Goodness. Time just slips right by, doesn’t it? I’ll be taking an official break for a few weeks while we take some time to enjoy the last stretch of beautiful weather. Montana winters are notoriously long and arrive all too quickly it seems. There is a certain fever this time of year that can only be relieved by spending as much time outside as humanly possible.
So that’s what we’re doing around here while we can. See you in October!!
A shining example of a healthy homebirthed baby: six hours old.
We’ve been feeling a little under the weather around here and I’ve been indulging in a little daytime television…I think I’ve had it with that pastime after seeing The Dr’s on CBS yesterday afternoon. I was interested in the topic presented regarding a couple’s decision about where to birth their first child. I had high hopes for a well thought out discussion because there happens to be a Dr. Sears on the show’s panel of doctors (that would be the son of the Dr. Sears).
Apparently the doctors had absolutely no intention of helping these poor folks make a well-informed, thoughtful decision because the entire segment seemed to be geared toward inspiring fear and intimidation about what is a very normal and healthy process. Dr. Sears was not even invited to the discussion even though he was in support of home births (four of his siblings were born at home). Instead the “expert” OB climbed up onto her soap box and announced that home births should be banned in this country due to the extreme risk that they pose. Personally I hold the conviction that defensive medicine should be banned and this lady should pack up her doctor bag and take a hike. I was particularly alarmed when after scaring the poor mother-to-be with stories of babies getting stuck in the birth canal she listed “pushing the baby back in” as one of the appropriate medical procedures used to resolve the situation.
Now folks, if you have a doctor that tells you that it’s ok to push the baby back in then you had better run–not walk–out of their office immediately. This is known as the Zavanelli Maneuver and one of the most dangerous applications that a doctor could perform during birth. It puts mother and baby at extreme risk and was actually made popular by the television show ER. Yep, ER. If you find that your OB is taking pointers from a television show then I would strongly advise you to seek another birth attendant. Fast. A more appropriate method of dislodging the baby would be to use the Gaskin Maneuver, so named after the queen midwife of them all, Ina May Gaskin. It basically entails moving the mother onto all fours–the motion will more than likely get everything back on the right track. It is commonly used by both midwives and physicians alike and has proven to be extremely effective. There are a few more tricks that midwives commonly use to dislodge a stuck baby but if he just won’t move then you have an emergency on your hands and it’s time to transport to the hospital for a cesarean section.
Don’t get me wrong–I support the incredible opportunities that modern medicine gives me as a patient. If I ever need a heart transplant or something then I will humbly do as my doctor orders. I just don’t think that medical procedures need to be such a “routine” part of giving birth. Physicians have lost touch with the ability of the human body to take care of itself. The impending need to control the situation apparently rears its ugly head even in the face of the most humbling and miraculous event around.
When I was pregnant with our son, we did a lot of homework about our choices. A LOT. I thought people who had home births were nuts! Little did I know that only a few short months later I would be delivering a bona fide human being right smack dab in the middle of our very own bed in our very own home. Initially, we decided that a family physician would be the road that would suit us best.
Then we presented our birth plan.
When the doctor raised an eyebrow at a few key issues and then informed us that the birth plan was “really for you guys–it doesn’t really have much to do with me or the staff” we knew that we were barking up the wrong tree and it was time to make some major decisions. We switched to a very qualified and trustworthy certified midwife who not only inspired the confidence within us to participate in a natural birth, she completely opened my eyes to the gross inadequacies that women face in their health care needs. The sad part is that we don’t even have a clue about how bad the system has become. It’s kind of like telling a fish that has lived in dirty water all of its life about what a clean environment feels like. Want proof? Switch your annual well-woman exam over to the care of a midwife that you admire and respect. It’s a whole different world. No stirrups, no crazy instruments, no freaky paper dress–can it be for real? Yep. And you don’t leave the office with that weird violated feeling either.
I digress. Below are some of the key issues and questions that we considered when making the switch from a physician to a midwife. These questions are the specific issues that we were personally concerned about with our son’s birth and were the major “make it or break it” issues.
Questions for the Doctor
Questions for the Midwife:
The key is to educate yourself about your body and your pregnancy. We delivered a healthy baby boy after 26 hours of labor (four hours of pushing): 8 lbs, 14oz; 21 inches long; 15 1/2 cm head circumference.
Home birth was the way to go for us–it was a peaceful and fulfilling experience and I am grateful that I was able to go on such a personal journey with my body, my husband, and the screaming little tyrant that we brought into the world together one year ago this Tuesday.
I’ve been lurking around the Sew, Mama, Sew forum for a few weeks now and I gotta tell you: I love that place. I like having a venue where I can share what I know about sewing and offer up some tips and words of wisdom to help people through their frustrations. I had to learn what I know about the basics from a really mean teacher in college who had absolutely no sense of humor. I wish I would have known the future me–she’s much more patient and amusing than old Not-Sewing-With-Nancy-Nancy.
After receiving a couple of wonderful emails with some great questions, I have decided to share what I know about Free Motion Quilting. This is a technique that I attempted to learn for years and years and years on my own and I finally broke down and took a class on the subject because my attempts were making me want to throw my sewing machine on the ground and hit it with a bat.
For this first leg, let’s just start with some basic advice that I have not found in any book on the subject:
My homemade sewing platform.
This information is meant to supplement what you can easily find in any book about Free Motion Quilting. These are just the “aha!” tips that I learned in our class that have really made machine quilting work for me.
Back to lurking around on Sew, Mama, Sew…
My goodness. It’s been pretty intense around here lately as summer winds down and the transition into fall begins. With two more weeks of the Farmers Market, a re-vamping of what it is I do around here, and a tot who is rapidly approaching independent movement I’ve had my hands pretty full. This on top of the regular duties of the household and another pretty major project in development that will remain a little secret for awhile.
So here’s the haps:
For his birthday (and mine!) we are having apple cake with caramel frosting. I suspect that cake will go over well.
So the posts might be a little sparse around here for a month or two but I will do my absolute best to get the tutorials on Thursdays done every week and pop in to say hello at least one time a week. “Almost Winter” is a busy time in Montana and we have to relish every second of sunshine before the real thing hits. And being that it snowed in the mountains last night, it looks like this year might be a doozy.
Or it might be like the tropics. You never really know around here.
