Branding & the Baby

By steve on December 29th, 2005

[this entry by Steve]

Kate and I are fairly anti-brand-name. Whenever we buy a new bag, we take scissors or a felt pen to the logo to make it disappear. I did the same with the stickers on my laptop. I believe the value of something is intrinsic in the object itself, not in the name someone attached to it.

We’re going to apply the same ideals to Zippy’s life as well. We don’t want to set Zippy up for a lifetime of marketing by creating early fondness for Mickey Mouse or Elmo or any of that associated crap. Kate and I have good imaginations, and we want Zippy to have a good imagination, and so we’re hoping to create our own stories and our own mythology to replace the overpriced shortcuts one can buy from Toys R Us.

Like any ideal, this one will probably find all kinds of exceptions once it meets reality. But I still think it’s good to know what our standards are even when we feel the need to violate them.

Kate pointed out that if we’re going to stick with this no-branding ideal for Zippy, we should really start with ourselves. I’ve got a small collection of Spongebob Squarepants paraphernelia that really has no value except that it is Spongebob-esque. Kate has a similar Powerpuff Girls collection. I guess, in keeping with our ideals for Zippy, it’s time to pare our collections down. But there’s no way I’m getting rid of my Patrick the Starfish Christmas ornament.

Filed under: consumerism, parenting, pregnancy | 1 Comment »

Another growth spurt

By kate on December 29th, 2005

In the past two days, Zippy has gone on another growth spurt. My belly feels more stretched and large, and Zippy sticks out most of the time (as opposed to being more toward my back). I can also feel her moving most of the day. There is less kicking, but more shifting around, and it’s often visible. I’m at the point where complete strangers don’t hesitate to ask me when I’m due, which is kind of nice.

Even before this week, Zippy was active enough for other people to feel her moving, finally. I really enjoyed giving both families a chance to get kicked at Christmas.

I’m at a good point in my pregnancy and don’t have much to complain about. I’m still sleeping well (knock on wood) and don’t have too much trouble getting comfortable – my usual two pillows are sufficient. I’m neither nauseous or craving strange foods. My back pain has subsided somwehat (although I’m still taking care to rest and heat it). I’ve adjusted to being out of shape and unable to participate in activities I used to, so it’s not as hard and unfamiliar. The one problem is that the most recent belly expansion has left me with a very small selection of shirts that still fit. I’m hoping to go shopping in the next few weeks, and raiding Steve’s closet in the meantime. He’s kindly sacrificed a few of his favorite t-shirts to the cause.

Today and tomorrow, the Aerialistas have our biggest show of the year at Seattle Center’s Winterfest. I’m really sad to not be able to perform as I did last year, but I’m still a part of the show. I come out at the end to represent Spring (in a costume designed to emphasize my belly). The Aerialistas have been great and really supportive of my pregnancy, welcoming me to be involved as much as I can.

I’m looking forward to January, when my pace will return to normal after a frantic month of holidays and aerial practices.

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Unwrapping presents

By kate on December 25th, 2005

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False alarm

By kate on December 22nd, 2005

I got a call this morning from Michelle, our midwife, to let me know my gestational diabetes test had come back negative (meaning I don’t have it). Hooray!

One of my measurements was close to the threshold, however, so she recommended I go in for a session of nutritional counseling to be on the safe side. I figure that’s good information/help to have, so Steve and I will probably do that, especially since it’ll be covered by insurance.

Since I’m a data geek, I graphed my results in Excel:

It looks like I’m a little slower than usual to process glucose, but in the third hour I finally get rid of it dramatically. It makes more sense when I think about what I DID in those hours. The first two hours were spent sitting around, and in the last hour Steve and I were on our feet most of the time. That reinforces to me that I need to make sure I get enough exercise!

FYI, those measurements are in milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood plasma (or mg/dL). My score on the original glucose screen was 148 (the threshold is 139).

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The 3-hour test

By kate on December 21st, 2005

I went for the gestational diabetes test today, although I don’t get the results until tomorrow.

I had to fast for 12 hours beforehand, so I arrived hungry and had to drink a small beverage (~12 oz.) containing a HUNDRED grams of sugar* within 5 minutes. It was rather sweet. I wondered if feeding me spoonfuls of sugar might have been more efficient.

Then, I got my arm poked with a needle four times (once every hour for 3 hours) to test how well my body processed the sugar. The blood draw took less than 5 minutes per time, leaving about 50 minutes to wait in between. Luckily, Steve came with me so we had fun stepping out to a different place each hour.

First, Burgermaster for Steve’s breakfast (having just consumed so much sugar, I wasn’t hungry… not that I could have eaten anyway). The second hour we spent at Tully’s, using a laptop (Steve) and reading the paper (me). During the final hour, we walked around some of the children’s stores in the area and looked at things like strollers and toys.

After the last needle poke, I dropped Steve off at home and headed to work, where I had a most welcome sandwich for lunch.

For comparison, a 12-oz can of Coke contains 39g of sugar and has 140 calories. That means the calorie content of my glucose-laden breakfast drink was 359 calories!

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A phone call from the doctor is never good news

By kate on December 16th, 2005

I got the results of my gestational diabetes screen today by phone. Because she called, I guessed right away that the test had come back positive, and it had.

Before you worry overly, let me say that this screening test generates a ton of false positives (~67% of positives are false; only one-third end up having GD). It means that I will need to go in for a three-hour glucose tolerance test, which will find out for sure if I have gestational diabetes. I’m hoping to get in for that test one morning next week. (It has to be done in the morning because you fast beforehand.)

Here are some informative links:

About Gestational Diabetes (from babycenter.com)
About the GD tests (from babycenter.com)

If I do actually have GD, Zippy is mainly at risk for being bigger than average (possbly making for a harder birth) and for having jaundice. However, they say that if the GD is controlled (either by diet or insulin, if needed), then the baby is usually fine. GD almost always goes away after birth (although it’s more likely that I would have it again during another pregnancy).

My feeling is that I don’t have GD. I say this because I don’t have any of the mentioned symptoms (although some women are symptom-free) or risk factors (such as obesity). My blood pressure has always been low and remains that way. Before the pregnancy, I was very fit. I have been eating more sweets lately than I should, because who can resist during the holidays? This has resulted in a higher sugar level in my system (contributing to the test result, I’m sure). Also, Michelle told me that Zippy is a normal size at the moment (rather than large).

We’ll just have to wait until the test to find out. As pregnancy complications go, GD is relatively common and manageable, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world.