All birth related. Go figure.
So I belong to a forum for doulas, called alldoulas.com if you can believe that. Anyway, I was checking out the people that had "thanked" me in posts there, just a way of saying, well thanks lol, for something you've said because they liked it or your helped them out or whatever. Well back when I first joined they started doing a member spotlight and I was the first member to participate (only because I volunteered first lol). So here is an excerpt:
Do you have a doula "hero"?
I have a birth hero. Gloria Lemay.
Whom do you feel has been the most influential person in the birth field, as it applies to non-interventionist philosophy in the last 50 years?
I have to say Gloria. I have read lots of things she has written and I absolutely love her philosophy. She realizes what every doctor and midwife needs to realize about birth, and that is that they are not necessary. She also has strong convictions and has gone to jail over them. The outpouring of support from her clients was hearwarming and illustrative of the amazing woman she is. I'd love to meet her someday.
And who do you think thanked me?
The Following User Says Thank You to MsDoula For This Useful Post:
GloriaLemay (03-22-2007)
HA! I was happy. Yeah, I'm a dork but it made my freaking week!
Another birth moment this week: My client who was pregnant with twins and planning an all natural delivery that I was SO looking forward to gave birth unplanned unassisted at home in her bathroom Monday morning. Seriously. The medics didn't even make it. But they did get there right before me and they didn't have enough cord clamps (two babies = two cords lol). So the medic was asking dad for shoe strings and I said, "You need a clamp? I have one!" LMAO So I gave him the only clamp I was carrying. Then tonight my friend, also a medic, calls and tells me my client was being talked about all over this morning when she went into work. The woman who had twins at home unassisted. And the girl who came up after with the cord clamp in her "purse" (doula bag). LMAO I'm the crazy lady with the cord clamps.
Other news this week, my a/c at home is broke! And in case you forgot I live in Hell Mississippi, Area Code 66666. It is HOT here already and no A/C is seriously not cool. hehe I'm punny. Alright, sorry uncalled for I know.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
What's wrong with this picture?
So before 9 am this morning, two news stories had already crossed my radar that just make me shake my head. They are both swimming in the controversy of teen sex, particularly teen girls having sex. Anyone who knows me even a little knows I just can't pass up the opportunity to rant about my views on sex education in this country.
The first story was on the new HPV vaccine and how this doctor/researcher says it could possible increase the rates of cervical cancer. Really? You're saying after we vaccinate these girls they are going to think they are safe and therefore will go have wild amounts of unprotected sex (or just once), consequently contracting something anyway and winding up with full-blown cervical cancer because they never get a pap because they thought they were safe? That's what you're saying? Wow, I never could have put that one together on my own. Also, are you seriously going to tell me I HAVE to vaccinate my - wait for it - TEN to ELEVEN year old daughter for HPV???!!! Seriously, she may or may not have even reached the point of her very first cycle and we're going to vaccinate her in the event that she has sex and gets the big bad HPV. Which, btw, in case you don't know. HPV stands for Human Papillomavirus, or commonly known as genital warts. It is the primary cause for cervical cancer. Sounds scary right? The catch is that there are literally dozens of KNOWN strands of the virus and only a select few cause cervical cancer. Now, does this mean that HPV isn't a big bad and that we should ignore? No, certainly not. It is almost an epidemic in our country, but I hardly think we need to start vaccinating young girls going into puberty for something they may or may not come into contact with. And how do we know that this brand spanking new, largely untested vaccine won't have greatly devastating effects on the future fertility of these girls? I mean, sure we don't want babies at 14 and 15, but what about 24 and 25? Or 30? We have to think ahead for these girls! My last issue with this ties in with the second article, so I'll just go ahead and tell you about that.
The second article was about a new book by Toni Weschler, the author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Which, by the way every woman should read this book and have this knowledge. Anyway, the new book is called Cycle Savvy: The Smart Teen's Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body and is based from TCOYF. Now, from what I understand this isn't a guide for getting pregnant or avoiding pregnancy like the first book was. It is more of a guidebook for young girls to understand their cycle and what it means. To understand about ovulation and a general overview of fertility. And people are PISSED about this. Why? Why do we have such a problem with letting young girls understand their bodies? Why don't we want them to have this knowledge? Is it because they would possess more knowledge about their bodies than most adults have? Is it because they might be proud of the amazing events that go on inside their bodies every month instead of simply being pissy at what they have to endure? Now, there are a growing number of WOMEN who know more about their cycles than most probably think they should, of whom I am proud to be included in. And it amazes me the number of women who would be clueless if I asked them about their ovulation, or luteal phase. A woman's cycle is more than just those days of bleeding, it lasts for weeks, 28 days on average. Why aren't we teaching young girls this? Hell, why are we teaching young boys this too? Is there really any good reason you can give me for studying photosynthesis in every science class from fifth grade on but NEVER ONCE covering the details of such an important and amazing body process that is happening at that very moment to the students being taught?
Nah, why would we do something that makes so much sense. We would rather give them a shot and tell them not to have sex. Meanwhile, we play the monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) while kids draw their own conclusions and we can all see what is happening with that. Obviously, something's not working. Wonder what might happen if we empower them with some knowledge. Hmmm, what a revolutionary idea. Knowledge.
The first story was on the new HPV vaccine and how this doctor/researcher says it could possible increase the rates of cervical cancer. Really? You're saying after we vaccinate these girls they are going to think they are safe and therefore will go have wild amounts of unprotected sex (or just once), consequently contracting something anyway and winding up with full-blown cervical cancer because they never get a pap because they thought they were safe? That's what you're saying? Wow, I never could have put that one together on my own. Also, are you seriously going to tell me I HAVE to vaccinate my - wait for it - TEN to ELEVEN year old daughter for HPV???!!! Seriously, she may or may not have even reached the point of her very first cycle and we're going to vaccinate her in the event that she has sex and gets the big bad HPV. Which, btw, in case you don't know. HPV stands for Human Papillomavirus, or commonly known as genital warts. It is the primary cause for cervical cancer. Sounds scary right? The catch is that there are literally dozens of KNOWN strands of the virus and only a select few cause cervical cancer. Now, does this mean that HPV isn't a big bad and that we should ignore? No, certainly not. It is almost an epidemic in our country, but I hardly think we need to start vaccinating young girls going into puberty for something they may or may not come into contact with. And how do we know that this brand spanking new, largely untested vaccine won't have greatly devastating effects on the future fertility of these girls? I mean, sure we don't want babies at 14 and 15, but what about 24 and 25? Or 30? We have to think ahead for these girls! My last issue with this ties in with the second article, so I'll just go ahead and tell you about that.
The second article was about a new book by Toni Weschler, the author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Which, by the way every woman should read this book and have this knowledge. Anyway, the new book is called Cycle Savvy: The Smart Teen's Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body and is based from TCOYF. Now, from what I understand this isn't a guide for getting pregnant or avoiding pregnancy like the first book was. It is more of a guidebook for young girls to understand their cycle and what it means. To understand about ovulation and a general overview of fertility. And people are PISSED about this. Why? Why do we have such a problem with letting young girls understand their bodies? Why don't we want them to have this knowledge? Is it because they would possess more knowledge about their bodies than most adults have? Is it because they might be proud of the amazing events that go on inside their bodies every month instead of simply being pissy at what they have to endure? Now, there are a growing number of WOMEN who know more about their cycles than most probably think they should, of whom I am proud to be included in. And it amazes me the number of women who would be clueless if I asked them about their ovulation, or luteal phase. A woman's cycle is more than just those days of bleeding, it lasts for weeks, 28 days on average. Why aren't we teaching young girls this? Hell, why are we teaching young boys this too? Is there really any good reason you can give me for studying photosynthesis in every science class from fifth grade on but NEVER ONCE covering the details of such an important and amazing body process that is happening at that very moment to the students being taught?
Nah, why would we do something that makes so much sense. We would rather give them a shot and tell them not to have sex. Meanwhile, we play the monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) while kids draw their own conclusions and we can all see what is happening with that. Obviously, something's not working. Wonder what might happen if we empower them with some knowledge. Hmmm, what a revolutionary idea. Knowledge.
Monday, March 19, 2007
A year ago today...
I gave birth. My baby girl turned one today and I cannot believe it has been that long. She is such an amazing person and I am beyond blessed to have her in my life. She is beautiful and fiesty and spunky and strong. She has changed me, as each of my kids have. I don't want to shortchange her with few words, but honestly, Kylie has a spirit in her so large that there truly aren't words.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Generation WTF???
So I spent Saturday night with a bunch of kids. I mean a BUNCH of them. All teenagers. All the time.
This was a CD release party for a local teen Christian metal band. The stuff these kids play is pretty hardcore, talented, but still hardcore. They're great kids. Seriously. Their generation though, let me just say WOW.
First let me say, we need to revisit hygeine. Small room, 150+ kids, I cannot even begin to describe to you the smell. And a little shampoo never hurt either. Now let me tell you a little about their idea of "dancing". What these kids were doing can only be described as a heavy metal line dance. I am not exaggerating by saying it looked like the Running Man and Roger Rabbit on crystal meth. I have never seen so many kids at one time looking like they belonged on the short bus. For the first time in my entire life I actually wanted to headbang just because I could and it seemed as if it would restore some type of sanity to the situation. Or maybe bang my head against the wall. Either way. I could do the Macarena, the Tootsie Roll, the Roger Rabbit, the Cabbage Patch, the Butterfly, and even line dance with the best of them. But this, this escaped me.
Watching this crowd, I felt like I was observing another culture. I guess in a way I was. But honestly I felt like I should have had a notebook to document my findings. The strangeness was too vast to list. Let me end by saying, gender roles have escaped this generation. Many of the boys looked very feminine, and were well past puberty. A few had their jeans rolled up capri style, and wore belts that looked like women's belts.
You know I grew up in Generation "X". We were supposed to be the weird ones. The ones no one got. I'm guessing as we run our of alphabet things just turn into chaos. I've decided my kids aren't allowed to be teenagers. And if I have no control over that, you can bet they aren't allowed to have friends! I sure won't be able to stand any that aren't mine!!!
This was a CD release party for a local teen Christian metal band. The stuff these kids play is pretty hardcore, talented, but still hardcore. They're great kids. Seriously. Their generation though, let me just say WOW.
First let me say, we need to revisit hygeine. Small room, 150+ kids, I cannot even begin to describe to you the smell. And a little shampoo never hurt either. Now let me tell you a little about their idea of "dancing". What these kids were doing can only be described as a heavy metal line dance. I am not exaggerating by saying it looked like the Running Man and Roger Rabbit on crystal meth. I have never seen so many kids at one time looking like they belonged on the short bus. For the first time in my entire life I actually wanted to headbang just because I could and it seemed as if it would restore some type of sanity to the situation. Or maybe bang my head against the wall. Either way. I could do the Macarena, the Tootsie Roll, the Roger Rabbit, the Cabbage Patch, the Butterfly, and even line dance with the best of them. But this, this escaped me.
Watching this crowd, I felt like I was observing another culture. I guess in a way I was. But honestly I felt like I should have had a notebook to document my findings. The strangeness was too vast to list. Let me end by saying, gender roles have escaped this generation. Many of the boys looked very feminine, and were well past puberty. A few had their jeans rolled up capri style, and wore belts that looked like women's belts.
You know I grew up in Generation "X". We were supposed to be the weird ones. The ones no one got. I'm guessing as we run our of alphabet things just turn into chaos. I've decided my kids aren't allowed to be teenagers. And if I have no control over that, you can bet they aren't allowed to have friends! I sure won't be able to stand any that aren't mine!!!
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