The Big Push for Midwives

check this out.

the ant and the sperm

there is an ant that likes to hang out on my bathroom floor. just one ant. he roams around on the same two tiles. he does not seem to care for company nor does he seem to have purpose. but he is there greeting me, with my pants around my ankles. it does not seem to phase him and i am glad to not interrupt his time. he amuses me and makes me think of spring. so the next time nature calls i can only hope my friend is there to greet me.

then there is my husband. the lover of science. he would be totally content living in the middle of nowhere with few humans around and those that were would need to be able to science speak. he with nature and a temperature controlled dome of reptiles, fish, amphibians and random cultures of wingless fruit flies and aquatic insects to feed to the previously listed specimens. but this evening my man of science was compelled to use his 7 year olds discovery channel microscope to view his own sperm. although the resolution was not great it did work. he was giddy and eager to share. i feel closer to my darling husband and his swimmers. it does make me wonder though all the households with kids microscopes how many have been used to view sperm?

spring is creeping in..maybe.

PUZZLE DONE!! now off to get puzzle glue and hang it on the wall. i have carried this puzzle around for 10 years started it 4 or 5 different times but with small kids it was not a good idea. so ten years later it is done and only one piece is missing.

the bathroom is sluggin along. i didnt touch it today. could not tear myself away from the puzzle.

my garden is on my brain. it will be a year of canning, freezing and tinctures. planning on how much we can grow and where. our soil is crap so i am thinking container garden and a lot on normal street.
i did find a meat csa that i need to follow up on. apparently you would get a mixed box of meat a month. (i just love the way that sounds ;) it is on my todo list to call calder and get on their delivery list. i have been doing door to door organics and i am going to hold on to that until the markets open. with the whole local thing i cannot imagine giving up bananas and avocados.
i did bust out my bread maker and for some reason it is making some poopy bread that turns into a cruton in 12 hours. so i have to dink around with that or just get into the old fashioned way of making bread. but the nice thing with the bread maker is that i can make pasta dough- another one of my goals. and super bonus the ypsi coop carries local (w/in 100 miles) flour. i still want to take my kids out there one day. it is about a 45 minute drive to linden mi but if i tie it into a visit to the fenton ladies then they will be all on board.

all this food talk is motivating me to do my pantry remodel i have wanted to do and i did buy an electric nail gun yesterday (for my mom) so we are good to go. all i need is my mason jars and freezer bags and a jug of five o'clock vodka (for tinctures).

i see a kitchen overhaul in the future but first things first - the bathroom.

mid-winter

february in michigan is brutal.
so i have started a 1500 piece puzzle. ( a few weeks ago actually but i feel like i have hit the good mojo on it) and i have begun the redecorating of my bathroom. the removal of the wall paper has begun. painful as it is. it is moving in the right direction. stacey, in all her lovely self, helped me remove the wall paper we didnt get it all but go most. we will be hacking away at it again tomorrow, then hopefully we will bust out with the painting. pumpkin but the bean disagrees so we shall see. then it is off to remove the beans bedroom wallpaper and the family room wall paper. i love stacey being off of school this semester! i will get my house done. yay!

it dawned on me

i was chauffeuring the kids around the other day and my brain was a-buzzing on many things then it popped into my head that:

if one is pro-choice on the abortion issue then one should also be pro-elective c-section.

elective c-section is where a mother can ask for a c-section for no reason other than choice. it is a topic of debate since the c-section rate is now at 31% and rising. many think of it like electing for cosmetic surgery. but many of these women do not do it for looks but from fear, misinformation or even convenience. not all mind you some do it for health issues

i am not a fan of elective c-section but it is a womans choice of how she brings the baby into the world. just like it should be her choice whether to bring the child into the world at all. it is not my place to dictate to others what is right for them i can only be supportive and offer information.

hey a week later and again sleep deprived

no sleep in two days and i am ok. should be in bed. but thoughts flood my brain and i want to scream, laugh, cry.
i want to be four years old again. when i had everything figured out.

i was at a birth last night and today. my clients are well and settling in as a new family. but all day as i walked back and forth in the hall of the hospital i had to pass a group of people, an extended family, sitting. heads hung faces blank in sadness and denial. it seems the newest member of their family- a grandchild, niece, nephew, son or daughter- died that morning in childbirth. i over heard a phone conversation of "they took the baby with forceps wrapped it up and took it away. they dont know what happened". all day my heart has been breaking for that family especially a woman i have never met. today her heart was ripped out. at home i am sure they had a nursery set up for the homecoming. a room that may sit untouched for sometime or be torn apart immediately in rage. her milk will come in her body will physically have to heal while her arms are empty. i could not imagine.

and just now as i type i get a lovely text message from the family that became today.
"thank you so much 4 sharing in our journey. our girl is so perfect. you were so wonderful today. thanks again!!!"
a beautiful new family that is starting the long amazing rocky road today. her milk will come in and her arms will be full. the new parents will be tired.. no exhausted- but so in love with their beautiful gift.

sleep deprivation

when i am sleep deprived- not like a bad nights sleep but more like a birth interrupting two nights of my sweet slumber- i get nauseous and head-achy. then it is amazing how i bounce back to normal (or so it seems) after a cup of coffee. BUT then 3pm creeps up and i CRASH!!! irritability gets me through the evening morphing into conversational delirium. my kids may think i am a poopy grouch on the verge of dementia but it was all worth it.

photo update in the new year

i am not too sure about this 2008 thing. we got off to a bumpy start but here are some highlights so far.

there was the monkeys birthday party that was once canceled. it was a bug theme and in the dish of the party was salt and vinegar crickets and barbeque larvae. and yes both my boys ate them with relish. i was not so adventurous. the monkey is really into watching bizarre foods on the travel channel. now he is on his way to his own bizzare food show. the good thing is that i could get him to eat most anything if i just present it as a "bizzare food".















the bean inherited the now forever to be kept devil pjs. believe it or not but just 10 minutes before this photo the monkey was wearing these pjs. yes he wore a size 4T pj until he was 7. he could not quite snap the crotch but wore it with pride hood and all. this was a big moment. (btw that is my bedroom wall of shocking terror in the backgroud- yes it needs to be painted in all my free time)










here is my beautiful monkey boy who turned 7 this year! i am so proud of him and the young man he is. with a heart the size of china. he loves animals (of course), science, math, drawing and is teaching himself how to read. and then there is the funky tooth. he feels like he is a shark with his two rows of teeth.












and i baked pies and chocolate chip bacon cookies. the cookies were devoured before they were able to be photographed. but they were good. the pie was made with brookes amazing crust recipe that the monkey raved over when she brought us food during "the illness". i just love the "bake-king" pan- i dont know where it came from so if it is yours i will wrestle you for it if you want it back.

one of those days

sometimes....
it is not that you wake up
on the wrong side of the bed
you are on your side
in your own bed
it is justthat your children
are wrestling on your head

better than sci-fi and then some practical information

meet dumbo. this is a deep sea octopus. i am passively watching blue planet on animal planet while researching homeopathics for newborn jaundice. my brain works best while multitasking.

back to my thought. the deep sea is an amazing and curious place with such strange and fascinating creatures. what many dont know about me is that out of college i went straight to university at michigan state university and was in the lyman briggs residential college of natural sciences planning to major in marine biology. i dropped out after my first semester with a 1.3 gpa. i might have done better if i went to more of my university classes. i went to the briggs classes more often because they were in my residence hall. i wish i could say that i was partying but for me at that time college didnt work. i had no business being there.

i do not think that my future was to be in marine sciences but i do find sea life so freaking cool. i would love to go down in one of those deep sea submersibles. claustrophobia aside to discover and see first hand this creative life that bends our assumptions of life and where we came from.

and here is what i found so far on newborn jaundice:


There is a research that has concluded that a slight elevation in bilirubin may actually be helpful in preventing bacterial infections in newborns. Bilirubin also has the ability to function as an antioxidant in the brain. According to Dr. Sylvain Dore of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, "When women breastfeed, the babies have higher levels of bilirubin and are healthier. Babies with higher bilirubin levels are more disease-resistant. Bilirubin also protects against retinopathy in premature babies."

Aconitum napellus (Aconite)
Aconite is used for jaundice that appears acutely and suddenly. Another keynote is jaundice from fright (mother or baby).

Arnica montana
Arnica is indicated for jaundice that is caused from a difficult or traumatic birth. Baby often has bruises. If baby is bruised or swollen, use this remedy as a preventive.

Chelidonium
Chelidoniumis a prominent liver and jaundice remedy in which there is marked lethargy and sluggish bowels.

Lycopodium clavatum
Lycopodium babies are irritable and constipated. The belly rumbles loudly and is full of gas. They are worse from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Naturally, homeopathy and natural medicine offers relief and cure to countless other 'challenges' that await new parents. It is my hope that the use of remedies will continue to grow in popularity as parents become educated and familiar with all that homeopathy has to offer.