Are you confident they did a full panel for PCOS? I was originally tested by an OB/GYN who insisted my bloodwork was normal. I had several "higher end of normal" results that in light of my symptoms, were most definitely NOT normal. He was missing the big picture. Symptoms plus higher end of normal was not normal for me. He also only tested *some* of the things that are helpful in diagnosing PCOS. For example, he tested my total testosterone, when for women w/ PCOS, testing for free testosterone is much more telling. When I pressed and got in to see an RE, I was diagnosed right away. They did a more thorough, more accurate panel. I have less experience w/ thyroid but many women are only given a TSH test. I think ideally (especially if one is having symptoms) need to test free T3, free t4, and test for antithyroid antibodies. I'm sure I'm missing some of the recommendations there but if you are having symptoms, I'd be sure they are really looking closely, and not just doing a few of the tests. Without all of that info, they may not be able to catch something like PCOS or thyroid. eta: I fully agree w/ getting your own copy of your results. That's how I figured out I had PCOS. I was told "normal range" when I really had "higher end of normal" results. On one of the measures, my RE said he had never seen a lab set such a high "normal" range. No wonder I came back in range! That way you can also figure out whether they really tested everything they should have in order to rule in/out PCOS and thyroid. It isn't uncommon for them to not really do all of the testing they should for those two conditions (and you have symptoms that could be consistent with those).

nak- If someone is sensitive to sugar, honey will still spike their blood sugar and cause a lot of insulin to be released. I personally can't tolerate honey. You really might like Gary Taubes' work. He had an article a number of years ago called "What if it is all a Big Fat Lie" in the NYT (available if you google it) that he kind of built into his book Good Calories, Bad Calories (terrible name, great book backed with excellent science). He wrote simplified version of GCBC recently called Why We Get Fat. A good starting point might be his recent NYT piece on Sugar: "Is Sugar Toxic?" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html If that opens the door for you, then I'd pick up his books. He also has some youtube segments. I have a strong background in bio and physiology and I think he does a great job referencing his work. It is very science-heavy, but excellent IMO.

Yeah, most people aren't really familiar with the term insulin resistant. I get blank stares or people assume I'm fully diabetic. Gotta love PCOS ;) At least it clued me in about what I needed to do for my long-term health. Getting that diagnosis was helpful in that respect, and my parents (both have metabolic syndrome type issues) have done much better since switching over to a low carb WOE 3 years ago. I'm thankful that PCOS at least gave me the clues I needed to figure it out. That's about the only upside ;)

I have PCOS and am insulin resistant. I am not overweight (like PP, I'm a size 4, BMI around 20-21) but can't handle carbs and sugar. I have several family members with metabolic syndrome. I use stevia and sometimes erythritol. But I really think to get off of sugar, it is best to do it cold turkey at first and kill the cravings. Once you stop for 2 weeks or so, most people rarely find themselves craving it. I think upping your consumption of fats and protein helps when you are coming off of sugar. Have you looked at things like a primal/paleo diet (mark's daily apple forum) or another lower carb type diet? Gary Taubes' work is great if you want to understand the physiology.

:iagree: Stop riding the insulin rollercoaster.

nak- if you aren't already aware, you might want to look at articles online about "shadow inventory." In many cases, the banks don't want to sell, because once they sell, they have to show the "realized" loss on their balance sheet, kwim? I'm not sure I'm explaining it well but if you look up some pieces on shadow inventory it will give a more thorough explanation.

I use Motivated Moms. It is less overwhelming IMO than flylady. http://motivatedmoms.com/

I'm so sorry that your family is going through this. I would self-report to VAERS unless you are absolutely your physician did this already. I would also report your other son's reaction. VAERS does not require that you prove the vaccine caused the reaction. It serves as a collection of data for epidemiologists and researchers to examine. Reporting the reactions may be helpful to someone else in the future. http://vaers.hhs.gov/esub/index

:iagree:

:iagree:

:iagree: My son was an early reader and was reading quality literature during his free time, sometimes for 2-3 hours a day. Is that "school" time? I don't count it as such. We keep resources like bird and tree guides, etc. available to our kids at all times. During their free time they pick up the bionoculars and observe a bird and then look it up in a bird guide. They work on their garden and make observations. I think it is easy to HS a first grader in an hour per day, but I think of that as more direct one-on-one parent involvement. My child spent hours and hours a day of his "free" time doing things that are educational.

There was a study presented at one of the big dermatology conferences suggesting a reduced carbohydrate diet might be helpful. If there's any chance you are dealing w/ PCOS, this may be particularly helpful.

In addition to the ideas already mentioned,could you attach a measuring tape to the table/work surface to make it easier for them to measure specimens? Magnifying glass? Snap circuits? Flower press? Mineral specimens to examine w/ the magnifying glass? Sunprint paper (if you are okay with storing things to use outside) Tweezers? Access to recyclables for "invention" materials? (depends on your storage space, tolerance for mess, etc. obviously!) Blank notebooks for field notes, garden journal, etc? eta: My oldest son is 7 and enjoys things like the Thames and Kosmos kits. Around the holidays Amazon sometimes has great deals on stuff like this.

Oh, just to be clear, I totally agree it happens in small towns, other cities, etc. as well. I find it fascinating when there is actually news on it, however. One of our local district principals was forced to resign as a result of a test scandal. This was in the far suburbs of a mid-Atlantic city, in a cute, sweet little town w/ a supposedly excellent school district. I just find it interesting that I am forced to provide standardized test results to my school district. I am not looking forward to making my DC take a standardized test at all. I find it fascinating that there are districts all over the US where cheating is taking place, and they are looking at homeschoolers' test scores to determine "adequate progress" and so forth :glare:

I recently read the story about the concern over whether cheating was widespread on standardized testing in DC. It looks like Atlanta schools are under suspicion now. None of this is surprising to me, but as someone who lives in a state where standardized testing is mandated for HSers, I find it a little...fascinating. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/probe-widespread-cheating-on-tests-detailed-in-atlanta/2011/07/05/gHQAURaczH_blog.html

Yep, we schedule around nap time. My kids are 7, 4.5 and 15 months. My oldest stopped napping around age 3 (I encouraged him dropping the nap as he was routinely up until 10-11pm when he napped. Pleasant, happy, cooperative, and just not tired at all). I encouraged my DD to drop the nap around age 3 but she would have rocky afternoons. We have quiet time when the baby goes down for his nap, and she falls asleep about 1/3 of the time I'd say. Thankfully she will still go to bed by about 9 if she naps, so not quite as much of a problem as it was with my son. I am a pretty laid-back mom on a lot of things but keeping the nap regular and predictable makes my life easier. Once they get off schedule (traveling, etc.) I always want to rip my hair out because things just get crazy for us. I do look forward to the day when we move past naptime. Some parents are sad to see it go, but I look forward to the freedom. It will have been nearly a decade of being tied to the nap, so I'll be ready :D Right now I'm even limited in that if we don't get out of the house ASAP in the morning, the baby falls asleep in the car on the way home. My kids have never transferred well (don't stay asleep if I carry them in) and the car nap is often a shorter nap (an hour max, sometimes shorter).

There are rural hospitals all over America that don't employ 24 hour anesthesia services and have to transfer any mother needing an emergency C. This is one of the things the NIH panel on VBAC mentioned in their report. Some hospitals have taken a no VBAC approach for this reason, so they can do scheduled Cs for these patients while the anesthesiologist is available. I raise that point because an undetected breech could require a transfer between hospitals, just as a homebirth might require a transfer into a hospital. Many hospitals in this country do not offer 24 hour emergency C sections/surgical theatre on site, even though they have maternity wards. http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/article_81d27312-f400-11df-bfce-001cc4c03286.html http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/vbacstatement.htm (scroll a little more than halfway down) From the above: -Two recent surveys of hospital administrators found that 30 percent of hospitals stopped providing trial of labor services because they could not provide immediate surgical and anesthesia services. - experts in tracking anesthesia staff resources have found that there are too few anesthesia providers to ensure “immediate†anesthesia availability for all hospitals providing childbirth services. Moreover, they predict that these shortages will worsen in the future.

Sending positive thoughts your way :grouphug:

There are practitioners in every profession who are inept or unqualified, or who make terrible decisions. I can't fathom hiring a MW without knowing what her backup plans are. No, not all mw have the same system. In my mind, it is something most people would discuss w/ their MW before contracting their services. I have seen checklists, etc. available online that include discussion points. I consider that type of thing par for the course before committing to any practice. Similarly, I would have a list of questions if I were considering seeing an OB for care. I don't particularly care for the term birth rape, but I think it arose out of an intense need for some women to vocalize how traumatic their birth experiences were. Many times I have heard people say "all that matters is that you had a healthy baby" to a woman who is filled w/ overwhelming emotions following the birth of her child. Some women end up with legitimate PTSD and so forth, and I think the "birth rape" language arose out of a need for some of those women to feel heard. It isn't a term I would use, but I think the women using it feel a need to express just how truly traumatic their experiences were. Many of those women are patted on the head and told to just be happy they have a healthy baby to show for their experience. It wasn't or isn't considered socially acceptable for them to express feelings of being traumatized or violated. While a healthy baby is important, many women have had their traumatic experiences dismissed by family, friends, and medical professionals, and I think the strong language comes from a place of wanting to be heard. However, I understand why it can be upsetting to hear the term birth rape, and as I said, it isn't a phrase I would use. I do not consider it isolated homebirthers, as I've heard (or read) the term used by women who have never had a homebirth. One other thought on licensure. This piggy backs off of the comment about the unlicensed midwife in your post, and off the comments about Rhogam and transfers. When that BMJ study came out, there were comments in the journals and online from folks at ACOG saying we can't apply homebirth safety studies from other countries to the US. The rationale that was offered was that many of the European countries that have had excellent outcomes w/ homebirth midwives have a system in place where the midwives are "integrated into the medical system" which is not always the case in the US. I found that rationale striking, as our system has done everything possible to make sure that midwives are not integrated into the system. For example, requiring CNMs to have OB backup in order to be able to practice as HB midwives. It sounds great on paper, until you realize that backup is nearly impossible to obtain. As a result, the licensed, trained, and degreed CNM has a difficult time actually managing to attend HBs legally. In the state I homebirthed in, my midwife was a CNM with backup. There was no recognition of a CPM being legal, but there were several big pushes to allow it. Therefore, the CPMs are not "legal" practitioners and are not licensed...because there is no option for them to be licensed. And of course, they still practice, and women still choose them for their HBs. In many places, while legal, a CNM isn't even a viable option due to the backup requirements. (eta: I don't think a CNM is inherently more desirable than a CPM). Not integrating homebirth midwives into the system is the cause of many tragic outcomes, IMO. We criticize them for not being part of the system, but the system does everything in its power to keep them out. (eta: there are studies showing homebirth is a safe option for low risk women in the US. I just mentioned the BMJ thing because I recall after that favorable study came out, I was dumbfounded that ACOG, etc. didn't want to see it applied to the US since US midwives are generally not as well-integrated into the "system".

My oldest two each coslept for about 3 years and then transitioned pretty smoothly into their own rooms. They are 7 and 4 and both sleep great on their own. The baby is a little over a year old and is still cosleeping.

Perhaps this is more of an issue with your friend? My midwife encouraged questions and open dialogue. She wanted to know our concerns and worries and questions before we put a deposit down on her services. She and two other local area midwives hosted screenings of The Business of Being Born and invited questions, etc. from those who were considering a HB. They would bring their standard birth bag and equipment, etc. so people could get a feel for what they provided. My CNM homebirth midwife worked with an assistant. The assistant had a bachelor's degree in nursing and was actually finishing up her CNM degree. If I was in the earlier stages of labor, and my midwife was attending another birth, my midwife would have had the assistant come check on me, do vitals, get a feel for how things were going. If my midwife was at another birth when I called and was concerned things were progressing quickly, she would have called one of the two backup midwives. They were midwives in the area with their own clientele, but they all provided some backup for one another in a pinch. Most midwives are careful to not take on too many clients so they don't run a high risk of having women in labor simultaneously. Even if two cleints are simultaneously in labor, they are generally able to triage their needs using the assistant, etc. It is pretty uncommon for both women to urgently need to give birth right at the same time. If the need did arise, the backups would step in if necessary, but that was quite uncommon. eta: fwiw, I've been made to feel uncomfortable in the past when asking my original OB (prior to switching into midwifery care) questions about the process, and what I'd be "allowed' to decline, etc. I also felt that way to a degree w/ the more "med wifey" CNM who delivered my oldest child. I think there are plenty of OBs who have a "don't question my authority or policies" type of attitude, which doesn't exactly foster patient communication. Or the patient is told to find another practice if they aren't going to conform to the OB's policies and practice guidelines (even if those guidelines are not well-founded from a research standpoint).

Some states cap the total that can be held as a deposit (for ex, no more than 2 months of rent total can be held as the deposit). Double check the LL/tenant laws in your state to make sure you are in compliance.

If it is sensory, start w/ chatting w/ an OT if you already have an existing relationship with one. They could probably direct you to some resources who could determine if this is truly a sensory thing. It sounds like there could be a strong possibility of that. If she has anxious tendencies or an anxiety dx, could you speak to a psychiatrist about whether the food-related issues are related to that? I would think even if the problem is sensory in origin, having some anxiety would just exacerbate the sensory part all the more.

We used a balance bike. You can remove the pedals or have a bike shop do it. We have a dedicated balance bike and it was very helpful in teaching my 2 older children. Our 5 yo neighbor has been using training wheels and was messing around on our balance bike for a few days, and suddenly hopped on DD's 2 wheeler w/ pedals and took off. My DS1 started riding a balance bike at age 3 and moved to a 2 wheeler w/ pedals at 5 (he was ready before that but wasn't complaining, and we had a bike for him to grow into that he would not have fit well on at age 4). DD started riding the hand me down balance bike at age 2, and when she got her cousin's 2 wheeler w/ pedals at 3.5 she took off after about an hour's worth of practice. There are also bikes like the Trek Float that can be used as a balance bike or a regular 2 wheeler w/ pedals.

Youngest of 5, and there is nearly a decade between my youngest brother and me. For a good portion of my childhood, I was essentially an only child because of that gap. I was also the only girl. My husband is a middle child. He's very much a peace maker ;)