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Thursday, October 16, 2008
Life Lessons – Part Two of Four: Excess Information Can be Bad for Your HealthMy daughters helped me understand the benefit of seeing trends rather than looking for daily progress.
With babies weighing just 1 lb. 12 oz. and 2 lbs. 7 oz. at birth, every ounce of weight gain counts. Once
I understood that one ounce equals 30 grams, I began watching their daily progress in grams just as the nurses did.
I found that it was common for one of the girls to have a large weight gain only to lose ground the next day.
Seeing how devastating I found these setbacks, my husband finally suggested that I look at their weights just once
a week. Sure enough, the weekly trend was upward and I avoided stressing myself over the incremental ups
and downs. This lesson has come in handy over the years, as I’ve worked in departments that were
facing backlogs or working toward long-term goals. It’s also a great strategy when we’re working
to lose weight!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Life Lessons – Part One of Four: Avoid the Emotional Roller Coaster
When we're on a path of self-discovery, whether it is personally or professionally
focused, we are surrounded by support systems and lessons, if we know how to recognize them. Some of my greatest life
lessons have come from my twin daughters, and they began when my twins were born 12 weeks prematurely. I'd like
to share these lessons with you, beginning today with emotional roller coaster.
My daughters, Becky and Thea, spent two months in the neo-natal intensive care unit the summer they were born.
During their hospital stay, a pediatrician wisely cautioned us "not to ride the emotional roller coaster."
With two babies so small and under such scrutiny, we never knew what to expect each day as we came to visit. Becky,
our firstborn and smallest daughter, needed two blood transfusions while she was hospitalized. Her veins were so tiny
that the nurses had trouble inserting the line. After trying both hands and both feet unsuccessfully, the medical staff
had to resort to using a vein on her scalp. What a frightening sight to see her little body bruised in four places and
a needle stuck into her head!
Sometimes the highs and lows followed each other so fast, it was hard to know how
we felt. One baby would be running a temperature while the other had had a good weight gain. Then there was the
time Becky's record showed her head circumference had increased by ¾ of an inch in one day! The staff explained
that that kind of "growth" could only be explained by swelling, probably indicating fluid on the brain. We
had a terrifying night of worry only to find the measurement was decreased the next day. No, the swelling had not gone
down they said (it doesn't work that way). It was probably just a difference in who took the measurement.
False alarm. Eventually we learned to focus on our end goal of bringing the girls home and did better at dealing with
each day as it came.
Over the years, I have consciously tried to avoid the emotional roller coaster as I
face challenges with my business, my children, and my health. If you find yourself experiencing frequent highs and lows,
make a choice to skip the roller coaster ride today - take the carousel instead!
3:02 pm pdt
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