Scratch 'n' Sniff

I noticed the strangest thing yesterday as I was opening my new toothbrush. On the package it says that it is a scratch 'n' sniff toothbrush. Why would I want to scratch 'n' sniff a toothbrush? I am posting a picture for proof.

So now I have to discuss a couple more controversial things than my scratch 'n' sniff toothbrush. What do you think of caffeine and pregnancy? I did a research paper on it and there was one study that linked consumption of more than 300 mg. a day to miscarriage. Luckily for me, when I am pregnant I have no desire to drink soda. I will admit that I drink tea every day, but not very much and certainly not 300 mg. worth. Still not sure what I think of the study anyway because they didn't use a good control group (separate smokers from non-smokers).

Another question I have is what you think about hair dye/bleach and pregnancy? I normally get highlights from time to time and when I was pregnant with Holden I didn't get any the whole time. I felt horrible because I didn't feel like I looked good (and I still hate looking at hospital pictures because of my hair!). I am considering highlighting my hair just once this time for a wedding I have to go to in July (so I would be 8 months pregnant at the time). I obviously have several months to ponder this but I want to look good (or as good as possible) in hospital pictures this time...and at the wedding of course. I know, how shallow am I? I do think when you look good and take care of yourself you feel better though.

Just one more thing I was thinking about and wondering. All the moms in my playgroup and lots of other ones I know love scrapbooking. My playgroup even had a scrapbooking day this week. I did not attend. I hate scrapbooking. I just can't get into it, and I am a relatively creative person. I feel like I spend all my time and energy on my family and the last thing I want to do when I have a few hours off is scrapbook about my family. Perhaps it's selfish but I prefer to hide out at Barnes and Noble, read and drink nonfat caramel macchiatos (I don't drink these while preggo) until I come home and wonderful husband smells my hair and asks me why I smell like coffee.

Oprah was so right. This one is for the ladies.

Ok, as a rule I never and I mean never upload pictures of myself to the internet that are not good pictures like the top one posted here. I figure the image I project may as well be a good one since I have control over it. However, for the sake of science and possibly another woman's sanity I will do it just this once.

The story begins years ago (ok technically only 3 1/2 years ago) after Tony and I first got married. We didn't get pregnant for almost a year the first time we tried, and right before I found out I was pregnant the first time I went to my doctor to have my thyroid checked because I was absolutely certain that something was wrong with it.

So anyway, the doctor's office tells me that my thyroid is fine, like 4.6 or something. Now if you don't know anything about thyroid levels (TSH) the normal range is from about 0.5 to 5.0 but endocrinologists consider anything over about 3 to be hypothyroid or "subclinical hypothyroidism". So anyway, what I didn't know at the time is that if the thyroid is high, it can cause infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth in addition to many other symptoms, including fatigue & weight gain.

Ok, so back to my current story. A small number of women have problems with their thyroid after giving birth, and apparently I am one of them. I am posting a picture from Sept. 08 and a picture from Dec. 08 (the top pic is from December, the bottom pic is from Sept.) to show exactly what happened. I started feeling crappy about October and knew that the thyroid could be an issue. I still had a sneaking suspicion that I have always had transient thyroid problems but finally (thank goodness) have a doctor who listens!

From mid-September until October I gained 8 lbs. You better believe I was thinking holy @#$! I haven't been doing anything different why am I gaining so much weight so fast? (And I wasn't preggo or anything at the time). So I went to my doc and sure enough the levels were above 4 again.

The fascinating thing about it all was that I called my OB's office to see what my thyroid levels were when I was preggo with Holden and it was at 1.8. So as it turns out I was probably right the very first time I went to the doctor years ago and he told me it was normal. No wonder I had trouble getting pregnant at that time (and ended up having a miscarriage a couple months later).

Now I am on medication and Baby and I are both fine. So ladies, if you feel it in your gut, don't ignore it. And have your thyroid checked if you are postpartum or just feeling crappy or gaining weight for no reason.