Childhood Obesity

I haven't really had many ideas about what to blog about. I just figured that my life has been pretty simple and there isn't much to write about. But then just this morning as I was doing my daily nothing...(i.e. watching TV) I saw a report about obesity. They were reporting that this generation of children might have a shorter lifespan than their parents. This is the first time since the Civil War that we have had that statistic. I was really upset about this for a couple of reasons.

Obviously my #1 concern is for my child. I am currently 4 months pregnant (without much of a baby bump...but I promise to post pictures once I really start showing), and I realize that before I know it I am going to be a mom to one of our Heavenly Father's children, where Matt and I are completely responsible for his/her upbringing.

Concern #2 is my own personal health. I am lazy. I admit it. I can easily watch several hours of TV, and those are days where I actually go to work. I avoid house work, and I certainly don't exercise on a regular basis (actually up until recently I didn't work out at all). I have been blessed all my life because I have always been thin, but I do have obesity and diabetes in my family...so I can't totally rely on my past to keep me healthy in the future.

I was so disturbed by the idea of kids being overweight and dealing with health issues such as cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. at such young ages, and forgive me for not being completely sensitive here but I think it is the fault of the parents. (To be very clear, I am not talking about natural baby fat. I am talking about the 12, 13, 14-year olds that are getting sick, I also feel just as strongly about society creating a false-hope image of what "pretty" and "thin" is. But I think you get my point). I hope that I can do all I can to keep my children healthy, and improve my own well-being in the process.

So, now that I am going to be a new mom, I am looking for advice or ideas on what you are doing to help your children stay healthy and keep them active! Let's fight childhood obesity and help our kids have a long life expectancy! This is a heavy issue, but I don't think we are doomed, so I am keeping a positive attitude toward success! WOO HOO!!

Smooth Sailin'

Isn't it wonderful when life surprises you in a good way? Yesterday (yes, on Sunday and yes, on Father's day) was my State Board Exam to become a Registered Dental Hygienist. It consists of a practical exam in which WE are responsible for bringing our own patients, which must be approved of at the time of the exam. The extremely strict regulations to determine what is an appropriate patient are told to us months in advance, but even if you find someone that you think is just right you are still at the mercy of the examiners. Talk about stress!!!! You can do everything to prepare for this exam, and it is all based on depending on other people.

Due the fact that my entire license depended upon my patient showing up (and being approved) I of course picked up my patient from her home. Since I had to be at USC in Los Angeles by 6:30am, I had to pick up my patient at 5:30am. I had fears going through my head like crazy: What if she isn't home? What if she doesn't answer the door? What if she slept in? What if she doesn't want to do it anymore? What if she has the flu/a cold sore/etc.? I have heard the nightmare stories in the past...my personal favorite was: they had to go to Mexico to take care of their parents. YIKES!! Anything could happen, especially since the only confirmation I had with her was a message that my sister-in-law, Aracely left for her the day before on her answering machine. As I walked up to her apartment and saw NO lights on I freaked out a little. So I prayed and prayed and knocked on her door. All my fears lifted off my shoulders as I saw her smiling face open the door! I gave her a big hug, I could have cried! I am so happy that my patient was so reliable!

So I made it to USC with my patient...check! Next, getting my patient approved! We had a time limit to set up our chairs, anesthetize our patients, do our exams, and get them over to the check-in area. Luckily we only clean a quarter of their mouth for the exam (these aren't usually people that get regular dental care if you get my drift), so if the section I submitted wasn't accepted, I could go to another section of her mouth. But I was going to submit the area that had less of a chance of getting accepted, it is a long explanation, but just trust me that I spent a lot of time with my instructors at school discussing it. Then I got to play the waiting game. The examiners are in a completely different room so I get to just sit in my cubicle and wait for my patient to return, either as accepted or rejected. Now there were about 80 people being tested and they certainly don't have that many examiners, so it takes a LONG time to get your patient back. I don't think I have prayed all month as much as I did while I was waiting for my patient. Then, finally my patient returned...approved! CHECK!

All the rest is boring. The actual exam is something I have done over and over before. It isn't anything new, I just had to do a good job. I finished my patient and got her turned in for the final check-out. All my stress left once I learned that she had been approved, so it was such a smooth morning/afternoon. Again, I can't say how grateful I am for how smoothly yesterday went for me. It was so relieving to have reliable people and all things work out in my favor. My wonderful, fantastic, loving, sweet, helpful, charming husband drove my patient home. I had to stick around for the Ethics & Law written exam...piece of cake. I paid my patient for coming and insisted that she took the money when she protested. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have had a chance.

Now just as a minor side note...I have to wait 6-8 weeks to find out if I passed, and if I have been issued a license. So, now I just wait. Thank you to everyone who helped me. Thanks for reading along as I rambled about my dental hygiene journey. I hope that when you go to the dentist and you see your dental hygienist that you tell her/him that you appreciate all that they have done to get where they are. People are so misinformed about what it takes to be a dental hygienist (one girl at school even told us that someone thought that she was taking 2 years off from work to go to school to become a dental hygienist just to take a LOWER/less paid position than a dental assistant).

I need to write a separate post about the rest of my day. The whole day was pretty eventful, with Father's day and family.

Call me pregnant

I am now a medical condition. My name is "pregnant." My identity and my abilities are all focused around the fact that I am expecting a baby. I love the fact that I am pregnant, however, I am not the one that has turned me into a medical condition. The top offenders of my new identity are my very nice co-workers/boss, followed up by a few friends. I work in an oral surgery office and so there are certain precautions that I must take (i.e., like not pointing the x-ray tube directly at my tummy... or breathing nitrous oxide continuously). Well, these simple precautions have been taken to the extreme. Not only am I not allowed to even touch the x-ray button, or be anywhere near a room that nitrous is being utilized (which is never by the way), but I am frequently told to: go away, or run! I get scolded when I come near certain things. Ah, all for the safety of my little one, but seriously...I am not an idiot. I am fully aware of safety precautions in order to keep me and my baby safe. But like I said, I am no longer Katie, I am pregnant. :)

I don't want this to be read as if I am upset about it. I love the fact that so many people are excited and care for me. I just think it is funny. Speaking of funny, my co-workers have also started a pool (but there isn't any $$ involved) about the sex and delivery date of the baby. It is about 50%/50% split on boy vs. girl, and for estimations on due dates I range from November 29th-December 25th. YIKES! One of my co-workers decided to make an educated guess on the sex of the baby, she called me over and without hesitating (or asking) lifted up my scrub top to check out my belly. Then she had me turn around and she patted me down cop-style to check out my hips. She sure was trying to be accurate!! LOL, well...I didn't mind, I was just a little surprised.

Happy Anniversary

I am a few days late with this post, but Matt and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this last Sunday! It has been a fun 6 years and I can't believe how much time has gone by. Matt and I go together so well, I love it when people tell me how "right" we are for each other. People may not always understand me or Matt, but they do see that we belong together. I love that Matt and I have had all these years together to build a strong foundation. It is exciting that we are finally able to grow our family. I know I posted not to long ago about how we met and our wedding, but I wanted to put a few pictures of the day we got married, then a current picture.


We took this picture right after I told Matt that he was going to be a daddy! It was a special moment (and I got my haircut that day...right before I found out for myself!)
Love you babe!

Summer white is here!

Lately as I go the store I have been desperate to find good fruit. I love fruit, and when I find something that I like I usually stick with it. Unfortunately one of my favorite types of fruit is seasonal to summer. So, I have been on the lookout for the Summer white nectarines! Finally yesterday I happened to glance over at the nectarines and I saw that beautiful piece of fruit! Hooray they are back! I grabbed a few, and I plan on returning to the store every couple of days to get my fix!

If you have never tried the white nectarines I highly recommend it. There are also white peaches, which I have never tried, but if they are anything like the nectarines I am sure they are delicious. The difference between the white and yellow is that they are sweeter. So, if I may recommend for light and sweet summer treat: Summer white nectarines! Enjoy!