Dora the Explorer

I was so dissapointed to see the cover of the Dora the Explorer - Big Sister Dora DVD which shows Dora standing over the crib with a bottle in her hand. I have let Nick, Jr. know how I feel.

Breastfeeding and HIV/AIDS

Thanks (once again) to TulipGirl for mentioning a newly released study from Zimbabwe that showed that "HIV-positive mothers are less likely to transmit AIDS to their infants if they breast feed exclusively." This follows on the heels of last year's Zambian study which reached a similar conclusion.

Thursday Library Trip - 04/28/05

• Book: The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
• Book: Easy Composting, Cynthia Putnam, Ed.
• Book: The Rodale Book of Composting, Deborah L. Martin & Grace Gershuny, Eds.
• Book: Don’t Waste Your Wastes – Compost ‘em, Bert Whitehead
• Book: The World Around Us, Rosemary Wells
• Video: Wiggly Play Time (again)
• Video: The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories by Eric Carle
• Video: Blues Clues: Blue Takes You To School
• Video: Kratt’s Creatures: Checkin’ Out Chimps
• Video: Searching For Bobby Fischer

Poetry on Buses 2005

Seatle has a program of poetry on city buses. My cousin Wilson Diehl's poem Troublemaker was one of the poems selected. I'm very proud.

Culture of Fear

Meghan Cox Gurdon of National Review Online via CBS News has a great commentary on fear and risk-aversion, and how it affects motherhood, particularly pregnancy. She compares her experience being pregnant in the U.S. with her British, Japanese, and Canadian pregnancies.

From what I can tell, it's all the lawyers' fault.

My Three Pennies Worth

Molly of My Three Pennies Worth (who is pregnant with #5), reflects on the second time she gave birth and what a great difference that practicing relaxation (rather than just reading about it) made in comparison to her first birth:

As I lay back and felt the familiar pain tightening its scissor-like grip around my body, I remember worrying, "What if this doesn't work and it's hurts just like last time?" But then I calmly answered, "It might--it might not...but what have you got to lose by trying?" And with that, I submitted to what my body was doing and laid back into the warm water, easily becoming limp and breathing deeply.

The next contraction came like a strong wave, the most intense by far...but without an ounce of pain.

For the next hour I sat in that tub and had the most incredible experience of my life! Incredibly strong contractions flowed over me, only 30-60 seconds apart, but without a trace of the agonizing ripping PAIN that had characterized my last labor experience. This time I was feeling my body opening up, allowing a baby to come forth, and it was as if I was "seeing" it all happen inside of myself--like watching a flower slowly opening to the morning sun. Each contraction was strong, powerful, intense...but beautiful, not painful. Not painful at all.

Beautifully said, Molly. May all our births be like that one.

Thursday Library Trip - 04/23/05

(Due to vacation, the Thursday library trip was postponed until Saturday. Next week we will resume our regular Thursday schedule.)

• Book: Laughter and Tears: The Emotional Life of New Mothers, Elisabeth Bing
• Book: Duck for President, Doreen Cronin
• Book: The Story of Passover, Norma Simon
• Book: Jewish Holidays in the Spring, Dianne M. MacMillan
• Book: Trucks, Byron Barton
• Video: Dora the Explorer: Map Adventures
• Video: Passover [Shalom Sesame]
• Video: Bob the Builder: The Knights of Fix-a-lot

Notes on Healthy Immunization

TulipGirl has a great post on healthy immunization. More than once I have been witness to on-line discussions where someone asked about delayed vaccination schedules and got no help but only "why do you feel you need to vax?" questions. Mind you, we haven't vaxed yet and probably won't (as you might have guessed from reading my posts here and here and here); but the principle thing is true informed consent. Parents alone (not doctors, hospitals, public schools, state health departments, child protective services, or the CDC) are responsible for the health decisions they make on behalf of their children; and they need to be fully informed of their legal rights as well as the risk and benefits of any drug, treatment, or procedure. I'm not anti-vax per se but just anti-ignorance; and I applaud anyone who has made the decision to vaccinate and takes the time and effort to do it in such a careful way.

Midwifery Legislative Update - Preview

Well, faithful readers, although I promised a Midwifery Legislative Update this week, I'm going to put it off until next week. For one thing, it has turned out to be a bigger task than I originally anticipated, and I want to do it justice. Also, we are going on vacation next week to Branson, Missouri, and I think I had better get some sleep before heading out on a 7 or 8 hour road trip with a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old. Here's my previous Travelogue from Branson.

I may not be able to blog until I get back, but until then here's a preview:

Texas' House Bill 1535, the Midwifery Board Sunset legislation, now goes before the House and will be voted on in the next two weeks. In addition to renewing the Midwifery Board (and, by implication, direct-entry midwifery in the state of Texas), the bill would also change the composition of the board to create a majority of licensed midwives and change the designation "documented midwife" to "licenced midwife" which would be consistent with the statutory definitions of those terms.

Link: Association of Texas Midwives' Legislative Info

Junkbot

If you are wondering why I haven't posted much in the last 2 days, it's all my 4-year-old's fault. He found this game: LEGO.com's Junkbot Undercover. Watch out. It's adictive.

Cesarean Awareness Month

April is Cesarean Awareness Month (betcha didn't know there was such a thing) and the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is "renewing its call for Congressional hearings into the nation's rising Cesarean section rate and the impact on women’s health and the overall health care system."

Link: ACNM Press Release

Thursday Library Trip - 04/14/05

For those of you new to The Mommy Blawg, every Thursday we go to the library and then blog what we checked out. It's really just a way for me to keep track of our family's reading and viewing selections.

Is it legal to go barefoot in a public library? Robert Neinast thinks it is his constitutional right to be shoeless, and he has complied a list of library shoe policies online following his unsucessful lawsuit against the Columbus Metropolitan Library over their dress code. Thanks to John Bradley for his link in the Texas Bar Journal's Dec. 2004 Party Talk feature.

This week's selections:

• Book: The Summons, John Grisham
• Book: Good to Great, Jim Collins
• Book: Unconditional Parenting, Alfie Kohn
• Book: The Unofficial Buide to Branson, Missouri (2nd ed.), Eve Zibart & Bob Sehlinger
• Book: Man in the Mirror, Robert Bonazzi
• Book: Do-Gooders, Mona Charen
• Book: Knights in Shining Armor, Gail Gibbons
• Book: Misson to the Arctic, Nicola Baxter
• Book: Manners on a Car Trip, Alison Tharen
• Video: Wiggly Play Time
• Video: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
• Video: Building Skyscapers

Blawg Review #1

The inaugural edition of Blawg Review is up, hosted by Notes from the (Legal) Underground's Evan Schaeffer. Good job, Evan!

The Mommy Blawg is schedule to host on August 22nd. Keep up with all the happenings at www.blawgreview.com.

Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy

The Wiggles have been named Australia's wealthiest entertainers, topping Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe (actually, the headlines say "Nicole beaten by Wiggles" but we won't go there). Doesn't surprise me a bit.

Link: The Wiggles Named Australia's Wealthiest (ABC/AP)

Is Spring Break Over Yet? (Adventures on Ebay)

This mom had a really bad day, but she wrote a great story about it on Ebay and now she's $1,225 richer. See THE BALL THAT STARTED IT ALL.

However, what's really amazing is to check out the other items that the winning bidder has won in the last two months. These gems include
the "Frank Must Die" bumper sticker (Frank is a little boy's brain tumor); tatoos - both temporary and permanent - on various body parts, most of which I won't name, including pregnant bellies; Evil Kermit needs a new home (hilarious); naming rights to a baby girl and a set of twins; and $10,600 for a pretzel in the shape of the virgin mary holding baby Jesus. I am not kidding.

Thursday Library Trip - 04/07/05

• Book: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, T. Harv Eker
• Book: Gregory, The Terrible Eater, Mitchell Sharmat
• Book: My First Bible Board Book [DK Publishing]
• Video: The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show
• Video: Kratt's Creatures: The Great Bear Show
• DVD: Dora the Explorer: Map Adventures

WaterTower Theater

NPR recently did a story on Flexible Theater Design and Audience Intimacy, featuring Addison's WaterTower Theater. I grew up in Addison, and have family connections to WTT and its predecessor organization, the Addison Community Theater (ACT). Seems like a good occasion to give them a plug.

Owch

In the "news of the weird" category, Woman Breastfeeding Tiger Cubs in Myanmar.