Friday, August 29, 2008

Believe in yourself and your body, it will perform its proper functions!

I discovered someone else's blog that has an amazing story to tell. She had three cesarean's and like all women wanted something more natural ie Granola : ) She got herself mentally and physically in shape. She believed in herself! And realized that her body could do it!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ2taLF3rII

She also has a blog http://yourbirthmatters.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

The video is amazing. I wept. We know how to give birth! Women have been doing it since Eve. Just recently we have allowed the western culture medicine to make it a process, quick and easy - for the doc!

I am so glad on our second birth I had a doula that basically told the doctors to take a flying leap. And then told me I could do it and she was there to help. : ) Also I cannot forget my husband, who pulled the doctor into the hallway and told him never speak to my wife that way again. : )

Homeschooling

We have lived in many states in our married life... well we have moved to a state where I have to fill out so much paperwork to homeschool my children that it takes me all day to read and fill out. Plus since our children were not born in this state, I have to mail MORE paperwork to receive certified copies to complete the process! Part of their paperwork says I cannot begin instruction until I receive the state's approval in the form of a letter which can take up to 30 days to receive! HELLO! I have been teaching our children since the day they were born and now I move to this state and they tell me I must tie my hands in teaching them until I get a letter?
I look to the animal kingdom. Mothers teaching their children where to eat, how to eat it, etc. Why can't we as a "civilized" nation allow parents to teach their own children. OK OK I understand the idea that some parents say they are "homeschooling" but really are not. But why allow one bad apple to spoil the whole bushell?

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Breastfeeding

A study of 154 mothers and babies in Guadalajara, Mexico, found that babies who are mainly breastfed for the first six months of life were less likely to have gastrointestinal (GI) problems than those babies that were mainly formula-fed (18% versus 33%). The bad news is that they also have more likelihood of having iron deficiency, putting them at risk of anemia. If the mothers had high iron stores, the babies were at less risk; unfortunately, 28% of Mexican women have low iron stores and anemia.
One of the researchers pointed out that prior studies have found that "breastfed babies don't become anemic if their cords are not cut too soon." Delaying the cut for as little as two minutes can help improve the baby's iron status and confer other benefits.
— Medline Plus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_67142.html, accessed 18 Jul 2008

Taken from Midwifery News volume 10 issue 18

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Bread


Wanna slice?

Wow!!

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=218780

 

Check this out!!!

 

The California Supreme Court (the one that recently said homosexuals have a right to marry (never mind the fact that marriage among people has historically been understood to mean marriage between those of the opposite sex)) just ruled that doctors practicing in California cannot refuse to artificially inseminate homosexuals.

 

I don’t know anymore about the case then what I read in this (obviously biased, but not necessarily incorrect) article, but I do smell an appeal and a future smack down by the U.S. Supreme Court under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

 

Hey California, when are you going to wise up and replace those “legislators” sitting on your highest bench with a real judiciary? Talk about a court with an agenda!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Brett Favre

Yep, this is why I added the word "Life" to the blog's subtitle, and what would life be like in Wisconsin (or for any Wisconsite) without Brett Favre quarterbacking the Green Bay Packers?

Ted Thompson, as talented a GM as he is, just dumped the only shot he had at a superbowl this year. Although I don't watch football on Sundays, I have been a longtime follower of Packer football in the news and on any day they play besides Sunday. I may pay a small amount of attention to the Packers on and off this year as they finish second or third in the NFC North, but this year I'm a NY Jets fan.

And after last year, I was actually starting to like Ted Thompson...

Things Children Say

The other night, our oldest daughter (almost 4 years old) was bringing plates from the kitchen to the dining table for dinner. After delivering plates to each of her siblings, she came into the kitchen to get a plate for herself. As she was leaving the kitchen, she called back over her shoulder, "You can get your own, Dad!"

I'm feeling the love...

Kneading Bread

So, a few months ago, my wife read an article by a doctor that warned against all the evils of high fructose corn syrup in our modern (read: highly processed) diet. Apparently the stuff is evil, and it has now been banned from our house.

You wouldn't believe how difficult the transition has been. That stuff is in everything. Seriously. It is ridiculoous. We've found high fructose corn syrup in most yogurts, breads, ice creams, jams and jellies, applesauces, animal crackers - basically in everything nabisco makes - in many breakfast cereals, in granola bars, and even in saltine crackers for cryin' out loud. Why, I ask, in the name of all that is natural and decent, do we need high fructose corn syrup in crackers?!? The list could go on and on.

Anyway, after months of buying small loaves of "100% natural" bread for about $3.44 a loaf, I am finished. Last Tuesday I made my first two loaves of bread ever. I did it again on Saturday and actually got them to rise to a decent size, and I am doing it again tomorrow. Soon I will embark on a bread pan purchasing bonanza and begin a large scale operation. Sarah Lee can shove it. I'm making my own.

Later this fall I'm buying a wheat grinder. Maybe next year I'll even buy a cow...


P.S.: Anyone got any good (and easy) whole grain bread recipes?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

1 in 3!

"We have learned in newspapers across the country this month that the cesarean rate has been consistently increasing. It is well documented that the rate has increased at least 48% in the last nine years—one in three women are now having c-sections." - Nancy Wainer

Nancy Wainer is a midwife and has been a birth activist for more than a decade. She teaches childbirth classes, is a Hypnobirth instructor and attends birthing women in their homes. To read more about Nancy, see the interview, “Nancy Wainer: Supporting Birthing Women,” by Julie Brill in Midwifery Today, Issue 83, Autumn 2007.

To read the whole article go to http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/VBACchoice.asp