The flu

So - the flu is going around. It's getting rather prevalent here. I have had several students out sick with suspected flu as well as classmates and those on my office floor. We got our normal flu shots a few weeks ago, but haven't been able to get in to get the H1N1 shots yet. They had a clinic last week in our county, but canceled it before opening their doors. Tomorrow they're opening the clinic again so I'm headed out to the middle school in a small nearby town to get my shot.

Seeing people's pale and sickly faces as they make they way around campus - until they get thrown out and chastised for exposing the rest of us - is further motivation.

After this, I'll be close to being up-to-date on all vaccines. I'll get my pertussis (whooping cough) booster in the hospital after Tadpole is born (it's not a booster they want to give to pregnant women). If you know someone with a small baby, make sure that you're current on your whooping cough. Unfortunately, babies are very susceptible and there have been cases where parents and grandparents have transmitted this disease and babies have been very sick, and died in some cases. It's an easy thing to do and increases the immunity of all of us.

Tadpole updates

So, we're doing well here out in The Middle. Other than the snow. And the freezing weather. Sheesh, it's only October! As L pointed out, the Tadpole will forever be an native Iowan. Perhaps s/he'll do better with the snow than his/her mom.

Tadpole is doing fine. Our latest midwife appointment last week went smoothly. Oddly enough, I've only gained 1 pound (net, it's been up and down but no net change) since over a month ago and only 1 cm in "bigness". The midwife is not remotely concerned about the lack of change, so I'm not worrying about it either. The PUPPP is back, but that's to be expected. The prescription cream I'm using limits me to two weeks on and then I have to take a one week break. In addition, I get to decide which matters to me more, my vanity or the itchiness. The cream has a side effect in that it makes stretch marks worse. So, dilemmas. The PUPPP cleared up wonderfully, and then I had to take my break last week. It's nowhere near as bad as it was initially, but it's starting to get itchy and red again. So, back on the cream. I gave up on the light therapy as I got slightly burned each time (just barely pink). The dermatologist said that it probably wasn't worth the chance of continued burning, especially since the cream seemed to be so effective. If it gets terribly bad again, and the cream stops working, it could be worth trying the light treatment and seeing if I can get past the burning.

We also talked with her about when to leave for the hospital (at least 1 hour of contractions, probably longer) since we live within spitting distance of the hospital. We'll be seeing the last of the midwives next time (in two weeks) and then going to appointments every week after that.

We've been productive around the house as well. Did a bunch of baby laundry (towels, sheets, tiny clothes etc) on Sunday. Got the car seat re-installed in the car (we took it out during the conference so I could shuttle people around). I'm packing my hospital bag as well as the "stuff to have so we can go home" bag (clothes for me, for Tadpole etc). Any recommendations on that stuff by the way?

I'm getting my sub lined up for the classes I'm teaching in the next few weeks. We haven't quite decided how this will work, will I teach up to the end? Will I call it quits a week or so earlier? Must decide this soon.

We meet the last of the midwives next week, and also start every week appointment rather than every two weeks. My calendar tells me that there are 32 days left until the due date - that feels quick and forever at the same time!

Redwoods

One of the last redwood giants.

Picture from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/redwoods/gatefold-image

The redwoods are like home to me. I can't explain my connection in words really. We went to visit my grandparents in Trinidad, CA a few times a year, but those visits forged a lifelong, almost visceral connection to the forest and the ocean. According to the city of Trinidad's website, it's the smallest city in California - but it's precious to me and I think my cousins all share in that attachment. Trips to Trinidad allowed us to explore through Grandpa's Forest, to walk down to town on our our, to take hikes on Trinidad Head, to watch the stars at night with no street lights....

Grandma's house was special. There were the little tree frogs that lived in the stump out front, huckleberries growing wild just out the back door, and tons of places to wander.

This month's National Geographic has a beautiful feature story about the redwoods. Go read it.

A burst of energy

So, the past few days or so I've been shockingly cheerful and productive. I think I'm finally recovering from the conference exhaustion and the PUPPP sleep deprivation. I'm feeling much more able to get things done, and more importantly even, I'm inspired to get things done and enjoying doing so! This week, I have thus far accomplished

1. graded one stack of tests (one stack still to go)
2. asked a prof for a letter of recommendation for the certificate I'm adding to my PhD
3. talked with a partner about turning our course project into a research project and submitting to a few conferences next year (one here in town and one in MA in June)
4. got prof approval for said project
   
5. met with said partner to get a bunch of work done on the project (we have a shorter timeline than the rest of our classmates due to the baby)
6. sent a bunch of emails
7. worked on class prep
8. did some planning work for the conference proceedings that I'll be editing next spring (in lieu of teaching one class)
9. did planning work for the online class I'm developing in spring (in lieu of the other class)
10. actually cooked a little
11. sorted baby clothes (now for all the laundry!)

The PUPPP is doing dramatically better. I'm not sure what did it, but I'm not complaining. I had to stop my light therapy treatments because I got burned after each try (I tried twice). The dermatologist decided that I was improving enough with the cream that the light therapy probably wasn't worth it. I'm fair enough that I burn pretty quickly, and I'm not super excited about adding more skin burns to my collection from my teenage years. I'm not a sun worshipper anymore! But, if the PUPPP flares up again badly, we'll give it another shot.

All in all, things are going well. I'm slightly terrified and definitely excited to see this baby in six weeks or so. The time has flown by so quickly! We're headed to the childbirthing class this weekend, so we'll be as prepared as we're going to get.