For the past few months, I've been feeling pretty awful- lethargic, forgetting everything, sleepy, etc. I honestly though, gee, maybe I'm pregnant again (dear God, please no!) or maybe I'm just stressed from motherhood, but then I realized I felt exactly like I did in high school and college. Aha! It must be my stupid thyroid not doing what it's supposed to (again)!
To follow up on my hunch, I went to the doctor a few days ago, and he said he'd call if there was any news. He had done a full bloodwork thingie, so if there was anything bugging me, he'd find it. Today he calls and says he has news. My thyroid is (again) not working as hard as it should, and he will call in a prescription right away to up my meds. I knew it!
Just out of curiousity (and because I've learned that I am the only one tracking my health as it should), I asked him what my TSH levels were. He said, "They were slightly higher than they should be, at 10.3." WHAT?? That's not slight at all! That's more than 3 times the high end of normal!
In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a little medical lesson for you. When you are hypothyroid (like me), your thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones that it should (which produces TONS of nasty side effects and slows your whole body down). Hence, your body makes more TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) to pretty much bitch-slap your thyroid into shape, but to no avail. The higher the TSH, the more hypothyroid you are. Normal levels according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists & the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry as of 2003 (yes, I've done my homework) are between 0.3 and 3.0. However, some doctors (like mine) are unaware of this change and still following the former guidelines of 0.1 to 6.0, which is why I always ask what the levels are exactly and to give me a hardcopy of my lab results, although it doesn't matter which guidelines the doc uses, because 10.3 is way over either of them.
So, now I know why I've been feeling like sh!t for the past few months. I'm headed to the hospital today to get a new prescription and hopefully start feeling more human in the coming days.
*A little side story that my fellow Navy wives might find pretty funny. The doctor I saw is not my PCM. Apparently, my PCM has been transferred, not to another department or anything, but to another state. I found this out a few weeks ago when I made the appointment and Central Appointments said he was no longer "available". No one has contacted me yet to tell me my doctor has PCSed, so I'm just going to see exactly how long it will take, heehee.
7/1/08
6/27/08
Yummy recipe
I've decided that every Friday I'll post something yummy that I've made this week to share with all of you! This one is a variation on a recipe that I found in Martha Stewart's Food magazine.
Ham & Mozzerella Panini (*Hubby Seal of Approval*)
Ingredients:
A loaf of italian bread
Deli ham
A block of mozzerella cheese
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
How To:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Sliced open the loaf of bread. Layer slices of mozzerella, ham, and basil (if you don't like basil, I guess you could use spinach), as much as you think you'll want. It helps to layer the cheese next to the bread, so that the sandwich stays together better. Season with a little salt and pepper and close the sandwich. Brush the top of the sandwich with a little olive oil. Put the sandwich on a baking sheet and top the sandwich with another baking sheet (it's the sneaky way to make a panini without a panini press, haha). Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Slice the loaf into sensibly-sized sandwiches.
*Some advice: Use the basil sparingly, since the flavor is very strong. Also, the key to making this taste outstanding is a really well-made loaf of bread!
I made this a few days ago, and Hubby went nuts over it- he even liked the basil, which I thought for sure he'd pick out.
Ham & Mozzerella Panini (*Hubby Seal of Approval*)
Ingredients:
A loaf of italian bread
Deli ham
A block of mozzerella cheese
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
How To:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Sliced open the loaf of bread. Layer slices of mozzerella, ham, and basil (if you don't like basil, I guess you could use spinach), as much as you think you'll want. It helps to layer the cheese next to the bread, so that the sandwich stays together better. Season with a little salt and pepper and close the sandwich. Brush the top of the sandwich with a little olive oil. Put the sandwich on a baking sheet and top the sandwich with another baking sheet (it's the sneaky way to make a panini without a panini press, haha). Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Slice the loaf into sensibly-sized sandwiches.
*Some advice: Use the basil sparingly, since the flavor is very strong. Also, the key to making this taste outstanding is a really well-made loaf of bread!
I made this a few days ago, and Hubby went nuts over it- he even liked the basil, which I thought for sure he'd pick out.
6/25/08
First tooth!
Yesterday, LB's first tooth popped through, finally! We figured it was coming since he had been so cranky in the past few days. It's just barely poking through, so it's hard to see, especially because he likes to stick out his tongue when you're trying to take a peek. But, it's definitely there, and he's been chewing on stuff like mad. He has an affinity for objects that shouldn't be in his mouth, like computer cords, mom's hair, and the dog's toys (ugh, so gross... I almost threw up when I caught him doing that). It's irrelevant to say that I hope this stage doesn't last too long, because he needs to get 20 or 30 more teeth, and I'm sure they'll all take their sweet time, just like this first one.
He's also getting ready to crawl any day now. He's mastered the push-up-on-hands, bring-up-both-knees, rock-back-and-forth. He looks kind of silly doing that, like he's about to take off down a luge head-first or something, but it's still cute. And now that he constantly has objects in his mouth, the noises he makes are sounding different, almost more english-like, actually. It's crazy to think that just a few months ago, all he did was look at things, eat, and poop (oh, and cry... can't forget about the crying). Even though I feel like it's going by fast, I love this age. Hubby is getting more and more involved with LB, especially now that the baby can actually interact with him, and Hubby gets a huge kick out of it. Yesterday, he pretended to chomp on LB's fingers for 30 minutes, and LB laughed the entire time (like huge belly laughs, not just he-he chuckles). So cute.
He's also getting ready to crawl any day now. He's mastered the push-up-on-hands, bring-up-both-knees, rock-back-and-forth. He looks kind of silly doing that, like he's about to take off down a luge head-first or something, but it's still cute. And now that he constantly has objects in his mouth, the noises he makes are sounding different, almost more english-like, actually. It's crazy to think that just a few months ago, all he did was look at things, eat, and poop (oh, and cry... can't forget about the crying). Even though I feel like it's going by fast, I love this age. Hubby is getting more and more involved with LB, especially now that the baby can actually interact with him, and Hubby gets a huge kick out of it. Yesterday, he pretended to chomp on LB's fingers for 30 minutes, and LB laughed the entire time (like huge belly laughs, not just he-he chuckles). So cute.
6/24/08
Maui
So, I wrote this nice post detailing our first family vacation to Maui and how wonderful it was and what we saw / did..... but when I hit "publish post", I got a cute little message about not being able to connect to the internet, or some crap like that, and lost the whole thing.
Grrrrrrr....
I'm not really in the mood to retype it all, but here's an overview. We arrived Friday night and stayed through Monday morning, so all day Saturday and Sunday were devoted to seeing the island. We drove up Haleakala Crater- it's over 10,000 ft to the summit! That's about 1 and 1/2 times taller than Mt. Washington! We saw the resort area on the south side and drove to Polipoli State Park (well, we half-drove, then had to walk 3.5 miles to the park, since it's a 4 wheel only road).
It was a lot of fun- being on Maui is like seeing different parts of the world all in one day. The hike through the woods reminded me of NH, the arid desert looked like Africa, and the jungle looked like something straight out of the Amazon.
LB slept well, which was a huge relief- I had visions of camping out in the car after the hotel kicked us out for having a screaming baby. The ferry we took from Oahu was huge and very beautiful, although I felt a little seasick when we departed the channels and entered the ocean.
I will post some pictures up on myspace, facebook, and snapfish for you all to see. Let me know what you think!
Grrrrrrr....
I'm not really in the mood to retype it all, but here's an overview. We arrived Friday night and stayed through Monday morning, so all day Saturday and Sunday were devoted to seeing the island. We drove up Haleakala Crater- it's over 10,000 ft to the summit! That's about 1 and 1/2 times taller than Mt. Washington! We saw the resort area on the south side and drove to Polipoli State Park (well, we half-drove, then had to walk 3.5 miles to the park, since it's a 4 wheel only road).
It was a lot of fun- being on Maui is like seeing different parts of the world all in one day. The hike through the woods reminded me of NH, the arid desert looked like Africa, and the jungle looked like something straight out of the Amazon.
LB slept well, which was a huge relief- I had visions of camping out in the car after the hotel kicked us out for having a screaming baby. The ferry we took from Oahu was huge and very beautiful, although I felt a little seasick when we departed the channels and entered the ocean.
I will post some pictures up on myspace, facebook, and snapfish for you all to see. Let me know what you think!
6/23/08
Mustangs and Sebrings and Jeeps, oh my!
Hubby and I just got home from a long weekend in Maui. We took the SuperFerry over from Oahu, which wasn't bad. I took a Dramamine the first time and ended up pretty queasy, so on the way home, I took two... which made me sleep about half the way.
We drove up Haleakala, which is a huge crater about 10,000 ft up (just to give you reference, all you New Englanders, Mt. Washington is only about 3,000 ft). We took this really steep and winding road then walked around the perimeter of the crater for a little bit. At the summit, you can see two peaks of the Big Island, Lanai, and Molokai. Plus there is a flat-topped peak which has a weak magnetic field around it, but the magnetism is strong enough to throw off a compass- pretty cool. Also, there were a ton of astronomy observatories- one of them is used by the goverment to track all 8,000+ satellites orbiting earth (yes, 8,000.... I didn't believe it at first either).
We also drove halfway to Hana, but I was getting a little motion-sickness going on, so we turned around and went back. We stopped at Paia, which is a little hippie town full of art galleries and little restaurants. And of course, we stopped by the south side where all the resorts are. Ironically, that side of the island is the least attractive. It's very arid and brown, nothing like the lush green jungle you can find in other parts of the island. But, we had to go there to go to Lush!
Yesterday, we found a park called Polipoli State Park. You have to drive up this windy (as in twisty) road for 9 miles, and the last 3.5 miles is for 4 wheel drive vehicles only, since it's not paved. Hubby, LB, and I parked the car on the side of the road and did the walk, but boy did it take a lot out of me! I'm still recovering. LB found it fascinating on the way there, looking at the trees and animals, but fell asleep on the walk back (lucky him).
So I suppose you're thinking, where did she get the title for this post from?
Maui is full of tourists, and most of them rent cars. For every ten cars you see on the road, at least one of them is a Mustang convertible, Sebring convertible, or Jeep Wrangler. I even made a bet with Hubby, and sure enough, that tenth car was a Mustang! It was pretty funny to pick them out- at one point, on the road to Hana, we were behind a Mustang, who was behind a Sebring, who was behind a Jeep. Trifecta of tourism!!!
We drove up Haleakala, which is a huge crater about 10,000 ft up (just to give you reference, all you New Englanders, Mt. Washington is only about 3,000 ft). We took this really steep and winding road then walked around the perimeter of the crater for a little bit. At the summit, you can see two peaks of the Big Island, Lanai, and Molokai. Plus there is a flat-topped peak which has a weak magnetic field around it, but the magnetism is strong enough to throw off a compass- pretty cool. Also, there were a ton of astronomy observatories- one of them is used by the goverment to track all 8,000+ satellites orbiting earth (yes, 8,000.... I didn't believe it at first either).
We also drove halfway to Hana, but I was getting a little motion-sickness going on, so we turned around and went back. We stopped at Paia, which is a little hippie town full of art galleries and little restaurants. And of course, we stopped by the south side where all the resorts are. Ironically, that side of the island is the least attractive. It's very arid and brown, nothing like the lush green jungle you can find in other parts of the island. But, we had to go there to go to Lush!
Yesterday, we found a park called Polipoli State Park. You have to drive up this windy (as in twisty) road for 9 miles, and the last 3.5 miles is for 4 wheel drive vehicles only, since it's not paved. Hubby, LB, and I parked the car on the side of the road and did the walk, but boy did it take a lot out of me! I'm still recovering. LB found it fascinating on the way there, looking at the trees and animals, but fell asleep on the walk back (lucky him).
So I suppose you're thinking, where did she get the title for this post from?
Maui is full of tourists, and most of them rent cars. For every ten cars you see on the road, at least one of them is a Mustang convertible, Sebring convertible, or Jeep Wrangler. I even made a bet with Hubby, and sure enough, that tenth car was a Mustang! It was pretty funny to pick them out- at one point, on the road to Hana, we were behind a Mustang, who was behind a Sebring, who was behind a Jeep. Trifecta of tourism!!!
6/17/08
Some favorite recipes
At the suggestion of a friend, I have decided to post some recipes that I have tried and are actually doable (in other words, for the culinary-challenged). Here are a few, and I hope that you like them as much as I did!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wicked Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced chicken breasts
Deli ham (the kind you make sandwiches with)
Swiss cheese (again, the kind you make sandwiches with)
1 egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs
How To:
Layer ham and swiss cheese on top of chicken breast. Roll up chicken and stick it with a toothpick to hold it together. Dip the chicken in beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs to make it all nice and crunchy. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apple Crisp (It's a good way to use those apples that are about to get a little too ripe)
Ingredients:
4 medium cooking apples (like Granny Smith or Rome), sliced
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
How To:
Heat oven to 375. Grease 8x8 pan and spread apples in the pan. Mix remaining ingredients well, then sprinkle over apples. Bake about 30 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Italian Chicken and Couscous (makes a lot, but it makes yummy leftovers)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes, 1/2 cup liquid reserved
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup couscous
How To:
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat and cook garlic, stirring frequently. Stir in reserved tomato liquid, chicken, onion, oregano, and pepper. Heat to boiling then reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in broth, heat to boiling. Stir in zucchini, couscous, and tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with a fork, and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes until couscous is tender and liquid is absorbed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
ground pepper
1 1/2 cup feta cheese
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
How To:
Preheat oven to 475. Scrape out centers of zucchini to form "zucchini canoes". Set aside centers. Arrange zucchini cut sides down on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cook 3-5 minutes. Add zucchini centers and cook about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in feta and tomatoes. Turn zucchini canoes over and fill with mixture. Bake about 20 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wicked Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced chicken breasts
Deli ham (the kind you make sandwiches with)
Swiss cheese (again, the kind you make sandwiches with)
1 egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs
How To:
Layer ham and swiss cheese on top of chicken breast. Roll up chicken and stick it with a toothpick to hold it together. Dip the chicken in beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs to make it all nice and crunchy. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apple Crisp (It's a good way to use those apples that are about to get a little too ripe)
Ingredients:
4 medium cooking apples (like Granny Smith or Rome), sliced
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
How To:
Heat oven to 375. Grease 8x8 pan and spread apples in the pan. Mix remaining ingredients well, then sprinkle over apples. Bake about 30 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Italian Chicken and Couscous (makes a lot, but it makes yummy leftovers)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes, 1/2 cup liquid reserved
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup couscous
How To:
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat and cook garlic, stirring frequently. Stir in reserved tomato liquid, chicken, onion, oregano, and pepper. Heat to boiling then reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in broth, heat to boiling. Stir in zucchini, couscous, and tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with a fork, and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes until couscous is tender and liquid is absorbed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
ground pepper
1 1/2 cup feta cheese
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
How To:
Preheat oven to 475. Scrape out centers of zucchini to form "zucchini canoes". Set aside centers. Arrange zucchini cut sides down on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cook 3-5 minutes. Add zucchini centers and cook about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in feta and tomatoes. Turn zucchini canoes over and fill with mixture. Bake about 20 minutes.
6/16/08
Happy Father's Day
So yesterday was hubby's first father's day! He was coming off duty from the day before, so he got home late in the morning. We took the little bundle and the puppy up Makapu'u Point, although the puppy only made it about 5 minutes, so he and hubby had to turn back. Poor thing- his paws were getting too hot!
We also went out to dinner to California Pizza Kitchen, which with a baby is high class dining for us. Actually, I shouldn't say that, because the food really was good. LB was in pretty good spirits the whole time, and hubby wore the present little bundle picked out for him- a black t-shirt with the tyrant sensei from The Karate Kid with the phrase "Sweep the leg" printed underneath. We took turns holding the little bundle so we could each eat, which was a nice change!
Once the baby went to bed, hubby and I watched Juno (yes, we're behind on the movies, so what), then a few episodes of Robot Chicken. It was a nice day to spend some time with all three of us together.
We also went out to dinner to California Pizza Kitchen, which with a baby is high class dining for us. Actually, I shouldn't say that, because the food really was good. LB was in pretty good spirits the whole time, and hubby wore the present little bundle picked out for him- a black t-shirt with the tyrant sensei from The Karate Kid with the phrase "Sweep the leg" printed underneath. We took turns holding the little bundle so we could each eat, which was a nice change!
Once the baby went to bed, hubby and I watched Juno (yes, we're behind on the movies, so what), then a few episodes of Robot Chicken. It was a nice day to spend some time with all three of us together.
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