Oh the west...

Loved this piece about Wallace Stegner in the Times - http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/stegners-complaint/?em. I love love love Wallace Stegner's work (when forced to pick a favorite book, I usually choose Angle of Repose) and as a westerner who has twice voluntarily transplanted herself east, I can attest to the fact that some folks out here really think the country stops just a little west of the tristate area. Forget the Mississippi. Even Cali with its gajillion electoral votes hardly gets the 'spect it deserves (tho lately, really, does it deserve any respect? does it even still exist? barely, but thankfully, yes. but i digress). So, read some Stegner. Crossing to Safety is excellent, Big Rock Candy Mountain a phenomenal epic. Even his personal letters are fascinating (turns out he was hilarious). I try not to read too many of his books because I'm afraid I'll run out, but given that he wrote 35, perhaps I can read a few more each year and know there are more to come. Hope Smaldita enjoys being read to about the wide open spaces this summer.

Passed

the GTT. Whew! Now I can reinsert my sugar IV.

Lonely hearts

Was fantastic to see Megan. So good to hang out with no agenda. A little walking, a little shopping, a little cooking - what more do you need? Weather was gorgeous, but cold, and of course I took no photos. But I do have pix of our Valentine's Day masterpieces:

Despite using the icing that is supposed to be easy for kids, we managed to destroy a good number of cookies.


Yum!

Winter vacation week

Survived the glucose tolerance test! It wasn't as bad as I expected because I only had to drink the sugary drink once, and then have hourly blood draws for three hours (after a baseline, so that's four blood draws in three hours; no fun). I thought I was going to have to drink it three times. If so, I would probably have been in convulsions on the waiting room floor because that stuff makes me nauseaus and gives me a headache.

During my 3.5 hours in waiting room, I got to chatting with another woman doing the same test. We commiserated and she recommended some books (it's her second pregnancy). She also mentioned that she's having a high risk pregnancy because they discovered on ultrasound that her baby's kidneys and lungs are not developing properly. Although she'll likely carry the baby to term, apparently the baby has a very poor prognosis for survival after that. I cannot imagine how scary and painful an experience it must be. She said they're not really making a big deal of her two year old becoming a big sister because they just don't know what will happen. Ach - my heart breaks as I write this. If you pray or meditate or wish or hope, please keep this family in mind.

Assume I'll get my test results middle next week unless Steve can check in the meantime. Oh, the long hours alone and his erratic schedule do pay off!

And now, no school next week! Hurray! Tonight Megan comes for a visit from Ann Arbor for the weekend. Steve is working tomorrow until late, so Megan and I have exciting, romantic Valentine's Day plans. Sleeping, shopping for maternity clothes (for her!), maybe some baking, and just catching up.

Then, next week aside from a few meetings and maybe a short visit with Ginny while she house hunts in RI, I am planning to make a big dent in my thesis, get ahead on some of my other papers and reading, and finish the first draft of a policy brief for work. I'm setting myself up for failure - if I accomplish even half of what I want to, it'll be a lot. I have no track record for doing things ahead of time, but at least baby girl's kicks are a good reminder to get it in gear. The last few MGH resident babies were more than a few days early, and I have a big fear of my water breaking during my thesis presentation!

Happy Valentine's Day!

28 weeks plus props

I'm posting these photos against my better judgment. I look weird and they're pretty unflattering. You can't tell, but I am even wearing blush, plus I accidentally deleted the one in which I look least weird. I am going to blame the photographer and the fact that I think my face is starting to look pregnant. This is really really NOT a plea for you to leave comments telling me I do not look hideous because 1) You would be lying, and 2) We all take bad pictures now and then and there are many photos in the world in which I look gorgeous. They are mostly in fashion magazines with titles like Vogue and W. So here goes...





Yes, that is the stroller, which arrived yesterday. It's an Uppa Baby Vista. We picked it because the green will look nice with the pink blanket I'm knitting, although I doubt she'll want the stroller at her high school graduation when I expect the blanket will be complete. It also gets fabulous reviews, is supposed to be excellent for city living, is made by a local company, and uses sustainable products and practices as much as possible.

Tomorrow is the glucose challenge for three hours (lucky me for failing the glucose tolerance test despite having _no_ risk factors). If I survive it and the carbo loading I've had to do in preparation, I'll post about my exciting winter vacation week plans.

Hokey Pokey Health Policy

Congressman Barney Frank spoke at school yesterday. The highlight of his address was when he said that we seem to be taking the Hokey Pokey approach to universal health care. First, you put some of the kids in and shake them all about, then add some other kids and shake them about, and now maybe we'll put more adults in and shake them all about. Of course, a room full of health policy wonks was roaring. We haven't actually studied the Hokey Pokey policy model, but I can't think of a better description of the US's unique approach.

And then today one my professors referenced Chris Rock's bullet control proposal. Thrilling as it's one of my faves... "bullets should cost five thousand dollar."

Ah, policy really can meet reality.

Good Sunday

1. We saw grass for the first time since December. And it wasn't in a picture or on TV. Some of the snow melted and it was in the 40s. Woo hoo.

2. Lakers beat the Cavaliers, ending the Cavs' undefeated record at home, to finish their road trip 6-0. And all this after Thursday (that's all I'll say since I do love my Boston readers)!

Good way to start the week. Now, about tomorrow's exam...

Smaldita updates

I saw the doctor on Thursday and the good news is - no placenta previa! This means I get to just wait and see what labor brings, no planned c-section for now.

We had an ultrasound and could see her "practicing" breathing and opening and closing her eyes. So proud. She's too big to get full pictures of and unfortunately, the pictures they gave us are too blurry to post. We could see her profile pretty clearly and she's awfully cute. When the doc was putting the probe on my belly, she started kicking or punching and he said "oh, she has a temper." You're telling me, pal.

Almost into the home stretch... third trimester starts on Tuesday. I can hardly believe it. I'm scared about how uncomfortable I'm going to get and thrilled that she's growing so well and excited for her birth and overwhelmed by how much I have to do to prepare (infant CPR, childbirth class, arrange a pediatrician, supplies) and in denial about the mountains of schoolwork to be done in order to graduate (write a thesis? really?) and terrified about how I'm going to keep my head on straight enough to make a reasonable contribution to Steve's fellowship ranking decisions. I'm slowly and surely losing my mind. Don't worry, though - turns out going crazy can be fun.

One family stimulus plan

We got a crib, changing table and small toy chest/bench last weekend. We are doing our part to save the economy. And judging by the fact that I have never seen an Ikea so crowded (there were Disneyland-esque signs saying how much longer you had to wait at checkout), a lot of other people were feeling patriotic as well.


It all fit better than we expected and we still have room for the sun couch (the couch in the alcove that is a lovely, sunny place to read and daydream). We figure Smaldita's little spot is about 8'x8', which, as Steve pointed out, is hardly smaller than my room sophomore year of college. And I was much bigger than she will be. We'll see how it goes and regroup if need be to get more furniture or rearrange, etc. The crib is not yet cute because we haven't figured out about bedding. Too many choices!















This weekend we'll order the stroller... which brand won? Was it Bugaboo? Bob? Or a late breaking, dark horse surprise like Kirsten Gillibrand?

Wear red!

Tomorrow is National Wear Red Day! Heart disease is the leading killer of women in this country and it also causes significant morbidity (read: diminished quality of life). It killed 315,00o women in 2006 (233,000 more than the next leading cause), risk rises at younger ages than most people realize, and 2/3 of women who suffer heart attacks never fully recover (nhlbi). More info at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov//educational/hearttruth/materials/wear-red-toolkit.htm. So - clear the February doldrums by wearing red, raising awareness, and feeling sassy, too!

Why, why, why?!?

It's snowing again. And in the forecast for today, tomorrow and Thursday.

From today's Boston Globe:

It is sanctified as its own day, designated on desk calendars, memorialized by Congress and celebrated around the world. The problem is, Groundhog Day is a fraud. According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center, it has continued to snow after March 16 in 50 of the last 60 years. March gets more snow in Boston than December does.

We had been looking forward to March! I wasn't going to wear boots every day!

You could shake your head and say, you chose to live there. To which I would say, a computer sent me here. Thank you, national residency match system.

Pix of the "nursery" coming soon... when I shake this cold and catch up a bit on the oodles and piles of reading. Big doc appointment this week, including an ultrasound so hopefully new pix of my wee ballerina doing her grand battements!