The Life of A Panda

ive moved!

2010-12-29T15:09:00.001-08:00

You can find my new blog at http://pandazen.com/

ive moved!

2010-12-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

You can find my new blog at http://pandazen.com/

My Birth Story

2010-09-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have finally gotten around to writing this up, be forewarned, it is long and probably contains too much information :) On Saturday morning, September 11th, around 2 AM, I had just finished listening to a hypnobabies track and gotten up to use the restroom when a gush of water hit my pants. At the time, I thought it was at least a gallon, but looking back it was more like a liter. Still, a ton of fluid. Backtracking to a week before, I had a bit of mucus type discharge, but it was clear and not "bloody" so I though nothing of it. Also, on Friday I had some mild cramping and my legs hurt pretty bad, but I just thought those were "pregnancy pains". So I call my husband into the bathroom and ask "What do I do" He says, call your midwife! So I call the midwife, she advises me to get some rest and call her in the morning. I was still dripping fluid everywhere. Because I live in a state where a certified professional midwife attending a homebirth is illegal (AL), we were driving to a neighboring state (TN) to do the delivery at the midwife's house who my midwife practices under. So in the morning I had what I thought to be contractions, just very mild cramping, nothing to complain about, but then again this was my first pregnancy so I really had no idea what to expect. Also in the morning another big gush of fluid. After talking to both of the midwives I decided to head up to TN and get a hotel room and wait for labor to start. We discussed active management of premature rupture of membranes (PROM), a protocol in which every 4 hours I took my temperature, did a rinse with hibicleanse, took Vitamin C and echinacea, recorded the color of the fluid, etc. I was sure that I would go into labor soon, so we only got the hotel until Monday morning. Once we arrived in TN we went to CVS, went to lunch, then to check into the hotel, then to the midwife's house and I was checked. She said my fluid did not feel low (they can tell simply by palpating the stomach), and to rest and continue active management protocol. We were sure I would go into labor soon. She could even feel small pressure waves. We went to dinner that night and walked around. Although walking is supposed to help stimulate labor, it sucks when you are leaking fluid. Nothing was happening. Every few hours the midwives would call my cell phone for an update and it was getting pretty frustrating because nothing was happening. My midwife was driving up from AL once I went into labor, so I did not want to say I am in labor until I knew for sure, and being a first time Mom I did not know what labor was supposed to feel like. Sunday, we had breakfast in the hotel and went back to the midwife's house to be checked. Active management was supposed to last up to 96 hours, with my needing to go into the hospital if I developed a fever, which would be a sign of infection. It had been about 36 hours thus far. Based on studies I have read, only about 8% of women have spontaneous PROM, and of those, 50% have gone into labor by 24 hours, and 86% by 48 hours. As 36 hours was approaching and my fluid was leaking less and less, I knew the membrane could have resealed itself, but it was a rupture, not a leak, I knew that for sure, and I was freaking out over the possibility of developing a fever and not being able to have my homebirth. The weird thing is, my belly changed shape pretty drastically after the PROM, you could tell our daughter's head had dropped significantly and my belly was much smaller. I was OK with waiting longer than 96 hours, but both of my midwives did not think this was the greatest idea in the world, as there is almost no data on PROM past 96 hours. Not to say that it could not happen, in fact one of the midwifes said she had a client that went 3 weeks with PROM, but I did not want this to be me. So we decided to start on a regimen of blue and black cohosh, to try and induce labor. Granted, I did not want an induction, but herbal remedies far outweigh pharmaceutical (pitocin, cytotec, cervadil, etc.) induction. Little did I know I would have herbal overload in the next few days :) So I start on the blue and black cohosh, 15 drops of each tincture every 15 mins the first hour, then every 30 mins the second hour, then every hour for the next two hours. We went to Plato's closet to get me new pants b/c I had flooded all the pants I had packed (again, thinking I would only be there until Monday), went walking to try to start contractions, went to dinner at a nice Mexican place. Every time I would feel a pressure wave and think "This is it!" they would subside and then it was like nothing at all was happening. When I went to bed that night I was awakened with mild pressure waves but nothing regular, nothing that I could not talk through, basically nothing period. We knew we would have to extend our stay at the hotel until sometime the next week. We decided on Wednesday because that would be right at the 96 hour mark. We checked priceline again and the price of the hotel shot up from $59 a night to $129 a night because there was a different rate for weekly visitors. So Monday morning we had to change hotels. I spoke with the midwives on the phone and they said it was time to start the castor oil induction. Yuck, I thought. But at this point, I was willing to try anything. It had been over 48 hours now and I was in the minority of the 14% of 8% of women with PROM who had not gone into labor yet. The midwife called on Monday morning with specific instructions regarding the castor oil induction. My husband left at 7 AM to get castor oil. I went downstairs to eat breakfast. The midwife came by the hotel Monday morning around 10 AM to check me. I had taken 4 ozs of castor oil at that point, and had gotten in the shower to do nipple stimulation for 30 mins. We made reservations for a new hotel until Wednesday morning, and were changing hotels at noon. Cutting it close, as the midwife said it would take about 4 hours for the castor oil to kick in, and I had taken it at 8 AM. We arrived at the new hotel at about 12:30 PM and the blowout started. I was in the bathroom until about 4 PM. I was getting stronger pressure waves but had no clue if they were coming from my uterus or my gut. That being said, the castor oil had no taste (I mixed it with OJ) and it was actually very mild, compared to the cleanses I have done in the past (hello saltwater flush from the master cleanse, plus two colonoscopies). The castor oil compared to that crap I had to drink for the colonoscopies was nothing. By 4 PM no more pooping, some mild pressure waves, but nothing too exciting. At this point, I had pretty much given up hope. I told my husband I wanted to go to the mall. I suggested we go to the Sprint store so he could get a new phone, he has really been wanting one lately and he has not gotten a new phone in like 4 years. Going to the Sprint store really helped. I stared out of the window at some turtles swimming in a nearby pond and I remember feeling so peaceful. After getting the phone we went to the mall, walked for about an hour, had dinner in the food court, and went back to the hotel to do the last dose of castor oil. I took it at about 9 PM, knowing that it would not be that bad. I had a total of 6 ozs of castor oil for the day. I am not sure what changed with the last castor oil induction, but pressure waves started picking up and by 2 AM I pretty much knew I was in labor because I passed some blood. I was so excited I called the midwife immediately "blood!" She told me to get back in bed, which I did. I started timing pressure waves on my iPhone and they were about 30 seconds long, every three to five mins. Nothing too serious, but by 6 AM I knew it was time. We called the other midwife to drive up from AL, I had breakfast, took a shower, and headed over to the midwife's house to wait for the other midwife to arrive. Pressure waves were getting intense but never to the point that I felt out of control or anything. I had been listening to my hypnobabies tracks from about 4 AM onwards. Around 6 AM I stood up to go to the bathroom and my water broke again! This time there was just as much fluid but there was blood too. I was starting to really feel the pressure waves pick up now. My midwife arrived around 7 AM, and we decided to call a doula to assist in the birth. The doula arrived around 10 AM and she was asking me what I wanted to do, how I wanted to handle pain management, etc. I told her about hypnobabies, and I also told her I could feel the baby and thought it was time for me to be checked. I had not been checked yet, with PROM there are no cervical checks, and with a midwife there are typically no checks anyway. My midwife entered the room to check me and just grinned. She told me to put my hand between my legs, and I felt the head! It was time to push. I was thinking how easy this had been so far. Boy, was I in for a suprise! I wound up pushing for about 4 hours. I pushed in the water first, mother directed pushing. Then I got out of the water because my contractions were slowing and pushed squatting. Enter the maze of herbs! More blue/black cohosh to stimulate contractions. Nipple stimulation. Pushing on my side. Pushing on the birthing stool. I was eating almonds, apricots, water, gatorade, protein bars, etc. I had gone to pee around 10 and at 1:30 we realized I had been to try to pee several times but the head was putting so much pressure on my bladder I could not go. So I had to get a catheter. I did not want one, but I tried and tried to pee like three times before they did it. I was under the impression that it had to stay in, but it only went in to drain my bladder and then it went away. So no biggie, and it really made me feel better. Still pushing, changing positions, etc. Nothing was working, her head would come over my pelvis and then move back in. I had to get oxygen once by this point because I felt like I had to pass out. At this point we decided to try directed pushing. Also something I did not want but after over two hours of me pushing myself I decided I needed some guidance. We did directed pushing in at least five different positions before finally just deciding to go with the hospital position. Yes, I delivered my baby on the floor, on my back. I have pelvic misalignment from a previous back surgery and had been to the chiropractor several times to help correct it. I also had Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, so her head kept coming over one side of my pelvis more than the other, and it seemed the only position that was working was the birthing stool and pushing on the floor, so we alternated. At one point I could feel her coming out but everyone could tell I was about to tear so I held back. I kept alternating positions and at a certain point blood started gushing everywhere. This was the only point that I was scared at all, but her heart rate never dropped or anything, and my husband and doula were so great, reassuring me that everything was OK. At this point we decided to cut an episiotomy and just get the baby out, as I had been pushing from 10 AM onwards and it was almost 3:30. Again, something I did not want but I was so tired I did not even care. I wanted to see my baby and was tired of pushing. My husband watched while the midwife cut the episiotomy and he said she cut it to the side and only made one snip, less than 4 cm. as soon as that little snip was made she came barreling out, I think it only took two pushes after that. I was so happy, she latched on within ten mins. We did delayed cord clamping, she nursed while I delivered the placenta, and we waited about two hours to weigh and bathe her. I can not believe how long it took! Between PROM and delivery was four days! I thought my delivery would be this nice, relaxing waterbirth, but hypnobabies and the water were just not working with me. I thought pushing would be easy. Down and out like a slide, right? Um, not so much. One thing I did learn through the whole experience though was to be flexible with your plans and your delivery will be just what needs to happen for your baby to arrive safely. I was very fortunate to be in the care of such great midwives and an awesome doula, and I accomplished my natural, unmedicated birth. After all, that is what really matters. And my husband was great, he was with me the entire time, holding my hand, helping me push, hanging out with the midwives, never complaining or anything. Having him there was so calming, and I really feel we have grown closer from the whole experience. Another thing, I did not know just how many herbs I would wind up taking, in fact I smelled like blue/black cohosh for days! I also took shepards purse, arnica, and a few other herbs after the birth for recovery. But herbs are still natural :) In the hospital I would have been induced for PROM for sure, they don't "let" you go over 24 hours. Also, I would have been sectioned for "failure to progress" as there is no way they would have "let" me push for 4 hours. I am so proud of how our little girl entered the world! She was born on September 14th, 2010 weighing 8 lbs, 4 ozs. and 22 inches long. The picture of her is about two hours after delivery. The picture of us is the next day after we arrived back home. Although I felt really weak after the birth, I still felt amazing and refreshed! It is an amazing feeling, giving birth and caring for a newborn. I am such a happy mommie!

I'm preggars!

2010-03-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

So the reason I was so tired after vacation was ACTUALLY because I am pregnant! We don't know the sex of the baby yet but I am very excited! I suppose now my diet and exercise chat will have to focus on how to eat healthy while expecting :)

So tired...

2010-01-13T22:21:00.001-08:00

So I just got back from vacation and am exhausted. I feel like tomorrow is Monday even though it is Thursday. I lost weight as usual on vacation from all the walking, but think I probably ate most of it back on today and on the plane home (hello, mini chocolate liquor bottles! - I have eaten like half a pack). This weekend I plan on trying to eat raw for a few days and see how I feel. I was sick before we left for vacation and got better but then got sick again from all the rain. Just need to take it easy!

Ok, so its been forever since I have posted...

2009-10-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a hectic semester, traveling, eating out straight for eight weeks, tons to do. So I had been feeling really sluggish and run down so I thought I would do the master cleanse. What the heck, I always knocked it before, but until you try it, why knock it, you know? So anyway, I bought the lemons (organic, I have a really nice juicer), grade B pure maple syrup (you can use grade A but it does not have as many vitamins), and cayenne pepper, along with "The Master Cleanser" book by Stanley Burroughs. So first off, I really don't believe all of the stuff he says in the book, I mean, the guy was convicted of fraud and he killed several cancer patients, you can read about it on wikipedia. But being very determined and curious I decided to give it a go anyway. By the way, I am not doing this for weight loss, as I am pretty skinny to begin with. I weighed 105 this evening, so I have been adding a bit more syrup as the book recommends for those not wishing to "reduce". I have lost a few pounds, maybe five or so, but that is just water. The point is, the first day all I craved was coffee, which I have a major addiction to, and the other days I have not been hungry, have not wanted food or coffee, really I have not even wanted the lemonade. I feel great, like really really great. I am on day 7 now and think at max I will continue to 14 days and then replace one meal a day (breakfast) with juice. You never realize how sluggish eating out all the time, or even eating at home for that matter, makes you feel so sluggish. I am going to try transitioning to raw once the cleanse is done.

Lemon Cookies

2009-09-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

OK, so cookies are not exactly health food, but sometimes I make sweets for my husband or for the people in my office. I don't eat them, but it's way cheaper (and healthier) to make them at home than to buy them at the store. The recipe can a variation on a common theme:

2 cups of flour (can use whole wheat, organic wheat, or cake flour)

1 cup sweetener (can use splenda, stevia, brown sugar, turbanido sugar, regular sugar, whatever)

1/3 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp. agave nectar

2 Tbsp. vegan smart balance spread

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. lemon oil (or lemon extract)

If you have poppyseeds you can add them, but I did not have any, so I omitted them. Heat the oven to 350 F, roll the cookies, slice them, bake for 12-15 mins, remove and cool.

A day at the zoo

2009-09-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Before I met my husband, I had never been to the zoo as I felt that it was cruel to keep animals in cages. On our honeymoon while in Amsterdam, he convinced me to go to the zoo, under the premise that some of the animals, which are endangered, actually thrive in zoos. They all had pelnty of space and seemed truly happy to be there and even a bit tame. All seemed very lazy, docile, and waiting for the humans to bring them their next meal. Since then I have asked to go to the zoo pretty much constantly. In fact we donate to the zoo now and have a membership!

Red Pandas are an example of animals that are endangered in the wild but can thrive in a captive environment. There are three at the Cleveland zoo that were born as twins. They are soo cute. Red Pandas are actually related to racoons, not pandas, but until I can go to the Altalta zoo this is the closest to a Panda I am going to get :) We also visited the Wolves, the Flamingos and other birds, and of course the cats.

Risotto two ways

2009-09-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have been craving risotto lately, so this weekend I decided to cook risotto! You can boil it just like regular rice, but this requires stirring pretty much constantly as it is extremely glutinous. A more common method is to first brown onions in oil and to this mixture add the risotto and a portion of the cooking liquid (you can use water or stock of your choice here) at a time, stirring and adding liquid. I tried both methods and I have to say the second method made my

risotto much more creamy. One batch I made with purple cauliflower, onions, and sunflower seeds pan seared in olive oil. The second was made by first pan searing onions in an olive oil and smart balance mixture, after which the risotto was added with a small portion of vegetable stock at a time until it cooked al dente. At this point spinach and red wine vinegar were added and the mixture was cooked just until the spinach witled. Although both were delicious, the second was by far the best :D

Friday Food!

2009-09-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

I use www.fitday.com to track diet and exercise. Most of the features are free, and it is a great way to keep up with nutrition stats.

Carbs
Protein
Fat
Alcohol (hey, everyone needs wine occasionally!)

When I first started using it I was only concerned with my "daily calorie balance" but lately I have actually been trying to eat healthy and so I just keep an eye on the nutrients bar chart to make sure I am getting an adequate amount of everything I need from food sources. I know it's a really tiny graph and hard to see, but the things below the 100% line are calcium and vitamin B, which the supplement covers. I do try to get calcium and vitamin B from fortified rice milk and juice, but "fortification" and "supplementation" are the same thing in my opinion. I mean, even cows milk is "fortified" with calcium and vitamin D.

Even though I take a multi vitamin also, just to make sure I am not deficient, it is still a good idea to shoot for 100% of everything! Today I have had a bagel (recently have been on a bagel kick, lol) and two larabars. One was not enough. I am going to Ruby Tuesday with my husband after work for the salad bar, so yummy.... Tomorrow I am going to cook and will post some photos. I am planning on making a risotto with steamed vegies, perhaps purple cauliflower. I can't wait, it has been almost a week since I have cooked anything and/or not eaten out.

Helping Others

2009-09-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today when I got to work I had an email from someone in India asking me to help them with one of their computer simulations. They included the input and did not know what they were doing wrong. They got my email from a physics forum I post on, and they were nice in the email, so I decided to help them. There was also someone from another forum that needed help with their chemistry homework, so I helped them too. I generally don't get the chance help others, unless donating my old last season clothes to goodwill counts, which I don't think it does because it's just a lame excuse for me to shop more, so this felt good :) I played Frisbee in the park again today. The weather here is so lovely, it was 50 deg F this morning with a high of 70 deg F. Food wise I feel alot better about today than yesterday, I guess I am still full from the Indian Food! I had a bagel for breakfast, a larabar for lunch, and a raw vegie salad for dinner. Snack was 8 strawberries and a square of Green and Black's 85% Caco Organic Dark Chocolate. The best chocolate on the planet. Yum...I have to hide it from my husband because a bar lasts me like two weeks and if he finds my bar it is gone in a day :(

Oh Indian Food

2009-09-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

Today was a sit at my desk day. I spent the entire day referencing research papers in BibTxt format using this nifty little piece of open source software called JabRef:

http://jabref.sourceforge.net/

Engrossed in my librarianeqsue activities, I basically just sat in my chair reading and cataloging articles all day. I think I got up twice to walk down the hallway. Breakfast was a bagel and carrot juice and lunch was a larabar. Dinner was a samosa, rice, and vegetable jalfrezi. So yummy! I love Indian food. The waitress at the restaurant was the same waitress we had nearly a year ago, but she was pregnant this time, so we left a nice tip. It's always good to see someone like her who really enjoys what she does. I mean, who wouldn't want to serve Indian Food? There is no way I could do that. If serving Indian food was my job that I would be as fit as she is. I have to limit myself to one or two curries a month :) Anyway, time for some Wii fit, coffee, more reading then bed. All in all a nice and relaxing day!

My babies!

2009-09-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

So it's only fair if I post pictures of the other two fluffers as well. My husband Nathan had a cat, River, when we met. He is a russian blue tabby mix. You can see his little tabby stripes, but he is like a panther, because the strtipes are the same colour as his fur! He is a shy boy, and my cat, Pashmina, is kind of bossy and hissy towards him. He handles it well though. I found Pashmina

outside my apartment (when I still had an apartment). Someone had abandoned her when they moved out. She is blind in one eye, and is missing several teeth. When I found her she was about 5 lbs, had distemper, and was really sick. She was living in a chipmunk burrow and was so hungry and disoriented that she was not even chasing the chipmunks. She is a long haired cat, too, so her fur was terribally matted. It only took about two weeks of canned tuna though and she had already turned into a little butterball. She is still a bit feral, but we love her anyway. I think she is about 9, and River is 5. Then there is our newest family member, little Stevie cat, who is the one year old Himalayan rescue that we have had for a little over a month.

Have Cat, Will Travel

2009-09-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Every year my husband and I pack up the car and head from Birmingham, AL to Cleveland, OH. I have a NASA graduate student researchers program (GSRP) grant, part of which includes a visit Glenn research center. I always enjoy this time of year, because it gives me the opportunity to really direct my research and focus without the distraction of seminars, people stopping by my office, tempting lunch with co-workers, and a Starbucks within walking distance from my building. On the downside, we trade our house for a 700 sq. ft. Extended Stay America type live in hotel and drop of our tw

o catt

ies with Grandma. Well, this trip we decided to adopt a third kitty right before we left, so somehow she wound up as a part of the road trip party. Her name was Stevie Nicks when we adopted her, so we decided to stick with that, although it has kind of morphed into Stevie Micks, because she's a cat, not a rock star. She is a year old Himalayan rescue.

We stopped in Nashville,TN to visit friends before enbarking on the other 10 hours of the drive. There was a hot air baloon festival passing us somewhere along the way. It was a beautiful drive. We have been in Cleveland for about a month now, so for eating and

exercise I have to be a bit creative. I bought a Wii fit when we first arrived, and although I bahsed it at first, it really is alot of fun. Lots of Frisbee in the park and jogging outside.

Just Another Tuesday

2009-09-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

So today I woke up early, made it to work before 8 AM. For breakfast, I had carrot juice, steel cut oats, a larabar, and rice milk with protein powder. Lunch was another larabar :) I keep a stash in my desk and have eaten one every day for lunch for so long I can not even remember. I don't even switch the flavors up anymore, and I am still not tired of them. I know the time is coming though when I will need to switch flavors, but for now I am satsfied. For a snackie I had baby carrots and pumpkin seeds. So I am eating the pumpkin seeds thinking, MAN these are salty! So I check the sodium content, and it says 20 mg. Then I see the fine print on the bottom of the package, stating that the sodium content increases to 3260 mg if you eat the shells. I did not even know not eating the shells was an option. I did not even know there were shells. Oh well, lesson learned. I played frisbee in the park with my husband for an hour or so after getting off work and had 1/2 of an all fruit raspberry smoothie and a salad from Chipotle consisting of black beans rice, guacamole, hot salsa (more salt!), and lettuce. I also snuck in six chips and two tiny squares of Green and Black 85% caco chocolate. I have been doing Wii fit every night for about an hour and today I also walked for about an hour between my office and the lab.

Eating on the go

2009-09-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

So lately we have been traveling a lot, and so my dietary intake has been adjusted somewhat. Lately, I have been eating pretty much the same thing every day.

Breakfast: McCann's Irish Oatmeal http://www.mccanns.ie/

The Ultimate Meal Shake mixed with Rice Milk http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=TU-1110

Lunch: Larabar Cashew Cookie or Apple Pie http://www.larabar.com/food/larabar/

Snack: Owalla Juice http://www.odwalla.com/

Dinner: Seaweed Salad or a Salad from Panera Bread

Although it will be nice to get back into the cooking routine once I am not on the road 24/7, for now this is the best I can do :)