saving lives

in a process that started many, many months ago...by best friend, and pediatrician, lynn, has embarked on a year-long mission with Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

with just about one month's notice, she received her assignment that she would be sent to rural India for a year...lynn has traveled the globe sharing her medical expertice in haiti, australia, africa, and along the arizona/mexican border. and now she's packed up her life and just arrived to start saving lives in india...

we took the family for a great going-away gathering at her mom's house in mid-february...

here she is with her dog that will be cared for by her mother for the year she is gone...


through the beauty of the internet, it looks like we'll be able to communicate while she's gone...which is great, to say the least!

she has been updating her friends and family on her adventures via her facebook page, and after reading today, i thought i'd share a bit of her story - as it is so easy to forget what life is like in other parts of the world. and while our economy is struggling, which is no small matter, it is not what other countries and the citizens have to face.

we live in a world with clean water. grocery stores. health care.

and so throughout this year, as some of her stories strike me, i will include them here. i hope you enjoy...

Woah! Delhi is nuts. Don't get me wrong; I like it, but it's busy, crowded, dusty, and full of honking horns. People here have been fantastic. No sigh-seeing yet, maybe tomorrow. More briefings - and in a nutshell, my job is to help start an MSF hospital, including outpatient and inpatient pediatrics, and inpatient maternal health. No hospital building yet, but lots of plans. I'll keep you posted! We also do 5 mobile clinics a week, walking about 40km a week total, carrying 10kg of stuff (mmm..Plumpy Nut pre-fab kid food) and hacking through a jungle. Can't wait! :)

one word

Type only one word answers

Where is your cell phone? Desk
Your hair? ponytail
Your father? courageous
Your favorite thing? hugs
Your dream last night? morning
Your favorite drink? chocolate
Your dream goal? impact
The room you are in? office
Your fear? future
Where do you want to be in 6 years? content
Muffins? please
One wish list item? peace
Where did you grow up? home
The last thing you did? facebook
What you are wearing? comfy
Your pets? several
Your computer? addiction
Your life? extraordinary
Your mood? contemplative
Missing someone? always
Your car? posh
Favorite store? ikea
Your favorite color? greenish
When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
Three people who email you? kate, tara, amy
Three of my favorite foods? sushi, ice cream, cookies
Three places I would rather be right now? bed, london, hawaii

first born

here's another facebook Q & A - of course, all my facebook friends are now getting a double dose, too...because these blog posts all go to my facebook page ....good grief. ah well.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
no

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
yes - for 8 months

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
terrified

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
no

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
23

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
home pregnancy test, followed by a test at the health center

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
jason - duh

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
no

9. DUE DATE?
first it was the first week of november, then changed to nov. 29 i believe.

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS
tons - for four months

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE
whoppers and most things from taco bell

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
'bad' foods and throwing up every day

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
female

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
no

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
almost none - too much throwing up - i think it was less than 10 lbs...and after she was born, i weighed almost 15 lbs lighter than when i started my pregnancy

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
yes - my mom hosted one at my house

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
i knew

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
not really - other than doc was worried about my lack of weight gain, but the baby kept growing, so he wasn't that concerned!

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Mecosta County General Hospital (now called Mecosta County Medical Center)

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
I think my water broke around 11:30pm and she was born before 3AM

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
jason - had to stop a couple times in the parking lot because of contractions - it was awful

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
jason and my doc and a nurse - but because it was Thanksgiving weekend, we had a ton of visitors the next day, including my brother and his wife, both sets of grandparents, my aunt and bff

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
too fast of a labor for an epidural that i desperately wanted - i think i got a shot of something - and tylenol after - whoopee.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
hmm - i think 7 lbs. 15 oz..i'd have to check (is that bad??)

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN
Nov. 28 - 2:49AM (the saturday of Thanksgiving weekend)

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Lillian Marie

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
9 years

random things

well, if you're not on facebook, you probably haven't heard of the random things...

but i posted mine back in december (back when the list was only suppose to have 16 things on it, but now it's up to 25...)

and i thought today, hey, there's lots of people who read my blog that aren't on facebook...so why not read my random things here??

and i'll probably post some of the other 'notes' here, too...those of you in 'both places' - sorry you're getting a double dose.

so here's my 16 random things:

1. I love cottage cheese - but basically only the Meijer brand - small curd.

2. I used to be addicted to Diet Coke...but I'm not sure I actually feel better now that I gave it up (for the most part).

3. I can obsess like nobody's business. About just about anything. I probably should be medicated.

4. I never thought I'd be a stay-at-home-mom.

5. I've been to Disney World more times that I can count and I still get verclempt walking down Main Street USA.

6. Someday I will design and make a really killer gingerbread creation.

7. I have a very large collection of JFK memorabilia.

8. I never thought I liked to read until I found Harry Potter, Edward Cullen and any book by Phillipa Gregory.

9. I have very few 'real' friends. (you know who you are!)

10. I have a very strong desire to adopt internationally. I've had the desire for as long as I can remember (for a long time I was going to adopt a 2 year old Korean boy named Peter...he didn't really exist, that's just what I wanted...).

11. I think I spent the better part of my college career battling depression - I just didn't know it.

12. I could not live without my laptop. I wish I could...but I can't.

13. I wonder and worry about what it will be like to be the parent of a teenager (let alone 4 teenagers at one time!)

14. I think Ben and Jerry are some of the smartest men on the planet. As is Jon Lasseter.

15. I was disappointed when i couldn't find any Cap'n Crunch Christmas Crunch in the store today...there's still more than a week until Christmas - so help me, I better be able to eat my Christmas Crunch!

16. All four of my grandparents were still living when I was 30 years old.