infinitesimal change

Audrey's Birth Story

2011-03-01T17:03:00.002-05:00

After our extremely successful, textbook perfect unmedicated hospital birth of our first daughter in August 2009, Scott and I decided that we’d like a home birth this time around. We found an incredible midwife, Karen, who was willing to work with us, despite my Type 1 diabetes, and are so thankful we did. I am pretty convinced that if we hadn’t done a home birth, Audrey would have been born in a car on the side of Route 66 because of how fast labor was and because it happened during the morning rush hour.

On the evening of November 4th, I started having some timeable Braxton-Hicks style contractions. At one point, they were coming every 3 minutes for an hour. Because my midwife lives over an hour away, and because I was already at least 5 cm dilated, 70% effaced, I got a little nervous and called her. She was at another birth, nearly 2 1/2 hours away from me when I talked to her, and that made me really nervous. If this baby was coming now, she would probably come fast and I wasn't interested in an unassisted child birth. Soon after I got off the phone with her, my contractions stopped completely. She went ahead and found a backup midwife just in case, and around 10 or 11 pm, we went to bed.

I had a hard time falling asleep and the baby was moving lots. I was worried I wouldn't sleep at all, so I listened to two Hypnobabies scripts and eventually fell asleep, probably around 1 am. At 5:15 am I awoke and was having some mild cramping. I timed them for 15 minutes, and decided to text my doula, Aimee (who lives much closer than Karen). She said it sounds like labor, and unless Karen says otherwise, she's going to head to our house. I called Karen and she also decided to head out, given the traffic in this area and how far she was from me.

At 6:00, I woke Scott up and told him what was going on and asked him to get the birth pool set up. I went downstairs to the basement to shower so he could use the upstairs bathroom to set up the pool. During my shower, things got a lot more intense - it went from regular cramping to "I have to breathe through these" contractions.

After my shower I went upstairs. I felt very unsettled, like I didn't know what to do, and told Scott this. We made the bed with old sheets and a waterproof layer, and I laid down and listened to a Hypnobabies script. This script lasted about an hour, and at some point during the script, I asked Scott to call our chiropractor and good friend, and Aimee also came in. Our chiropractor showed up soon after and gave me an adjustment - that was heavenly!

Scott kept offering me food - I agreed to toast, but once it was cooked, I didn't want any. I wasn't hungry at all, though I did drink water. At this point in my memory, things really get fuzzy, and time stops making sense. I think I laid on the bed for a while after my Hypnobabies script finished, just breathing through the contractions. Aimee offered to listen to the baby if I wanted to, but the baby was moving and I didn't want to be interrupted, so I didn't ask her to.

At some point, I moved to the floor, to try using my birth ball. I think I tried sitting on it, and that wasn't comfortable. I also tried kneeling on the floor, leaning the front half of my body over the ball. This was OK for a little while, until I figured out that it was making my contractions more intense because the ball was pushing on the top of my belly. I think Karen arrived while I was on the floor, but she didn't interrupt me (bless her!) - I assume she got the information she needed from Aimee and from Scott. Once I was on the floor, I needed Scott to put counterpressure on my back/SI joints. I was grateful that the fan in our room was on and blowing on me while I was on the floor, too, because I was quite warm. Scott gave me a few bites of applesauce, but I still wasn't hungry.

Then, all of a sudden, I NEEDED to be in the birth pool. It wasn't completely full yet, but it was close enough. I stripped down to just my bra, and got in. (I think I was in transition, or nearing it, at this point, but I was never checked during labor, so I don't know). The water felt great. I sat on my bottom, leaning back against the edge of the pool, letting my arms float. I did this for a while, and at some point, Aimee suggested I try leaning over the edge of the pool while kneeling. I tried this position, and it really hurt my lower back, but I realized I did want to lean forward. I then got on hands and knees in the water, and Aimee massaged my lower back in between contractions and applied counter pressure during contractions. I stayed like this for a little while, and things were really getting intense. I started having feelings of "when will this be over?!", "how much longer?!", "I want drugs!", and a little of "I can't do this any more". To cope, I told myself "this one isn't so bad" and "I can get through this one". At one point, I said out loud "I'm scared", but it wasn't the traumatizing fear that I experienced during this stage of my first daughter's birth. And then my body started pushing. I kept my mouth open and said "Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh" through the contractions, as I had read in Ina May's book. Soon after I started pushing, my water broke. I thought it was her head emerging and was disappointed to find out that it wasn't. When her head did start to emerge, I said "ring of fire!" and I think this was the point where I started actively pushing, instead of just letting my body do it, though this might have started earlier. Once her head was out, I still had work to do to get her shoulders out. They were never stuck or anything, but it was obvious to me that this baby was bigger than my first. Once her shoulders were out, it wasn't much more effort to get the rest of her out. I don't remember turning over, but soon I was sitting on my bottom again, holding my baby. You can tell in the photos that I was totally out of it. It took a few seconds for me to sort of "realize" that I was holding a baby, and to look at her.

She was really gray and not breathing, so Karen rubbed her chest. She let out a cry, and we knew she was perfect. I sat with her in the water for a short time, then decided I wanted to get out. This was pretty awkward because a.) I hadn't delivered the placenta yet, b.) I was holding a newborn baby, and c.) I was weak from the delivery. But, we made it out of the pool and into the bed, where we waited for what seemed like a long while, but I'm guessing was around 15 minutes, for me to deliver the placenta. I had a small tear that required 2 stitches - much smaller than my first birth, despite this baby being nearly 1.5 lbs heavier and 3 inches longer than my first!

Audrey Veronica was born at 9:37 am weighing 8 lbs 12 oz, 21 1/4 inches long, and had a 14 3/8 cm head covered in dark brown (nearly black) hair! No wonder I felt the ring of fire this time!

Grammy's Goodies - In Action!

2010-02-02T16:44:00.002-05:00

Remember this post? Way back when I was still pregnant? Well, that adorable little dress and fleece now fit! So, here's what it looks like on an adorable little model:

Thanks, again, Mom. :)

Bedtime Woes

2010-01-30T21:32:00.002-05:00

Tonight, bedtime started early - at 6:20 - because little miss Evelyn did not take her late afternoon nap. It's 9:30 now and she's upstairs with her daddy, screaming her precious little head off. She's been put down in her crib no fewer than 5 times already tonight. Her longest sleep stretch (by a LOT) was 40 minutes. The average is about 10 minutes. I have no idea what gives, but this is not fun.

3 Words

2010-01-04T20:59:00.009-05:00

Social media blogger Chris Brogan has created a simple activity to help him create a strategic focus for the New Year. He calls it "3 Words for 2010." I have been attempting to set my personal and professional goals for this year, and I found this activity to be very helpful. My 3 Words are

Inspect
Connect
Effect

Here's what those words mean to me in terms of where I want to place my focus for 2010:

Inspect

Have vision. Have focus. See what I am called to do.
Watch my daughter. Be present and take notice of her as she grows this year.

Improve my photography.

Read. See as many words as possible.

Improve my productivity by better documenting my work flow, the mistakes I make, and the corrections I create to fix my mistakes.
Connect

Connect with God.
Spend lots of good quality time with my wife.

Strengthen my relationships, particularly with my family.

Be plugged in to the Disciples of Christ community (the denomination of the church we attend) and the social justice community in Northern VA.

Be a switchboard for connecting others.
Effect

As in "fire for effect".
Requires "walking" shots on target first.
Have an impact in the lives of those I meet.

Have an impact in my community.

Have an impact at work.

Embody effectiveness (in the "Seven Habits" sense of being proactive, etc.).
(Back story on "fire for effect": In most modern militaries, it is customary to have a forward observer, the FO, calling in artillery fire over the radio. The FO will give the battery a set of coordinates to aim for and the artillery will fire a round. Depending on the wind and other conditions, the round usually does not hit the target on the first shot. The FO will radio what adjustment the battery should make and another "sounding shot" is fired. This is repeated until the sounding shot lands close enough to the target to score a hit. Now, the FO radios and says, "Fire for effect", and the battery will unleash a barrage using the adjusted targeting info, usually destroying the target. To me, the idea of firing for effect will remind me to keep taking shots at my goals and when I get close enough to my goals to have the intended effect, I'll unload with all I have to bring those goals to reality.)

I can post my three words in places where I will see them a lot, like on my cork board at work, embedded in the background image on my laptop, on the bathroom mirror in dry erase pen. These postings will give me gentle reminders of my 3 words and the meanings behind them. The meanings map to specific goals I have for the year, such as "Call my parents at least 3 times per month", and "Complete a 30 day period of making one Flickr worthy photo per day".

What's with all of the spam comments? and other miscellany.

2010-01-02T22:35:00.003-05:00

We've started receiving several spam comments here at infinitesimal change. What's up with that? What did we do to deserve this!?
Evvie is 5 months old as of yesterday. Here's a photo from Christmas:

She now: rolls over both ways, smiles, laughs, chews on EVERYTHING(!!!), jumps in her Jumperoo, and has discovered the dogs.
She also started reaching for people when she wants to go to them (sometimes) this week.
We're currently experiencing some nighttime issues - she had been waking every 2 hours or so to eat, and now we've adjusted our sleeping arrangements so that I sleep in the bed closest to her cosleeper, and apparently she makes more noise than I knew - last night I was up off and on from 2:30 to 5:00 am. Hopefully I'll begin sleeping through these noises soon.
Speaking of sleeping, I should go try to do that. Goodnight!

Halloween Photo Shoot

2009-11-01T22:19:00.001-05:00

We've been busier than ever with this little baby, but we finally had the chance to take some pictures of her on Halloween (before she got her costume on). Hope you like 'em!

Evelyn's Birth Story - Unabridged Version

2009-09-17T19:01:00.003-04:00

Since I haven't had time to write an abridged version, I'll share with you the whole thing - with lots of details. I must say, this was my dream birth from start to finish, the only exception being the tearing that happened. But, I'd do it this way again in a heartbeat, you know, if we ever decide to do this again! Ha!

After going to bed on 7/31/2009, Evvie was VERY active in utero. She usually kicked some at bedtime, but tonight, she was kicking and moving way more than normal.

At 3:00 am on 8/1/2009, I woke up to go to the bathroom. Given that I was 38 weeks pregnant, a nightly bathroom trip wasn’t unheard of. Typically, though, I went around 2:00 or 5:00 am, so 3:00 was a little different. When I finished using the restroom, I felt a small surge of fluid and thought “hmm…that’s odd, I thought I was finished”. I thought *maybe* labor was starting but didn’t want to get too excited. I put on a panty liner and walked toward the bedroom, when another small gush of fluid came out and the panty liner was clearly not enough. I changed into another panty liner (which was all I had upstairs) and went to Evvie’s room and got a prefold cloth diaper and used that instead. I went back into the bedroom and told Scott “I think my water broke.” He said “Seriously?” and I had another surge of fluid. Yes, seriously. I tried to go to bed and sleep some more since it was so early in the morning, but contractions started coming at about 2 minutes apart lasting 40 seconds or so. They weren’t too strong yet, but because they were so close together, I couldn’t sleep. I felt pretty icky after my water broke, so I decided to take a shower. I washed my hair and shaved my legs and stood under the water for a long time. Then I got out, got another diaper (I had soaked the first one through already) and went to lay in bed. Scott coached me through the contractions using visualizations and techniques we had learned in our Bradley class. (Scott says: I had been worried I was not going to be able to keep talking long enough during the contractions and that I would run out of things to say. Or that I would keep using the same couple of visualizations over and over for such a long time that Jenni would gripe at me, “Say something ELSE!” In reality, Jenni was such a natural at finding her rhythm and relaxing through the pain, I didn’t have to do nearly as much coaching as I thought.) Scott timed the contractions using his iPod Touch and they were still about the same as they had been before. He got me some water and around 5:00 am he called our Doula, Kelly. She advised us to call our doctor, so he did that as well. Since my water had broken, the on call doctor didn’t want me to labor at home longer than 8 hours, so she advised us to come in at 11:00 am. Around this time, my contractions started to spread out some, so I was able to nap in between them. At some point (around 7:00 maybe?) I threw up and we called Kelly again. She asked to speak with me and listened to me have a short contraction (I was disappointed – this was the shortest, weakest one I’d had yet, and it was the one she listened to!) and advised me to use slow, deep breaths during the contractions. She listened to another one and said I was doing very well with the breathing. She asked what I thought of the contractions and my response was “These are serious.” She also advised that I try to eat small bites of food and drink water, so Scott made me some oatmeal, which I ate a few small bites of.

I brushed my teeth and got dressed in comfy pants and one of Scott’s XL college t-shirts and we went downstairs where Scott could make me some more food. This time he made toast with margarine. I sat on the exercise ball through several contractions and texted and called friends and family in between them. I still needed Scott to help me through the contractions either by massaging my back or by talking me through them. We timed them, but they were erratic – sometimes lasting 30 seconds, one lasting 2 minutes, and anywhere from 90 seconds to 3 minutes apart. (Scott says: Somewhere around now, Jenni moved to laying on the floor on her side. Intensity was certainly picking up, but we were still taking our time and not in a hurry.) We called Kelly hourly at this point, and at 10:30 am Scott called Jenn (our Bradley instructor, assistant doula, and photographer!) to come over while he packed up to go to the hospital. We planned to leave at 11:00 am, but we waited for me to go to the bathroom, then waited out a couple of contractions, so we wound up leaving around 11:20 am. In the car, I turned completely inward and began to manage the contractions on my own. Scott has since told me that he couldn’t tell when I was having a contraction and when I wasn’t, so he wasn’t able to help me, which was OK – I was handling them well. His job was to drive smoothly and safely. The remaining timeline was recorded by Jenn, otherwise I would have absolutely no idea when anything happened.

The car ride wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated, and since it was a Saturday, it only took us 20 minutes to get there. Once we got there, Jenn suggested we walk around some before checking in, just in case things slowed down, then we could leave and go to a hotel nearby instead of checking in just as labor slowed down. I didn’t really want to walk, but thought the advice was good, so we started walking outside. It was too hot and I needed to go to the bathroom, so we went inside. I went to the bathroom as quickly as possible so I could stand up during contractions – those that I had on the toilet were the hardest, and I didn’t like them one bit. Scott and I walked around the lobby area for a short time, and I started to feel queasy, so I sat down and pointed to our makeshift puke bucket. Scott didn’t know what I was pointing at, so I pointed more fervently. He quickly understood when I started coughing. He got it to me in time, when I vomited bile. At this point, I just wanted to lay down, so I laid on the floor of the lobby. Jenn (I think?) gave me a pillow and at that point Kelly showed up. She joked about this being the place we were going to give birth and encouraged me to go upstairs and check in. I was so thankful. Labor was not slowing down; it was progressing at a good pace.

We walked to the elevators and I had a contraction or two on the way. When I would have a contraction, I would lean my head against my forearm on the wall, and Scott would rub my back. Slowly we made it to the elevator and up to the 3^rd floor, where we had to check in - after a few more contractions, one in the elevator, several in the hallway on the way to L&D. (Scott says: It was a good thing we had so many people with us, because we brought so much stuff to the hospital! Yoga ball, pillows, soft-sided cooler with juice and ice cubes of Gatorade and chicken broth, an iPod docking station, another bag of dry foods, a duffle bag with clothes and other odds and ends.) I had to fill out some paperwork and was barely “with it” enough to do that, but we made it through. At this point, it was around 12:45 pm. There were no rooms available but one was being cleaned, so they sent us to a “waiting room” which was actually a hallway with chairs in it and a family or two hanging out. Kelly asked if I wanted to sit on my yoga ball, and I definitely did, so I sat with my back to the families and went back into my own world. Kelly suggested I go to the bathroom and I told her I didn’t like to labor on the toilet. She said that that meant it was the best place for me to be because it was getting the baby into a good position. So, I went to the toilet, and Scott joined me in the room. He kept telling me I was doing a good job and would occasionally remind me to relax my shoulders or my face or wherever he noticed I was tense. This was very helpful and I was able to do as he said.

At 1:25, we were finally in a room. I changed into a robe I had brought from home instead of the hospital gown. Dr. Carrie Lawson – the on call doc for Dr. Tchabo – came in and checked me (this was my first internal check through my entire pregnancy) and I was at 5 cm and 100% effaced. I was so relieved because I was worried she’d tell me I was only at 2 cm or something and after all that work I would have been seriously disappointed. As it was, 5 cm sounded great to me! My contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and 1 minute long and steady. The doctor looked over my birth plan and said everything was fine and that I would need a Heplock. The nurse (Sarah) came in and introduced herself. She was really nice and totally amenable to the birth plan too. I started to relax a little about having a hospital birth. She tried to put the Heplock in my right arm (the side where all the other wires, etc, would be for the monitors), but failed the first time. I really don’t like needles, and they were even harder to deal with while managing contractions. I needed Scott to help me through it, so I stared into his eyes and I think held his hand while she tried the other arm. I had to ask her to wait through the contraction I was having before sticking me, and she complied, but I remember thinking that she wasn’t very observant. The doctor agreed to intermittent monitoring, and so the nurse also strapped those on to me (also not paying attention to my contractions).

I labored on my right side in bed for a while, and Scott went to the cafeteria to get lunch. I asked for the monitors to be removed, and they were. At around 3:10 pm, Kelly convinced me to labor on the toilet, which brought on very intense and powerful contractions. I had a lot of bloody show and Kelly estimated I was probably around 7 cm at this point. I started feeling a fullness in my bottom and I pushed, completely involuntarily, once or twice on the toilet. Once I knew what pushing felt like, I was more capable of breathing through that type of contraction to wait until I was fully dilated so that I could push. Not pushing was certainly difficult, though! Scott came back from lunch around this time, and I was put back on the monitor in bed. I was very very warm, so Kelly and Scott applied cool washcloths to my face and neck, and I kept eating ice chips. I also became very verbal around this point – saying “ooh, ooh” or “ow ow ow ow” during contractions. Kelly advised me to use this type of vowel sound that kept my throat open rather than closing it off because if you keep your throat open, your cervix will be freer to open. At 3:45 I really started having the urge to push, but I had not been checked again, so I had to blow through the contractions. They were really intense and painful and I couldn’t resist pushing entirely. The nurse and doctor were called to let them know I was pushing, and at 3:55 Dr. Lawson checked me again. I was at 9 cm and, according to Jenn’s notes, I was having lots of double peak contractions, even one or two triple peaks. I had no idea at the time – I just knew they were strong. Kelly and Scott alternated putting pressure on my left hip/back area – the same place that had been hurting me during pregnancy and that had lead me to the chiropractor. The pressure helped, but it did not eliminate that back pain. I can’t imagine what it would have been like had I not been receiving therapy for it for months! I think it was around this time that I had the one fleeting thought of “an epidural might be nice” but then another contraction came and I had to focus, and I never thought about artificial pain relief again.

At 4:23, Dr. Lawson came back and declared that I was ready to push (I had declared this a while ago, and was practically begging them to let me push!). For the first push, Dr. Lawson held up my cervix to see if the baby’s head would drop, and at 4:25 I officially pushed for the first time. The doctor seemed surprised to say that I was a good pusher. I wasn’t so confident. Pushing was new territory – I had learned to cope with the contractions and could handle them. Pushing was a totally new experience.

At 4:25 the doctor left and Kelly and nurse Sarah attempted to put up the squatting labor bar. And then they thought they had it wrong, so they turned it around. And then they fidgeted with it some more and turned it back around. (Scott says: And then they thought they had it wrong, so they turned it around. And then they fidgeted with it some more and turned it back around. Finally, we all decided this must be right, because the other way looked even more wrong than this looked.) This was all very distracting to me. Finally, the labor bar was in place and the bed was positioned properly. Despite the labor bar being advertised on the hospital tour, our nurse said she had only put it up one other time in her 10 years at the hospital. Kelly sat at the foot of the bed and held a hand mirror so she could see how I was progressing. I had had a few more pushes and Kelly kept telling me what a good job I was doing.

I was pretty uncomfortable in the position I was in – I was sitting on the bed and would stand up on the drop-foot part of the bed and push against the labor bar during contractions. I wanted something to lean on in between pushes and Kelly suggested Scott sit behind me, so he did and I sat between his legs and was able to lean back on his chest when I wasn’t pushing. This made it more comfortable for me, but as I said earlier, pushing was a whole new ball game, and I didn’t like it one bit. I finally told Kelly “I’m so scared!” and saying it made it easier for me to focus on the job at hand. Scared didn’t begin to describe it – I was absolutely terrified. Scott has since asked what I was scared of, and I can’t put my finger on it. For one thing, I was worried, despite being told what a good pusher I was, that I was doing it wrong because I felt like I was only going to the bathroom – not pushing out baby. But, I don’t think that was all of it – I think I felt a little alone and without direction. The books all talk about labor pain management, they don’t spend a lot of time on the pushing part. I think Kelly told me it was OK to be scared and that I was doing a great job. During the next few pushes, I started making very guttural, animalistic noises – very loudly. After a few of these, Kelly suggested that my throat would be sore if I kept up this way, and so I tried to push without the noises. I would push for what I’m sure was a few seconds (that seemed like minutes…or days) and at the end would let out a roar. These pushes became much more effective, and Kelly told me I could touch my baby if I wanted. I tentatively placed a finger inside and sure enough, I could feel a bit of her head! I asked Kelly “How much longer?” and she, frustratingly ;), said “I don’t know.” Kelly recommended I pull against the bar instead of pushing against it, and again, this helped my pushes be more effective. All during this time, I was very hot and Scott and Jenn kept applying cold wash cloths to my face and neck between contractions and feeding me ice chips (I think).

Somewhere between 5:10 and 5:15 pm, I let out a mega-roar of a noise and pushed with all of my might. I began to understand the idea of “ring of fire” – an apt description of crowning, for sure! At 5:15, Dr. Lawson came back in and asked if this was the position I intended to give birth in. I was confused – was I not in the process of giving birth? So I said “yes” and the doctor took over Kelly’s position at the end of the bed. She asked if I wanted a perineal massage and I think I said yes. She then proceeded to run her finger around Evvie’s head as I pushed. This was SO PAINFUL. I think I said “ow ow ow” during those pushes. Sometime around this time, Kelly thought to ask for a mirror so Scott and I could watch as she emerged. They got it up just in the nick of time – I gave another push and her head was out – and it seems to me that her body just came out with it, but I may have had to push for that too. In any event, her body emerging was the most wonderful feeling! And at 5:22 pm, Evelyn Lily arrived. I barely saw it on the mirror – I was too relieved to not have to push anymore!

Dr. Lawson placed Evvie on my belly and they began to rub her. She was a little gray (Scott says: she was extremely gray for the first 10 seconds or so) and wasn’t yet crying. I didn’t really worry too much – just a fleeting thought of, “shouldn’t she be crying?!” before she did. I was able to hold her and kept saying, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” It was all I could think. Dr. Lawson, as per our birth plan, let her cord finish pulsing before it was time to cut the cord. I asked Scott, “Do you want to do it?” and he replied, “I guess so”. And he did. (Scott says: It was thick and tough and took a few snips to cut all the way through. I was also worried I might somehow slip and cut her, so I was probably being extra-cautious.)

Soon after the birth, someone asked me about our next child and I replied "I think we'll adopt the next one". At that moment, no one, including me, was sure whether I was joking. A few hours later, though, I knew that I was and that I'd gladly carry and deliver another child, when the time comes.

She's Here and She's Hungry!

2009-08-10T10:54:00.011-04:00

Just 2 weeks ago, I figured it'd be a good idea to let my bosses and coworkers know that I was planning to take 2 weeks off when Evvie gets here. We still had 3 weeks to go before her due date (Aug 16). So I sent them an email:

Time is getting short for the arrival of the first contribution to over-population to the planet from my wife and I. This email is to let you all know that I am planning to take two weeks of leave when she gets here. The date the doctors made up for that arrival is August 16, and since Jenni is diabetic, we know it will happen no later than that day. I am sure that two weeks later I will return to the office fully rested and with my full mental capacity restored from a great two weeks of playing with the new baby.

Scott

Our office manager replied, "You're typing this sober, right?"

That was all the way back in July. Early that Saturday morning, August had barely gotten here, and Jenni woke me up at 3:11 am and said, "I think my water just broke." "Seriously?" I asked, groggily. Then I encouraged her to come back to bed. We knew not to get excited, because adrenaline can cause labor to slow down, and we wanted things to progress at a nice even pace. That's as far as I'll go into the birth story. That story is Jenni's to tell. She earned it. I will say I'm incredibly proud of what she did and how she did it, and that the end result is that she and I have our first baby here in the world.

Our first week was full of newness and excitement and fear and joy. One of the things I've learned about parenting so far is that it is full of swift plot twists and mood swings; one second you're full of happiness and pride, the next, abject fear that you're one of only two people on the planet responsible for keeping this kid alive. Often, it still doesn't seem real that she's here. I'm reminded of the feeling I had when we were first married, and couldn't believe that we actually were. That feeling subsided, although it still comes every once in a while. I'm sure we'll get used to her being here. Jenni has already said she can't remember being pregnant.

So today is the first day of my 2nd week off from work. That first week just flew by in a blur of diapers and midnight feedings and moments that would make the burliest lumber jack melt inside. Of those moments, a few occurred when she got her first bath at home, so I will leave you with a couple of pictures of that occasion.

Thanks, Mom!

2009-07-29T19:32:00.006-04:00

My mom is SO talented! She sewed many of my baby clothes when I was a little one, and my prom dress. She's created BEAUTIFUL quilts - several of which are in my house now, one of them is on Evvie's wall. When I told her I was planning to use cloth diapers, and showed her how cute they are now, she said "I think I can do that!". So I bought her a couple of patterns, and boy did she go to town! I have something like 15 diapers that she made for Evvie - and they're all adorable! Today in the mail, I received a package from my mom. In it, I found:

A blue tiered dress with coordinating fleece hoodie

A diaper to match:
And socks and a hair bow, also to match:

Also in the package were a diaper cover and bows that can be interchanged on the headband/bow that is shown above! Genius! And, she says there are matching pants to come. Evvie is so lucky to have a grammy who loves her so much already, and who knows how to sew to boot! I'm very proud of the creations she's made and look forward to future goodies!! Thanks again, mom! I love you!

Progress?

2009-07-26T20:28:00.003-04:00

Thanks to all who were concerned after that last post. To give you some closure, here's how it ended: Scott and I walked up and down the stairs at 1 am and did yoga at 2 am and those two things (probably combined with the gallon of insulin I took) brought my blood sugar crashing down nicely to a 40-something in the middle of the night. At least I wasn't high any more.

Now, onto this week. I'm 37 weeks pregnant! Yay! That means I've passed the first alarming milestone for Diabetics Who Don't Want to be Induced Way Too Early - I got past 36 weeks! Wahoo! I'm having weekly non-stress tests, all of which have gone swimmingly so far. The nurses keep telling me how good of a girl Evvie is because she passes them with flying colors each week. But, I already knew that.

I also have a weekly "AFI" which uses ultrasound to see how much fluid is around the little one. So far, so good here too.

The most exciting news (for me) is that I've been having a few contractions! Like 1-2 per day! And I'm not just talking about the Braxton Hicks ones that I've been having for months - these are honest to goodness pre-labor, practice contractions! w00t! This is good news. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY!!!, it means that this little girl will decide to come sometime BEFORE the dreaded induction - likely to be set between August 14 and 17 (I'm pushing for the 17th. Or 18th. Or maybe 20th, but it's more likely closer to the 14th - boo.). We might actually get to experience labor as it was meant to be experienced - without drugs to make it harder (i.e. induction) or "easier" (i.e. epidural)! We might get to follow our plan of laboring at home (using the Bradley Method for those who are interested) for as long as possible and only going to the hospital for the actual pushing part! We might get to feel almost normal and not like a "special case" with lots of caveats on what is and isn't allowed due to diabetes.

To encourage this dreamy possibility, we've been walking a lot this week. And drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea. And doing yoga. And walking some more. Because that's what the books say will help encourage and support a good labor. So, while we're not ready for her JUST yet (unless she really wants to come now - then that'd be OK), we're doing a lot to try to encourage her to start making her way into the world.

And, by the way, I'm hoping she'll come on August 7. Her great great grandmother for whom she was (will be?) named was born on August 7 and I think it would be a super cool coincidence. Plus 7 is a prime number, and I like that.

Sometimes, things just get wonky.

2009-07-18T01:04:00.003-04:00

Tonight, my good friend and college roommate (for 4 years!), FAC, had a Harry Potter Party celebrating the release of the new movie. She had "Golden Snitches" (mini corndogs), "magical pizza" (because she thought the snitches didn't turn out well...but they did), "Cheesy Grubs" (cheese curls), and my favorite - Cornelius Fudge (It's a little nutty) (she thought of that, not me). Scott and I went to the pre-movie party and enjoyed ourselves, spending time with some good friends. I ate freely - enjoying a couple of slices of pizza, a snitch or two, a piece of fudge, and a cupcake (supplied by Liz who dressed as a Golden Snitch!). All was delicious.

On the way to the party, I remembered I only had a little bit of insulin left in my pump, so I pulled out my stash of insulin and reservoir set from my purse, refilled, and as I was putting the pieces together heard a weird "pop!" sound. I didn't notice anything wrong, so didn't think anything more of it.

Then, we got home from the party and I tested my blood sugar. 378 mg/dl. Crap. So, I bolused something ridiculous like 16 units (thanks, pregnancy, for making me more resistant to insulin!) and waited. And an hour later, I was 386 mg/dl. Dammit. I'm sorry, baby Evelyn. At this point, I changed the tubing of my pump, thinking that was where the problem lay. I was wrong. 45 minutes later, and I'm in the 350 mg/dl range. So, I changed my entire pump set - reservoir, tubing, and infusion set, and give myself another huge slug of insulin, hoping that it will get my blood sugar back in range. By the way, at this point, it's around midnight, and I was ready for bed at 9:45 when we got home from the party! At 12:20 I test again, and it's down to 318 mg/dl. Going in the right direction, right? One would think. Now, it's 1:15 am. I'm totally exhausted, and my stinking blood sugar is still 332 mg/dl. That's 3 hours of being HIGH - way higher than I should be, especially while pregnant. I'm feeling guilty, nauseous, tired, and defeated. I just want the insulin to work. I just want to go to bed. Most of all, I just want my baby to be healthy.

Hopefully my blood sugar will come down soon, and then I can go to bed. Hopefully I haven't caused too much damage either to myself or to my unborn daughter.

She's growing!

2009-07-08T17:37:00.002-04:00

16 weeks:

22 weeks:

34 weeks (this past Sunday):

5 weeks until our due date! Let's hope she hangs out for at least 3 or 4 more weeks, and that the doctors let her hang out that long! :)

What is this? Seattle?

2009-06-17T22:00:00.003-04:00

So, here in the DC area, it's been raining. A LOT. We've had a few gorgeous 80* sunny days, but not nearly enough of them. So I thought "what is this? Seattle?". Well, two interesting facts:

1.) Seattle is, in fact, currently in a dry spell. They may be saying "What is this? San Diego?" out there.
2.) Washington, DC typically gets about 4 times more rainfall in May than Seattle, WA, according to this site and this one.

So, while any other year my smartass comment would have been completely wrong, this year, at least Seattle's experiencing a little unseasonable dryness.

And, for your pleasure, here are some recent belly pics that Scott took while we were visiting his family in the Outer Banks last weekend:

Maybe someday when you're old enough, I'll tell you what we were laughing at.

It was REALLY sunny. No rain in NC while we were on the beach, luckily.

Scott gets artsy. I think it turned out to be a pretty neat photo.

How did we do it? How do other people do it?

2009-06-10T21:32:00.004-04:00

I have found myself beyond busy since becoming unemployed. How did we ever get the oil changed in the car, get the laundry done, the dishes cleaned, dinner cooked, and still both work 40+ hours a week? And how did we EVER survive when we were both working full time and going to grad school part time?! Oh, right, we didn't. The car oil changes often went weeks or months overdue. We regularly ate out or ate super quick homemade dinners, and the laundry was a joke. It was a mountain of dirty clothes that we picked through to do a load here and there to accommodate our needs, usually for the next day.

As I said, I've been busy. But, surprisingly from the text above, not really from doing laundry, though we are regularly caught up on our laundry - it doesn't take nearly as much effort now. I'm busy running to doctors' appointments, lunches with friends, shopping trips, more doctors' appointments, running errands, and did I mention the doctors' appointments? Unfortunately, with all that running, our house is no where near as clean as I'd hoped it would be when I was first laid off. And I'm not getting as many projects finished as I'd hoped either.

What I am getting is rest, relaxation, and time to read all of those pregnancy, birth, and parenting books I had on a list that I never had time for before. I'm spending more time with friends and family (I got to visit Kentucky for 8 days instead of 4 when we went a couple of weeks ago!). My dogs aren't cooped up in the kitchen for the majority of the day (well, at least not most days), and I can volunteer at church.

I'm a little surprised to tell you that I'm thoroughly enjoying my time at home. I never really thought I'd be a good "stay at home wife" (SAHW), and judging by the state of our house, well, maybe I'm not. But I am thankful that we are doing just fine on Scott's income and that I can have this luxury during the third trimester of pregnancy, and especially that I'll have it once Evvie arrives. That's not to say I won't go back to work either part time or full time at some point - but right now, I'm counting my blessings.

Does this make me a yuppy?

2009-05-05T11:59:00.003-04:00

I have some time to kill this morning in between having my blood drawn for my monthly thyroid check and going to lunch with people from church to church to celebrate administrative assistant day (or whatever it's called now), so I decided to bide my time in Panera. With an Asiago bagel. And a giant cup of chai. As I sit in an arm chair, with my oversized mug of chai, eating my bagel while reading my much neglected Google Reader on my iPhone, I wonder what high school me would have thought about this me. And then I thought, I can't imagine a more relaxing way to spend a morning in Fairfax, and that makes me happy.

She'd look just like her daddy

2009-04-30T20:39:00.006-04:00

if her daddy were Terminator, that is.

At our most recent ultrasound, Evvie was very cooperative in letting the doctor do an echocardiogram on her, and make sure that her heart is perfect (it is). But, again, when we tried to look at her face, she wasn't really up for it. The doc jabbed my belly with the ultrasound wand and Evelyn looked at us for about 10 seconds. I like to think she was glaring at the doctor for disturbing her. The one picture we got, well, it isn't the most becoming.

Here she is, imitating the Governator himself:

It reminds me a lot of this:

I still think she's cute. And if you look closely, it looks like she's smiling at us. Aww :) I can't wait to see what she looks like without the sci-fi special effects. Only about 15 weeks left...I can't believe it!

Which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?

2009-04-21T11:18:00.003-04:00

Let's start with the bad news. Remember the dream job I blogged about last year? Well, unfortunately that company was not immune to the economy, and they've had to eliminate my position. My last day was last Friday. Since I'm 6 months pregnant, there's about a .01% chance that anyone else would hire me to do something similar, even if the economy were in better shape. So, that's the bad news.

The good news is that Scott and I have been preparing for my maternity leave and beyond by saving my entire paycheck for the past few months. We're able to survive on his salary without making too many cuts or sacrifices. We have a pretty good emergency fund built up, and with my unemployment pay, we will be able to continue making that grow.

Some more good news is that during my 3rd trimester, I'll be able to take it easy as I need to. All of those doctors appointments won't make me feel guilty for missing so much work. I can visit my family and Scott's without worrying about the time off eating into my maternity leave time.

While I wish the timing had been better, and that the choice had been mine, I'm keeping a surprisingly positive attitude about the whole situation. I will get to be a stay at home mom, at least for a little while. The company has told me that should I want to come back and the position is available, they'll welcome me with open arms. That makes me feel good. So, the future isn't clear, but when is it ever? And though it's not clear, it at least looks bright to me.

Sometimes bad dreams happen for good reasons

2009-04-15T11:21:00.003-04:00

The other night, I had a nightmare. I don't remember many of the details, but I know I was being chased, and I had to get to La Push to get Jacob and his friends to help me. I woke up, startled and confused, and decided to test my blood sugar. It was 230 mg/dl. That's high.

I had changed my insulin pump battery just before bed, and when I went to program in a correction bolus, I found that my pump was not working. I freaked a little, and went downstairs, got a coin to open the battery case and removed the battery, and found that I had installed the battery upside down! Of course my pump wasn't working! I corrected my mistake, programmed in a bolus, and made my way back into dream-land completely unencumbered by nightmares.

I have found often that if I wake from a nightmare in the middle of the night, that my blood sugar is usually out of whack. I think the bad dreams are another trigger from my body to my mind, to get me to wake up and fix things. The human body and brain are fascinating and I'm thankful that, despite my obvious malfunction, that other aspects work so well.

Pregnancy update (almost) 21 weeks

2009-04-01T18:35:00.003-04:00

21 weeks is 5 months 1 week, over midway through the pregnancy for those keeping track :) I thought I'd fill you all in on how things are going, and I must say - so far, so good. The headaches stopped not long after the last headache post. Otherwise, I've been feeling great. Until this week, when my back started hurting non-stop, but I'm hopeful that that will go away, too. My blood sugars have been relatively easy to control, thanks to my doctor's rapid responsiveness when I send her numbers. She and her CDE, Wendy are great and so supportive - I can't say enough good things about them.

The big news that we got last week is that we're having a girl! We're naming her Evelyn Lily after my great grandmother and Scott's great aunt, respectively. We'll call her "Evvie" for short (pronounced Eh-vie, not Ee-vie). She's perfect in every way - measuring right on target, and I think she has her daddy's ears. We didn't get to see her face or left hand this time, so we go back at the end of April for another sonogram, where they will also do a fetal echo cardiogram.

Lots of people have asked "So, how does diabetes affect the pregnancy?". The biggest effect I've seen it have is the number of appointments. Right now, I go to the endocrinologist once a month, the OB once a month, the perinatologist (high risk OB) about once a month, though this varies based on needs. I also have to see the eye doctor once a trimester. This is a lot more than an average pregnancy requires, and it hasn't even gotten to the hectic time yet, when, starting somewhere around 30-32 weeks (I think), I will have to go to the OB (or perinatologist, depending on how things are going) 2 times per week, and may have to start seeing the endocrinologist weekly. Normal pregnancies get 1-3 sonograms. I had 3 by the time I was 13 weeks along, and once I start going bi-weekly, each visit will be a sonogram. I think it's 100% worth it, though, and am confident that Evvie will be as healthy as possible.

There's a lot more I could say about diabetes and pregnancy, but I'll leave it here for now. I'm sure the 3rd trimester will bring lots of new and exciting blood sugar issues, and I've still got 6 weeks to go until I reach the third trimester!

I'll leave you with an updated picture - from this past Friday.

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

2009-03-30T11:20:00.003-04:00

This year, Scott and I will be taking part in JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes, along with one-half million other walkers across the country, as we try to reach our goal of raising $105 million.

We have participated in the ADA's walk for many years, but this year decided to go with the JDRF walk because more of the money goes to actual research, and it is focused on Type 1 diabetes, which is what I have had for 22+ years.

Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes, is a devastating disease that affects millions of people - a large and growing percentage of them children. (I was diagnosed at age 6)

There is some good news, though. Scientists are predicting that we CAN expect to see a cure well within our lifetime! When I was diagnosed, I was told not to worry - there would be a cure by the time I reached my teenage years. Those have long since passed, and still we haven't found a cure. After quite a bit of reading, though, I'm more convinced than ever that the scientists are on to something - and with proper funding, I'm hopeful that a cure will be found, and hopefully soon!

Now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. Won't you please give to JDRF as generously as possible? Together, we can make the cure a reality! Donate to me here.

Or, donate to Scott here.

Thanks, and I look forward to sharing our fund raising accomplishments and hopefully pictures from the walk with you!

Belated Birthday Wishes

2009-03-17T11:04:00.005-04:00

I've missed posting about THREE birthdays just in the past week! In chronological order, first, happy birthday to this blog! It started on Pi Day last year, and on Pi Day this year we had new flooring installed and went out to dinner - and had free Key Lime Pi(e) - Yum!

Next, happy birthday to our doggy, Corgan, who turned 3 on 3/15. On Saturday, he and his "brother", Cash and I went to Performance Dogs for some slightly soggy, but still fun lure chasing and off leash play. Corgan, as always, chased the lure until his muscles quivered. Cash preferred to chase other dogs. Both were exhausted at the end, and I think it was a good day overall. To celebrate his actual birthday, Corgan had a nasty upset stomach and required a trip to the vet that set us back a pretty penny. Poor guy. Luckily he's feeling better now.

Last but not least, Happy Birthday to Caitlin! What a year it's been since her last birthday - welcoming her not-so-little girl, Allison, into the world in July, and going from a part time working mom to a stay at home mom - fulfilling her deepest desire. Congrats to you, Cait, and I hope your birthday was fantastic (despite my belated post)!

And, just so I'm not late on this one, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My First Post

2009-03-09T12:57:00.004-04:00

My first foray into the blogging world was as a guest poster on Being A Dad Ain't Bad (language warning). They have an open forum blog for all dads or soon-to-be dads (as is my case), and I have the distinct honor of being their first guest blogger, which comes with a door prize of a gift basket from Hickory Farms that was on super clearance. Actually, it didn't come with any prizes. Maybe I'll log in to Blogger under a different name and suggest that they give door prizes to attract more guest articles.

In other news...

2009-03-08T17:07:00.003-04:00

The weather this weekend is GORGEOUS! Not to get all grandfathery on you to talk about the weather, but it's truly remarkable - 78*, just enough clouds to make it comfortable out, and not a rain drop in sight. It's perfect! And, by the way, there are still dirty piles of snow here and there, which is quite bizarre.

The crocus are up at church, and our daffodils and tulips are coming up in the front yard. Dare I say it...it's starting to feel a little teensy bit like spring! How exciting!

Also, we're having new flooring installed!! We've had disgusting carpet for the 3 1/2 years we've lived here, and now that the little one is coming (and my bonus check was deposited), we've decided now is the time. We're getting laminate in our main level that looks a lot like this and carpeting in the upstairs level (where the bedrooms are) that is a gray-based dark beige.

The carpet is being installed NEXT WEEKEND! Holy cow! And the laminate may very well be the weekend after that! I'm SO excited about this - it's something we've been wanting to do since we moved in, and we've finally got the resources to do it =D. We're also using a local flooring store and are happy to be supporting the local economy and a family-run business. It makes us feel good :).

Hallelujah! - wait, scratch that.

2009-03-03T10:12:00.004-05:00

I was all geared up yesterday to write a "Hallelujah the headaches are gone!" post, but alas, they're back. The had stopped the day I wrote the last post, and showed up again last night. I came prepared to work today, bearing my Tylenol plus Codeine in the event that it worsens through the day.

I've noticed something here at work. Whenever I have a headache, someone inevitably burns toast in the toaster. Why is this interesting, you may ask? It's interesting because the smell of burnt toast makes my headaches worse (and if I didn't have one already, often GIVES me a headache). I wonder what I've done wrong that is making the universe want to punish me.

What a pain

2009-02-23T11:36:00.003-05:00

I told you a while back that I'd be sharing details about diabetes and pregnancy. So far, my conclusion is - it's not so bad. Lots of monitoring and doctors appointments, but really, not much different than what I was doing before.

What has changed, however, is that I've had headaches off and on (mostly on) since 2/8/09. At first, I assumed Tylenol was all I could take. Then I called my OB and the midwife there told me I could also take Excedrin Migraine, which usually kills a headache in about 20 minutes. Well, not this headache. After a 2-day migraine, I took the midwife's advice and went to my primary care doc. He says it's likely hormonal and could last a few weeks, or it could hang out til the baby comes, at which point, I'm guessing headaches will be caused by lack of sleep rather than hormones. He prescribed me some Class C drugs and sent me on my merry way. I'm trying to avoid taking the drugs, but have succumbed to the headache a few times and taken Tylenol with Codeine. Today, so far (KNOCK ON WOOD!!) no headache. Yesterday, it kicked in during church. Other days, I wake up with it and go to bed with it and wake up with it the next morning, too. Ah, the joys of pregnancy. :) I can't really complain too much, though, because I had almost no nausea in my first trimester and I'd say it's been an easy pregnancy so far. Thank God for that!

PS - check out Anthony's post over at Being a Dad Ain't Bad for the dad's side of the pregnancy headache coin.

PPS - speaking of the dad's side, Scott has decided to share this blog with me, so he will hopefully be posting here soon, too! :)

The customer is always right?

2009-02-22T15:36:00.004-05:00

Recently I've had 2 exceptional experiences with customer service. One good, one bad. The first was with Amazon.com. For Christmas, I ordered Scott a tripod for our digital SLR camera. He used the tripod a bit (maybe 3-6 times/month) and never did anything with it that would damage the integrity of the tripod. Then last week, one of the leg locks just broke. No real reason for it, it just malfunctioned and we couldn't get it to function again. So I emailed Amazon explaining the situation and how although it had been longer than their 30 day return policy, I didn't feel it was our "fault" and there was something wrong with the product. They agreed with me (!!) and sent me a label to mail back the broken tripod, and the next day we received a brand new replacement tripod. Easy peasy. I am a satisfied customer, happy with my experience, and with a working product. Great!

Then, today, we tried to return a baby heart listening device thing that we got from Burlington Coat Factory. We had the receipt with us, and had bought the thing with a credit card. Since the purchase, though, we've replaced the credit card with a new one because our old number had been on a list of numbers that were stolen. We didn't feel safe with that, so we replaced the card. Logical, right? Well, apparently Burlington doesn't think so. In order to return the item, you must have the exact card you used to purchase it. Nevermind that you're standing there with two other cards that go to the same account - that doesn't matter. What matters is that the numbers match (mind you, those numbers could have been fraudulently used, had we kept them, but who cares?). So, after explaining all of this to the customer service representative, she says her only option is to give us a Burlington gift card, which she says is "the same as cash". Sure, in Burlington it is, but if I want to use it at, say, Giant, I'm screwed. I say as much. She doesn't care - rules are rules. So I ask to speak to the manager. Who also doesn't care and agrees - who cares if the customer is satisfied or not? Rules are rules. If I want, I can come back Monday through Friday between 10 and 5 to have them call the corporate office. Which would be fine, except, you know, I have a job and so does Scott. So, we take the gift card, feel totally screwed and our requests ignored, and feel like "customer service" is a joke. It's really "corporate service" where they happen to have to interact with customers. I'm currently trying to sell the gift card and plan to never shop at Burlington again. Not that we ever really did - it was on a whim that that we went there in the first place. But still, I don't want to deal with a company who cares so little for their customers' needs. I'm ordering everything from Amazon from now on.

Does this exist in Outlook?

2009-02-02T11:02:00.002-05:00

It would be handy if you could link pertinent emails to your calendar invitations in Outlook. Lately I've gotten several seemingly random calendar invitations that I later come to realize are related to a string of emails that I've been a part of. Do any of you know of a way to associate these invites with the email chain associated (but not obviously associated) with them?

Snow Day!

2009-01-27T12:08:00.003-05:00

OK, so it's not a *true* snow day, because I still have to work, but I am working from the comforts of my couch with my pups curled up next to me, watching the snow drift down outside. Judging by the fence post, we have maybe 3 inches by now (maybe more, maybe less - I'm horrible at judging). It's our first snow of the winter, and while Claire will scoff from Syracuse, we're getting quite a bit (you know, for us). And it's really pretty, and it makes me happy. That's all :)

I Had A Dream

2009-01-20T10:04:00.002-05:00

Last night, I had a dream. Not the kind that Martin Luther King, Jr. had, but an interesting and funny one nonetheless. In my dream, I was out to dinner with some friends including my church friends Karen and Cindy. At this dinner, the main course was...cupcakes. (Because who doesn't eat cupcakes for dinner? At a restaurant?) Apparently Karen would only eat square cupcakes, so she was cutting off the rounded edges. I was eating her "leftovers" (the rounded edges). Actually, I was inhaling them - eating them greedily and without abandon. At some point, I realized that I had forgotten to bolus (give insulin) for the cupcakes. At about the same time, someone from another table came to our table and asked if we would "star" in an impromptu play with the theme of "sugar causes diabetes". I adamantly refused (obviously) and got up on my soapbox in the middle of the dinner to educate the crowd on what causes diabetes and what doesn't.

When I awoke, my bloodsugar was 33. That could explain me eating cupcakes without insulin, and may also explain the wacky dream too.

The cat's outta the bag!

2009-01-13T20:25:00.003-05:00

Scott and I received wonderful news on 12/4/2008 - we're expecting our first baby! I'm due 8/14/09 and am incredibly excited to be pregnant. I very much look forward to the second trimester, to sharing a little bit of what it's like to be a pregnant Type 1 diabetic with a fantastic team of doctors and nurses who are truly on my side, and to learning as we go along.

So far, things have been A-OK. My bloodsugars are not unmanageable, I haven't had horrendous bouts of morning sickness (just the occasional nauseous moment (or day)), and I am not bone-deep exhausted all the time, though I am sometimes.

In preparation for pregnancy, and to help the process along, Scott and I had weekly acupuncture therapy. I attribute my feeling of mostly-normal-ness to this practice, and highly recommend it for anything from fertility treatment to diabetes management to arthritis, etc., as long as you find someone you trust.

I don't feel like I'm really starting to show yet, but some people (you know who you are) think I am. I'll leave it to you to decide:

Oh, they didn't specify "grilled"

2009-01-09T22:01:00.003-05:00

How I love Panera Bread. Their soups, salads, and sandwiches are all yummy lunchtime fare, and their chai latte is among the best I've tasted.

Sometimes, though, customer service is a little...quirky. I went to lunch with some coworkers and ordered the 1/2 and 1/2 - 1/2 a bowl of baked potato soup (21 g carbs) and 1/2 a sandwich. I asked for a "Grilled Cheese" (35 g carbs). The guy behind the register asked me what kind of bread (the kind on the menu) and what kind of cheese (also the kind on the menu). When I picked up my order, sat down, and opened my sandwich wrapper, I was surprised to find cold bread with two 1/2 slices of cold cheese in between - decidedly not a grilled cheese sandwich as I had ordered.

I headed back to the food prep area, and explained my situation. The response I got? "Oh, they didn't specify 'grilled'".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOTT!

2008-12-09T09:31:00.002-05:00

I'm wishing a very Happy Birthday to my nerdy and lovable husband, Scott! I hope you enjoyed the Smashing Pumpkins show!!

There's a Turkey next door

2008-11-24T13:33:00.003-05:00

I live in a townhouse in the suburbs of DC. It's not unusual to see people walking their dogs, or to see a cat sitting in the window. I was surprised this weekend when Scott asked me to come outside and look (through the privacy fence - ha!) into our neighbor's yard. On their back porch was, I kid you not, a live turkey. I can only assume that it won't be around after Thursday, but I wonder, should I contact some authority? I'm not sure whether it's illegal or not, but I know there's something about zoning and farm animals, and I'm sure that our little row of townhouses is not zoned for having live turkeys. Not only that, but there's a frozen pile of turkey poo sitting on their steps. I wonder what kinds of diseases you can catch from live turkeys and frozen turkey dung? And, perhaps most disgustingly, I wonder where they're planning to kill and clean it? I don't even want to think about it. Now, where did I leave that HOA contact phone number...?

Cautiously Optimistic

2008-11-18T11:46:00.002-05:00

This news clip is referred to all over the diabetes blogosphere today. It provides cautious hope for Type 1 diabetics around the world. Researchers have found a cure for Type 1 diabetes in mice using drugs that are already on the market (for cancer). This is notable because since the drugs are already on the market, the time from mouse testing to human testing is greatly reduced. Other reasons we're excited about this story are because they properly differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes (unusual for mainstream media!), the research could move into human testing within ONE YEAR as opposed to the 10+ years that many studies promise, and because it seems that after treatment for a short period ("a few months"), the disease is cured. Not controlled. Not improved. Cured. I am hopeful about this news.

(And I wouldn't mind a party with lots of chocolate, a large tent, and Johnny Depp to celebrate, either!). ;)

World Diabetes Day TODAY!

2008-11-14T11:22:00.003-05:00

I've donned my blue apparel (including socks and shoes!) and am telling people that today is World Diabetes Day. I shared with my (fairly new) coworkers earlier this week that today was coming, and to wear blue in support, and they actually did it! Yahoo!

Now, you may ask "what is WDD?". I think Kerri from Six Until Me did a great job of explaining it in an interview with Getting Better:

"It’s a global awareness campaign that was started in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation. The United Nations recognized the event for the first time in 2007. It’s a day that directs the world’s attention to diabetes and the epidemic its become and the effort it takes to manage it. On World Diabetes Day bloggers want to spread the word that diabetes is not an invisible disease. It affects lives every day, and it deserves the world’s attention."

So, I'm spreading the word. Today is a day to support the Diabetes community and Diabetes research. You can do this by donating to the JDRF or DRI, you can read and better educate yourself on the truths and myths of the disease (check out some of the blogs on my blogroll over there on the left for some good places to start), or you can show your support to a PWD (person with diabetes) who you care about. And in case you don't know how to show support, here's a good Do's and Don'ts guide to help you.

Finally, one of the coolest things (I think) about WDD is the number of international buildings and monuments being lit in blue to commemorate this day. You can see a map and list here and here.

World Diabetes Day is November 14 - Wear Blue to Support the Diabetes Awareness Campaign

2008-11-11T16:11:00.002-05:00

This month, I think all (4) of my posts so far have focused on diabetes, and believe it or not, there's a reason for it! November is Diabetes Awareness month. We've already passed the "D-Blog" day, where I talked about my diagnosis. This Friday, November 14, is World Diabetes Day, where companies and monuments around the world are lit in blue in support of diabetes awareness. We also tried, unsuccessfully, to get Google to do a "doodle" for the day, but apparently diabetes isn't a "quirky" enough issue to warrant one. Maybe next year. For this year, though, you can show your support by wearing blue on Friday. Any shade will do, just as long as you wear blue! (you didn't know I was a poet, didya?) Also, check out my cool new banner over there on the left. You can light a virtual candle! Cool!

Find out more information about World Diabetes Day here: http://www.worlddiabetesday.org

I'm a Type 1, son!

2008-11-10T17:10:00.003-05:00

This video cracked me up! (and look who learned how to add a YouTube video to a blog post!)

D-Day - Diabetes Blogging Day, My Diagnosis Story

2008-11-09T19:08:00.003-05:00

In the summer of 1987, I was 6 years old, living in Kentucky. Typically during the summers, I ran around outside playing with my friends. However, in 1987, I didn't do quite as much running. I also wasn't eating much, and I lost a lot of weight. I was tall and skinny, and after my mom TRIED to get me to eat anything...even ice cream, and I wouldn't, she decided to take me in to the doctor on August 10, 1987. I don't remember getting my blood drawn, or even seeing a doctor. I just remember being in the hospital, and there was a nurse named Jennifer who I really liked.

At one point, a doctor came into my hospital room and talked with my parents and me. He told us that I had a disease, and that the disease was called "Diabetes". I began to cry when I heard this news, because in my 6-year-old-mind, I believed that a disease ment that you were going to die. I don't remember a whole lot of the medical details beyond that. What I do remember is that I missed about a week or two of first grade, and I had to do my homework in the hospital to keep up. Also, my classmates all made cards for me while I was there. My cousin, Josh, had a birthday while I was in the hospital and I was allowed out to go to his party. The party was a pool party and he had a chocolate chip cookie cake in place of a normal birthday cake. I think I may have been allowed to have a little bit of this, but probably not much. I wasn't allowed to have sugar again until much later - once I started wearing a pump in college.

Before leaving the hospital, my parents had to learn to give me insulin shots (pork insulin at that point) and test my blood sugar (twice per day), and I think I had to give myself one shot before they'd let me out.

It took a few years before I started injecting myself regularly, and even longer for me to test my bloodsugar more than twice a day. Now, I test my blood sugar 10-15 times per day and rather than avoiding sugar entirely, I now count carbohydrates and give insulin accordingly - enabling me to eat whatever I want.

Things have come a long way in 21 years, and I have a lot more freedom than I had with 2 shots per day, 2 blood tests per day, and my "no sugar" diet, but even with all of the gadgets and advances in technology we diabetics have now, we don't have a cure. If you agree that we need a cure and want to help, please donate to the JDRF or DRI and support research that hopefully will lead to a solution that is more than just "diabetes management".

Off the Wagon

2008-11-05T15:35:00.002-05:00

Do you remember that big list of goals? And the followup of what a good girl I've been? Well, traveling, parties, and laziness have gotten the better of me, and I'm falling short of several goals, and just plain ignoring others.

I'm testing often, because I'm high often. I haven't faxed bloodsugars in over a week and I haven't been logging them because (get this) they're so bad. Why are they so bad? Partially because I've been eating total crap: cupcakes, pizza, cheesey sausage balls, potatoes with velveeta, etc. I have not been cooking as much (or eating enough veggies) since I've been either a party of one or literally at a party for the past week. The other reason I'm running high could have to do with a new medication I'm on, but, I take most of the blame on this issue as I'm not even sure if said medication messes with blood sugars.

Breakfast? Breakfast, when I was eating healthy (for all of what? 6 weeks?) was a boiled egg, yogurt, grapes, wheat toast with peanut butter, etc, etc. Lately, I've been lucky if I even get in a yogurt! It's ridiculous. I have eggs at home...I just need to boil them!

I have been PRETTY good about drinking only water and tea, though this week alone I've had 2 Diet Cokes (the previous weeks I've had none).

I've avoided artificial sweeteners entirely (except when we accidentally got artificially sweetened yogurt...but that was a mistake).

So, I need to climb back up on the wagon. Life at 100 mg/dl feels a LOT better than life at 400 mg/dl, which is where I've been living since the election-watch party with Caitlin and Ian last night.

A beautiful weekend in Skaneateles, NY

2008-10-30T13:33:00.003-04:00

My very good friend, Claire owns a horse boarding, training, and riding lessons barn just outside of a quaint little town called Skaneateles (pronounced Skinny Atlas), New York. Scott and I, with dogs in tow, spent the weekend visiting Claire, her friends, and her fabulous business. We left DC at 3 pm, and surprisingly didn't hit too much traffic. We got to Claire's place at 11 pm - just enough time to get the grand tour of her charming-despite-the-lack-of-furniture farm house, let our dogs and Claire's dog (Dallas) get to know one another, clean up their messes, then fall head first into bed.

Saturday turned out to be a lazy, rainy, and chilly day, though not nearly as cold as I was expecting. In my memory, Claire talked about pre-Halloween snow storms, but in reality it was in the low to mid 50's all day. (Claire assured me that while snow isn't too uncommon before Halloween, my memory was quite faulty).

That evening, we met Claire's beaux, Rob who was a great conversationalist and really fun to meet! After a scrumptious dinner and a trip to the local bar (since it had something Claire's house doesn't - a TV to watch the World Series on), we wound up at a friend of Claire's to watch the rest of the game and crashed at around 3 am.

The next morning came early! The same friend who lent us the TV and couch for the game happens to also own two glider planes, and he picked Scott up at 8:30 to go for a ride. You may or may not know, but Scott is an avid aviation enthusiast and dreams of getting his pilot's license some day, so he was super excited!

The highlight of my trip (apart from the great people we visited and met) was a horseback ride through the New York country side in gorgeous 70+ degree weather. It was strikingly beautiful, with a bright blue sky and mountains in the distance. I rode Geronimo- a giant black and white spotted Friesian/Draft horse with a head the size of Rhode Island. Scott looked like a pro on Ransom, an appaloosa gelding with a long history of being a good trail horse.

Thanks, Claire, for a fantastic weekend! We look forward to seeing you and all of your friends next time you're in DC!!

Checking in

2008-10-09T11:54:00.005-04:00

3 weeks ago, I made a big list of things I've been doing to improve my health. I'm checking in now to show my progress.

Staying on top of diabetes management - this includes many blood tests per day, accurate carb counting, and scheduling and going to my doctor apointments every 3 months (and getting bloodwork done in advance so we can have something to talk about). I've been testing 10-15 times per day and running LOW for the first time in a long time. Also I'm faxing my glucose readings weekly to my endo for basal adjustments.
Being aware of my thyroid symptoms and proactively getting bloodwork done to make sure my dosages are on track. I had my thyroid tested, and it turns out the exhaustion I was experiencing was NOT because of my thyroid - my levels were perfect!
Eating healthier - We recently switched to Organic produce, dairy, and (when we can find it) meat. I'm also making smarter choices when I order out, and we're eating at home more often. This week, I haven't eaten out at all. This is primarily due to the new budget we created, but I still count it in the "health" category because I've been eating better overall.
Eating breakfast - I eat a healthy, balanced breakfast every day now, usually consisting of a hard boiled egg, some fruit, cheese, and water. Yep, still eating my healthy breakfast, and this week I've added a yogurt to the list mentioned 3 weeks ago. Last week I just had toast with peanut butter, but that's because we didn't have the other stuff (whoops)
Drinking plenty of water - We recently got stainless steel bottles that are 100% BPA free, and mine can hold 1L. I keep it at my desk and do my best to down 2 of those in a day. Usually I only get through 1 - 1.5, but it's way more water than I used to drink. I've consistently been drinking 1 litre a day, but only sometimes make it through 2. This is an area where I'm still working.
Not drinking other stuff - I've given up soda. Can you believe it?! I was a diet coke junkie, and now I drink almost exclusively water. That's gotta be healthier, right?! In addition to water, Scott and I bought some fancy green tea leaves from Teavana and some blueberry tea from Whole Foods. We mix those together and I have about 1 cup per night, but sometimes I skip it.
Minimizing the amount of "sweet stuff" I eat. I'm a sweetaholic! My favorite foods are buttercream frosting and caramel. And I have seriously reduced the amount of sweets I have in a given week. This is helping with #1. In the past 3 weeks, I think I've had 1 cookie. Total. In THREE WEEKS. And it feels good to not be controlled by the sweet stuff.
Avoiding artificial sweeteners. Those things probably aren't very good for me, so I'm trying to give them up. Which means cheating on #7 is a lot harder. Check and check. No artificial sweeteners in 3 weeks either, except for the occasional diet coke I've had (2 in 3 weeks, I think?)

Things I'm not doing that I should be:

Exercising! I don't do this...ever. I have a gym membership, I just need to use it. Still pretty weak here (get it? because I don't go to the... nevermind). We went once and I enjoyed it. Now I just need to drag my lazy self back there.
Logging my blood sugars. How do I know if I am doing a good job if I can't watch trends? I suppose I can't. I am currently researching meters with good computer interfaces that allow me to upload my data and it does the graphing for me for easier analysis. Hopefully I'll find the right meter for me that will make this process easier. Logging has always been a struggle for me. I must admit, I'm doing an AWESOME job at this! I've started using an Excel spreadsheet that Kevin created and I've been logging not only blood sugars, but also what I eat and when I exercise (ahem, see #1 - not much logging required right now).

I have to say, I do feel healthier. And I never feel guilty over my eating habits anymore, which is a really great feeling! And, as a bonus, I've lost almost 5 pounds. I'm not doing this for weightloss, but if it happens (healthily), I'll take it!

Because my doctor said so, that's why!

2008-10-06T15:36:00.002-04:00

My insurance pays for 90% of my insulin pump AND continuous glucose monitoring supplies, which is incredible. They pay for most of the medical supplies that I need, in fact. But recently, when my doctor prescribed enough test strips to test 10-15 times per day (because that's how many I need to test to maintain tight control), my insurance decided that I only need to test at most 8 times per day. What?! The insurance company gets to decide what's best for my daily medical treatment, not my doctor? I wasn't prepared to have a war with my insurance company, and I hope I don't have to. I may be switching insurance companies soon, but even if I don't do that, I hope a letter from my doctor outlining why it is medically necessary for a diabetic patient to test her bloodsugar 10-15 times per day to achieve optimal (or at least darn good) control will suffice. Let's hope. Geez.

Small steps add up

2008-09-18T15:03:00.007-04:00

In the name of health (not weight loss!) I've decided to make some changes to my habits:

Staying on top of diabetes management - this includes many blood tests per day, accurate carb counting, and scheduling and going to my doctor apointments every 3 months (and getting bloodwork done in advance so we can have something to talk about)
Being aware of my thyroid symptoms and proactively getting bloodwork done to make sure my dosages are on track
Eating healthier - We recently switched to Organic produce, dairy, and (when we can find it) meat. I'm also making smarter choices when I order out, and we're eating at home more often.
Eating breakfast - I eat a healthy, balanced breakfast every day now, usually consisting of a hard boiled egg, some fruit, cheese, and water
Drinking plenty of water - We recently got stainless steel bottles that are 100% BPA free, and mine can hold 1L. I keep it at my desk and do my best to down 2 of those in a day. Usually I only get through 1 - 1.5, but it's way more water than I used to drink.
Not drinking other stuff - I've given up soda. Can you believe it?! I was a diet coke junkie, and now I drink almost exclusively water. That's gotta be healthier, right?!
Minimizing the amount of "sweet stuff" I eat. I'm a sweetaholic! My favorite foods are buttercream frosting and caramel. And I have seriously reduced the amount of sweets I have in a given week. This is helping with #1.
Avoiding artificial sweeteners. Those things probably aren't very good for me, so I'm trying to give them up. Which means cheating on #7 is a lot harder.

Things I'm not doing that I should be:

Exercising! I don't do this...ever. I have a gym membership, I just need to use it.
Logging my blood sugars. How do I know if I am doing a good job if I can't watch trends? I suppose I can't. I am currently researching meters with good computer interfaces that allow me to upload my data and it does the graphing for me for easier analysis. Hopefully I'll find the right meter for me that will make this process easier. Logging has always been a struggle for me.

My husband is the BEST!

2008-09-18T15:03:00.002-04:00

I got a call at work today "Jenni, you have flowers at the front desk". Sweet! I've NEVER gotten flowers at work before! When I got down there, there was a beautiful bouquet of orange, yellow, red, and lavendar flowers - daisies, alstromeria (a fave of mine), and carnations.

Today's not a "special" day per se, but Scott and I decided earlier in the week to make tonight a date night. What, you may ask, are we going to do tonight? I have no idea! Scott has planned the whole thing and it's a surprise for me (which I love). He's already made me smile all day at work...and now I can't wait to see what's in store later! :)

I'll keep him.

A few lessons from the beach

2008-09-08T16:18:00.003-04:00

Scott and I, together with my college roommates F and C and C's family (J and A), went to Oak Island, NC for a week the week prior to Labor Day. I had an absolute blast and can't wait to get together with those folks (and others!!) again! While there, I learned several lessons, which I'd like to share with you:

Always wear sunscreen. Even if you think you "don't burn there", just do it. Because you do. Or at least I do.
Never use the spray-on sunscreen. Or you'll end up patchy and bruised-looking like Scott and I do.
Quo is not a word. Not even when you have had a Q all game and there's only 1 available U on the whole board and you have an O as your only vowel.
Sandbank is a word (and so is sandbar. Both mean basically the same thing). Here's the definition: A sandbank is a patch of sand in water, which creates a shallow area which may pose a hazard to boats. Some sandbanks are above water at low tide. See also shoal and bar. A shoal is a sandbank or bar creating a shallow. ... In geography, a bar is a linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water. ...
Oak Island locals may or may not know how to pronounce the Greek letter Chi. It might sound something like "Chee". When wearing your fraternity letters in public there, try not to giggle if someone asks "What the heck is Alpha Chee Sigma"? ;)
Homemade ice cream on Oak Island is not worth eating. Dairy Queen's a good option, and so is that other place that Caitlin recommended, but the homemade stuff is really icey and not really creamy and not very flavorful.

So, there you have it. A new blog post with some highly insightful things to get you through the work week. Or a vacation. Or a game of Scrabble.

Happy Anniversary to Us (last week)! And my parents (today)!

2008-08-20T16:47:00.002-04:00

Last Tuesday, August 12, was our 3rd wedding anniversary. To celebrate, Scott told me to be ready to leave by 6 pm. He had a surprise planned, and he did a fantastic job at keeping it that way until the very last minute. He drove us to Arlington and parked in the Ballston Mall. I was surprised, for sure, since the Ballston mall is well, not that great of a mall. But, it has an ice skating rink. I've never been, so I thought maybe we were going ice skating. (Yes, I realize it's August, and that ice melts in hot weather, but I couldn't see him taking me to the Ballston mall for many other reasons...). Alas, we were not going ice skating. He led me into the mall, to the right (away from the Macy's and the flooring store and the jewelry stores...my other guesses once ice skating was ruled out) toward Chevy's Fresh Mex. I thought, no way would he take me to Chevy's for our anniversary! I don't even like Chevy's all that much. Fortunately, my concerns were dissolved when he steered us toward the spa. I love spas! I love facials and manicures and pedicures and massages...and he chose the perfect gift! He got us a couples massage lesson, where we got to learn massage techniques by practicing on one another. It was so relaxing, entertaining, and a great learning experience. Once we finished there (and decided we're going to buy a massage table for home!), we decided together to go to Harry's Tap Room - a local restaurant that serves organic and locally raised foods. We were lucky enough to get the last outdoor table, where we sat in the perfect weather and enjoyed a delicious meal. It was also Restaurant Week at Harry's, so we had a 3 course meal and were able to take leftovers home. I've since vowed that I want to make Harry's Tap Room part of our (minuscule) restaurant repertoire. This was by far our best anniversary yet.

(I purchased a watch for Scott as his gift. It is an Eco-Drive, so it doesn't require a battery, and it's classic enough that it won't be out of fashion next month. He likes it, but admittedly, his gift trumps mine this time. I'm OK with that ;) ).

Happy 17th anniversary to my mom and Eric! There's was yesterday and they celebrated with a meal at Bonefish Grill. Yum!

The city that never sleeps

2008-08-04T11:43:00.003-04:00

I had a business trip in NYC July 21-23 and then Scott came up and joined me July 23-27 for a vacation. I had never been to NYC and he hadn't been since he was a kid, and we hadn't had a "just the two of us" vacation since our honeymoon, so it was a much anticipated trip! And it totally lived up to our expectations.

In the city that never sleeps, we barely rested. We toured pretty much all of Manhattan - we did Central Park, the Met, we saw the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall (but didn't go to the top of any of them). We walked...everywhere - through SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, Times Square, etc, etc, etc. We saw the Brooklyn Bridge and visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and I think the statue was my favorite part of the trip. And, of course, we saw Wicked, which was (ahem) a wicked good show. The Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy show was a lot of fun, too, and quite cheap at $8/person. We ventured to the Bronx only once - to see the (damned) Yankees stadium before it gets demolished.

The city is amazing. It's cleaner and friendlier than I expected in some ways, but the cabs and cabbies were just as crazy as TV and movies depict. I felt safe the whole time (except maybe when we were in the Bronx visiting the Yankees Stadiums, but all in all, I felt pretty safe there, too).

The subway was hard for me to understand (I much prefer the DC Metro for ease of use), but since Scott has a lot more navigation/map skills than I do, we fared well, only missing one event we wanted to do (a walking tour of Greenwich Village).

Our hotel (Hotel Metro) was FANTASTIC and I couldn't recommend it highly enough. I think we paid around $250/night for it, but the room was larger than I expected and clean, breakfast was included, and the service was spectacular. And it was in Midtown, and convenient to the subway and THE Macy's (important when you forget to pack lots of stuff like we did), and again, was a big part of the reason I felt so safe.

I usually try to include photos in my posts, but there are just too many! I'll leave you with some links instead. Enjoy!

When abstraction becomes reality

2008-07-16T13:37:00.003-04:00

I had a delightful and shocking experience yesterday. My good friend Caitlin had her baby! I received a text message with the good news (a big, healthy baby girl!) and was absolutely thrilled for the whole family. A bit later, Ian (Cait's hubby) sent out pictures of the little one, and this is where the shock comes in. When I looked at the baby picture, and especially the family picture of the three of them, I had a hard time processing that the beautiful (and I mean GORGEOUS!) little baby in the picture is what Caitlin and I have been chatting about for 9 months. That the reason Caitlin's tummy grew so much was because of her. Because of that particular child in the photo. Of course I knew that Caitlin was pregnant with a baby girl. Of course I understand that when a mom gives birth a baby is the end result. But to be able to put a face to the abstract idea of "baby" or even associate the baby's name with her physical self, was a revelation of sorts. A beautiful, inspiring, surprising revelation.

Welcome to the world, little one. I can't wait to meet you in person!

A baseball stadium is not a good place to get a migraine

2008-07-14T16:01:00.004-04:00

Not that there's a good place to get a migraine, but if I had to choose, I think I'd take a deserted cave: cold, dark, and quiet. A baseball stadium is quite the opposite: hot, bright, and noisy. On Friday night we went to the Nationals game with my former office mate, D, and our former coworker, R. We had GREAT seats - front row of the Diamond Club - courtesy of the connection D has at old work. We paid 1/5 the price listed on the tickets, and they came with $35 credit toward food, drinks, or merchandise. AND the Nats won! In a 10-0 shutout! That's something to get excited about! But, at about the start of the 6th inning I started to get a headache. And by the 7th it was clear it would be a migraine. I told Scott I wasn't feeling well and we left the stadium (after stopping in the store to spend the rest of our credit). The metro ride to Rosslyn, where we had parked, seemed to take forever. Then the 30 minute car ride home felt like an eternity, and I cursed the streetlamps the whole way. Finally we made it home where I was able to crawl into bed in our quiet, pitch black room, and sleep. I woke up Saturday morning bright and early to go to Hershey Park for a diabetic meetup without a migraine, but still not feeling 100%. On the way, we stopped and got water, which seemed to be the cure I needed. Lesson learned: when it's hot out, drink more water than you think you need.

We need ideas

2008-07-10T11:40:00.003-04:00

Scott and I are preparing to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary on 8/12 (likely celebrating the weekend of 8/8), but we don't know what to do. Any ideas? Here are some criteria:

We don't want to travel more than a couple of hours away from DC
It'd be great if we could take the dogs
We don't want to spend a lot
Overnight is OK as long as it complies with 1 and 3 (and preferably 2)

CGM Denial Day (a day late)

2008-07-02T14:58:00.002-04:00

I was one of the lucky ones. My Dexcom was approved by my insurance company without too much hassle. They also covered my pump supplies (including test strips) in full, and I was able to get a new pump before the old one's warranty was up.

That was with my old insurance, which was a PWD's dream insurance. I've since switched jobs, and my new insurance doesn't cover as much. They have a hard time even answering questions about what's covered and what isn't, so I can't report on whether or not my Dexcom sensors are covered.

I'm lucky. Many PWDs don't have the luxury of using the most advanced technology to manage their disease. Their insurance companies don't think it's valuable to have moment-by-moment blood sugar monitoring, to avoid dangerous lows, or coma-inducing highs. Apparently, to many insurance companies, the cost of life saving devices is worth more than the price of a PWD's life.

Changing the world, one Wiimote at a time

2008-06-27T17:01:00.003-04:00

Click here to watch a video that shows how to create an interactive whiteboard and 3d video game using a $40 Nintendo Wii remote and about $10 of other materials. Way cool.

Someday I'll figure it out.

2008-06-27T16:09:00.004-04:00

I promise I'll learn to embed videos eventually. Until then, learn what diabetes is, and the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 in this mildly comedic video.

Nerdmare?

2008-06-19T09:19:00.002-04:00

This morning I had a nightmare that my laptop was stolen and those powerpoint slides I've been working so diligently on went with it. I hadn't backed up my data and I was paying the ultimate price. Perhaps I should take a hint...

Feeling better...and this makes me happy

2008-06-18T21:13:00.002-04:00

I'm over my cold. My diabetes is back to the normal roller coaster rather than the wild roller coaster. Now, onto something fun. Francesca suggested I check this out, and I appreciate it. Well worth the 5+ minutes of your time.

Check out this video. I would embed it in the post, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Call me a novice blogger.

Gotta get worse before it gets better

2008-06-16T09:48:00.002-04:00

In addition to (and probably because of) this summer cold I've been dealing with, yesterday around dinner time I found myself in the E.R.

I awoke with a blood glucose reading of 73 mg/dl. That's pretty good - even a little bit on the low side. I then forgot my blood test kit at home when we left for church. After church, we went to Red, Hot, and Blue where I had fried catfish, french fries, and broccoli for lunch, which came back up on the way home. When I got home and tested my sugar, I was around 380 mg/dl. I gave a correction bolus, knowing it would likely not have any effect, and went to lie down. An hour later, it was 353 mg/dl. An hour later, 342 mg/dl. At that point I had Scott go out and get some Ketostix to test my ketone levels. They were HIGH. I put in a call to my doc, and she suggested I go to the ER for an insulin drip.

Scott drove me to the hospital, where we wound up spending about 2 1/2 hours. Not bad for an ER trip on a weekend. However, I managed my diabetes the whole time. I put on my check-in form "Diabetic Ketoacidosis" and that seemed to shock the nurses. I even had one say "you're a pro at this by now - you can do what you need to do". Not so reassuring.

They gave me fluids and nausea meds (despite my nausea disappearing) via IV and once I got my blood glucose down below 200 mg/dl (194 mg/dl to be precise), they let me go home. After giving me graham crackers and apple juice to "see if I could hold it down". Yep, no problem - that's what nausea meds are good for. Of course, when I got home, I was back up around 250 mg/dl until midnight, when I finally reached 140 mg/dl and decided to go to bed.

At 2:00 am I awoke to a lovely 30 mg/dl and sweat-soaked sheets. I drank 2 juice boxes and Scott brought me a piece of toast. Apparently that was too much (I knew it would be, but sometimes when you're THAT low, you need to over correct to ease your mind). So, this morning when I got up for work my BG was 254 mg/dl. Dang it!

I blame the cold.

Sick and Tired

2008-06-14T21:18:00.002-04:00

Well, mostly sick, really. I have a cold. It's the hottest June on record, and I have a cold. I hate being sick! Yesterday I left work an hour or two early because I didn't want to spread it to everyone. Today we took the dogs to a doggy pool party for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (since Corgan is one). It was fun, but it woulda been better if I had felt better. We were supposed to start up Salsa lessons again today with Victor, but I didn't feel up to it. We'll start again next week, I suppose.

On another note, I just finished reading Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin. It was a great chick lit novel, and I recommend it if you want something fun and easy to read. I'm going to start Something Blue soon. I'll let ya know how it is. I'm also listening to She's Come Undone and am reading Moneyball, both of which are excellent so far!

I want to be a part of it...

2008-06-10T21:00:00.003-04:00

...New York, New York! My new job is sending me to NYC to give a presentation at a symposium. After the symposium, Scott is joining me and we'll be spending 4 extra days in the city. We've booked the hotel, the travel arrangements, and WICKED TICKETS!!! I'm over the moon excited! I've never been to NYC, and I'm so looking forward to it. To prepare, I'm watching as many episodes of Sex and the City as possible. The girls and I went to see the movie over the weekend - good preparation, don't you think?!

Hot Dance Instruction

2008-06-08T22:14:00.003-04:00

For Christmas, Scott bought me a new PS2 game I've been wanting called "Dance Factory". It's like DDR but you get to use your own cds, which is cool. It's supposed to be a great workout, so I had asked for it to get in better shape at home. Today (6 months later), we opened the box. In the box, we found 2 dance mats, much like DDR mats, complete with poorly translated instructions. We got quite the ab workout laughing at the "Hot Dance Instruction" and I thought I'd share a few of the best ones, in David Letterman's Top 10 list style.

10. Thanks for purchasing our product. This product is made for dancing and health-care. Please read this instruction carefully before using and please follow the steps properly and remember to take good care of this instruction.
9. Strong jump or shake may cause influence to the video and audio output.
8. Please do not jump strongly, that may bring troubles to the other person.
7. There is maybe have some white powder on the surface of the product, please wipe off by a piece of soft, clean cloth.
6. Young children must be guided to use it or need parents and teaches to accompany, in case to be tumbled by it.
5. High technology product, do not apart, separate or fix it in any way. Or the damage can not be guaranteed.
4. Do not keep it in the high or low temperature environment, especially far away from the fireplace.
3. Forbidden to use this product if your feet are seriously injured. Stop immediately if there is abnormal phenomenon in your foot, waist, and back when using it.
2. Please put it on a flat floor, but not too smooth.
1. Make sure to pave the cushion

I copied these word-for-word. You can't make this stuff up (we tried).

She's Crafty

2008-06-04T13:50:00.003-04:00

A few Saturdays ago, I cohosted a baby shower for Caitlin who is due to give birth to Allison Claire on July 1 (or is it July 2? Either way, we're hoping for an Independence Day baby :) ). The theme we came up with for her shower was puppies, but apparently puppies are for boys and kitties are for girls because there was almost nothing that was either gender neutral or girly that had puppies on it!
So, I improvised. I made "pupcakes":

And I made a diaper cake out of diapers with little purple bones on them:

It was a fun shower and everything went off without a hitch. We ate, decorated onesies, and asked Caitlin questions during her gift opening. There were no baby shower games in sight, and I think the mom-to-be was glad of it. I know I was.
Chris suggested I post the "best and worst" of the pupcakes. I must say, they all turned out pretty well, but here's the worst one:

And here's the best:

All of them were equally tasty, though, and that's really what matters, right?

A quick pupcake update

2008-05-27T14:48:00.002-04:00

I have a whole post already written about the "pupcakes", but I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, so I can't post it yet. But Caitlin's on top of things and has posted a photo of my pupcakes in her blog.

Huah!

2008-05-21T22:11:00.002-04:00

I passed my company's bootcamp! I'm quite proud to announce that I passed THE Project on the first try. The Project is a 3 day grueling test of one's ability to use the software, manage time, and pay attention to minute details. I'm so RELIEVED and EXCITED to be finished with this, and am really looking forward to work in the morning.

I owe you all a few posts...one documenting my "pupcakes", and probably some more that I've meant to write and haven't. Hopefully now that I'm not spending 100% of my time studying and preparing for bootcamp stuff, I'll have a minute to post again. Of course, this weekend Scott's whole family is in town for a wedding. Fun stuff.

The more you know....

2008-05-11T17:44:00.003-04:00

Did you know that the difference between Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes is that Type 1s don't produce insulin and Type 2s produce it but don't process it properly?

Thank goodness!

2008-05-06T21:34:00.003-04:00

Last week, I nearly had a heart attack when (I thought) I figured out that because of my new insurance, I would have to switch insulin pumps to one I had barely heard of. I rely on my pump more than even I realized, and the thought of giving up Pump Daddy induced major heart-racing, full-tilt panic.

Today, I learned that not only do I not have to switch (enough negatives for ya?), but insurance will pay for 90% of my supplies for Pump Daddy! Yippee!! It's not the 100% coverage that I had grown used to at my old company, but it's definitely better than having to switch to an inferior pump, and/or pay big dollas for datgum medical supplies!

And a (completely unrelated) side note - why is it that on Dancing with the Stars, do the women always have tails on their skimpy little outfits? Bizarre.

And he shall be called

2008-04-30T11:49:00.001-04:00

Cash! We think it fits him. And when we're feeling extra nerdy, we'll call him Cache. ;)

Just call me...

2008-04-28T23:26:00.002-04:00

...

We brought home a new member of the family yesterday. Meet: ... our new dog. He's really great - a 2 year old lab mix from a shelter in West Virginia that we adopted here in NoVA. We don't know his story, but we quickly learned that he's sweet, calm, tranquil, tolerant, and cuddly. He's about 35 chubby pounds and looks just like a mini-lab. For those of you who know Corgan, he's not much taller than him...only an inch or two, I think. The rescue folks assume he's a Lab-Dachshund mix, but like Scott said, that's hard to imagine. Without further ado, here's ... the new doggy:

There's something missing from this post...a name for this love muffin! If you've got any ideas, please let us know! We've come up with lots...Tycho (as in Brahe), Cash (as in Johnny), Clash (comma The), Zen, Zenji (Zen Benji), Troyal (Garth Brooks' first name), Capo (something you use when playing guitar), ... and none quite fit. Corgan was named after Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, and ideally this new guy would have a similarly meaningful and interesting name (be it music related or not). Any ideas? Please post them! Or if you're too shy, email them to me!

Yo-Yo Blood sugars

2008-04-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

After raising my voice yesterday for Type I diabetes awareness, today I'm experiencing Type A frustration! My blood sugars have yo-yo'd from 50 mg/dl to 250 mg/dl today. When it's time to eat, I'm low, and when I eat I don't take insulin (because I'm low), which leads to highs. Argh!! I know that part of it is that I need to be smarter about correcting highs and treating lows, but part of it has to be environmental...right?

Raise Your Voice - Type 1 Diabetes Awareness

2008-04-14T09:42:00.005-04:00

Today marks the first annual "Raise Your Voice" Type 1 Diabetes awareness day. We in the diabetes online community have noticed that "Diabetes" when mentioned in the public typically refers to Type 2 diabetes. There's a big difference between the two types, and we Type 1s felt the need to get the word out about the "invisible" disease that we deal with daily.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1987 - at age 6. At that point, blood glucose monitors took AGES (at least a minute, but I think it may have even taken 5 minutes) to read your "sugar". The recommended protocol was 2 tests a day - at breakfast and dinner, and two injections a day, also at breakfast and dinner. With this rigid schedule, much of diabetes management was controlled through food - no sugar, limited carbohydrates, etc, and by eating every 3 hours, regardless of hunger.

I was told not to worry - there would certainly be a cure by the time I reached my teens.

Well, my teens have come and gone, and now I'm in my (*gasp*) late 20's, and there's still no cure. Times and technology have certainly changed, though. Blood glucose monitors now return your value within 5 seconds, and some even offer "continuous" monitoring, although this technology is still pretty new. I now wear an insulin pump that came with the promise of food freedom - eat what you want, when you want...no worries. It's not quite that simple, however. I can have a slice of pizza or a cupcake if I choose, but I have to be extra diligent when I eat these things - they do whacky things to blood sugars, and it's really quite difficult to manage. Sometimes I eat them anyway, knowing that I'll have to pay later.

"Pay how?" you might ask. Blood sugars, ideally, should be in the 80-100 mg/dl range. Blood sugars are affected by the food you eat, exercise, stress, and many other (often unknown) reasons. When I eat pizza, because of the carbohydrate content and fat content, it often has an adverse affect on my blood sugar. Typically, several hours after I eat it, my blood sugar skyrockets - sometimes into the 200's, other times into the 500's. In an attempt to stifle these highs in advance, I try to account for this through my insulin pump and delivering varying amounts of insulin over a longer course of time. My attempts often result in a blood sugar of something horribly low (typically around 40).

Symptoms of highs: As Kerri over at Six Until Me so aptly describes it, when your blood sugar is high, it often feels like your teeth are wearing sweaters. Other symptoms I experience are nausea, crankiness, and slightly blurred vision. (Note: if you hear me say "I think I'm high" please interpret this as a diabetes-related feeling). Prolonged high blood sugars can cause eye damage, nerve damage, brain damage, and other serious complications in the long term. In the short term, if left untreated (with insulin), highs can cause Diabetic KetoAcidosis (DKA).

Symptoms of lows: Lows are equally fun with such feelings as dizziness, sweating, disorientation, shakiness, and a strange, butterfly-type feeling in in your stomach. Lows can quickly become dangerous, causing you to be completely disoriented and unable to function, often times if not treated (with food/sugar) causing you to pass out and/or have seizures.

Diabetes is a self-managed disease. That it can be "managed" is a good thing, but management is an all-the-time, non-stop burdon on the person with diabetes. There have been significant advances in technology, but regardless of how great the technology is, it isn't a cure. Recently, several studies have come out that are making leaps and bounds toward a cure. Let's hope that with the U.S. election later this year, our political leaders will support stem cell research - a likely solution for curing Type 1 Diabetes.

Today, raise YOUR voice about Type 1 diabetes. You can do this by posting a story about a person with Type 1 diabetes that you know, posting a comment on my blog, or by donating to the JDRF. Another useful site for diabetes information is the American Diabetes Association, who (among MANY other things) fundraises through an annual walk that I participate in. Stay tuned for shameless pleas for donations around Halloween!

Goodbye to my sweet Celti dog

2008-04-10T17:53:00.005-04:00

Our dog, Celti was diagnosed with probable liver failure exactly one month ago yesterday. Last night, she took a turn for the worse. After some testing, and hearing all of our options, it became clear to us that these options would mostly be for us, so we made one of the hardest decisions that we've had to make and decided it was her time to go. She made the cross over the "rainbow bridge" as so many dog lovers call it, at around 2:00 this morning. I thought I could share with you all some of my memories of Celti and her quirkiness.

Celti was a corgi-mix that my mom brought home from the pound when I was in 11th grade. She was cute, and brown, and independent, though she loved attention. She also loved the beach:

She and Corgan would run and play:

and find dead fish to smell:

They also had fun at the creek with all the other dogs, and posed for one of my favorite pictures of them afterward:

She was really good with Corgan and took to him as if she were his mother, constantly cleaning his face and ears, and correcting him when he got too excited (or annoying). Sometimes, she would even let him sit next to her:

especially if they could both get belly rubs:

One of her favorite past times was chasing tennis balls:

And at dog parks, her favorite thing to do was to explore the perimiter to see who all had been there before her.

Generally, she was a polite little dog who would do her best to follow the rules - she even achieved "Level 4" status at dog training at the age of 9. She certainly proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks! However, she did not like workmen coming in the house, and if you came in wearing work boots, she would bite at your pantlegs, trying to herd you out of the house.

Speaking of herding, she would try to herd us while out on a walk. She was really good and never ran away, so we would let her off of the leash while we were walking, and she would weave back and forth behind Scott and me, making sure we both continued to progress in a forward motion. On occasion, she would run wide circles around us when we weren't moving fast enough for her.

Celti was a good friend to me through thick and thin and won over the hearts of almost everyone she met. I'm pretty convinced you couldn't find another dog as sweet, obedient, loving, and cute as she was, and she is greatly missed already. Scott feels similarly, and you can see his memories in the comments section of this blog post.

Dormant blogging season

2008-04-09T21:39:00.002-04:00

I use Google Reader to watch for updates to my favorite blogs, and it seems that nearly all of them are dormant as of late. My guess is that the bloggers are busy during the spring weather (although DC is still awaiting "spring") and therefore are spending fewer hours in front of their computers.

My days and nights right now are spent thinking about databases and business intelligence. Here and there, I have the opportunity to enjoy thinking about something other than work, and to spend time with my classmates and friends. I really enjoy a lot of the people in my class - Matthew (England), Bruce (England), Jose (Mexico), and Michal (originally - Poland, now - England) are a few. Those four, plus my husband, me, and another couple of coworkers are planning a trip to the new Nationals stadium on Friday evening (after Test #2) and I'm really looking forward to it! I plan to bring my camera so that I can gush about my classmates and give you all a "who's who of Jenni's classmates".

Also - expect a big post on Monday April 14 - Type I Diabetes Raise Your Voice day. I'll get into the why and how on Monday :)

Ten Hut!

2008-04-07T20:44:00.002-04:00

I started my new job on 3/31, and that was also my first day of "boot camp" within the company. Boot camp is a 3 1/2 week Master's degree level course intended for new hires (and customers) to learn the software. We cover about 600 pages of material in 4 days, then take an exam each Friday.

I had my first test on 4/4, and thankfully I passed with flying colors! I don't think I've ever studied for a class as much as I studied last week. Now, I'm in the throes of week 2, which I hear is much more difficult (although the difficult stuff starts tomorrow...today was pretty reasonable, which is why I have time to post!)

So, although I've been MIA for the past little while, I am still here, working hard! I really like what I'm learning, and I've met with my coworkers and bosses now, and I really like all of them. I'm excited to start working, but right now my nose is to the proverbial grindstone. Wish me luck in passing the next two exams, then completing the final project!

All is not lost

2008-03-31T19:52:00.005-04:00

The second half of my vacation was much better than the first. I was able to spend time with my mom and my dad (separately) and the uncles I really like. Despite the falling-down buildings and closing stores, the country there is beautiful...all rolling green hills and blossoming trees and daffodils. And it seems that there are some with ambition still in that part of the country....my dad has enough ambition and dreams for three people, and my uncle, age 50 or so, recently moved out of his parents' house and has a very nice townhouse near where he works. He's clearly happy and is aiming for at least slightly bigger and better things.

On Saturday, I got to do one of my favorite things in the world...see for yourself:

That's me on "Big-un". My dad has a knack for naming...he has a dog named "Pale face" and another named "Patch". Other dogs have been "Blue", "Red", and "Speck". Big-un is a Rocky Mountain Horse. They are a beautiful breed, and their gate is SO smooth. That smoothness, however, did not prevent me from getting a little saddle sore!

It was a beautiful day- the best we had while I was there. My dad and I went out for about 1 1/2 hours and rode over some of those gorgeous rolling hills. It was relaxing and made me remember one of the things I love most about "back home". I wish I had taken my camera with me on the ride so I could share just how pretty the landscape is.

I'm glad to report that my "non-vacation" turned into a good visit after all. I won't be heading back soon, but at least I'm open to going back!

The non-vacation

2008-03-26T22:04:00.002-04:00

Visiting family is supposed to be fun, right? Not a chore? Well, for me, it's a chore. At least for 90*% of my family. I like spending time with my mom, and my stepdad's family, my dad, and a couple of my cousins. I dread seeing my aunts and uncles and other grandparents "back home". I used to love spending time with them, but recently, I've noticed that while time has progressed and they've gotten older, they haven't done anything. Their lives haven't improved. They are in the exact same place they were when I was visiting for the summers in middle school and high school. Some are worse off than before. And none of them are even trying to make it better.

It isn't just my family, either. It's the whole area. I'm blogging to you right now using dial-up internet, and it's a rarity that my grandparents even have that. Of course, the people on welfare living in trailers or low-income apartments, driving Cadillacs, have high-speed internet, and run drug rings from their back yards. The whole area is depressing, and depressed. Lots of "closed" signs, and falling-down houses, barns, trailers, and shops. It's very sad.

This so-called vacation is sucking the life out of me, and for the first time in my life, I can't wait to leave. Leave what used to be "home" and is now just another dinky little town in the middle of nowhere. Maybe once my mom and stepdad build their new house, I can come here and not feel so badly. Maybe their home will be my haven and I can vacation here. Maybe having my husband with me would make it easier.

I can hope, right?

*estimated

The end of an era

2008-03-21T20:16:00.003-04:00

Today was my last day at DAC. I have been there since 1 week after my college graduation - nearly 5 years! My manager, J, pointed out at my "farewell lunch" today that I had been there longer than any of the people who came out to wish me well (or to eat some darn good sushi...either way, they were there!). There's a lot that I could reminisce about, but surprisingly, I'm not really in the reminiscent mood. I'm happy it's a weekend, I'm looking forward to visiting my family next week, and mostly I'm excited about my new job! I promise I'll blog about something other than work at some point. Really, I will. It might be a while though, so bear with me...or wait a few weeks and check back to see if I've settled in and can think (and therefore write) about other things.

To any DAC-ers that are reading...keep in touch! I still exist, and I still think you guys rock. And, as "Dr. No" used to remind us regularly...you guys will probably all be millionaires in the next 10 years. Of course, I haven't heard him say that recently, so maybe your financial outlook isn't so hot, but regardless, I think you guys are gonna make some really great waves. Cheers!

What's in a name?

2008-03-18T15:24:00.002-04:00

I have a VERY common name for women my age-ish. To the point that at one doc's office, there are 14 of us with the same first AND last name. 14!!! There are two at my hair dresser's (and apparently, we're on the same hair cutting cycle). My given name is Jennifer. I go by Jenni. Until 4th grade it was 'Jenny' but I wanted to be different, so my mom suggested 'Jenni' which is quite logical - just drop the 'fer'. I liked it, we changed it, and my teacher told me I spelled my name wrong.

I digress.

Jenni is fine, but I don't love it. It seems to be a bit childish with the "ee" sound at the end. In 5th grade (when I moved to Germany) I tried to start going by Jennifer, but kept forgetting and introducing myself as Jenni. Now that I'm starting a new job, I thought about going by 'Jen', but alas, I found this job through a friend who introduced me as 'Jenni'. It's hard to get past that first introduction and I hate constantly correcting people, so I'll be 'Jenni' through this stage of my life, too. (Plus, I'm not sure I would remember to introduce myself as, or respond to, 'Jen').

Growing up, I always thought I'd like to be Samantha (Sam for short...remember "Who's the Boss"? Sam was cool.). Now, I think I'd be happy with something, anything, more mature than "Jenni".

Know this - should I have children, girls particularly, they will have a much less common name than "Jennifer" was in the late '70s/early '80s. It's too bad kids don't get to choose their own names after a certain age. Of course, then we might end up with a lot of "Frankensteins". Maybe that's not such a good idea, after all.

It's official!

2008-03-17T13:32:00.001-04:00

I've accepted an offer with the "second" company listed in my last post - I'll be working with a BI marketing team, and couldn't be more excited!! Hooray!! Happy hour on Wednesday - post a comment if you want details! :)

A whole new world

2008-03-15T19:17:00.005-04:00

My blog title talks about change, and the beginning of this blog comes at a time of great (hardly infinitesimal!) change for me. I am in the process of not only finding a new job, but really starting a new career. For 5 years, since the week after I graduated college, I've worked for the same company. I was in a technical role there, and wound up doing marketing for the past year. I LOVED my job last year. It was fabulous. But, then, budgets got trimmed and I wasn't able to do marketing anymore.

So, I started looking for a new position, and have found a couple of good ones. One is with the American Diabetes Association doing relationship management - i.e. ensuring that current companies that donate to the ADA are happy and continue to want to donate. This job is enticing because it is with the ADA, and I am passionate about their cause. The job sounds interesting, the people are nice, and the benefits are actually quite good. The other position is with a business intelligence company doing traditional marketing stuff where I can actually use my Masters degree (who knew that was an option!?). The company is closer to home, the people are great, and the job description checks off every box on my "wish list" for a new position. Assuming we can come to an agreement regarding salary (and I'm confident we can), I will take the second job. I'll start on 3/31 and am overjoyed at the thought.

Between now and then I'll take a few days and visit with my family in Kentucky who I haven't seen in what feels like ages, but is actually about a year and a half. I'm looking forward to my trip, and to this new adventure I'm about to begin.

Hello, World!

2008-03-13T11:00:00.005-04:00

Hi! My name is Jenni, and I'm a 20-something woman living in the DC area with my husband and two dogs. I've been considering blogging for quite some time now, and have finally made the leap at the encouragement of Chris. Many of my friends to whom I've blathered about this blog have asked me what it is going to be "about". My answer is always "I'm not sure yet...we'll see." I know about and/or am interested in many things, and any, all, or none of them may appear in future posts. These interests include the following (in no particular order):

- dogs
- philosophy
- diabetes
- horses
- math
- "the environment"
- photography

It is no coincidence that my blog debuts on March 14. The nerds'll know why.

P.S. - Happy Anniversary Ken & Amanda - may your nerdiness continue to bond you together ;).