Mike Update 3/14

Mike here again. I just wanted to write a little update on my progress so far, although most people following this blog want pregnancy/baby updates, I will interject a little about what has been going on in my life, (selfish mike moment). Today marked the last day of my seventh quarter of school. Since it is a fourteen quarter program, you guessed it I am half way there. It has gone fast but not quite fast enough for my liking, you know the old phrase days feel like years but weeks feel like minutes or something like that. Seventh quarter was one of the toughest for me so far. This was the quarter where at the end I took my first of the four part national licensing board examinations. While studying for those, I also had eight other classes to worry about, which ended up giving me by far the most quizzes and tests I have ever taken in a 11 week period. But here I am writing this to you today as a survivor. So in retrospect I experienced a lot in the last year and three quarters. During this time I have been able to perform well on the first of my board examinations, (which marks a completion of basic sciences, thank goodness) I have been able to discover the way that I will deliver my services as a chiropractor i.e. the technique I will use (which I am taking the elective on it this next quarter which I am very excited about), I have learned a ton of material (from different types of bacterium to the angle of the joints on your spine to energy metabolism and even the stages of syphilis plus much much more), and I have made some great friends in the process as well (suffering together helps to build relationships and you cannot hide when everyone that started with you has the same classes throughout the three and a half year program).

So today also marks a large transition in my education. The first half has been nearly all sitting in classes getting lectured at, but starting next quarter we transition to my time in the clinic as an intern. We start with review classes next quarter and then student clinic in the summer, where we get a student reciprocal as a patient as well as new students of Sherman as patients and then this fall they will set us loose on outpatients from the outside world, (under the supervision of a licensed case doctor of course). I will need to bring in my some of my own new patients so if anyone is wanting to try out the empowering effects of chiropractic care let me know. So on new experiences and more success as I journey to becoming a chiropractor.

I have included details of how boards went from my blog, Musings of a Future Chiropractor, the post was written last Monday. If you want to learn more about chiropractic and other health topics go check that blog out. Here is that Board post:

Well that was one of the fastest weekends I have ever experienced. Nine hours of testing over a day and half makes time pass rapidly. It turns out that I have been able to retain information for a year and a half of classes. I was able to keep track of how many of the questions I knew for sure the answer to, and to my joy it was more than half on all six sections, (you need 375 out of 800 or 46% to pass each section of part 1). Biochemistry was by far my strongest section, no surprise there. Although this is no guarantee that I have passed them, as with all standardized tests, they will now take all the tests from around the country and statistically adjust them; like if everyone got a question right, or if everyone got it wrong they throw it out and readjust and they will do all other types of statistical wizardry to get the final scores. Based on past results they tend to curve the tests in such a way that ~75% pass and ~25% fail each time they administer the exams. I feel confident that I am in the top 75% and I will get the official scores on May 5th.

With everything said and done, I am happy to have that experience done and over with. One less hoop to jump through before I can become a licensed chiropractor. I would like to thank all those that gave my support and sent happy thoughts my way way. Now on to pre-clinic next quarter and the next phase in my education.

                                    

-Mike E

A food post

I thoroughly enjoyed the second trimester of pregnancy as far as my high energy level. I took full advantage of it since I know it won't last forever. Since I'm home now during the day I've been trying to find things to keep me busy. One thing I have been doing is cooking more. I really enjoy cooking (but not baking) and so we bought a new cookbook for me to use to try some new things out. I was getting really bored with our menu lately.

I love cooking and I love to try new things but I always get frustrated when I see this long list of ingredients and half of them I don't have and would only use when I made that meal. I don't want to pay for that especially if we may end up not liking the meal. Then we went to Barnes and Noble to look around and found this: Taste of Home: 5-Ingredient Cookbook

I love this book so far! My favorite part is that I have and use just about everything a recipe calls for in my apartment. Everything we've tried has been a winner so far. So I thought I would share a couple of our favorites:

1. Garlic potatoes and ham (This is so good!)

8 small red potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package (16oz) frozen broccoli cuts, partially thawed (we used green beans...delicious)
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
1 envelope herb with garlic soup mix (we used half the package for the 2 of us and it was perfect)

In a large skillet, cook potatoes in oil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in broccoli, ham and soup mix. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. (4 servings)

2. Noodle and rice pilaf

*We usually have this with chicken and corn on the cob

1/4c butter
1 cup long grain rice (uncooked)
1/2 cup uncooked fine egg noodles
2-3/4 cups chicken broth
Minced parsley

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add the rice and noodles; cook and stir until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until broth is absorbed and rice is tender. Stir in parsley. (4 servings)

3. Ham and rice bake

1 can (10-3/4oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 package frozen vegetables, thawed (we don't mix the veggies in with the bake-we just have them on the side so I don't know how that would turn out)
1 cup cooked rice
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham

In a large saucepan, combine the soup and a 1/2 cup cheese; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Stir in vegetables, rice and ham.
Transfer to a greased 1-1/2 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy :)

4. Seafood stuffing

1 package instant chicken flavored stuffing mix
1 cup imitation crabmeat
1 cup small frozen cooked shrimp
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cook the stuffing according to package directions. Mix with seafood and sprinkle with lemon juice. This is so tasty, easy and filling. 

5. Graham Cracker Brownies (I made these for a bake sale at Sherman and they were gone in the first hour. Several people came back and bought a second or third)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 30 squares of crushed graham cracker)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spread into greased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Let cool and then enjoy :)

I had such a hard time just choosing 5 to share but these are some of the easiest and most cooked in our home. They are so good and so easy to manipulate according to the size of your family. 

*All recipes above came from the Taste of Home: 5-Ingredient Cookbook

28 Weeks!

Welcome to the third trimester!

 Yay! I made it to the third trimester! I'm so excited that we only have 12 weeks left until our little boy gets here. I have actually enjoyed being pregnant so far but I can't wait to meet him and hold him and see who he looks like (I'm really hoping he has blond hair and blue eyes like Mike).

Their is no doubt about it...we are going to have one active little boy on our hands. He is constantly moving. The doctors are having me monitor how many kicks in an hour and I just have to get to 5 and most of the time it takes about 10 mins for me to get that and I'm done. I love it though! I love feeling him move, reminding me that he is still there. It is just the best feeling in the world to have him doing somersaults in there :) We had our 28 week appointment on Friday and he was actually kicking the doppler the whole time. Every time the nurse would move it to get his heartbeat he would kick it away and anytime she tried to touch my stomach he would kick her hand. He does the same thing to Mike when Mike touches my stomach. His heartbeat was still at 140 though so that was awesome to hear and I'm still measuring normal. For now it looks like all is well :)

- I still have a ton of energy and I'm putting it to good use while I can.

- I'm still able to wear all of my pre-pregnancy clothes which has been super nice but sometimes I like to wear the maternity shirts cause they are my warmest which I've needed cause the weather has been crazy lately.

-These past 2 weeks or so  I've really started to focus on what I want his nursery to look like. He has a crib, changing table, dresser and book shelf in there now but I want to decorate. So thankfully I know some people who are much more talented than myself who are creating some wonderful things for his room :) This is leaving me free to focus on shopping for everything else our little guy needs! It's crazy how fast time is passing!

-I'm still exercising 5 days a week although sometimes I have to shorten my workout because little man has decided to push on a nerve that causes my leg to cramp at times making it harder but thankfully its not a lot and doesn't happen often or during the workout-just after making the afternoon not so fun. Working out is really helping my stress and anxiety levels to stay down and its fun!

-We are 90% sure on his name although we still have a few ideas. We aren't going to make a final decision until we meet him though and we also aren't sharing the names we like.  You know.... people give their opinions too freely sometimes and they don't stop to think how negative or hurtful their opinion can be. I know that I am far too emotional right now to have someone say something negative (even if they don't mean it) and it would probably make me second guess myself which I don't want to do. Besides, we want to make sure the name is a good "fit" for him.

- I still don't have any specific cravings...its pretty much just if I am hungry their better be food close by because I'm going to eat. I still LOVE fruit and eat it all day long but no specific kind. I also still don't have any problems eating just about anything I want which has been great.

-I'm still cold most of the time but I'm hoping this gets better as spring arrives. I've also become more sensitive to smell in the past couple of weeks. So more smells will bother me or I'll notice them before Mike and so he looks at me like I'm crazy for a few seconds til he notices it too.

-The worst part of this pregnancy for me has been my anxiety. Thankfully with each week I get a little better but I do worry about everything. I'm extremely emotional and poor Mike never knows what might make me upset. We've really been working on things I can do to lower my anxiety and some of them are helping so I feel like I'm getting better which is really best for everyone. I'm very blessed to have such a patient husband because I know I'm not the easiest person to live with right now. 

On another note, I had my glucose test and YAY for no gestational diabetes! I also had no problems with the test. They gave me the fruit punch flavor of the drink and honestly I thought it tasted fine and I had no urges to be sick so that was great! My hemoglobin count was normal too :)

We are so excited and anxious to meet this little guy! I'm so excited to go do more shopping and get everything he needs :)