Old Forge Holiday

Being in Old Forge and camping for two weeks is my idea of "almost heaven". We all canoed the Moose River from North Street Bridge to Green Bridge. The river was very high and we only had one mishap. James, Katie, Tyler and Bob were all in one canoe and they bottomed out on a huge submerged log. It is times like that I wish we had a video camera. They just kept spinning around in a circle on top of the log. Tyler was super on his first canoe ride.

Inductions increase Caesarean Deliveries

I love statistics, especially when they favor natural childbirth and back up what I've known all along. A new study published in the July 2010 issue of the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology links induced labor with a greater risk of cesarean surgery.

The study, which looked at 7,804 first-time mothers giving birth in US birth centers showed that women who had their labors induced were twice as likely to have a c-section than those women whose labors started naturally.

“Labor induction is significantly associated with a cesarean delivery among nulliparous women at term for those with and without medical or obstetric complications,” the authors noted. “Reducing the use of elective labor induction may lead to decreased rates of cesarean delivery for a population.”

— Ehrenthal, D.B., X. Jiang and D.M. Strobino. 2010. Labor induction and the risk of a cesarean delivery among nulliparous women at term. Obstet Gynecol 116(1): 35–42.

Of course, I realize that there are times when induction is absolutely necessary but to many physicians are doing so out of convience or worry or a number of other excuses. I figure that if a women can get pregnant, then God knows when that baby is to be born. Perhaps it is time for a hands off approach and wait to see method before rushing to intervene with inductions.

Birth Plans

How to Have a Safe and Healthy Birth

1. Let Labor Begin on Its Own

2. Walk, Move and Change Positions

3. Have Continuous Support

4. Avoid Unnecessary Interventions

5. Get Upright and Follow Urges to Push

6. Keep Your Baby With You

Cars That Bounce

Tyler never ceases to be a source of amusement as he investigates and experiments. Today I gave him a box of cars - minis, matchbox types, tractors and the like. After looking at me for permission to dump them out he singled out the minis (remember those 1-2" cars). Turned the box over (it was a plastic tote), put the car on the top and then would hit the top with both hands so he could watch the car bounce up and down. Such stamina as he continued to do this for over 5 minutes using his whole body in the process.

Apple It Is.

Tell me that there isn't a better way to spend a Friday evening than sitting on the porch listening to the Yankees ball games and using my new lap top computer. Here I am almost 60 years old and I have never owned my very own computer. We have graduated from our first Commodore 64 in the early 80's to Atari to Dell and now APPLES. I remember telling the menfolk that apples were the way to go way back when Atari's were the rage. ahhh, they never listen. But that's ok cause patience paid off and now I can blog and write any place, any time.

Speaking of blogging, I dove in and approached the WKTV blog site to see if I can blog there about my new venture of being a doula. We have started a co-op group already - Mohawk Valley Doula Co-op - so I am sure that I will have plenty to write about.

Nutrition and Exercise in Pregnancy

Today I attended a conference in Utica about Nutrition and Exercise in Pregnancy. I love going to conferences because even if I don't learn something new it gives me a boost to keep on going. We heard a speaker talk about obesity and pregnancy which was too technical for me at this time. However, we had another speaker who addressed the issue of nutrition and elevated blood sugar levels, another who spoke about eating disorders and how they relate to pregnancy and a physical therapist who talked about the best exercises for pregnant women and how excessive exercise could be detrimental. I was glad I took the day off and attended. Not to mention the delicious food - the fresh pineapple was to die for and meeting new people.

Father's Day Outing

What a beautiful day for letterboxing with the ones I love. Doug, Kate, Bob, Tyler and I ventured out to Lock 7 in Niskayuna. We arrived just in time to see two boats going west on the canal. They just started to lower the water level so Bob and Tyler got to see their first lock in operation in New York. Then we struck out to find some letterboxes - wings along the Mohawk. Ha ha, I didn't think that we would be "bushwacking" with a stroller. Tyler loved the part where he got to walk through the mud because by now he is walking - stroller was left behind with grampa. It was a fun time but little guy got tired early so they went back to Utica before we did. He slept the entire way home.

Doug and I continued a bit more. Of course, I can't go anywhere with out checking out the flora. We came across American Bladdernut - very interesting seed pods and picked out first black caps. Can't wait for ours to rippen. The thrushes we starting to sing so I knew it was after 4. We decided to head back stopping at Applebees for a delicious pecan crusted chicken salad. And for dessert -- we pulled over in St. Johnsville for ice cream. Chocolate Hazelnut Chip - yes it was to die for.