LE

I've moved to Ohio to start at postdoc at Ohio State. I have a new address and phone number. The old address will still forward my mail, but it will take longer. The old phone number will still be good until around the 22 September. The old email will work in perpetuity.

If you have reason to want either the new address or the new phone, leave your address or phone in comments with your email and I'll send it out. I've screened comments on this post so only I get to see your particulars.

In March, I painted the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom. Roller painting an overhead means that you're showered with a fine mist of paint. Afterwards, my head was a dingy grey color. I combed out the paint and washed my hair, but I kept finding individual strands with white sections. 2" brown, 1" white, 3" brown, that sort of thing. As time went on, these stealth dalmation hairs decreased in number.

Yesterday, I saw another single line of white in my hair. More paint, think I. Thought I got it all, think I.

Not paint.

I blame dissertation stress.

On Tuesday last, I sent an email to Michael about submitting a paper to a conference proceedings. Papers could be 10-20 pages, double spaced (about 4-8 pages as formatted like a journal).

On Wednesday, he said I should do it.

On Thursday afternoon, I threw together some writing and played with latex stylefiles for a few hours. mmmm... stylefiles. Stopped work around 5 to pick up Lea, took the evening off.

On Friday morning, I emailed him a draft of a paper minus a bit of analysis. He volunteered (!) to write up the last bits of it, translating my slides to text, so that he could better understand the writing.

On Monday noon, I got the revision back from him, smoothed a little text, and sent it back. 20 pages.

On Monday afternoon, he submitted it. He was so excited about what a slick paper it was that he thinks we should submit it to Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research (PRST-PER), the premier journal in the field.

Later on Monday, he emails me *again* to ask if we can submit. He attaches a version that has been reformatted to use APS style instead of APA style.

Today we meet and I outline twenty minutes of changes to make it stronger. He agrees.

Some comments:
Michael is a great advisor.
I am a fast writer.
I didn't know it was possible to make a paper that quickly.
Perhaps I should update my C-V.

SNOW DAY!!!!

Lea and I get to stay home.

To bad I still have a 20-minute powerpoint to analyze data for tomorrow, daycare is canceled, and Matt still has to work.

Every winter, I get horrible cuticles. Peeling, bleeding, constant badness. I run lanolin on them; I rub shea butter on them. I wear bandaids (Band-aid brand Tough Strips -- they actually stay on all day!).

Today I discovered a new and improved bandaid. It's Tegaderm. Clear, bendy, like sticky saran-wrap. Breathable (or so it claims) and designed to be worn all week (or "until new skin grows"). You can type with them on.

Kinda expensive, but better than the Tough Strips.

Well, it's been a while. The longer I don't post, the more I feel like I should be posting, but that it would be somewhat incongruous to shift back into the swing of posting without mentioning what I've been up to for the last few months. Then again, I don't really want to write an exhaustive (exhausting?) update.

Somewhat incongruous it is, then.

Semester starts this week. ( Semesterly plans )
In the somewhat shorter term, Lea has a doctor's appointment on Thursday. She's a bit behind on her speech skills, and a hearing test last week revealed moderate hearing loss due to fluid in ears. Perhaps she'll get tubes.

--

I plan to update more regularly.

Matt, Lea and I are traveling!

Wednesday 13 September: drive to Arlington to stay with Matt's sister
Thursday 14 September: I'm giving a talk at MIT; Matt and Lea are wandering the city, lost.
Friday 15 September: Breakfast with my mom in Boston, later drive back to Bangor.

Matt got the time off!

From my mom:


Do you know anyone around here who would like to work for Best Doctors in the Boston office? Needed someone with experience in the following areas:

General attributes: Smart, willing to work with and support our team, quick study, detail-capable, good verbal communications skills, excellent written skills, good problem-solver, marketing a huge plus

Computer skills--helping sort and scan medical records & electronic filing, putting together PP presentations and working with marketing dept, tracking our work and designing/maintaining ways to do that (Filemaker Pro is what we are instituting), helping develop forms and systems to keep our work flowing smoothly, graphic design helpful (Photoshop, etc.)

Other stuff: Able to travel across town once in awhile to do support for one of our docs, who is a world-class genius in his field but from time to time forgets how to set up and use his computer, email, internet access, fax, and so forth. And the usual "other duties as necessary." Work is in a corporate environment, but an easy-going one. Work with people of many different cultures (mostly South American, but also European, Oriental, and India-Indian), but the candidate doesn't have to be multilingual. Beautiful building a five minute walk from Park Street, State Street, or South Station and across the street from the Old State House.

Maybe a college communications grad who is good at computers, but anyone who can do the job would be welcome. MMA business or other grads could do this, even though there's nothing particularly maritime about it except the fabulous view of Boston Harbor and Old Ironsides from the 32nd floor. Salary will start somewhere in the 30Ks. This is a 37.5 hour/wk job with great benefits. If you know anyone who is looking for an interesting job with opportunities for advancement in the business, please have them contact me!

The yarn for the Peace Fleece Co-op is here and boxed and ready! You should have received an email from me with your shipping total.

Thank you everyone who participated! I'm sorry for the delay in notification, but my internet connection has been down all week. If you missed it this time, or if you're an unusually fast and prolific knitter, I plan to run another co-op sometime this fall or winter.

It seems like most of the posts in academicparents are about people trying to decide if having kids in grad school is a good idea. I usually respond with the same sort of post: a bunch of reasons why we decided to have Lea while I am a PhD student in physics. I started trying to conceive when I had passed my comprehensive exams and set a date for my Master's thesis defense, having finished the bulk of my coursework for my PhD.

Some of our reasons might not apply to everyone, and I'd like to hear about others' reasons (for and against) as well. I plan to add this entry to my memories and point prospective parents to it.

Academic timelines
In academia, there's really only two times you're not on the clock: graduate school and post-tenure pre-department-chair (well, and also retirement, but I'm not planning to be ovulating then). In a graduate program, it's ok to take an extra semester or year to finish a degree. Employers don't care. In contrast, taking some time off before getting a tenure track job means it's harder to get back into the workforce. If you have a tenure-track job, some schools will let you extend your tenure clock for childcare; some won't. You're not guaranteed of getting a school which agrees on paper, let alone in reality.

Health
We're left with two real options: grad school, and tenure. I'm 25 in grad school, but I don't expect tenure before I'm 40. It is easier, cheaper, and less complicated to have a baby at 25 than it is at 40. It is also easier to keep odd baby-centric hours at 25, easier to bounce back after childbirth, and easier to keep up with a toddler. Plus, having a baby at 25 instead of 40 means 15 more years of grandparenthood for my folks, and a chance for Lea to meet her great-grandmothers.

Living on the cheap
It's true that tenured faculty make more money than graduate students. However, as a graduate student with a 411-operator husband (he makes as little as I do), I make enough money to buy a house, have two cars, and go on dates every week. We have fantastic health insurance, but if we didn't, we would qualify for state health insurance. We make enough money to have a kid now. Breast milk is free; cloth diapers are cheaper than disposables. Everyone gives you infant clothes. Small babies are cheap. If I were to have kids at 40, I'd be worrying about how to fund their college tuition and my retirement at the same time; this way, I can spread out the big expenditures.

Daily life
As a graduate student who's not taking classes, I'm only scheduled to teach and have meetings. As a senior graduate student, I get first pick as to which classes I teach, so I can arrange my schedule so that Lea doesn't need regular daycare and I can keep working full-time. My advisor is extremely supportive and lets me research at my own pace and keep my own hours as long as the work gets done. My peers are having babies at around the same time I am, so we can have playgroups and daycare swaps together, and that gets me adult social interaction as well as cheap babycare.

Peace Fleece yarn is a wool/mohair blend, very sturdy, in gorgeous colors. It's my wool of choice for soakers and longies (and sweaters and hats, too). A 200yd/4oz skein usually retails for $7.50, but with wholesale pricing they go for $4.50+tax. They also sell the best hardwood double and single point needles. There are beautiful kits for knitting and felting.

I'm putting together another yarn purchasing co-op to get wholesale prices. ( Co-op details )

I would like to send the order to Peace Fleece on Wednesday, June 14 and will probably pick it up on Tuesday, June 20.

Lea and I are going to a wedding in Portland, Oregon, at the end of May. We would love to see any and all who are in the Boston or Portland areas and wish to see us.

Plans:
Wed 24 May: Depart Bangor midmorning; arrive Boston-land midafternoon. Hang out? until after dinner? Continue on to Cape Cod.
Thu 25 May: Leave Cape midmorning; arrive Boston late morning. Depart Logan Airport late afternoon. Lunch in Boston?
Fri 26 May: In Portland all day
Sat 27 May: In Portland all day
Sun 28 May: Wedding in the evening.
Mon 29 May: Disgustingly early plane flight back to Boston, arrives 5pm, immediate drive to Cape.
Tue 30 May: Drive from Cape to Bangor, stop in Boston?

If you'll be around when we're around and want to catch up, comment.

Alathea Marie Sayre was born shortly before noon on Thursday, 16 March. She was six pounds, fifteen ounces and 19.5 inches at birth. She has a full head of hair, and loves to nurse and cuddle.

I went into labor around midnight on Wednesday, and woke [sayre99] up around 2ish with contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart. They stayed spaced about that far until about 11:15, when I was fully dilated and started pushing. She was born half an hour later. I had some Stadol around 8 to help me sleep, but other than that I didn't have any other meds or interventions until a local numbing shot when her head crowned. I tore pretty badly, but I've been pretty free of pain and more mobile than I expected to be.

Lea was pretty sedate from the Stadol and she got dehydrated, which sent her to the NICU for observation and IV fluids. She came home yesterday and is doing really well. Matt and I are in a happy daze, and I feel pretty healthy. My mom is visiting this week, and it's great to have her here to help.

I'll post some pictures up on Zaposa when I can get them off the camera.

I've hit the "still pregnant" stage. I'm full-term on Friday.

I have four days left of scheduled work and then a bunch of unscheduled work, including an abstract to submit for AAPT this summer and some curricula to write for the end of the semester.

Group B strep test on Monday. Let's hope I'm negative. I'd rather stay away from IV antibiotics.

I told the women at Stich-n-bitch on last week that I'm pregnant. I was showing off a ballet-style sweater I made for Lea. One of the women mentioned that it was the perfect size for a newborn. I said it was part of a matched set with some pants I had made, but that I didn't want to pick traditional baby colors for it (it's sahkalin salmon with firebird orange accents). They asked who it was for, and I said it would probably be for my baby. Here's the scary part: When they said they didn't know I had a baby and I said I'm 34 weeks pregnant, they were surprised. One of them said she never would have guessed, she thought I might have just been gaining weight.

Today, at social hour, a woman asked what I was knitting. I said it was coming-home-from-the-hospital pants to match the sweater I had. She asked who had just had a baby; I said no one, but that I am pregnant and due in a month. She looked at me, surprised, and said, "I didn't know you were pregnant". Is this hard to figure out? Do I need a sign?

It gets better, though. Not 10 minutes earlier, Michael (my advisor) and I were just talking about how large I feel and how much larger I'm going to get before GIVING BIRTH in a MONTH. She was sitting next to me the whole time.

Maybe I should stop going out in public without a placard. Or one of those flowery empire-waist elasticized tops.

I hate it when people say, "I don't believe in X" when they mean "I don't believe that doing X is acceptable". The latest example is from booju_mooju, where some idiot said, "I don't believe in divorce."

What, is divorce like the Tooth Fairy? Because last time I checked, divorce was legal fact.

Peace Fleece yarn is a wool/mohair blend, very sturdy, in gorgeous colors. It's my wool of choice for soakers and longies (and sweaters and hats, too). A 200yd/4oz skein usually retails for $7.50, but with wholesale pricing they go for $4.50+tax. They also sell the best hardwood double and single point needles. There are beautiful kits for knitting and felting.

I'm putting together a yarn purchasing co-op to get wholesale prices. ( Co-op details )

I would like to send the order to Peace Fleece on Monday, January 30.

Some statistics about EMMC L&D:

• In the last month, there were 132 births, 36 c-sections (27%). Contrast with the national rate (23%) or Herbig's claim about the national rate (25%).
  
• Of the 92 vaginal births, 72 had epidurals. (78%) Contrast with some rates I found for Canadian hospitals, 27.5% in 1998. That's the most comprehensive statistic I could find in a quick search.
  
• ~20 (? I forget now) used vacuum extractors. EMMC does not use forceps.
  

I don't have statistics about how many used pitocin, had episiotomies, or were medically induced labors.

On the plus side, we are done with childbirth class. And I feel confident that I will be spending as much time as possible laboring at home.

I accidently got Matt a copy of Hellsing (complete series) when we already had one. Anyone want it? It's still shrink-wrapped.

Also, I'm going to the Cape today for the weekend, back on Wednesday or thereabouts. I plan to stop in Boston on my way down and back. Call my cell to see me today, or send me email (or call my cell) to see me whilst I'm gone or on my way back.

I don't post here often. I keep most of my daily inanities on plans, which is only for Grinnellians. Looking back through my posts, there seem to be three kinds: updates about pregnancy, controversial political posts, and gosh-I-haven't-posted-in-a-while entries. The former two get more comments than the latter one.

Three comments:
Being pregnant is boring most of the time, with short thrilling bits here and there. However, before I was pregnant, I thought all pregnancy-related posts were fascinating. I have thought about chronicling my symptoms every week or day, to have a record.

I have a lot of controversial political views, mostly related to my strong beliefs about elites and generally concerning education, health care, and (lately) children. I have learned that many people do not agree with my views, and so I don't often share them any more.

I don't usually post small updates about my day here because I think they're boring to read.

And a question:
Would you rather I post more? And about what?