Cell Free Fetal DNA

Amazon email had the right idea today:

If only that was an actual option.  But alas, embryology waits for no one.  Outlines for counseling must be done.  Visual aids must be made.  Bah.  Tomorrow should be fun though because it’s the ACOG conference on “Diagnoses in Pregnancy, Ultrasound and Beyond”.  It’ll be nice to spend the day listening to talks about cell-free fetal DNA, IUGR, and hCG thresholds.  What is cell-free fetal DNA you ask?  Essentially, there are some fetal cells in the maternal blood stream during pregnancy.

[Source]

Super smart scientists have figured out that if they take a sample of mom’s blood they can check for the amounts of certain chromosomes.  They typically check for 13, 18, and 21.  These are the numbers that are sometimes present in “trisomy”, meaning there are three copies instead of two.  It may not sound familiar but you most likely know what I’m talking about: Trisomy 21 = Down syndrome.  So, for example, since the scientists know that mom doesn’t have Down syndrome, if they see excess amounts of 21 in her blood they know it has to have come from the baby.  Cool huh?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Anyways, I’ll leave you with a song for Tune Tuesday before I head out to do all sorts of homework stuff.  But for a moment, let’s get our smiles on and dance it out:

Good night group.  Have a wonderful day tomorrow.  It’s hump day which means it’s kind of already the latter part of the week so it’s basically the weekend, right?  Haha, I wish.

Questions: What do you think about this cell-free fetal DNA thing?
Would you want to know if your child had Down syndrome before they were born?

Savory

Tonight I tried a savory twist on pancakes thanks to this recipe for pizza pancakes.  I made mine with some unsweetened vanilla protein powder, nutritional yeast for the cheese element, some sautéed onion & mushroom spaghetti sauce, no pumpkin, two egg whites and only one tablespoon of extra fluid, and some spices: basil, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.  I spent the whole cooking time trying to figure out what I wanted to top my pancakes with because I really despise dry pancakes.  In the end, just in time, I settled on some sour cream and balsamic vinegar (kind of like butter and syrup, huh?) with a dusting of Italian seasoning.

The verdict: they were super awesome.  I kind of want to make them again…right now.  Also, they’re super low in calories too.  The whole recipe with the nutritional yeast added in was 145 calories.  Add on another 30 for the sour cream and 5-10 for the balsamic vinegar.  Perfection on a plate.

I also had some rice cracker mix on the side for crunch.  Other eats of the day included a breakfast cake that I consumed wayyyy too quickly for a picture and a peanut butter yogurt mess with banana, wheat puffs, corn chex, coco puffs, and chia seeds.

Besides today’s food, the rest of the events revolved around counseling a metabolic patient this morning.  Felt great.  Then we had a journal club and embryology class where we covered the placenta, fetal membranes, and body cavity formation.  The rest of tonight will actually be spent working on embryology (vocab, processes, and drawing structures) and packing for my mini-vaca (aka overnight) camping with my dad this weekend.  Kind of pumped about that.  It was spur of the moment and I think it will be completely rejuvenating.  Can’t wait.

Questions: What would you put in your yogurt mess?
What is your go to crunchy snack?

Balance

Today’s good habit: balance.  We’re talking all about a mix of work and patients and house-keeping.  I started off the day with a weights session courtesy of NROLFW.  After I got back to the apartment and showered, I grabbed my breakfast and headed to the shuttle.  I chowed down on some yogurt with a few blueberries, some rolled oats, chai latte protein powder, and flax seed mixed in.  Cinnamon on top.

Sadly this only keep me full for about 2.5 hours through specing some samples and organizing 69 pellets then labeling all 207 corresponding tubes.  Yea, we waste a lot of plastic in that lab, I swear.  Though I’m not sure we could do the procedures any other way.  Anyways, because I was hungry around 10 I stopped for a snack of raisins. 

A little refreshed, I finished up 24 of the 69 pellets in an hour and a half and then left for a working lunch.  Last of the leftover red curried chicken and cabbage anyone?

I made some revisions to my metabolism outline and then headed to clinic to see some patients.  When the appointments were over, I spent the rest of the afternoon working on a long list of patient follow up things: calls, checking on insurance, searching for results, etc.  A lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff is the time consuming part and the hunger-inducing part.  Cheese helped.

Yea…finally I escaped around 4:30 only to come home and read a whole other chapter in my embryology textbook due to a very recent syllabus change.  Thankfully it wasn’t a huge one, maybe ten to twelve pages.  Right about the time I was finishing up with the chapter, I actually had to head out to church for a storytelling ministry meeting.  We grabbed dinner at Potbelly’s by the church.  I ordered a chickpea veggie salad with red onion, egg, blue cheese, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

When I got back to church to eat the salad, I used some fat free Catalina dressing from the kitchen.  Tasty.  We had a long meeting and discussed quite a few of the logistics of our ministry like which stories we want to gather, how we will do that, when, what medium we are going to publish in, etc.  When we wrapped up I came home to read more and then do the dishes.  Dessert cheered me up in the form of some butterscotch pudding with a glob of peanut butter, kind of like last night.

I could live in a vat of pudding.  Oh man.  Now it’s time to finish up some visual aids for my counseling session tomorrow and then head to bed.  Sleep well group.

Questions: What’s your favorite restaurant salad?
Do you like raisins or other dried fruits better?

11 Years Ago

Hard to believe it’s been 11 whole years since the damage that occurred on September 11, 2001.  Now we remember the day by “celebrating” Patriot Day and flying flags at half mast.  Or we erect monuments to commemorate those we lost and those that came to the rescue.

[Source]

In the end, simply taking a moment to let the event and its ramifications resonate in your heart is enough.  Remembering where you were, what you were doing, how you felt, and how far you and the nation have come is important.  Never forget.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I wasn’t originally going to share food today but my dinner was too good to miss.  And if my dinner was that, my dessert was out of this world!  When I got home from clinic, I was wanting some carbs in the form of pasta but I didn’t want to have something totally devoid of nutrition so I sautéed some green pepper, onion, zucchini, mushrooms, and kale in sundried tomato infused oil.  I tossed that with whole wheat linguine, light alfredo, and some marinara sauce.  I finished it off with hunks of goat cheese.

I seasoned it all with salt, pepper, sage, and a bit of nutmeg (for the dark greens according to Rachel Ray) and it was tasty.  I was very pleased.  I spent the rest of the evening patient prepping and reading the heck out of the embryology chapter on the placenta and fetal membranes.  It was quite the gruesome read.  Things got brighter though when I mixed up dessert.  Chocolate pudding with a giant glob of peanut butter.

I can’t even tell you how awesome this was tonight.  Seriously incredible.  It was like eating a peanut butter cup that never seemed to end.  =D  I might have to do this again soon.  Now I’m off to clear out my DVR a bit while I make some visual aids for some metabolism counseling I have this week!  Before I go though, here is my tune for this week, inspired by the bridesmaids this past weekend.  We busted out the “wobble” during the reception.

Questions: Ever done the “wobble”?
Are you a fan of choreographed dances like this or the Casper Slide, etc?

September Wedding Weekend #2

This weekend we celebrated the marriage of my two good friends Kris and Sean.  We’ve danced together for the last four years and I’ve loved every minute of it.  Last night was no different.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The rehearsal dinner, complete with gifts:

The pre-wedding preparation:

The bridesmaids:

The ceremony:

The reception:

The hotel after party:

What a wonderful weekend.  Though I must say, wedding chew up time.  I can’t believe it’s already Sunday night.  I’m not ready for the week again already!  No choice though, here we go.

Questions: Ever re-worn a bridesmaid dress?
What’s the best wedding meal you’ve ever had?