Hip Hip Hooray for the House!

I'm sending out a great big THANK YOU to the members of the South Dakota State House of Representatives today.

For the first time since homebirth midwives were first prosecuted in this state (back in the 1990s), a bill which would regulate the practice of direct-entry midwifery has passed through a full chamber of the state legislature.

The passage of this bill would allow Certified Professional Midwives the ability to practice in South Dakota. That means no more mothers would be forced to have an unassisted home birth or cross state lines to seek care from a midwife trained in an out-of-hospital setting like I did. Midwives who left the state under threat of prosecution could return to practice legally once again.

I suppose it goes without saying that those of us who have followed midwifery legislation in South Dakota for months and years now are very excited!

I Promised Cookies

We have a favorite new breakfast treat in the Gray household: COOKIES!! I feel like the Proverbs 31 woman; my children rise up and bless me, or at least they don't complain about breakfast and even want seconds.

And before you start thinking I've turned into a pale, not-so-funny Bill Cosby, let me assure you, these are cookies you can actually feel good about serving your children for breakfast, afternoon snack, or just about any time they ask!

Breakfast Cookies
½ c applesauce
1 banana, mashed
2 c oatmeal
¼ c raisins
¼ c sliced almonds
1 T butter
2 eggs

1. Beat together all ingredients
2. Scoop mixture into ⅓ c portions and shape into cookies
3. Place cookies on a well-greased baking pan
4. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes or until edges are a deep golden brown
5. Remove immediately to a wire rack and let cool briefly before serving

Makes 8 large cookies.

Breakfast Bars
My family actually prefers breakfast bars to individual cookies. Instead of scooping out portions in step 2, simply press the mixture into an 8" x 8" square or 9" round baking pan and bake at 325°F for 35-40 minutes. The recipe is easily doubled to fit a 9" x 13" pan.

You can also substitute just about any fruit sauces, dried fruits or nuts to suit your taste or what you may have on hand. I've found this to be a very versatile recipe.

More Birth Talk

Apparently I'm not the only one blogging about homebirth in South Dakota. There is a new post up today at South Dakota War College with links to the original letter sent by the medical lobby and a response crafted by South Dakota Safe Childbirth Options. Go check them out for yourself!

Spoon ... er ... ism

This post is written especially for my friend Gabi, who I know will be amused by it.

For everybody else, you're welcome to stay, but be aware, this is one of those bodily-fluid, baby-feeding, earthy natural posts. If that sort of thing bothers you, get out now. You can come back in a day or two and read a nice post about baking cookies.

As you may recall, I had some problems with breastfeeding each of my children and had to supplement with formula for both of them. With Rosi, an undiagnosed case of postpartum depression made it extremely difficult for me to keep up nursing once we added formula. She was weaned by six months. Ian, on the other hand, is still not weaned. He started solid foods almost eight months ago and hasn't had any formula in several weeks, but he's still breastfeeding a few times a day.

Lately, he's been getting really interested in utensils and how to eat with them. For the last month or so, he'll grab a spoon and just tote it around as he goes about his business. We've started calling it his "security spoon."

The other morning Ian was holding on to his security spoon and he asked to nurse. I pulled him up into my lap. Rather than immediately latching on, he looked speculatively at me for a moment, then raised his spoon.

Catching on, I gently pushed his hand away, telling him, "No, you cannot breastfeed with a spoon."

And Speaking of Birth ...

The new South Dakota State Legislative session opened this week. I've been getting a lot more involved lately with a group of local families lobbying for legal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives. Currently, licensure is available only to Certified Nurse Midwives and the state actively prosecutes non-nurse midwives for practicing without a license.

Lobbyists from the state medical association and three regional hospital groups sent a letter to state legislators last week warning them against our efforts. Of course, the medical organizations told them homebirth isn't safe, basing their claims on the controversial "Wax Paper" published last summer. Using only 5% of their sample data, this strongly and repeatedly crticized meta-analysis of previous studies suggests that homebirth triples the risk of neonatal death (babies dying in the first 28 days of life). The study is so deeply flawed that fellow researchers have called for it to be retracted in both the British Medical Journal and the Lancet.

All of this hoopla brings me to a question I read recently. One I found startlingly, deceptively simple:

Why are US doctors so opposed to homebirth?

Doctors say it's for safety, as though they are saving women from themselves. Yet clearly the research demonstrates not only that homebirth with a Certified Professional Midwife is as safe as hospital birth for most women, but women and their midwives are quite capable of appropriately transferring care when the risk of homebirth outweighs its benefits.

Most homebirth activists will suggest it's really a money issue: Doctors don't want to give up the additional income they get for overmanaged hospital births. But I'm not so sure this is the case either. Homebirth represents less than 1% of all births in the US. Even if that number doubled overnight, that would be less than a 2% decrease in the average OB's caseload--and that 2% would be the moms who most want to avoid the monitors, medications, and surgical procedures that make childbirth most profitable.

So, if it's not about safety, and it's not about money, what is the real cause?

I've begun to wonder whether the real issue is that, despite the vast number of studies showing homebirth is just as safe as hospital birth for low-risk women (and the flaws of the few studies that found otherwise), most doctors have simply been trained to view pregnancy and birth as inherently a high-risk enterprise. No matter what evidence they may read in their journals, they just can't accept that natural, physiologically normal birth requires only rare interventions.

In other words, I think doctors may be having trouble accepting the fact that, most of the time, they are not needed.

What do you think?

Amy, Birth; Birth, Amy

Adam and I were talking about a coworker of his whose baby was born this week. He mentioned that she'd had a c-section. I wondered aloud whether that may have been a consequence of her labor being induced. He confirmed that she had been induced the day before surgery.

Rosi was sitting beside me, listening to our exchange. After a moment, she turned and asked, "Mom, were you introduced when you borned Ian?"

New Year's Eve

Adam doesn't get off work for another hour, then it's just one hour until the new year. I've sent Rosi to bed, three or four times now, and I'm currently watching the second Baby Signing Time DVD with Ian. He's being cranky and fighting sleep. He's also got molars coming in and he keeps biting me, which is making me cranky.

At least we get to chill out tomorrow. Our big plan is picking up a fruit basket from the local supermarket (that was our "Christmas bonus" from Adam's company). Then we'll come home, eat fruit and popcorn and watch the original trio of Muppet movies.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year. I'm going to try putting my baby to bed.

So Long as It's Not Radio Equipped

My sister tagged me for this meme.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
   This morning, 4:00 am. Normally, about 9:00.
   
2. How do you like your steak cooked?
   Depends on the steak--the better the meat, the rarer I like it. What we can normally afford should be cooked no less than medium-well. I once got a steak at the restaurant at the Chicago Symphony Center and it was really yummy rare.
   
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
   Uhm ... I think it was Toy Story 3. I was previewing it to see if I should take Rosi, but after watching it, I decided she'd be a bit traumatized.
   
4. What is your favorite TV show?
   Sunday Night Football
   
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
   Of the places I've visited so far, my favorite is probably Auckland, New Zealand. Otherwise, anyplace where shoes are optional gets high marks.
   
6. What did you have for breakfast?
   Soy Live strawberry yogurt
   
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
   Overall, probably Italian, but so much of it is stuff I can't eat. Chinese/pan-Asian foods probably have the most variety that I both like and can eat without everything being specially prepared with my dietary restrictions in mind.
   
8. What foods do you dislike?
   I'm not a big fan of fish and fishy-tasting things.
   
9. Favorite place to eat?
   With friends and family.
   
10. Favorite dressing?
    Stove Top? I prefer my salads naked.
    
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
    Saturn sedan
    
12. What are your favorite clothes?
    Comfortable clothes that don't make me look like I'm wearing my jammies.
    
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
    Just about anywhere.
    
14. Cup half empty or half full?
    Completely full! Half full of water and half of air. I tend toward pessimism in real life though.
    
15. Where would you want to retire?
    Someplace warm most of the year, but has some nice snowfall in the winter that I wouldn't be responsible for shoveling or driving through. Mountains and ocean would be a big plus.
    
16. Favorite time of day?
    Sunset
    
17. Where were you born?
    Michigan
    
18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
    (American) Football
    
19. Are you satisfied with your life?
    Overall, yes.
    
20. Are you a morning person or a night person?
    I'm a middle-of-the-night person.
    
21. Do you have any pets?
    Does the baby count? Or all of the imaginary animals my daughter keeps?
    
22. If you only had one day to live, who would you spend it with?
    My family, of course
    
23. What did you want to be when you were little?
    A movie star, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer (about in that order)
    
24. What is your best childhood memory?
    Playing with my siblings on vacation
    
25. Are you a cat or dog person?
    Cat
    
26. Are you married?
    Yes
    
27. Always wear your seat belt?
    Yes
    
28. Been in a car accident?
    Yes, though I was only at fault once when I was 17.
    
29. Any pet peeves?
    People expecting to be taken seriously when they don't even bother to check their writing for spelling or grammatical errors.
    
30. Favorite pizza toppings?
    Pepperoni, spinach, and pineapple (yes, all together).
    
31. Favorite flower?
    Gerbera daisies
    
32. Favorite ice cream?
    My favorite real ice cream is Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby, but since I can't eat that anymore, I like Purely Decadent Peanut Butter Zig Zag.
    

The Rosi Show

My daughter thinks she's on her own television reality show most of the time. I'll find her all alone in a room explaining to her imaginary audience how to dance, the sound of the letters "sh" or some other random educational tidbit.

Sometimes, she even has her facts straight.

This morning, I overheard her segments on crying:

Crying means sad. And sad means crying.

And the purpose of blinking:

When you close your eyes and open them that's called blinking. You do that to keep your eyes clean and watered.

Unbelievable

I can't believe it. No, really, I simply cannot fathom that a whole year has passed since my baby boy was born.

Where has the time gone? Surely it's only been six, or maybe nine months. He's not a little baby anymore. Sniff. He's a husky toddler stomping around the house is his snow boots and grabbing things off the counter.

I look at all the adorable little "My First Christmas" sleepers and wonder if he ever really was that small.

I know he was. When he was first born, even the 0-3 clothes were much too big for him. Now he's outgrowing all of his 9-month stuff. Sigh.

Adam and I have finally decided what to call him ... on the blog, I mean. We went ahead and named him right away in real life. It is with great joy that I present to you the birthday boy: Ian Gray.

Happy first birthday, Buddy! May you greet the rest of your years with as much verve and determination as you have this one. With much love, your Mamie.

(Birthday drawing by Rosi, who says, "I drew his age, too, so everybody would know he's one year old!")

I'm a Pop Star

Longtime readers of this blog know that I often enjoy, or am forced by my family's allergies, to made homemade versions of treats readily available at the grocery store. I've made popcorn on the stove for years, mostly for the cost savings, but also because so much microwave and prepackaged popcorn contains milk proteins. Still, it wasn't until just the last month or so that I considered the true versatility of stovetop popcorn--or how easy it really is.

Basic Buttered Popcorn
2 T oil
1/3 c popcorn kernels
½ t salt
1 T butter

1. Combine ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan, making sure popcorn kernels are in a single layer.
2. Heat on high until popcorn begins popping.
3. Shake pan vigorously every 30-45 seconds until popping slows to 1-2 seconds between pops.
4. Remove from heat and pour into large bowl. Serve hot.

Kettle Corn
2 T oil
1/3 c popcorn kernels
½ t salt
2 T sugar

1. Combine ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan, making sure popcorn kernels are in a single layer.
2. Heat on high, shaking every 10-15 seconds until kernels begin popping.
3. Shake pan continuously until rapid popping slows.
4. Remove from heat; continue to shake until popping slows to 1-2 seconds between pops.
5. Pour into a large bowl. Shake and let cool 2-3 minutes. Shake again before serving.

Variations
Buttery Kettle Corn: Add 1 T butter.
Cinnamon Corn: Add ½ t cinnamon.

Election Rants

I'm generally not a news junkie, but I have this weird thing for watching election returns. In 2000, Election Day coincided with my birthday. I was house-sitting for my brother that week and spent the whole night glued to the television as though they were going to suddenly announce a winner at 4:00 AM. I had a similar fixation on the impeachment hearings during the Clinton administration. I was in grad school at the time and spent many a morbidly fascinated afternoon glued to C-SPAN while I corrected papers for the classes I TAed.

Given this propensity I seem to have for dramatic politics, I suppose it's not surprising that I spent my whole evening last night watching election returns. In fact, I probably shouldn't have found it odd that I was frustrated when the local NBC affiliate ended their broadcast day at 1:35 AM--right in the middle of a comment from some national pundit or other. Actually, until I moved here, I didn't even realize that stations still went off the air at night. In Chicago, the broadcast day never ends, it just turns into an infomercial marathon. But that's a rant for a different day.

While spending an inordinate number of hours last evening listening to newscasters, political commentators, and random professors from local colleges invited to offer their expertise on the current political climate, one of the main points I heard repeated again and again was that voters were overwhelmingly electing Republican candidates to the U.S. House and at the state level, yet they had allowed Democrats to maintain a small majority in the Senate. Nearly everyone I saw on TV seemed obliged to comment on this.

Now, I recognize it is significant which party holds the majority of seats in congress, especially when one party has the majority in both houses. However, the main point that the whole collection of talking heads seemed to be making was how this seemed to show some sort of indecisiveness on the part of the voters, that the country was not sending an across-the-board conservative mandate. Really? Surely I'm not the only one who did the math, am I?

Let's start with the House. There are 435 representatives in the house, each elected to a 2-year term, so every seat could potentially have changed parties. If the Republicans win the projected 243 seats, that would mean that voters chose a Republican candidate 56% of the time.

Now let's look at the gubernatorial races (because it gives me an excuse to use the word "gubernatorial"). Elections for governor were held in 37 of the 50 states. Republican candidates won in at least 21 of those 37 races, or 57% of the time.

Finally, let's consider the Senate races. This is where the political pundits have me confused. Each state has two senators and senate terms are six years long, so every two years about one-third of the senate seats are contested. A few races are still too close to call, including a real barn burner in Alaska where a write-in candidate may actually come away with a majority of the votes, but let's assume the Republicans win 24 of the 37 seats up for election. That would mean voters chose a Republican candidate 65% of the time.

Now let's look at those numbers again:



Five minutes of simple division makes it seem pretty obvious to me that voters not only were clear about their choices, but that results of the Senate races were even more overwhelmingly Republican-biased than the House or gubernatorial offices. The only reason the Senate maintains their Democratic majority is because they have nearly twice the number of Democratic Senators whose terms are continuing as Republicans (40 and 23, respectively).

It really makes me wonder: How on earth would these political commentators manage if we actually had a viable third party in this country?