Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Wouldn't you like to climb this tree?

28 comments:

  1. Would you climb the tree if Howard Dean were sitting in it?

    Howard Dean is first!

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  2. So, my knee has turned red, yellow, green and purple. Hubby calls this my "fall colours." Heh.

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  3. Naah, I wouldn't be likely to try climbing the tree is HD were up there; but I'd probably call out HALOOOO UP THERE!

    Looks like Meg Whitman is on the way to learning that she can't buy the governorship of California. Some "little people" she stepped on on the way to her gazillions are telling on her in public. Why, the effrontery! The uppityness!

    Off to Eureka tomorrow afternoon, save a last-minute reprieve (which is unlikely).

    Here's hoping for the best for Ally. I am sure her parents wouldn't hesitate to *literally* give an arm and a leg if by doing so they could spare her the pain.

    Cat--there is actually a "Friendly's" restaurant around the corner? The only Friendly's I know of is the one were Zonker Harris works. [grin] I remember going to a chinese restaurant some years ago and realizing that EVERYTHING on the menu was a la carte--there was nothing for a person by him/herself. No Dinner No. 1, etc. And I was so lonely--I got up and left in tears. Many years later I went back with my wife and sometimes with my daughter--but I always let them order--I can't deal with ordering a la carte to this day.

    Well, it's past my bedtime. I had good intentions of getting more sleep tonight, but I can rest on the way to Eureka. I will have my laptop with me, and maybe I can drop by. But I will have studying to do to prepare for court.

    TTFN

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  4. One more, and then to bed. A bad omen if ever I heard of one:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/05/presidential-seal-falls-obama-video_n_751956.html

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  5. Today I happened upon the website of Ina May Gaskin, founder of The Farm in Tennessee, the midwife I admire most in all the world. The Farm was/is a kind of hippy commune that became famous for its marvelous midwifery results. Ina May has become world renowned and has lectured to doctors all over the world. On her website, one page is called "The Gaskin Maneuver." I was curious to see what it might be, and it turns out that's the maneuver used when a delivering baby's shoulders get stuck as s/he is being born...getting the mom onto her hands and knees changes the gravity and the baby's shoulders release.

    This is highly significant to me because this is the maneuver we used when our son was born at home, weighing 10lbs, 2oz. Our midwife copped out on us, and my labor came on too hard and fast to get me to the hospital in time. Our doctor made the decision to come to our house, but he arrived after the delivery (proof that we wouldn't have made it there). Had we not taken home birth classes, my husband wouldn't have known what to do. But he did, and our darling son was born healthy. (Actually, we gave him an Apgar of 3/8 whereas 10/10 is perfect, because he pinked up so slowly and was rather subdued. Over the years people have tried to convince us that we were just not skilled at reading Apgars, because he is healthy and brilliant (our wildlife biologist whose 32nd birthday was yesterday!). This article, though, seems to confirm our original findings...that babies born with shoulder dystocia (stuck shoulders) tend to have a lower Apgar score. It's a bit unsettling to read what was usually done for shoulder dystocia and all the horrors that the medical community visited upon mothers and babies in their maneuvers.

    Yet here is this one Gaskin Maneuver that is gentle and non-invasive and has a fabulous track record!! Ina May Gaskin says she learned it from a midwife in Belize who learned it from Mayan midwives in the highlands of Guatemala. Ina May introduced it into the United States in 1976. My son was born in 1978. We had the first edition of the ACHI (Association for Childbirth at Home International) with the shoulder dystocia maneuver in it.

    Now that's AWESOME, in the true sense of the word...! My brilliant biologist son owes his life to Mayan midwives and the good people who listened to them. It makes me realise anew how essential grassroots efforts and persistence in getting a message across are.

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  6. http://www.inamay.com/?page_id=30

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  7. That should read ACHI *manual*...

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  8. Wow! That's amazing, listener. Synchronicity (sp?) at work.

    Not all women and babies do well with home births though. I would have been fine with my second baby at home, but the first and third would have been in deadly peril and likely would not have survived a home birth. I was at the hospital for the first one anyway, as I was young and nervous, but after that scare I always wanted a Doctor right there. And for my last one it proved to be a very good thing.

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  9. Awesome, listener! Susan's right, too. When I was pregnant the firs time, one of our friends who was still a resident said that about 95% of the time, women do not need doctors or hospitals. The other 5%, they're vital. My mom had a 33 minute labor with me, her first. I betcha she'd have done fine at home, even by herself. . . . I was borned before they could even prep her. . . . Doc's words as he passed the open door of the prep room: Jesus, get that woman to delivery, that baby's crowning! I grew up thinking that was going to be MY experience. . . Nope: 22 1/2 hours with the first, and 9 (with a pit drip) for the second.

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  10. Awesome, listener! Susan's right, too. When I was pregnant the first time, one of our friends who was still a resident said that about 95% of the time, women do not need doctors or hospitals. The other 5%, they're vital. My mom had a 33 minute labor with me, her first. I betcha she'd have done fine at home, even by herself. . . . I was borned before they could even prep her. . . . Doc's words as he passed the open door of the prep room: Jesus, get that woman to delivery, that baby's crowning! I grew up thinking that was going to be MY experience. . . Nope: 22 1/2 hours with the first, and 9 (with a pit drip) for the second.

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  11. Ugh. I'm cutting out dozens of tote bags for the pantry today. I'm so sick of making them, but I can't get anyone else to volunteer. I've got a huge stack of thrift shop-purchased upholstery weight fabric. The stack completely fills a wing chair and I have to whittle down that pile. I'm so overwhelmed right now with fabric there's no empty chair/sofa or anything to sit on in the living room except the floor. Today is the first day for a couple of weeks that I'm going to be home all day. Every time I go out for errands/meetings/classes I'm just too tired to do anything when I get home. Got to clear off some surfaces before the producers of "Hoarders" ask me to film! (And wouldn't THAT be a nightmare!)

    Also have to make bread today as we are on the last half loaf.

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  12. And I *still* say if I'd have worked this hard when I was getting paid to work I'd be rich! I've worked much harder since I retired than I ever did on the job, and I didn't always have a desk job.

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  13. Oh, I totally agree. Many people may not realise that anyone having a home birth has to meet certain criteria. If any of the warning signs crop up you have to go to the hospital for delivery. In fact, you have to have a back up plan all laid out. That is why my third and fifth children were born at home, but the 4th was born in a hospital, even though my husband and I were teaching the home birth class at the time.

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  14. Rock on, Susan! ♥

    I do wish folks there would help out. Is there a sewing club in the area?
    Or what if you offered a presentation at the local library about the need and the how-to?
    All you need is for one or two others to step forward. Hope it works out.

    XOXOXXX

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  15. I just want to add that it was a darn good thing we opted for a home birth with this baby. Had we tried to go to the hospital in the car, he'd have been born on the side of the road. Had we called an ambulance it is NOT likely that they would have gotten me on my hands and knees enroute. (I know; I was on an ambulance corps just a few years prior.) The article I posted tells all the other methods doctors used in hospitals and all of them sound barbaric and dangerous! Turns out that being at home and knowing that bit of Mayan wisdom saved my child's life as well as his intelligence. I'm still in awe.

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  16. Oh, I hear you, puddle. My mom and sisters all had quick, easy labors and deliveries. ALL of them. And they all had little babies or 7 pounders. I'm the one who had the 8 to 10 pound boys (and one 6lb, 5oz baby girl, God bless her). I'm the one who had labors that lasted 8 hours, 18 hours, 14 hours (hospital deliveries) and 5 hours and 1hour, 17min (home births). That fastest labor was for the largest baby, with the stuck shoulders. My only other 10 pounder was the 5 hour home birth...! Go figure.

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  17. Thanks, puddle. ♡

    The little sweetie had a pretty rotten day.
    I'm glad this is the end of the third day, just two to go.

    =Sigh=

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  18. Here is Ally's story:

    On February 11, 2008, at age 1 year, 2 weeks, Ally was diagnosed with rare, aggressive Neuroblastoma...stomach cancer. They only found it because the tumor was pressing on her aorta, causing high blood pressure.

    She underwent 6 rounds of chemo and a 9 hour surgery.

    She then moved on to Boston for Chemo 7, Stem Cell Transplant #1, Chemo 8 and Stem Cell Transplant #2. (They used her own, pre-chemo, stem cells.)

    Ally got radiation to help her fight the cancer off.

    Ally then took medication for 3 months to help keep the cancer away. It did not work.

    Ally did "low dose" chemo for 10 months.

    She has finished a round of high dose chemo.

    In January of 2010 Ally underwent aggressive surgery to remove what was left of her tumor.

    Shortly afterward. Ally completed another round of chemo.

    In March 2010 Ally began 3F8 treatments in NYC.

    After her 2nd dose of 3F8 Ally became HAMA positive and needed to take a break from the treatment, until she became HAMA negative in September 2010.

    She is now back in NYC for a week of 3f8 treatments.

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  19. I find it wonderful that the Universe gives us exactly what we need so often. It would be wonderful if it happened every single time, but when it does in a critical time, it's awesome.

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  20. So true! I think we miss most of what's passed our way, too.

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  21. Amazing, amazing, and more amazing.

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  22. Amazing, amazing, and more amazing.

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  23. Some trees are worth climbing even if Howard isn't sitting in them.

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  24. Alan, nobody that colorful at our Friendly's. It's an ice cream and hamburger joint in real life. Donno what it is in Dunesbury, never having had the opportunity to read it.

    Hope all goes well at court.

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  25. Nothing much to say. Not doing much of anything.

    Susan, I'm really sorry you're so overwhelmed. Hope you get help soon.

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  26. Gorgeous day here. We had lunch on the porch. But little else to say. Still wondering when work is going to come in -- thought it was going to be the first of the week. May seem strange, but by now I'm anxious to get back to work.

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  27. Hubby has weeks like that too, Bill.

    Suddenly this week he has been inundated.
    We are not sorry.

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