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skillniece03 · 4 years

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Fat Freezing Brighton & Hove

genital tightening In Uk.

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claim So long Cellulite In just 8 Weeks! elegance guru Kate Shapland Shares Revolutionary suggestions.

is There An Age limit For This sort Of surgical Procedure?

Air Liquide In The Uk.

What Is Hifu Treatment For Face?

teeth lightening therapy.

fantastic center

allow's talk About ... City Skin.

When the light beams get to the pertinent midsts of the skin, they will assemble, creating tiny and undetectable 'mini holes' within the skin. Our non-surgical Vaginal Firm therapy utilizing the advanced FemiWand ® technology. The FemiWand ® uses High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound that has a long-standing document of practice for clinical applications.

state So long Cellulite In just 8 Weeks! appeal guru Kate Shapland Shares Revolutionary recommendations.

Is it bad to have Cellulite at 14?

It is completely normal! Most of the time it occurs around the hips thighs and bum and is caused by fat deposits under the skin pushing up towards the surface, creating an uneven or dimpled appearance.

This week I have another session on my tummy location, It does take some time, but it does function. Had the fat freeze in December as well as i am so pleased with the results, I have actually decreased 2 outfit dimensions. I'm currently a size 16 and also have reserved in for an additional 8 applicators, i can not fault this business whatsoever! the only adverse feedback i have is that it made me most likely to the bathroom so frequently yet that's reasonable as my body was just doing away with the waste. I previously had a situation of the male boobs so I obtained a cryolipolysis treatment to lower these. I'm pleasantly amazed by the results and also I have practically no fat because area any longer.

having my second therapy of cryo done, have seen a big distinction after my first treatment on my stomach. my skin does really feel tighter yet i haven't seen any outcomes yet as it does take 6-8 weeks to see outcomes so i am fascinated to see what results i obtain. came in for hifu facelift last month and determined to obtain my jaw location and also neck done too after talking with the specialist. i was a little bit afraid in the beginning as i do not such as agonizing treatments however it was not excruciating it just felt unpleasant in certain areas.

is There An Age restriction For This sort Of surgery?

When I was employed for my appointment, they attempted to sell me a program of 3 treatments. I was sceptical concerning the therapy so declined on the basis I would see if I obtained any kind of outcomes initially. When I asked what the success price was for this treatment, the individual telling me regarding the treatment she said she really did not have any kind of numbers as well as Outcomes vary from person to person.

very pleased with my facelift treatment, would certainly recommend to anyone and also would suggest opting for the full jobs as it is entirely worth it. I have seen results after 3 months as well as my face looks unbelievable, i am really happy.

Why do men not get cellulite?

“Men, on the other hand, have much stronger connective tissue and much less subcutaneous fat, so they normally do not develop cellulite”, Georgios adds.

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The treatment i had gone with was the superficial therapy, so just waiting for outcomes. I have my fourth session of ultrasound scheduled for following week and I am truly pleased with the rate at which my dual chin is starting to reduce in size. The car park is a bit annoying though as nobody described initially that there was no complimentary parking readily available outdoors yet when I contacted, a lovely girl gave me instructions to a nearby parking lot. wonderful solution and team member, rates are affordable and also worth the cash. I would highly advise this therapy if you have any concerns with the tightening of your woman little bits.

What Is Hifu Treatment For Face?

The focus of the thermal power is specific and also aids regulate the tightening of the muscle mass and also strength to curb the invasiveness. The process ensures results and also convenience for each person as well as takes the shortest time feasible to return to the regular regimen. The therapy is also ideal for those with various other vaginal concerns, including genital prolapse, endometriosis, pelvic relaxation and also pelvic pain. There are no contraindications for FemiLift if you are taking the contraceptive pill, have a contraceptive dental implant or have previously had a hysterectomy. FDA accepted because 2014 for the treatment of post-menopausal genital atrophy with dyspareunia which leaves many females unable to have intercourse as a result of dryness as well as pain on infiltration. The FemiLift CO2 laser provides energy about 0.5 mm deep right into the vaginal skin as well as develops tiny, white, ablated dots of damaged tissue on the mucosal cells inside the genital canal. The FemiWand is a nine-minute treatment, boosting vaginal muscle strength and also rigidity - and also the results can last for more than 2 years.

To begin with, this non-invasive vaginal therapy approach is pain-free and requires no downtime. Besides, it only takes 20 mins, thus do not conflict with your regular life. As claimed previously, this is a non-invasive vaginal canal firm approach. The method is well made to recover and also fix genital wall surfaces without needing to make use of numbing or anesthetic lotions. lose stomach weight as well as logical looks into have been done on this technology. It is accredited risk-free as well as authorized for use in medical technique. A study by the US National Institute of Health And Wellness in December 2015 verified that the procedure is risk-free, effective and also non-evasive, as well as has a favorable long-term effect on skin laxity.

Can skinny people have cellulite?

Thin people can have cellulite, but it's more noticeable in those with more body fat. Age. Cellulite is more common as we get older.

It has been just over a month since I had the femiwand treatment. I was actually wishing that the treatment would have dealt with the damage of being obese etc. i had a treatment at the brand-new clinic in birmingham, i should claim it is a beautiful clinic and also it is a bonus offer that they have vehicle parking on site. the center itself is very clean and clean as well as all team are well specialist. i was used a beverage on arrival and also was offered the wifi password and also if i desired any publications. I had the fat freezing therapy at the Bham facility, and also i have to state it went well. It wasn't agonizing whatsoever and i had an extremely pleasant experience.

The ultrasound procedure focuses the thermal energy on the surface muscle aponeurotic system of the genital cells. This results in contraction of the muscles which in turn tightens up the muscle mass.

pearly Whites bleaching treatment.

Most clients report no pain and also call for no downtime after the treatment. Treatments are set up at four or six-week periods, and also most clients see take advantage of a couple of treatments. The therapy is ideal for healthy and balanced ladies over the age of 30 that are seeking vaginal renewal. Clients that are nursing or expecting are not suggested for the therapy. We suggest clients to wait at the very least three months after a normal childbirth before having the FemiWand ® treatment. The sole purpose of this process is to enhance the quality of life. Females that prosper in recovering their vaginal canal rigidity have a tendency to be extra positive and also have remarkable self-worth.

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Various other lasting impacts of the therapy consist of tightening up and rejuvenation of genital cells. Customers have to have the need for a tighter, a lot more youthful-looking vagina to get approved for FemiWand ® . Due to the fact that every woman's body is different, your aesthetician will discuss the optimum number of treatments to match your requirements and objectives. Vaginal tightening with FemiWand ® needs no downtime, and customers can go back to normal life instantly adhering to the treatment. FemiWand ® is https://nottingham.la-lipo.co.uk/ to comprehensive, invasive surgery to bring back the vibrant appearance and feature of the vagina. FemiWand ® is a 20-minute procedure that can be performed on your lunch break.

This is due to the fact that the PSA blood examination is general to prostate cancer.

Increased PSA degrees likewise can not inform a doctor whether a male has lethal prostate cancer cells or otherwise.

This aids the specialist target the cancer so that much less of the healthy tissue is harmed.

The probe additionally makes use of ultrasound to produce photos of the prostate while your cosmetic surgeon is treating it.

It can also be repeated ought to your cancer cells persist, and also it does not leave out other treatments if required such as radiotherapy or surgical procedure.

Your PSA level can additionally be increased by various other, non-cancerous problems.

In recent years a more recent less invasive alternative called HIFU has actually given a much less intrusive alternative which has been shown to substantially lower the negative effects connected with standard therapies, such as urinary incontinence and also impotence.

The probe is bordered by a cooling balloon to make sure that the warmth does not harm your back passage.

Sonablate is a state-of-the art, non-invasive medical device that damages tissue in the prostate making use of focused ultrasound.

On the various other hand, tightening up the vaginal area assists sexually energetic ladies to enjoy their bed room matters with their partners. Also if vaginal canal looseness is hardly ever spoken about, it is a vital condition that can make ladies really feel sad, frustrated, self-conscious, and also uncomfortable with their bodies.

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I had the shallow and the muscular treatment done as I have had 2 kids sen differ from leakage. I did not experience any pain or pain and I am eagerly anticipating feelin results with any luck this treatment will certainly help me and tighten up things up! I had the femiwand treatment done yesterday at the Manchester facility and was instantly put at simplicity by the medical professional. The locations i had done are now looking very glowing and also I'm extremely pleased with the outcomes, I will for certain be going back in for an additional therapy. Aftercare treatment was provided and also its been 2 days as well as im feeling great. I had actually gone through the therapy for the femi wand genital therapy, and it was slightly uneasy. Nevertheless the specialist was really mild as well as offered me with a great deal of aftercare advice and was very friendly and inviting.

What is the best cellulite treatment?

Best results according to research studiesLaser treatment. Different types of laser treatments are used to treat cellulite. Subcision. Vacuum-assisted precise tissue release. Carboxytherapy. endermologie® Ionithermie cellulite reduction treatments. Radiofrequency. Laser-assisted liposuction. More items

allow's talk About ... City Skin.

Much more just recently, HIFU has been successfully used for cosmetic treatments consisting of skin laxity. Use the button listed below to schedule a vaginal tightening appointment. A women specialist will certainly get in touch to review your demands. The ultrasound is completely safe, and unlike lasers can surpass the surface of the genital tissue to magnify the impacts of the treatment. A PRIVATE cosmetics clinic has been purchased to eliminate an advert promoting its genital rejuvenation treatment after the UK's advertising and marketing guard dog regarded it "deceptive" and "untrustworthy".

Why does my stomach look like it has cellulite?

Cellulite most definitely occurs when you gain weight — in women, it tends to be most noticeable in the areas where women are prone to gain the most weight (the stomach, thighs, and backside) — and when that body fat grows, it enlarges and pushes against the connective fibers under your skin.

The locations I had them on were a little bruised for a couple of days however soon cleared up. It's not a magic stick and also I didn't become design slim over night, so anybody who assumes that is what will certainly take place will be let down. My improvement is coming along wonderful and also I would definitely reccomend vivo clinic. Had the Cryolipolysis therapy and so far the result is remarkable I have actually dropped a denims dimension absolutely suggest this therapy. My partner enjoys i enjoy would very advise this therapy if you have actually had kids or suffer from leakage. i acquired added applicators for the location and chose to have a few sessions done. I didn't tell my good friends as well as people that knew me, surprisingly everyone was noticing I was bring down.

What is the best cellulite cream?

Best Overall: Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream. Best Splurge: Augustinus Bader The Body Cream. Best for Arms: Revision Skincare BodiFirm. Best for Legs: Body Merry Cellulite Defense Gel-Cream. Best for Stomach: Glytone Slim Design Cellulite Day Cream. More items•

The nurse was charming yet no before pictures were taken ... so also if I did acquire a program, there's no chance of knowing it's functioned !! She told me that the therapy would certainly not firm my skin in any way despite the advert on wowcher claiming it would !! The treatment lasted half an hour, had not been specifically uneasy however I am not holding my breath for any outcomes. The exact same 'salesman' then attempted to offer me some lotion prior to I left. Too pushy as well as not enough expertise regarding their treatments or success prices. The therapy has actually been established with the same innovation that has been successfully utilized in non-surgical facelifts. Merely, this entails sending out multiple ultrasound beam of lights into the skin.

my husband has actually additionally seen a distinction in that location as well as mores than happy with what he has actually seen. i would most definitely have a secound therapy to tighten up the area slightly extra. I have had a HIFU treatment with Vivo Clinic as well as have had remarkable results.

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justinsdaysinthedark · 5 years

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Post #9 - Metotrex-HATE

August 20th: Life’s funny sometimes. When it’s going easy, you cruise through and enjoy all the good times. It’s easy. It’s like playing a video game on speed run. On the flip side, when life’s difficult, time slows down to a fraction of normal. You drag through hour by hour, looking for when some positivity will come.

My past week has been so incredibly tough. I never felt like a cancer patient before, but as bad as it is to say, I certainly do now.

I wrote in my last blog that “Day 10 is when things pick up again volume wise and from them until the finish, I'll basically be on a drip 24/7 and constantly have to be monitored - totally different to these first five days.” My god I couldn’t have been more correct.

Day 10 of my treatment started about 3:30pm on August 9th and was a 24hour chemo drug called Metotrexate. I was on this drip for 24 hours and I had no idea what it was going to do or how it was going to leave me. I do now!

This drug finished around 3:30pm on Saturday August 10th with the aim of it to kill my immune system and blood cells and leave me a walking corpse...and no surprise, that’s exactly what it did.

Last week, starting from as soon as the Metotrexate finished I was so incredibly sick. It’s hard to explain, but I’d definitely take the flu over what I just experienced...and I’m still not through the woods yet. The first few days weren’t too bad, I was simply tired with no energy. I slept during the day and night. I had no motivation to get up, move or do anything. So I didn’t. I slept.

The next few days things started to get worse and worse. Picture this, one day you’re perfectly normal with normal temperatures and heart rates. The next day, your temperature soars above 40 degrees and your heart rate is constantly sitting dangerously between 125-140BPM. This second part was me for the next few days. The scariest moment was last Wednesday when Courtney was here. I was sitting in the seat next to my bed, just sitting. Doing nothing. The nurse comes into do my observations and I start to sweat and feel weak. My heart rate is sitting at 145BPM, temperature at 40.3. I feel like i’m going to pass out, I actually think I do. The nurse demands Courtney to press the emergency button and everybody comes rushing in. This is what was my first of three Medical Emergency Calls (Medcall) for the 48 hour period. It was scary. Fortunately, my resident haematology doctor Adam was working late for whatever reason and took charge of the Medcall. Once I’d ‘come to’ slightly, Adam asked if I could move to my bed. It legitimately wouldn’t have been any more than a metre if that but it seemed like he’d asked me to run three in cricket - something we all know is never going to happen! I got up and staggered across and fell onto bed and by then, an announcement was on the loudspeaker.

“Medcall Adult, Monash Medical Centre. Ward 44. Haematology”

Before I knew it, I had 25 people in the room and was getting hooked up to an ECG machine. It truly was scary for me. Courtney was a trooper though. She stood in the corner and watched what was unfolding. In a way, I think we were both settled at the fact my resident doctor Adam lead it from start to finish. If he wasn’t there, who knows how we’d both have been.

It happened again another two times - both 7am and 7pm the next day. These two were far less scary because I knew what to expect.

At this stage, it’s Thursday August 15 and I am at the lowest of low. My mouth, throat and stomach are ravaged with ulcers. Something I don’t think I was ever going to avoid! I’m not hungry. I can’t eat due to these ulcers and drinking is near impossible.

I’m in incredible pain, all over. I have no immune system or anything to fight infection - which I was obviously getting with all my fevers. The pain team came around to see me and suggested I went on both Ketamine and Oxycodone to help with the pain. I was in no state to argue, so that I did. Boy oh boy did these give me two days of hallucinations though! Spiders climbing across the walls, people surrounding me talking when I slept; it was such a throw around.

All whilst this is happening, my hair is starting to fall out. Something I knew would eventually occur but never expected it to actually happen. It was bad. I was pulling chunks of hair out of my hair and beard. It was surreal. Alas, mum came in to cut my hair and Courtney brought in my razor to give it a shave. Both were tough tasks feeling so unwell, but we got there in the end.

Saturday August 17th around 2:30pm is when I started to pick up a little bit. I was able to sit up out of bed and try and entertain a conversation. Everyday since then has gotten better and better, albeit incredibly slowly. That puts us at today. I’m up out of bed, sitting next to my window writing a blog - something that was a world away a week ago! Only mum, dad and Courtney would understand as they have been there everyday through my lowest.

How am I today? I’d be lying if I said I were great however I’m the best I have been in a fortnight. I still have mouth ulcers and still struggle to swallow tablets and drink water. I expect this to go over the next two days - there’s just one ulcer at the back of my throat that is giving me grief. As a result, I’ve been taking a routine mouthwash three times a day to numb my mouth. The Peter Mac mouthwash, a cocaine based liquid followed by a lignocaine gel. Between these three, I’m able to ‘clean’ my mouth, numb the ulcers and make it bearable to either eat yoghurt and take my tablets - but trust me, it is still incredible tough.

Today marks Day 20 of my 16 Day treatment and as soon as my white blood cells return to a normal count, I’ll be allowed to go home for a few days before I start my next round of treatment next week. Apparently the white blood cells need to be 1-1.5 and mine were at 0.3 yesterday and 0.5 today. Hopefully, just hopefully my bone marrow kicks into gear over the next day or two and I’ll be home towards the end of the week - that’s the goal anyway! I’ve been hooked up to a drip 24/7 for the past 11 days and quite frankly, I’m over having a buddy to take everywhere. I can’t change my shirt so I’ve had to wear the same shirt for three or four days in a row. For those that know me, should know I love being clean. So that’s killed me. It’s also made showering hard, but no impossible. It just depends on my mood. I’ve been here 38 days straight and it’s just starting to get to me. What I’d do for a few days at home is a killer.

I spoke to my Doctor Adam yesterday who advised September 22nd was in the realms of possible for me to get to the fundraiser those closest to me are organising. A day that I’m really looking forward to and I just hope I can make it. Details are below.

That’s about it from me for now, hopefully this explains why I’ve been M.I.A for so bloody long. I have left out a lot of other details and touched over the basic stuff...so just trust me when I say this Chemotherapy and cancer business certainly isn’t easy! Until next time,

Much love.

Juzz xx

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hoes4bangtan · 5 years

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Remember Me | Part 0.5

Pairing: pjm x reader

Genre: lots of angst, fluff, eventual smut

Word count: 3,159

Summary: After being in an accident and being in a coma for months, you finally wake up. But you don’t remember this stranger next to your bed, — even when he claims he’s your one and only: Park Jimin.

(Snippet of) Life in Death

Life with Y/N in a coma

* ✦ . ⁺ . *

Your head was hurting so much. The talking of the doctors and nurses didn’t help your situation either. All day you heard them talked about you like you weren’t there. It gave you a sense of not belonging. As if you could be detached from the world with the flip of a switch.

You were ready.

I mean you felt ready…

Were you?

As you gathered strength, you thought about your life. You had already re-told your entire life more than a dozen times. You were getting tired of it.

Your name is Y/N L/N from [Hometown]. You moved to Seoul a little over two years ago to study. You were in the second semester of your third year of college. You want to become an author and permanently move to Seoul. Your closest friends are Albina Vanin and Lee Gael.

Albina is another foreign student at your university. She’s the very first person that talked to you. She’s a year older than you, social and quite open to people. As a matter of fact, she was the one that walked up to you confidently, asking you questions left and right. If you’re being completely honest, she made you uncomfortable in the beginning, but now you’re best friends. She had another best friend, Lee Gael, who she introduced you to one day in the dining hall.

Lee Gael is one of the nicest boys you’ve ever met. One of the most handsome as well, his features resembling those of a Disney prince. He was born in Seoul to a Korean father and a Spanish mother, and for majority of his life, he’s lived in Korea, except for that time when he lived in Spain with his grandmother for a year and a half. Since the first time you approached him in the dining hall, you’ve had a small crush on him. That crush only intensified when he started to show interest in you, bringing you flowers and buying you chocolates every chance he’d get. When he asked you on a date, you were over the moon. Now, it’s been 11 months, and you’ve created a beautiful and serious relationship. During this time, the only actual flaw you can give Gael is his jealousy and even then, he is still perfect.

A big throbbing in the side of your head, just above your ear. Out of reflex, you try to reach up to relieve some of the pressure but you find that you still cannot move.

Try again, Y/N. Try. Are you going to leave your family alone? Your friends? Gael?

C’mon.

Do it for him.

Dark bags reside under Jimin’s sunken eyes. The guilt has been eating at him, swimming around in his head and following the blood stream down his body. It fills up his stomach, allowing him to go days on end without food. It doesn’t let him sleep. Haunting and devilish, it’s like Jimin is living in a nightmare especially designed to make him suffer. His reality is one he cannot escape, transcending into his unconsciousness.

His hair is matted and tangled, skin sickly pale, muscles just slightly deteriorated from all the time he’s spent sitting down next to her hospital bed. His clothes fitting a little bigger than they used to before, and he has to wear a belt now to stop his pants from falling down. He’s always tired. Oh, so tired, all the damn time.

He was broken. He is broken.

Completely shattered and utterly useless. He tries to make himself useful by bathing her and assisting her nurses as much as they let him. He had become a slave to his guilt. Free falling into endless darkness he is sure no one can pull him away from. He’s in too deep now for anyone to reach him, no one’s hands long enough to grab him and pull him up.

Most mornings he would open his eyes to see her face being kissed by the sun, her face glowing beautifully. Not today. The sky was gloomy, dark clouds unapologetically covering the sheening sun. The wind rattles with the trees, playing with the sticks and teasing the leaves. The hospital smelled of antibiotics and disinfectant and chemicals, as it always did. The quiet steps of the nurses, doctors, staff, and patients every once in a while.

Y/N used to love the rain. From the inside, not the outside, she would always explain. She would take a book, whatever she was in the mood for, and make herself whichever hot beverage, though hot chocolate was her preferred one. He loved laying in her stomach as she read the book, sometimes out loud for him to hear. Admiring her, from the tip of her nose to the end of her eyelashes to the base of her neck and the start of her collarbone. She was and will always be beautiful. He hated to admit it, but he was losing hope — had been for some time now. He long accepted his fate as well.

“Some patients are complaining about you,” Eunbi, a nurse with dyed orange hair and pierced nose stood by the door, “You should probably get a shower, your friend brought a different pair of clothes for a reason, didn’t he?”

Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-shi were often in the hospital with him. They, together with Namjoon, Jin, Hoseok, and Jungkook had become close friends with Y/N. Every few days, Namjoon would come and check up on Y/N and him, though his job didn’t permit him to come by as often. Every single time Seokjin would come by, he’d order the kitchen staff to get him the best food there is. Everyone there knows him, some trying their best to hide their distaste, while others outwardly show it. He only wanted the best for his brother. Hoseok is a lawyer, and he’s been trying nonstop to put whoever did this to his family in jail. Finding the guy was the easy part, the car being found within the first two hours of the hit and run, under the name of a rich businessman. The man paid bail and was out in the streets after a couple of hours, and now it was up to Hoseok and Y/N’s mother to fight for justice. Jimin hadn’t seen Hoseok in a few days, and thank God he hasn’t seen his mother-in-law in just as long. Jimin didn’t like to deal with those sorts of things, he simply thought Y/N was much more important, his mind much too occupied with her well-being.

Jungkook only went to visit once, when Y/N had been admitted into the hospital. He hated hospitals. He especially hated seeing Y/N like this, in a bed hooked to machines, barely breathing. The only way to not feel the sinking feeling in his stomach is by not seeing her, and so, he never went. Jimin hasn’t seen the boy in months, and though he should feel bitter that he isn’t present in such a moment in his and Y/N’s life, he understands that some people deal with hardships differently. The only difference between him and Jungkook was that he didn’t want the last time he saw Y/N to be in her funeral.

“I will not permit it.”

“Mr. Park, please, understand—,” the doctor tried to reason with the shaken man.

“No, you will not be taking my wife off life support and no, you will not be taking her organs.” Jimin abruptly shakes his head, his heart thumping heavily in his chest, and hands shaking uncontrollably. No, they won’t take her from him. “That’s my final answer.”

“We cannot begin to understand what you must be going through, but please, give some consideration to the other people who she can save.” They want to let her die. They don’t think she’ll wake up. She will though. She has to.

“She will wake up,” Jimin says with his last bits of hope, “She will, she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever meet.” He stands tall in front of Y/N’s bed, serving as a protective guard dog. His head is high, once again the confident man he portrayed himself as before any of this had happened.

“I’m sure she is, but her assessment of potential recovery is too low for us to be confident that later, at some point, she will wake up.” The sympathy is clear in the doctor’s eyes, she understands where Jimin is coming from, how broken he must feel. Her heart goes out to him. Though he’s caused some ruckus in her time with his vegetative wife, she cannot imagine a person who loves someone more than Jimin loves Y/N. “I will leave you now, but please, give it some thought.”

Once the doctor left the room, Jimin uninflated. Shoulders dropping, head lowered. His hands still slightly shaken from what felt like a confrontation, a test of his devotion to his wife, to her life. How much longer will he be able to continue like this? To keep up? How much longer until he can’t do it anymore?

Not much longer, no.

‘Let’s make it more interesting, shall we’ the universe seemed to be scheming, as it always did with him lately.

He was exhausted, — mentally, physically and emotionally. His thoughts were all jumbled up, but one question stood above every other thought: can she still wake up?

He finally decided to take that shower, not entirely for hygiene purposes but rather to wash away his fears. Jimin walked to the small bathroom in the room — a small rectangle consisting of a toilet, sink, a small circular mirror, and a shower.

In the beginning, people used to constantly tell him not to lose hope, to keep fighting. After a month, nurses would silently look at him, giving him smiles of sympathy, full of pity, though rarely any empathy. As more time passed, people seemed to lose any shred of hope they had left. This was the third time this week that they told him that he should disconnect Y/N out of life support and for the first time, he was beginning to believe what people have been telling him. She might not wake up. She would want to help others, but he doesn’t want randoms fiddling with her organs. He wants her to be at peace.

Jimin felt his chest closing in, contracting as he tried to let air in. He couldn’t take the beeping of the machine, white noise he was previously immune to. The peonies in corners of the room. The blank walls, white with yellow outlines. The sealed window in the farthest side of the room. He became suddenly hyper-aware of everything. After 6 months, he’s never felt more alone. His glass heart filled to the brim with hope breaking into thousands of pieces, all of its contents leaking out so quick he can barely register the change. He no longer saw the point in talking with Y/N, when that had been his favorite past time just yesterday. No longer seeing the point in reading the books he brought in the bookstore downstairs. No longer seeing the point in life. A life without her.

No.

Jimin, don’t do this to yourself. She can still wake up. Don’t listen to what the doctor said. Don’t listen to them. Don’t listen to them.

Don’t

Listen

Them.

Don’t.

Go buy another book. Read. She loves reading. She’ll like it. Maybe she’ll like it so much she’ll wake up from her nap and discuss it with you. Say how much she loved the characters. Or get the worst book possible, make her so angry she’ll just have to wake to assassinate the author of such a horrible book, disgusted with whoever decided to commit the heinous act.

Gathering his wits as much as he could, Jimin exited the small shower. Without looking into the mirror, he splashed his face with water and with the towel, he dried both his tears and the tap water. He dried his body, changed into his clean clothes. He strode to the door leading to the hallway and closed the door behind him, silently as if to not disturb her when he wanted the exact opposite.

In-patients walk around in their hospital gowns, while a few sit with their visitors. Today was Saturday, and many families took this day to visit their family member without the worry of missing a day of work or school. Kim Minho was one of the patients, an older man with a daughter in intensive care for leukemia. He and Jimin would often play chess together in the recreation room, or sometimes just sit together in front of a window, simply talking about their lives. About Y/N, about Minho’s daughter. Everything, really. Minho was a dear friend, positive even when his daughter, Gayoon, doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

30 steps to get to the elevator, 50 to the bookstore. He was in and out quickly, considering one particularly uneventful evening he took the liberty of going through every single shelf and compiling a list of books that Y/N would love to read.

When he stepped out of the elevator on Y/N’s familiar floor, the first thing he noticed was the commotion in the usually almost-completely quiet halls. Involuntarily, his heartbeat quickened. Nurses rushed by, families staring while completely stiff as if someone had yelled “Freeze!” only their eyes betraying them from being the next champions of the old Mannequin Challenge.

“Someone page Dr. Yejin!” Jimin heard one of the nurses yell. That’s Y/N’s doctor.

His heart dropped. His feet were cemented to the floor, heavy and he had no control whatsoever. Time slowed. He found that he no longer had enough strength to hold onto the newly purchased paperback, legs buckling in place. His face paled even more, and he could feel the blood draining from his head, the oxygen leaving his body but not enough coming back in. He was getting dizzy. Ears ringing, empty palms sweating, eyes clouding, balance lacking. Disoriented and terrified, Jimin stood in the hallway three doors away from the source of chaos. Exactly 30 steps away.

Jimin barely registered the ring of the elevator, but as Dr. Yejin rushed past him, her eyes briefly meeting his, he fell from whatever cloud he was laying in simply to land harshly in the cruel human world.

What the fuck is he doing, just standing there?

Go to Y/N.

NOW.

His feet started running without his consent, carrying in the direction of room 413 and past Dr. Yejin, who was speed walking, almost jugging. Too slow, Jimin reasonably thought even with his mind in the state that it was.

He didn’t bother stopping to look inside, he dove into the chaos, practically running over everything and everyone who got on the way between him and his love. Jimin takes hold of Y/N’s hand, focusing on her twitching face. Her hand shook out of his hand, making Jimin want to grip her hand firmly — and he would have if it hadn’t been for the nurse yelling at him not to touch the patient. How was he not supposed to touch her?

“Okay, so someone tell me what happened,” Dr. Yejin demands as she walks through the door, making quick work of putting sterile gloves. He watched Y/N helplessly, as the nurses rotated her to her side, and placed a pillow below her head for support. He tried to move forward to help hold her on her side, but the nurses glared at him not to. Was he really going to watch Y/N die right in front of his eyes?

Eunbi, a new nurse at the hospital, responds, “I was coming to check her vitals, but when I came, her ventilator was off, and I thought that Mr. Jimin had decided to disconnect her, but then she started having a seizure.” Voice trembling but firm. She was yet to be brave enough to speak up in front of the doctor, even after working there for more than 2 months. Jimin seemed to shrink into himself, just like Eunbi in this very moment, when the nurses demanded him to stop trying to get close to Y/N. He walked to the far corner of the room, next to a vase of peonies, and watched the scene before him unfold. In the hospital bed: his dying wife giving her last breaths.

“Alright, Nurse Eunbi, get the blood sample, check for blood count and glucose.” Dr. Yejin turns the information given by Eunbi in her head. “What are her vitals? And for God’s sake, someone get neurology in here.”

“Doctor, her heart rate is dropping.”

“Start CPR, Dr. Jaeho. Nurse Haeil, defibrillators to 200 joules.” Y/N’s doctor demanded as she lifted the woman’s hospital gown, a new one that Jimin had changed her into earlier in the day.

“200 joules.” Echoed the named nurse.

Y/N’s heart rate was decreasing by the seconds, and the electric shock didn’t help in the slightest.

“Up to 300 joules.” The doctor went for the second round of shocks. The familiar pressure of eyes on her, as she tried to save the life of the woman in the bed.

“300 joules.”

Nothing. The heart monitor veered into a lone line of death, symbolizing the worst fear of her husband. Jimin had been escorted out of the room by one of the nurses, but he could still peer inside from the small window in the door. He could hear the long beep, the absence of a rate, no contracting.

No.

He slammed his fist into the door, yelling for the doctors and nurses to open the door, to let him in. They didn’t. As a matter of fact, it was as if he wasn’t even there. Two staff members took him by the arms, taking him away from the thing he was already losing: his home. He felt her sliding right through his greedy fingers, into the floor and becoming a mush of nothingness. They can’t take her away. They just can’t.

“Don’t stop CPR! Up to 360 joules.” Inside, desperation was in the air. None of them wanted Y/N to die, they all had become very well acquainted with her and her husband’s story. It would be a tragedy, not only in the sense that every death is a tragedy. No, if anything, this story had to be one of the saddest story they ever have been a part of.

“360.”

Still nothing.

“Doctor, we need to declare a time of dea—”

“Not yet! Up to 380.” Recharging the defibrillator, the doctor was ready for the next round.

“But Doctor—”

“Do it.” With ferocity in her eyes, Dr. Yejin was willing to risk everything to not have this woman die and make her husband suffer more than he already has. She wanted to tell him that she tried everything she could, and that — she wanted to be genuine.

“380 joules.”

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annayareads · 7 years

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DEXNURSEY AU

AU where Derek “Nursey” Nurse is the director of a musical. Will “Dex” Poindexter is the master set builder. Jack is the leading man. Lardo paints EVERYTHING. Ford is the stage manager. Chowder does lights. Bitty does costume and makeup. Ransom and Holster are the comic relief duo. Shitty plays the motherfucking piano. Whiskey and Tango bust it up on the drums and saxophone respectively. We have Farmer as our leading lady. Johnson is the critic coming to see the musical. HMU with anyone I forgot. Here’s some deets:

Nursey wrote this musical himself over a week where all he consumed was coffee and granola bars (basically sleep wasn’t a thing when he wrote it)

The musical is Nursey’s child, so he will only be satisfied when his vision is perfectly fulfilled

Nurse is a nice director. He doesn’t push you past your limits, but he will ask you to get close. He makes sure there’s enough food for everyone. There are group hugs at the end of any tough rehearsal

That all said, he knows absolutely nothing about building something, which frustrates Dex to no end

Derek will have these ornate set designs drawn out only to have Will shut them down because they’re just not physically possible

Will can build anything if you just say the word though

Directors have gotten into fist fights to have him build their set

Little does Derek know that Will volunteered to do this set because he thinks Derek is HAWT

Concept: Will and Derek end up in bed together. Nursey has a nightmare about the show being a disaster and Will comforts him

Jack takes acting Very Seriously. He’s amazing too. The man can go from decrepit, old beggar to prince in 0.5 seconds

Lardo is a maestro with a paintbrush. She is known for her hyper realistic painting style.

Marry someone like Ford tbh. The whole cast loves her and she loves them back. Ford is the single string holding everything together. She is a blessing

Chowder is a beast in the lighting booth. His focus is unshakable because he cannot miss his cue. Then when he leaves the booth, he’s his sweet self again.

Chow and Cait are rumored to have done some deeds in the lighting booth

Bitty can sew faster than any sewing machine and he will race one to show it to you. All he needs is your measurements and a design and he will have your costume done in no time.

He will also Beat Your Face. Bitty can do any transformative makeup on you and you won’t even recognize yourself

Jack and Bitty are In Love. They are often found giving each other kisses and pep talks in the men’s dressing room.

Rams and Hols can just walk onstage and the audience will be roaring with laughter. Their energies are so compatible and infectious that no one can watch them and genuinely say they hated them

More deets to come, but somebody should write it

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Wednesday, March 3, 2021

COVID-19 pandemic fuels attacks on health workers globally (AP) Two Nigerian nurses were attacked by the family of a deceased COVID-19 patient. One nurse had her hair ripped out and suffered a fracture. The second was beaten into a coma. Following the assaults, nurses at Federal Medical Centre in the Southwestern city of Owo stopped treating patients, demanding the hospital improve security. Almost two weeks passed before they returned to work with armed guards posted around the clock. The attack in Nigeria early last month was just one of many on health workers globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new report by the Geneva-based Insecurity Insight and the University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center identified more than 1,100 threats or acts of violence against health care workers and facilities last year. Researchers found that about 400 of those attacks were related to COVID-19, many motivated by fear or frustration, underscoring the dangers surrounding health care workers at a time when they are needed most. “Our jobs in the emergency department and in hospitals have gotten exponentially more stressful and harder, and that’s at baseline even when people are super supportive,” said Rohini Haar, an emergency physician in Oakland, California, and Human Rights Center research fellow. “To do that work and to do it with commitment while being attacked or with the fear of being attacked is heartbreaking to me.”

Millions couldn’t afford diapers before the pandemic. Now, diaper banks can’t keep up. (Washington Post) Chelesa Presley is deeply familiar with the struggles of young families, first from her years as a social worker and now from running a nonprofit in one of Mississippi’s poorest regions. She’s used to the questions about car seats, nursing and colicky babies, but paying for diapers is always the chronic and most-pressing worry. “I see parents not putting anything on their babies because they don’t have diapers,” she said. “I’ve seen people use shopping bags with some rags in it. I’ve seen T-shirts. I’ve seen people keeping the diapers on longer than necessary, and the diapers sag down when the babies walk.” As founder and executive director of Diaper Bank of the Delta, Presley is part of a grass-roots support network at the forefront of a crisis: Requests have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled at some locations, social services workers say, with diaper shortages and families lining up for hours in some communities. Meanwhile, the cash and in-kind donations that keep diaper banks afloat have slumped, and their mostly volunteer workforce has shriveled since the pandemic. Diaper need is an often-overlooked measure of Americans’ economic reversals, said Joanne Samuel Goldblum, chief executive and founder of the National Diaper Bank Network. There are so many people “who do not have enough money to meet their basic needs, and what we’ve found is that diaper need is a window into poverty.”

Biden retreats from vow to make pariah of Saudis (AP) As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised to make a pariah out of Saudi Arabia over the 2018 killing of dissident Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. But when it came time to actually punish Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, America’s strategic interests prevailed. The Biden administration made clear Friday it would forgo sanctions or any other major penalty against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Khashoggi killing, even after a U.S. intelligence report concluded the prince ordered the hit. The decision highlights how the real-time decisions of diplomacy often collide with the righteousness of the moral high ground. And nowhere is this conundrum more stark than in the United States’ complicated relationship with Saudi Arabia—the world’s oil giant, a U.S. arms customer and a counterbalance to Iran in the Middle East. Ultimately, Biden administration officials said, U.S. interests in maintaining relations with Saudi Arabia forbid making a pariah of a young prince who may go on to rule the kingdom for decades. That stands in stark contrast to Biden’s campaign promise to make the kingdom “pay the price” for human rights abuses and “make them in fact the pariah that they are.”

Heavy rains lead to rescues, road closures in Appalachia (AP) Kentucky firefighter Eddie Stacy was turning his firetruck around in the dark while responding to storm damage when he noticed a tiny light coming from the flooded Red River. A woman was sitting on a stalled car’s door window, waving her cellphone flashlight and yelling for help. “Nobody could hear from where she was,” Stacy said. “That little flashlight when I was driving down the road just caught my attention. It was God, I tell you. It was God to have me in that place where I was supposed to be.” Heavy thunderstorms pounded parts of Appalachia on Sunday and Monday, sending rivers out of their banks and leading to multiple water rescues, mudslides, road closures and power outages, officials said. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Monday because of heavy rainfall across the state.

In Mexico, those accidents waiting to happen (Worldcrunch) For drivers in Mexico, the rule of thumb for traffic accidents is simple: el que pega, paga! In other words, the perpetrator of a crash—i.e. the incoming vehicle—pays. In a country where many are uninsured, that kind of unspoken understanding makes sense. But the pega-paga approach has also created an opportunity for scammers to pocket some ill-gained pesos through a practice known as montachoques or chocachoca, the operative word being choque, Spanish for “crash.” An extortion technique being used increasingly in Mexico City, it involves provoking an accident by halting a car on a busy highway, then demanding compensation from the person who crashed in from behind. When victims are reluctant to pay, they are threatened and sometimes even attacked, a senior police official in the eastern sector of the city recently told the Milenio newspaper. The official, Luis Martínez Rodríguez, described a typical maneuver as overtaking a car, then suddenly slamming the breaks to provoke a crash. The “injured party” then steps out, sometimes with companions, and demands compensation, with sums ranging from the equivalent of around $70 euros to $1,500. Two or even three cars may be involved to ensure the victim is trapped into the situation.

Amid scramble for COVID-19 vaccine, Latin America turns to Russia (Reuters) As Bolivia struggled late last year to secure deals with large drug firms to supply COVID-19 vaccines, the incoming president, Luis Arce, turned to Russia for help. By the end of December, Bolivia clinched its first major COVID-19 vaccine deal, with enough shots for some 20% of the population. The first Sputnik V doses arrived in the country in late January, just as virus cases were spiking. “It was a really marathon task,” said Bolivian trade minister Benjamin Blanco of the procurement quest, but Russia’s political will made it possible. Western vaccine makers “told us developing countries that we had to wait until June.” He didn’t name names. Bolivia’s reliance on Moscow underscores how governments across the region have turned to Russia’s Sputnik V drug amid fears of being left behind in the global scramble for vaccines. As many wealthier developed nations have signed big deals with large drugmakers like Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca PLC, countries in Latin America have faced difficulties securing adequate vaccine supplies.

Pandemic Pushes Brazilian Hospitals to Breaking Point (Reuters) Coronavirus deaths are now at an all-time high in Brazil, averaging 1,208 per day over the past week. New cases have also peaked, averaging roughly 54,000 per day over the last seven days. The increases are pushing medical resources to the limit. Intensive care units in 17 of Brazil’s 26 states are close to capacity, while six more are completely full, O Globo reports. Vaccine distribution, long-touted as the country’s strength, has been slow—only 3.2 percent of the country has been given a vaccine dose, according to Bloomberg.

Banks in Germany Tell Customers to Take Deposits Elsewhere (WSJ) Interest rates have been negative in Europe for years. But it took the flood of savings unleashed in the pandemic for banks finally to charge depositors in earnest. Germany’s biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, have told new customers since last year to pay a 0.5% annual rate to keep large sums of money with them. The banks say they can no longer absorb the negative interest rates the European Central Bank charges them. The more customer deposits banks have, the more they have to park with the central bank. That is creating an unusual incentive, where banks that usually want deposits as an inexpensive form of financing, are essentially telling customers to go away. Banks are even providing new online tools to help customers take their deposits elsewhere. According to price-comparison portal Verivox, 237 banks in Germany currently charge negative interest rates to private customers, up from 57 before the pandemic hit in March of last year. Charges range between 0.4% and 0.6% for deposits beginning anywhere from €25,000 to €100,000.

Gorbachev, last Soviet leader, to mark 90th birthday on Zoom (Reuters) Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, was expected to throw a Zoom party on Tuesday to celebrate his 90th birthday as President Vladimir Putin lauded him as an outstanding statesman who influenced the course of world history. Gorbachev, who championed arms control and democracy-oriented reforms as Soviet leader in the 1980s, is widely credited with helping end the Cold War. His critics in Russia blame him however, for what they regard as the unnecessary and painful breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Afghan reconstruction (AP) A study from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reviewed the $7.8 billion spent on buildings and vehicles in the nation since 2008 and found that only $1.2 billion was used as intended, and a paltry $343.2 million worth of the buildings and vehicles remain maintained in good condition. The billions wasted include both infrastructure lost to attacks and corruption, and just kind of throwing money around without really thinking about it. Often the agencies responsible for building things did not ask if they were wanted or needed, or if they had the ability to maintain them.

Myanmar’s Military Deploys Digital Arsenal of Repression in Crackdown (NYT) During a half century of military rule, Myanmar’s totalitarian tools were crude but effective. Men in sarongs shadowed democracy activists, neighbors informed on each other and thugs brandished lead pipes. The generals, who staged a coup a month ago, are now back in charge with a far more sophisticated arsenal at their disposal: Israeli-made surveillance drones, European iPhone cracking devices and American software that can hack into computers and vacuum up their contents. In Myanmar, they are the digital weapons for an intensifying campaign in which security forces have killed at least 25 people and detained more than 1,100, including the ousted civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. On Monday, she was hit with new criminal charges—making a statement that could alarm the public and inducing someone to act against the state—that could put her in prison for years. Hundreds of pages of Myanmar government budgets for the last two fiscal years viewed by The New York Times show a voracious appetite for the latest in military-grade surveillance technology. The documents, provided by Justice For Myanmar, catalog tens of millions of dollars earmarked for technology that can mine phones and computers, as well as track people’s live locations and listen in to their conversations.

China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency (NYT) Annabelle Huang recently won a government lottery to try China’s latest economics experiment: a national digital currency. After joining the lottery through the social media app WeChat, Ms. Huang, 28, a business strategist in Shenzhen, received a digital envelope with 200 electronic Chinese yuan, or eCNY, worth around $30. To spend it, she went to a convenience store near her office and picked out some nuts and yogurt. Then she pulled up a QR code for the digital currency from inside her bank app, which the store scanned for payment. China has charged ahead with a bold effort to remake the way that government-backed money works, rolling out its own digital currency with different qualities than cash or digital deposits. The country’s central bank, which began testing eCNY last year in four cities, recently expanded those trials to bigger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, according to government presentations. The effort is one of several by central banks around the world to try new forms of digital money that can move faster and give even the most disadvantaged people access to online financial tools.

‘Turning the knife blade inwards’ (The Economist) For many members of China’s 3 million-strong domestic-security forces, these must be deeply worrisome times. On February 27th the Communist Party announced the start of a long-expected purge of their ranks. It will involve, say officials, “turning the knife-blade inwards” to gouge out those deemed corrupt or insufficiently loyal to the party and its leader, Xi Jinping. More than eight years into Mr Xi’s iron rule, the party appears to wonder whether a vital bulwark of its power is entirely trustworthy. State-controlled media have described it as the biggest such campaign since the late 1990s within the domestic security system, which includes the police, the secret police, the judiciary and prisons. It is due to last for about a year. The aim is to ensure that these agencies are “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure and absolutely reliable.”

Nearly four in 10 university students addicted to smartphones, study finds (The Guardian) Almost four in 10 university students are addicted to their smartphones, and their habit plays havoc with their sleep, research has found. A study of 1,043 students aged 18-30 at King’s College London found that 406 (38.9%) displayed symptoms of smartphone addiction, as defined by a clinical tool devised to diagnose the problem. More than two-thirds (68.7%) of the addicts had trouble sleeping, compared with 57.1% of those who were not addicted to their device. Students who used their phone after midnight or for four or more hours a day were most likely to be at high risk of displaying addictive use of their device. Participants were judged to be addicts if they could not control how long they spent on their phone, felt distressed when they could not access their phone, or neglected other, more meaningful parts of their life because they were busy on their device.

#headlines #news

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allinadaze · 4 years

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Sara’s birth story continued...

So, Sara just turned FIVE! She’s in TK now, for exactly one more hour today since we are in the middle of a global pandemic. Never imagined she would start school with her sis this way but anyway, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get back around to finishing her birth story. It’s so hazy now, I hope I can remember some details but the longer I wait, the hazier it gets so here goes.

We were admitted and I was thankful since the kids were in place, we had a plan, and we were ready for go-time! I remember feeling nervous of course because each birth is unique just as each pregnancy and this pregnancy had certainly been different than my pregnancy with Kate. I remember hearing moms saying that they were so READY to have the baby and while I was anxious and amazingly “past due” both times, with Kate I was less anxious to git ‘er done because it was all so unknown and I wasn’t as uncomfortable physically as I was with Sara, literally waddling everywhere I went.

So they checked us into a private room (yay!) as expected and it was similar to the room Kate was born in. Unfortunately I don’t remember a lot of the details of the progression but I got my epidural as wanted and requested so although I felt a little more of the contractions than I did with Kate, it still wasn’t bad. This time though I do remember the epidural being so profound that I had a hard time lifting my legs to push. And my legs were so swollen they didn’t even feel like my own. When it was time to push, though, I knew more what to do and I didn’t mess around. I don’t even remember when I started pushing but I think that it took a little longer to progress than expected with Sara, a second baby, so I wasn’t able to start pushing until later at night. Maybe around 11, which is also when Dr. Cobb finally arrived, as Dr.’s do. The nurses kept coming back and checking me for that final centimeter of dilation, then 0.5 cm.. I was determined to not push for 5 hours again so I really went for it. Problem was, as I was pushing, her heart rate would drop with each push, so there was concern. At one point Dr. Cobb said we may need to do a c-section if her heart rate keeps dropping. So I was extra determined to make each push count. I backed off the epidural so I could feel a little more and gave it my all, trying to not be self conscious about what was happening down there! Somehow, I did it, with Pete by my side and Josh photographing and Sara made her appearance while “What Sara Says” by Death Cab For Cutie was playing in the background. Thank goodness he was there to point out this detail otherwise I wouldn’t have known! It’s quite a moment when baby makes appearance. They immediately put her on my chest and I locked eyes with her and she looked so much like her 4D ultrasound! She seemed a little tired after what she had been through and I could tell by her gaze already that she was a little more independent than big sis. She was coughing a bit more and not crying as much and she also wasn’t as into nursing right away as Kate. It’s hard to not compare experiences when you only have the one. I’m not sure if it’s because my nipples were starting out larger or because she did have a lip tie or a combination of all factors, but she had a shallow latch right away that would be one of our first hurdles.

She was as perfect as can be though, born with dark hair like her mama and the nurse pointed out that she had a freckle on her bottom as she put her first diaper on, which was so adorable! She was born just after midnight, like her big sis, at 12:29am October 1, weighing the same weight as her sis, but carrying it differently, as she would continue to do. :) This time I had a little tear but Dr. Cobb didn’t think I needed stitches for it so I was fine with that! And I don’t really remember much of the placenta being born, but we saved it in a cooler we brought for encapsulation since I knew I would need all the help I could get! This time we got to stay the first night in the room where she was born so it was nice to not have to move but of course I still didn’t get much sleep. That first night is a haze!

I remember the next morning Pete went to the house to get some things and I asked him to bring a velcro swaddle since Sara was already a little fussy from swallowing air with her shallow latch and burb cloths since she was already projectile vomiting, something that Kate didn’t do until we got home. I think maybe my milk was coming in much faster plus the lip tie... I’m thankful I had experience nursing to have some confidence going in, because I needed it! Thankfully I had a gracious nurse who wasn’t stingy with the pain meds too because I was a bit more sore with Sara postpartum, for a full 6 weeks.

Auntie came to visit and brought us In N Out for lunch and got to hold the baby and then that afternoon, Elyse brought Kate and Jeff brought Evan and Kim came to take pictures, which was so cool since they all used to be in a band together. Evan wasn’t super excited, being more firmly planted in his pre-teen years but he tried and Kate was very excited to see her little sis on her way to dance class I believe.

That night we changed rooms to a tiny room where again I got very little sleep because of cluster feeding and intense baby burping needed throughout the night. Earlier in the night, the nurse commented on baby’s shallow latch and we tried to work on it but it wasn’t changing. Early the next morning Dr. Cobb paid us a visit and we were delirious but he checked baby and everything was looking good. We were ready to go home that day but I think they wanted to wait until she pooped before they discharged me. So another nurse came to help with that and we chatted about how Kate has a hard time with the BM’s and she shared that one of her daughters has a hard time. Thankfully this is not something that Sara struggles with though Kate still does. Thankfully it’s improved for Kate, but it’s always been a struggle for her. Kate just recovered from her second UTI I believe from holding her BM’s.

Everything was looking good with Sara and we felt more confident than with Kate of course so we headed home. My mom kept Kate another night so we could get settled in, which was nice. I was so dang sore, thankfully Dr. Cobb gave me some meds to take at home. Sara was so beautiful and perfect. My mom definitely brought Kate to visit at some point, too, since I think she picked her up from preschool and took her to dance class on Friday, but that part’s a little hazy too.

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kristinsimmons · 4 years

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The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy

By e-PATIENT DAVE DEBRONKART

Caution: This post is not a prediction. It’s just a tutorial about the concept of herd immunity, with an eye to why it’s probably not an approach the US wants to take in solving the complex problems we’ve gotten ourselves into with COVID-19.

Click this graphic to go see a six second animation of these images, created in 2017 by Reddit user TheOtherEdmund. You many need to watch a few times. Get a feel for the differences in what happens in the different blocks, and come back to discuss:

This weekend I’ve labored to understand this concept, which first came to my ears regarding coronavirus in March, when British prime minister Boris Johnson proposed it as a possible approach for Britain to take: let the virus take its course, and they’d end up with “herd immunity,” and that would be the end of that.

In my unsophisticated knowledge “herd immunity” meant “you let the weak cows die, and the rest of the herd will be fine.” And in fact in April a Tennessee protestor held up a sign saying “Sacrifice the Weak – Reopen TN.” (It’s not clear whether the sign was mocking or real (Snopes), but it illustrates the point.)

But it turns out there’s a lot more to the concept than just “sacrifice the weak.” There’s a specific way herd immunity works – and it does work for things like measles and mumps and polio, via vaccines. But in the absence of a vaccine, it’s an absolute disaster.

Here’s why. Here’s a snapshot from the start of the animation.

Each blue dot is a healthy uninfected person – you.

Each yellow dot is someone who’s immune – “can’t touch this,” if you’re into MC Hammer.

Each red line is where someone uninfected crossed paths with an infected person and got infected.

Notice: the more people get vaccinated, the fewer red lines happen. Vaccines prevent infection – who knew??

As time goes by (in the animation and during an epidemic), here’s what it looks like a while later.

If nobody is vaccinated, the disease spreads pretty rapidly; as more of the population is vaccinated (more yellow dots), the frequency of new red lines drops dramatically.

The explosion of infections among the unprotected is exactly what happened before vaccines. Epidemics were rampant and unstoppable.

And here’s what it’s like at the end of this animation (though in real life it doesn’t stop):

See how around 90% in this example there are nearly no infection connections – few red lines? For any given disease situation, this point is called the herd immunity threshold. When you get to this many yellow dots, it’s manageable. Hospitals aren’t overwhelmed, and you can do contact tracing, as South Korea and others do: you can hunt down every single remaining case and find out everyone they contacted. In other words, you can find and protect the blue uninfected dots … and you can stamp out the disease.

Of course there are a zillion variables that change the speed: how contagious is it? (Each mumps patient infects 10-12 others; each polio patient infects 5-6 others, etc. This is what’s called the “R” number.) How tightly packed is the population? (It’s believed that New York’s crammed subway system was a major factor in the early explosion.) Etc.

Regardless of the variables, that’s the basic concept. (For coronavirus the R number is around 3, and the herd immunity threshold is tentatively believed to be somewhere around 60%.)

But here’s the problem:

We ain’t got no vaccines.

So we’re stuck at “0% vaccinated.”

That’s why, everyplace the virus shows up, it spreads. It surprises everyone, because at first it’s slow, because infected people are invisible for days or weeks (which is why forehead thermometers are dumb), so it’s spreading silently. Then BOOM, a certain percentage get sick. And by that time it’s spread all over the place.

It’s not unlike a wildfire that spreads underground. By the time it erupts, you’ve got a widespread problem on your hands. And the longer you take to notice it and start fighting, the bigger a problem it has become. Which is exactly what happened in the US. (Nobody disputes this; the only argument is whom to blame, but that won’t save your life or mine.)

The other approach: get infected and survive.

Here’s where we get to the COVID-19 version of the story.

There’s another way for a herd to be immune, aside from vaccines: have a lot of critters get sick. Some die, and the rest develop antibodies.

This doesn’t always work – we don’t know yet whether COVID-19 survivors are immune, because the disease is too new. Plus, it’s just a new coronavirus (“novel,” as they say); other coronaviruses cause the common cold, which people get year after year – there’s no immunity and no vaccine. (If you’re thinking “Yikes!!”, that’s appropriate.) But no cold virus has ever been fatal before, so we didn’t have much motivation to solve it.

There have been two killer coronaviruses: (Thanks to Bill Reenstra for pointing to these, which I’d overlooked in the original post.)

SARS-COV-1 infected only 8,000 people, killing 774 (about 10%), and was contained in 7½ months.

MERS has never stopped but is rare. Since arising in 2012 it’s infected 2,519 people, killing 35% of them (866 deaths so far).

Of course we hope the urgency, extreme spread, and enormous death count of COVID-19 will motivate immense investments to achieve new things.

Update next day: But while I was working on this post, CNN Health posted an informative article, What happens if a coronavirus vaccine is never developed? It’s happened before. It quotes British Covid-19 expert Dr David Nabarro: “It’s absolutely essential that all societies everywhere get themselves into a position where they are able to defend against the coronavirus as a constant threat, and to be able to go about social life and economic activity with the virus in our midst.”

In any case, instead of each of these diagrams being labeled “vaccinated,” our reality today is that each yellow dot doesn’t mean “vaccinated,” it means “got infected & survived”:

Ha ha look how funny – this particular image shows herd immunity kicking in after 75% of the population has gotten infected. In the USA that would be 75% of 328 million is 246 million infected people. Ha! Ha!

That includes 75% of everyone you know getting infected. Including, probably, you! Ha! Ha!

And since our best estimate is that 0.5% to 1% of all infections for this virus die, that would be anywhere from 1.23 million to 2.46 million deaths. What a laugh riot!

(Again, these are not exact numbers; they’re just to convey the principle. But they are in the right ballpark.) (And by the way, in these diagrams, each dot represents around 400,000 Americans.)

A herd immunity policy without vaccines is mass murder. And worse.

It’s not just mass murder; it’s a whole lot of very sick people. A friend had the virus and had a fever of 103 for ten days. She was suffering, and of course with this damn virus there’s the always-present fear: “Will I be one of those who suddenly goes downhill fast and dies?” Think about living that way for a couple weeks or more – both you and your family.

Whoever cares for those very sick people – a relative or a professional – is vulnerable to getting sick, too. More than 200 doctors and nurses had died by April 10 – and last week the stress caused two different New York professionals to commit suicide: a top ER doc and a newly minted EMT, months out of training. And Peter Elias MD wrote on Facebook, “The data I have seen is in the range of 1 in 10 to 1 in 5 household members or caregivers.”

Imagine all that if we have half the population infected.

Your only way out: Avoid contact! Wear masks! Wash your damn hands!

We will, someday, have vaccines or at least treatments. (Either that or the world is ending.) Remember, all those diagrams in the animation have variables, and a big one for this virus is how often people bump into each other – literally or figuratively.

Another big variable, when they do cross paths, is whether the virus passes between them and enters the other one’s body. That’s where distancing, masks, and hand washing come in. They are our only defense right now – but they work.

Avoid getting or spraying the virus. Either you or the other guy may be the sprayer – there’s no way to know. Just be responsible. And every time you come home from outside, wash your hands for “two happy birthdays.” The soap bubbles break open the little virus cases, and poof, they lose their power. Just with soap!

You are not powerless against this bugger. You just gotta do it and keep doing it. Maybe for a year or two. Just avoid being either end of a red-line infection connection.

The more we slow down that animation, the better the chance the geniuses will invent effective medicines before that red line knocks on your door.

Be responsible in your community. Stop the spread, and spread the word: Tell people “It’s not just me. I don’t wanna kill a nurse.”

And if anyone suggests herd immunity, pleaseshow them this. I’ve had smart scientific people check it, and this is true. Herd immunity is fine with vaccines. We ain’t got one.

Additional resources

Here’s Why Herd Immunity Won’t Save Us From The COVID-19 Pandemic – a good, concise, clear and accurate article on ScienceAlert

What the Proponents of ‘Natural’ Herd Immunity Don’t Say (NYTimes)

A 2014 Nova piece on herd immunity

For the nerdy, a surprisingly readable economics policy paper from April 24 discussing different ways to look at the overall COVID-19 problem, including herd immunity as one option. (47 page PDF, but really understandable … if you skip the stuff that’s hard to understand.)

e-Patient Dave deBronkart is a cancer survivor, noted for his activist work in promoting access to health care data. This article originally appeared on his blog here.

The post The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

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lauramalchowblog · 4 years

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The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy

By e-PATIENT DAVE DEBRONKART

Here’s why. Here’s a snapshot from the start of the animation.

Each blue dot is a healthy uninfected person – you.

Each yellow dot is someone who’s immune – “can’t touch this,” if you’re into MC Hammer.

Each red line is where someone uninfected crossed paths with an infected person and got infected.

Notice: the more people get vaccinated, the fewer red lines happen. Vaccines prevent infection – who knew??

As time goes by (in the animation and during an epidemic), here’s what it looks like a while later.

If nobody is vaccinated, the disease spreads pretty rapidly; as more of the population is vaccinated (more yellow dots), the frequency of new red lines drops dramatically.

The explosion of infections among the unprotected is exactly what happened before vaccines. Epidemics were rampant and unstoppable.

And here’s what it’s like at the end of this animation (though in real life it doesn’t stop):

Regardless of the variables, that’s the basic concept. (For coronavirus the R number is around 3, and the herd immunity threshold is tentatively believed to be somewhere around 60%.)

But here’s the problem:

We ain’t got no vaccines.

So we’re stuck at “0% vaccinated.”

The other approach: get infected and survive.

Here’s where we get to the COVID-19 version of the story.

There’s another way for a herd to be immune, aside from vaccines: have a lot of critters get sick. Some die, and the rest develop antibodies.

There have been two killer coronaviruses: (Thanks to Bill Reenstra for pointing to these, which I’d overlooked in the original post.)

SARS-COV-1 infected only 8,000 people, killing 774 (about 10%), and was contained in 7½ months.

MERS has never stopped but is rare. Since arising in 2012 it’s infected 2,519 people, killing 35% of them (866 deaths so far).

Of course we hope the urgency, extreme spread, and enormous death count of COVID-19 will motivate immense investments to achieve new things.

In any case, instead of each of these diagrams being labeled “vaccinated,” our reality today is that each yellow dot doesn’t mean “vaccinated,” it means “got infected & survived”:

That includes 75% of everyone you know getting infected. Including, probably, you! Ha! Ha!

And since our best estimate is that 0.5% to 1% of all infections for this virus die, that would be anywhere from 1.23 million to 2.46 million deaths. What a laugh riot!

(Again, these are not exact numbers; they’re just to convey the principle. But they are in the right ballpark.) (And by the way, in these diagrams, each dot represents around 400,000 Americans.)

A herd immunity policy without vaccines is mass murder. And worse.

Imagine all that if we have half the population infected.

Your only way out: Avoid contact! Wear masks! Wash your damn hands!

You are not powerless against this bugger. You just gotta do it and keep doing it. Maybe for a year or two. Just avoid being either end of a red-line infection connection.

The more we slow down that animation, the better the chance the geniuses will invent effective medicines before that red line knocks on your door.

Be responsible in your community. Stop the spread, and spread the word: Tell people “It’s not just me. I don’t wanna kill a nurse.”

And if anyone suggests herd immunity, pleaseshow them this. I’ve had smart scientific people check it, and this is true. Herd immunity is fine with vaccines. We ain’t got one.

Additional resources

Here’s Why Herd Immunity Won’t Save Us From The COVID-19 Pandemic – a good, concise, clear and accurate article on ScienceAlert

What the Proponents of ‘Natural’ Herd Immunity Don’t Say (NYTimes)

A 2014 Nova piece on herd immunity

e-Patient Dave deBronkart is a cancer survivor, noted for his activist work in promoting access to health care data. This article originally appeared on his blog here.

The post The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

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lcgoodstore · 4 years

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25 Super flattering Fashion Trends to Adopt This Fall YOU'RE sure to FALL loving WITH THESE seasonal designs.

Avatar

By CAITLIN FLYNN

SEPTEMBER twenty-four, 2019

Gigi Hadid Suit Tom Ford, Fall Fashion

Fall is finally here, which suggests it is time for Sunday soccer, apple choosing, pumpkin spice lattes, and most significantly, sweater weather. however, fall fashion offers numerous choices on the far side chunky knits. If you are willing to experiment with touch along with with your seasonal vogue, there area unit a lot of new trends that area unit good for commixture things up. undecided wherever to begin? Here area unit twenty-five fall fashion trends, straight from the runways of latest royal house town, that area unit flattering, comfy, and chic.

1Patterns

patterns

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"From cloth to floral, patterns area unit in," says Elizabeth Kosich, a replacement royal house City-based certified image stylist and founding father of Elizabeth Kosich Styling. She notes that patterns add a component of interest to even the foremost basic all-black wardrobes.

2Animal Print

Cow Print Boots throughout Fashion Week Fall Fashion Trends

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"The yeehaw trend remains going robust," says Jamé Jackson, media temperament and founding father of The Blonde anomaly. to undertake out this trend, add a daring statement bag, scarf, or maybe an elegant cow print skirt which will be paired along with your favorite chunky sweater and thigh-high boots.

"Some trends area unit momentaneous, however, others will extremely be around for a jiffy," Jackson says, noting animal print falls into the latter class. "So you would possibly similarly build Associate in Nursing investment if you are going to require the plunge."

3Printed Turtlenecks

printed turtlenecks

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According to Kosich, "adding layers is a technique to amp up your vogue while not paying a fortune, and written turtlenecks area unit all over this season." She suggests carrying a written turtleneck with a jacket or suit, or maybe layering it beneath a dress for Associate in Nursing "instant stylish and contemporary look."

4Plaid

plaid

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Of course, this tried-and-true classic ne'er extremely goes out of favor, however, it deserves a shout-out even so. This season, Kerry Pieri, digital fashion and options editor at Harper's Bazaar, recommends rocking it via a tailored suit—perhaps even one with statement shoulders if you wish to go the additional mile.

5Bold Tailored Suits

suit

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Fashion model and Instagram influencer Victoria Barbara says you are going to be seeing loads of bold-colored, tailored suits this season—and permanently reason. "There's nothing a lot of powerful than a lady UN agency feels assured in her skin and what she's carrying," Barbara says. "What higher thanks to emulating that feeling than with a daring suit paired with the correct accessories?"

6Cinching Belts

cinched suit

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Speaking of accessories, once it involves suit styling, "it's all regarding the belt," writes Justine Carreon, market editor at Elle. and therefore the large advantage of this trend is that you simply do not have to shop for a wholly new suit to partake in it. "Simply obtain a cute new belt and magnificence it consequently," Carreon writes.

7Trousers

trousers

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If you are not down for a full suit, you'll perpetually cut that statement look in 0.5 and rock a pleasant try of garment pants instead. Yes, menswear-inspired trousers area unit coming with revenge this season. and do not be fooled by their masculine, either: in keeping with Kosich, these pants are literally "great for adding a form to your silhouette."

8Puffer Jackets

puffer jacket

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When it involves these massive, daring jackets, "you will ne'er have enough," says Susie Coelho, business executive, and designer for House of geographic area. they are good for the colder months, they are simple to roll up and pack after you travel, and many stores like Uniqlo provide cheap and trendy choices. Coelho's sole recommendation once you are buying the proper puffer? "Don't suppose ski—think fashion."

9Capes

cape

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Marina dynasty, beauty news editor at Marie Claire, describes this outsized piece on the magazine's web site as "the fashion-girl various to a raincoat or denim jacket." it is the good overclothes for anyone UN agency does not need a large coat to cover their outfit.

10Pinks

pink dress

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In a piece of writing for The Zoe Report, the site's editor Lauren Caruso describes pink as "fall 2019's most sudden trend." And if you are not generally into carrying bright colors, do not write off pink simply yet; pairing the colorful hue with neutral tones, like Cognac and artiodactyl mammal, is a simple thanks to compressing its boldness whereas still rocking the trend.

11Purples

purple puffer coat

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But if you are not into millennian pink, why not seek melodramatic purple? "Purple is rising as an innovative trend for ladies UN agency needs to command each attention and respect," says Cherese Boren, owner of Obsessions store in Eagle Mountain, Utah. "From majestic, robust deep purples to coquettish lavenders with a touch of innocence, purple has hit the runways as each a monochromatic sensation and a daring splash of detail."

12The Monochromatic Look

monochromatic

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And that monochromatic look is not reserved for simply purple. "You will select one color or hue then work your entire work around it," Jackson explains. "The means you retain it contemporary and not tacky or cheap-looking is by variable the textures, prints, and hues ever slightly."

Want a tried-and-true fall fashion trend that ne'er gets old? choose a well-curated neutral palette of browns, grays, and blacks.

13Statement Sleeves

Fall Fashion Sleeves

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Jackson ascertained loads of adorned sleeves on the runway throughout New York's Fall 2019 Fashion Week. She notes that "exaggerated sleeves and blouses area unit super flirty while not showing an excessive amount of skin, and that they are worn over an easy black skirt or a try of jeans looking on the ambiance."

14Colorful Tights

colorful tights

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"The colored tights we tend to saw build a light splash for spring have reemerged jointly of the largest (and funniest) fall trends to undertake," Lauren Eggersten, fashion editor at UN agency What Wear, noted throughout NY Fall Fashion Week. and therefore the better part regarding this tights trend is that within the fall, it's even as convenient because it is trendy.

15Feminine Ruffles

Fall Fashion Ruffles, fall 2019 fashion trends

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Eve Dawes, founding father of Glamour & Gains, writes on her weblog that she's an enormous fan of the female ruffle trend that was seen on the runways of Elie Tahari, conception peninsula, Bronx and Banco and that I Love Pretty for fall 2019. "Not solely area unit they radical femme, however, the designs tend to be a lot of flowy, that makes them super flattering and simple to wear no matter body form," she writes.

16Asymmetrical Necklines

asymmetrical necklines

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Alberto Gil, co-founder and innovation manager at moral fashion complete Sumissura, says that a lot of and a lot of individuals are selecting asymmetrical necklines for the autumn. whether or not it's on a dress or a sweater, Associate in Nursing asymmetrical neck could be a fun thanks to swank a touch little bit of skin while not being too shocking (especially because the temperatures drop).

17Versatile Wraps

Fall Fashion Wrap, fall trends 2019

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Women like to wear wraps "in this mediate weather," says Megan Teggart, director of communications at Boston-based clothing company **** That I Knit, that has fans in Katie Couric and wife Jessica Parker. merchandise like her company's Pardy Wrap, she says, area unit nice as a result of they will be "dressed up for an elegant day-to-night accessory" and area unit "warm and comfortable for physical change offices or cold train commutes."

18Oversized Denim

oversized denim

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In a nod to the '90s, outsized denim jackets and jeans area unit creating a comeback this fall. These easy, comfy designs area unit reminding America why we tend to dear them within the initial place. If you are looking for how to include this fun fall trend into your wardrobe, Boren notes that "a cropped denim jacket is especially flattering and might be wont to either close up an ideal relaxed ensemble or maybe dress down a cloth skirt or lace cami for casual charm."

19Double-Layer Sweaters

double layer sweater

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According to Eliza Huber, fashion market author at Refinery29, French designer Jacquemus is liable for beginning the seriously cozy trend of two-in-one sweaters. "These double knits have an inherent second sweater that is good for attachment around your shoulders or victimization as a makeshift turtleneck," she writes. however fun and cozy!

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emilydoesscience · 7 years

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On Pregnancy

Brain dump slash letter to baby below the cut. I’m gonna talk about how easy most of my pregnancy was, so if that’s upsetting scroll on by. Personal post is personal.

I just want to shout out to my body for being ridiculously good at this whole baby making thing. This blog is the only place I have to vent about how annoying things are, and I feel like I’ve been giving you guys this overly negative skew. In the big picture, I had one day of nausea early on, no acne, no itchiness from progesterone, no stretchmarks, no ballooning weight gain, no complications... I’ve had some tolerable heartburn, and a few headaches back in the first trimester, and I’m having to get up to pee 1-2x a night now.

My body is doing everything the best it can and it’s really been a great, easy pregnancy. My doctors love me.

It is frustrating to see the scale climb and as someone who’s struggled with body image, to see my face and limbs lose definition is hard. I know some of this stems from having my Ironman Body right before getting pregnant, but I also think that having been so fit is partially responsible for my good experience. I know that I will get back to “me” quickly. I can’t wait to run again and am actually really excited to start from square one and rebuild my fitness in an all-over balanced kind of way. I want to build more muscle, get fast and get fit in a steady, healthy way.

I hope, as all new moms do, that our baby will sleep well, and our nursing relationship will be smooth sailing. I’m nervous about it, since I don’t think I’ve had a single friend (and there have been lots) who hasn’t struggled, at least a little, at one point or another. I’m realistic in that I’m not afraid to give formula if I can’t do exactly what my little guy needs, but I would be lying if I said it wouldn’t be upsetting at least at first. I am not afraid to breast or bottle feed in public, so thanks again to my strong sense of confidence and self-love. I know I have a great support system in my friends and family, even if most of them are far away. I’m sticking on the positive side that with Tatas like these, we will be great at this.

Pregnancy has taught me a lot about getting advice you don’t want and how to deal with people making comments and staring, how it hurts even when they think they are being supportive. I will never again roll off someone’s feelings that they are getting fat, are tired, hungry, whatever as “You’re growing a human!!!” It’s not helpful. I will never tell another pregnant lady that she “LOOKS HUUUUUUGEEEE” That shit sucks and isn’t helpful. Everyone has opinions about everything related to pregnancy, birth, and kids, and I’m learning how to take this as “they care about me” rather than “ugh I didn’t ask”. I will do my best to refrain from sharing unless the other pregnant lady asks. We are all going to parent our way and to the best of our abilities.

I’m nervous about my parents entering the grandparent roll and how that will change our dynamic. I hope that from myself, I can let more small stuff go and just assume the roll of mom and do what’s best for him, before myself and before them. My current trend is to try to preemptively avoid fights with my parents, which usually leads to having the fight when I’m ready and they aren’t, rather than the reverse, causing them to feel like I’m confrontational and unsupportive of them (while I feel that they are unsupportive of me) So yeah, not a great system of communication we have. I love my parents and appreciate their insights, but I don’t appreciate the it-was-a-joke insults/comp-u-sults/straight up yelling at me/ whatever you want to call them making light of me doing my own thing and not their thing. We are going to parent the best we can based on research and our doctor’s suggestions. We have non-negotiables that I hope are respected and not ignored or mocked. We are learning how to be first time parents while they are 4th time parents, 23 years removed from infancy. Some things are different, some things are the same.

Pregnancy has given me new empathy for my mother’s illness and obesity. It’s hard to be round and unable to reach your feet. It’s crazy frustrating to forget things in 0.5 seconds and to be suddenly unable to lift things or walk far, let alone all the other fit stuff I used to do. It’s frustrating when things don’t fit and when people stare. It’s exhausting to feel like you can’t control your body and to get stuck on the floor or in an extra squishy chair. Going to the doctor all the time is a GIANT pain in the ass. (like omg, I’ve gone to the doctor every week for 6 weeks and I have 3 more to go. They don’t read last week’s notes, they don’t give me enough information, scheduling is a pain in the ass... it goes on. I try to take it back to my own job in a medical field and how I would treat me if I were a patient, but It’s hard) It’s frustrating to be given a diagnosis from your doc and not told anything about it or what to do. BUT, I’ve found through keeping notes in my phone, being good with the calendar, and asking for help when I used to not need it, that I can handle myself and my life without much added strife.

The final chapter of this pregnancy is winding down with this mystery pseudo-diagnosis of polyhydroamnios (too much amniotic fluid). Ironically, I was worried I would be afflicted with too little fluid like my cousin had, and have a premie baby like she did. But I seem to be too high when I go to one office, and am magically in the normal range at the other office. Someone is measuring wrong, or it’s swinging wildly week to week, not sure which is worse. I don’t have any of the other symptoms, or otherwise as my doctor said today I’m “very tough” because I’m not gaining weight, retaining water, struggling to breath, having more than normal contractions, and my cervix is like freaking fort knox. I’m leaning more on the “I don’t have this because I have no symptoms except that I measure weird when this one sonographer measures me” side of things. I’m not concerned, especially since there is nothing to be done about it except measuring and keeping an eye. Which means I get more pictures, so that’s nice.

In conclusion, Little Guy, I’m going to miss having you in here. I’m going to miss your little kickies telling me you’re awake or getting squished or enjoying what I’m doing. I’m going to miss not having to worry about you in this big world. I’m going to miss knowing you’re safely protected from everything.

I can’t wait to meet you and to see Dan with you, and to see how Andi interacts with you. I can’t wait for you to meet your Aunties and Uncles and cousins. We can’t wait to travel, hike, see family, and live. You’re the push we need to move and buy a house. I think about holidays, camping with cousins, your graduation, and all the life events that we’ve had that you’ll get to have - seeing those things from the other side. Being a mom, teaching you to be a good person.

You’re making our little family more complete, so thank you for that, my little peanut.

#babydoesscience

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sanctumslider · 7 years

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Fic: Glass Houses, Chapter 33

Summary: In an alternate universe where all humans are empaths, Kurt Hummel is the odd one out. Registering at a mere 0.5 on the Hawkins Scale of Empathic Sensitivity, Kurt has resigned himself to a lonely life, empty of touch or true love. That is, until the mysterious Blaine Anderson transfers to McKinley, and everything Kurt thought he knew was changed. But finding love is never easy, even in a world where everyone’s emotions are shared. This is the story of the boy who could not feel, and the boy who felt too much.

[Go to Chapter 1]

[FF.net] [S&C] [AO3]

Blaine was gone.

It was the first thing Kurt registered when he opened his eyes, and the immediate panic that swamped him banished any restfulness he had gained from sleep.

He rocketed upright, fighting against the too-tight sheets binding him. He would have fallen out of bed if it hadn’t been for the strong hands pressing against his chest.

“Kurt, Kurt, calm down it’s okay, you’re okay,” his dad wrestled with his flailing arms, voice soothing.

“Where’s Blaine? Where have they taken him?” Kurt cried urgently, refusing to let himself be placated.

“It’s okay, Blaine’s fine. The doc’s just taken him for some more tests. I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Burt said calmly.

“No, no I promised I wouldn’t leave him!” Panic clawed cold at Kurt’s rib cage, erratic adrenaline fuelling his struggles against his dad.

“Kurt!” Burt said sharply, “Look at me. Look at me. Would I lie to you? Blaine will be back soon. I promise this isn’t a trick.”

With his dad’s soothing voice, Kurt began to feel his heart slow, and found himself nodding as he forced himself to sit back against the pillows. “I just, I thought…”

“I know what you thought,” Burt sighed. “You’re not the only Hummel with a problem with these places. Now, will you stay put if I sit down again? Or are you going to run away again?”

Kurt blushed, the barbs of guilt in his stomach suddenly coming back full force. He looked down at his hands, taking a breath before looking up to once again meet his father’s gaze.

He might not be able to sense anyone’s emotions other than Blaine’s, but he didn’t need any extra sense to be able to read his dad’s eyes. He never had.

Sadness, pride, worry, stress… they blended into a mixture that reminded Kurt just how much he had hurt his dad over the last week.

Burt sighed, “I just wish you would have trusted me more, Kurt. Why didn’t you come to me with Blaine’s letters? We’ve had our differences in the past, but I always thought we did pretty well overall. We used to talk.” Burt reached over and took Kurt’s hands in his own. They were rough and warm, and Kurt felt his throat close as he tried not to cry. “I know why you did what you did. You’ve always been a bit look-before-you-leap. But, god, Kurt… have you any idea how terrified I was for you, and Blaine?”

“Dad…” Kurt said brokenly, anything to stop the pain in his father’s voice.

Burt shook his head, “Forget the fact my son broke the law, dragging his brother and friends into it to boot. Forget the police, the Dalton teachers, the experts all saying how we shouldn’t expect to find Blaine alive. Because screw that, I never believed that for a second. I was more scared of what would happen if the wrong person found you boys. There was a god damn witch hunt going on in this town, in the whole of Ohio! And all it would have taken would have been the wrong person to find you boys first, and all-” Burt broke himself off, his voice cracking as he tried to compose himself, “And all we would have gotten back would have been your bloody body, and Blaine too far gone to care.”

Kurt shook, tears running freely down his face as his dad’s words brought the horrible might-have-been to his mind. “I’m so sorry Dad…”

His words broke, chest constricting, and his body heaved with sobs that had been waiting to be released for so long, tangled dark emotions that he had tried to hold in for Blaine’s sake flooding him. And then the bed dipped, and his dad was right there, taking Kurt in his arms and making everything okay again. Kurt clung on, willing his dad to make everything better, just like he always did.

When Kurt pulled back, he said, “I just wanted to help Blaine. I never meant to hurt you. I just… panicked. I didn’t think, and I’m so sorry I scared you.”

Burt smiled softly, clasping Kurt’s shoulder, “I know you are, Kurt. And despite everything, I am so proud of what you’ve done for Blaine, of how strong you’ve been. But how about you let me be the parent for once, and look after you?”

Kurt nodded jerkily, “I love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, buddy.” Burt pulled Kurt back for another hug, and then asked, “So, do you feel up to more visitors? Carole and Finn are in the waiting room, and I know they’d both love to see you. Your whole damn glee club were out there as well, but I sent them home an hour ago. A lot of people have been worried about you boys.”

Kurt blinked, overwhelmed. “What time is it?” The little double room they had been given the night before was bright with filtered sunlight.

“Nearly midday, you slept for about twelve hours.”

“But what about the garage? Saturday is the busiest day,” Kurt said guiltily.

“Kurt. You’re my son, and in hospital. I’ve got better places to be than the shop. Besides, one of the perks of being the owner is I get to decide when I go in, and the guys are fine without me,” Burt rolled his eyes fondly. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

Kurt only had a minute to gather himself before his Finn came bursting into the room, followed closely by his dad and step-mom, as well as Cooper Anderson. Carole surprised him by sweeping down and giving Kurt the tightest hug she could, and then when she pulled away, Finn scrunched his face oddly and grasped Kurt’s hand warmly for a full five seconds before retreating, “It’s good to see you bro.”

Kurt was overwhelmed. He loved his family, but Finn was like everyone else at McKinley and usually avoided his touch like the plague. And Carole, while she’d been making a determined effort of touches since she had married his dad, was still on the higher end of average on the scale, and had never tried to hug him before. Until now, the only hugs he had ever received in his life had been from his mom, his dad, and Blaine.

Cooper grabbed a few more chairs, smiling at Kurt’s unasked question, “Dad’s with Blaine, and Mom’s gone home to grab him some clothes. Figured I’d stick it out here if you guys didn’t mind. You had me worried as much as Blaine.”

“We’re so glad you’re okay Kurt,” Carole smiled warmly, leaning into Burt where they sat.

“Yeah, dude, seriously, it has been mental.” And then Kurt found himself subjected to the enthusiastic retelling of the last week as seen through his brother’s eyes, from Rachel’s enjoyment at the ‘acting challenge’ covering for them had provided her, to Tina and Sam projecting so strongly at a group of teens in the Lima Bean that the nasty gossipers had burst into floods of tears, and of how Brittany had confused everyone for a good twenty four hours with her claim that Lord Tubbington had seen both boys heading for the Mexican border.

Somewhere in the middle of Finn’s account of how Santana had nearly bodily attacked one of the sense agents, Blaine was returned in a wheelchair pushed by Dr Monroe, accompanied by his dad.

Blaine smiled tiredly, but assuaged any of Kurt’s immediate fears that he might have gotten worse as he levered himself out of the chair, perching on the edge of his own bed, “Your turn.”

Dr Monroe nodded, smiling reassuring at Kurt, “It’s nothing scary. I just need to take some scans, a few blood samples. Pretty standard stuff. Your dad can come with you if you like.”

Kurt looked to his dad, who nodded without needing to be asked, turning to his wife, “Why don’t you and Finn go home for a bit, grab some lunch?”

“Sure, I’ll come back this afternoon with some of Kurt’s stuff. God knows you wouldn’t know where to start.” Carole kissed Burt, smiling fondly at him before looking at Kurt, “We’ll be back soon sweetheart.”

“See you later Kurt,” Finn grinned.

“Bye,” Kurt gave them a tiny wave as they left, before swinging out of bed. He walked over to Blaine without asking permission from the doctor, and tried not to think about how both their dads and Blaine’s brother were still in the room.

Blaine grinned, looping his arms around Kurt’s shoulders and kissing his lips briefly, filling Kurt with calm, “It’s not that bad really. The MRI machine makes a horrible noise, but it’s not any worse than Rachel’s complaining and you’ve dealt with that for long enough without going crazy.”

“Come on you, back into bed,” John sighed exasperatedly.

“And you, in the chair,” Burt gestured at Kurt.

“I can walk!” Kurt said indignantly.

“Hospital policy, especially for wayward teenagers,” Dr Monroe said sweetly, before turning to John. “Someone will be back in a moment to fit Blaine’s cannula.”

“Wait, what? What’s wrong?” Kurt demanded.

Blaine squeezed Kurt’s hand comfortingly, “It’s fine, it’s just a little tube in the back of my hand. My blood sugar is still too low, so they want to connect me to an IV. Nothing to worry about.”

Kurt took a breath, taking strength from Blaine’s nonchalance. For a moment, Finn’s stories had helped him forget why they were here.

“Then I’ll see you when I get back,” Kurt smiled, forcing himself to let go of Blaine’s hand. The sooner he had these stupid tests, the sooner this might all be over.

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“Okay, Kurt, just hold your head still for a second for me?” The nurse smiled reassuringly as he placed a strange headset to sit over Kurt’s hair, and began fixing the little metal discs at spaced intervals over Kurt’s head. “There we go, all set.”

“Thanks Tom,” Dr Monroe said from where she was fitting a similar headset on Blaine. “Could you make sure the camera is set up okay for me please?”

“Starting to feel a little bit like a lab rat here…” Kurt quipped, trying to offset his nerves with humour.

Dr Monroe smiled, “I know it all looks very sci-fi, Kurt, but an EEG is very simple.” She attached the last disc to Blaine’s head, “These electrodes are going to allow us to monitor your and Blaine’s brain activity in real time. Any time either of you want to take a break, or stop entirely, just say the word.”

“Camera’s all ready to go and recording,” Tom gave the thumbs up. Burt and John had agreed for the boys to be filmed to ensure the results couldn’t be challenged. For the moment, the authorities had taken a step back in deference to the hospital and ultimately Dr Monroe, but that could always change. It had been five days now since they had been admitted, and Kurt for one was sick of the tests.

“Great. For the record, I am Doctor Fiona Monroe, with Nurse Tom Winters behind the camera. The two patients are Blaine Devon Anderson, aged 16, registered with ES 4.8, and Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, aged 17, registered with ES 0.5. Kurt will be shown Visual Card Set A23 and B65, and Blaine will be shown Visual Card Set A45 and B09.” She rattled off the facts so blandly that Kurt’s stomach twisted even more. “Okay boys, I’m going to raise the divide curtain. Kurt, we’re going to start with you.”

Kurt stole one last glance at Blaine before the doctor drew a curtain divide between their two chairs. She then sat down in front of him, pulling some large cards out of an envelope, “Are you ready?”

“Sure, why not.” Kurt forced himself to relax.

“Okay, starting with test A, no contact. Kurt, just let yourself react to the pictures. And Blaine, when and if you feel anything from Kurt, just say what you feel.”

For the first few cards, Kurt was too tense to feel anything other claustrophobia and discomfort. But then Blaine’s voice floated from the other side of the divide. “Kurt, relax. Seriously…” His voice sounded amused, and Kurt felt his tension leak a little bit.

And then Blaine started just saying random words, sometimes a little before Kurt himself even registered what he was feeling.

A piano – “Joy.”

An elementary school – “Loneliness.”

A roast chicken – “Happy sadness?”

A doctor – “Distrust.”

A cop – “Anger.”

A picture of his dad – “Safety.”

After about thirty cards, Dr Monroe paused. “Okay, great, now see that slit in the curtain? Reach through it and hold hands. We’re moving onto test B, contact.”

The results of that one were much the same, except this time at the back of Kurt’s mind there was a constant echo of Blaine’s peaceful concentration, and a slight shadow of Kurt’s own feelings floating back at him.

“That was the last card. Do you boys want a break, or shall we keep going?” Dr Monroe asked.

They were still holding hands, and Kurt knew it was his itching desire to get out of the stupid thing on his head that prompted Blaine to say, “Nope, we’re good.”

Dr Monroe threw Blaine a look, but her eyes sparkled, “We haven’t started your test yet, Blaine.”

“Sorry,” Blaine chirped. Kurt suppressed a giggle. He knew for a fact Blaine wasn’t sorry at all.

“Alright, Blaine your turn. Test A, no contact. Please let go of each other’s hands. Kurt, by now you should have an idea of what we’re looking for. Just remember there are no right or wrong answers.” And then she disappeared to sit on Blaine’s side of the curtain.

There was nothing. Kurt wasn’t especially surprised. He had sensed Blaine twice now without contact, but those had been special cases. Sometimes, if he really thought about it, he was pretty sure he knew Blaine was there, but that could also be wishful thinking.

Fear-powerless-lost-selfhatred-terror- “Blaine! What the hell did you just show him?” Kurt yelped as a boiling pot of nasty emotions arrowed through his body and he instinctively reached out to the other boy.

There was a lead-weight pause. Kurt was vaguely aware of the nurse behind the camera staring at him in utter shock. And then Dr Monroe’s voice came from behind the divide, too-neutral, “Kurt, if you just felt something from Blaine, please describe it.”

“He’s scared, of whatever you showed him, but also of himself. He feels out of control, like no one’s on his side…” Kurt trailed off, voice choking. “Can we take a break? Please, I…”

“Of course, Kurt.” As soon the words were out of her mouth, Kurt was up out of the chair, shoving the divide out of his way. The stupid wires attached to his head trailed after him, catching slightly. “Kurt, careful!”

Kurt ignored her, grabbing Blaine’s hands, “Are you okay? What was that?”

Through the contact, Kurt felt whatever had shaken that response out of Blaine recede slightly. His boyfriend smiled comfortingly, but it was there was an edge to it. “Sorry I scared you. It was a picture of one of Dalton’s sense teachers. I guess it’s all still kinda fresh in my mind.”

Kurt huffed, squeezing Blaine’s hands, “You’re not going back there, and I am always on your side.”

Blaine nodded, and Kurt felt their shared love sparking between them. “I know you are. You okay to keep going? These things are getting itchy.”

“Sure,” Kurt laughed at Blaine’s adorably scrunched nose, impulsively placed a delicate kiss there before straightening.

Dr Monroe was looking at them both with an unreadable expression. “Alright, Kurt if you sit back down, I think we’ll move onto test B, contact.”

Kurt nodded, taking Blaine’s hand through the divide and closing his eyes, letting his attention focus entirely on his boyfriend. The warm hand in his fitted perfectly as ever, and Kurt felt the lingering tension from the last card wash away.

A tickling flicker of gold, and Kurt smiled, “Something funny.”

Pinpricks of sparks running up his arm, “Excited.”

Dimming stars swallowed in a blanket of dark sky, “Sorrow.”

Ribbons of skittering light on still water, “Nervous.”

Kurt let himself drift, floating under an ever changing sky, saying aloud the emotions he read in the stars.

And then the sky exploded in a breathtaking galaxy that was all Blaine, every hope, every dream, every wish.

Kurt smiled, and even though it wasn’t part of the test, he pushed back the same to Blaine, a mirrored starscape lighting fire to deep blue waters.

“Love.”

Chapter 34

#fic: glass houses #klaine au #kurt/blaine #klaine fanfic #blangst #a collection of words cunningly disguised as a story

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bigyack-com · 4 years

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Stock Markets in Asia Cautious Ahead of Earnings Announcements: Live Updates

Stock market rally falters, with Asian markets mixed.

A global stock market rally showed signs of faltering on Tuesday, ahead of a slew of corporate earnings announcements that are likely to reveal further damaging effects from the coronavirus outbreak.Japanese shares were trading lower as of midday, while other Asian markets were flat or only mildly positive. Futures markets predicted downbeat openings for Wall Street and Europe as well, one day after the S&P 500 rose nearly 1.5 percent.Companies like Ford, Merck and Starbucks are scheduled to report financial results for the first part of the year on Tuesday. While many companies are taking cautious steps to reopen, the earnings reports may further cloud the hopes for a healthy global recovery.Underscoring the unease, prices for U.S. Treasury bonds, often seen as a safe place to put money in times of trouble, rose during Asian trading, sending yields lower. U.S. oil prices continued their plunge from Monday and were flirting with $10 a barrel at midday in Asia.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite index in mainland China was flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.5 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index and Taiwan’s Taiex were up 0.2 percent.Minutes after a $310 billion aid program for small companies opened for business on Monday, the online portal for submitting applications crashed. And it kept crashing all day, much to the frustration of bankers around the country who were trying — and failing — to apply on behalf of desperate clients.Some irritated bankers vented on social media at the Small Business Administration, which is running the program. Rob Nichols, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, wrote on Twitter that the trade group’s members were “deeply frustrated” at their inability to access the system. Until the problems were fixed, he said, “#AmericasBanks will not be able to help more struggling small businesses.”Pent-up demand for the funds has been intense, after the program’s initial $342 billion funding ran out in under two weeks, stranding hundreds of thousands of applicants whose loans did not get processed. Last week, Congress approved the additional $310 billion for small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Bankers were expecting the money to once again run out quickly, and so on Monday at 10:30 a.m., when round two opened, they were ready to go.But for the second time in a month, the relief effort, called the Paycheck Protection Program, turned into chaos, sowing confusion among lenders and borrowers. A centerpiece of the government’s $2 trillion economic stimulus package, the program offers small companies — typically those with up to 500 workers — forgivable loans of up to $10 million. The S.B.A. is backing the loans, but customers must apply through financial institutions.Employees at TAB Bank in Ogden, Utah, spent last week pulling all-nighters to finish preparing loan applications from 1,100 customers. When the S.B.A. began accepting applications on Monday morning, they started trying to submit their files. But the S.B.A.’s computer system stalled, froze and crashed repeatedly. Five hours later, the bank had gotten only seven loans processed.“I’m beyond frustrated,” said Curt Queyrouze, the bank’s president, who also shared his experience on Twitter. “We wanted to update all of our customers this evening on the status of their applications, but right now, there’s not a lot of good news to give them.”

Stocks rose Monday as investors looked toward reopening.

U.S. stocks rose and global markets rallied on Monday as governments around the world discussed when and how to reopen businesses and get their economies back on track.The S&P 500 rose more than 1 percent. European benchmarks rose 1 to 3 percent after a broadly higher day in Asia.European governments, including Italy and France, have been discussing ways to reopen in recent days. New Zealand is loosening restrictions on retailers, restaurants, construction sites and schools after only one new case of the virus was reported Monday.In the United States, governors in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan and other states are deciding how and when to start easing some social-distancing restrictions. Any opening will be slow and painful, but investors signaled optimism that the recovery could begin soon.The clearest signal of this on Monday was a rally in companies that stand to gain from the lifting of restrictions on travel and public gathering. Department store Kohl’s rose nearly 18 percent, while shares of Nordstrom and Gap were also sharply higher, for example.Hotel operators like Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International also jumped.

The shortage you haven’t heard about: sympathy cards.

Many celebrations and milestones have been delayed, but grief is in abundance, and the greeting card aisle offers a snapshot of the virus’s wicked toll. Sympathy cards are nearly all sold out.CVS, one of the nation’s largest sellers of greeting cards, said that it was seeing “higher demand for sympathy cards than most other types of greeting cards during the pandemic” and was experiencing shortages in certain stores. Shoppers across the country have posted on social media that their local Winn Dixie or ShopRite was running out of cards.Some of the shortages have been caused by distribution problems. Pharmacies and grocery chains, focused on keeping their shelves stocked with household staples, are not allowing card companies to come into the stores and restock regularly.With stores running out and people unable to leave their homes, many card sales have moved online and are at record levels, suppliers say. On Etsy, the online marketplace for crafts and jewelry, searches for sympathy cards more than doubled from March 1 to April 17 compared with the same period a year ago.Before the pandemic, the greeting card industry had experienced declining sales. Some big retailers recently cut back on the aisle space devoted to cards. The parent company of high-end card retailer Papyrus declared bankruptcy in January and closed all of the brand’s stores. But virtual communication has its limits, especially in times of grief. With many people unable to attend funerals or drop off food for a grieving neighbor, or even offer an embrace, mailing a sympathy card seems more necessary.Barbara Macchiaroli’s longtime companion died of the virus the day after Easter in a nursing home. He was 90. They haven’t had a funeral, but the cards — 34 so far — have been arriving at her house every day. The senders have written memories about his beautiful singing voice, his devotion to the local Kiwanis Club and his love of Ford Model A’s.“The cards have comforted me in a way I never expected they would,” she said. “I think it is because I can’t be with people right now.”

Catch up: Here’s what else is happening.

Amazon may have violated federal worker safety laws and New York State’s whistle-blower protections when it fired an employee from its Staten Island warehouse who protested the company’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a letter the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James, sent the company last week.JetBlue announced on Monday that it would require all passengers to wear a face covering during travel starting May 4. The mask must cover the nose and mouth throughout the entire journey, from check-in to deplaning. JetBlue did not say whether it would provide masks to its passengers.Boeing plans to resume operations in South Carolina next week, bringing several thousand employees back to work on the 787 Dreamliner about a month after sending them home. Those who can work remotely will continue to do so, and managers will tell the recalled workers when to return to Boeing’s complex in North Charleston, the company said.Reporting was contributed by Karen Weise, Gregory Schmidt, Michael Corkery, Sapna Maheshwari, Niraj Chokshi, Stacy Cowley, Carlos Tejada and Daniel Victor. Read the full article

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sunbus45-blog · 5 years

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Must Have Baby Products You Will Actually Use and Love

After having two babies and talking to countless moms, one thing has become clear to me: There are SO many baby-related items you can buy when getting ready to welcome your little one, and it’s really hard to know what’s necessary and what brands are the best! There are also so many baby essentials guides out there – a simple Google search will give you literally millions of results! So I was hesitant to put yet another baby essentials guide out into the world – and hadn’t done so for a long time. But, because of the amazing feedback all of you have given me on my baby formula and children’s vitamins posts, and how many questions I’ve gotten about baby related items, I thought creating a set of guides related to kids and babies would be helpful to all of you!

Here’s why this guide is different: I am the most Type A person out there, so in creating my list of essentials, I combed through every single baby products site I could find, to come up with the short list of items that we couldn’t live without and were affordable for our budget. This saves you the work of having to go to Lucie’s List, Parents.com, What to Expect, The Bump, etc. if you just want a one-stop shop for everything! I am also super practical, so I’m not going to recommend things that are useless. 🙂

I definitely don’t want you to end up with items that just collect dust in your home. So, what do you actually need for your new baby? Here are the must have baby products you’ll actually use and love! Any items you’ve heard about that I haven’t listed here are ones that were pretty much useless and we ended up donating or giving away.

First Up: Transportation

We went with the UppaBaby line of carseats and strollers. It was a little pricier, but I liked how easy they were to use/latch/unlatch and fold up. They also held up super well – both Layla and Ayan have used this carseat/stroller combination and it still looks like new!

We bought an Uppa Baby Mesa Carseat. I love everything about this carseat! It’s super easy to install and secure enough for an infant. Getting the carseat base is a must! In fact, you might want two if you are going to be using multiple cars frequently. The Uppa Baby Carseat base makes errands super quick and convenient just snapping in the carseat each time you are loading the car!

We bought the Uppa Baby Cruz Stroller. We opted for this stroller over the Vista because the Vista is HEAVY. And more expensive. It also is a pain to fit through airport security (if you travel a lot). To think about managing that, along with an infant, diaper bag, carseat, etc. was just not going to happen if I was on my own. The Cruz is perfectly sized, compact, cheaper than the Vista and easy to travel with.

Lastly, the Brica Baby In-Sight Mirror is a great (and cheap) way to see your baby when they’re in the car and are rear facing. Totally a lifesaver as a new mom! It is definitely a must-have baby product on my list!

Next: Sleep!

I’m actually going to write a separate post about this that goes more in-depth into sleep training, how to get your baby to sleep through the night by 4 months of age, etc. Because I ended up with two pretty terrible sleepers with Layla and Ayan, and managed to get them sleeping consistently through the night by the time they were 4 months old!

Layla was a terrible sleeper for the first 8 weeks. She literally did not sleep from 9pm-4am every single day for 8 weeks straight. She had day-night confusion, and did not enjoy sleeping when being held, or sleeping in a car, on a plane, or in the stroller from the moment she was born. Those first 8 weeks were some of the most stressful of my life, because in addition to having a baby that refused to sleep, I was also recovering from a pretty traumatic birth experience. The whole thing was totally ridiculous. The husband and I were so tired we started hallucinating imaginary babies in our house! I’m not kidding. We’d wake up at night and start lifting a baby that wasn’t there. It was crazy.

So needless to say, these products listed below were lifesavers for us – and are must-have for terrible sleepers (and probably must-haves for good sleepers too!)

This Fisher-Price Cradle & Swing saved our lives. This was literally the only place Layla would sleep: swaddled, put in the swing, with it on. Caveat here: the AAP doesn’t recommend putting babies to sleep in swings. However, Dr. Karp has no problem with it as long as you keep your baby reclined/flat, buckled in, and your pediatrician is aware of it. Here’s a video where he explains how to use swings for safe sleep. We told our pediatrician about it, she approved the swing for Layla’s sleep, and once we started using it we went from short stretches at night, to Layla sleeping for 10 hours at night without waking up (at around 8/9 weeks old)! We also used it successfully for naps. I think it taught her how to sleep through the night at a young age because the rocking motion of the swing would put her back to sleep if she woke up. (Another reason we used the swing, it’s MUCH cheaper than the Snoo, which performs a similar function). I don’t know what we would have done without this amazing device. Even if your baby is a good sleeper, it’s a great place to put them if you need some hands free time! The rocking motion + music + mobile in the swing are all helpful in keeping your baby entertained and relaxed (whether they are awake or asleep!).

We used the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib. Much more lightweight, compact and easier to assemble than a pack n play, and I thought it was easier to break down and put up than the Lotus also. It served all of the same functions that a pack n play would (e.g. a play yard if Layla or Ayan was awake but needed to be in an enclosed space so I could get some stuff done). We got a ton of mileage out of this because Layla would use it as a toddler bed when we traveled until she was 3, and Ayan still uses it when we travel! It’s super high quality – another product that still looks like new after over 4 years of frequent use.

Sound Machines are a must-have baby product, especially for light sleepers! We used the Marpac Dohm-DS All Natural Sound Machine from Week 1 onwards. It’s cheap, functions well, and is loud enough but not too loud that it’s annoying. This is a great sleep saver! Layla has always been a light sleeper so we still keep it on in her room to drown out outside noise so she doesn’t get woken up.

As a new mom, you are constantly worrying about what is happening in your new baby’s room when the door is closed! Are they sleeping? Have they rolled over to their stomach? They are whimpering, do I need to rush in there? A video monitor puts new moms at peace and is a must-have baby product! We used this video monitor from Motorola – which, interestingly enough, doesn’t have great reviews on Amazon but has worked amazingly well for us. It’s been super reliable – we haven’t had any issues with it in 4 years! We still use it for Ayan now. If we were buying a new monitor today, I’d probably go with this one from Infant Optics – great Amazon reviews, same functionality as the Motorola one. A video monitor is also perfect for sleep training and when kids begin standing/sitting in their crib while falling asleep.

Related to sleep: Swaddling!

The Miracle Blanket Swaddle really is a miracle. We bought 4 of them – they come in lots of colors too which is nice. All of the other swaddle blankets were completely useless for us. Don’t even waste your money on them! Layla got out of them in 0.5 seconds and did not sleep. This was the only swaddle that she stayed in, that suppressed her startle reflex, and calmed her down when she was sleeping or upset. It might seem like a lot of material and “complicated” to use, but it’s really not. Once you do it once it becomes like second nature and is super simple! Also, some babies cry initially when they’re put in this because they don’t like their arms down, which leads moms to think it won’t work. Trust me, it will – your baby will get used to it really quickly! This swaddle is good for 0-3 months (or until your baby grows out of it or starts rolling over).

After 3-4 months, we transitioned to the Merlin’s Magic Sleep Suit. They have two sizes, 3-6 months and 6-9 months. It looks ridiculous but works like a charm and is great for transitioning out of the swaddle. Both of our kids would immediately calm down in it, and we were able to sleep train both of them in it, and both kids slept 12 hours straight through the night in the crib from 4 months onwards wearing this suit. It is magic! Totally worth it!

Swaddling products that we never used – but have a lot of buzz/good reviews on Amazon.

The Aden + Anais Swaddles. Totally useless as a swaddle, but great as a baby blanket. So even though we didn’t use these for a swaddle we loved putting them on both kids when they were in the carseat or stroller, to block the sun in the car, or even as a makeshift nursing cover when we were out.

The HALO Sleep Sacks. These just ended up collecting dust at the bottom of both kids’ dressers. Sometimes we’d use them as a blanket when we were out and about if it was a particularly cold day, but we couldn’t really find a good use for these. I’d suggest you buy the Miracle Blanket first! There are plenty of other swaddles out there (zip a dee zip, swaddle me, summer infant, ergo baby, etc.) – the Miracle Blanket still wins 🙂

Baby Carriers

When it comes to must-have baby products you have to include a baby carrier! They’re so multi-functional and we used them for both kids. There are TONS of baby carriers out there, and some of the trendiest ones (e.g. the Boba, the Ergo, etc.) I think are either unnecessary for the price or unnecessary for how complicated they can be to use. We used two carriers for both kids, and both were amazing: 1) The K’Tan — it’s like a wrap but all the work is done for you. It keeps baby super snug and close to you while being really comfy to wear. The downside is that you need two sizes for dad/mom because it’s not one size fits all, so there was no way the husband could fit into the XS K’Tan for me! 2) Infantino Flip 4 in 1 Carrier — this is basically like the Ergo360 or LilleBaby but SO CHEAP, comfortable and super functional! Now don’t get me wrong, the Ergo360 or LilleBaby are both great carriers and people love them, but the K’Tan and Infantino were so much cheaper and equally functional, I’d recommend them first. For a carrier that doubles as a nursing tank when baby is 0-15 pounds, the Lalabu is a favorite of moms I know.

Diapers!

You will spend a lot of time changing diapers, so you want products that you can trust! We used Pampers Sensitive Wipes, Pampers Pure Wipes, and Pampers Swaddlers Diapers. We liked Pampers the best because we literally never had leaks or diaper rashes with these diapers. For nighttime, we used Pampers Overnight Diapers which was great because we only had to change diapers at night if they were poopy — and these diapers helped with sleep training (stay tuned for my post on that!)

The few times either kid got diaper rash, we used Desitin, or this other Diaper Rash Cream. We used Aquaphor as an “everyday” butt cream. Mainly to prevent diaper rash, which worked well!

For diaper pails, my main tip is: don’t get the diaper genie. It’s a waste and is a pain to use – especially since you can’t use regular trash bags for it (you have to buy special diaper genie bags – an added expense!) Instead, we liked the Ubbi Diaper Pail. It is super easy to use, it takes regular trash bags, and it doesn’t smell! After 4 years, it’s still going strong and hasn’t broken once!

If you have a regular changing pad, these waterproof changing pad liners from Munchkin were amazing. We put this on top of our changing table pad’s cloth cover – which was great because every time we had an accident, we just replaced these instead of having to wash the entire changing pad cover. We had 10 of them in rotation! BUT – even better than a regular changing pad is the Keekaroo. Super portable, easy to clean, fits on top of any counter top or dresser top, lightweight and sturdy. It’s great!

Toys

Here’s my disclaimer: your baby doesn’t really need toys. You’ll get a lot of toys as gifts, and the best gifts we got were board books which both kids still love to read and stuffed animals which are great for imaginary play. Here are a few other things we had for Layla and Ayan that entertained her for the first year of their lives 🙂

Activity Mat: We liked this Fisher Price activity mat and got a ton of mileage out of it until Layla and Ayan were about 8 months old. And even after that, both kids still liked playing with the toys from the mat!

Sophie the giraffe: Was great for chewing and teething.

These stacking cups were a big hit too.

This bouncy chair from Fisher-Price was another great “toy” that also functioned as a place to put both kids when I had to do something really quickly. It was also great for bringing into the bathroom with me while I showered and got ready!

Other Must-Have Baby Products

As far as pacifiers, we loved the Soothies Pacifiers, They were the only ones Layla would use! I know some babies like the Nuk Pacifiers too – but Layla never took to those. Ayan didn’t like any pacifiers so for him, nothing was really needed!

My tip would be to buy one of each first, and then figure out which one your baby likes before buying more of a particular brand.

Nails: Your baby’s nails will grow fast! You will need some good baby nail clippers! We loved the Safety 1st Sleepy Baby Nail Clipper and still use it for both kids. You can also file your baby’s nails using this nail file if you’re scared of cutting their tiny nails at first!

Blankets: The Aden + Anais blankets did not work for us to swaddle, but we still loved them! There cotton blankets are the best, and as mentioned earlier, I really used the Aden + Anais Swaddles as blankets when we needed one! These are the perfect blankets for warmer temperatures.

Onesies: When it comes to clothes, my main tip here is to think about items that would be easy to put on (and take off!!) the baby. Zippered onesies (vs. the ones with 8 million buttons) are the way to go. Imagine trying to unbutton all of those buttons at 3 am after a diaper blowout?? No thank you. Zippered onesies all the way.

Snot Sucker: You will need a good snot sucker! I know this sounds strange, but it is seriously the only thing that works when your baby has a stuffy nose. The NoseFrida Snot Sucker is the best! The bulb suction things you get at the hospital are totally useless in comparison!

Laundry Detergent: When it comes to laundry detergent you will want one that is a free & clear detergent like 7th Generation. No matter what brand you choose, the important thing is that it’s free of dyes, sulfates, fragrances, etc.

Humidifier: A Humidifier is another must-have baby product! This is great for the winter months or if your baby has a cold / is congested!

Sunscreen: We liked Badger Baby, HiPP’s Sensitive Sunscreen, and Babyganics.

Washcloths/Burp cloths: We bought a ton of cloth diapers because they are super cheap and you can use them for everything: burp cloths, washcloths, cleaning up messes, these things are useful, and they last forever.

There you have it! Our Must-Have Baby Products you will Actually Use and Love! What would you add to the list?

Be sure to grab our guide to your baby’s first year where we share even more essentials for feeding, sleeping, transitioning to solids, as well as other helpful tips for new parents!

Source: https://pickyeaterblog.com/must-have-baby-products/

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joannemaly · 6 years

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A Photographer’s Review of LASIK: The Ultimate Upgrade?

Like pretty much all photographers, I rely very heavily on my eyesight, not only for shooting but also image processing. Being a professional photographer, my life quite literally depends on my ability to see. Therefore, the idea of having my eyes cut open, lasers pointed at them, and then have them stitched back together is sort of a terrifying thing to think about.

I contemplated for years whether I should get the surgery or not; part of me was tired of constantly having to shoot through my glasses, but the other part of me was terrified of damaging my vision. After years of contemplation, research, and broken glasses, I decided it was time to go for it.

In this review, I will not only speak about my personal experiences in getting LASIK, but I will also talk a bit about what LASIK is and how it works.

So, What Even IS LASIK?

LASIK, commonly called laser eye surgery, is a surgical procedure that uses a laser to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism. In LASIK, a thin flap in the cornea is created using either a microkeratome blade or a femtosecond laser.

The surgeon folds back the flap, then removes and reshapes the corneal tissue underneath using an excimer laser. The flap is then laid back into place, covering the area where the corneal tissue was removed. The end result is (hopefully) corrected vision that will no longer require you to wear glasses or contacts to correct your vision.

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Qualifying for LASIK

Not everyone is a candidate for LASIK; you will need to have a thorough eye exam before you will qualify for the procedure. Your doctor will need to ensure that your eyes are healthy enough for the operation. He or she will evaluate the shape and thickness of your cornea, pupil size, refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism), as well as any other eye conditions.

The moistness of your eyes will also need to be evaluated, and a precautionary treatment may be recommended to reduce your risk of developing dry eyes after LASIK. If you are not a candidate for LASIK, there are other procedures such as PRK that may be better suited for you.

The Statistics

If you are anything me, the idea of losing your eyesight is just unthinkable — so unthinkable that I refused to even think about getting LASIK for years because of the small off chance that it would ruin my vision. This fear is reasonable and to be expected, especially from photographers who specifically rely on their vision.

However, if you start to look into the statistics of it all, the chances of anything going wrong are exceedingly low. According to a study done by the University of Los Angeles:

1. Over 95 Percent of People Are Happy with Their Results, with 90 percent having achieved 20/20 vision or better.

2. Less Than 0.5 Percent of People Have Serious Complications. Around 0.3 percent of people have serious complications that include dry eyes and infection. In many cases, the surgeon can treat the issue and take care of the problem.

3. LASIK Makes Up 96 Percent of Refractive Procedures. There are a lot of refractive surgery options out there, including PRK. However, most people still opt for LASIK. In fact, 96 of people who get refractive surgery go with LASIK.

4. Around 700,000 Procedures Are Performed Each Year. This makes LASIK not only the most common refractive surgery but one of the most common surgeries overall.

About Me

I was nearsighted, meaning that I could see fine close up but seeing things far away was difficult. I started with 20/200 vision according to the Snellen eye chart. The Snellen eye chart is the chart that many people are probably familiar with; it’s used in most doctors’ offices as well as the DMV. It is used to test visual acuity and is scored using 20/20 as the reference point of “perfect” vision.

In my case, it was 20/200, which means that I could only see at 20 feet what someone with normal vision could see at 200 feet. So effectively, I had vision that was literally ten times worse than normal people. With nearsighted people like myself, the goal of LASIK is to flatten a cornea that is too-steep; with farsighted people, it is the opposite. In cases of astigmatism, LASIK works by smoothing out an irregular cornea into a more normal shape.

Pre-Operation

Because my eyes are very important me, I decided to go all out on my laser eye surgery. I started by visiting a retina specialist to do a full and thorough exam of my eyes. This is not required, but I wanted to make sure my eyes were healthy and didn’t have any pre-existing conditions that might cause complications during the LASIK procedure. After seeing the retina specialist, it was determined that my eyes were 100% healthy and there was nothing I should be concerned about in terms of general eye health.

I then went to the LASIK specialist to see if I was a candidate for the procedure. During the consultation, they tested things like the thickness of my cornea, the dryness of my eyes, and the overall shape of my eyes. At the end of the consultation, I was told that I was a candidate and that everything was good to go.

Deciding on the Type of Surgery

There are a million different types of LASIK: Bladed LASIK, Bladeless LASIK, Topography-Guided LASIK, and many others. I decided on a procedure called Custom Wavefront LASIK, which means that they first do a full custom 3D scan of your eyes to get a very detailed 3D image of your exact eyeballs, then they develop a custom correction plan based on those scans.

It is much more precise than the standard procedure and it personalized to your eyes. It was also the most expensive option that my doctor offered, which is not usually a good reason to purchase something. In the case of my eyes, however, I wanted the best possible option, even if it cost more money.

The Operation

I arrived at the doctor’s office around 10 a.m.; I remember being extremely nervous about the procedure. The nurse gave me an Ativan to help calm my anxiety, however, the first Ativan wasn’t very helpful, so I was given another about 15 minutes after the first. After another 15 minutes, I was given a third Ativan because my anxiety just wouldn’t subside. Three Ativan later and they were not legally allowed to give me any more, even though the anxiety was still pretty strong. I decided at that point to just push through the fear and get the procedure over with.

Once I got into the operating room, I was asked to lie down and several numbing drops were applied to my eyes. Then, my eyes were held open using a lid speculum (just imagine that scene from A Clockwork Orange) so that I was unable to blink. As my eyes were being held open, a nurse was irrigating them with both numbing drops and some moistening drops to keep them from drying out.

The doctor then used a suction ring on the front of my eye to prevent my eye from moving while he cut the flap. This part was a bit uncomfortable and I remember feeling a huge amount of pressure on my eye, to the point where my vision would go in and out from blurry, to complete darkness, multiple times.

Once the doctor cut the flap open, he then folded it over, exposing the cornea, then let the laser start its work reshaping the cornea. The laser was completely painless, and looked pretty cool; kind of like a blurry laser light show. I could also smell something that was reminiscent of burning hair.

Once the laser was finished, the doctor folded the flap back over the cornea and then used a little tiny squeegee to press the flap back into place. I could actually see this little squeegee as it went across my eyeball like a little window cleaner. I remember kind of laughing about it because I thought it was so ridiculous.

After the first eye was finished, the doctor moved onto the second eye and repeated the process. Each eye took about 5 minutes, so the entire procedure was done in under 15 minutes, including prep and everything. After the procedure, I could tell my eyesight improved immediately. My eyes were still very foggy from all of the drops and numbing liquid that was still in them, but I remember immediately being able to make out details that I would normally need my glasses to see.

The doctor then cleared me to go home, instructing me to avoid using my eyes too much for the rest of the day, to avoid strenuous exercise for at least a week, and to use antibiotic drops 3 times a day to keep my eyes from developing any infection. In all, about a 1 hour and 15 minutes had elapsed from the time of getting to the doctor’s office and getting into my Uber to go home.

Post Operation

After arriving home, I stumbled over to my bed and slept for a few hours. I woke up and noticed some of the fogginess had disappeared and my eyesight was getting clearer. I still wasn’t allowed to use my phone or watch TV, so I just laid in bed with my eyes closed for another few hours until I could go back to sleep.

Three times a day, I would need to put both antibiotic drops and artificial tears in my eyes to keep them from developing an infection or drying out. I was also required to wear eye shields at night to keep from scratching my eyes in my sleep and reopening the flaps.

The day after the operation, I was told to come in to see the doctor for a post-operation evaluation. They checked to make sure the flap was healing okay, that I wasn’t developing any kind of infection, and tested my vision. My vision at this point tested at 20/30; so, already just 24 hours after the procedure, my vision had improved significantly.

As days passed, I could notice my eyesight getting better and better. I started to notice details that I couldn’t even see with my glasses; things like individual leaves on trees, the LEDs in stop lights, and textures of things like walls, carpet, and sidewalks.

Today

It has now been almost two years since my operation and everything has healed up perfectly. Last time I had my vision tested, it was 20/15, which means my eyesight is actually better than what is considered to be perfect vision.

Researchers from the U.S. and Germany recently conducted a study and literature review of 97 peer-reviewed clinical studies of LASIK vision correction that were published between 2008 and 2015. A total of nearly 68,000 LASIK-treated eyes were reviewed and 90.8 percent of people in that study were able to achieve 20/20 or better; luckily I was in that percentile.

Some people report having frequent dry eyes after the procedure, but I have never experienced this. I do, however, experience some slight haloing at night from direct light sources like street lamps or car lights, but these halos are not any worse than what I would see when using my glasses.

Total Cost

Overall, including my visit to the retina specialist, I paid around $6,000 for my new eyes, or about the price of a new flagship camera body. There are certainly ways to get LASIK for much cheaper, either by opting for a less expensive procedure or even traveling to another country where the cost of surgery is significantly lower. But for me, I wanted the best possible results and was willing to pay for it.

My doctor is considered to be one of the best in the world, was on the original FDA study, and is known for doing the operations of celebrities and the ultra-rich. I was very fortunate that my doctor was in the same city as me, but had he not been, I would have traveled somewhere else to have the procedure done by an equally qualified doctor. This, of course, is not necessary, but it really helped put my mind at ease that I was getting the best that I could get.

Would I Recommend It?

It really depends, if you are able to get by using glasses or contacts than it might not make sense for you. However, if you absolutely can’t stand shooting with glasses, or putting contacts in every day. LASIK really can change your life forever, I couldn’t imagine going back to using glasses every day and I am extremely pleased with my results.

If you are someone who is terrified of the possibility of damaging your eyes like I was, you really shouldn’t. The chances of having negative results are extremely low, and in very small chance something does go wrong it is almost always correctable. Keeping that is mind, in my opinion, there is a lot more to gain getting LASIK than there is to lose.

About the author: Carsten Schertzer is a Los Angeles based wedding and engagement photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. When not photographing weddings he can be found teaching workshops, educating, or traveling. You can view more of his work on his website or follow him on Instagram. This article was also published here.

Image credits: Header illustration based oh photo by Victor Freitas

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