Ashley is in the TEDDY study at the Joslin Diabetes Center here in Seattle. TEDDY stands for The Envirnmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Youth and we had her first appointment on Saturday. Can you guess how she did? Perfect. We were there for an hour answering questions about my diet during pregnancy and her diet now, any stresses that may have occurred during the pregnancy, if she's had any stresses since she's been born, if we drink filtered or tap water, etc. They had to take some blood though, and this I had major anxiety over. The lady was so good and only had to poke her once. She was distracted by a toy horse that made noise and when it was all over she didn't even produce one tear. She was more upset that she had someone restraining her arm. That makes it a lot easier to go back. The study is testing kids because they believe that type 1 diabetes is caused 50% by genetics and 50% by environment. When Ashley was born they took some blood from her PKU test (when they prick the heel) and found that she had a 3% chance of getting type 1 diabetes compared to the average population which is .3%. 3% is still really low, but it was enough that they asked us to be in the study. I think it's a really important study and if by chance Ashley does develope the disease we would be able to start treatment really early. So, the study is designed for 15 years, but they take it one year at a time for now knowing that 15 years is a long time. For the first few years they see her 4 times a year and she gets $40 for each visit. At those appointments they take blood to look for antibodies linked to the disease and ask questions about her diet and new things that she's been exposed to. Then every month they want a stool sample, and the only reason I'm writing this is because I thought it was very interesting. Every 30 days our bodies get rid of any viruses that we may have had, so they test the stool to see what viruses Ashley has been exposed to and see if maybe that may be a determinant. Oh, and she gets $10 for any sample. Anyways, we just thought it was an important subject and hopefully this information can lead to some answers and maybe a cure in the near future.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
TEDDY
Ashley is in the TEDDY study at the Joslin Diabetes Center here in Seattle. TEDDY stands for The Envirnmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Youth and we had her first appointment on Saturday. Can you guess how she did? Perfect. We were there for an hour answering questions about my diet during pregnancy and her diet now, any stresses that may have occurred during the pregnancy, if she's had any stresses since she's been born, if we drink filtered or tap water, etc. They had to take some blood though, and this I had major anxiety over. The lady was so good and only had to poke her once. She was distracted by a toy horse that made noise and when it was all over she didn't even produce one tear. She was more upset that she had someone restraining her arm. That makes it a lot easier to go back. The study is testing kids because they believe that type 1 diabetes is caused 50% by genetics and 50% by environment. When Ashley was born they took some blood from her PKU test (when they prick the heel) and found that she had a 3% chance of getting type 1 diabetes compared to the average population which is .3%. 3% is still really low, but it was enough that they asked us to be in the study. I think it's a really important study and if by chance Ashley does develope the disease we would be able to start treatment really early. So, the study is designed for 15 years, but they take it one year at a time for now knowing that 15 years is a long time. For the first few years they see her 4 times a year and she gets $40 for each visit. At those appointments they take blood to look for antibodies linked to the disease and ask questions about her diet and new things that she's been exposed to. Then every month they want a stool sample, and the only reason I'm writing this is because I thought it was very interesting. Every 30 days our bodies get rid of any viruses that we may have had, so they test the stool to see what viruses Ashley has been exposed to and see if maybe that may be a determinant. Oh, and she gets $10 for any sample. Anyways, we just thought it was an important subject and hopefully this information can lead to some answers and maybe a cure in the near future.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day!
No pictures for this post, we just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! Brian was so sweet this morning, he set out a bouquet of flowers and a card downstairs, so when I went to get my coffee it was all set out. This afternoon Ashley went to her first movie with mom. I've been wanting to see Juno for a long time, so we went to see it today with a friend and she did sooo good. I thought she would fall asleep because it was around her nap time, but instead she decided that she liked what was on the screen and watched the whole two hours of it without a fuss! Then she crashed in the car on the way home. Tonight Brian came home early and is making a steak dinner, always a treat when he cooks and is home for the evening! I'm a lucky girl to have such a wonderful loving husband, but also to have to sweetest little girl that I've ever known!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Three Months!
Ashley turned 3 months yesterday. It's amazing how fast that 3 months has gone, but I'm am so happy I've gotten to spend every day of it with her. You can probably tell that I like taking pictures of my daughter. I just want to capture every moment to remember it forever.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Play Time
Maybe this is just exciting for a mom, but Ashley laughed for the first time yesterday. We couldn't get enough of that little giggle. Brian had her in the morning before he went to study for midterms. He was tickling her belly and she let out this adorable laugh. Then this morning I had her and was lifting her legs up to her chest and making funny noises and she laughed again. Of course she won't perform on video, but we'll keep trying. Here are a few more things Ashley's been up to.
I put her in the Bumbo for the first time this weekend and she loved it. Friday I went to the grocery store and set her on the counter in it while I was unloading the groceries. She just sat there observing my every move and once in a while would concentrate on how she was going to get a hold of those toys in front of her. We've been seeing progress every day in that department. She wants to grab a hold of them so bad, she gets this look on her face and starts grunting. She's grabing her toys more and more, but it takes some major effort, so much so that she went down for a nap for 3 hours after exhausting herself with a new trick.
She used to not like this play yard until recently and now she just kicks her legs and gets so excited about the little animals dangling above her.
I put her in the Bumbo for the first time this weekend and she loved it. Friday I went to the grocery store and set her on the counter in it while I was unloading the groceries. She just sat there observing my every move and once in a while would concentrate on how she was going to get a hold of those toys in front of her. We've been seeing progress every day in that department. She wants to grab a hold of them so bad, she gets this look on her face and starts grunting. She's grabing her toys more and more, but it takes some major effort, so much so that she went down for a nap for 3 hours after exhausting herself with a new trick. She used to not like this play yard until recently and now she just kicks her legs and gets so excited about the little animals dangling above her.
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