My job is swell.

1.  Once again, my office is mysteriously the only one around here to get on the Obama family Christmas card list.  This year it's a pop-up card!

 
2.  In other work-related bragging news,  I got an office with a window.  It only took 10 years.

3.  More importantly, this has been a great year for successful work in preventing infant mortality. It is exciting to have the opportunity to work in a job where we make a difference.

 http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865589475/Infant-mortality-rate-drops-amid-Pacific-Islander-moms-in-Utah.html?pg=all

Cloth Diapering

I am grateful to the friend who explained cloth diapering to me before I had my first baby, thus saving me lots of money and helping me reduce guilt about my contributions to the landfill.  I am paying it forward here and sharing what I have learned about cloth diapering for anyone else who needs the info.

They sell all-in-one diapers, with absorbent material on the inside and plastic/vinyl/whatever on the outside and I have used them but they are more expensive. Unless you are committed to drip-drying, I find that they wear out faster, too.  I especially dislike them for new babies because new babies go through so many daily diapers.  A much less expensive but effective option is to buy old-fashioned square diaper liners and diaper covers.  

I got my square diaper liners from this local company: http://www.alltogetherdiaper.com/ They work wonderfully and are extremely durable. They lasted for all four of my babies! Do not buy those thin,  horrible "Gerber diaper burp cloths" that they sell at big box stores.  They look too thin and cute to be absorbent because they are NOT absorbent. 

I may be old-fashioned in my preference for square diaper liners, but I have no desire to use old-fashioned pins.  I love Snappi fasteners. No poke risk.

To fold them, fold the front part in thirds.  Let the back part stay wide.

If you want even more padding, such as to avoid changing the diaper at night, you can even add one of these 1/3 size liners in the middle but usually it is not necessary.

Add the Snappi.  It has tiny comb ends that catch the fabric.  Hold it at one side, pull and stretch it to the other side, and then pull the middle comb down.

Then add the diaper cover to keep all that wetness away from you.  I have found that the kind that are shaped like disposables work better than plastic pants.  They come with snaps or velcro.  Snaps stay nice longer but I use these velcro ones by Dappi that I got from Baby Best Buy because they are the least expensive diaper covers in the world.  You can get them here: http://www.babybestbuy.com/dappi-diaper-covers-277.html They aren't as cute as the bright-colored diapers you can get elsewhere but bright colors are impractical for me because I machine wash on the "heavy duty" cycle with bleach.  I machine dry, too. You will find lots of rules online about diaper care that teach how to make diapers last longer through gentle cleaning and drip drying.  I ignore these and stay sane.  Hey, most of the liners lasted through four kids in spite of my non-gentle cleaning ways and I only rarely had to replace the covers, which I could afford to do because I bought such a cheap brand.

Cloth diapers do not go in a diaper genie.  Again, you will find lots of "helpful," complicated tips online about storing dirty cloth diapers.  For me, the easiest, cheapest, non-stinky way to store them is in a bucket with a gamma seal lid, lined with a trash bag.  I got mine here: http://beprepared.com/5-gallon-bucket-with-lid.html

If you use the non-gentle cleaning cycle I use, you will rarely need to rinse a diaper.  A diaper with a moderate amount of sticky gunk in it will clean in the heavy duty cycle. But there are occasions when the diaper is extra crazy full and too sticky to shake out into the toilet.  When I was living in my previous residence, we bought an OsoCozy diaper sprayer that attaches to the toilet for this purpose: http://www.alltogetherdiaper.com/Products/Other-Accessories/OsoCozy-Cloth-Diaper-Sprayer In my current residence, we have a pull-out spray faucet in the bathroom sink, that I can just point at a diaper as I hold it over the toilet and spray.

I'm glad I walk my talk

I have been working with my local state senator, Senator Osmond, on SB 112, a bill that would soften the very unfortunate work week law of 2011.  I sent a letter to the Salt Lake Tribune about it, which says:

Since it went into effect in September of 2011, the state’s five-day workweek law has added approximately 14,250 metric tons of carbon emissions into the air.

The law ended the state government’s four-day workweek, a common-sense measure to protect air quality that saved taxpayers $203,000 a year.

Now, we are all breathing in the results of this legislative action. Senate Bill 112 would not bring back the four-day workweek, but it mitigates the current law by allowing state agencies some flexibility to offer services by Internet or phone.

If you like breathing clean air more than you like waiting in line to fill out paperwork in person, support SB112.

Today I took a glance at the comments and one in particular stood out to me.  It was posted by someone who obviously knows me but I can't tell by the screen moniker or tiny profile photo who it is:

As I know who the letter writer is is can tell you that her home is Green. She uses Public Transportation, and even owns Natural Gas Vehicles (yes plural, and she still uses public transit). I know, bash away, tell her how she has forgotten this or that, but don't look into yourself for what you can do to help the issue. I am guilty, I drive a big truck, and don't drive all that far to work, I really do live close enough to walk.

That made me feel good about all that time my husband and I have spent updating our house to be eco-friendly, xeroscaping, shopping for environmentally-friendly cars, and taking mass transit when other means may have been faster.  I am surprised that someone else has noticed.  Thank you, friend.

Aargh!

We have been driving natural gas cars for the past several years in order to save our planet and our pocketbooks (the gas costs only 1.50/gallon and they are non-polluting). However, we needed a bigger car in order to get all our four children in the backseat and the only natural gas options were enormous vans and suburbans.  Natural gas minivans do not yet exist, although we hear that one in development.  So we got the only less gigantic alternative fuel vehicle in the market that would seat our kids in back, the toyota highlander, which is a hybrid electric mini-SUV.  Toyota hybrids have had a lot of well-publicized recalls and ours was no exception.  We bought it with two recalls already on it.  However, the Toyota people have mastered recall customer service. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the recall repair experience.  The dealership was equipped with a pirate-theme playground, coin-free arcade, wi-fi, multiple big screen TVs, and complementary popcorn, danishes and hot chocolate.  Moreover, all the kid-friendly amenities were located far, far away from the more grown-up lounges with computer stations, so I didn't have to worry about my kids bothering people.

Books I've Been Reading

I always do a lot of reading when I have a newborn because I spend so much time sitting still while I nurse.  I've added some of my favorite recent reads to my virtual bookshelf.  I have been especially interested in autobiographies lately, and so there are several of those among my new favorite reads, including the autobiographies of Rosa Parks, Barack Obama, Joanna Brooks and Tina Fey.

Currently, I am almost finished reading the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  Although I haven't quite finished this one, I have already deemed it worthy of my virtual shelf.  Henrietta Lacks is the person from whom the first living cell culture was taken.  (Since she is deceased, this is obviously a biography, not an autobiography, but I like those, too.) This is a fascinating read, very informative with regard to science, bioethics and social justice issues, but also just a great human interest story about people who live in my wealthy nation but seem to live in a different world because of their extreme poverty.

Big Siblings

"Is he a good baby?" everyone asks me.

I always answer yes.  I wonder sometimes if that is the wrong answer, because a follow-up question is often, "So he sleeps through the night?"  Um, no.  Is that what a good baby does?

Another common question is, "How do your other kids like him?"  I truthfully reply that they love him.

I would like to take some time here to elaborate on how the big siblings are enjoying the new one.

My oldest, age 7, likes to "babysit" the baby.  This is actually pretty helpful.  She takes the baby into a room with her and puts him down on a blanket surrounded by toys and picks him up or gives him a binkie as needed, freeing me up occasionally while I do the dishes or something.

My second child says, "He's so cute!" and then asks, "Can we keep him?" just as he would ask about a potential pet.  Then he affectionately tries to touch the baby's eyes.  (I am trying to encourage him to express his affection in some other way.)

I was most worried about my toddler, the only one who has never had a younger sibling before.  His personality seemed a little more jealousy-prone than his older siblings, but like his older siblings before him, the newest big brother is much more likely to smother the baby with affection than out of spite.  It's a good thing, because I have enough on my hands just protecting the baby from his older siblings' often rowdy love.

At the hospital, my toddler learned that grown-ups enjoy photographing new babies, and he insisted on joining in the fun.  I am very grateful for electronic photography, because I didn't have to worry about my film being wasted.  Here are some of my toddler's photos of the baby:

He also took some more abstract photos in the hospital room, which reveal a great deal about a toddler's perspective.  Okay, maybe they reveal just one thing: that toddlers are short and see a lot of stuff that is near or on the ground.

I am so glad he didn't drop the camera when he took that last one.

This next one is a photo my husband  took.  When this photo was taken, my toddler screamed, "No!  Take picture baby!  No take picture me ever again!"

Fortunately, he has since lifted the ban. This is a relief, because he is at quite a photogenic stage right now.  He looks like a cherub, with his blonde curls, puffy cheeks and blue eyes.  He may never be this cute ever again.

In spite of his own rules, there are a few self portraits among his works.  I am guessing that is because he is not very good at photography yet and didn't realize the camera was backwards.

For a couple days before each of my baby well-child visits, I track his eating and diaper habits so I can answer rationally when the pediatrician asks about them.  (There's an app for that, of course.)  One day I found my toddler standing over the basinet holding the tablet.  "Baby sleeping," he informed me, and showed me the tablet.  Sure enough, he had opened up the Baby Tracker app, found the sleep icon, and marked it.  I hadn't been tracking sleep, but with further investigation, I found that my toddler had tracked baby sleep on multiple occasions.

I love it when my toddler sings lullabies to the baby.  He makes up his own songs,. The songs always include the baby's name and the word "ever," which is currently my toddler's favorite word, among other lyrics as the muse inspires him.  He frequently gestures and always sings high and soft.

Before my youngest sister was born, my parents took us to a class for older siblings at the hospital.  I still remember how fun that was for me, so I found one for my kids to attend. (My hospital didn't have one, but another hospital nearby did.)  Technically, only my older two kids were old enough for the class, but my toddler was present and engaged. And the kids actually remember some of the things they learned!  My oldest videotaped the baby's first bath at home and recited the handwashing advice she learned from the class in her video.

My First Experience with Peer Review

It is always exciting when the same old job you have had for years suddenly provides you with an opportunity to try something new.  During the past several months, I have enjoyed my first experience writing a peer-reviewed journal article.

A colleague recommended that I submit more ambitiously for my first try and then try less ambitious journals if that didn't work out, and his advice made sense so I followed it.  I submitted it to a slightly more prestigious journal first (although still rated way, way below the likes of JAMA) and was not at all surprised by my prompt rejection form letter.  After all, I openly acknowledge that I don’t know what I am doing and I had suspected that this was a long shot.

I am grateful now that I received a form letter—later, that same colleague informed me that he occasionally receives personally written rejection letters with nasty descriptions of how worthless the rejected paper is.  A form letter was a much more comfortable kind of rejection.

I immediately revised the paper to meet the guidelines of another journal that was less prestigious but, in my uninformed opinion, a better fit for my study and was thrilled by my prompt acceptance pending revision.

Of course, then I read the full peer review comments and realized that they meant a lot of revision: lots and lots, essentially a rewrite.  But I thank these anonymous people.  Their comments were right on; they agreed with me that my study was interesting and unique and worthy of sharing with the rest of the world; they also noticed, accurately, that I didn't really know how to write a journal article and needed some coaching.  Whoever these peers were, they were smart people.  Their suggestions were good.  In some instances, they actually came out and said, "say this instead..." More often, they told me to do some more research and report some analysis I hadn't previously thought to include or asked me to write out details that I already knew but had neglected to write out in the earlier draft.  I am so glad they recognized my paper's potential and gave me a chance to fix it up.

By the time I was done incorporating their revisions, I actually felt like I had a good paper.  Thank you, anonymous peer people!   I resubmitted the paper, it was fully accepted and I was told that I would receive a proof of the final print version for review within two weeks.

But I still hadn't received it two months later.  I inquired a couple times and was told that they had not yet chosen a publication date for my article and that they would send it to me as soon as that was settled.

Finally, I emailed and told them that I would be leaving work on maternity leave soon and asked if I should get them in contact with someone else who could review the proof if it was completed during my absence.  My proof showed up immediately thereafter!  I have a question for you more experienced journal article writers out there: is this the traditional way to get a proof?  How does one get a proof when one doesn't happen to be pregnant?

Of course, my proof was still missing one important element: the date of publication.  Hmm.  What personal life event do I need to come up with to get that?

Tenth Anniversary Trip

At Beatles Love (obviously)

My husband and I recently celebrated our tenth anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas.  Before you congratulate us, I should clarify that we haven’t actually met that 10-year milestone yet.  Our anniversary is in July, during the same week that our baby is due.  Since I would therefore not be able to travel on our real anniversary and would be highly likely to be in labor, which is not the most ideal of anniversary activities, we went ahead and celebrated early.  My parents kindly watched our kids for us. 

Bellagio Conservatory
This living mural was supposed to look like the impressionist
painting next to it.  I could sort of see it...not really.

Leaving Love.  It was crowded.

We traveled to Las Vegas for a family vacation last year and visited almost every kid-friendly attraction the city had to offer, so this time, we focused on more adult activities.  (By “adult” I mean activities that are not child-friendly such as the Bellagio Conservatory where children are not allowed;  I am not referring to the “adult entertainment” of which  Las Vegas has so many offerings.   We do happen to be a couple of goodie-two-shoes Mormons, after all. )

CSI: The Experience

We saw two Cirque shows: Love and Mystere.  For those unfamiliar with Cirque, it produces lavish dance/acrobatics shows with wild costumes and special effects.   I had seen Love before on a trip with my mom and sisters, but my husband hadn’t.  I loved Love, which is entirely based on Beatles music,  and was excited to see it again and introduce my husband to it.  Mystere was new to both of us.  I enjoyed Mystere very much, but not as much as Love.  Mystere is visually stimulating to watch, but it is also very abstract and has very little English text.  I like that the Beatles’ lyrics kindly narrate Love, helping me to better understand what I am seeing.  My husband, on the other hand, preferred Mystere over Love.  He felt that Mystere had more acrobatics while Love was more like a very advanced show choir performance, in his opinion.

We also went to a drive-in movie theater for a double feature, saw a magic show and visited two exhibits, CSI: The Experience and Bodies.  CSI is based on the TV show of the same name.  It was fun and educational;  it reminded me of the sort of exhibit you might find at the Epcot Center, the main difference of course, being that for just a wee bit more money, you see a lot more exhibits at the Epcot Center than just the one we saw at CSI. 

Bodies, however was absolutely amazing and well worth the price.  I had expected this to be a typically overpriced Las Vegas mini-exhibit, but it was fully comprehensive and large enough to be considered a museum rather than an exhibit.  If you ever did cadavers in college, it is nothing like that.  These bodies are posed as if alive so you can see what the inside of our bodies look like in motion.  They have also created a number of dissections for close-up views of different body systems.  As a person who has worked in tobacco prevention, I appreciated the exhibit comparing a healthy lung to a smoker's lung, and the huge vat placed next to it where people were invited to drop off their cigarettes as their first effort to quit smoking.  I didn't see another pretty lung like that in the whole exhibit.  I asked a guide about that, and she verified that only one of the donated bodies came from a non-smoker.  She had that person's other lung available to touch, and I could feel how soft it was in comparison to the rock-hard smoker's lung.   I also only saw one female body in the whole exhibit.  She was in the section on the reproductive system.  After I asked the guides about that, I heard about four or five other people approach them with the same question.  Apparently, everyone noticed the gender imbalance.  The guides confirmed that only one woman was there because fewer women donate their bodies to science.  I especially enjoyed the section on fetal development (from naturally deceased fetuses, the exhibit signs noted) and  seeing what my unborn child looks like now.  (Answer:  like a born child, but slightly smaller.)  However, my husband reminded me that the fetus on display had hair, while ours is likely bald, according to our pattern.

Why I Don’t Believe in Diets and Why I’m on a Diet

I'm on a diet.  I don't believe in diets and I resent that I am on one.  I resent it thoroughly.
 

I have only been on two other diets in my life.  The first time was when I was a freshman in college.  My health professor informed us that he would give all students a skin fold test at the end of the semester and only those who measured as "slim " would get an A on that particular "assignment."  At the beginning of the semester, my measurement was not "slim " but "ideal." I agreed that my body mass was ideal and would have preferred to stay the same, but I was also an academic perfectionist and an ideal body mass was only worth a B grade. 

If I were in that same class today, I would be complaining to the dean, writing letters to the editor, maybe picketing.  Everything about the skin fold test grade was so twisted.  It rewarded underweight, unhealthy, anorexic people and reinforced their eating disorders.  It gave people with ideal body weights cause to develop eating disorders of their own, even if they were previously and correctly comfortable with their body weight. Even for obese students, who really did need to lose weight, the policy was damaging because it encouraged them to lose weight at an unhealthy rate in order to meet the semester-end deadline.

But I was more docile back then, and I really liked A 's, so I decided to accept the challenge to achieve less than ideal body mass. Sort of. I wasn't at all willing to starve myself, even for an A, so I only gave up all sweets and I exercised more often than usual.  At the end of the semester, my body mass was still ideal and I wished I had just eaten dessert when I wanted it.

My next diet was unintentional but more severe.  I was a missionary in a third world country and my stove started shooting flames.  With the stove out of service, I was limited to foods that did not require cooking.  Foods requiring refrigeration were also out because of the frequent power outages in the area.  (When the stove worked, we would buy fresh perishables every day for immediate cooking and consumption.)  So I ate tomato and green pepper sandwiches, without meat or cheese, every day, every meal, for 10 consecutive days.

When I wrote my usual weekly letter to my family, I must have seemed really hungry, because they called the mission president to protest my living conditions.  That happened to be day 11, the day my new stove arrived, so the mission president reassured them that it was all taken care of.  However, he was curious about what I had written to inspire such a reaction from my usually laid back parents.  He called me in and pointed out that he, himself, packed a sack lunch of sandwiches every day as he traveled across the mission area. I was duly ashamed of my weakness, until I related the conversation to other missionaries who pointed out that he ate nice sandwiches, with meat in them, and hot meals for breakfast and dinner. My shame immediately evaporated.

So those are my only two previous personal experiences with dieting.  I don’t believe in dieting and some health experts agree with me.  Those who espouse the "intuitive eating" philosophy argue that going on and off of diets only destroys your metabolism and causes you to forget how to eat rationally, resulting in even greater weight gain as soon as the diet ends. 

Regardless of whether they happen to be right or not, I like this kind of nutrition expert.  They are saying exactly what I want to hear.  "Enjoy your food! Don 't torture yourself with a diet!"

I do not like “serving size Nazi” nutrition experts.  The powers that be have created a nonsense unit called the “serving.”  From its name, it sounds like it would be the amount of food that you could dig out of a platter with a serving spoon—the amount you would actually put on your plate and eat.  Actually, a serving size is completely different for every possible food out there, but always much smaller than what any rational, hungry person would choose to eat.   Nutrition experts can do entire courses on serving sizes.  “A serving of bagel is about the size of a wedding ring,” they explain.  “And a serving of bread is the size of a crouton and a serving of grapes is the size of one piece of a grape after you cut it into thirds.”

Are these serving size descriptions accurate?  I don’t know.  I always tune out when someone starts talking about serving sizes.  The one thing I do notice is that the serving size Nazis usually forget to mention that you are allowed several of these pathetic servings during one meal.  I think they like to see people starve.

Before anyone becomes too scandalized and tattles on me to any of my coworkers at the health department about my flagrant disregard for portion control, I should mention that I do eat healthy food.  You know, skim milk or water instead of soda pop, turkey or chicken instead of red meat, wheat bread instead of white, lots of vegetables.  It’s just that since I do eat broccoli much more often than I eat brownies, I don’t bother to feel guilty when I eat brownies.  

Or rather, I used to eat brownies without feeling guilty.  Now I don’t eat them at all.  As I mentioned before, I am on a diet.  A real one.  The first real diet of my life.  I hate it.  But it is necessary.  I don’t believe in diets, except under special circumstances, but unfortunately, I am under special circumstances.  After three perfectly healthy previous pregnancies, my luck has run out and this time I have gestational diabetes. I have to be good and figure out correct portion sizes by measuring my food onto my plate with a measuring cup and mathematically choosing meals using the nutrition brochures at restaurants.  Everyone points out that the diabetic diet isn’t the worst diet in the world, and I agree, but I still dislike the diet even more than I dislike bleeding myself several times a day to check my blood sugar.  Poking yourself is generally acknowledged as torturous.  Eating is supposed to be fun but has become work for me.  

I am trying to develop a good attitude.  I work in public health, after all, and this is a great way to practice the stuff we preach about chronic disease management—but lucky me; I only have to do it for a few months instead of my whole life.  And won’t this experience help me to better empathize with the struggles of people who have real, long-term health problems?  If I could only stop whining about it, this could be a great learning experience. I would stop whining, if I could only become less hungry.

My Hubby Needs Help Helping MS Society

My husband and some of his colleagues at the hospital where he works are participating  in a bike-athon benefiting the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and would love it if anyone would be willing to make even a tiny donation to the cause with his team.  Here is his message with links for online donations:

Multiple sclerosis has been around for centuries, taking away people's ability to feel, see and even move. Since 1993 (more than 15 years), EIGHT new disease-modifying drugs have been made available and dozens more are in the pipeline. Where there was once no hope, there is now huge momentum towards successful treatments and a cure.

I'm making some momentum of my own for the cause by riding in the 26th Annual Bike MS, and I'd love your help in making a difference.

By clicking on the link below, you can make a secure, tax-deductible donation in any amount for me and my team. You can also send a check in by postal mail to the address below--just put my name in the memo field of the check so it gets credited to my team.

Any amount, great or small, helps to make a difference in the lives of people with MS. I appreciate your support and look forward to letting you know how I do!

P.S. If you would like more information about the National MS Society, how proceeds from Bike MS are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the movement to create a world free of MS, visit curemsutah.org.
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=10951359&pg=personal&fr_id=17533&et=qHtzo8PBG6u1ilT5nHcJTA&s_tafId=218354
Click here to view the team page for
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?team_id=268189&pg=team&fr_id=17533&et=u8rUBWJN1_nzX6xXwscNKg&s_tafId=218354

Tooth Trauma

My daughter approached me yesterday in distress. One of her teeth was broken. It wiggled when she chewed. She was afraid it would fall out and her smile would be ugly and everyone would laugh at her.

I panicked. I know that modern parents are supposed to discuss maturation with their children sometime before puberty to assure them that their bodies will change and this is healthy and normal, etc., but it hadn't occurred to me to explain the natural body changes that occur at age seven with her before they happened. I gave her an emergency maturation seminar about baby teeth and how they fall out and you get new ones and this is healthy and normal, etc. Also, I bet that a lot of kids in her class had already lost teeth or would really soon, so she would not look weird, just like a typical seven-year-old.

She walked away dejected. I fretted about all the other milestones in life that I am likely to inadequately prepare her for.

About an hour or two later, my husband came home. Squealing with delight and bouncing off the walls, my daughter showed off her very first loose baby tooth.

I was confused, but relieved.

Caucuses: Democracy for unemployed, childless, healthy people with cars‏

Elections have become more accessible to citizens, thanks to alternative voting dates and polling locations and the wonderful option of voting by mail from the privacy of home.

However, here in Utah, we let delegates choose most of our election candidates, instead of holding primary elections.  You can become a delegate or help choose a delegate only if you can be physically present at a caucus meeting, which is only offered at one specific location and on one hour of one specific night of the year.   If you have to work that night, or you can’t find a babysitter for your kids, or you’re sick, or you don’t have a car to get yourself to the meeting, your rights as a citizen are essentially revoked.

Proponents of the caucus system claim that delegates are more informed than the general population.  Maybe that is true.  But perhaps they are just more likely to be unemployed, childless, healthy, car owners than the rest of us. 
 

Unfortunately, the Utah legislators who got their positions through the caucus system have no incentive whatsoever to replace it with a more accessible, and therefore, more democratic system, so we Utahns are likely stuck with this mess for the long-term.

However, Doug Wright, a local radio personality who doesn’t appear to like the caucus system any more than I do, has been challenging Utahns to try to make it slightly less awful by turning out in large numbers so extremists aren’t almost  the only ones there (like last time).

In an attempt to do my part toward this end, I called his show and expressed my concerns about parents being excluded from the process, and was rewarded with assurance from Jim Dabakis, the president of the Democratic party, that people with children in tow would be welcome at their meetings.

Caucus meetings are not child-friendly, but they are short and noisy, so while this system is problematic for parents, suffering through this meeting with your kids is feasible.  It is more feasible than suffering through the rule of un-parent-friendly legislation sponsored by the Eagles Forum, an extremist lobbying organization that claims to speak on behalf of parents while supporting such anti-parent bills as the recent sex ed bill, which, if signed, will take away parents’ rights to choose whether their kids receive sex education in their health education classes.   (For those not in the know, current Utah law requires parental permission for teens to take sex ed and the vast majority of Utah parents opt for their kids to receive this instruction.  The Eagles Forum and the legislators they control, since so many of them are delegates, do not like this decision Utah parents have been making, so they have passed a law that would virtually or completely eliminate sex ed.)

I didn't talk to the Republican party president--he appears on the Doug Wright show today--but I hope that I can urge my Republican friends to try to attend caucus meetings tonight, even if it means dragging your kids along.

Why I'll Vaccinate My Daughter against Cervical Cancer

Note: In my last post, I talked about how my toddler son unintentionally started a brawl at church.  Like mother, like son.  I recently posted the following at a group blog I participate in and unintentionally made a whole bunch of people mad.  I had no idea that several participants in the group were anti-vaccine advocates.  I sure know now.  Yet, I am masochistically posting the same thing to my personal site because I think it is an important public health issue.  Go ahead and disagree if you would like, but please, be gentle with me.  

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that children are less likely to receive cervical cancer vaccine than any other recommended childhood vaccine.  A CDC spokesperson suggests that the problem might be related to the fact that it is newer and therefore less familiar than other vaccines.  Also, it is administered during the teen years and teens tend to have fewer medical check-ups than infants.

In my dealings as a public health professional, I have heard people bring up another barrier that the CDC spokesperson did not mention.  Cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease.  Some people would prefer not to protect teens from the consequences of sexual activity.
I believe in natural, behavioral prevention strategies.  I will teach my daughter that she can help prevent many health and emotional issues by compliance with the law of chastity.  However, I will also vaccinate her to help prevent her from getting HPV and cervical cancer.  Here is why I have made this choice:

I will try to keep my daughter safe, but someday she might be raped.  I cannot prevent the physical and emotional pain that would result from such a violation but I can help protect her from getting cervical cancer as a result of that rape.

I will encourage her to look for a mate who promises to be faithful to her, but her husband could cheat on her anyway.  I can’t save her from heartbreak but I can help prevent her husband from causing her to get cervical cancer.

I will teach her to be abstinent from sexual activity until she marries, but in a passionate moment, she might make a mistake.  I believe that sincere repentance will be enough penance for her sins; she does not need to pay for the sins of youth by suffering with cervical cancer.

I will teach her my values, but she may choose a different path.  I cannot take away her agency to make her own choices about her sexuality.  No matter what choices she makes, I will never stop loving her and never wish her harm.  I could never be sorry that I helped protect her from cervical cancer.

Reference: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011/08/Many-teens-miss-out-on-life-saving-vaccines/49868088/1

The Breastfeeding Doll Controversy

A Spanish toy company will start marketing a doll called "Breast Milk Baby" to American retailers in a few weeks. The silly controversy surrounding this cute children's toy is yet another symptom of the perverted way American society views breastfeeding.

What makes a doll that nurses so much more offensive than a doll that drinks a play bottle? According to detractors, pretending to feed a doll naturally could encourage perversion, hyper-sexuality and teen pregnancy.  Exposing children to such shameful practices as breastfeeding should be avoided until the child is older, these detractors argue.

Yikes!  Shame on me, because I recklessly expose my own children to breastfeeding every day as I nurse my own, real life baby.  I can tell that this sinister practice is taking its toll because even without the aid of a fancy toy, I have witnessed my daughter pretending to breastfeed her dolls.

Don't worry, Breastfeeding Shame Committee, I am sure that my daughter's youthful, innocent enthusiasm about breastfeeding will fade.  By the time she is my age, people like you will help her feel so embarrassed about feeding her children naturally that she will consider less healthy alternatives.

Honk if you love smog and hate state employees

During his tenure as Utah governor, Jon Huntsman changed state government office hours to ten hours per day, four days per week. This simple change saved tax payers about $800,000 annually by reducing energy, janitorial, overtime and transportation expenses. Additionally, the 4-day workweek eliminated over 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating one weekly commute for 18,000 state employees and reducing heating and cooling of state buildings on Fridays. Surveys revealed that both employees and the general public preferred the new schedule.

The Utah state legislature recently passed a law, overriding the Governor's veto, which will eliminate the 4-day workweek and force all state offices to open on Fridays beginning this September.

Many Utah legislators will proudly boast that they don't care one particulate about air pollution. The disgusting smog around here is evidence of our leadership's indifference to the pollution problem. So it is not terribly surprising that the state legislature likes the idea of increasing carbon emissions by state-employed commuters by 20%.

However, these same legislators claim to care deeply about saving money and reducing taxes. Opening state offices on Fridays will cost taxpayers an additional $800,000 annually. How many Utah taxpayers want to front that check just so they can visit state offices on Friday instead of some other day of the week?

The Utah Department of Health told its employees last week that it will eliminate employee bus passes in an effort to save money. Employees who never contributed to Utah traffic congestion or air pollution while commuting in the past will now be forced to get into cars and emit some carbon. And they will do that five days a week instead of four.

The clear losers here, besides state employees, are Utahns who suffer from heart or lung disease like my husband, who becomes sick whenever the air quality gets bad (which is often). If you live in or visit Utah and like to breathe, you're being punished, too.

I have a great idea that will save a lot more money than cutting bus passes for state employees. Legislators, how about voting again on the state workweek? This time, why don't you vote to save money by keeping state offices closed on Fridays.

I promise not to mention the good you would be doing for the environment.  It would be our little secret.


http://www.dhrm.utah.gov/Working4Utah_FinalReport_Dec2009.pdf

My Husband, the Nurturer

"Would it hurt the kids if I went to work full-time? Do they need me at home? Should I wait until they are older? Would I miss them too much if I went to work everyday?" I've heard these words so many times, but this time it sounded different because the voice was lower. This was my husband speaking.

Women fret over this issue all the time. Most men don't. My husband isn't most men.

When my oldest daughter was born, I stopped working full-time so I could raise her. My husband did, too. For six years we have shared breadwinning and childrearing duties.  The kids have their "Mommy days" (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) and their "Daddy Days" (Tuesdays and Thursdays).

The division hasn't been perfectly equal. He's better at breadwinning than I am, bringing in about two-thirds of our household income.  However, while his wages are better, it's my job that comes with the benefits.  I work at one of those extremely rare part-time benefitted positions.

That fact has made our lifestyle possible.  I think more families would like to try an arrangement like ours, but our healthcare system forces most families to depend on employer-sponsored insurance and most employers are unwilling to insure part-time employees.  I hope that as healthcare reform is implemented families will have more flexible options.

Another barrier to this lifestyle is the limited roles men have placed on them by our society.  Yes,  I said men.  As women's rights have progressed, there are still conservative factions fighting to keep women at home, but most of society is moving towards a greater acceptance of letting women be whomever they want to be.  Women might work full-time, part-time or devote all their time to their homes.  Not all, but many people will applaud their decision.  It seems that society at large still hasn't considered offering such options to men.   I struggle to think of male role models who have made any choice other than full-time employment in mainstream media, with the exception of movies like "Mr. Mom" which just make fun of men for their supposed incompetence at household duties.

I think that is sad, because our shared child-rearing experience has had many advantages. My children have tight bonds with both parents because we both have dedicated a large portion of our time to being with them.  They are also unusually flexible, adaptive and open to new experiences.  Maybe that's a natural personality trait, but I suspect that a lifetime (so far) of spending every other day with a person whose approach to daily activities is different than the person who was in charge the day before may be contributing to that.  My husband can truly empathize with me about the less rewarding aspects of staying at home with the children (cleaning, potty-training, searching for missing shoes, etc.) because he also devotes much of his time to these tasks.  Every other day, we both get the opportunity to leave housework aside and pursue our other interests.

As much as we have liked both working part-time, it may be coming to an end now.  Work has been getting busier for my husband, and his employer is considering changing his position to full-time.  My husband has been looking at other part-time options, but in this economy, these other options could be riskier than staying where he is.

Regardless of what happens with his career now, he will always be a wonderful dad.  I am grateful for his bravery in spending the last six years on a road less traveled (at least, less traveled by people of his own gender).  Even if he does go back to the traditional fatherly role of full-time work, I know he will never become one of those dads who doesn't know the name of his daughter's kindergarten teacher or where his wife keeps the cleanser.  Love you, honey.  Happy Father's Day.

Originally Posted At  http://www.the-exponent.com/2011/06/16/guest-post-my-husband-the-nurturer/

Trouble with Tumors

My husband had some suspicious tumors removed from his leg this past week at Hunstman Cancer Center.  He has since been released from the hospital.  He checked into the hospital looking normal, came out of surgery looking like he had been mugged (and suspiciously resembling a cancer patient), and he is now still bedridden but improving daily.

I am on family medical leave from work to take care of him and the household while he recovers.

We have not received the biopsy results back yet to find out if the tumors were malignant, but during the operation the oncologist said that based on what he saw during surgery, he can tell that even if it is cancer, it is not aggressive/high-grade, so that is good news.

He was born with neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes painful but usually benign tumors to grow all over his body.  We are fortunate to live in a location where we can get excellent quality care for him.  He goes to one of the only NF clinics in the country for care, which happens to be at the U of U.  This clinic is affiliated with an oncologist (cancer doctor) at Huntsman Cancer Center who specializes in NF patients. 

(By the way, here is a note to all you people who hate healthcare reform and want to return to the status quo.   Even though we live near all of these specialists, the only reason we can access them is because I am a state employee with a public employee health insurance plan.  My husband is a small business owner, and until health reform goes into full effect,  he is ineligible to buy insurance for himself because of his preexisting conditions. If I ever lose my state job, it could kill my husband, who is less healthy than some of you tea-party-jerks through no fault of his own.)

Okay, moving away from politics, for those of you who missed the Facebook play-by-play during surgery, here it is:

2/23/11

7:33 am
I'm at Huntsman Cancer today, where my husband is getting surgery on a suspicious tumor. Not fun, but it is comforting to have such experts helping him and to be in such a beautiful facility. I love this building.

7:51 am
Now we're in the hospital room. That gorgeous lobby was a ruse. This room is tiny and painted dingy off-white floor to ceiling. Who likes this color?

8:14 am
They are so flexible and spontaneous here. Maybe they'll do a biopsy, maybe they'll do a complete resection. Maybe they'll send him home after surgery, maybe they'll keep him here. They will decide after they cut into him. Unless they change their minds.

8:18 am
He is wondering if he can ask to keep his nasty little tumor after they chop it out of him, after all, he grew it all by himself. Should he ask? Would they say yes? If they did say yes, how would we incorporate it into our decorating scheme?

8:41 am
The doctor has just presented his plan. He is going to cut out pieces of the tumor at a time and biopsy them. If he finds aggressive cancer, he will stop proceeding today. If not, he will keep going. So cross your fingers that I am here for a long time.

9:43 am
My sisters just joined me in the lobby of the cancer center. They brought tunes to combat the melancholy. (There is lots of crying in a cancer center lobby.) Cool discovery: the chairs here are in his and her sizes.

10:45 am
The nurse called to update me. They don't have any biopsy results yet, but he is doing well in surgery.

1:04 pm
He is out of surgery. The doc says they have not completely finished labs, but things look good. They did not see anything too scary.

1:57 pm
We're not going to keep the tumor after all. Another doctor just called and begged us to let her have it for science. It is just as well. I haven't seen it, but I doubt it would have matched the living room furniture.

3:20 pm
Out of surgery. Hard to see, but he has two black eyes. He looked much better this morning.

5:45 pm
Upright! Not dancing yet...

Fascinating Stuff (if you are a nerd like me)

I am doing a fascinating research project at work. It's a randomized telephone survey-a very unique, challenging survey to collect public health data about a population that we have little knowledge about nationwide.

If you haven't closed this browser window yet, its probably because you fell asleep shortly after you read the word, "survey". I considered blogging in detail about this exciting project, before I remembered that only nerds are interested in such projects.

Anyway, at work, where there are lots of nerds like me, this project is generating all kinds of buzz. Its really cool there.  Believe me.