Make a Smilebox slideshow

OK, so this is kind of a repeat, but the first one came out pixelated, so I just had to improve upon it. =)

Another Blog Discovery

I've come across a very interesting blog called Man-Nurse Diaries. He's a student neuro-trauma nurse in Chicago and a father of four children, all born at home. He recently posted an eye-opening account of a woman who almost bled to death from a cesarean. He points out how today's medical community seriously downplay the risks of this major abdominal surgery while overplaying the risks of VBAC and vaginal breech delivery. It's a must-read.

In another recent post he writes about the homebirth debate. My favorite part is where he discusses the ridiculousness of the current obstetric system in the US where healthy, low-risk women see specialists (obstetricians) for pregnancy and birth. Here's a great quote:

" It seems inefficient to train physicians for years to achieve a high level of emergency obstetric skill, in order to attend births which generally don't require any of those skills. I think this artificially raises the intervention rate on normal births (as a doc said the other day at work, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail), as well as ill side effects of those interventions. Not only would it lower the intervention rate and probably make birth safer if we handed normal births over to midwives, but it would be a better division of labor and resources. Critical care physicians don't spent 95% of their time seeing healthy adult patients in a family practice clinic. Medicine has already divided critical care from family practice in order to become more efficient and provide more appropriate care. So I don't see why critically-skilled obstetricians devote their time to the 95% of births which are normal and uncomplicated. And no insurance company would pay for you to go see an intensivist if you're healthy and just have the common cold. If insurance companies weren't paying all women to get high-tech obstetric care, my insurance premiums would probably be lower.

Dividing labor (pun intended) between emergency/high-risk obstetrics and midwifery would also produce a better integration between the two, which would be better for those of us (like my wife) who do home birth. There's no reason on earth why most women can't birth at home. There's also no reason why women who choose to birth at home should be treated like second-class patients if they do require emergency obstetric skill. I'm sure if I ever have to transport my wife, even if it's to a hospital I work at, we'll be treated like we have three heads. It's a shame. But I don't think good, patient-friendly integration will ever happen if obstetricians (and their hospitals) are fighting with midwives for the same market. "

Very good points indeed!

Three Great Birth Documentary Screenings Coming to American Fork, UT

Melissa Chappell (the doula who filmed Charles' birth) has managed to arrange the screenings of Orgasmic Birth, The Business of Being Born, and Pregnant in America to occur in American Fork, Utah on June 13th. I think this is awesome. I'm tempted to go even though I have 2 of the 3 films on DVD. I'd love to be there with other like-minded mamas and hear the special guest speaker--Orgasmic Birth's producer. Click here for more info.

A Consent Form For Your Doctor

This frustrated mama wrote the most brilliant "consent form" for her OB to sign. I love it!

"What Heaven Sees In You" slideshow

I've wanted to make this for a long time, and I'm so happy to finally get it done! I had to crop the song, so the ending kind of sounds unfinished, but it would take way too many hours to try to get just the right end chord added to the song. Anyway, hope you like it. When I finally viewed the finished product, it brought tears to my eyes! (But when it's my kids, that's not hard to do.)

Amazing Birth Story

I just read an extremely powerful birth story on Rixa's blog. If you've ever wondered why natural childbirth people are so passionate about what they believe, you owe it to yourself to read this story. It's written by a doctor and at the end of the story she proposes what could have happened had she used the more traditional medicalized approach. The comparison to what actually happened to what usually happens is very powerful.

The other thing about this story that I love is how a pampered, complaining, unwed, pregnant teenager transforms into an educated, determined, assertive, powerful young mother who falls totally and completely in love with her newborn baby. Is there any doubt that she will do everything in her power to protect and raise that child the very best she can?

If all women were allowed and encouraged to make such a journey, what a different world we would have!

Baby Dreams--Divine Inspiration or just my heart wanting to do it one more time?

I've had two dreams in the last few months that have really got me wondering. When the first dream came I had recently written the blog post titled "So hard to say good-bye." I fellt like I had finally come to terms with the idea of being done at 7 kids.

And then I dreamed Scott and I were talking to someone about the joys of pregnancy, homebirth and babies. I remember saying enthusiastically "That's why we had EIGHT children!" I immediately woke up and thought "WHAAAAT! Where did that come from?" Was this inspiration or my heart not wanting to give up on the idea of doing it one more time? That day I concluded it was just my own thinking, and that the dream had no real significance, but as time has gone by I've wondered if the Spirit was trying to say "Wait a minute--don't be so sure you're done." However I didn't allow myself to seriously consider that possibility until I had the second dream.

In the second dream I dreamed that Talita had a twin sister but that we were so enamored with Talita we forgot all about her sister. When I remembered I felt horrible and ran to this other baby girl. But when I found her, she had no name, and even her face seemed to be a blank. I woke up right then and Scott told me that he had been lying there trying to come up with a spiritual thought for his stake presidency meeting. For some reson he started thinking about how much I have grown to love the experience of pregnancy and birth. However he feels overwhelmed at times with the work involved with taking care of the kids we have already. I sometimes do too but know that it's temporary.

Since it took place at exactly the same time, I wondered if my second dream was influenced by Scott's musings (if that's even possible?) Or was the dream just a manifestation of my own desires and fears? OR is there another little girl for us that we just didn't realize because we have been so focused on getting Talita here? Scott and my logical brain shout "NO, NO, NO!" But my mommyheart says a great big warm and fuzzy "YES!"