Then & Now

Dear Ann Eliza;

To be perfectly honest, we have an overabundance of methods available to aid us in communicating. I trust that Jocelyn has you well-informed about telephones, computers, email, and texting; these are some very standard, basic methods that we employ on not just a daily basis, but more likely every few minutes or so, certainly more than once per hour, to keep in touch with our nearest and dearest. While these methods are the basis of our communication model, we have come to rely on and utilize many other avenues as well. There are too many to list so I’d rather focus on some of the most mainstream, user-friendly, and familiar-to-the-masses aspects of social media and the ways in which we use them to stay in touch with not just our friends and family, but people all over the world.

Twitter is a vast, never-ending stream of short tidbits of information, called “tweets”, from average citizens, corporations, non-profits, celebrities, sports teams, news media, magazines, and the list goes on. Anyone can have a twitter account and every user has their own unique purpose and intent when using this outlet. Users are limited to the use of 140 characters, thus allowing for small quips and observations only; the site is referred to as a micro-blogging site because of its strict limitations in post lengths. Twitter is a great place for celebrities to keep in touch with their fans and news media to keep the public informed in real-time.

Twitter account holders send out their tweets which are then seen by their followers – people who have signed up to see updates from the tweeter in question. Users are able to respond back-and-forth and re-tweet (share) others postings as well. Twitter is great when you have something funny or ironic to share; when you have a simple observation about which you’d like some feedback; when you’re promoting a product/service/performance/idea/charity etc.; or when you want to connect with other like-minded individuals whom you do not necessarily know but who share a common thread.

Twitter is a great worldwide, virtual gathering place which has the power to spread knowledge, ideas, pictures, and videos but it is also a very impersonal mode of communication. Because users are most likely strangers to their followers, it’s not the sort of forum in which one might carry on an intimate conversation nor is one able to go into great depth on any single topic due to the constraints in tweet length. In my personal opinion, Twitter is best left to celebrities, corporations, athletes/sports teams, news media and other well-known entities; it’s a great way for these larger-than-life and seemingly inaccessible groups to be better connected with their fans, followers, and consumers.

Facebook is probably the most widely used social media forum and is very different from Twitter in the ways which you connect with others. While Twitter allows users to connect with anyone and everyone and offers its’ users little control over who they’re reaching, Facebook employs a much more defined method of privacy and control. Facebook users have their own profile and along with it the ability to restrict the public nature of the information contained within their profile and various privacy settings for their photographs, posts, links, personal information and more.  I’m able to customize my list of friends on Facebook so that only those whom I trust have access to my profile; this allows me to freely post pictures of my children, share my personal triumphs and tragedies and gather the support I need at a few moments notice from my closest friends and family.

Facebook helps me to keep in touch with my cousins who live in New York and Washington while I’m here in Minnesota; my mom is able to see pictures of my children on a regular basis so she feels less like she’s missing out; I can share funny things that I find online with my sisters and pass along articles that I think will strike a chord with my friends. I love that I still know what my high school and college classmates are doing in life and it’s a wonderful feeling to reach out when you need a little encouragement and have the words of many come so quickly to your aid.

For all intents and purposes I would say that modern technology and our communication patterns can’t assure you a life less lonely but they can certainly keep you more entertained than your current duties. There is a certain benefit to the instant gratification aspect of today’s communications but there is no guarantee that a more timely response will be filled with more intimate disclosure nor will it necessarily be the key to your happiness. But I can say with certainty that while not all of our communication is of substance or high quality, the options that we have for such frequent and immediate contact allow us to know one another on a deeper level and develop relationships that can reach a higher plane at a faster pace.

There’s a good chance that you’d feel less isolated in today’s society; in fact, I’d take bets that you’d find yourself often irritated with the constant onslaught of communication. It can feel like a heavy burden to be readily available to so many people at a moment’s notice. I definitely have periods in which I would give anything to be able to shut off my tech devices, leave my car on the side of the road and disappear into the shoreline of Lake Superior for weeks on end. On the other hand, I feel very fortunate to be able to order Chinese take-out for dinner while I’m driving to pick my kids up from daycare and have it waiting at the door when we arrive home.

The world I live in is fast-paced, driven, and impatient and can be rather ruthless; our communication methods foster and perpetuate this environment and it’s not something from which one can hide. I think every generation has communication methods which best suit the lifestyle and citizen’s needs; I’ve no doubt that you’d be fascinated by our current state but I feel equally certain that you’d be more than happy to return to the simplicity of life in 1873.

Be well,

Leah of 2012

Did You Schedule Your Section, Yet? A Problem For Today's Moms & Babies

The way that women birth in America is a very polarizing topic - and that's a mild assessment. Ask any woman to tell you her birth story and more often than not her first words will be something along the lines of an excuse or special condition that necessitated exceptional measures - oftentimes a cesarean section - in order to save the life of both mother and unborn child. Sadly, this need for monitoring and intervention is a myth perpetuated by mothers and the medical community alike as we become further enmeshed in a society that considers birth a medical event rather than what it truly is, a completely natural part of life and one that we, as women, are quite literally born to do. The following is one of my favorite quotes from Ina May:

“Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, elephants, moose, and water buffalo. Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body.”
― Ina May Gaskin, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth: Updated With New Material

I feel that every woman deserves to hear more of the wisdom and positivity available from this woman who has spent her life helping women bring their children into the world in a way that respects the mother's body and soul. Read Midwife Q&A: Are We Having Babies All Wrong?, an interview with Ina May Gaskin in TIME Magazine, for some insight into her opinions about the current standard of American maternity care.



Ina May Gaskin touches on the topic of c-sections briefly in the article and there is a link within that leads to more information about the risks of the procedure. As I've gone on to educate myself about American birth culture I've found that there are some startling statistics regarding cesarean rates in the United States, made more alarming by the numbers of which are actually elective procedures, pre-scheduled by the mom-to-be and lacking medical necessity.


With c-section rates at nearly 40% in some states, it's clear that the procedure has become an actual option for birth, rather than a surgical intervention used only in the event of an emergency. It's easy to see how women, first-time mothers especially, could be fooled into thinking that undergoing a cesarean is no big deal, rather than seeing it as a serious abdominal surgery.  A study by the Division of Vital Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding neonatal mortality statistics for cesarean sections without medical necessity concludes with "The finding that cesarean deliveries with no labor complications or procedures remained at a 69 percent higher risk of neonatal mortality than planned vaginal deliveries is important, given the rapid increase in the number of primary cesarean deliveries without a reported medical indication."

With conclusions such as this being made by some of the nations foremost health monitoring agencies, I think it's time that we work towards educating women about the realities of straying so far from natural birth; even more importantly, work must be done with physicians and medical professionals to get our nation back on track to having babies without so many unnecessary risks. Mothers and babies, alike, deserve the best possible start; let's start moving in a direction that facilitates as smooth a transition as possible for both.

The Natural Birth Movement

I learned of Ina May Gaskin and the birth movement that she is so known for, after the birth of my first child; I'd had a nightmarish, medicalized hospital birth and felt reasonably sure that I needn't perpetuate that legacy for the deliveries of my subsequent children. The current trend of highly medicalized births in the US is something that I've always found disconcerting; it took my own experience for me to take steps to educate myself about birth options, birth practices throughout the rest of the world, and the best way to spread a message that isn't just overlooked, but I find to be critical to the ongoing health and wellness of mothers and babies, nationwide.

In the early 1971, Ina May Gaskin and her husband, Stephan, bought a parcel of land in southern Tennessee that became know as The Farm. What started as a communal living space has become known the world over as the home of one of the premiere birthing communities and learning venues for birth without intervention and fear. Listed below are a few links to websites that discuss Ina May and her work as a pioneering midwife with a career that began in the 1960s and has spanned every decade since with no signs of slowing down.

She has worked tirelessly to bring women to and through labor and delivery in a calm, natural setting without intervention and invasive procedures. She believes fully in the female body and its ability to birth freely in its own time, on its own terms. She has made strides in the birth movement such that she actually has a medical procedure named after her, The Gaskin Maneuver; this is a method by which practitioners are able to deliver babies with shoulder dystocia without surgical intervention, nor with an end result of an infant having a broken collar bone.

http://www.inamay.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/magazine/ina-may-gaskin-and-the-battle-for-at-home-births.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Here is the description of her latest book, taken from the jacket of Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta, published on March 22, 2011 by Seven Stories Press; forward by Ani DiFranco.

 

Renowned for her practice's exemplary results and low intervention rates, Ina May Gaskin has gained international notoriety for promoting natural birth. She is a much-beloved leader of a movement that seeks to stop the hyper-medicalization of birth—which has lead to nearly a third of hospital births in America to be cesarean sections—and renew confidence in a woman's natural ability to birth.
Upbeat and informative, Gaskin asserts that the way in which women become mothers is a women's rights issue, and it is perhaps the act that most powerfully exhibits what it is to be instinctually human. Birth Matters is a spirited manifesta showing us how to trust women, value birth, and reconcile modern life with a process as old as our species.

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Sharing the work of Ina May Gaskin and midwives nationwide is something very close to my heart; it's my honor to use this platform to further spread the information that every woman deserves to know before, during and after her pregnancy and delivery. My third child was delivered in the comfort of my living room with an amazing midwife and her assistant in attendance; it was a life-changing experience for which I will forever be thankful.

In The Lap of Luxury

"Sorry for the bad vacation genes." - My mom, often

We call it The Swanson Family Curse - a widely known and oft joked about curse that has plagued every vacation we have ever attempted; dating from the early 70s, it has followed each of us girls on into our adult lives, never far from anyone's mind. Nevertheless, some of my fondest memories come from our obligatory family trip every summer, always via car, van, or rented RV because, you know, my parents were afraid of flying. Two adults, four daughters and one Astro van: what's not to love? In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that my two eldest sisters were out of the house and no longer vacationing with us by the time I was six. Lucky, lucky, those two.

There was nothing that the Swansons couldn't conquer in a larger-than-anticipated motorhome that terrified our conservative, drive-it-like-you're-85 father. Seriously, the one we got the summer of 1995 was enormous, an error in the reservation process from the rental company, apparently. The first three hours of the trip from western Wisconsin to Yellowstone National Park consisted of my older sister and I tucked up in the overhead bunk area, giggling and spying on our parents, below. The tension radiating from Dad was thick enough to feed all of us for dinner, though I think that's what they were going for.

More than once we heard our mom quietly suggest that it might be time to stop and "feed the girls" to which dad eventually snapped back "I can't park this thing in anything smaller than an airplane hangar; they can eat tomorrow morning." By the third day of driving, Dad had learned to navigate the rig as best as he'd be able for the remainder of the trip, which is to say, stressfully and at painfully slow speeds.

*This may not be my family, but it sure as hell could have been.

It seemed to take at least six months but we finally finished the long, flat trip through one of the Dakotas - does it matter which one? Because really, it'd be a crying shame to miss a single landmark in the desolate, flat, treeless vista that is The Dakotas, right? We barreled on into Montana with Yellowstone in our sights and relative peace in the confines of our little (enormous) home-away-from-home-on-wheels, though once we hit the park our trip headed steadily downhill. And fast.

*Something my parents totally would have done. By accident. Awesome.

A bear broke into our RV one evening while we were at a restaurant eating dinner, helped himself to the contents of the "kitchen" cabinets then shat on the rug before heading down the lane to the next campsite. We missed Old Faithful not once, but three mother loving times before we finally pinned her down; lemme tell you something, the name is as ironic as it gets. I spent almost every minute of the trip with motion sickness rivaling the aftermath of a 24-hour ride on a Tilt-a-Whirl because of the mountain switch-backs that are fricking everywhere in um, well, The Mountains.

The trip back to Wisconsin was fraught with near-constant bickering between my sister and I; I was bored, carsick and did I mention bored? She was in college, home with us for the summer and missing the daylights out of her boyfriend, Dan - but you can call him Tree. Because that was his nickname. Whatever. Because the fighting was enough to make our parents a little stabby, we took an extra-long stay-over in Cody, WY.

*This isn't us. Why, you ask? Because they're smiling, that's why.

While there we ate at a great restaurant, took in a rodeo and our toilet overflowed. Continuously. All the way back to Wisconsin. The last night of our trip was spent at a campground a mere 20 miles from the RV rental company because we arrived back in the area after they'd already closed for the day. We took turns using an empty Cool Whip container to scoop out the oozing toilet water while my dad spent the entire evening underneath our temporary home, doing his damndest to fix the issue before we had to return it with blue sewer water sloshing out all over the carpet, waving goodbye to our damage deposit. At 11:45 pm he came tearing into the RV - bleeding profusely from the head - started the engine and raced around to the dumping station, whooping and shouting with joy all the way. We were terrified.

Turns out, there was a secondary sewer valve that led to a holding tank and somebody had switched it to the "closed" position. The kinds folks at RV-Trainers-R-Us failed to point out the valve to my dad, thus the overflow and loss of our sweet on-board toilet for fully half of our trip. I'm not sure who was more relieved to be done with this lovely memory-making family vacation - the adults or the bored, unimpressed offspring. Though it may have been a typically disastrous Swanson family vaca, at least we have hilarious stories to carry with us, right? Right?!



*All photo credits to https://awkwardfamilyphotos.com

I Hate Your Kids

Aside from my general lack of desire to be around children that I haven't made, the primary reason I dislike children is a direct result of craptacular parenting. Specifically lazy, indulgent, non-parenting. We all know a parent or ten like this and I'm willing to wager that you have a specific family in mind right now.

My personal favorites come in two varieties: lazy and crunchy. The lazy ones often allow their children to do, say, act and behave in any which way with no consequence, no conscience, nor any guidance towards socially acceptable behavior. The sort of parent who says, often and with entitled dismissal, "It's not worth arguing with her, so I just let her do whatever she wants." Well now, that's exciting, isn't it? I look forward to hearing all about how that's working out for you when she hits puberty. Actually, nevermind, I don't want to hear anything about it - besides, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from offering lots of judgey-preachy-passive-aggressive comments about what a horseshit parent you were when she was three.

While this lazy parent is bad, equally awful is the crunchy parent who believes that he/she is offering his/her offspring the very finest upbringing by not tainting the child's experiences with rules or boundaries of any kind. Resultant behavior: kids who come barreling into your home with muddy shoes and immediately begin jumping on the couch. Yes, this actually happened to a close friend of mine. The mother of said offenders never made any motion to correct her children, nor to inquire about the rules of the home in which they were guests.

Crunchy parents can often be heard lamenting the state of education and processed foods while their children are peeing on your new shrubs and making a mural in your newly painted master bathroom with every lipstick you own. And be prepared for the lecture and shaming you'll get when their parents find out they've been handling toxic, chemical-ridden cosmetics - "I mean really, do you even care about your children?!"

Never have I ever uttered anything along the lines of "He's just expressing himself; I don't like to stifle any of his creativity." while my son colors your brand new siding with rocks. Nor will I excuse my daughter's violence towards your cat by explaining that "She's just not familiar with small pets and her aggression is a natural reaction to your cats' encroachment on her personal space." Again, actual scenarios from friends...

I'm often overwhelmed as a single parent to three children - ages 2, 3, and 4 - and while it may seem like an appealing idea to throw in the towel, take a nap and let the wee ones roam free and do as they please, the fantasy is much more rose-colored than the reality. Reality being that your free-range kids act like jackwagons and are the reason you and I can't be friends.

Smooth Like Buttah, Dahhhhling

I love dairy. Love it. LOVE IT. But I don't keep dairy products in my house and I don't indulge very often. My eldest son has a life-threatening dairy allergy so we are a mostly dairy-free family, by virtue. So on the rare-ish occasions that I do indulge in dairy products, it's only the best. Wheels of brie that have been lovingly wrapped in bakery-fresh puff pastry and baked to a golden brown, smothered in a decadent layer of plum preserves. Yes, tears will run down your cheeks - you will actually cry, it's That Good. Pints of the most expensive ice cream I can find, eaten while hiding in the laundry room - even when the kids aren't home. I can't help it, I feel guilty. And cheesecake. Heavenly, soul-soothingly delicious cheesecake. I may need to take a moment to collect myself before going any further.

Before I get any more carried away, I want to share with you my latest foray into Dairy Decadence. I happen to have two pints of organic heavy whipping cream sitting idle in my fridge, a creamy carrot chowder was not to be had, apparently. Just as well, though, because I have a vivid memory that has haunted me with her delights since Mr. Staut's seventh grade agriculture class; we made butter. That's right, we churned up some butter whilst engaged in the learning process at our tables.

We held out our small glass jars for him to sprinkle a pinch of salt in the bottom and cover it with a generous layer of farm-fresh heavy cream. Then we screwed on our lids and shook the bejeezus out of that cream, shocking ourselves with the eventual turn to creamy, silky, salty-sweet butter. Seriously, we fricking made butter in a jar. In the middle of Ag Studies. Totally unceremonious and simple, the results were mind boggling. Clearly, because I haven't forgotten that day and it's been nearly 17 years.

So with my abundance of heavy cream and an evening full of homework and not much else, I shook up a batch of the most amazing, mouth-watering, makes-you-want-to-eat-toast-for-every-meal butter. From the comfort of my living room, specifically, my exceedingly comfortable "new" couch. I can't remember the last time I was so excited to have plain, buttered toast for breakfast. Notably absent was a steaming hot cup of coffee; a trip to the grocery store tomorrow is in high demand.

Aristotelian Analysis: YouTube Style

While clicking more or less aimlessly through YouTube (rather than PornTube, as per Jocelyn's request) I stumbled upon this gem from senior college nursing student Jessica Langton; the clip is her video submission for the ABC News Reinventing Maternal Health Challenge. ABC has launched an initiative through their Be The Change: Save a Life website that supports "solutions for a global health community".

Jessica spent time in Haiti, post-earthquake, volunteering her nursing skills and assisting with the delivery of babies. In her video, she covers the statistics of maternal mortality, specifically the dangers faced in third-world countries. She goes on to explain that the primary risk to mothers during and after childbirth is hemorrhage and shares her idea for an inexpensive, easy method that may be used in the event of hemorrhage in order to hopefully lessen the instance of maternal mortality.

Miss Langton has appealed to an audience of interested individuals by offering a potential solution to an event that is devastating to communities the world over: maternal death and the ripples of consequences stemming from it. Hearing the statistics and seeing the simplicity of her idea is something that one can't help but be inspired by; when looking to make changes in our global health community, ideas such as Miss Langton's are what is needed to affect change.

Her choice in musical background, "How To Save a Life" by The Fray, is perfectly suited to the theme of the ABC News challenge and in my case, anyway, made my heart fill with hope and a sense of urgency and possibility for positive change.

Sharing photos of herself in Haiti and some of the women and children she encountered lends great credibility to her authority, along with her identifying herself as a senior college nursing student while wearing scrubs with her school's logo and in a practical clinical setting. Miss Langton offers diagrams to demonstrate the specifics of her idea; she also makes mention of the fact that her concept is something that already exists in hospital settings, stateside, but that it is more complex and not easily transferred to third-world areas.

With her video, idea and accompanying data, she makes a valid case for an avenue to affect much-needed change; her audience is already engaged in the ever-expanding move for social change and her words will be met with nodding heads, gears that start to spin and hopefully, prayerfully, forward-moving momentum.