Day 8: Personal Entry - Tidbits

1. We are staying with my parents for the week, just to visit. It is so fun to see your family enjoying your baby and vise verse. Blake's parents live very close by (about a mile) so we try to see them often too. It feels like a vacation, even though we're mostly just hanging out. I can't wait until she's old enough to enjoy the farm animals here and other fun grandparent activities... but we won't hurry the sweet baby snuggles away either. It's funny how much more it seems like she naps when there are so many people ready to hold her and soak up her smiles.

2. Blake might get furloughed at the end of next week if the government doesn't end soon. Actually, starting next Monday, every day it stays closed is a day he will go without pay after that week (based on their estimates of how long it will take for money to come through). Even though our savings will take a big hit from him not working I would be happy to sacrifice weeks of pay if it means a better outcome than raising our debt ceiling (again) and accepting the Affordable Care Act as-is. What would be really frustrating is if we go several weeks without pay but still end up stuck with the ACA and continued over-spending and increased national debt. I know. I just went there and got political... sorry.. it's my blog ;).

3. If Blake does get furloughed, I'll take some on-call work. It both scares and excites me. As funny as it sounds, I kind of shut off my SLP brain when I ended my last job. I know it will probably come back like riding a bike, but I might be a little slow at first and I might fall head over the handle bars. It is a little exciting though, to think of turning my brain back on and making some money again :).

4. I recently (a month ago) found out that Emerson and I have a genetic mutation on the MTHFR gene, found on chromosome one. MTHFR is short for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. The gene is named for the enzyme it produces, which processes amino acids and activates B vitamins. It is also responsible in part for the production of glutathione, which plays a role in liver function and detoxification.

While I'm still learning a lot about what this means for us, so far, it means that our bodies cannot utilize typical B vitamins and has a difficult time detoxifying. It means we need to take special B vitamins that are already activated (bypassing the need for the enzyme) and we need to be careful about what goes in our bodies. Fortunately, we are all ready pretty careful about trying to eat healthy and clean, so this isn't a big change. The really key thing here is that folate (commonly referred to as its synthetic counterpart - folic acid) is a B vitamin (B9). As we all know, folate is critical to a developing fetus. Emerson probably used up most of my folate stores and so it is pretty important that I take the activated form of folate (methylfolate) in order for my body to rebuild its stores before we try to get pregnant again. I still have a ton to learn about this genetic defect and how it might effect us and how to prevent long term effects from it (which my mom seems to be demonstrating. She just got tested but it seems pretty clear that I inherited it from her).

Maybe not exactly a tidbit.. A simple google search of MTHFR will tell you that it deserves a blog post of its own (or several) but for now this is my summary. It has been what consumes my discretionary researching time and I'm wishing I'd taken organic chemistry or bio chemistry (or whatever would help me understand all this genetic, enzyme etc language).

5. Emerson used to talk nice and sweetly, often while looking deep into my eyes. While she still does this from time to time, her talking now has turned more into squawking. She works up to these loud noises and then startles herself and wonders where that noise came from. Although I miss the coos and goos, it's fun to see her discovering new things.

6. A few weeks ago now Blake went tuna fishing and his share of the catch was five tuna. We now have enough canned and frozen tuna to feed us for over a year (77 half pints canned and a couple dozen frozen tuna steaks). On top of all the (delicious) tuna, we also have a ton of salmon, cod, sea bass and halibut. We are so set for fish! However, we are a little short on freezer space now!

7. Emerson still dislikes the bottle. As we say for her, the bottle is not her favorite. She tolerates it when she has to, which is pretty rare and probably why she still only tolerates it. She also snacks more lately and it's hard to get her to focus and eat a good meal.

8. I was talking to Blake's grandpa's wife (they got married the year we did!) and she was telling me that both of her kids sucked their thumbs, one was born that way and the other didn't start until almost 4 months. She said that the latter kid quit on their own before they were one but the one born sucking their thumb had the habit for years. I've heard this scenario from several people now and I'm feeling a little better about the whole thumb thing. She still sucks her fingers and fists too, but when she's hungry, she finds the thumb. Pulling it out continues to be pretty ineffective, but maybe it keeps her from getting too used to it? We'll see. The thumb saga continues.