Booga Bag

I'm thinking about knitting a "booga bag" with all my leftover wool. I have quite the variety of colors since I knit about 6 of the buttonhole bags. If I do it right, it could be very stylish. and very striped! Almost finished with my grandbaby's blanket, and the latest cotton hat, so maybe I'll get to start a booga bag soon.

Here's the finished product

GBS garbage

I read this morning of the case of a woman who is GBS+ Now this is not all that uncommon, and only 1/2 of 1% of positive moms have really really sick babies. But this woman's doctor wants to do a c-section on her because of the "potential" risks that her baby might get this sickness. I'm having a hard time believing that one! I'm thinking that a doc just wants the convenience of the c-section and is looking for any excuse to schedule that delivery. I should probably clarify that I know babies can get really sick from GBS. AND I am not denying that it exists. I also happen to know that there are a number of treatments to kill it. And it appears that the mom is asymptomatic, so she must not be heavily infected. But back to the c-section-happy doctor....I suppose if they c-section the woman, they'll likely put prophylactic eye drops in the baby's eyes too, just to prevent blindness from an STD that the baby picked up as he passed through the birth canal. sorry, that's dripping with sarcasm..... I'm getting a little heartburn from some of the created scenarios that I read about. Maybe I should just have a glass of wine tonight.....

Placentas

I recently bought an addition to my midwifery library. The Placenta: To Know Me is to Love Me. yep, sounds a bit drastic, but it's a really fascinating book! comes with a DVD so that one can view all sorts of scenarios. We had a wonderful study group at my home yesterday where we delved into the placenta in greater detail than the average woman would ever care to. My dh was in the other room, and later he commented that we were having far too much fun from the sounds of things that he could hear. We studied velamentous insertions, vasa previa, placenta cretas, when the placenta really develops, what happens when things aren't quite right, why those things occur, what are contributing factors, how and when can mishaps manifest in later pregnancy. absolutely fascinating!! We would have continued, but alas, time caught up with us and everyone had to leave. We are hoping to have another study of this at our statewide midwifery meeting in Sept. :-)

My Own Country

I just finished this book by Abraham Verghese. He's an infectious disease specialist who decided to settle in eastern Tennessee. He came across the town just as AIDS was making its debut in the early 80s. I actually enjoyed the book as Dr Verghese wrote about his personal experiences into the lives of the AIDS patients that came through his office. He delved into the toll this took on his family life too, as I'm sure all doctors must have to deal with. I did not agree with his views that all "victims" of AIDS are innocent victims. I personally feel that certain lifestyles result in certain consequences, and the only "innocent" victims would be those who contracted HIV through blood transfusions or intimate relations with a spouse who was infected. That, along with some differences in theology, which came out as folks suffered through the last stages of AIDS, was my only negative on My Own Country. A good book. I will now start his next book about his time in El Paso, TX. Both were Christmas presents.

VBAC Success

Another mom had a successful VBAC yesterday morning. She had been c-sectioned for her last birth due to baby turning transverse then breech in labor. Sadly the baby died a few months later of a congenital heart defect. This was a healing birth for this mom in two ways: A successful vaginal birth and another beautiful baby boy.