Check out this cutie pie! Sweet as ever, and smiling constantly… that is Cassidy. I may be uber pregnant, but I still managed to get some great shots of baby Cassidy, and a few with mom and dad too. Her eyes are so precious and bright, and that smile is to die for. Ellie and Dan your pics are ready, and I’ll deliver ASAP. In the meantime, enjoy the preview:
The Business of Being Born January 13, 2011
Glee was a re-run again, which led me to turning to Netflix for my Tuesday night entertainment. This time, I picked the documentary “The Business of Being Born.” I had heard of this documentary, but was told to just wait until after I’ve had the baby, since I already have my birth plan laid out, and I’ve already gone through most of my pre-natal care with an OB, at a hospital.
You know, this one is tricky, and every woman has her own opinion on home births vs. hospital births, OB care vs. midwifes. For many, it is a very touchy subject too, and it seems it can fall into the category of politics and religion: a topic you don’t want to get too far into with certain people.
I found the documentary (produced by Ricki Lake by the way) to be very interesting and very informative. I don’t think anyone can deny the fact that a hospital is in fact a business, and what runs businesses… money. A woman having her baby in a matter of 7 hours with doctor’s intervention vs. a “natural” birth lasting 24 hours clearly gets that room turned quicker, gets another paying patient in shorter time. I’m not saying doctors are bad, or that they aren’t doing what is best for the baby. I’m just saying, businesses are run by money and profit. It is just something to think about is all.
I’m glad I’ll be giving birth in a hospital. But, I do plan on minimal intervention, and taking charge of my care. I won’t disregard the nurse or doctor’s advice, but I will for the most part take it as just an option, not something I have to do. I want to remain mobile for my labor, and I don’t plan ( I strongly use the word plan here ) on having an epidural for this reason. But, I also know things can go against my fancy little plan in a heart beat, and I don’t want to be too dissapointed if my plans have to change. I want a healthy baby, and a safe delivery.
I’d love to hear other mom’s feelings on home vs. hospital deliveries. I know you’ve got opinions, let’s hear them!
Food Inc. January 6, 2011
I finally got around to watching the documentary food inc. tonight. I’d been planning on it for months and months, and every time I came across it, I somehow didn’t feel in the mood. I am admittedly very sensitive, and frankly I thought I didn’t need one more reason to become a vegetarian. I do enjoy meat after all. A lot. Especially bacon, and the occasional filet. But, I also enjoy a lot less meat in general these days. I got most of the way through the book Skinny Bitch, before I decided the authors were incredibly annoying, unrealistic, and way too focused on the art of being skinny. But I did get just far enough to be really put off by artificial sweetener, and the inhumane growing practices of modern-day animal farming. Then I saw the Oprah where clips of Food Inc. was shown. And finally tonight, I watched the whole thing.
Needless to say, it was just as enlightening, educational, disturbing, and surprising as I thought it might be. I find myself very upset at the way large corporations get away with murder, literally in the case of people who die from salmonella poisoning. How ironic, to get sick from spinach right? So you avoid meat, and still get sick from gross animal raising practices, and fecal matter in the water that irrigated the spinach crops. Disgusting! Is anyone held responsible? Not really. Did you know the FDA can’t legally even shut down a plant with repeated salmonella offenses? You know why, because many of the government regulators who are supposed to protect our most basic need of having healthy, safe food, made millions working for the very corporations who they are supposed to now regulate. Are you kidding me?? I mean, what are the rest of us supposed to do anyway? How do we keep ourselves, and our families safe? Who can we trust, if we can’t trust the food we buy to be safe?
Well, for one, we can hop on the organic food train. I’m already a ticket holder, even if I don’t buy exclusively. We can shop farmer’s markets…. so here in Washington that means we can do that for about 6-8 weeks out of the year. We can stop buying fast food (only if you can afford it though- When a head of broccoli costs more than the .99 cent cheeseburger how is a low-income family supposed to choose the vegetable?). We can learn to make big batches of soup from scratch, we can stop buying processed foods, we can buy local ( I just spent 6 bucks on local honey, and five on local jam, and it is totally worth it), we can focus more on actual health, for ourselves and our planet, and less on low-cal/low-carb. I don’t know, with this baby on the way, all I can think about is keeping him safe and healthy. And that might mean that I don’t ever take him to McDonalds. Or give him a coke, or chips or candy. Wow, doesn’t that sound like a fun-filled child hood. I suppose there is a balance, and it will be interesting to see how I figure it all out. If you have any pointers, I’d love to hear them.
