Justin was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphatic Lymphoma in March of 2009, one day after he turned 6 years old. Since then Justin has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment to help fight his battle against cancer.
Justin was doing good until about a month ago, when he had a relapse. Doctors currently say his best change for remission and beating cancer is high dose chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant.
Which is where you come in! Justin is looking for a bone marrow donor. Normally to get on the registry it is a $50 fee along with a cheek swab and the registry paperwork. This Wednesday in Milford the fee will be waived for anyone who attends this special registry clinic in the name of little Justin.
Wednesday March 31st, from 3:30pm to 7:30pm at Live Oaks Elementary School, located at 575 Merwin Ave, Milford, CT. 06460.
For more information you can visit Milford4justin.com or contact
Continuing with my series of What Do I Really Need for a baby, we move on to part 5 today.
If you are unfamiliar with this series, feel free to look back at parts 1 through 4
We left off at the Travel Wipes off of the New Parent’s Checklist on the Babies R Us website. And the next section to make it through is safety, and we will begin the Nursery portion of the check list. Like the previous 4 posts haven’t been enough, we still have quite a few ahead of us! Can you imagine? All of this baby stuff? It is no wonder people have to pick this list apart to discuss what is actually useful!
Audio Monitor : Most of us know these are normal baby monitors, but in 2010 there are so many kids it is completely ridiculous! Depending on the size of your home, or number of levels a baby monitor is useful. We have monitors but we really had minimal use for them until our second child was born and we wanted to keep the children apart during nap times. Video Monitor : I do not see any purpose in these. They are expensive, and I think they cross the line of safety and move over to the side of paranoia. Cabinet & Drawer Latches : Until your baby is a toddler, any type of infant proofing really is not a must have. Safety Gates : Depending on the levels of your home, or if there is an area you do not wish the baby to crawl or toddle into, then they are helpful. Our dogs get more use our of our baby gate than the actual children do. Outlet Covers : I think these are a great must have, but by the time my toddler was about 16 months old, he knew how to get them out of the wall. One of my biggest suggestions, just watch your children around things like this especially once they are old enough to realize those covers come out. Corner Guards : We really had no need for these as we have no furniture available to the children that has any sharp corners, though if you do in your home, they may be helpful to preventing an accident that could be more serious than you want to deal with! Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarms : These should be in your home, by law even without a baby present, but if you do not have them already, local law (may vary by town) requires two working smoke detectors on every floor of your home, as well as one working Carbon Monoxide detector on each floor also. Cradle, Bassinet, or Portable Crib : I love our arms reach co sleeper! Our youngest is 10 months old, and we still use it! With our youngest we just bypassed all of this and just brought him in our bed, although we did have a portable crib, it turned out to be a huge waste of money that we left at my parents house. Cradle or Bassinet Sheets : If you are doing to use a cradle or bassinet, at least 2 sheets are helpful. We found that we went through the sheets for the co sleeper much quicker than we anticipated. Cradle or Bassinet Toys : I am torn, though I love the children to have toys, I discourage them at nap/bed times which is the only time baby would be inside the cradle or bassinet. Making it play time will make sleep time harder on you as a parent. Bedding Sets : I would save the bedding set for the crib, if you are opting to use a crib. The cradle or bassinet is used for such a short period of time, and the sets are so expensive that they are virtually a waste of money. Crib : I have mixed feelings on cribs. Our crib for our first child which was a crib/changing table all in one has become nothing more than a glorified changing table. Our oldest never slept in it as we are a co sleeping family. Our youngest has started napping in it as we are trying to transition him into the crib from the co sleeper instead of into our bed. So it really is hit or miss. But in the end I think that it is one of those things we all will end up buying. Crib Toys : It goes back to what I said about the bassinet/cradle toys. Skip them, bed time should be for bed and if you encourage toys it is only going to become a battle! Changing Table : Another hit or miss buy. Depending on the amount of money you wish to spend on the nursery, it is something you can skip if you are on a budget. I found the even with the changing table, we still used the crib the majority of the time to change diapers because it was more convenient. Armoire : Depending on the set up of your house, and the closet availability in your home, you may or may not want to purchase one. When our oldest was born his bedroom did not have a closet, but then we moved and he ended up with the biggest closet in the house! Dresser/Chest : If you opt for an Armoire, you can can totally skip a dresser or chest and visa versa. Typically you only really need one of the other. Hutch : Useless depending on how you want to set the room up. Most children, especially babies do not have that much stuff, but if you are all about decorating, it may be an option for you. We had no use for one, and still today do not even with two kids. Glider & Ottoman : HEAVEN SENT! I love my glider and still use it to this day for just hanging out and reading! In the first few months of both children’s lives, I do not think I would have survived had I not been able to rock them. Midnight feelings, soothing an upset baby. I could not have made it through the first couple months without it! Blanket Chest : Instead of a blanket chest, we opted for a crib with a trundle drawer. It worked out much nicer, and took up way less room in the nursery itself.
I am going to stop here and pause.
In part 6 we will start back up on Mattresses, Bedding, and Baby room decor.
Since the NIH VBAC Conference, and the Post Cesarean Feelings Survey posts that have been going on, I have been trying to avoid any other cesarean related posts or information for the simple overkill factor. But these numbers that came out today from the National Center for Health Statistics just could not be pushed to the side, or left for a later date post. I was just really passing them by until I sat down this evening and read the post about them over on The Unnecesarean.
Now, if you follow me, you know how I feel about the cesarean rates, and elective cesareans, but these numbers should be scary and alarming to all women of childbearing age, or who plan to have children in coming years. A couple pieces of information I found most important :
In 2007, 32% of the approximately 1.4 million births in the United States were by cesarean section, the highest rate ever recorded in the United States and higher than the rates in most industrialized countries. The cesarean rate increased most rapidly between 2000 and 2007
The number of cesarean sections increased by 71% from 1996 to 2007 (797,119 to 1,367,049).
Cesarean section was the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the U.S.
According to the NCHS, suggested explanations for the rise in the cesarean rate for eleven consecutive years include many nonmedical reasons, such as maternal demographics, physicians’ practice preferences, maternal request and fear of litigation.
One thing I wanted to point out is that maternal request cesareans showed to make up 0.4% of cesarean sections taking place, so the excuse that women are just telling their Doctors this is what they actually want is something that does not hold much weight with me.
But why is this such a problem?
Because more and more women are opting for this procedure under the assumption that it is the least risky option or way to birth a child, when in fact it is not. Having your scheduled cesarean is nothing like going in to have your teeth cleaned. It is serious major surgery that holds serious risks including a 4 times greater risk for maternal death than a vaginal delivery. 9 out of 100,000 women who opt for an elective repeat cesarean delivery, whether it is the second c-section, or more will die.
Not to sound all gloom and doom, but I dont think our women today are being given accurate information on these risks.
For myself, and many women who have had previous cesarean births, this health care reform is a victory for us. But there are also other huge positives for the childbirth community, as well as maternity care system in the United States with this.
I will start with previous cesarean mothers. Whether you know it or not, many insurance companies consider women who have had a previous cesarean birth (which makes up nearly 1/3 of all childbearing women) to have a pre-existing medical condition. On top of that women who have been the victim of a form of domestic abuse have been lumped into the pre-existing medical condition group. As someone who has gone out of my way to prevent cesarean births, and someone who would also not just sign up for a repeat cesarean with future pregnancies, the fact that these insurance companies felt that they could deny women coverage simply because of that was not only ignorant and unfounded, but it was severely biased. Thankfully with new laws in place, this will no longer be standard practice.
More positives, as reported by MANA and Robin Elise Weiss on About.com there are huge victories for midwives in this reform. For as long as midwives have been delivering under OB/GYN’s insurance reimbursement has not been adequate by any means. With these new laws, midwives will get :
MAMA Campaign’s “partial victory”: Senator Cantwell’s provision that will have the effect of requiring Medicaid reimbursement for licensed CPMs offering services in licensed birth centers.
And: giving birth, having a cesarean section, or being the victim of domestic abuse will no longer be considered pre-existing conditions and used to deny insurance coverage to women!
All very positive and a huge step towards repairing the maternity care system in our country. It is no secret that we are failing our mothers and babies after the Amnesty International release of Deadly Delivery.
Certainly there are many negatives to this bill also, especially the abortion access and coverage. Unfortunately to get the positive through, many democratic and pro choice senators had to compromise on other forms of woman’s reproductive health coverage.
But today is certainly a great day for mothers, and midwives!
The nice weather is upon us, and everyone is enjoying this May like atmosphere.
One thing I think we all forget in light of the nice weather is that once again, we will be sharing the road with motorcycles.
We often start to hear about a number of car vs. motorcycle crashes this time of year.
Please, if you are out and about, keep your eyes, and ears open for the two wheeled motorists you share the road with.
One mess up by you could cause a motorcyclist their life!
I often hear women talking about disliking the practice they are seeing for prenatal care, or even only going there because a friend recommended them, or not wanting to switch practices during their pregnancy. These same women I have noticed a trend with, at least in my circle of friends, all have had a negative birth experience when remaining under the care of a practice they did not care for.
Switching practices, whether it is an OB/GYN office with multiple Doctors, or a practice of a few midwives, or even a solo practice, it is amazingly simple to switch to someone you may be more comfortable with for the duration of your pregnancy.
My first suggestion in deciding to make the move to another practice is to research, and interview other providers before making the final choice to move. You do not want to go through the paperwork and move to a practice you do not like, or do not want to stay with either.
Once you have made the active choice to switch, it is a simple form to request your records be transfused. By law, your previous provider has 30 days to provide your records directly to the new practice.
Sounds simple? It really is!
It is not as scary as some women seem to think, so why stay trapped with a provider you can’t stand?
When Theresa Shebib and I embarked on a small survery about cesarean section mothers, we never imagined it would skyrocket so nearly 861 mothers worldwide. Starting as a simple project of two cesarean mothers, and a passion for internet blogging we threw together a survey with 16 questions that peaked our own interests about other mothers experiences.
Over night the project grew a mind of its own multiplying in size a number of times. The information, numbers, and comments. Much to our surprise many women were more open and honest than we expected. It was amazing to see the impact of social media today on this project.
What became even more shocking to us were the replies, numbers and information we were able to obtain with this project. I will go question by question reviewing and sharing some of the results through various posts, but first before getting into each individual question, and the comments and experiences listed, I would like to give a general overview and release of the actual poll results.
Starting with question #1 : How many Cesarean Births have you had?
1 Cesarean – 67.4% 580 mothers
2 Cesareans – 23.5% 202 mothers
3 Cesareans – 6.5% 56 mothers
4 Cesareans – 2.6% 22 mothers
1 mother skipped this question
Question #2 – Your Cesarean Birth was :
Elective or Planned : 14.8% 118 mothers
Unplanned : 39.5% 316 mothers
Emergency : 21.0% 168 mothers
Repeat Cesareans : 15.1% 121 mothers
(First was unplanned cesarean, scheduled subsequent cesareans)
First Birth was Cesarean, VBAC attempt or other births : 5.6% 45 mothers
Always attempted vaginal birth, always ended in cesarean : 3.9% 31 mothers
62 mothers skipped this question
Question #3 – If Elective or Planned, What was the reason?
Previous Birth was Cesarean, Doctor Recommended : 33.9% 112 mothers
Knew what to expect, was the birth I wanted: 10.3% 34 mothers
Fear of labor & Natural childbirth : 2.4% 8 mothers
Previous Traumatic Birth, Cesarean was Less risky : 6.4% 21 mothers
No VBAC Support or availability : 5.5% 18 mothers
Other : 56.1 % 185 mothers
531 mothers skipped this question
Question #4 – What Support did you have During Labor?
Midwife : 18.2% 152 mothers
Doula : 9.3% 78 mothers
Spouce/Partner : 90.7% 758 mothers
Family/Friend : 37.0% 309 mothers
Hospital Staff : 49.2% 411 mothers
25 mothers skipped this question
*Note, mothers were allowed to choose more than one option
Question #5 – Would you describe your experience as :
Wonderful : 27.7% 227 mothers
Empowering : 7.4% 61 mothers
Frusterating : 26.7% 219 mothers
Traumatic : 46.8% 384 mothers
Disappointing : 45.5% 373 mothers
41 mothers skipped this question
*Note, mothers were allowed to choose more than one option
Question #6 – Do You feeling like you were in control and respected through the process?
Yes : 37.4% 318 mothers
Somewhat : 35.3% 300 mothers
No : 31.4% 267 mothers
10 mothers skipped this question
Question #7 – Were you happy with your birth support team?
Yes: 71.1% 601 mothers
No : 28.9% 244 mothers
16 mothers skipped this question
Question #8 – Do you feel adequately informed about interventions, medications, and complications during labor?
Yes : 41.1% 350 mothers
No : 28.3% 241 mothers
Somewhat : 21.6% 184 mothers
Does not apply : 8.9% 76 mothers
10 mothers skipped this question
Question #9 – Do you feel you were adequetely informed about the risks of a Cesarean section?
Yes : 51.5% 434 mothers
No : 48.5% 408 mothers
19 mothers skipped this question
Question #10 – How do you feel now about your cesarean section?
It was necessary, greatful we are all ok : 48.2% 406 mothers
It could have been avoided : 25.4% 214 mothers
I wish I had made difference choices that may have not resulted in a Cesarean : 30.6% 258 mothers
Neautral/No strong feelings : 6.0% 51 mothers
It was a traumatic experience : 31.8% 268 mothers
I am angry : 22.8% 192 mothers
18 mothers skipped this question
Question #11 – Did you discuss your experience with family and friends?
Yes : 90.8% 768 mothers
No : 9.2% 78 mothers
15 mothers skipped this question
Question #12 – Please rate your physical recovery in 1 – 10 scale. 1 being easy, 10 being difficult, painful, with compications.
Question #14 – Did you seek counseling or other support? (Support group)
Yes : 27.8% 234 mothers
No : 66.7% 561 mothers
N/A : 5.5% 46 mothers
20 skipped this question
Question # 15 – How do you plan on birthing your future children?
Elective/Repeat Cesarean : 23.3% 196 mothers
VBAC : 49.3% 416 mothers
Home Birth : 22.8% 192 mothers
Water Birth : 12.1% 102 mothers
No more children : 26.6% 224 mothers
18 mothers skipped this question
Question # 16 – Would you consider having a VBAC?
Yes : 77.5% 628 mothers
No : 22.5% 182 mothers
51 mothers skipped this question
On top of all the questions we included a box to add any additional comments, in which 302 women used to comment about their experiences and even made comments about the survey itself.
In the following posts, we will start to break this information down question by question providing quotes and comments from the real mothers who took the survey, and opinions on the numbers, and what they say for birth, especially cesarean birth today.
