Weekend update

[cifarelli]

Friday night after work we went over to kashent's place for movie night with Dan & Erin, tdanner, and his wife Carrie. We got to introduce Neel to the zaniness that is Labyrinth as it turned out he'd never seen it before. That has now been remedied :) Erin was evil and taunted me horribly by bringing a bottle of Blackthorn hard cider (this being cider that

Comments

[onefishclappin]

"not proven to be safe" != "shown to be unsafe"
Working on computers is likely "not proven to be safe" (and I know people who will tell you not to sit in front of CRTs for too long while pregnant), but it usually just means that the studies haven't been done to show the activity is safe, not because there is any reason to believe it might be unsafe. And when we think about the ethical reasons around getting pregnant ladies to participate in studies concerning minor things with aren't life threatening, which might harm the babies, you can understand why there have been so few studies done on various drugs and activities while pregnant (similar with very young children).
I must admit that I'm going to rather enjoy my first cider when I finish with the pregnancy thing as well.

[cifarelli]

"not proven to be safe" != "shown to be unsafe"

I totally get that. It's just that so much of this is dealing with unknown risks. On the one hand, you can try to avoid all the potential risks by completely shutting down your life, or you can make judgments about what activities are important to you, and whether the risk is small enough to justify continuing to indulge (or indulge in moderation). With alcohol, I wonder if all of the hype about "pregnant women shouldn't drink at all" is because alcohol in large amounts is known to be problematic, and the groups making these statements fear that if they said "alcohol is okay in moderation" there would be too much room for interpretation on what moderation is, and some women would still drink dangerous amounts?

How the heck would sitting in front of a CRT hurt an unborn child?

[onefishclappin]

Sounds like you have it all down then - take the "is it important to me" approach. I think you are absolutely right on the "too much room for interpretation" idea. Is moderate 1 drink a week? Or 1 drink a day? Normally, a moderate drinker could be considered 1 drink a day, but I suspect that a pregnant moderate drinker should be closer to 1 drink a week.

And the CRT - the evil death rays which are emitted from your monitor. Link
Basically some say "There have been no studies showing any hard from CRTs, but there have also been no studies showing that they are harmless, so you should limit your timing in front of them and sit far back. I think (and most resources indicate) that it's a bunch of B.S. and don't worry about your computer harming your baby. (Especially not if you are going to plop them in front of a TV from age 2 months until 18 years - but you already know my opinion on that matter ;)

[min_phoenix]

I agree with it having too much room for interpretation. While I was about 6 months pregnant, my French aunt talked me into having a glass of wine. She said pregnant women over-seas all enjoy the single glass of wine once in awhile with no ill effects. She just said "only one small glass". It was still the ONLY alcohol I drank the whole time. I just didn't feel right about it. I think if something gives you concern then it is not ok for that reason alone. Being pregnant is stressful enough without giving yourself reasons to beat yourself up.
I will assume your hair came out ok. Sorry I couldn't stick around. I got really sick on the way home from your house. I was just in a rush to leave because I could feel it coming on. I felt bad for leaving as quickly as I did. My apologies. I felt so rude.

*feel free to screen this comment if you don't want the bottom part public*

[spiritchaser1]

Yay on redying the hair red! It made me feel better after I covered my 2in roots, too.
And I'll be with you on the Non-midriff revealing shirts at Con. I've still got a little ways to go to get in better shape first.

btw, Andrew mentioned you might like us to pick up some shave gel since you don't want to bring it on the plane. Since I haven't found out from him yet: what brand/scent/etc?

Re: *feel free to screen this comment if you don't want the bottom part public*

[cifarelli]

Shave gel -- I'm not picky; I usually use whatever's cheap (i.e. usually one that's aimed toward men rather than the feminine-marketed ones).

However, since I don't think I'll be able to take it back home with me either, I'd be fine if you wanted to just buy whatever you normally use, and I'll try to give it back to you on Monday to take back home with you. (of course, if that squicks you and you'd rather I just keep it, I won't be offended)

I prefer the gels, but I'm fine with shaving cream if that is easier.

Re: *feel free to screen this comment if you don't want the bottom part public*

[spiritchaser1]

no problem. I'll pick some up and get it to you either Thursday eve or Friday. No, I'm not squicked by using shave gel...unless you intend on recycling your used shave gel back to me! ;)

email me if you need my ph.#, and if you guys have either a cell or hotel rm I can reach you guys at, so we can make sure we find each other.