😁❤️ I am so excited to film another episode about early mammal evolution on MONDAY! I love my job because it helps me learn about and appreciate so many things I never considered before. I’m so grateful. Seeing this guy makes me happy. #dimetrodon #isnotadinosaur (at The Field Museum)
“My first thought was that I wanted to cast all the actors at the ages that Austen wrote them. The emotions only seemed real to me when they were experienced by very young people. And that was really the first decision I made. I wanted to make something that is about young people experiencing these emotions for the first time and not understanding the feelings they are having.”
(Joe Wright, Director)
September 28, 2015
RONNY W! You just missed the CRAZIEST of crazies. Godric’s Hollow. My dead parents’ tombstones. Old Lady. Snake—VOLDEMORT?!?!! Dueling. Dissaparating. Coming back here. Crashing in the tent for a week ‘cause [sings] technically we’re homeeeeeeleeeesssss.
When will people finally understand that Jurassic Park is not a horror story about fucking with the natural order and bring dinosaurs back, but a horror story about capitalism fucking with science for profits.
It is also solidly the story of a man who bought a really nice computer system, but then was failed by tech support. The arc of the plot is in large part, literally, “have you tried turning it off and back on again?” I just think it’s such a beautiful combination of smaller elements, tight dialogue, and well-directed imagery. Subsequent entries have not yet demonstrated an understanding of the fact that Jurassic Park’s greatness was its lack of being about what you would immediately say it was about.
This is a blog that I repost every year, because it is something that is, for obvious reasons, very important to me to educate and inform people about. Since posting about my experience with an ectopic pregnancy and talking about it, several women have told me that knowing the symptoms was what got them to the hospital in time. Please read it. Please tell other women about it.
As always, this hurts to think about. My heart goes out to anyone who may be struggling with fertility issues or loss. You are not alone. I wish you peace and joy in the life that you have, even if it is not the life you’d imagined for yourself, and I wish you all the strength and support you need to find that peace and joy. (And I also want you to know it’s okay to not be okay now, and it’s okay to not be okay sometimes even after you are okay.)
First and foremost, I’m glad I’m not dead.
Seriously. I’m really, really glad I’m not dead. That would have sucked. And, thanks to the fact that I recognized warning symptoms and had some emergency surgery seven years ago today, I get to be alive to appreciate being alive. I’m a big fan.
So in honor of my not-dying anniversary, I’m doing a PSA about ectopic pregnancy. Even if you never plan on having children, these are important symptoms to know because you could very well save the life of someone you love. Or your own. (Unless you are a guy, in which case your risk of ectopic pregnancy = non-existent. Still, you like women, right?)
An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy in which a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. This is a bad thing. Usually the egg implants in the fallopian tube; occasionally it implants other places. 2% of all pregnancies are ectopic. That’s 1 in 50. Certain factors increase your risks–tubal scarring, abdominal surgery, endometriosis, fertility treatments, IUDs–but it can happen to anyone. I had no real risk factors.
An even scarier statistic than the one-in-fifty? Ectopic pregnancies are the number one cause of pregnancy-related death. Part of the problem is that many women with ectopic pregnancies don’t even know they’re pregnant. Because your body doesn’t produce as many hormones, you might continue having periods like normal, ignore the sudden pain, go to bed because you’re feeling tired and dizzy, and never wake up.
I know that sounds terrible and scary. It is. It happens. So even if you don’t think you’re pregnant, or if you think you are just having a standard miscarriage (which was what I thought), always, ALWAYS call the doctor if you have any of the following symptoms:
Sharp pain on one side of your lower abdomen. When you press down on it, it will be a stabbing pain that you will feel reflected in the other side, but one side will be more tender. Once your tube actually bursts the pain will lessen considerably–DO NOT IGNORE THAT. All it means is that you are now bleeding internally.
Feeling dizzy and lightheaded when you aren’t lying down. This would be because of the internal bleeding. Also, difficulty and discomfort breathing.
And finally, the key symptom: when you lie down, you have a sharp, stabbing pain in your shoulder. This is called referred pain, and is caused by the blood filling up your abdomen and pushing on your lungs. (This is also a symptom of a burst appendix and often happens after abdominal surgery, in case you were interested.) If you EVER have abdominal pain that is reflected in your shoulder when you lie down, go to the hospital immediately. And have someone else drive you.
Like I said, you may not think you are pregnant, but if there is any chance whatsoever you could be and you have these symptoms, have someone drive you to the hospital immediately or call 911. If I had ignored my symptoms and let my husband go to work that day, I probably would have fallen asleep on the couch and never woken up again. I was in surgery within two or three hours of the pain starting, and at that point I had lost so much blood I nearly needed a transfusion.
But, because I am obsessive and had researched every pregnancy-related topic under the sun, I knew something was wrong. And I’m not dead. And that’s a good thing.
Here’s hoping you never have to recognize the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. But now you can, and that’s the important thing.
This year’s side note: The fact that ectopic_,_ fallopian_, and_ endometriosis are all unrecognized by spellcheck pisses me off. Women’s health matters. Our bodies matter, even though they are consistently given less medical attention and education than they deserve. That’s part of why I do this.
AHAHA! Who said I hate Emma Watson?? I love Emma Watson! She is gorgeous, intelligent and spoke about feminism at the UN, it is 100% impossible for me to hate her. I just like drawing characters from the Harry Potter books in a way that is separate and different from the movies. :)
Gardening is great, but I’m terrible – I spent a half hour photographing the millipedes that were churning up in the soil. This little guy is Oxidus gracilis. It’s tiny- about the length of the first digit of a finger.
When I’m asked to talk about the best part of my job, I would say it’s exactly this kind of situation. Before getting to know Dr. Sierwald and learning about her love for millipedes, I wouldn’t have stopped for a second to get a closer look. Seeing something I now recognize and appreciate for its complexity is like having a new friend; a familiar face in a foreign world. You really do learn to appreciate the little things. The…. very little things.
