The Best Christmas Present

Christmas is always a joyous time of the year, but this year Chris and I couldn't be happier with our gift - a perfect little baby. That's right folks, WE'RE PREGNANT! 

Christmas Day we got a lot of snow, but Dani also got a long awaited
break from her all-day-every-day nausea. Yay!

We are so thrilled to be expecting our new best friend this July. But if we are being honest with full disclosure - being pregnant is the worst. Don't get us wrong, this little miracle was planned and we are so honored with the opportunity to become parents, but my body has yet to get on board with this whole pregnancy thing. And the first trimester is not being nice. People talk about "morning sickness" but there are no morning parameters surrounding this sickness. I have been nauseous 24/7 since finding out at 4 1/2 weeks, it has yet to let down, and I have tried EVERYTHING. I have only had a handful of good days of feeling somewhat normal (thanks to a lot of prayer, as these days have fallen around the holidays where they were extra prayed for). This has been hard because I was planning on working, eating super healthy, and exercising my whole pregnancy but clearly the Lord has other plans. Luckily my husband is really a saint and not only is he going to school and working but he has also taken on the mantle of taking care of all the household chores as well as being incredibly patient with me. He's back to his bachelor diet of quesadillas and eggs, and I am getting by on toast and applesauce. I have occasional moments where I want to try other foods and almost always regret it afterwards; because once you throw-up most foods it's really hard to want them again.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. AND BABY Andrew

A4M

On Thursday I rendezvoused with my boss in Richfield, where we carpooled the rest of the way to Las Vegas for the 25th annual American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress! Dad registered me as his assistant, and we enjoyed four days of learning from functional medicine doctors from all over the world. While he was in a specialized module about weight management, I was taking notes for him with thousands of other doctors, NPs, and healthcare professionals in the general session. 

Dr. Mark Rosenberg educates the masses.

Because I've been working for my dad this year and I just finished my first semester of nursing school, I understood a lot more than I otherwise would have of this conference. I've heard all about inflammation from dad but now I know more about what triggers it and how to avoid it. I've learned the basics of statin drugs, proton pump inhibitors, and antibiotics in school but now I understand some of their unintended but serious adverse effects and some better alternatives. 

I met Dr. Rolf and Dr. Silvia Binder, inventor and CEO of Ondamed.

I learned side-by-side from Dr. Silvia Binder on one of
the machines we operate in our office.

A lot of people feel like Mark Twain when he said "the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." However, people who decide they've had enough of crappy health and start to make some healthy changes discover what it really means to feel good and be healthy. If they are on a trip and can't find any real food, they discover how disgusting junk food actually tastes. Here are the highlights of what we talked about:

Inflammation is the root of all disease. It even triggers autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular problems, obesity, and hormonal imbalances. Gluten is inflammatory for all people, even if they if they don't realize they're sensitive to it. Limit other inflammatory foods such as dairy, corn, and sugar. Avoid exposure to toxins such as chemicals and heavy metals like those found in vaccines, deodorant, and food packaging.

Our bodies are 10% human cells and 90% microbial cells. Keep your gut microbiome healthy (the "good" bacteria).  Some of the ways that we damage our microbiome is by eating gluten (there it is again!), using mouthwash and antibacterial soaps, consuming sugar and artificial sweeteners, and taking antibiotics. With just one course of antibiotics, our microbiome is altered forever - and for most bacterial infections there is a better way of treatment. Some of the best ways to encourage bacteroidete or "good" bacteria growth is by avoiding sugar (more on sugar later), eating organic non-GMO food, giving birth vaginally instead of by cesarean section, breastfeeding, getting out and playing in the dirt, and consuming fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, and yogurt. Everyone should be taking supplemental probiotics.

Exercise helps maintain brain health, reduces PMS symptoms, and stimulates the lymphatic system, which rids your body of toxins and waste. Frequency is more important than intensity, and if you exercise you will live longer. So take a hike! 'Nuf said.

Chromosomes are the genetic code in our body, and they are protected by caps called telomeres, similar to the plastic covering at the end of our shoelaces. They prevent our chromosomes from binding with rogue protiens and altering our DNA. Each time our cells divide, the telomeres get shorter. Telomeres determine when we die, as the shorter they are, the more we age. It's the critically short ones you have to measure, because they are the cells that cannot replicate or become cancerous. Exercise, a proper diet supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants, and eliminating stress contribute to longer telomeres and a longer life.

Sugar... the greatest silent villain of disease. Nobody should be eating it. In addition to causing obesity and diabetes, it increases inflammation, feeds cancer cells, contributes to ADHD, autism, and dementia, lowers testosterone, wrecks the gut microbiome, and actually makes PMS symptoms worse (sayonara, chocolate cravings).

While I've already heard a lot of this stuff before from my doctor, it was really neat to hear it from hundreds of others from all over the world and be in a room where everyone is part of the functional medicine "tribe." It really opened my eyes to the art of medicine and I'm very excited for my future in it.

Yours in health,

Chris

Since Hawaii...

... our lives have been pretty crazy! Dani got a job (the day we flew back to Utah!) as a second grade teacher at Ellison Park Elementary in Layton, and after a few more days in Moab we moved up here. Dani was immediately swamped at work (I can't tell you how many hours I was in her classroom to help her get everything set up, I had no idea how much work it was!) and I started the first semester of my nursing program at Weber State University.

This cute woman's first day of school!

While I studied full-time Dani worked double-time (literally, 13-14 hour days, 6 days a week). Fairly soon after starting her job, Dani realized she wasn't getting paid enough to loose her sanity and knew there wasn't a light at the end of the tunnel, so she resigned so she could function like a normal person. All the other teachers told her that "It's just your first year - by your third year it will be a lot easier," but we're hoping to start a family sooner than that and we felt like if this wasn't going to be a life-long career for her then it wasn't really worth it.

Anyways, I like having my wife back.

School has been going great for me! I'm just wrapping up the semester and I loved just about every minute of it. Clinicals have been in a nearby nursing home, which although it isn't very exciting, it's been a great opportunity to practice my new skills. I'm also working for my dad on Fridays down in Springville, which I love. I've always told people that I want to become a nurse anesthetist, but since working with my dad I've discovered how much fun it is to help people in ways that not all doctors can. I'm considering becoming a nurse practitioner, and Weber just started their own NP program that I think I'd love. Anyhow, I still have plenty of time to determine what I want to do after I graduate.

Not long after moving into our new ward, they called me to my dream calling - the new Scoutmaster! I was pretty stoked to accept this new responsibility. Thanks to mom for buying me a large uniform back when I was 11 (it looked ridiculous at the time but is saving me money now), I just had to take off a few patches and Grandma sewed on my new ones! I am excited to have some awesome adventures with the boys.

I think that about sums it up! Here are a few pictures of what's been going on with us.

Our first hike in Layton was Adam's Canyon.

Adam's Canyon in the fall.

Slow shutter of the waterfall at the end of Farmington Creek Trail.

One of Dani's best high school friends Claudia was in the states from Spain (where she lives)
for a couple weeks and she flew to Utah for 24 hours just to visit us!

Summiting Ben Lomond above Ogden.

At the peak. Mantua and Cache Valley are behind us.

"The stare down"
We nearly ran into this cow moose and her calf on the trail. We didn't stick around long after this picture.