Posted by http://thestir.cafemom.com/blogger/3/tracy_odell on March 24, 2010 at 11:00 AM Whenever I'd tell someone I was having a home birth, their reaction would inevitably fall into one of  three buckets: "YAY! I wish I'd done that." (Or, "I have done that.")"How? What? Why?" A million questions."Are you crazy? What if something bad happens?" I understand the spectrum of responses because I've been there and there and there. Before I considered having a home birth, I thought it was a crazy idea for crazy people. Then I started learning more and became incredibly curious. And then finally, I had a home birth and now I want everyone else to have one too. To get from three to one, I learned a lot and corrected a lot of my own misconceptions. Here's what I originally thought, then what I learned about home birth: 1. Home birth is risky for mom and baby. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/330/7505/1416 after http://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/4408/home_births_as_safe_as have shown that a home birth is as safe (or safer) than a hospital birth for healthy women, with low risk pregnancies, using a certified professional midwife. Continue reading http://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/100378/5_homebirth_myths?utm_medium=sm&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=socialshare_thestir_pregnancy

New York (CNN) -- As a reproductive rights advocate and a proud mother of two, my blood ran cold as I read about Oklahoma's new abortion legislation (HB 2656). The state of Oklahoma just decided, and by an appallingly high margin I might add, that a doctor is protected from being sued if he or she chooses not to tell a woman that the baby she is carrying has a birth defect. State legislators made this decision Tuesday, voting 36-12 in the Senate and 84-12 in the House to override Gov. Brad Henry's veto of this law. (The Legislature also overrode the governor's veto of a second egregious law, HB 2780, which forces women to view an ultrasound before having an abortion.) Oklahoma, what have you done? Under this new law, a doctor may withhold information, mislead or even blatantly lie to a pregnant woman and her partner about the health of their baby if the doctor so much as thinks that fetal test results would cause a woman to consider abortion. Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/04/28/carr.abortion.oklahoma/index.html

(Health.com) -- Pregnant women could -- and probably should -- consume 10 times more vitamin D than experts currently recommend, according to a new study. Current guidelines for daily vitamin D intake during pregnancy range from 200 international units (IU) per day to 400 IU, the amount found in most prenatal vitamins. For decades, doctors have worried that too much vitamin D during pregnancy could cause birth defects, and under current guidelines anything over 2,000 IU per day is still considered potentially unsafe for anyone, not just pregnant women. That much vitamin D is not only safe during pregnancy, the researchers say, but doubling it may actually reduce the risk of complications. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/30/vitamin.d.pregnancy/index.html

Hello Girls! I thought I would stop in and say hello. Feeling kind of frustrated, Charlie and I have been trying and trying and trying and trying without success yet. We knew that it wouldn't happen soon, nevertheless very frustrating.. Hope to have a pregnancy announcement by the end of the year.

Postpartum depression: No telling why moms get it http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/14/postpartum.depression/index.html (CNN) -- Nine years ago, Chris Loo thought about putting her newborn daughter, Becky, in a basket on the steps of a church down the street from her home, and leaving her there. "I don't think I really wanted to get rid of her, I just think I wasn't thinking at all," said Loo, 43, a social worker in Flushing, New York. "I started to really feel suicidal, like I just couldn't go on anymore." Watch her iReport Becky, Loo's third child, is rarely ever in a bad mood, and people will ask Loo if they can spend time with her daughter when they're feeling down. But when the girl was born, Loo couldn't get up in the morning. She felt like she couldn't do anything. About 10 percent of mothers, such as Loo, experience postpartum depression, severe emotional difficulties following the birth of a child, according to the Mayo Clinic. Doctors do not know why some women have deep sadness and anxiety in the weeks or months following birth and others do not. They suspect a combination of environmental, genetic and biological factors contribute, but every woman is at risk, said Karen Kleiman, founder and director of the Postpartum Stress Center in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. A recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that postpartum depression is associated with higher levels of a brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), which removes chemicals that help stabilize mood. Researchers found that levels of this protein were greater in women four to six days after giving birth than in women who had not been recently pregnant.

Does your name shape your destiny? http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/05/26/naming.names.importance/index.html?hpt=C2 (CNN) -- Wes Moore appeared in his hometown newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, 10 years ago because of his impressive academic achievements. Around the same time, he noticed a story in the paper about a jewelry store robbery in which a police officer and a father of five was killed. He learned one of the convicted killers shared his name. While Wes Moore the Rhodes Scholar would become a combat veteran in Afghanistan and a White House fellow, Wes Moore the convicted felon was sentenced to life in prison. Their correspondence through letters and prison visits led to the release of the book "The Other Wes Moore" this spring. "The name was the first thing that drove me," said Moore, 31, on what inspired him to befriend the inmate. Other people may have wondered who also lays claim to their name. Google a relatively common name such as "Steve Jones," and a biologist, musician and golfer appear. And Steve is not even among the Top 10 boys' names of the last century. (Read on by clicking link above.)

Should American Women Learn to Give Birth at Home? When Hillary McLaughlin found out she was pregnant, she was unable to legally obtain the service she needed. So she looked for an underground contact. She got a woman's name--just a first name--and a phone number from a friend who advised her to destroy the evidence as soon as she made the call. When McLaughlin reached the woman, however, the woman told her she no longer "did that" and that she wasn't willing to risk going to jail for it anymore. Turned off by all the "whisper, whisper, cloak-and-dagger stuff," McLaughlin decided to "jump state lines" from Illinois to Missouri to find a legal provider. Forty years ago, you might have assumed McLaughlin was looking for an unlawful abortion. Rather, what the small-business owner, 33, sought was a certified midwife who could deliver her baby at home in Edwardsville, Ill. "It's completely ridiculous that I had to do all this because midwives aren't licensed to practice here," says McLaughlin, who delivered her son in April at her parents' home in St. Louis. "I wanted a home birth, but I wanted to do it legally, because I wanted some assurance that the midwife I chose knew what she was doing." Each year, some 25,000 American women like McLaughlin opt to deliver their babies at home. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2011940,00.html#ixzz0yetjasHW

Bummer: Try As You May, Morning Sickness Is Here To Stay Irish, British and U.S. researchers collaborated to look at 27 studies involving 4,041 women who tried to allay their nausea using a variety of treatments including acupressure, acustimulation, acupuncture, ginger, vitamin B6 and prescription drugs. Their findings, released Wednesday in the Cochrane Library, reveal that some of the interventions such as acupressure and acustimulation (which relies on needles to transmit an electric current) yielded “limited” benefit. Others, like acupuncture — which has become increasingly popular among pregnant women— showed no significant benefit. Ginger, often recommended as a homeopathic option, was inconsistent in the degree to which it helped; it even made some women sick. Bottom line: Suffer through it. http://wellness.blogs.time.com/2010/09/08/try-as-you-may-morning-sickness-is-here-to-stay/

From the March of Dimes...information about the flu shot and pregnancy... Pregnant Women Need Flu Vaccine WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., SEPT. 15, 2010 -- There will be only one flu shot needed this year and pregnant women should make sure they’re at the front of the line to get it. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended two flu shots, one to protect against the seasonal flu virus and a second to protect against the H1N1 virus, which became prevalent after the seasonal flu vaccines had been manufactured. This year, the seasonal vaccine was designed to protect against three different flu viruses: an H3N2 virus, an influenza B virus, and the 2009 H1N1 virus, so only one shot is needed. The March of Dimes says pregnant women should make sure they get immunized to protect themselves and their babies. The normal changes from pregnancy put pregnant women at increased risk of the harmful effects of flu infection. “Based on expert medical opinion, we urge all pregnant women, and women who expect to become pregnant, to get their influenza immunization because the flu poses a serious risk of illness and death during pregnancy,” said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. “The flu vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective. As an added bonus, during pregnancy, mothers pass on their immunity, protecting babies until they are old enough to receive their own vaccinations.” Read the rest at http://www.marchofdimes.com/news/sep15_2010.html Additional information about vaccinations while pregnant, how they work, efficacy, safety, etc. at http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/prenatalcare_vaccinations.html

39/40 Weeks and Counting Well, I wish I could post good news in the sense that we are making progress, but i can't. On my last visit to the doctor (Thursday) we were still "high & dry." Meaning that even though I'm ripe and the baby's head is fully engaged (super painful by the way), there is nothing going on with my cervix. Granted, this being my 3rd child, I've been reassured that everything can change in 24 hours. I would be comforted with this info if I didn't happen to have a history of not dilating during my 2 previous pregnancies. I realize that every pregnancy and birth is different, but I would like to suggest that maybe I know my body at this point and it's not going to change just because a doctor says he has seen it happen all the time. There's a reason we have the term "exceptions." So the going game plan looks something like this: See the doctor again on Thursday (at 40 weeks) and check again for changes to the cervix. If there are no changes we will have to schedule a Caesarian delivery. However, if there are changes to the cervix I can either try to wait it out or attempt to induce labor via a pit drip. I'm not a massive fan of pitocin, especially since my epidural failed while I was on it last time. Seven hours of pitocin and no pain meds is beyond evil. I'm hoping that by next week I will have better news, but given my track record I'm not massively hopeful.

I saw the doctor today and I might as well be Fort Knox. I have another visit scheduled on Tuesday, at which time we'll be checking my fluid levels. The doctor isn't worried yet since this is the end of week 39 and technically I can go all of next week without too much concern. My morale is just shot, but there's nothing to be done for that either... So we are waiting and waiting and waiting. I'm hoping that Tuesday's appointment will at least be good in the sense that there's plenty of fluid around the baby. However, I'm not looking forward to the "induction" method of sticking a Folley cath into my cervix if there isn't enough fluid. It sounds like something out of a medieval torture log. Right up there with things like the cold speculum and "this may pinch a bit." Has anyone ever heard of this being done before or had it done? How much fun am I truly in for here? On the other hand... God may be acting merciful in that He's holding the baby back until our house guest is gone so that I only have to deal with one screaming colicky infant at a time.

Life is What Happens When You’re Busy Making Plans After falling ass backwards into marriage with a wonderful man, really more than I could have ever asked for in a person to love me, 5 years later I was getting a little worried. I wasn’t worried about the marriage; it was rock solid with the exception of one not so small issue. I had always known what I wanted in life. There was no time frame on any of it but I knew, in my heart, that I would be married with children and successful at whatever I chose to pursue. Yes, my self-confidence runneth over. One small problem, I met the man of my dreams when I was least expecting it. He asked me to marry him, when I was even less expecting it. I said yes, to the shock of myself and everyone else. You see where I am going with this? Life just kept tossing me those lovely wonderful curve balls. I went with it and it all seemed to be playing out perfectly. My life was everything I never knew I’d always wanted, served on a silver platter. One thing was missing, a baby. It wasn’t missing because I had misplaced it or some unfortunate fertility issues. We weren’t so busy with our careers that we had forgotten about it. What happened was I married a man who wasn’t sure if he wanted children or not. I know it sounds crazy that I would have even considered marriage when I was so certain about this one aspect of my life. I knew I needed to be a mother, at some point, the way I know I need to breathe air. But he wasn’t totally sure that he didn’t want children, I am an eternal optimist, and we took a chance. Actually, I’d say it was more like the biggest gamble of my life because if things hadn’t worked out as they did, my story would be very different. Probably a lot more like Elizabeth Gilbert’s and a lot less like Truthful Mommy’s. I remember feeling a lot of trepidation the summer of 2004. It had finally sunk it that maybe this wasn’t going to happen and then big decisions were going to have to be made. Decisions that neither of us wanted to even consider. So we vaguely discussed and kind of decided to plan to plan to have a baby. You know…maybe sometime in that not pre determined future. Personally, in retrospect, I think we were biding our time. He was trying to put off something he still wasn’t sure about and I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was trying and praying to keep hope alive in my heart. That was the summer of our 5-year anniversary. We planned a romantic getaway to New Orleans. It was magical. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the “we’re on vacation” mojo and the ginormous hurricanes they serve in the French Quarter but we had a heart to heart and decided that we were both on board to plan to plan to have our mythical baby…one of these days. We walked around the Garden district holding hands and talking about how awesome it would be to live there. Spent nights walking together, gazing at the stars, eating rich foods on Jazz cruises in the Mississippi. We lingered in the French Quarter drinking all that life had to offer before coming back to our hotel to bask in one another’s love multiple times* wink*wink* Then we returned home. Our marriage stronger than ever, our faith in each other renewed, our love undivided and then…I started puking and puking….and puking some more. Our plan to plan had been foiled and replaced by actual living in the now! We were both scared witless and excited. Me more excited him more scared witless. For a couple months, I was wondering how this was all going to play out. Don’t get me wrong, he was very involved. We did everything together. I read the pregnancy journal to him every night, so we knew what was going on with our baby. He read and sang to my belly. He was at every appointment. He got choked up at the heartbeat. He catered to my every pregnancy whim. He did everything right but for some reason. I felt like he felt like I had sprung this on him. I was too afraid to bring it up because, honestly, I was afraid of what his answer was going to be. Then I wasn’t sure if it was really fear or some kind of crazy hormonal paranoia. So I just went on basking in my glow and praying every night that he REALLY was too. It felt too good to be true, so I was sure some thing was afoot. Then 3 days before Christmas we went to have a 3-D confirmation ultrasound done because I HAD to know what the sex of the baby was going to be. They had told me a girl but said they could be wrong because of leg placement. The doctor had tried 3 times to get a definite sex reading and always the same. She was a good Catholic girl even in utero, closed legs and a middle finger to the world. I was so nervous, I vomited. It was the big day; I was going to finally know the sex of our baby…our accidental, planning to plan love child. The image came up and we saw our baby in 3-D and I knew…we were ready. He was ready. He was happy. He was ECSTATIC. I had my answer, not about the sex of the baby but the answer to a much bigger question. Then Christmas came. I didn’t care what I received under the tree because I had already gotten my gift, three days earlier in the ultrasound room. I had gotten peace of mind. All the gifts were open and the Big Guy disappeared. Then he came back in with a huge, beautifully wrapped box and he placed it in front of me. “For me?” I asked. “No, it’s for the baby. I bought it a few months back to surprise you!” I opened the box and inside it was the most beautiful Burberry diaper bag that I had ever seen, through my tear filled eyes. He said, “a few months back”. I had worried for nothing. This is one of my favorite and most cherished holiday memories of all of my existence.

When do you know when its time to face facts and stop trying? I'm going on 2 years. I said I'd be done in May when I turned 30 and I just lost my job. I feel like it's never going to happen :(

This just makes sense. Still, it's important to note. _____ Pregnant women: Secondhand smoke can harm your unborn baby Even if you don't smoke when you're pregnant, just being around smokers, can increase the risk of harming your future baby, according to a new study in the medical journal Pediatrics. Researchers found exposure to secondhand smoke increased a non-smoking pregnant woman's changes of having a stillborn by 23 percent, and increased the risk of delivering a baby with birth defects by 13 percent. Read more: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/07/pregnant-women-secondhand-smoke-can-harm-your-unborn-baby/?hpt=T2

Make My Stretch Marks Go Away! CNN.com Q: I have hideous stretch marks. Can you make them go away? If I could, I'd be a rich woman. Almost 90 percent of us have stretch marks. Despite claims made on late-night infomercials, no cure-all lotion or cream will reliably erase those marks, which appear when skin stretched by the rapid growth of pregnancy (or major weight gain or loss) doesn't snap back. The marks start out red or purple, and fade to white over time. Your best bet for diminishing them is seeing a board-certified dermatologist for micro-dermabrasion or a chemical peel, procedures that slowly remove layers of the scarred skin tissue. Most derms suggest six treatments on any spot that needs work, which can cost $75 to $600 a session, depending on the treatment. Hoping to prevent stretch marks? There's a limit to how much you can do, and some of it comes down to genetics. Plus, you can't help but stretch in pregnancy. Staying hydrated and exercising regularly improves circulation to your skin to maintain elasticity. As for all the belly rubs marketed to pregnant women for stretch mark prevention? Some women swear by them, but there's not yet scientific evidence to show they work. Lotions that contain cocoa or shea butter, olive oil, and vitamin E help your skin retain moisture, which may relieve the itching that accompanies dry skin and stretch marks. This article lives here: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/what-the-yuck-make-my-stretch-marks-go-away/?hpt=Sbin

Home births at highest level since 1990 The number of women having babies at home increased 20% between 2004 to 2008 according to a new study in the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care. The change is mainly due to a 94% increase in home births in white women, the authors said. Home births increased significantly in 27 states during this period; only four states saw declines. Montana had the highest increase. Reproductive statistics expert and lead author Marian F. MacDorman of the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says home births are at the highest level since 1990. "Women may prefer a home over a hospital birth for a variety of reasons including a desire for a low intervention birth in a familiar environment surrounded by family and friends," MacDorman said. "Cultural or religious concerns, lack of transportation in rural areas and cost factors may also play a role as total costs for home births are about 1/3 those for a hospital birth." MacDorman said risks associated with home births also went down during this period. "It might mean home birth midwives and practitioners are doing a better job of selecting low-risk women for home births." Women with a high risk of complication and therefore not good candidates for a home birth include those over 40 years of age, weighing 300 pounds or more and have high blood pressure or diabetes, MacDorman said. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a statement in January that says although the risk of planned home births is low, evidence shows it does carry a two- to three-fold increase in the risk of newborn death than hospital births. "As physicians, we have an obligation to provide families with information about the risks, benefits, limitations and advantages concerning the different maternity care providers and birth settings," said Richard N. Waldman, M.D., ACOG president. "It's important to remember that home births don't always go well, and the risk is higher if they are attended by inadequately trained attendants or in poorly selected patients with serious high-risk medical conditions such as hypertension, breech presentation, or prior cesarean deliveries." ACOG says the best available data show hospitals and birthing centers are the safest place for labor and delivery. Read the article on CNN: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/20/home-births-at-highest-level-since-1990/?hpt=Sbin

Sausalito comes from the Spanish and means "small willow grove." It's a touristy little town on San Francisco Bay, but still beautiful. My favorite ceramics shop, Heath, is tucked behind the boatyards. There's a factory store where I buy bud vases and big plates that are slightly imperfect -- a bubble here, a scrape there. I prefer them to uniform armies of unflawed china. I had just chosen a glazed red vase for a friend when I came out of the store to find that a woman had parked so close to my car that I couldn't get in. She had sandwiched herself between the two cars, and was getting more and more frazzled as she tried to get her little son out of his car seat. I waited by my taillights, sunglasses on, bag in hand, giving her space and wondering whether I'd chosen the right color vase. Then, without warning, the woman reached her breaking point. She looked up at me, the only person within ear- or eyeshot. Her back still bent, hand clutching her son inside the car, face pinched, she spat this out: "What are you, barren?" I'm not making this up. I'm quoting verbatim. It felt like I'd been slapped by someone with nails for hands. I'd never even heard a person use that word. It was, and still is, the cruelest thing anybody has said to me. Whatever frustration this bruiser had with her son and herself, she ruthlessly took out on me. What kind of person, I wondered, would think to sew together those words and hurl them at another woman? And she gets to have children.

What are you, barren?

Sausalito comes from the Spanish and means "small willow grove." It's a touristy little town on San Francisco Bay, but still beautiful. My favorite ceramics shop, Heath, is tucked behind the boatyards. There's a factory store where I buy bud vases and big plates that are slightly imperfect -- a bubble here, a scrape there. I prefer them to uniform armies of unflawed china. I had just chosen a glazed red vase for a friend when I came out of the store to find that a woman had parked so close to my car that I couldn't get in.

She had sandwiched herself between the two cars, and was getting more and more frazzled as she tried to get her little son out of his car seat. I waited by my taillights, sunglasses on, bag in hand, giving her space and wondering whether I'd chosen the right color vase. Then, without warning, the woman reached her breaking point. She looked up at me, the only person within ear- or eyeshot. Her back still bent, hand clutching her son inside the car, face pinched, she spat this out:

"What are you, barren?"

I'm not making this up. I'm quoting verbatim. It felt like I'd been slapped by someone with nails for hands. I'd never even heard a person use that word. It was, and still is, the cruelest thing anybody has said to me. Whatever frustration this bruiser had with her son and herself, she ruthlessly took out on me. What kind of person, I wondered, would think to sew together those words and hurl them at another woman? And she gets to have children.

To read the rest, go here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/holly-finn/infertility-stories_b_893941.html

Why sperm banks are rejecting red-haired donors Attention all blue-eyed redheads: Your sperm donations are no longer needed in Europe. That's the word from Cryos International, operator of the world's largest network of sperm banks. Why are redheads being dissed? Here, a brief guide: What's wrong with redheads? Nothing. It's just that there are plenty of them throughout northern Europe, where many donors have blue eyes and blond or red hair. Denmark-based Cryos has closed its doors to these red-haired donors, claiming the 140,000 sperm doses from redheads that it has on hand are more than enough to meet demand. "Our stock is about to explode," says Cryos director Ole Schou, as quoted by MSNBC. Still, Schou says Cryos will still accept sperm from redheads with brown eyes. Is demand for redheads really that low? Yes, throughout most of Europe — except in Ireland. Roughly 10 percent of the Irish population is redheaded, and demand for sperm donations from carrot tops remains strong on the Emerald Isle. In fact, their sperm sells "like hotcakes," says Schou, as quoted by TIME. What kinds of sperm donors are in demand? Tall, dark, and handsome. The biggest requests are for sperm donations from "men who are tall, with brown eyes and dark hair," says Mikaela Conley of ABC News. Not only are these donors popular in Mediterranean countries, but many Scandinavians are now "veering away from the typical blonde and blue-eyed Danish baby." See the story: http://theweek.com/article/index/219438/why-sperm-banks-are-rejecting-red-haired-donors

Hey parents, the third kid's a bargain USAToday.com - In a tepid economy, people look to save money however they can. One strategy? Not having kids. After hitting a high of 4.3 million in 2007, U.S. births tumbled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to about 4 million in 2010. It makes sense. Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture produces a study calculating how much it costs to raise a child to age 18. In 2010, the price tag was $226,920 — curiously close to the U.S. median house price ($221,800). Given how vexing housing has been, families are understandably wary of adding similarly-priced babies to the mix. But a closer look at these numbers shows that the real sticker shock happens when you have the first kid — something the vast majority of couples do. After that, the marginal costs decline considerably, to the point where the third kid — the one most families don't have — is downright cheap. That's good news for would-be bigger families because, despite vague talk of overpopulation as this planet crossed 7 billion inhabitants in October, Americans tend to undershoot, not overshoot, their preferred family size. Numbers tell the story To produce that $226,920 number, researchers survey about 12,000 husband-and-wife households each year. They've discovered that families with three kids spend 22% less per child than two-kid families. Single-kid families spend 25% more on their offspring than two-kid families spend on each of theirs. While 22%-25% doesn't sound like a huge difference, this is what it means on the margins: An 11-year-old who's an only child would cost a middle-income family $15,830 per year (a big chunk of that is to house him). According to the USDA tables, though, a family with an 11-year-old and a 16-year-old would spend $26,490 per year. Having a second child added only $10,660 to the tab. After that it gets better. A middle-income family with kids ages 11, 13 and 16 spends $31,070. The third kid costs just $4,580. Continue: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-01-10/family-parents-kids-spending/52484040/1