We are at the 2 week mark now! I guess it's just a waiting game to see who can hold out the longest, Reagan or my Dr. When I had my first check up last week she said I had a little thinning and was dilated 1/2 cm. Sorry if that is TMI!
I had a little excitement/scare yesterday. I went in, she checked me and said everything was fine. My next appointment was for this morning so she just went ahead and did all the usual things while I was there. She said I was now dilated 1 cm. Whoo hoo. At this rate it may be July before she is born! Ha! Just kidding really. Dr Straughn said she wouldn't let me go over 41 weeks. (Oh thank you so much for letting me be 10 months and one week pregnant!) Can you feel the sarcasm there? But what can I do. She went to medical school and I didn't. She is a great doc so I trust her. Fortunately for me Dr straughn is the doc on call through the holiday so maybe Reagan will want to come this weekend.
Speaking of Memorial Day, it is the official start of summer! Yea!! I love summer! Even though this year I may not get to enjoy it as much. The fun part is that Carter is big enough to get in the pool. As much as he loves bath time I'm sure he will love the pool. I can't wait to see him in it on Monday! If I can stand the heat I will get some pics and post them next week some time. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!!
I found this website yesterday and thought it was pretty cool. some of you more savvy "coupon-ers" may already know about it but I thought I would share anyway. You can search coupons for certain websites. Like, I looked up one for Vera Bradley.com and RosenberryKids.com. They had one for Rosenberry but didn't have any for Vera right now. But you can sign up and they will send you coupons for all the places you want when they come available. There are also coupons on there that other people have shared.
They have grocery coupons too but for what I found they are the same as Red Plum. I just thought the website coupons were cool. Check it out if you want. You never know, you may find something good.
I know this is a controversial topic for a lot of people but I just wanted to share this article that a friend sent me today. You may not see it in the media. Wait, make that you won't see it on T.V. I can almost guarantee it. Well, maybe on Fox News.
Britain Bans Doc Who Linked Autism To Shots Dr. Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Study Discredited MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
Posted: 5:30 am EDT May 24, 2010Updated: 4:01 am EDT May 25, 2010
LONDON -- The doctor whose research linking autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella influenced millions of parents to refuse the shot for their children was banned Monday from practicing medicine in his native Britain.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield's 1998 study was discredited -- but vaccination rates have never fully recovered and he continues to enjoy a vocal following, helped in the U.S. by endorsements from celebrities like Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy
Wakefield was the first researcher to publish a peer-reviewed study suggesting a connection between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. Legions of parents abandoned the vaccine, leading to a resurgence of measles in Western countries where it had been mostly stamped out. There are outbreaks across Europe every year and sporadic outbreaks in the U.S.
"That is Andrew Wakefield's legacy," said Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "The hospitalizations and deaths of children from measles who could have easily avoided the disease."
Wakefield's discredited theories had a tremendous impact in the U.S., Offit said, adding: "He gave heft to the notion that vaccines in general cause autism."
In Britain, Wakefield's research led to a huge decline in the number of children receiving the MMR vaccine: from 95 percent in 1995 -- enough to prevent measles outbreaks -- to 50 percent in parts of London in the early 2000s. Rates have begun to recover, though not enough to prevent outbreaks. In 2006, a 13-year-old boy became the first person to die from measles in Britain in 14 years.
"The false suggestion of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine has done untold damage to the UK vaccination program," said Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. "Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that it is safe."
On Monday, Britain's General Medical Council, which licenses and oversees doctors, found Wakefield guilty of serious professional misconduct and stripped him of the right to practice medicine in the U.K. Wakefield said he plans to appeal the ruling, which takes effect within 28 days.
The council was acting on a finding in January that Wakefield and two other doctors showed a "callous disregard" for the children in their study, published in 1998 in the medical journal Lancet. The medical body said Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds (about $7.20) each and later joked about the incident.
The study has since been widely rejected. From 1998-2004, studies in journals including the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatrics and BMJ published papers showing no link between autism and the measles vaccine.
Wakefield moved to the U.S. in 2004 and set up an autism research center in Austin, Texas, where he gained a wide following despite being unlicensed as a doctor there and facing skepticism from the medical community. He quit earlier this year.
Offit said he doubted Britain's decision to strip the 53-year-old Wakefield of his medical license would convince many parents that vaccines are safe.
"He's become almost like a Christ-like figure and it doesn't matter that science has proven him wrong," Offit said. "He is a hero for parents who think no one else is listening to them."
Wakefield told The Associated Press Monday's decision was a sad day for British medicine. "None of this alters the fact that vaccines can cause autism," he said.
"These parents are not going away; the children are not going to go away and I most certainly am not going away," he said on NBC's "Today Show."
Wakefield claimed the U.S. government has been settling cases of vaccine-induced autism since 1991.
However, two rulings by a special branch of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in March and last year found no link between vaccines and autism. More than 5,500 claims have been filed by families seeking compensation for children they claim were hurt by the vaccine.
Wakefield has won support from parents suspicious of vaccines, including Hollywood celebrities.
McCarthy, who has an autistic son, issued a statement in February with then boyfriend Carrey asserting Wakefield was "being vilified through a well-orchestrated smear campaign."
"It is our most sincere belief that Dr. Wakefield and parents of children with autism around the world are being subjected to a remarkable media campaign engineered by vaccine manufacturers," the actors said.
McCarthy, whose best-seller "Louder Than Words" details her search for treatments for her son Evan, wrote the foreword for a new book by Wakefield about autism and vaccines.
In Monday's ruling, the medical council said Wakefield abused his position as a doctor and "brought the medical profession into disrepute."
At the time of his study, Wakefield was working as a gastroenterologist at London's Royal Free Hospital and did not have approval for the research. The study suggested autistic children had a bowel disease and raised the possibility of a link between autism and vaccines. He had also been paid to advise lawyers representing parents who believed their children had been hurt by the MMR vaccine.
Ten of the study's authors later renounced its conclusions and it was retracted by the Lancet in February.
At least a dozen British medical associations, including the Royal College of Physicians, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust have issued statements verifying the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
This verdict is not about (the measles) vaccine," said Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol Medical School. "We all now know that the vaccine is remarkably safe and enormously effective... We badly need to put this right for the sake of our own children and children worldwide."
Take this for what you want but to me it says a few things. #1 This guy is from London, who has national health care, humm....is this where we are headed you think? #2 The guy who started this whole thing was a gastroenterologist! What the crap is he doing researching vaccines? And further more, who let him do it and gave him creditability for it? #3 Celebrities, no matter how funny they are, can be completely blindsided by their own issues that they fail to research both sides of the story. #4 Do your own research before you make a decision that will effect the health of your child. Talk to people and research both sides!
I have a lot to say about this immigration bill everybody in the media is reporting as profiling and racial discrimination (another post on a different day) but I just wanted to share this. I myself have actually read the bill unlike Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder. While reading, I found this:
28 The attorney general or county 29 attorney shall not investigate complaints that are based solely on race, 30 color or national origin.
So THERE! Here is your shut up juice for the day Demos!
To actually read the bill if your interested go here.
Just thought I would do a little product review for those of you who have furry children like we do. Tuesday we bought a Pet Safe invisible fence for our dogs. The new house we are in doesn't have a fence and we went back and forth on what we wanted to do. Do we want a privacy fence, just a chain link fence or try out the invisible one? We should have made our minds up 3 weeks ago but we didn't. We kept reading reviews on the invisible fence and were afraid it wouldn't work. Some people said it doesn't work good on hills, some people said it won't work on big dogs or older dogs, and then others said the batteries don't last. Well this week we really needed to do something because Zac had to work a few days instead of nights and they were going to have to stay confined in the kitchen all day. Which isn't good because Raven will eat anything! (Just for the record: Raven casualties at the new house include: a carpenter pencil, a paint edger, a pizza box, a plunger handle and a few random items in the yard we couldn't identify.) So anyway, Zac bought the thing Tuesday afternoon at Tractor Supply. It only comes with one collar and they didn't have any extras at the store. We had to go to Pet Smart in Trussville to get 2 more collars. When he got it all set up he put the collar on Raven first. Of course, she had no idea what she was in for. She takes off and gets too close to the little white flag. Once she got past it she got a little shock and it totally surprised her. She looked at Zac like "how'd you do that?" Needless to say she didn't like it at all. She hasn't tried it again. He then proceeds to put it on Sandie. She is more calm than Raven so Zac had to call her over to him. She got a few feet from the flag and just laid down in the yard. She wouldn't budge. All I can guess is that she just sensed it. It works by radio waves so maybe they can just tell. So here we are almost a few days later and they have done great. They don't even go close to the flags. I will give this a 4 star rating as of right now. We'll see how long the batteries last and things like that but its great. We love it and it doesn't seem to bother them one bit!
Zac gave me a Maternity Massage gift certificate for Mother's Day. I made an appointment for Saturday morning. I am super excited! I thought about having a pedicure done too but its a little more pricey than the average Chinese Nail salon so I'll have to think about it more. It does last 60 mins and they massage your legs and feet. Boy do I need that! My toes look like cocktail smokies these days and my cankles make me look like an elephant. I really do need it. Don't you think? Anyway, I'll be sure to share my experience once I get back. Anybody else ever have a maternity massage? How did it go? Got any pointers for me?
And no I'm not talking about me. I am huge and still getting bigger by the minute but this is about something else. The Taylor Garden.
The planting season has begun. If you will refer back to the summer posts from last year you will remember a few about cucumbers and jalapenos. This year is going to be a doozy for garden posts. Fortunately, and unfortunately, my dad was in the hospital when the planting season officially started but behold the hero of the garden, Uncle Wayne. He came to the rescue and started a few things for my dad in his garden. He has corn, and peas and a few other things I can't remember right now but he does have stuff planted. Yesterday, he planted some tomato plants. Which, is fine by me I love tomatoes. Zac finally planted some in our new yard last week. Well, my dad comes up to the house last night after he planted his tomatoes. (He has been helping us paint and stuff) This was the convo as he enters the house (not hey how are you but this) :
Daddy: "Well, yall don't plant any more tomatoes up here" Me: "Ok? Why?" Daddy: " Well, I went to buy some plants today and they had this bag of them on sale" Me: Thinking to myself "Oh no what did he do" Daddy: "I figured since they were on sale I'd just get the whole thing" Through hysterical laughter he then says "Just planted 28 tomato plants" Me: "OMG are you serious?" "Really? 28?" Daddy: "Yup, so yall don't plant any more"
Yes you did read that correctly, 28 tomato plants. 28! So we shall see what happens with all the tomatoes from said 28 plants. Once again, we may have to set up a road side stand and just give them away. I thought 9 cucumber plants was bad last year. I can only imagine how this is going to turn out. Tomato soup, stewed tomatoes, tomato salad, tomato sandwiches, tomato sauce, heck maybe we'll even start our on ketchup company. Maybe it will be called Taylor's Mater Ketchup and our slogan will be "We love to over plant!" Oh and I know he planted cucumbers already too but I was afraid to ask how many. I'll update on that later.
Uncle Wayne's Garden
Now on to the next garden story. Apparently, the whole over planting thing is a gene that the Taylor's carry. My Uncle Wayne has the biggest and, prettiest I might add, gardens I have ever seen. He starts planting as soon as he can. According to him, there are plenty of veggies you can plant before the last frost even. I should be an expert at this by now!
So, during this time of year whenever the fam is all together the convo always makes it to everybody's gardens. Well, last week when we were all together I asked my Uncle Wayne how his garden was coming along. Here is the way this convo went:
Uncle Wayne: Oh, its good. Planted watermelons last week. Me: Oh really, well that's good. Uncle Wayne: Yup, planted 28 plants and 25 came up (Do they have a thing with the number 28?) Me: Excuse me? You have 25 watermelon plants? 25? Uncle Wayne: Yup (then comes the same hysterical laugh) Me: What in the world do you do with that much watermelon? You can't "can" that can you? Uncle Wayne: Nope My dad chimes in: Well, you can make watermelon rind pickles. (What is it with him and pickles?) Me: Gross. Who wants that? So you mean to tell me you have 25 watermelon plants and they will all have to be eaten b/c there is no way to "put them up" Uncle Wayne: Yup I'm thinking to myself at this point "Uh, I love watermelon but geez there is NO WAY we are all going to be able to eat 25 plants worth"
Seriously, I think there needs to be an intervention here. Or a new series on TLC called "Over Planters" where they only let you plant like one at a time. If it doesn't come up then you can plant another but only one at-the-time, as my granny would say.
Don't get me wrong though, I love gardens and the whole planting your own food thing. I think it is wonderful that even I have that skill if I ever need to use it. I think everybody in our family gets excited about planting things. Zac and I do it too. I guess its just the fact that its getting warm and summer is coming that makes it all so appealing. But in about August, I will freakin hate it. I will be so tired of tomatoes, cucumbers and I'm sure watermelon by the fall. This year though I doubt I will have to slave in the summer heat to pick anything. I mean with a baby and all how will I have the time. I guess somebody else will have to take my place this year. Oh darn!
Please stay tuned. This year's garden season is sure to produce some great blog posts!
Warning: You may need a nerve pill to get through this post!
We finally got moved into the new house last Saturday. Yea!! It is a complete disaster. So much to do and so little time! I would post pictures of said disaster but I have no clue where the camera is. We got our bedroom somewhat together, the nursery painted and flooring down. We have managed to unpack all the the necessary items we need to actually live there but it is still a mess. Now we just have all the random stuff left. Like, the "why are we keeping this again?" stuff. I swear we have a billion lunch boxes, koozies, vases, and bags. (I really need to get a hold on this bag addiction I have. Seriously.) At one point I started a "Yard Sale Pile" of random stuff but now I'm just throwing it away. Who knows when I will even have time to have a yard sale again. I will eventually but who knows how long it will be and I can't live with all this crap until then. Its seriously stressing me out.
My mom asked me yesterday how many bottles I have and what all I think I need that I didn't get. All I could say is "I have no clue what I have" and that is because I truly don't know. After every shower I just left all the gifts in the bags and boxes they came in because I knew we were going to move it all. And besides that I had no where to put anything anyway. So, the only preparation I have done for Reagan is help paint and put down flooring. She has no furniture put together. She has a bunch of stuff but I have no clue where it all is or what she even has. Or doesn't have. I have a car seat but it's not installed and my car needs to be cleaned out before I have that done. I guess we need to put the other base in Zac's truck too and it also needs to be cleaned.
I read online yesterday that I should have my bag packed for the hospital at 35 weeks. Oops. I have no idea what to even put in a bag for the hospital but I've got plenty of bags to put stuff in. I did find a hospital bag check list online today and now I'm stressed about all the stuff I still need to get to even put in the freakin bag. I have no nursing bras or tank tops, no night gown or PJs. I mean how am I supposed to know what I am going to feel like wearing in the hospital anyway. I don't know if I'll be hot or cold or if I want just pajama pants and a tshirt or a gown with a robe. I have no clue! Do I want something cute or do I just want to be comfortable? Do I really want to go out and buy something else with all the other stuff I have to get? Geez! I guess I'll just take some PJ capri pants and a tank top. Hopefully that will work. If not, somebody will have to go by my house and get me something else.
I'm beginning to think this whole moving thing should have happened a month or so ago. The dogs need a fence. The house needs to be organized and cleaned. Reagan's room and all her stuff needs to be put together and organized. There is still patching, painting, and repairing, carpet that needs to be pulled up, flooring that needs to be put down, furniture that needs putting back together and put up. Where are we going to put this and where are we going to put that? How should we do this how should we do that? Uhhh! And I am freakin exhausted!! There is no way I will ever get all this stuff done. Fortunately, I have a great family that has been there to help me so far. My parents have been there almost everyday since we moved and my sisters have come by when they get a chance. Oh and did I mention that last Friday we had a death in the family. So that on top of all this is really really stressing me. I'm surprised I haven't gone into labor already. But I don't have time to have a baby yet! I've still got a million things left to do before she gets here!
I start my weekly OB visits next week. Yea! I guess that means we are getting close. Starting to get a little nervous too.
I feel like I should apologize to anyone who has plans to go to the beach or eat any type of seafood for the next few months. This oil spill in the gulf is totally our fault. We made plans to go to the beach this year on vacation 3 weeks ago. Last week, oil spill. You may think I'm crazy but I really think we cause natural disasters in the gulf. Not George Bush, me and Zac. See, every time we plan a vacation to the beach a hurricane comes through and destroys everything a month or so before we come. This time it just happens to be an oil spill. Hurricane, oil spill, whatever. I have compiled a list to prove it, somewhat.
2004 - Beach vacation - Hurricane Ivan 2005 - Beach vacation - Hurricane Dennis and Katrina, a total of 15 hurricanes that year 2006 - Honeymoon in Vegas - not one freakin storm 2007 - Vegas vacation for Alesha and Jason's wedding - not one freakin storm 2008 - Beach vacation with the family - Hurricane Fay, Gustav, and Ike 2009 - This is the only exception I can find - no vacation - Hurricane Claudette and Ida.
It has really become quite hilarious for us. It wasn't until this weekend that we put our beach trip and the oil spill together. Oh and just in case you have doubts about the dates I can produce photos from all these trips.
So, again I apologize for the inconvenience it has or will cause any of you. Hopefully, the oil won't effect our coast as much as Louisiana's but we will all be missing some good seafood for a while. We are really sorry!!
I am a wife, a mommy, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, an aunt, a granddaughter, a niece, and a lover of Jesus Christ. My family is the most important thing thing in my life. I am married to Zac. We have 3 Labrador retrievers and a cat. We also welcomed our first baby on June 9, 2010. We are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby girl! This blog is just about our lives together as it happens. Hope you enjoy!
