Research Study

***Gross out warning*****
This post contains information that you may find gross, read at your own risk.

This week I got to do something I've always wanted to do, I was in a research study. I was called and asked if I was interested about a month ago and I said I was. It started yesterday with about 30 minutes of instructions and an hour of testing on Eddie (they tested his motor skills and language skills). Then I got to wear a blood pressure cuff for 12 hours and each time it went off I had to answer about 10 questions. It went off every 15 minutes. I also got to collect my urine for 24 hours (fun huh?)

This morning was the interesting part. They wrapped electrode tape around my neck and ribcage and connected it to a machine that monitored my vital signs. They also put on a blood pressure cuff that went off about ever 2 minutes during each test. Then they monitored me doing different things; feeding Eddie, playing with him, ignoring him, talking about a stressful situation, being in a stressful situation (a bag of ice water pressed against my forehead (thanks Dad for teaching me about deep breathing when you're trying to stay calm)), resting by myself and feeding Eddie again. They also drew my blood at the beginning of the tests and at the end of the tests. After each situation I got to do another urine sample and a saliva sample, they also took a saliva sample from Eddie a few times.

While I was doing the situations that didn't include Eddie he was in another lab serving as a control group for another study. In that one they put sensors on babies heads and measured the energy coming off their heads (indicating they were thinking), while they were shown videos. They needed some readings of infants that weren't watching the videos for the control group, so they put the sensors on him for a few minutes. He didn't mind at all.

In a few weeks I'll get a check for participating in the study, but I found it so interesting I think I would have done it for free. In November I can do it again for another check if I'd like to.

My research methods class was one of my favorites so far, so this was really interesting to do. Here are some things that I learned, some I probably would have known if I'd thought about it, but they were cool anyway:
Eddie knows my voice and prefers it to a stranger's voice.
Eddie knows his name and responds to it. He ignores other names.
Eddie's receptive language skills are a month ahead, and his expressive language skills are about where they should be.
Eddie's fine motor skills are where they should be, and his gross motor skills are a month ahead. He was the only baby so far in the study that could roll to his side (he hasn't figured out how to get to his tummy yet).
If you're collecting urine for 24 hours you don't have to worry about it staying cold.
Blood pressure cuffs start to hurt after awhile, and can make blood vessels near the surface pop if they are on too tight.
My normal blood pressure is 118/80. My blood pressure doesn't go up very much in stressful situations (119/86), but goes WAY down in restful ones.
When I'm feeding Eddie my blood pressure is 100/61. I've never had it that low before.

Overall it was a fun experience, and the check will be nice too.

If you know anyone near Provo with a baby 3 months or under they need more participants.