Hallelujah!

Jake is sleeping in his toddler bed!!!!!

I'm not getting excited. I'm not going to jump up and down! I'm not I'm not I'm not!!!

But I can't help the excited butterflies in my tummy, which I'm trying so hard to contain!

See, we weren't going to attempt the crib-to-bed transition again until we get back from our trip (since any new sleep habits will most-likely be lost by the time we get back), but alas, both boys are in the midst of "sleep training" just a week before we leave. Brilliant, huh.

This morning in my sleepy-waking-up daze, I noticed that my alarm clock (aka Jake's cry) seemed to sound like it was moving. As I laid there, eyes tightly shut and fighting the early morning as I always do, I felt my heart drop as I suddenly sat up in bed. I said aloud, "It sounds like Jake is moving!" I listened intently again & confirmed that something wasn't right. The cry wasn't coming from the diagonal left, it was indeed coming from the diagonal right! What a start, what a shock, and what an unplanned can of worms he just opened- by discovering how to climb out of his crib!

Or so I thought.

Think.

I don't know. I'll have to tell you tomorrow. And in 2 weeks when we get back from vacation.

But the butterflies I have right now... that would be because I expected a fiasco. I read all day about this transition. (Trying to find ways to avoid what happened last time, trying to find positive methods, gentle methods, tricks, treats, bits & bops, anything!)

But it wasn't a fiasco. No sirree, Bob! (hat tip to my sissy.) I got a sleepy toddler who smiled a quiet smile at me, whispered his prayer (next topic & more happy butterflies), and who stayed in bed and slept when I left the room. WHAT!!??!!?? Are you kidding me!?!?! I am shocked!!! And so pleasantly surprised.

But like I said, I'll tell you tomorrow. The night is young!

The floor is padded. And I'm ready.

Okay, so about the prayer...
3 nights ago he said his first prayer!!! He whispers it, and it's so sweet!

"JeeJuh" (Jesus)
"DehDoo JeeJuh" (Thank you Jesus)
"IIIIIIIIII JeeJuh" (I love you Jesus)
"AhMn" (Amen)

(p.s. that's how he says I love you, just a long & endearing IIIIIIII, but you can see it all over his face & hear it in his voice. He really is a sweet-heart.) The first night he said his prayer, my smile was so big that he said "AhMn" 3 times! Aww!

The last thing I wanted to add to this post is something I just read online that I didn't know. Thought I'd share. It's about organics & purely informational.

We try our best to eat organic fruits & veggies (especially those without hard skins or those known to be more pesticide-laden) and always organic milk & eggs. I've been doing this a while, for as long as I can remember buying food, & don't talk much about it just because I think people should do whatever they want & I don't want anybody to ever think I'm being hoity-toity or anything. I have my own reasons, I am just doing what I think is best for my family & situation.

Which is why I don't bring it up! Even that sentence could sound bad if it's said to someone who doesn't buy organic! A few months ago, a close friend of mine randomly bombarded me & started spewing all these facts about hormone-free milk and organics and feeding cows, etc, trying to prove that organic wasn't 'that' important and (I think) to justify her decision to not buy organic. I didn't bring the topic up. I definitely would never want her (or anyone) to feel a need to justify anything or compare. I love talking about stuff, learning from others, sharing information, whatever. But this was a bombardment! I have reasons, and I had answers to all of her points! But I sorta bit my tongue because I was afraid if I "defended" my reasons, that she would think I was saying that her way was wrong or bad for her child or something. I didn't want to play into the competition she seems to have started between the two of us. Whose way is right? This is just one of the many 'competitions' she's created: whose child does what first, who loses baby weight first, whose house is cleaner, ahh! Why would this cross her mind- why is there a need to compare anything!? It absolutely makes me crazy! Let's just BE. Be friends, hang out, live it together (no matter who weighs what or whose kid is happiest, what does that matter?) Wooh, venting! Sorry!

So back to the organics, I've always felt that mine is an informed decision, an educated decision even. I've read in accredited medical journals and educational material (CEUs: continuing education units), and have weighed the pros & cons (hello, cost!), and I still feel that it's worth it to me. Anyways, I'm absolutely not strict about it. I just get what is available & if we're eating somewhere else (which is not often) I honestly don't even think about it. Never crosses my mind unless we're eating strawberries, eek! (Someone said you might as well drink pesticides if you eat non-0rganic strawberries, and I can't get that image out of my head now! LOL)

But here's my point: my way of sparing costs is that I don't buy organic meat (because that's ridiculously expensive & some thing's gotta give!) I want to! I've thought about it a lot. If I can't be vegetarian, then I want to buy free-range, organic-fed. But meat is so expensive (to me) as it is. Every time I buy meat (without fail), I always hesitate. It's too expensive. Regular stuff, the cheapest stuff. It's hard for me to swallow. So I haven't taken the step to add the "organic" cost on top of the already high cost of meat. But tonight I read this:

"Non-organic meats have far higher concentrations of pesticides than all of the fruits and vegetables. And the highest concentration of pesticides is actually in non-organic butter.
So if you can only buy one organic food item, it should be butter. Next priority would be meats and once those are addressed, you will want to focus on the fruit and vegetable list above."

This was from Dr Mercola's website, and HERE's a link to the article. It's really good because it says which veggies/fruit are highest & lowest in pesticide concentration so you can prioritize which are more worth the 'splurge'.

Kinda puts perspective on my thinking, though. I guess I had it backwards, even though I think I've got such an informed decision! Next trip, butter & meat it is. Maybe I'll sacrifice some ice cream or some other non-essential grocery item to make up for the cost.

Something that freaked me out big-time when I was pregnant with Jake was when a study was done on human milk & there were substantial levels of pesticides in it.

It's the same kind of freak-out I had when I learned about the cancerous tumors that had the African monkey virus in them (on autopsy) in people who had never been anywhere near an African brown monkey. It was from a vaccine (given decades prior), as vaccines are grown in serum & organs of other animals!!! And this particular vaccine was grown in African brown monkey plasma... and now found in tumors... Wrap your mind around that!

(Inoculated with an unknown virus, {how do we know if there are any other unknown viruses, we'll never know, because they're unknown!}, protected from {fill in the blank}, culminated in cancer.) Oh vaccines... I could go on forever. It's the toughest decision I've encountered TO DATE in my whole TWO YEARS of motherhood. I've been reading statistics, case studies, ingredients & processing procedures... let me tell you, no amount of information makes this issue any clearer.

I have rambled SO much in this post that I'm cutting myself off!!! Sorry!!! Just wanted to share that organic info because I had no idea about the butter & meat!

Next post will be shorter & sweeter! :)

A Birth Tragedy, and Malpracticing Doctor

THIS is absolutely shocking. Very sad. (P.S. underlined words are the links to the articles...) This (above-mentioned) blog describes the original story found in LA Times, and has some quoted excerpts. The link at the bottom of her post doesn't work, so I was unable to read the actual news article.

It's so shocking, though, that I did a google search on it to see if it's really true. Here are a few things that I came across.

Article from Daily Herald
A Doctor's Recollection about Dr Safari, and his criticisms of Kaiser Permanente
Article from LA Times (almost the same as Daily Herald one)

I believe that vacuum extraction may have it's place (in a very emergent situation, and I mean emergent as in life or death emergency!) It should be used gently and with limits (we have a 2-3 pull maximum at our hospital I think.) The things that went on in this case are wrong on so many levels. The two biggest and most obvious are that, number one, it was TOTALLY unnecessary to even consider vacuum! (No distress, healthy mom & baby.) And second, he used great force, and pulled numerous times. This is all "alleged", but Kaiser's response (permanently restricting his practice) tells me that there's something to it. It's just so horrible and tragic.

I want to encourage people to research interventions and demand true "informed" consent before agreeing to their use. (And, being that I work in a hospital setting, I want to also warn that from my observation, most doctors will brush over *some* of the cons and accentuate the pros. They will hardly ever tell you all of the potential complications. I really appreciate those doctors who do, and they are the ones who are prepared with true statistics instead of just saying "oh, it's extremely rare...") Medicine is very much a business these days, and we, the 'consumers', need to take control and be informed.

I am NOT placing even an OUNCE of blame on the parents... not at all, never! We should be able to trust judgement of our doctors! But I am saying we need to take this as a que to educate ourselves and make informed decisions about our health, regardless of what others (doctors, nurses, hospitals, protocols) say we need to do. Sometimes they are right, but sometimes, as in this case, they are very, very wrong. So, so heartbreaking.

Quote-
The beauty of my body is not measured by the size of the clothes it can fit into, but by the stories that it tells.
I have a belly and hips that say, "We grew a child in here,"
and breasts that say, "We nourished life."
My hands, with bitten nails and a writer's callus, say, "We create amazing things."
-Sarah, from I Am Beautiful: A Celebration of Women in Their Own Words

In my web/blog browsing, here are a few interesting things I ran across. As if I have nothing better to do with my time! LOL Those with common interests might enjoy visiting these places though. (P.S. underlined/yellow words are links)

Bellies and Babies - check out the 9/4 entry, about rights to breastfeed anywhere. My sis got harrassed for breastfeeding at a museum. She & baby were totally covered up & we were strolling through the Van Gough displays when she was approached and asked to retreat to the 'mommy's room'. She kindly said she was comfortable where she was, but the employee said she couldn't breastfeed there. My sis requested the manager, who was also insistent, but when she mentioned laws, lawyers, and rights, she backed down. yes, she.

C-section rates in LA county hospitals... it's ridiculous!
And could they be under-reported? Apparently, the fine prints indicates so.

Trust Birth Conference - Redondo Beach March 2008