The Bar

Numerous definitions come to mind when I think of what "the bar" might mean:

• a counter across which alcoholic drinks or refreshments are served OR an establishment where alcohol and sometimes other refreshments are served 
• a long rod or rigid piece of wood, metal, or similar material, typically used as an obstruction, fastening, or weapon "an iron bar"
• an amount of food or another substance formed into a regular narrow block "a bar of chocolate" or "a bar of soap"
• a sandbank  at the mouth of a harbor, bay, or estuary "the bar across the river mouth"
• a measure of music or the time of a piece of music
• a unit of pressure equivalent to 100,000 newtons per square meter
• a partition in a courtroom or legislative assembly, beyond which most people may not pass and, in court, at which an accused person stands 
  "the prisoner at the bar"
• a professional organization of lawyers "the Utah Bar Association"
• the process of qualifying to practice law "passing the bar"

This blog post happens to be referring to the last of these definitions, "qualifying to practice law." As a student, I have to fulfill three basic qualifications to practice law in Utah: 1. Graduate from an ABA accredited law school, 2. apply for the bar, 3. pass the bar examination.

While #1 and #3 may seem to be the most daunting and time-consuming, I can assure you that #2 brings quite strong competition. The application for the Utah Bar has consumed the last week and a half of my life. With 33 detailed steps to complete online, the Bar requires information such as all permanent and temporary places I've lived for the past 10 years, all permanent and temporary jobs I've had in the past 10 years, my driving record for the past 3 years, details on my credit history, and more. I had to get 6 character reference letters from people who are not family members or fellow law students (which eliminates about 95% of the people I know). I also had to get five different documents notarized, including an FBI background check that required fingerprinting.

I think that since lawyers get such a bad rap for being dishonest, the Bar requires information on everything they can think of to try an weed out the bad ones up front. I know they've definitely raised the bar in the amount of disclosure required. Bar none, this has been the most intense application I have ever completed. The good news is, I finished it today! One more thing to check off my list...

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

And then, we caught the flu

Happy Valentine's Day.

Rhetorically, 

Rebekah

Dash's Cyst-er

In March of 2011, I was sent home from my mission for surgery on a 9 cm cyst on my right ovary. It was painful, it was traumatic, and it was something I never wanted to repeat again.

So I was less than thrilled when they discovered another 9 cm cyst on my right ovary during the gender check ultrasound for Dash. Since I was pregnant, they didn't want to operate if it wasn't necessary, so we waited it out. The hope was that the cyst would pop on its own or that they could drain it with a needle later on so I wouldn't have to have surgery again. Thankfully, I didn't have any pain or problems with the cyst during the pregnancy. We planned on revisiting the matter with my doctor at my 6 week postpartum checkup. 

Unfortunately, on the night of February 4, our plans changed as we packed our hospital bags and rushed to the emergency room.  Dash was excited to come along and see the birth of his cyst-er, with whom he had shared the womb for nine months. It was even more special for him because it was his one month birthday!

Tender mercies that night:

• The OB who delivered Dash was on-call at the hospital that night, and I was able to contact him for advice before we left.
• I recognized the pain symptoms from my prior experience, so we didn't have to waste the doctor's time trying to figure out what the problem was.
• Although all the booths in the emergency room were filled, the receptionist took pity on a frazzled father, moaning mother, and bawling baby and arranged for us to be in a little-used room in the corner of the hospital, instead of having us wait in the lobby.
• I had been pumping milk for the past month, so we had a good storage supply for Dash during my stay at the hospital.
• My parents live close enough that they were able to meet us at the hospital shortly after we arrived to take care of Dash.

Drawbacks that night:

• The pain. My pain quickly escalated from a 4 (Tolerable) to an 8 (Very Intense) within an hour. When we checked in initially at the ER, I refused pain meds because I was worried about how it would affect my ability to breastfeed. However, within another hour it got up to a 10 (Unimaginable), and I decided I didn't care about the consequences of pain meds. Unfortunately, even after 3 shots of morphine, I was still in incredible pain. (As an aside, if I were to choose between the pain of contractions prior to delivery and the pain I had that night, I would pick delivery. At least you get a break from the pain in-between contractions.) 

• The surgery. As much as I didn't want to have surgery, it had to happen. This time, not only did they remove the cyst, but they had to take my right ovary as well.
• The recovery. I felt like I had just recovered from giving birth, only to be back at square one. Walking, sitting, and going to the bathroom were all a challenge again. I was back on pain meds and had the added restriction of not lifting anything heavier than 10 lbs for two weeks. And I still had to take care of a newborn. To quote Jim Gaffigan: "You want to know what it's like? Imagine you're drowning, and someone hands you a baby."

My parents, Matt, and the baby stayed the night at the hospital as I went in for emergency surgery at 4am. Matt dozed on a bench while my dad slept in a sitting position, holding the baby. My mom was wide awake, which is how we have pictures to document this. It was a rough night for all of us. 

For the medically inclined:

• What happened that night was ovarian torsion, which is when a cyst becomes so large that it causes the ovary to move out of its usual position in the pelvis, causing painful twisting and cutting off blood supply. My ovary had been able to maintain its position during the pregnancy, as the baby kept the cyst from moving around. Even postpartum, my uterus was still swollen enough to keep the cyst in check. But once my uterus shrunk down, the cyst had free range of my abdomen. 
• In order to remove the cyst, the doctor performed laparoscopic surgery, which is a minimally invasive surgery that uses several small incisions rather than one large one to enter the abdomen. This means the recovery time is 2 weeks instead of 6, and I was able to leave the hospital the same day the surgery was performed. 
• Because the blood supply had been cut off to my ovary for several hours, the ovary had died. Therefore, along with the ovarian cystectomy, the doctor performed a unilateral oophorectomy (try pronouncing that one). According to my doctor, fertility is decreased by only 5% when one ovary is removed and menopause will occur around the same time as it would if I had two ovaries. 
• As it turns out, the cyst was a mucinous cystadenoma, which is a benign cystic tumor. However, the doctor told us that this type of cyst did have the potential to be malignant later on. 

The good news is, I'll never have to have surgery on my right ovary again.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

One Month-iversary!

This was one of the longest months of my life--but at the same time I can't believe it's already over. Here's the start of the "watch me as I grow" series with Dash's month-iversaries. My mom and I took well over 100 pictures, but I managed to narrow it down to these five:

 

There may be a love-hate relationship with the giraffe right now.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

What I've Been Up To

I swore I'd never be one of those bloggers that let my baby take over my blog, but...(see January). However, I thought last month's blog posts were a pretty accurate description of how my life has been. Nevertheless, I thought I'd give an update of the non-baby things I've been doing.

SCHOOL: I'm in two classes this semester- Trusts and Directed Research. I'm being lazy and including generic course descriptions below: 

• Trusts examines the legal framework of private and charitable trusts as vehicles for the donative disposition and management of personal wealth, both inter vivos and testamentary, with emphasis on the nature of the fiduciary obligations of trustees and the rights and obligations of trust grantors and beneficiaries.
• Directed Research requires that a student submit to their faculty supervisor a completed draft of a research paper or memorandum of law containing either criticism of the law relating to the topic area. I'm required to do 100 hours of work in researching and writing the paper- the area I'm focusing on is the Indian Civil Rights Act. 

BOOKS: Matt and I have been reading "Tuesdays with Morrie" this month. I've read the book before, but it's interesting reading it again because Morrie was a psychology professor, just like Matt wants to be. It's also an interesting read now that I'm married, as many of the topics in the book have new meaning now. I'm also looking forward to the sequel of "To Kill a Mockingbird"



MOVIES: We recently rewatched the 90's classic, "Cool Runnings."Here are some of my favorite quotes:

• A gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough with one.
• When you need something from me, you don't have to hand me a bunch of lines. All you have to do is look at me in the eye and say, "Sanka, you are my best friend, we've been through a whole heap together, and I really, really need you."
• Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time! Cool Runnings!

DATES: My mom has been helping out a lot with the baby, which has given Matt and I the opportunity to get out a few times! We did sealings at the temple and I cheered Matt on during one of the Stake Basketball tournament games (he's #5).

GAMES: I've played Risk before, but it's been years, so we pulled it out this month and did the two player version. Unfortunately, Matt forgot to tell me all of the rules, so we had to have a rematch later on. 




Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: 4 Weeks

Dear Dash,

At four weeks:

• You've gained a pound from your weight when we were discharged from the hospital.
• You are taking Vitamin D like a champ! This is a big deal, since it's a nasty cherry flavor and you threw it all up (and them some) the first time we gave it to you.
• Your neck muscles are getting so strong! You hold up your head whenever you can, usually when you are being burped.

• Speaking of burping and spit-ups, your favorite position to spit-up in is your back. We always try to remember to put a burp cloth under your head at all times to prevent doing laundry as much.
• You have so many cute mannerisms. My favorites are: your huffy snorts when you get frustrated, when you put both hands by your face when you nurse, and your happy smile when you've had a really good feeding.

• You sleep an average of 10-11 hours a day. We usually have to wait 6-7 minutes after you've fallen to sleep to put you in the bassinet- otherwise you wake up. Your favorite place to sleep is on the Boppy (see collage below).

We love you, little dude!

Rhetorically,
Rebekah