouch? It barely has a functioning vascular system... or back paws! And dare I say.... as for the mother's situation... I'm a little jealous. This seems like a far more efficient way to do things. Marsupials definetly had the right idea.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
First post
Hello!
Some friends suggested that I create a blog to document the adventures of having a baby growing in my tummy. This seems like a good topic for now, so I'm going to run with it. Especially since about 60% of my thoughts are revolving around this tiny human person right now. I have learned this person is about the size of a lime right now, with working joints and fingernails and hair follicles. There is about a one-to-one ratio of head to body size, because the little brain grows a lot quicker than the rest of the organs. And the skin is super translucent with blood vessels forming and a heart pumping blood. The fetus is 12 weeks old today, so we're officially in the second trimester.
We have one picture of the baby. This was at about 8.5 weeks, it's probably a bit cuter by now. This is interesting. When its really early in the pregnancy, they can't do the classic sonogram that everyone thinks of when you think of a sonogram. Instead they do a transvaginal sonogram, which means that they use this weird dildo thing that they pour blue lubrication goop stuff on and pop up there. Isn't that funny? I definetly thought it was, but then I was so distracted by seeing the little flickery heartbeat and the little moving arms that I completely forgot about the blue dildo. Very cool.
That's it for the baby update. This still leaves about 40% of other stuff I think about. And this condition will only last for about 6 more months. So, in addition to frequent fetus updates, expect posts on a variety of ideas and topics. Thanks for checking my blog.
Some friends suggested that I create a blog to document the adventures of having a baby growing in my tummy. This seems like a good topic for now, so I'm going to run with it. Especially since about 60% of my thoughts are revolving around this tiny human person right now. I have learned this person is about the size of a lime right now, with working joints and fingernails and hair follicles. There is about a one-to-one ratio of head to body size, because the little brain grows a lot quicker than the rest of the organs. And the skin is super translucent with blood vessels forming and a heart pumping blood. The fetus is 12 weeks old today, so we're officially in the second trimester.
That's it for the baby update. This still leaves about 40% of other stuff I think about. And this condition will only last for about 6 more months. So, in addition to frequent fetus updates, expect posts on a variety of ideas and topics. Thanks for checking my blog.
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