Brian Johnson, our marketing assistant at LWL Worldwide, sent us an interesting article yesterday.

It’s about a placebo pill developed by a woman who wanted to control her niece’s hypochondria by giving her some kind of pill — preferably not a drug, since her mother-in-law (also a nurse) had suggested Motrin.

Since placebos were not readily available at the drug store, she decided to develop one for kids called Obecalp (”placebo” spelled backwards). Basically a gummy candy that’s meant to taste bad so children think it’s medicine.

The whole article in the NY Times is here.

Okay, hold on a second… I sense good intentions from the inventor — after all, she didn’t want to give her children or her niece REAL drugs — but, come on! What the heck are we trying to teach our kids with this kind of “solution”?

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Since I’ve been pregnant (or at least, since I’ve know about it at 6 weeks) of course I haven’t been drinking any wine — even though in Europe pregnant women drink it without consequence, and in Canada they used to say a glass “every now and then” was okay — because here in the U.S. it’s Zero Tolerance (no alcohol for pregnant women).

Actually they’re just being safe, because some studies have shown it takes much more alcohol than a glass of wine every few weeks to cause problems — BUT since they “don’t know” how much is safe, they just say “none at all”. Better safe than sorry, and I’m fine with that, even though I feel they’re probably being over-cautious.

But I really have missed my wine — not so much for the alcohol, but because I enjoy the taste, I enjoy the antioxidant health benefits, and I enjoy the ritual of sipping a fine beverage from a fancy glass.

Enter my savior… Sutter Home Fre (alcohol-removed) wine!

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Yesterday I went back to my acupuncturist to see how the sugar allergy treatment went… but I’ve been having severe digestive issues the past week again, and we found out it was related (for the second time, now indicating a “pattern”) to a combination reaction — requiring a second treatment for the same food group.

Last time that happened, Dr. Doss decided the “combination” was physical and emotional… so he had done an emotional clearing, and I didn’t have to avoid any foods for the first time during these sessions.

This time it seemed to be physical though.  He didn’t treat me with any needles (like he said last time, my body is allowing less and less needles to be used each time) and ended up doing acupressure instead of acupuncture.  That treatment included a Shiatsu-type massage at the back of my head and neck, and the massaging of my lymph glands, which are for some reason swollen and tender.

It was nice, but I was kind of hoping for another BodyTalk emotion-clearing session, and not having to avoid foods again (since we treated sugar, I had to avoid fruit too — and that’s what I crave more than anything, especially since I was thinking we’d move on to grains and the “limited” diet for that one INCLUDES all fruit).  No such luck… it was a regular treatment, and I had to avoid the sugar all over again.

Not that I minded so much avoiding refined sugar — after all, I did that for 10 years of my life — but I have never avoided fruit, except when I was a kid and didn’t really care for it, and during some of these other acupuncture allergy treatments (like Vitamin C and Vitamin B).

Oh well, hopefully that’s one of the last times ever, since I should now be cured… and now, just writing about it, I’m getting another craving for fruit, so it’s time to go and eat some!

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

Today I went for another acupuncture session, and this time we’re focusing on the sugar allergy. Wow, I’ve been avoiding sugar for many, many years, and although I don’t plan on going crazy on the refined stuff, I’m so happy to be ridding my system of all sensitivity to it — because it’s in almost everything!

Yes, I can remember many times when I thought I was avoiding sugar, only to feel like crap afterwards and knowing that some of it snuck in… restaurants in particular love to put it in every sauce, dressing, marinade, or just on the grilled chicken breasts that are supposed to be pure.

Now, I just finished my 6-hour avoidance of sugar like after every treatment (the food changes, but the procedure stays the same) and that’s the last time I HAVE to (rather than CHOOSE to) avoid it.

So anyhow, the number of needles went down again… I just ended up with two in the back of my neck. And I enjoyed the treatment a lot, because this time the doctor asked “out of the blue” if I’d been getting headaches (well, he actually got that message from my body, but it seemed to come from nowhere).

I admitted that yes, I had been getting them quite often over the past week or two… and that I used to get them a lot, but they had greatly subsided except for very recently.

So he gave me an acupressure treatment on the back of my head and the sides of my neck, where it was so tender that it hurt like heck for him to press, but felt good at the same time because I could feel the pain melting away. I call that a “good hurt”.

One of those instances where it’s true to say, “No Pain, No Gain!”

It was almost as good as getting a full massage… which reminds me, I’m due for another one soon!

Except this was a bonus massage, because it means that sugar will no longer be an issue for me. Sweeeeet!

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

Well, it’s been Doctor Week around here… four appointments for various things all squished into three days.

The last appointment was at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic in Medford (the biggest city around here) where they did some specialized Ultra-Screen tests for our baby, since I’m an “older” mom (meaning over 35).

Finally we got to see Peanut’s face, seen here in the ultrasound printout… a whole lot different than the small “bean” I saw a month ago!

We’re still not sure if it’s a boy or a girl, but bets are coming in on both sides.

It was quite an interesting experience though… besides the fact that we also saw the baby in 4-D (a picture is on the next page), we discovered that we have a larger-than-average baby — which wouldn’t be an issue except that it meant I couldn’t get the blood tests that were supposed to be part of the special screening.

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Today I had a massage… yesterday I had acupuncture.

Both are great for health, but the treatment itself can involve some pain alongside the pleasure.

Funny thing, the massage actually contains more pain — like when Sheri Morris, my massage therapist, went deep into the knots and tender areas, working out the tension.

When she worked the less painful areas, it was quite enjoyable (and I was able to concentrate on feeling happy and grateful for the experience), but when she worked the more painful ones it was ironically enjoyable too, because I could feel the treatment working. The pain and tension seemed to melt right away.

She also does foot reflexology, and gave me a treatment to start out. But since I’m pregnant, there are certain areas around the ankle and heel that she can’t work on because they could trigger contractions. Good to keep in mind if you ever get a massage while pregnant!

Now here’s the really interesting part…

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Well, today I went back to the acupuncturist for my second visit.

I’ve been kind of sitting on the fence for a few days about how the treatment worked, because the one spot in my shin that hurt when the needle went in — and the only point that hurt and bled when it came out — began really acting up on me last Friday.

It started when I just lightly tapped the acupuncture point on the mattress, and almost screamed in pain because it felt like someone was driving nails into my leg. I thought it was strange that it just started acting up three days after the initial treatment, so I figured it would stop just as quickly.

But from then to now, every time I move my leg the wrong way or accidentally touch it with something, the shooting pain returns.

So I told the doctor about it today, and he said it’s because something was stirred up that needed to be… but he’s never had it happen on that particular point. It’s usually on the hand.

Anyhow, he decided to only use 4 needles instead of 10 today, because he asked my body with his little Kinesiology technique and decided that my body was sensitive today. For the other points he used acupressure rather than acupuncture.

The good news is (or, the better news is, because that wasn’t really bad news) that apparently the removal of the egg allergy worked, and I tested clear for it. So today it was on to calcium.

And next week… back to the needles for the next allergy!

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

Okay, I finally did it… I gave in, faced my fears, and got acupuncture done.

Yes, acuPUNCTURE!

I always said that I didn’t mind acupressure, but acupuncture was something I never wanted to do. Geez, who wants needles stuck in their skin, and willingly to boot!

But I’ve read and heard too much about what it can do to heal the body by re-aligning our energy flow, that I just had to do it, scared or not.

Lesson learned: Facing your fears is the best way to overcome them (I already knew that, but I need reminding each and every time!)

And wow… I discovered some really surprising things today!

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Last night Barry and I went to the gym for date night.

I know, the gym… how romantic, right?

But we actually have a lot of fun at the gym together.  Usually it starts off with some stretching and/or machine workouts, then a game of basketball, and finally a dip in the pool.

We used to end the pool time with a hot tub soak, but now that I’m pregnant I’m not supposed to submerge myself in water that hot — there is a warm therapeutic pool that’s the next best thing, though… and we can do water yoga, stretches, small laps, or use the water weights for an enjoyable workout.

And… having Barry pull me around the pool with a foam tube is a fun ride for me (and a great workout for him).

But last night, the most amazing part happened before we got in the pool!

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Okay, so here’s the deal…

Almost 2 months ago, I had LASIK surgery so I could finally stop wearing annoying glasses (which hurt my nose) and contacts (which dry out my eyes) and finally see clearly again, for the first time in 20 years.

Well, it didn’t work out that way… the left eye came out pretty good (after the initial three days or so of healing) but the right eye was worse than it had ever been.

So I kept putting drops in every hour or two as directed, in an effort to help my eye heal properly. And after a few weeks it had healed, but the vision still wasn’t even close to clear. Boy, was it annoying to see things in a kind of hazy double-vision due to the two different eyesights.

Even a month after surgery when I went for the final checkup, my right eye was pretty bad and they were pretty sure it would have to be redone — after another two-month wait, since you can only do the surgery three months after the last time it’s been done.

Well, when I found out I was pregnant, I got more frustrated, because I’m pretty sure I read in the waiver that you can’t have the surgery while pregnant — so that’s another 6 months I would have to wait for clear vision.

But here’s where it gets fascinating…

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