Walk MS!

Every year I do the MS Walk. It started out as me doing it in support of one of my dear friends, whose mom has MS.

Now, one of my dear friends has MS. Even if I didn't have a personal connection, I believe it's extremely important to research this disease. It may not be as common as others, but it is still debilitating. So, here I am with my annual plea:

Help me raise money to fight MS! If you'd rather donate cash than online, hit me up and we'll make arrangements.

Zoloft while Pregnant

So a major disadvantage to being home all day and being me, my TV is almost always on. I need background noise even if I'm not actually watching it. Recently I've been popping in a random DVD and letting it roll.

Some days, I just leave the TV on, and I have learned quite a bit about advertising. Example: The "bad drug" lawsuit commercials only air before 4pm. I've never seen one after that. I suspect it's because the people who would want to sue based on a TV commercial are home on disability.

Two of them really bother me, though. The first is the Zoloft/other antidepressants one. I was on Zoloft my entire pregnancy, and am still on it. Guess what? My daughter is perfectly healthy. No defects. I realize that there are some cases, but my OB found the studies for me and let me read them. We all decided that the risks for my health by quitting my medication were a lot higher than the risk of me continuing it.

But, there were a handful of cases over the past several years as antidepressants have become more common, and until they can conclusively prove that it *isn't* the antidepressants, they have to be cautious. I understand that.

The one that bothers me the absolute most is the Tylenol one. We've know what acetaminophen can do to the liver for generations. There have been warning labels and education about taking medications as directed. People didn't listen, their livers got fried, and now our delightfully litigious society has something new to fear and sue over.

I really despise people who see those commercials and then freak the hell out when they find out that you take that drug or someone you know takes that drug. ALL MEDICATIONS CARRY RISKS. The thing is that you need to be your own advocate and decide with your medical staff what is the best option for you. Knowing I was delivering my daughter at one of top hospitals around with a state-of-the-art NICU at our disposal made the very slight risks presented by my Zoloft seem very minor compared to what would happen with me without it.

I'm not trying to dismiss the fact that some drugs carry heavier risks than what are acceptable in average situations. I'm not dismissing those people who are genuine victims of medical malpractice. What I'm saying is that we all need to be responsible for our own health and work WITH our heathcare teams to make sure we are making smart decisions.

Adelle: A mini-timeline

Ultrasound at 20 weeks pregnant.

My Adelle at just a few hours old.

One month old, starting to show some attitude :-)

2 months old! Where the heck is the time going?! I also love that I got nearly the same expression out of her as in her 1 month photo :-D

If only

If only I had been more mature, I wouldn't be in the financial mess I'm in now.
If only Nate's job payed more, I wouldn't have to work.
If only I could stay home with Addy instead of trying to find a new job since my HR department is screwing me six ways from Sunday.
If only I could just buy a damn house now and be done with it.

Growin'

I can tell Addy is hitting a growth spurt this week. She's sleeping and eating way more than usual.
My kid is already a little beefcake, so I'm kinda hoping this one is a brain spurt instead of a weight spurt.

Good news: I'm going to develop some actual upper body strength thanks to this kid :-D