Moving right along...

Ok, so anyway.... Easter! All this talk about new babies and babies on the way makes me totally excited about Easter. I'm kinda curious to see what will happen at church this year as we are no longer in a Sanctuary, but are now in a gynasium. I don't know if it will be harder to have the "Flower Spectacular" that we usually have. I hope so as I really enjoy that. I'm sure we will sign up for the prayer vigil like we do every year, hopefully not at one in the morning like last year. They have also moved the "Sonrise Service" to seven A.M. instead of six so that's kinda nice.

After the church-y festivities we are having a super-cool-food-a-riffic dinner thing at my sister-in-law's place for which I am happily providing the ham for this year. I'm totally excited!!! Especially about the ham, cause I'll get to brag like I raised the pig and killed it myself. Not that it will be true, or anything, but I like to pretend I'm half the cook that she is and I can't do that and be honest at the same time. Actually, if I hated my family the food would make it worth hanging out with them, but of course I don't actually know how to cook any of it.

Not really my strong suit, cooking. I do have a few things I am really good at, like cajun pork chops, but for the most part I like to just get recipes from everyone else and tips on exactly how they make it. If I didn't everything I made would taste like the few spice combinations I know I like. Kinda boring, really.

Of course the kids will get to have their egg hunt and get loads of goodies that will rot their teeth and turn them into two-legged sugar bombs so that all the parents will want to wring their little necks (with love, of course) and knock them out. I believe the protocol generally used at that point is a corral (backyard) and a big dog to chase the vigor out of them. Luckily, my SIL has all these things at her house. I'm not sure what the back-up plan is for what to do when the dog eats the candy. Do the kids chase him? Hard to picture.

Anyway, does anyone have plans for Easter they are excited about? What does your family do?

Can I get an Amen?

Hey kiddies, just wanted to draw your attention to Sabrina's sister Davinie whose water broke this morning at 36 weeks. She is on her way in for a c-section as we speak, and though she and I have not been the best of friends (or friends at all, really) I would like to call all my gals to send up a prayer for her and the baby. I know I can count on you!!!

(just forget that I referred to y'all as my be-hatches in another post, will ya?)

On another note, I had a lovely job interview yesterday with Central Oregon Resources for Independant Living. It was much fun, I just have to figure out if my school schedule will allow me to take it.

I'll keep you posted!

Oh the lies...

Wow. So, we all know that I randomly troll blogs. I stumbled onto a large list of pro-choice blogs. It amazes me that there are so many people out there who just refuse to see the babies involved in abortion as, well, babies. How do you not see them as babies? I really don't get it. Some of them even have kids of their own. It is so beyond me. I understand the standpoint the clinics take. That's a lot of money they bring in. If you look at the Newsweek article I posted a bit ago it pretty much says that with the whole "coping strategies" thing. I just don't get how that doesn't raise a big red flag for everyone. They are all really good at pushing the whole safe-sex thing when we all know there is no such thing. I'm not sure if they actually believe that, or if they just don't care. Plus, they all equate feminism with pro-choice attitude, which seems like quite a contradiction to me. Finally, they talk about how pro-lifers and Christians are so mean and cruel and fly-off-the-handle type people. This one concerns me. I have to wonder why so many pro-lifers (I've definitely met more than a few) are so mean about this argument. I understand the emotion behind it, but we all know that the truth is always better heard if you share it with love instead of shoving it with anger. I tell people my views about abortion because I care about the futures of fetuses, and the futures of women everywhere. Not because I want to be right or because it fits in with my politics or whatever else you can come up with. Because I know in my heart it is wrong, and hurtful and bad for us all. I would not want to be the person who finds out all of those things after the deed was done. Everyone deserves the opportunity to be protected from harmful things. I am glad that drugs are illegal, it helped me make the decision to stay away from them. I'm glad that it's against the law to drink until you are 21 and that honest information on alcoholism is easily accessible because it helps me be responsible with my decisions concerning alcohol. I'm glad we know about the dangers of smoking because it helped me quit. I want the women of the world to know the TRUE dangers of sex and abortion so they can make the safest and most responsible decision possible. I can't decide for them, and I wouldn't be, even if it were illegal. Just as we don't choose for those who do drugs anyway, despite the laws. My faith aside, women are cutting their own legs off by perpetuating an industry that cares more about money than the choices we have to make. That's what I care about. It's more about God's command to love my neighbor than about "thou shalt not kill". I think that's the way it should be.

You gotta hear this...

OK, so I'll admit that I was randomly trolling blogs, bouncing aimlessly from blogroll to blogroll when came across this really awesome Christian blog that included this great quote. I had to post it here because my be-hatches (you know who you are) would not only love it, but need to know it.

Enjoy girls!

....."Recently I heard a pastor say that there are times when it is of the utmost importance that a wife bows her head in submission so that God has a clear shot when he smacks her husband upside his head. I'm pretty sure I've witnessed one of those times"....

Don't know who said it (forgiveness, please!) but for those of us who can't say the word "submission" without making a bitter-beer face, this is the perfect quote to put it all in perspective.

My good deed for the day is done.

(Actually, that's probably all you'll get out of me for months on end, so you may as well bask in my magnanimous gesture like kitties in sunshine.)

Just FYI, and really, the last on the subject.

Pertussis (Bordatella pertussis) (whooping cough)

This disease results in high morbidity and mortality in many countries every year. In the United States, 5000-7000 cases are reported each year. Incidence of pertussis has increased steadily since the 1980s. The incidence in 2002 was 3.01/100,000 when 8,296 cases of pertussis were reported.
In 2004, 25,827 cases of pertussis were reported in the United States.

Measles (Rubeola)
Rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes (lasts about a week)
Complications -- Diarrhea, ear infections, fatal pneumonia, fatal encephalitis, seizures, and death
Approximately 20% of reported measles cases experience one or more complications. These complications are more common among children under 5 years of age and adults over 20 years old.
Measles kills 800,000 people yearly in the poorer parts of the world.
The disease is highly contagious, and can be transmitted from 4 days prior to the onset of the rash to 4 days after the onset. If one person has it, 90% of their susceptible close contacts will also become infected with the measles virus.
The virus resides in the mucus in the nose and throat of the infected person. When that person sneezes or coughs, droplets spray into the air. The infected mucus can land in other people’s noses or throats when they breathe or put their fingers in their mouth or nose after handling an infected surface. The virus remains active and contagious on infected surfaces for up to 2 hours. Measles spreads so easily that anyone who is not immunized will probably get it, eventually.

Rubella
Birth defects if acquired by a pregnant woman: deafness, cataracts, heart defects, mental retardation, and liver and spleen damage (at least a 20% chance of damage to the fetus if a woman is infected early in pregnancy)
It is devastating to unborn babies, especially in the first trimester.

Pneumococcal pneumonia
Death (one of the most common causes of death in America from a vaccine-preventable disease)
Pneumococcus is in many people's noses and throats. Why it suddenly invades the body and causes disease is unknown.
Pneumococcal vaccine is very good at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death. However it is not guaranteed to prevent all symptoms in all people.

Pneumococcal Meningitis
High fever, headache, and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis in anyone over the age of 2 years. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. In newborns and small infants, the classic symptoms of fever, headache, and neck stiffness may be absent or difficult to detect, and the infant may only appear slow or inactive, or be irritable, have vomiting, or be feeding poorly. As the disease progresses, patients of any age may have seizures.

There are two vaccines against N. meningitidis available in the U.S. Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (MPSV4 or Menomune®) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and available since 1981. Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4 or MenactraT) was licensed in 2005. Both vaccines can prevent 4 types of meningococcal disease, including 2 of the 3 types most common in the U.S.

Pneumococcal meningitis is associated with a high mortality rate. Vaccination is given at 2, 4, and 6 months. Streptococcus pneumoniae causes this meningitis and also causes many ear infections, so the vaccine may help prevent many ear infections as well.

Mumps
complications include Meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, inflammation of the pancreas and deafness (usually permanent).

Meningococcal disease
Cause: multiple serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis
10%-14% of cases are fatal. Of patients who recover 11%-19% have permanent hearing loss, mental retardation, loss of limbs, or other serious sequelae.
N. meningitidis colonizes mucosal surfaces of nasopharynx and is transmitted through direct contact with large droplet respiratory secretions from the patients or asymptomatic carriers. Humans are the only host
Risk groups include infants and young children (for endemic disease) , refugees, household contacts of case patients, military recruits, college freshmen who live in dormitories, microbiologists who work with isolates of N. meningitidis , patients without spleens or with terminal complement component deficiencies, and people exposed to active and passive tobacco smoke.

HIB (Hemophilus influenzae strain B)
3%-6% of cases are fatal; up to 20% of surviving patients have permanent hearing loss or other long-term sequelae.
Transmitted by direct contact with a nasopharyngeal carrier or case patient
Risk groups are infants and young children, household contacts, and day-care classmates.

Hepatitis A
Adults will have signs and symptoms more often than children.
HAV is found in the stool (feces) of persons with hepatitis A.
HAV is usually spread from person to person by putting something in the mouth (even though it may look clean) that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is the main reason for the signs posted in restaurants cautioning everyone to wash their hands to stop the spread of disease.

Viral Hepatitis B
About 30% of persons have no signs or symptoms. Signs and symptoms are less common in children than adults.
Chronic infection occurs in:
90% of infants infected at birth
30% of children infected at age 1 - 5 years
6% of persons infected after age 5 years

Death from chronic liver disease occurs in 15-25% of chronically infected persons.
Number of new infections per year has declined from an average of 260,000 in the 1980s to about 73,000 in 2003.
Estimated 1.25 million chronically infected Americans, of whom 20-30% acquired their infection in childhood.

Hepatitis C
Similar in most respects to Hepatitis B except that it is more likely to cause chronic hepatitis.
There is no vaccine for Hepatitis C.

Influenza
Diarrhea is not a symptom of influenza. The term "stomach flu" is a misnomer. True influenza is a pneumonia that kills 20,000 people each year in the United States, so you are not vaccinating against the illness that causes tummy upset.

The influenza vaccine includes the 3 strains of influenza virus predicted to be the most common in the coming flu season by the CDC. It is a killed virus and CANNOT cause influenza. Two to four weeks is needed to develop immunity.
The death rate for people over 65 is up to 100 times greater than that of people under 65.
**Influenza during the second trimester of pregnancy is the trigger for schizophrenia that will show up later in the life of the child.
**Influenza during childhood is a trigger for type 1 diabetes.
Flu vaccines can help prevent schizophrenia and diabetes!!!!

(Thank you Mark Eberle, Eddie Johnson and Jeff Cooney!!!)

A last thought..

Just wanted to make a last argument, most of the diseases that we vaccinate for are fatal to fetuses. Most of them cause miscarriage or stillbirth and the mother could not even know she's been exposed. Pretty scary stuff.

The subject that wouldn't die...

I have in the past stated that I didn't think that the chicken pox vaccination was really needed. I have to take that back. It is now known that children with chicken pox are considered high risk for Necrotizing Fasciitis. For those of you who don't know any better, that is the flesh eating bacteria. If you get it you will be lucky to last 3 days. There was an outbreak in Texas (?) that we were discussing in class today. 12 kids got Necrotizing Fasciitis, 9 of them had chicken pox. Seven of the nine died. There are only a few things that put you in the high risk categories, diabetes, chicken pox, being on NSAIDs, IV drug use, and I believe that is it. Necrotizing Fasciitis is a superbug, meaning that it is resistant to pretty much all of the antibiotics we have. SOOOOO, back to my point, VACCINATE VACCINATE VACCINATE!!!!!!!

You're welcome.

What the heck?!?!?

OK, what is it with people who don't vaccinate their kids? How dumb is that?!?! A friend of mine is in a childbirth preparedness class and she said that like half of the people in there are planning to skip shots for their babies. She asked them why and they said that they heard that the shots contain mercury (they don't) and that mercury causes Autism (it doesn't). Not that it would matter if it did because they don't put it in vaccines anymore.

Where on earth do these folks get their information? People magazine? The internet? Who knows, but these people have caused problems for kids who do get their shots. There have been cases of babies dying of pertussis (whooping cough) because some older kid whose parents didn't believe in vaccinations got it (and survived) and passed it to the baby who is too young to get that vaccination. Polio has been reintroduced to the U.S. and other diseases are making big comebacks because of people who don't vaccinate.

Yet another instance of a clear-cut issue that people have to make into a big "choice' thing. Or an "exercise my freedom" thing. At least in this case we can say, your kids lives are at stake, get the shots!!! And if your kids don't get the shots, ON SCHEDULE, other people's children may die. But no, nobody says a frickin' word. They just call that "parental right" even if the kids die from a disease that is easily prevented. People are so stupid.

Sorry, that just pisses me off.