Catch-Up

I sat down here to try to catch up on posting pictures, but I am having a hard time figuring out our new computer, so I guess I'll just write for now. All the pictures I've posted lately are from my camera phone. :)

This Thursday is my first appointment with my homebirth midwife. I'm really looking forward to it. The unfortunate thing is that our back-up hospital announced that it's most likely closing its maternity department in July. I guess that's one of the things we'll talk about Thursday. There is not much appealing about attempting to get all the way downtown to a hospital in case of problems at the homebirth. This will be the 15th hospital in the area to close its maternity department, so my options are few. For more info on that, you can read this article: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=healthcheck&id=5187018.

The pediatrician's office called today to tell me that the lab ran Aaron's lead redraw incorrectly, so we have to redo it again. It'll be another week or so until I get a result.

I have been getting a lot of questions about the lead poisoning ... so here's a little more about it. Aaron's level is 7. Below 10, you just remove the source and eat foods that help eliminate the lead (calcium, iron, and vitamin C are some). Effects of lead poisoning include:

Reading and Learning Disabilities
Speech and Language Handicaps
Lowered I.Q.
Neurological Deficits
Behavior Problems
Mental Retardation
Kidney Disease
Heart Disease
Stroke
Death

Lovely, isn't it? Here's something interesting, though. Lead poisoning used to be considered a poverty issue, but due to gentrification, it's now more of an issue in wealthy children than those below the poverty level.