Therapy

I liked the comments from my dear sisters about my last therapy post, and I wanted to talk more about how much it has helped me (and lots of others I know!).

The President's Speech (Not the Movie, the MiddleEast Policy Statement)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/may/19/barack-obama-middle-east-speech-live

Natural Birth: Planned vs Unplanned, and the Absense or Presence of Fear

C-Sections: When to do, When not to do

I was going to add: according to me, but this whole blog is according to me, right?

Obviously there are different comfort levels with both interventions and the lack there-of. I firmly believe that the most important thing in birth is that the Mom is WELL INFORMED and MAKING THE BEST CHOICES FOR HER. This can be different for different women in different situations. I definitely think natural and home birth are under-appreciated on the whole but they are not for everyone!

Anyway, here are my opinions about when a c-section is necessary versus when it is unavoidable (backed up by research which I will fail to attach here but I will provide if asked/needed by someone! Sorry I'm just too lazy). Obviously the majority of c-sections should be in unavoidable cases but that's unfortunately not the case. C-sections are absolutely necessary some of the time and are very important when they are needed!

So, some situations in which a c-section might be considered when it is actually NOT NECESSARY:

-The baby is suspected to be big, or "confirmed to be big" based on ultrasound. Late term ultrasounds are notoriously unreliable measures of the baby's size. They can be as much as 2 lbs off, and this is SO common that it JUST happened to one of my family members--they told her the baby was over 10 lbs and it was really 8 lbs 3 ozs half a week later, meaning it was probably under 8 lbs when they said that.

Even if a baby IS big, women can deliver enormous babies without any issue most of the time (with the right mental preparation). On my home-birth facebook group a Mom delivered a 46 week baby at home--13.5 lbs. My midwife told me when I was pregnant and I didn't get it--she said when labor is happening the Mom's body just changes and things will move out of the way that normally NEVER would. And it's true. Even when James was crowning, it didn't hurt at ALL unless I was having a contraction. Now how is that possible? Not sure! The body just moves.

Therefore, the baby suspected (or confirmed) to be large is never a reason for a c-section.

-Related, the Mom being small is never a reason for a C-section. For all the reasons I said above, even a small Mom (like, under 5 feet with narrow hips), most of the time can deliver even a large baby without a problem. True Cranio-Pelvic Diproportion (baby's head being too big for Mom's hips) is VERY rare--like probably 1/2 of 1 percent of births. Shoulder Dystocia (baby getting stuck in the hips) is both rare and can be worked with safely if it does occur.

Therefore, the Mom being small is never a reason for a C-section.

-Having twins is not reason for a c-section (and should not be reason for a scheduled c-section).
-Having a previous c-section (or several others) is not a reason for a c-section.
-Having your water break more than X hours ago is not a reason for a c-section.
-Having a premature baby may or may not be reason for a c-section.
-Having a breech baby may or may not be reason for a c-section (and should not be reason for a scheduled c-section).
-Having a transverse baby may be reason for a c-section (but should not be reason for a scheduled c-section).
-Having a truly superficial cord insertion is absolutely a reason for a c-section.

Springtime Yardwork!

Chickens

I'm thinking about getting chickens.

Why would a vegan need chickens? Because this vegan is faced with a flea and tick epidemic of unseen proportions! Though we've mostly kept it until control by dousing our cats monthly with chemicals, every year has been a new groundbreaking year for the amount and stubbornness of local fleas and ticks. (Not just at our house, like it's newsworthy and the chatter in the vets waiting room is always what product(s) you are using and how well it's working.)

I found yet another tick on James yesterday--again, a dog tick, but we either need to spray our entire yard with chemicals, make our cats outdoor only (which we don't want to do, they've already been banned from our bedroom), or perhaps, get chickens. Chickens eat a LOT of fleas and ticks and it wouldn't involve any chemicals. PLUS chicken manure is great for gardens.

I'm thinking of getting a rooster along with the chicks and just sort of letting them self-perpetuate and shut them in at night and give grain during the winter but let them be pretty free. I'm not sure what we'll do with the eggs or how it works when you have a rooster around, I'll have to do my research.

But I'm pretty seriously considering it.

Book Recommendation: Having a Baby Naturally

Mothering Magazine came out with a book in 2007: Having a Baby Naturally.

I got the free sample on Kindle and I would HIGHLY recommend it. You can also read it on Amazon if you follow the link and click "look inside" and go to the first pages. You may or may not want to invest in the whole book but just the SAMPLE is highly enlightening.

I wanted to share a few tidbits:

-With pregnancy, you may be surprised to find