Waterbirth is awesome

Yay for more birth workshop learning. One day, I will be out there in the birth world, making birth super, one family at a time. Until then, I will learn lots and store it all in my brain.

The Waterbirth Certification workshop was run by Barbara Harper -- those of you in the birth world know that she's a pretty big deal. (Really, she is. She's awesome.) She is the founder of Waterbirth International, an organization that has brought waterbirth to thousands of US hospitals and dozens of other countries. And I got to learn about it all from her. And I ate lunch with her. Nyah - nyah. :)

Anyway, I learned a lot, about waterbirth and birth in general. There were a bunch of student midwives in there, and she presented information to us that kinda turned some of our learning up-side down... there's definitely no evidence for some of this crap that happens in the hospital... even with midwives. (Preggies: do your homework before making decisions -- or before having them made for you by your provider.)

The biggest thing we birthy people need to remember is that we have to have patience. Quit freaking out. Of course that comes with decades of experience, though, so we all get nervous when things don't go quite as planned until we have enough births under our belts that we're finally confident in our abilities and with the birth process in general. I mean, we're dealing with LIFE here. No wonder we're freaking out a little. (And then blubbering like idiots when the kid is finally born.)

And on the what-kind-of-midwife-am-I-finally-going-to-wind-up-being front: Talked to two fellow birthy colleagues, and there's a pretty awesome two year weekend midwifery program in the city. It's not nurse-midwifery (the Master's degree in nursing kind of midwife), it's for certified professional midwifery (the apprentice for a bunch of years kind of midwife). It's legally touchy in some states, including Illinois, but we'll see. I don't know yet where life is going to put me -- in homes or in hospitals. I want to serve everyone. I still want to get my RN. And then become a midwife... somehow. We'll see. Matt & I don't even know where we're going to live 2 years from now, so I have no idea what life will bring me.

Oh, and Barbara was originally an actress, and recently performed on Broadway in "Birth, the Musical". See... birth and theatre DO mix!

Birth on, everyone.

Caffeine = bad?

Okay. So I have gone back and forth on the caffeine issue for a long long long time.

"Caffeine is bad, it will kill you slowly!"

"Caffeine is not so bad if you don't have too much, stop worrying."

"Caffeine in tea is just as bad -- and chocolate has it, too!"

"Chemicals in decaffeinated teas are worse than having the caffeine, drink up!"


Seriously. Let's reach a concensus, shall we?

Well, I open Science Daily today, and see this:

Consuming Even Small Amounts Of Caffeine When Pregnant May Affect Growth Of Unborn Child

Great. Here's the article. It basically says that even in small amounts, the more caffeine you have, the higher your risk for a low birth weight baby. Not so good.

Then I looked at the sidebar where they keep related news, and saw this:

Reducing Caffeine Intake Has No Effect On Birth Weight Or Length Of Pregnancy

Right. Here's that article (I'm sure you can guess what it says).


You know, I go back and forth. Here's the obvious:

1. Me on coffee: I get jittery, sweaty, my heart races, and then I crash.
2. Caffeine in diet pills = even worse. (I take no responsibility for the flaws of my past.)
3. Tea has not as much caffeine, but still has some.
4. I AM NOT EVER GIVING UP CHOCOLATE NO MATTER HOW MUCH CAFFEINE IS IN IT. (Just had to make that clear.)

Lately, as Matt drinks caffeinated tea all day, I have started drinking it again. I had it banned from my diet at one time. I don't feel worse for the wear. But if I found out tomorrow I was pregnant, I'd probably lower my intake as much as possible. (I'd still eat chocolate. Obviously.) And I'd tell my other preggies to do the same, or at least tell them no one really knows if it's bad or not and make the choice wisely.


Let's consult Wikipedia. Wikipedia knows all.

Caffeine (paraphrased): Caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant and speeds the metabolism. It is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance. It is useful for the plant as a pesticide. Its half-life in the system increases with disease or with youth (no wonder kids seem to hang on to a caffeine high for so long!). It may decrease long-term memory and impede learning.

Getting more technical: Caffeine is a competitive inhibitor of adenosine (part of the famous ATP molecule, the thing we use to store and use energy in our body). Oddly, it seems that this would cause brain activity to faulter... maybe that's why people seem to get energetic, but can't keep their thought processes under control. It intensifies and prolongs the effects of epinephrine-like drugs (read: when on meth, caffeine will make your high last longer! Hooray!). It can really screw up a spider's abillity to spin a web. :)


Okay, enough science. Well, I don't like anything that speeds up my metabolism -- our metabolisms are fast enough, thankyouverymuch, and the faster they are, the faster we die (I think). I may use it during an asthma attack to see if it helps to dialate my bronchials. But past that... well, I guess I'll head back to my herbal tea.


But I'm still going to drink some. I like Earl Gray and Chai, what can I say?


Drink up the tea, everyone.

Welcome back, Me!

Here I am, back again to the world of the blog. After a year-long sabbatical so I could court and marry my husband, it's about time I come back to my readers.


Alright... so it's not so much that people have been clamoring for a blog update from me, but maybe that I feel I have stuff to talk about again. What do I have to talk about?

- babymaking (not mine, other peoples')
- hand lotion and soap (I'm making it and I want to make it, respectively)
- sustainability & the badness of consumerism
- school: mine and my husband's
- cooking yummy things
- natural-ish living & stuff
- brief notes on my husband's interests (wind electricity, guitar playing, math)

... and other things, I'm sure. I can rant pretty well if I feel like it.

I leave you with pictures of our cat and dog. Who doesn't like pet photos? :)


Baloney, Matt's dog. He's a pretty awesome dog (that says a lot coming from this cat girl). He's wearing a bow that came from a wedding gift.

Kiki, peaking out from Matt's backpack (he put her there, she didn't seem to mind). She's down 2 lives (life-threatening illness at 9 weeks, fell out of a 3 story window last month) in 7 months. She needs to start saving those things for when she's a bit older.


Keep writing, everyone!