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!

Drumroll please.....

I have been waiting for the right time to write about this and I figured that it is finally time to let you all know (whoever "you all" may be) that I am in fact PREGNANT. Yes it is true!!! This coming Wednesday I will officially be 3 months preggie. Everything has been going well so far. I had a little bit of nausea a couple of weeks ago, but nothing too significant. Early on in the pregnancy I really had no desire to eat. Its not that I wasn't hungry, I just didn't ever feel like eating. But now is a different story. It was like one day someone flipped a switch and now I am hungry constantly and all I want to do is eat. I was tempted to get out of bed last night at 11:30 or so to get something to eat. My other "symptom" which isn't really a typical thing...according to most women I have spoken to, is sciatic pain. BOOOO!!!!! This marvelous nerve in the back of my leg that runs up into my tailbone area is getting pinched. Every time I need to bend over/stand up, get out of bed, lean this way or that way I get a sharp pain in my left, um...cheek. It stinks, it is kind of bothersome. I can't be on my feet for too long, so walking for exercise is pretty much out of the question. I have been thinking about taking up yoga to see if that would help. Any other suggestions? Has anyone else had this problem?

This is such a wonderful time in my life. I have a lot of joy and happiness around me, and it is such a blessing to be where I am. It is such a fantastic feeling to be finished with school, but nothing compares to the honor and excitement I feel of becoming a mother...wow, that sounded weird, and it was kind of strange to write it too. I guess I am still trying to convince myself that it is real and that I haven't been dreaming. In that case I just have to bend over and feel that nerve twinge and ah, yes...I am pregnant. Not to mention the beautiful moment of my very first ultrasound at week 7. My little "buggette" (my family's nickname for me is "Bug" so therefore my dad has called the baby buggette) didn't look like much at the time, but I saw that little heart beating and it was the most amazing thing in the world! I couldn't laugh, I couldn't cry, (mostly because if I moved the ultrasound picture would disappear), but I look at those pictures now and I am just so amazed at the life that my Heavenly Father has entrusted to me. Besides seeing the heartbeat, nothing beats hearing the heartbeat. Last week I was able to go in to the doctor and after looking for about a minute, he found that swishing throb that is my baby's heart. I definitely cried that day!!! It was such a relief to hear the evidence that all was well. I know so many women have gone before me. I am lucky to have a mother, a sister, a sister-in-law, and so many friends that I can talk to about my experience. But I am a sentimental person (I still have the bottle cap to the sparkling cider that we drank the night Matt proposed to me) and so I am soaking up every memory and experience that I have.

I am not the only one that is excited!!! In the time that Matt and I have been married I have seen him grow so much. I think the most influential part of preparing him for fatherhood was the birth of our niece and nephews. It has been wonderful seeing Matt play with the children and show sincere love and care for them. It is also very clear to me the love and care that he has for his own baby. He has come to every doctor's appointment so far, and he checks up on me: did I take my vitamins, did I eat lunch, did I drink enough water, go take a nap, etc. He even made me a fruit smoothie for breakfast one morning to ensure that I got all my fruit servings for the day! He also doesn't like it if I poke my belly...he is very protective of the baby. All the gifts that I have received from him are things ultimately for the baby too. I love his enthusiasm and excitement. I realize that his behavior is not the universal norm for all men in this world, so again, I count my blessings!

Well, there it is. The beginning of another countdown!! My due date is December 10, 2008 (my grandma's birthday). I am very grateful for this special blessing our lives, and I do welcome any advice, tidbits that worked for you, and recommendations. (And if I think the ideas sound crazy, then I just will ignore them! HA!) Take care!

Happy Graduation Class of 2008!

HOORAY!!! I am now a graduate! It has been a very long road, and no I don't have a masters or a PhD, (or even a bachelors-but that isn't important) but I have finally finished school! I am actually not a dental hygienist yet, I still have to pass my state board, but all the classwork is done. Thank goodness.

I need to express my gratitude for all the people who helped me on this journey. First of all, if it weren't for some high school friends (Elisa and Shannon) I don't know if I would ever have found a career in dentistry at all. They are the ones that inspired me to pursue my education as a dental assistant. Then, there is Danielle and Emily, two inspirational hygienists that got my attention. I am not even sure that these ladies know the influence they have had on me. So, thank you for all the guidance you have given me.

My family has been the most supportive of all. My husband had to be the sole provider (and in southern California, that is not an easy thing to do), and he also had to listen to me whine, cry, complain, brag, vent, etc. etc. etc. In addition to all of that, he has also been a patient of mine, he has actually helped me finish homework assignments, and he has sent me positive and uplifting thoughts and messages by way of text messages, voice mails, notes, flowers, cards, and picking up my slack. I really do have the best husband ever. Thank you Matt, you mean the world to me. Not to mention my parents, my siblings, my in-laws, and so many others. They have never given me anything but hope and drive to accomplish my goals.

I went to a fantastic school, with fantastic classmates. I actually spent the last 2 years with the same 14 people, every class, every day. They are my family too, and we are a team. Tonight was our graduation, and I want to share those moments with you all.

I was happy to receive a "Who's who" award and also the Doni Corban memorial scholarship. I mentioned it previously, but tonight I was given a plaque for the scholarship. It was a nice surprise. It was a nice graduation, where I shed a few tears of joy. It certainly isn't the last time I will see my classmates.

I was so happy that my family was able to make it to my graduation. It was a long drive for them, and lots of traffic, but like I said before, they are all so very supportive.

I had to take a picture of all my goodies. My nephew Tanner picked out my balloon. (You can't see the graduation cap on Sponge Bob's head). I got flowers from my family, a classmate, and also the faculty. I am holding my certificate from the program, and I also displayed my plaque and the "Who's who" award. I didn't take a picture of all the cards and gifts I got. Thank you everyone. It was a special night.