Unfunded mandate, you say?

Tired of hearing whining about 'unfunded mandates'? Well apparently they are rolling in funding:

mo'money

Believe me when I say - I've heard plenty of a teacher's union hack complain about the unfunded mandate - saying it over and over again as though chanting a mantra. Maybe if they say it enough - people will believe it?

Unexplained Secondary Habitual Aborter

What the hell is that, you ask? Well - it's me apparently...

That's what the best and brightest Reproductive Endocrinologists in the City of Brotherly Love could come up with. After all that education - that's it. A few cursory tests..a couple of scratches on their heads and the advice try aspirin and 'see what happens'.

SEE WHAT HAPPENS? Excuse me, Mr. Doctor Sir, but I need to know why my babies are dying. Every time one of my babies dies a little chunk of my heart goes with it. So - you want me to just 'see what happens'. No. I need answers - not guesses and more dead babies. Here's your exorbitant fee and thanks for nothing.

That was me a little over five years ago. I had a little girl - who magically appeared after years of not being able to get pregnant. The pregnancy with her was quite difficult in the 3rd trimester. Pre eclampsia, Premature Rupture of the Membranes, Pre-term labor and she was born at 36 weeks after they were able to hold her in with asthma medicine. Of course - I had a midwife in a hospital because I was going to go 'all natural'. Ha! 50 hours of labor, 4 hours of pushing, lots of drugs after about 36 hours and finally a C-section. Good heavens - I couldn't even birth a 5 1/2 pound baby the regular way. They kicked me out after 2 days - sent me home with my kidneys shut down and my blood pressure going through the roof. Well - I ended back in the hospital for 5 days but it all turned out well. I thank God we're both alive, 100 years ago we would have both died.

After that - and after years of not getting pregnant - I started getting pregnant like THAT! *snap fingers* Unbelievable. The first pregnancy was twins and I lost them at 13 weeks. One was dead already and the other was underdeveloped but was hanging in trying to live. The Catholic hospital that my doctor was associated with gave me the bad news and sent me home. That baby was half dead - with a very slow heartbeat. I begged them to terminate the pregnancy and they refused. Two days later I almost bled to death and ended up in the ER.

Four pregnancies followed - each one ending sooner than the previous. That's when I got my 'label' that you see in the title.

Well - I found INCIID.ORG (International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination) and got edumucated. I will post their link under favorites. This site saved my life. I was crazed and needed answers. I found answers and compassion and information and caring women going through the same thing I was going through. We all had our different stories and different situations. They helped me.

I found Dr. Beer in Chicago through INCIID. Dr. Beer is a Professor at University of Chicago, Chicago Medical School. He is a Professor of Obstetrics&Gynecology AND a Professor of Immunology. He has made it his life's work to understand the immune system and pregnancy. He found the problem and could tell my WHY my babies were dying - and knew how to help us. I had an immune problem - several. For one - I showed anti-nuclear antibodies in my blood. These little buggers show up when people have auto immune diseases. (Lupus, Scleroderma etc...) For another, my husband and I were a close tissue type match. With this problem it is common to be able to have one baby and then loose subsequent babies. My body was not recognizing the placenta as something to be protected, it viewed it as a very fast growing body of cells that needed to be destroyed by NK (Natural Killer) cells.

I credit Doctor Beer for the birth of our second little one. She tried to be born many times - and Doctor Beer was able to help us make that happen. Doctor Beer - you are my hero! My little 'Beer Baby' is 4 years old now and she is awesome! He has a great website, too and I will put that under my favorite links. Repro-med.net.

Dr. Beer is considered a 'controversial' figure. He is the most honest, straight shooting Doctor I've ever met. His data backs him up - no matter the medical establishment and their insane political motives (whatever they might be). I have no respect for The Lancet anymore. I lost respect for The Lancet way BEFORE they published those bad science figures of 100,000 civilians killed in Iraq by coalition forces. The Lancet is a political tool. It was 5 years ago. It still is.

Doctor Beer - my family and I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU for this beautiful baby girl!!!

Trigeminal Neuralgia

Yes - I have trigeminal neuralgia. (T.N.) It was diagnosed in the summer of 2003. I was very, VERY fortunate that my dentist recognized what was happening and sent me to my primary doctor. He could have just started pulling teeth - which has happened to many sufferers of this hellish affliction before a correct diagnosis was made. It is also known as 'tic douloureaux'. One of the doctors I spoke with says it means 'pain of the devil' - but I don't know if that is a true interpretation as I took Latin in school - and not French.

We had no health insurance at the time as both my husband and I were both on unemployment. We had COBRA'd the benefits which (of course) had just run out right before this all happened. Being fortunate to live in America I managed to get my diagnosis and treatment with no insurance at all. The generosity and compassion of my doctor and a neurologist friend of his was how it all worked.

The treatment for this affliction is normally anti seizure meds. Tegretol is the first pick - and I adored Tegretol but had an allergic reaction to it. So Dilantin it became. The cognitive problems caused by taking Dilantin are very frustrating. Loss of memory and whatever that thing is called when you can't remember a simple word usually when you're right in the middle of a sentence. It is hard but the pain - oh the pain - is debilitating. It is hard to describe - like labor but knowing that it won't end happily or possibly even won't ever end. The pain consumes. So the problems with Dilantin are dealt with (and with a grateful heart - I might add)

Anyway - I am putting up a link to the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association. It is a wonderful website with a lot of support and information.

As to the problems with homeschooling while dealing with this abominable affliction I have to say that I am definitely not as organized as I was before. My house is messier because Dilantin makes me feel sort of happy to just sit and not move at all. Of course I do force myself to get up off the couch and I find that once I start moving I'm much better. Overcoming the inertia is very hard. My kids understand that I am battling with the monster and find it quite funny when I screw words up. Such as saying 'clat' instead of 'cat'. Or accidentally calling the dictionary the bible. (Well - it's a big heavy book - you see?) We manage and usually with a happy disposition about it. We get it done even if not beautifully and gracefully all of the time. The flexibility is key. We can do art at 7:00 p.m. if we wish. We can start school at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. - whatever works for us.

Many people are horrified - You don't have a schedule! We do have a schedule it's just different from most and it's very flexible. For instance the kids bedtime is 9:45, but the older one can read quietly in her bed until 11:00 then it's lights out. The younger one goes right to sleep and is up around 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. The older sleeps until about 10:00 a.m. That's how it goes every day! See? A Schedule!! As far as school goes - a basic plan is there and sometimes we only do part of it but many times we do much more! Everyone in the house has to be able and ready to deal with what needs to be done. Some days it just aint happenin'. Other days we're on fire!

Anyway - I'm thinking about getting gamma knife surgery for the T.N. I'm fixing now to consult several neuro. guys and gals about it. (Yes - we have very good insurance now!) If anyone has any feedback about the gamma knife surgery I would much appreciate it.

Off to beddy bye for me! Sweet dreams!

Homespun Bloggers

Hey! Guess what?! I am the 100th Homespun Blogger. See the beautiful button to the left? Check it out. There is a blogroll underneath - there are some very cool blogs there. That's ONE of the reasons I haven't posted - I have been going through many of them and thoroughly enjoying myself.

Check them out and a big thank you to Homespun Bloggers. ( I hope that the old saying doesn't apply here....'I woud never join a club that would have me as a member.') LOL! Just kidding -- of course you silly!!

More homeschooling information to come and of course all sorts of other right wing stuff. Sagacious Blonde - your link will be over there soon, too. Thanks lady.

I've added a couple of links

Please look in my link section. I have added two links. One is for 'Iraq the Model' - one of my favorite Iraq blogs. There are many other favorites and I will be adding more in the future. Through these Iraqi blogs I have learned things that I would never have learned from the MSM. The Iraqi people are brave and dedicated to pushing their country toward freedom! God Bless Iraq, and God Bless America.

The next link is to 'Learn in Freedom'. This link shows the many socialization studies that have been done on homeschooled kids. Hint: They're fine!!! LOL!

I will be adding more links as I find the time. I want YOU to know that YOU CAN DO IT! You can homeschool your children! It is possible, don't discount yourself for a minute. Don't think for one more moment, 'Oh gee, I couldn't do that - I'm not able...' It's not true. What IS true is that you love your children and know your children better than anyone else in the world. What IS true is that ultimately it is OUR responsibility to ensure that our children are educated. It is not the state's responsibility - it is ours.

Now - go out there and have a loverly day!