Hey guys!!! These tulips in our front garden fully bloomed this week and I cannot stop taking pictures of them. I wish they would bloom year round, or stay in bloom just a little longer than a few weeks…but the brief blooming period makes you appreciate the beauty more right?

Alaska knocked it out of the park again with a gorgeous spring this year. Green springs up overnight and every plant and flower seems to sprout at the same time as we soak up the sunshine we’ve missed for so long.

And camping season has started. If Alaskans take anything seriously, it’s camping, fishing and hunting.

I’m still drowning in graduate school work but wanted to get a Friday Five post out this week (ah yes, it’s Sunday…). Here we go:

1. Nurses’ Health Study: Sub-study on COVID! I’ve been a participant in this study for years now. It’s a ongoing study that enrolls nurses and tracks all sorts of habits like exercise, diet choices, fertility and diseases through a nurses lifetime. They’re doing a subset study on COVID in particular which I think is fascinating since so many nurses (whether frontline or not) are affected by the virus. Check out the study here: https://sites.google.com/channing.harvard.edu/covid19/study-facts. If you have questions about the NHS/GUTS COVID-19 sub-study, please contact nhscovid@channing.harvard.edu

2. This Rachel Cruze video on things you don’t need for your babies. The only thing I disagree with is BabyWise. I don’t think a newborn baby should be sleeping though the night unless they do so on their own accord. Again, just my opinion, but I know people vary across the spectrum on newborn sleep!

3. Study: 2 doses of flu vaccine better in young children….published in JAMA Pediatrics showed that children ages 2 and below who received two doses of influenza vaccine in their first season of vaccination had a vaccine effectiveness of 53%, compared with 23% in those who only received one dose, and were less likely to test positive for influenza. In total honesty, when they tell you to get two influenzas vaccines in your child’s first flu season…I balked a little. But flu in littles is terrifying and now I regularly educate mamas on getting their flu vaccine while they are pregnant but also planning

4. Tummy time linked to positive health outcomes in infants – loved this read! I personally count down the days until my babies will sleep on their tummies – they sleep SO MUCH BETTER!

5. Nurses being rockstars in the pandemic! Do you have any personal stories of someone you know in healthcare that is ROCKING it? Please share!

And a couple new resource on COVID – also updated on the RESOURCES page!

Resources for those who may need assistance with mental health, food, PPE and housing:

• Crisis Text Line – Text HOME to 741741
  • https://www.crisistextline.org/
• GetUsPPE
  • https://getusppe.org/
• Feeding America
  • https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbankfind-your-local-foodbank
• Harvard University – Joint Center for Housing Studies – COVID-19 Housing Resources
  • https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/covid-19-resources
• Homeless Shelter Directory
  • https://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/

Informational resources about COVID-19:

• Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
  • https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – The Forum – Coronavirus Pandemic Series
  • https://theforum.sph.harvard.edu/series/covid-19/
• CDC COVID-19 Fact Sheet
  • https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/2019-ncov-factsheet.pdf

Hope everyone is doing well! Regular blogging should resume shortly…10 more days left until the semester ends…

Jamie