When do you have time to blog?

After watching my kids for a few hours on Saturday, my cousin asked me when it was that I had time to blog. I just laughed it off and smiled, but it actually did make me start thinking. My day is jammed packed, start to finish, with something to do at every minute. It might not be scheduled meetings or "important" phone calls, but there definitely isn't a minute to just sit and, well, blog.

So when is it that I have time to blog? Whenever I choose to I suppose. Right now, for instance. There is a mountain of laundry in my bathroom, I stuck to the kitchen floor when I was making coffee, some one behind me has a stinky diaper, my desk is so cluttered there is barely room for my coffee cup, I have to finish making my Halloween costume and iron the rest of Charlotte's, Levi dumped a pretty large selection of crayons on the playroom floor, everyone's sheets need to be changed, I need to pay bills and balance the check book, and through out the day I need to interact with the three kids who are here, teach them to count, color, and become overall good people, and make dinner for tonight.

I guess the real question is, why aren't you blogging?

The pin cushion

Last night I was putting together the pieces for Charlotte's Kim Possible Cheerleader costume. I am making a box pleat cheerleader skirt from scratch, so I'll let y'all know how that turns out! But there was a lot of pinning and cutting going on last night, and I kinda went to be with out putting it all away.

My little ninja got up this morning and headed down stairs while I was getting clothes for Mason. Before I made it down stairs (less than a full minute!) he had taken out all of the remaining straight pins from the cushion and placed them in the fabric on the table. Luckily most of them were on the scrap pieces, so I don't have to decipher which ones I put in and which ones are his handy work. I couldn't exactly be mad, I left the stuff out. And, he did put them in the right way as opposed to just sticking them in the couch!

It was pretty cute when I came downstairs and he told me he was 'whoahing like you!!' I gathered up the pins, and explained although it is great to help mommy, little boys shouldn't really play with pointy pins. He shook his head yes, but he is still eying them on the counter! Lets just hope he stays away from the sewing machine until he is at least old enough to thread it on his own.

Early in the morning

I sat down at the computer this morning with the intention to write a blog about how my 2 year old managed to take out EVERY SINGLE straight pin from my pin cushion in a matter of 3 seconds, and then reminisce about how yesterday he escaped to the yard while I took a shower.

But, as I opened up my email, there was yet another comment sent to me from my now month old cesarean blog. It methodically went through my previous post, much like all of the others who did not agree with me, and pointed out where I went wrong in my statements. Some of her comments simply made me giggle, some made me frustrated because she too is mis-informed on some of the important issues *note I did not say wrong---just mis-informed. At best "under researched", and she is a Labor and Delivery nurse at a large local hospital. Primarily I was concerned with her comment that having a home birth is "playing with fire."

I have documented (and personal experience) evidence to the contrary. Never in a million years would I say home birth is right for everyone. Nor, have a I ever tried to push it on any one. All I have ever suggested is that before you make major medical decisions you do your own research. Use the power of this great country we live in to seek the best medical care for you and your family WHATEVER you decide that may be. Just don't assume that the Dr. is always right. "Mr. Smith, the best solution for your headaches is a frontal lobotomy," Are you gonna do it? Probably not with out at least asking some questions.

And for those of you who say that isn't the same, I disagree whole heartedly. If you choose to take a medical approach to childbirth, it is your right and obligation to ask all of the questions surrounding your medical decisions. I know I asked lots, even of people who I explicitly trusted to help me have all of my children at home. I did not just do whatever they said without at least asking a few more questions.

I also encourage those of you who think that I am doing something unsafe or backwoods to ask me some questions, or do your own research on the subject. I did not just have a baby in my bathroom with no one there to help (at least not on purpose!). I received skilled prenatal care, fantastic labor and delivery support, and more post pardum care then you would get in a hospital. My Dr's and midwives knew me on a personal level, were able to tailor all care directly to me and my wishes, were familiar with my body and my choices, and were able to spend all of their time focused on me and my current situation, not reviewing my previous history and worried about some mysterious imaginary growth they found on an ultrasound. They brought an arsenal of "just in case" equipment and were able to handle a variety of emergency situations in the event they occurred. And, I had the benefit of doing it in the comfort of my own home, not having to bundle up a 24 hour old baby and transport him home in the middle of February.

I was able to pick and choose which intervention I wanted. Vitamin K drops are just as effective as the shot, however require being given for several days following birth. In a hospital setting, mothers are not told that because they cannot be "trusted" to continue on with the care after they are discharged. However, my midwife who came each day for the week following the birth of my children was able to ensure I was still doing what I supposed to do.

I am started to ramble now, and that never helps my case, so I guess I am done here. If you want to know about my birth stories, or where I got my information, I am happy to oblige, just ask! And, before you go assuming that I am a bear-foot, skirt wearing hippy (hmmm?) that doesn't know what she is talking about, let me help you do a little research :)

Ah yes, Monday morning

Good Morning all!

I definitely have been MIA recently, but I promise not with out good reason. First, I was slightly gun shy after the responses from my last rant, second, I have four kids!?!, and of course, third, my house has been on quarantine for the last week, and I feared getting you sick even through the computer.

We are not a family that gets sick. And, even if one of us does, the rest of us usually don't get to join in on that party! I read a statistic once (okay, this weekend, in American Baby magazine) that the average child gets a cold 8-12 times a year until they turn 5. I can count on one hand the number all of my kids combined have been sick, and that includes the chicken pox outbreak of 2007! We just don't get sick! That is, until Mason started going to school. Yet another reason for considering home schooling, I suppose.

First, Charlotte started with the runny nose watery eye thing. We took her to the chiro, one adjustment, and Poof! no more runny nose. Nipped that one in the bud, we are in the clear. HAHA right!

The next morning she woke up and said her throat REALLY hurt. She tends to be a little bit of a drama queen, but I let her hang out in my bed and watch TV and have juice and yogurt and anything else smooth she asked for. Then, Mason came home from school and said his throat hurt. Being as considerate as I am, I told him just because his sister was getting to sit in my bed was no reason to pretend he was sick.

Oh, then my throat started to hurt and I went and apologized to my children for saying that they would be fine. I thought I was going to die! Remember that commercial from the 80's where the little kid grabs her neck and says "I've got a porky-pine in my froat"? That was what it felt like.

Then Levi's eye started watering, and the baby started sneezing. Oh No! I sat pitifully surrounded by sick kids until Daddy came home to take over so I could get some sleep. Or that was what I thought would happen any way. Lucky for us, Daddy got sick too. He came home, curled up on the couch and pretty much stayed in that position all weekend. By Saturday morning we had polished off 2 boxes of tissue, the kids had absolutely destroyed the house due to lack of competent adult supervision (apparently even being sick doesn't really slow down 4 kids ability to take out everything in the play room), we had run out of clear liquids to drink, and my small stash of cold meds was depleted.

I reluctantly got dressed and took a couple kids to WalMart to replenish our supplies. I came home and resumed my sick position on the couch and pretty much fell asleep. At about 10:30 PM, our new tenants called and said they were about to reach town and would like us to meet us at the house with the keys and the lease. I had expected them earlier, but they also were not have such a great day (blew up a tire on their trailer, couldn't find the jack, etc) so I agreed to meet them out there. I probably looked like I had been hit by a truck, but at that point, I didn't really care.

I got all of that taken care of, came home desperately wanting to go to sleep, but instead I was greeted by a screaming baby, who by my assumption, had gotten to the sore throat portion of the looming virus. Garrett and I hung out in the living room until he finally passed out (probably from exhaustion) and we slept curled up together, coughing and sneezing for a few hours.

Sunday morning, the bigger boys seemed to be ALL BETTER because they were up at about 6:30 rearing to go! So, mommy got up and played referee for awhile. Daddy remained sick (men are soooo pitiful) for the rest of the day.

We spent a little time last night picking up the disaster formerly known as my house, but there is oh so much more to do today. Today, although that porky-pine still calls my throat home, and now the inside of my ears have begun to itch (crazy and awful symptom!) I must UNSICK my house. I don't care if it is 50 and raining I am going to open all of my windows, wash all the sheets (and probably hand them on the line outside for extra freshness protection!), scrub the yuckness out of the kitchen and bathrooms, and then take a nap! Anyone want to come and help? I'll pass out paper masks at the door!

Have a great day and take that vitamin C!!

No offensive material here

My child thinks he's Spiderman, is this a problem? He continually tries (sometimes rather successfully) to scale the walls of every room, hallway, shopping center, and bathroom stall we come in contact with. I frequently find him perched in doorways high above my head.

On one hand I marvel at the strength necessary to accomplish some of his acrobatic feats. On the other, I cringe at the thought of having to tell a Dr. in the ER that my child's arm or leg is broken due to an 8 foot fall from the ceiling. We bought him a chess set, hoping to wrangle in his creative side. He did learn to play, but more frequently he spends time trying to balance the pieces on top of each other.

He got a baseball bat and ball. He got pretty good at hitting the ball, but just the other day I found him trying to figure out how to stand on the end of the bat as it stood on the ground.

Tonight, we went out for ice cream and he scaled the side of the building by using the order window ledge and a few "holds" on the side of the brick. I suppose Spiderman is better than Superman (no attempting to fly) but good golly the kid is going to give me a heart attack.

An explaination, not an appology.

Within minutes of posting my last blog, it was brought to my attention that it may be offensive to some of my faithful readers (friends, family). Please note that this was NOT AT ALL my intention.

I am so aggravated at the lack of information and options given to women of our generation and the generations before and after us. If no one questions the direction of our society, and we blindly traverse forward, how can we ever expect change to happen?

This was NOT intended to reflect my opinions about anyone that I know personally. I know that each of you who have been faced with any of the various circumstances I portrayed in the last post made the decision that was best for you at the time, with the information you had been presented with. You all have beautiful children and I am proud of you for bringing them into the world.

As intelligent, educated people, we need to look out for our daughters and our granddaughters and provide them with the best possible scenarios in life.

Please put aside any angry feelings you have about what I wrote and take it at face value. If your opinions are different then mine, I respect them. If your choices are different from mine, I honor them. That is what our boys are fighting for, right?

Hopefully this goes a little towards making clear my point, as I have chosen not to delete the last post. Or, quite possibly, I have dug my hole deeper?

Argh

If you are easily offended by me on a regular basis....Please stop reading now.

I just got an email from a friend of mine who is expecting her second child. In it, she was complaining about how her Dr. is insisting on a scheduled C-section because her first labor ~ according to the Dr.~ was such a disaster. She "failed to progress" and had to be rushed for that "emergency C-section". It doesn't matter to the Dr. that they medically induced her at 38 weeks because "that baby is huge!" and the poor kid came 2 weeks early fairly traumatically and only 6.5 lbs.

This same friend was also discouraged by her Dr. and her mother from breastfeeding her little guy because he was a bit colicky and a puker. Their constant nagging of how he probably wasn't getting enough milk, he's still hungry, you can't let him just cry....blah blah blah.... made her lose any confidence in herself she might have had and she quit breast feeding all together. (surprise surprise the formula didn't make any difference in his puking and he was still colicky, he just was gassier and smelled worse when he threw up!)

I am soooo frustrated at the medical field, my friends' lack of confidence in themselves, and society as a whole. For thousands of years women have been having babies. Long before insane medical intervention (less than 100 years ago!) society continued to thrive, babies were born (sometimes by the dozen to the same woman!), and life went on. Jesus was born in a stable, not Rush Memorial. I am not Anti-medical advancement. So many great things have come from science and medicine, allowing us to live longer and healthier lives. HOWEVER, a major abdominal surgery, narcotic pain killers, IV fluids, and staples are NOT necessary parts of child birth.

The United States ranks 23rd out of the 26 industrial countries in the world in infant mortality. That means that 22 other countries have a lower percentage of babies die each year. Yet, the United States ranks 1st in the number of C-sections performed yearly (nearly 48% of all deliveries are C-sections in the U.S. while the rest of the world hovers around or below 5%) Does anyone else see the correlation here?

No where else in the world do so many women feel compelled to go to the hospital to "deliver" their baby. In fact, in Europe or Latin America, if you say you were born in a hospital, you will be questioned on what was wrong with you at birth.

So many women I know have been convinced to schedule their surgery because there is "a risk of uterine rupture" if they were to try to have their 2nd, 3rd, 4th baby vaginally. Yet, there is NO MEDICALLY DOCUMENTED case that EVER a woman's uterus rupture during labor from a previous cesarean. Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a realistic and viable option that is rarely given to women who don't ask about it. If I hear "My Dr. said I have to have a C-section" one more time I am going to scream! Find a different friggin Dr! Question what medical fact requires you to have a surgery to bring your baby into the world instead of naturally like your body intended! Ask some questions people!!

After listening to my friends' reasons (i.e. excuses) on why they are scheduling (or worrying they will have) a cesarean, I can only shake my head.

"My baby will be too big." Too big for what? I know women who have had 9, 10, even 12 lb babies vaginally (and naturally for that matter). They all survived. None of them ripped in two or did not recover from labor. They can all still walk, function, raise their children. So I ask, too big for what? Believe me, that thing will stretch! (have you seen the size of my kids' heads?!?)

"I am past my due date." Hello? You have passed some arbitrary date set by your Dr. on when she thinks you might be done cooking that kid? Oh, yeah, your Dr. knows more about your body than you, or your body itself. I promise you will not hold on to a baby until its first day of preschool. At most your looking at a couple extra weeks. (believe me, it sucks!) However, you have got to trust that there has to be a reason for it!

"I might tear." You know they use a scalpal for a C-section, right?

"My Dr. is going to be out of town on my due date." Don't even get me started on that one!

"My labor stalled." Ever think that might have to do with the catheter in your back, the sterile stressful environment of the hospital, the fact that you medically induced your labor before it was ready, or you have been lying prone for the last 5 hours because you can't feel your legs anymore? If your body senses stress in a normal situation, it will shut down, or freak out, or some other non-expected reaction. I don't recall ever having to go pee in the middle of an important softball game. My body knew better. And, heading to a hospital (which is where sick people go) surrounded by beeping machines, getting poked with needles, and having lots of people stick their hand up your who-ha is likely to induce a little bit of stress. Your body might decide this isn't a safe place to bring a fragile new life into the world and shut down. Instead of listening to your body, dimming the lights, taking some deep breaths and letting your body recover.... nurses and Drs. come in telling you all the horrible things that can happen if you don't hurry up and have a baby. Ahhh... how relaxing!

"The babies heart rate dropped/spiked whatever." Ok, I want you to go to the garage, stick your head in the vice, and squeeze ever so gently. Release the pressure, and then about 4 minutes later, do it again. Hold each squeeze for about 30 seconds and repeat for about an hour or so. Check your heart rate.

Have I made my point? I realize that this is quickly becoming a chapter (or two or three) of a book, but I just can't swallow it any more. There is so much more I could get going on (epidural, routine ultra sound, glucose tolerance tests, immunizations, that crap they put in babies eyes when they are born, pitocin, episiotomy, weight gain, enemas). The list is kinda long. But for now, I will let you all chew on this one!