No picts, just an update

There's been a lot going on at the homestead these past few weeks. I've written about what I managed to snag on the camera, but there's been some personal stuff as well behind the scenes. So, a quick recap (and they're all good):
1) I'm off Coumadin! After a month of Lovenox injections, a year of pill-popping, three CT's, an MRI, multiple ultrasounds, countless finger pricks and blood draws and three specialists (plus my fantastic internist, really, I love him!) I have been cleared to, well, resume life. I'm still supposed to wear my stocking and when I get around to getting it fitted I will, but in the meantime I feel like a new person. Not that the meds has any side effects (other than bleeding easily) but psychologically I still felt like a patient, trapped at the whims of providers. To eat spinach with impunity has been a delight. There are many advantages to living in the Boston area and one of them is that when your MD decides he wants another opinion, he just calls up one of the foremost authority on anti coagulation and cardiac vasculature in North America (no kidding, I looked him up. Impressive resume!) and you get to see him in a few weeks.
2) I have a preceptor. I think. For a few months at least. Connie was my midwife during my pregnancy and was wonderful. I have no doubt that had she not been on vacation the week I was overdue things with Henri would have gone a lot differently. As it was, she came in as soon as she was back in town to check on us multiple times, she sat with us in the ER and helped with breastfeeding (which seemed pretty impossible with all the tubes and wires I had in me tying me down) and lobbied ferociously to get us a private room so H and S could stay 24/7. Due to prior obligations to other schools (Yale, argh!) she can only take me for a few months, but it's a start and I'm grateful to not have to sit out a semester at this point. I'm continuing to email and call and if you have any leads I'd appreciate you passing them along. I'm keeping VT as an option as well since I could live with my folks for a few months.
3) A huge thanks to everyone who filled out a survey! I'm still waiting for 2 physician ones to come from far away, but I got all my consumers completed and now it's just a matter of writing the paper. I haven't analysed the data carefully, but I was surprised by how many people said midwives and birth centers were a great idea but when it came to them personally, they wanted to use an OB in a high-risk hospital. It's a good thing these surveys were anonymous because I want to lecture and fill their inboxes with scientific surveys and beg with them to reconsider and not give in to the fear-mongering that the very powerful (and rich) medical society has campaigned for. OK, off my soapbox. For real, thanks for helping. I'm sorta excited to write this now :)
4) Sort of a brag but more a confession: I'm finally below pre-pregnancy weight. Hurray, only took 13 months. The bad thing is, I was 20lbs over wedding weight when I got pregnant, so that's the next goal. A classmate is a big inspiration to me, she's always posting videos about food and pictures of her 14mo guzzling green smoothies. I'd like to keep H as vegetarian as possible and I eat fairly close to it already (I hate handling chicken, it makes me to sick to eat it, and beef is just too expensive) unless we're out so I don't think it will make for many tweaks in our existing menus. What I am planning to add are more green smoothies and try juicing in earnest (also green veggies; fruit juice is just empty calories). Obviously dairy, seafood and eggs will continue on the table. All that being said, I'm starving at the moment and when I finish this I'm going to get a spoonful of Nutella. Moderation in everything.
5) We have warm water!!!!! Notice I didn't say "hot", but at least I can get under the shower without contracting hypothermia. I inherited asbestos coated nerve endings from my father so unless my skin's blistering I don't count it warm.Steve's been difficult to convince that we needed to increase the water temp. But he finally put it up to 140 (I've already started lobbying for 160) so I got to luxuriate for a few minutes today (next project: figuring out how to keep it hot for more than 127 seconds)
6) Henri and I have been conducting house experiments. S brought home a bunch of brochures from the city about being energy efficient, so I've been conducting all the tests they mention. For example, put 3 drops of blue food coloring in the toilet tank, don't flush, wait 10 mins. If no blue in the bowl, you're not leaking! (We're watertight). A bit offcolor, but once you do flush your toilet bowl water is blue for awhile and when you pee, it turns green! H had to check each time. Anyway, I now know to water our plants in the morning (4am is the recommended time, ha) and that our shower head aerates and is energy efficient.
OK, that's it. Next post will be back to the adorable happenings and picts of H (though right now she's boycotting naps and that's not so cute).