It's a Boy:-)

Joshua

8.0 pounds, 22.5 inches (lightest and possibly tallest of my babies. Need to check the records for the height)

7.25 hours labor

He and I are fine. God is good.

Birth story Later

Gout

My hubby was diagnosed with gout last week. This is his second attack.I have since done some research on how to treat this very painful condition.

First of all, this is a highly hereditary disease. If you have a relative with it you have a 25% or greater chance of developing it yourself. Hubby's father had it as do at least two of his brothers.So does my father, putting me at risk, except that only about 5% of gout patients are female.

Obesity is also a risk factor. Do NOT crash diet, however, as that will trigger an attack.

Gout is a symptom your kidneys aren't working quite right. In Hubby's case, he had Kidney stones a year ago, a gout attack last July, and another last week so I am looking especially hard at kidney health.

#1- Pray. Prayer works because that is how God set up the universe.

#2- Eliminate alcohol, sardines, anchovies, organ meats, and sweet peas from your diet. (Sadly this didn't help us much as we are tea-totalers [well, Coke Cola-totalers] and have never eaten any of the other foods except the peas.

Some resources say to leave off the sodas due to the high mineral content. Some say to drink them because they are high in alkaline content will nutralize the uric acid. Sodas just aren't good for you so I think you should limit them as much as possible (very hard to do in our society).

I know I read many years ago that diet/protein drinks (i.e. slim fast, ensure) cause kidney problems, but I can't find this information now. I would leave these concoctions off anyway. They are mostly oil and sugar, not exactly nutritionally sound "food."

#3-Eat more fruit and veggies. The information they sent home with him says "Vegitarians seldom have gout. Meat eaters who also eat a lot of fruit and veggies are at lower risk." So, I say it's the fruit and veggies that help to prevent it more than abstaining from meat. Both of those groups would eat little white flour or transfats. Anyway, moderation is always good.

#4- Did I mention Pray? It works.

#5- Certain things are known to help the body get rid of the uric acid that causes Gout.

• Celery seed
• Cherries (whole or juice)
• Tumeric
• Bromilain (found in pinapple and also very good for any kind of arthritis or inflamation)

You can get these four in the produce section of your store or you can buy them in capsule form seperatly or together in a product called "Go-Out." Take the Go-Out two capsules, 2-3x/day until the attack is gone and then one daily to keep Gout away.

#6- Additional herbs:

• Milk Thistle (strengthens the Liver which releaves the pressure on the Kindnys allowing them to do their job of removing the Uric acid better)
• Dandylion (helps the urinary tract function better)
• Alfalfa (purifies and strengthens the blood in general)
• Capsicum (makes all other herbs work better and helps the heart)
• Fish oil (Omega 3s help the body get rid of impurities)
• Calcium (reduces stress, actually, which will help inflammation)
• Nettle leaf (Helps build cells and strengthen the blood which carries impurities out of the body.)

I hope this helps someone out there with gout:-)

My weight history

Like you all really care, lol.

I need to keep a record of this information and this seems like as good a place as any to store it, so feel free to skip this post. Or just go to the bottom to read my weight rants.

(1985) I weighed about 145 when I got married at 18yo. This is right about where the weight charts say I should be.

I took a nutrition class a few years later and in studying anorexia had a horrid revelation: I viewed my body and food the same way an anorexic does! Now, I never lost weight or totally quit eating due most likely to the excellent relationship I have with my parents. But it was disturbing to discover that I was so close to having such a dangerous attitude.

I quit dieting for the first time in my life.

I immediately gained 10 pounds.

For the first time in my life I could actually keep up with my (overweight) mother! I had energy, felt good, could concentrate...

Wow!

(1991) I weighed about 155 when I got pregnant with my first child. I gained 31 pounds during the pregnancy and lost all but 5 by my 6week post-partum appointment. (8.5lb baby)

(1994) By the time of my second pregnancy I weighed between 170 and 175. I gained 24 pounds and had lost 31(!) by my 6 week, putting me at about 165. (9.1lb baby)

I felt fantastic! Never better. Strong, even.

I had a miscarriage a year or so later.

(1998) By my fourth pregnancy I weighed 190 pounds, gained 31 pounds and weighed 190 by my 6 week. Felt good, if a bit "too big for the space." (8.12lb baby)

(1999) Preg #5, Full Term baby #4= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (8.8lb baby)

(2001) Preg #6, Full Term baby #5= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (9.2lb baby)

(2003) Preg #7, Full Term baby #6= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (9.8lb baby)

(2004) Preg #8, Full Term baby #7= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (10lb baby)

(Hmmm, see a pattern here?)

(2007) Preg #9, FT baby #8, I started at about 200 (approaching menopause which is often accompanied by a bit of weight gain.) gained between 31 and 36 lbs (midwife's scale and mine disagree.) Weighed 185 by 6 weeks.(!!!) (10.8lb baby)

I had three miscarriages between the birth of baby #8 and conception of baby #9.

(2011) Started this pregnancy at 200. I am now 38 (out of 40ish) weeks and have gained 28lbs. My arms look skinnier though, so I am thinking I may have lost weight while baby is gaining. It will be interesting to see what happens to my weight in the next couple of months. I will update.





Now the $64 question: If the charts show your "healthy weight" why didn't I feel best when I weighed what the charts say I should? Why did I feel my best at 20-30lbs heavier? Why has it been so easy to keep my weight at the same number through FIVE pregnancies? (Honestly, all the dieting I did was to eat smaller deserts if things started to get too close to 195lb)


Could it be that our concept of "healthy weight" is skewed? Could we be letting "experts that don't know us and don't really care about us as much as they care about their profits from weight lose products form our ideas of "healthy weights" instead of just paying attention to how our own bodies feel?

Yeah, I know. "Fat people have higher rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc" I will agree it is healthier to never get fat.

But what constitutes "fat" is, I believe, a different number for different people. For example, (to get really personal here) I am very small breasted (We're talking somewhere between a training bra and an A cup when I'm not pregnant or nursing. Why do you think I have so many kids? lol). This means I can carry an extra 5-10 pounds in my hips and thighs that a better endowed woman couldn't carry and still be considered a "healthy weight." Some of us have smaller bones, also (mine are medium according to scientific measures while my grandma's were small).

None of can control these features yet we deprive ourselves of nutrients to reach these artificially set goals. Fat people's cells test to be deficient in vitamins and nutrients. This is not healthy, so a doctor's and societies answer is to tell a fatty to eat LESS nutrients? What if nutrient deficiency is what causes them to retain weight? We may very well be shooting ourselves in the foot by dieting. The more we diet the more deficient we are. The more deficient we are the more our body wants to hold on to the weight we have in order to try to find the nutrients it needs. This is NOT healthy!

And I am not convinced that obesity CAUSES all those diseases. I believe that the same low-nutrient, Standard American Diet that causes obesity causes heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. I think it's correlation, NOT causation.

Now, skeletal problems such as bad feet, knees, hips, back are weight related, true. But I just don't see the evidence to support the idea that fat causes disease. It's just not there.

And dieting is unhealthy.

We don't even know if losing weight causes net health gains because not enough people can keep it off long enough to study!

We may (and probably are!) all depriving ourselves of needed nutrients, putting ourselves at greater risk for degenerative diseases in order to meet a standard that won't make us any healthier at all.

Again, Wow:-(

Maybe it's time we just started to live healthy (exercise, lots of veggies and whole grains, unprocessed meats and milk, lots of water, lots of rest, lower stress) and throw away our scales. What do you think?

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Why you should stop doing Kegels… « Journey To Crunchville

"http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/why-you-should-stop-doing-kegels/%22%3EWhy you should stop doing Kegels…
Incontinence anyone?