Connecting the Dots

More research into health issues this weekend has led me to an interesting game, “Which came first?”

• Over the last year and a half, I have donated blood products. The donation center does a free liver tox and cholesterol (non-fasting, obviously) test when you donate. My liver is fine…BUT my cholesterol levels have been consistently between 143 and 164. Cardiologists would celebrate this range if I were 55.
• Reading more about Luteal Phase Deficiency led me to see one of the causes is hypocholesterolemia. Your body synthesizes progesterone (and vitamin D) out of cholesterol. Not enough raw material = not enough hormone to carry a baby.
• Now, my levels are considered sub clinical for hypocholesterolemia, meaning they are just borderline low. This is a good thing because that means I do not have some scary underlying diseases, however…
• One of those underlying diseases is hyperthyroidism, for which I was treated in late 2005. Hmmm.
• I do not have any symptoms of being hyperT and my latest blood work actually shows anti-thyroid antibodies in my system. Double Hmmmm.
• Add to this mix the recent study that women with sub clinical hypocholesterolemia tend to have premature births and birth defects. White women with less than 159 have a 21% incidence of prematurity/low birth weight.
• All of this leaves me with the question, What needs to be treated? My liver (which should be fine), my thyroid function (not again!), or something else?
• And, How do I raise my cholesterol numbers?

Blinkie Questions and…

…is getting tired of having periods a(nother) reason to get pregnant?

So the baby fever is still on an ebb-flow cycle in our household. Neither of us has fully recovered. Jeff suggested that I volunteer in the church nursery to gain some practical experience with other peoples’ childlings. I am a pro with the 2 and over set but babies mystify me. They’re cute and cuddly but what exactly are you supposed to do with them? [Besides take care of both ends, play, and pat?] I know this might seem silly (and scary) to most of you. I do not live in daily contact with children. I have to learn somehow if I want a few of my own.

On a related front: I’ve lost three whole pounds and an inch off my hips in the last few weeks. That is substantial without really trying! My goal involves about 8-10 more pounds to feel more comfortable before heading into pregnancy. I’ll keep you posted.

Blinkies:

1. Yes, I wish to announce to the whole world that we want a baby. Blinkies seem to be the way Bloggy land does it.
2. How does one put in blinkies into the side bar of a standard WP theme?
3. Where did you all get yours?

Example of a Blinkie:

UK Parenting Advice

A Third Reason Why the Abortion Rate is Falling

You might have heard or read some headlines about the U.S. abortion rate falling over the last 5 years. The MSM [main stream media] likes to point out that it may be because of a handful of reasons: less abortion clinics, more (abortifacient) contraception available, more Crisis Pregnancy Centers with ultrasound machines. Coconut says we still have the highest abortion rates in the world. I think there is a third reason why we Americans are slowing the baby-killing mill.

If my generation is doing anything right, it is loving babies. Thats right, we have established a ‘baby-positive’ atmosphere after decades of barely tolerating procreating. Babies are no longer life- and career-wreckers because technology has helped many women stay at home with their children and keep a small business on the side. We want to stay home because most of the Gen X folks were left alone. We don’t want that for our children! If we screw up our kids, it will be our fault. If they turn out well, then we have accomplished something real in a world of virtual everything. And…we might have more than 2!

Pregnancy is the chic thing to do, regardless of the mama’s religious creed. Midwives and breastfeeding are mainstreaming into daily life again. We want everything organic and cloth and recycled. Toys are wooden, silken, metallic or cardboard box. Television is out; cloud-gazing is in. Education is a way of life, not something to be checked off a list. Words like “Crunchy Granola Earth Mama” are taken as a compliment.

Old style feminists don’t know what to make of the younger set who gain a college education, only to “waste” it by getting married and having several children in their twenties. To them, there is only one choice, which is no choice at all: sacrifice everything for the career, because that is the way you can become as good as the guys. Husbands, children, and home are of inestimable value that a career cannot give you. There is nothing demeaning by being different than men.

Look around you and you will see a better future for babies and women, one we have fought for ourselves.

[I will be editing this throughout the day as more thoughts come to me...]

More Link Love:

Some more great stats from the Catholics.

Modern Pregnancy: Fertility Goddesses Revisited

I rose from my seat in church with a smile on my face to turn and greet my neighbor. When I made the about-face to the row behind me, I was greeted instead with an outie belly button protruding through a thin cotton-knit shirt. Was it a teenager with a too-tight top? Nope, it was a 30-year-old upper middle class woman about 8 months pregnant who shook my hand that Sunday.

Pregnancy, as I have come to see it in ladies of my generation, is revered and displayed as almost a goddess worship. We are no longer young enough to wear hip-huggers and bare our midriffs. Casting that aside as “unprofessional”, we’ve taken a new way to draw attention to ourselves. If we cannot have a naked belly, we can still show it through conforming tops as we swell with child. We can get a cast of our full-front to commemorate the event. We can have things painted around our belly-buttons at baby showers.

There is little aura of mystery surrounding our goddesses. To follow suit with cultural standards, we want to be sexy, sensual, and seductive as well as publically fecund. No flowing greek robes or cute jumper dresses to drape over our unborn children. They are initiated early into the world of “flaunt it if you’ve got it” while still in our wombs. Sheer knit tops, shorts with elastic tummy panels, low v-necks to show off burgeoning bosoms, all are supposed to make the pregnant woman feel honored and beautiful.

The reverse psychology of less-is-more in fashion ends up putting more stress on ladies to maintain their bodies in some state of pre-pregnancy perfection. Another woman in my church wore at least 3 inch heels while obviously greatly round this past Sunday. I was fearing she may break an ankle! If there is any point in a woman’s life where she should be comfortable in her clothing is when she is nuturing a child within!

Some may argue, “This trend just honors the New Life. Wouldn’t you support that sentiment?” My feelings of honor do not depend on seeing more than I should of someone else’s anatomy. When a woman is in her last trimester, it is pretty self-evident, no matter what she wears. Of course most people are drawn to her belly as a magnent whether it is neatly covered or threadbare. She shows respect for the Creation of new life (and herself) by keeping some of the mystery in tact.