"Mom, it doesn't have to be over...we could just pretend that I'm still getting better. I can keep using the bell at least, right?"
....the general scientific consensus is that we on the West Coast will be "safe" from radioactive contamination. HOWEVER, since the jet stream is carrying everything toward us from Japan, it might be wise to feed your family superfoods that are radiation-protective. Especially if you are pregnant, or have young children, please check out the following links, and add miso, kelp, nettle tea, and the other mentioned plants and superfoods to your diets for the next several weeks, as things "fall out". Here is Susan Weed http://www.wisewomantradition.com/wisewomanweb/2010/11/surviving-radiation-the-wise-woman-way.html
and here is another excellent one from Christian Bates http://christianbates.com/?p=748
One of the biggest opportunities for reducing health care costs is improving the quality of maternity care. For most businesses, childbirth and newborn care is the largest or second largest (after heart care) category of hospital expenditures, and it's by far the largest category of hospital expenditures for state Medicaid programs. So even small improvements can result in large savings.
The place to start is with the most common hospital procedure in America -- the cesarean section. A C-section is a surgical delivery of a baby, rather than a normal, vaginal delivery. Not only does a C-section typically cost twice as much as a vaginal delivery, it is more likely to result in infections, injuries and other complications for both mothers and babies.
La Leche League of the Garden State is pleased to announce that registration for the April 1-3, 2011 breastfeeding and parenting conference is now open!
Please go to www.LLLGardenState.com toregister. You may download a registration form and return it with a check or you may register online with PayPal.
Members receive a coupon code for a $5 discount. Contact one of our Leaders for the code or to become a member.
The conference, with Mary Ann Cahill, Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Lu Hanessian and many others, promises to be fantastic! We hope to see you there!
Please contact the conference workgroup at GSANConference@gmail.com if you have any questions about the conference or registration. Or feel free to call any of the leaders for information.
As the light grows longer The cold grows stronger If Candlemas be fair and bright Winter will have another flight If Candlemas be cloud and rain Winter will be gone and not come again A farmer should on Candlemas day Have half his corn and half his hay On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop You can be sure of a good pea crop –
him: "Mom - I was just talking with your old laptop...he's lonely. He really misses you. Maybe you should spend some time with him instead of your iPad tonight!"
me: "I don't think my laptop is a boy".
be entered in a drawing for my homemade, natural hand cream made from herbs I’ve grown. It works great for all sorts of maladies. Dry, cracked hands or feet? Diaper rash? Other skin rashes? Stretch marks? This cream takes care of it all. I use it for my family, and I want to pass on a jar of it to the lucky winner!
Happy 2011!
The biggest thing you can do today is a small act of kindness-Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, NJ
the registrar appeared (the infamous Hassan!) and the midwife sounding panicked told him I had been 9cm with a lip but was now pushing and the babies were breech, she asked him what to do, “hands off and just watch” replied Hassan.
The registrar then called for a c-section, apparently twin 2 wasn’t coming down. Clearly my precious boy had his own ideas, within seconds of the midwife leaving the room to organise the c-section the urge to push hit again. “Go for it” the registrar said, so I did.
My youngest said for Thanksgiving this year, he would like to wear his "Indian clothes" (he has them for Diwali celebrations) instead of being a pilgrim...after figuring out what he meant, I explained the difference between being "Indian" and "Native American"...love that kid!
...We serve, we serve, we serve, we serve. We love, we help, we massage, we do what she needs, we listen, we advise, we rejoice with her, we grieve with her, we hold her accountable, we search around if there's something she needs, we buy her vitamins if she can't afford them, we stay up late researching for her. A midwife pours her life out for others...Beautiful...
When: Saturday, November 20, 2-5pm, Shakti
Cost: $75 per couple ~ please preregister.
Register: call 973-763-2288 or pay online
Questions: email Kim Collins
Giving birth is one of the most powerful and transformative events in a woman's life.
This intensive workshop is the perfect introduction to give you and your partner a glimpse into some of the many tools with which to approach birth physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Facilitated by Kim Collins, certified doula and childbirth educator, and Ires Wilbanks, certified teacher for yoga for labor and delivery, we will lead you through positions, breath work, comfort measures and vocalizations that will allow you to open your pelvis and experience a more efficient birth.
Learn how movement, touch and vocalization act as natural painkillers. Get insight into what to expect in a typical hospital birth and some of the ways you might avoid unnecessary interventions. A guided deep relaxation and visualization will also be included.
I am writing because there is a new network of moms forming right now, using facebook as the platform. Eats on Feets is a global milk sharing network designed to connect moms who have excess milk with moms who need donor milk. No other services/advice/fees...just mama to mama networking. I think midwives, doulas and LCs are going to be the backbone of the group since they are in constant contact with the lactating :o)
I am the admin of the New York chapter. The link to our page is:
www.facebook.com/eatsonfeetsnewyork
Would you pass this along to your contacts? Everyone can “like” the page, and milk share needs/offers can be posted there.
It has only been about a week since we’re getting it off the ground, and we have chapters in almost every state and 10+ countries!
Thank you!
Hello from my little house by the Bay!
On this rainy, blustery November day, I thought I'd send you a long overdue note. Settled in the nook off my kitchen (once the birthing room in this old house) I've got a cup of hot tea, and my trusty(but sook of a yellow Lab.,Ponyo by my side. Life is good.
I'm writing for a couple of reasons, but more than anything I wanted to take a minute to say "thank-you" - for your messages, your comments, your stories, your readership, your patience, and above all, your kindness.
I can't tell you how many times a slow, challenging day of writing, (or life) has been made better by your words. Writing The Virgin Cure has been an amazing journey, but it hasn't always been easy. Although the idea for the novel came long ago, (it's a story I always wanted to write for my mother,) bringing it to the page has felt frightening and freeing all at once.
This writing life constantly suprises me - bringing me to truths I'd found easier to ignore, showing me parts of myself I never knew existed.
I know that getting this tale to you has taken longer than expected and I'm sorry for that. (Creativity and publishing dates are both slippery little buggers ;-) I hope you'll stick with me and stay tuned for the duration...I promise there will be much more to share, soon.
In the meantime, I want you to know how grateful I am to all of you for passing The Birth House to friends and family, hand to hand. I never imagined that so many people would take my words to heart!
For those of you who don't know, The Birth House recently made CBC Radio's "Canada Reads" top 40 essential novels of the decade list. What an honour!
They are currently holding an online vote for the top 10, and readers (wherever you might live) can cast your vote for The Birth House at the Canada Reads website,
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2010/10/the-verdict-is-in-the-top-40-revealed-and-your-chance-to-choose-the-canada-reads-top-10.html
The deadline for voting is midnight ET - Sunday, Nov. 7.
Thanks to all who have already voted and have been spreading the word via FaceBook, blogs and Twitter!!!
I hope you're having a glorious autumn (it's my favourite time of year) and that you're cozied up with many good books and cups of tea!
With gratitude and best wishes,
Ami
Toni “Cindy” Collins was born in OH April 13, 1944 but was a California girl, having been raised in Carmel and lived in LA.
She was a fortunate woman, as she shared one of the greatest love stories ever told…she and Denny celebrated their 45th anniversary this year, three more years than the number of days they knew each other before getting married, having hit the love-at-first-sight jackpot in Jackpot, NV when their respective bands were playing in town.
Though she was already a top-ten recording and touring artist when they met, they made music together in Nashville and on the road, traveling the world and having adventures. Wherever they were was home as long as they were together. But if it was Hawaii, all the better!
Just as they decided on the night they met, they had a daughter named Kimberley. Kim and husband Len live in NJ with their three sons, Leo, Oliver and Eli. Family also meant Denny’s brother Gordy of TN, sister Donna, mom Elinor, aunt Rachel and cousin Dwayne of MT and niece Tonya of AK, and former brother-in-law and spiritual adviser Denny Roe of AZ, as well as Len’s family in NY, PA & CT. Cindy was preceded in death by her mom Bette and beloved Grandpa John.
Cindy made friends easily and if you were not friends it’s just because you hadn’t met yet. Some friends were life-long and were so very cherished. Wherever she worked, she adopted everyone as family. She was known for being upbeat, candid and a staunch advocate. When she found an interest, she threw herself into it: from being the only non-skydiver ever to become a judge at the national and world level (and never once cheated in Denny’s favor when he was competing) or playing and watching tennis (most recently at the US Open in NY) to quietly reviewing Denny’s crosswords or napping – she was a world class napper and relaxer, while also being an inexhaustible worker and entrepreneur.
Even after being diagnosed with cancer in late May of this year, she remained positive. She was a fighter and believed she would win. Although she died, we believe she really did win because of how she lived and who she was. Even when she was no longer able to have conversation, she was still able to say “I love you” and did so repeatedly in her final days. That was our gift.
Cindy died peacefully at home on October 21, 2010, listening to music, surrounded by family.
Her life was celebrated yesterday in TN at a gathering of family and friends. And because performers know the show must go on, we will be hitting the road for one more tour and hope to celebrate with those who loved Cindy in MT and the NY area.
“Wax Paper” is what home birth supporters have taken to calling a metaanalysis that appears in the September issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A research method that has come under criticism in the past, a metaanalysis pools together data from several studies, and this one comes to a hotly contested conclusion: that babies are three times more likely to die if born at home, said the study, whose lead author is Joseph Wax, M.D....
...Several researchers and providers are lambasting the study as not only “deeply flawed” but “politically motivated,” the result of “intense medical lobbying.” (See: MOMS legislation introduced to the House last month.) Two independent experts who looked at the study for Time found it “weak and methodologically flawed.” The main criticism of the metaanalysis is its inclusion of old, discredited data that did not distinguish between planned, attended home births and accidentals on the kitchen floor or back seat, which have worse outcomes to be sure. And while the study was presented as being based on “hundreds of thousands of births,” its banner finding, that home birth is “associated with a tripling of the neonatal mortality rate,” is based on just 9,811 home births. And most of those deaths come from said poor data
“Women are not merely participants in this process, we are the process. All women want to have healthy babies.”
Vaginal examination (VE) and assessment of the cervix is currently considered to be the gold standard for assessment of labour progress. It is however inherently imprecise with studies indicating an overall accuracy for determining the diameter of the cervix at between 48-56%. Furthermore, VE's can be unpleasant, intrusive and embarrassing for women, and are associated with the risk of introducing infection. In light of increasing concern world wide about the use of routine interventions in labour it may be time to consider alternative, less intrusive means of assessing progress in labour. The presence of a purple line during labour, seen to rise from the anal margin and extend between the buttocks as labour progresses has been reported. The study described in this paper aimed to assess in what percentage of women in labour a purple line was present, clear and measurable and to determine if any relationship existed between the length of the purple line and cervical dilatation and/or station of the fetal head.
Mom, on the first day of first grade, don't say, "I love you Sweetiepie - have a great first day - I'm so proud of you!" when I'm walking toward my school, OK? Just say, "I love you" in the car and I'll say it back. Or maybe you can say just, "I love you" when I'm walking away.
(gulp) OK. Wait - so I can say "I love you" when you're outside, just not the other stuff, right?
right
Got it. (sigh)
cool.
They included studies that did not distinguish between planned and unplanned home births. For example, if you had planned a hospital birth, but your labor progressed so quickly that you gave birth before you even made it to the hospital, then you wouldn’t have had a skilled attendant or necessary resources present.
In contrast, a planned home birth means that the woman and her health care provider have determined she is healthy, at low risk for complications, and has the necessary resources in place for a safe birth. By combining the two types of home births, the findings are limited.
Second, a meta-analysis is a way of combining the results of many studies. But in this case, there seems to be no clear reason as to which studies they included versus those they excluded. In fact, they actually did not include the best and by far largest study that's been done—which did not find a higher neonatal mortality rate.
"How will eating chicken fetuses impact my test performance, Mamacita?"
my kid: "Oh yeah - that's my show, son!"
friend: "what is this?"
my kid: "Twelve Angry Men, yo!"
friend: "good stuff, excellent entertainment"
"I'm going to adopt. I can't handle doing that to my body,"
I think I need some of that "kids' clarinet", Mom - I'm really sneezing a lot
...Think about the shape of the uterus. Before labor, the muscle of the uterus is thick evenly around all sides, above, below, behind. As the cervix starts thinning and dilating, all that muscle has to go somewhere – it bunches up at that top. The top of the uterus thickens dramatically the more the cervix opens. During a contraction, at the beginning of labor, check how many fingers you can fit between the fundus (top of your bump) and the bra line – you will be able to fit 5 fingers. As the top of the fundus rises higher during labor, you will fit fewer and fewer fingers. When you can fit 3 fingers, I usually tell mothers they can think about going into hospital as they will find they are around 5cm dilated. At 1 finger, you are fully dilated. (Awesome, huh!)...
...In Tuba City last year, 32 percent of women with prior Caesareans had vaginal births. Its overall Caesarean rate has been low — 13.5 percent, less than half the national rate of 31.8 percent in 2007 (the latest year with figures available). This is despite the fact that more women here have diabetes and high blood pressure, which usually result in higher Caesarean rates...
Posts
All Comments
