Cold Spaghetti

Flashlight, snowman PJs, and combed hair: the little man is ready for bed! 

CNN reports that rates for Ceasarean Sections in the United States have risen to almost 30% of live births. Almost a third of all births.

FACT: According to WHO, there is no reason — no reason — that any medical center have a C-section rate of more than 12%, and that high only for the centers dealing with the most critical and complicated of cases. So, more than half of the C-sections done in the U.S. are done unnecessarily.

U.S. public health officials have a goal of bringing the C-section rate down to 15% by 2010. It’s quite a lofty goal, given the current state of things, so I thought I’d make some friendly suggestions:

— More birth centers, more midwives, more doulas. These professions should be recognized as legal in all states and be covered by insurance, regardless of where the mother delivers (in a hospital, in a birth center, or at home.)
— All birthing women should have doulas.
— Low risk women with non-complicated pregnancies should see midwives in birth centers, or at the very least, be encouraged and supported to do so. Women who are high risk or develop risk patterns should be referred to OBs. OB practices should be limited to those who need OB services, i.e.: women who require medical intervention. (Incidently, this is the safest option for women with low-risk, normal pregnancies. Women who fall into low risk categories are the least at risk for complication by planning a birth outside of a medical system; delivering with an OB within a medical system actually places them in a higher risk category because of the strong likelihood (read: certainty) that they will receive medical interventions that are unnecessary.)
— Good birthing education should be given to pregnant mothers. Chuck the “welcome to your medicalized birth” psuedo-education offered at most medical centers.
— Train OBs to handle vaginal births. Including vaginal deliveries of twins and breech presentations.
— Breech deliveries should not be mandatory C-sections. My C-section was unnecessary.
— VBAC births should be commonplace. The CNN article misleadingly stated: “…doctors became worried by studies that showed that women who deliver vaginally after having a C-section earlier suffer a ruptured uterus — a potentially lethal complication for both mother and child — in about 1 percent of such cases.” What this is leaving out is that the ruptures were caused by the medications given to the women in labor, most specifically pitocin, which is a very dangerous drug that causes uterine muscle to contract. Why this drug may lead to an increase in uterine rupture for women with a Ceasarean scar should be obvious. There is no statistical increase in risk for women who proceed with a vaginal birth without these interventions.

Is a safe birth too much for American women to ask for?

– 16 Days until Comps
– Studying alone
– In recovery from sinus infection
– 6 days into 10 day dose of antibiotics
– In-laws arriving today for one-week stay
– Weaning only child (sore)
– Parents arriving Friday for weekend visit
– Only child’s 2nd birthday on Monday
– Planning child’s first ever birthday party
– Weekend after is Thanksgiving (exactly 1 week from the first day of exams)
– 15 weeks pregnant
– House needs cleaning
– Living in a City not quite yet functional
– Suffering from insomnia

I guess I’m feeling a little overwhelmed?

In all the literature out about breastfeeding, it is really difficult to find good information on weaning. And the majority of what is out there is geared towards folks trying to wean when their babies are way young and milk dependent. I’m a little burned on trying to find good information for Moms like me, who have breastfed for two years (as recommended) and are facing weaning.

That said, I think that Will may be weaned. He’s been naturally nursing less over the past few months. When we were in Mobile for the two month Katrina aftermath, my parents started putting him to bed and he lost interest in night-nursing (he’d be so tired and full after dinner he’d fall asleep as we were putting on his PJs.) During this time, he stopped asking for daytime nursing and only nursed in the mornings during our cuddle time. Then in the last month or so, Will started skipping days. When he did nurse, he only nursed for a very short time (less than a minute) and was more interested in playing than nursing. Now it has been at least 5-6 days since he last nursed and he doesn’t show any interest in nursing again. Does that mean he’s done? Is he weaned?

If he’s done, that is fine. He seems ready, he eats great, and it didn’t involve any tears on either of our parts. (I was worried he would be difficult to wean.) But I want to know what is going on with my body. I read that I could make milk for months afterward, which I thought was interesting. Particularly being pregnant, that made sense to me. I have had some soreness on one breast, but nothing terrible. I wonder if that will continue? I don’t feel the need to express at all, I don’t feel “full,” but I’m not sure how I should be feeling. It’s all a very new thing and it’s not like there are other Moms to ask. (No one breastfeeds here… Louisiana actually has the lowest breastfeeding rates in the country, according to a speaker during our “breastfeeding week” at the School of Public Health last fall.) Anyone have any experience or information about this one?

Favorite places: anywhere outside! Especially… walking around our block, playing in the park, walking along the Mississippi, exploring the backyard

Words: anything and everything. Is starting to pick up short sentences… “Where Dad-dy?” “Octavia Books!” “Mo’ Ce’al, Mommy” and his favorites… “Shoes on!” and “Go Outside!”

Clothes: still wearing warmer weather clothes, at least for one more day, we’re expecting a cold snap to hit Wednesday with temps in the 60s… finally! 24 months works in everything. We’re buying size 8 wide shoe!

Food: anything. Favorites include Quaker Peaches and Cream Oatmeal, Uvas (grapes), Fishies (goldfish crackers), Pizza, Apples, Noodles from Noddle Soup, Chocolate Milk, White Grape Juice, Ginger Ale

When you live in a city deep in recovery from a disaster, you have to get creative. Things are just different. Few traffic lights, no traffic cops, few stores/restaurants/amenities open, and every place understaffed and understocked.

So, throwing a party makes you realize how much of the little things you normally take for granted. I decided to make invitations to Will’s party. Normally, there would be options. You could pick up themed paper to make invitations in your printer, find blank invitations to fill out by hand, or even have something printed up. If you wanted to make something, you could buy crafting supplies and have a blast. Here in New Orleans, those options are limited to what you can find at the Walgreen’s or Winn-Dixie. Cursing myself for leaving my craft and scrapbooking supplies in Mobile, I inventoried my stash… and came up with a few sheets of construction paper and some peach cardstock (leftover from our wedding 5 years ago!) Inspired, I got creative. I made the invitations in the picture above. I printed out the text on the cardstock and using a compass and exacto-knife, cut out round circles. Then I pasted the cardstock on plastic wrap, cut the wrap to size, and cemented on to the construction paper. Will made my day when he asked “wa doing?” and then exclaimed “bubbles!!” when I showed him. A bubble-themed invitation!

There are other challenges in party-planning for this week. Is it possible to get helium balloons? We’re hoping that the neighborhood toy store can pull through for us on this one… we’ll check when they open up tomorrow. (Backup plan: my parents rent a tank from a party store in Mobile and bring it with them this weekend?) Food is also somewhat more of a challenge. No platters or catering from the local groceries, which means someone has to be active in the kitchen… two weeks before comps.

Regardless, we are planning a somewhat laid back playdate that happens to have cake and some singing. Although Will won’t remember it, we will be able to tell him about how his loving Mommy worked all day to cut and paste special “bubble-themed” invitations for his very first party!

Join Us in celebrating
Will’s 2^nd Birthday!

A small-scale play date is what we have planned,

Just a few kids, with lots of fun at hand!

Bubbles, chalk, play-doh, and juggling, too,

With snacks, drinks, and conversation to do!

Saturday, November 19^th

1:30pm

RSVP to Holly and Paul

Presents, food, and drink are welcome – but not expected!

We hope to see you there!

What a wonderful happy day surprise! Catherine Kegan Martz arrived almost a month early to proud parents Robin and Dave! Hooray! She is beautiful and I am bonding with Robin over the similar experience… going in for an appointment and coming out with a baby, having a different than intended birth experience, and dealing with bili lights! And no surprise… shortly after giving birth, a nurse commented that Robin was the first mother she’d ever seen walking down the hall, pushing the baby’s bassinet, and carrying her hospital bag so soon after delivering (with no pain meds and on a heavy pitocin push, no less!) (What would the nurse have said if she knew that Robin had already taken Catherine out for a quick 10k run around the ward?)

Congratulations to Super Robin and Dave!

It is disgusting that President Bush used Veteran’s Day to defend his indefensible war. Veteran’s Day is about honoring the sacrifices of service men and women and their families. Having been raised in a military family with a father on active duty for all of my formative years, I actually take the message and meaning of the day seriously. I believe it is a good time to think about how we can be a better country to the veterans that have served and represented us. So it made me ill that the administration used the day to divert attention away from veterans and the needs of the thousands of veterans their war is now making. Good plan, considering the administration is systematically wildling away at the benefits and rights of veterans. Cuts to health and disability benefits, lies to active duty to extend time in service, inadequate protection for current service men and women, broken promises on education benefits… these are just the start. After all, if you give your life in this misguided war, the Feds may even deface your tombstone. Those are the issues that should have been on the table during this Veteran’s Day. Not using the day to trump up “support” for the President’s War. And *certainly* not to remove the 55-year tradition of allowing veteran’s groups to have the opportunity to make legislative recommendations at joint House-Senate hearings.

What a slap in the face of all veterans, their families, and supporters. Something to think about next time we’re starting at one of those “support our troops” car stickers.

I get that you like to mess with women’s hormones. What fun! But how about focusing some attention on creating the contraception choices we REALLY need… like ones that can help control the spread of deadly disease? Controlling women’s reproduction is a total kick, but honestly, we’re worried about disease these days. Sometimes I think you haven’t noticed, so to remind you, HIV and AIDS are *very* big problems. All we’ve got to use against the spread of STIs is the condom, hardly a practical solution. I know you think you did women a favor by inventing the female condom, but seriously, what a joke! Let’s get those creative minds working on something truly useful!

PS: If you MUST keep on with the obsessive work on fertility control, might I suggest finding a reliable method of birth control that does *not* require doctor visits, prescriptions, insurance, or heavy expense? If you haven’t noticed, those are serious problems. C’mon guys! Think *outside* the upper-middle class whitebread box!