Thursday, February 28, 2008

Tagged!

Thanks for the tag Joann!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago: Finishing up my first year at college. Enjoying the ups and downs of college life.

5 Things on my To-Do List today:

1- deposit my paycheck, chaching!!!
2- fold the heaping pile of clean laundry that just keeps getting bigger and bigger!
3- take a shower
4- get ready to go see The Business of Being Born - free screening at SLCC W. Jordan campus if anyone wants to come along!
5- take my kids to school, pick them up, get dinner ready, vacuum, take a shower(did I already say that?), put dishes away, load more dishes back in the washer, do more laundry, clean the windows that my son tried to clean with Spray 'n' Wash, play with my kids, make more cinnamon rolls......I could keep going, but I'm already exhausted.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I'd buy us an awesome house, a maid, butler, take several vacations a year, pay off my parents mortgage, buy a house for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law's and everyone else in my family, watch my hubby relax and not have to worry about working, pursue my dreams of becoming a midwife and open a birthing center.

3 of my bad habits:

1- I always over extend myself, making commitments that I sometimes can't follow through on and then the people in my life end up feeling like they're not a priority.
2- Can you say "open mouth, insert foot"? I'm pretty socially inappropriate and don't always recognize when I've offended someone.
3- I spend way too much time on the internet.

5 places I have lived:

1- Coos Bay, Oregon where I was born.
2- West Valley, UT where I grew up.
3- Price, UT where I went to college.
4- Los Angeles, California where Josh and I lived for four years at his job.
5- Murray, UT where we live now.

5 jobs I have had:

1- Gymnastics coach, I taught the tiny tots. So fun!
2- TCBY - hated it!
3- Cruise America - tourists renting motorhomes, I was the rental manager. Stressful!
4- J.W. Pepper - the world's largest sheet music distributor. I really liked this job, got to work with some interesting people.
5- MOM - yep, I'm a mom!

5 things people don't know about me:

1- I can still do a backhandspring.
2- My favorite author is Orson Scott Card.
3- I absolutely hate talking on the phone, it's phobia for me and don't even think about asking me to talk to insurance companies or getting a babysitter. Email is way better.
4- I've never had stitches. Broken lots of bones, but never had stitches, knock on wood!
5- My favorite scented lotion is Cranberry from The Body Shop - it's their seasonal scent.

I tag Megan, Jessica, Darci, Mindy, and Tammy!!!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Adventures of an inventory auditor - embarrassing moment, sort of

That's my part-time job. It's not a glamorous job, but it gives me a little extra spending money on the side. It's super laid back and really easy. And basically all I do is put a little laser on my finger and scan inventory. I've been doing it for a month now and I think it may be bad for my wallet. I haven't spent anything, but some of these stores always leaving wanting to go back. lol! Like last week and the week before I inventoried Justice and Limited Too - little girl clothes. Dangerous place for someone who has three daughters!

Anyway, last night my company inventoried Borders, by Fashion Place Mall. If you've been there you know that it's pretty big store. Occasionally as we scan, we'll come across an item that has no barcode and you need the assistance of the store manager. You get their attention by yelling,"SKU CHECK!". In a small store someone will easily hear you and come to help you. But if you're in Borders and you yell "sku check", either no one will hear you and if they do, they have no idea where you are. So with a large store you yell, "sku check" and the name of the section you're in, like,"sku check magazines!".

Well, that's really not a problem. However, if your manager puts you in adult erotica and gay/lesbian literature you've got a problem!!! So this was me,"SKU CHECK......silence.....erotica"(trying to say this in my most-discreet-don't-attract-any-attention-to-me-but legitimate-professional-adult-not-embarrassed tone of voice). I tried saying "romance", but then the store worker always ended up in the wrong section, not even close to where I was. Why not just put the smutty novels next to the smutty porn books?! Well, the store worker was just as red in the face as I was, he didn't quite know how to handle it. lol! Poor guy! And it always got every one's attention. To say the least, I was given a pretty hard time over it.

I really saw too much too. Feel like a need a shower or repentance. It would've been nice if some of these books just had solid covers. I'm just glad for it to be over.

Tonight's store is Express. Must. Resist. Temptation.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Midwifery Legislation update

I know, I know, all this midwifery stuff is so exciting. Just thought I'd give ya'll a synopsis of what's been going on. I've been busy up the capitol all week, it's sort of exhausting but fun.

Midwives never wanted to be licensed by the state. They were being prosecuted and one midwife was told she had to choose between her LDS temple recommend or her midwifery practice (they were accused of practicing medicine without a license - a felony in Utah). She left her midwifery practice and pursued the bill to legalize midwifery in Utah. It would have been lovely to have stayed under the radar - had they not been threatened with jail time and loss of religious privileges.

Sen. Dayton's comments about not adhering to regulations is totally false. Midwives have a long and proven track record and were being monitored and have much better outcomes than physicians in Utah (this is true over the whole world actually). She and the UMedA are using scare tactics and false information (attributing deaths and other catastrophes to midwives - totally unfounded which you can see in DOPL's stats).

The bill affects ALL midwives - licensed and unlicensed. They already have rules and regulations in place and DOPL (dept of occupational and professional licensing) is keeping track of the midwives and maintaining statistics and outcomes and they are excellent.

The biggest problem with the bill being passed out of the senate was that the senators were under the mistaken impression that this was a"compromise" bill between the Utah Medical Association (which is the group behind the bill) and the LDEM's (licensed direct entry midwives).

At the Senate committee meeting the UMedA was admonished to stop wasting everyone's time and work something out with the midwives.They met and after a number of hours they agreed on many points. The UMedA told them they would draft the bill and have the LDEM's review it before they submitted it to the Senate. Instead they wrote their own new bill that effectively risks out at least 96% of all clients. They snuck the bill into the Senate without notifying the midwives.

This bill removes parents rights that have been guaranteed elsewhere in statute. If this bill passes it will mean that a group of surgeons that don't understand normal or natural birth have forced women into medically managed hospitals - many of them forced into surgery.

The group Utah Friends of Midwives has more information about this and you can join their email group:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/UtahfriendsofMidwives/

Sunday, February 17, 2008

My fun sleepover

Megan is my best friend. I'm still amazed that even over the years and with the distance that we've still been able to keep a friendship going. We became friends back in our ol' elementary school days. We had tons of sleepovers and did gymnastics together. She was my bridesmaid and a huge help on my wedding day(her mom helped out too!) when Josh and I got stranded at the temple - funny story. We've both done cheerleading and drill team, just at different schools. She's like a sister to me.

Well, I got the weekend off and headed up to Hyrum and spent the night. I haven't had a sleepover in ages! It was a total blast. We shopped, ate out, and watched Pride and Prejudice, what Josh calls a "tea and crumpet" movie. lol! And I got to sleep in, hallelujah! Her children are absolutely adorable! And a huge thankyou to her hubby Aaron for watching the kids while we went out, even though he was totally tired from his scout outting.

Thankyou Megan for a fun weekend. And I'm totally getting my passport now, you'd better be too!



Parks and Maddy, too cute!

Megan and Aaron. What a cute couple!

Snowy roads = poo!

This is the only way to describe our drive home after our Discovery Gateway visit. Roads were awful all over and I think we were just greatful to get home safely.


Discovery Gateway

The kids had a blast at the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum last week. They had a new Sesame Street Body exhibit. So the kids got to go through and learn about the body. I love this place because the kids can just let their imaginations go wild.


Jacob showing off his construction get-up

Miri learning about the different parts of the foot.

Autumn shopping at the gift center.


Alisha and Miri doing their pretend shopping.


Learning more about the body at the Sesame Street Body Station.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Valentine's Day crafts

A huge THANKYOU to Joann who posted this idea on her blog. It was so much fun for my kiddies and surprisingly easy. We sifted through our crayon bucket and found all the small broken pieces. Jacob especially had fun breaking the pieces that were too long. We found a silicon heart mold tray at Target for $10. And here's what we came up with.







Sunday, February 10, 2008

GNO


Michelle, Erin, me, and Heidi

Last night I got together with some old friends from high school. It was so much fun to get out with the girls. We talked about birth stories, our kiddies, high school memories, stuff that we're into these days, TV shows....I think we could've kept going all night! lol! So for those Granger alum's that read my blog, you missed out! Hope you can join us next month!

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Health Committee heard our case today

Basically what this bill is, is a turf war. The Utah Medical Association does not like us taking our money somewhere else.

It was a total riot listening to Sen. McCoy(who supports us) ask the president of the UMA some really important questions that she didn't have any answers to, and she couldn't site her sources for the "horror" birth stories we were hearing. She basically could give no good reason why this issue is being brought up again. The thing that bugs the UMA is that we have numbers and statistics that favor us. Our numbers reflect that not one baby has died under the care of midwife, then the UMA president went on to admit that there's atleast one infant death per week at St. Marks(nothing against St. Marks, they're a very "birth naturally" friendly hospital). Duh! Not such a smart thing to say to the committee.

The whole committee was totally bugged that this issue is still on the table. The Utah Midwives Association is supposed to meet with the UMA over this bill and make some more compromises. If they don't find a way to compromise with us they'll be loosing their credibility with this bill.

Unfortunately, the bill passed out of committee and is now headed to the senate floor. So I'll be going back up to the capitol with my fellow homebirthers and midwives to talk more to our reps. And we'll let the UMA keep digging themselves a very large hole.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Check out the Reunion Blog!

There's a new announcement. We've organized a Lady Lancers Night Out. Hope you'll join us!

Friday, February 1, 2008

Come show your support(and read below as well).

SB 93 has been assigned a committee!!! If you'd like to show your state reps that your DO NOT approve of this bill please join us moms at the State Capitol this coming Tuesday.

We will be meeting in Room W020, West Office Building, Utah State Capitol Complex at 8:00 a.m. Look for PINK stickers that say "NO on SB93!"

We need lots of moms and babies. Lots of babies! The more women we have who oppose this bill the more this senate committee will take us seriously. We can kill this bill right now with lots of support. If it's killed now it'll never make it to the senate floor and that's what we want.

Please come show your support!

Utah's midwives NEED your help!

EVERYONE, I need your help! Many of you know that I'm very passionate about childbirth. Well I'm also very passionate about who a woman's right to choose her care provider. For some of you, you feel comfortable with an OB/GYN or maybe a CNM. For me, I choose a LDEM(Licensed Direct-entry Midwife). This issue has come up because State Sen. Margaret Dayton hates Utah midwives. She would like to get rid of us, and I count me in this too because someday I would like to become a midwife. Senator Dayton has introduced a bill that would limit who a woman chooses as her care provider. Sen. Dayton has been quoted in the newspapers saying that,"women should have the choice of laboring with a high end obstetrician or laboring alone at home in a dark bathroom". Those are her exact words. She's not a nice lady.

Two years ago Utah midwives fought hard for a bill that would allow them to practice legally and gain licensure. Licensure would allow them to practice with medicine. Meaning that for us women who choose to birth at home, our midwife is able to work with medicine such as antibiotics(for Group B Strep), or administer pitocin in cases where the mom is hemmorhaging(never to induce).

Senator Dayton has introduced a bill that would not allow me to birth at home. In this bill she attempts to define what "normal" birth is. The thing is, women come in all shapes and sizes, you can't put a label like "normal" on us. Because of this bill I would be risked out and my midwife would not be allowed to take me on as a patient. My midwife provides me the EXACT same care that you would find in your OB's office. She does regular blood screening, urine tests, doppler for heart tones, and can even refer your for ultra sounds. What I love best about my midwife is that she absolutely cares for all of her patients. It's been comforting to know during my pregnancies that if I had any cares or concerns that she would take the time to listen and thoroughly address everything. And I've had OB's that just dismissed me or would not respect my wishes.

I know that most of you would not even consider birthing at home, but this does affect you too. Perhaps your choosing to birth with a midwife in the hospita(CNM - Certified Nurse Midwife), under this bill your own CNM would not be able to take you on as a patient. Wouldn't it be sad to not be able to choose a medical professional you trust? I risk out out of midwifery care because I am Rh-, GBS positive, I have hypothyroidism, a history of babies over 9 lbs(one the more ridiculous reasons, in my opinion), a family history of hypertension(although I don't have it), a history of miscarriage before 12 weeks, and because I refuse all the other "optional" tests offered in a dr's office. Isn't it amazing that with all that's wrong with me, that I can still give birth at home to a healthy baby? This bill defines a "normal" birthing woman as someone who is about to give birth for the first time, has NO history of any genetic or other diseases, and has been impeccably healthy their whole life. I do not know of a single woman that would come close to this definition.

Not only does this bill limit your choice, it would risk-out over 90% of Utah midwives clientele. Clearly this is a restraint of trade. I'd also like to point out that the statistics and numbers for Utah midwives for the 2006-07 year were excellent. Even the WHO and Utah's own health department have been quoted saying that homebirths had FAR LESS complications than births that occured in the hospital.

Again, I know that most of you would not choose a homebirth for you, but I would hope that you value your agency in choosing your care provider. I'm asking you to please write to your State Senator and House Representative. As a constituent, your voice needs to be heard, your Rep needs to know that you do not approve of this bill. PLEASE JOIN ME IN WRITING A LETTER. Find out who your reps are and send them an email.

Here is a link for finding out who your State Rep is: http://le.utah.gov/house/DistrictInfo/newMaps/State.htm

And for your State Sen.:http://se15.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/distmapal.pl

Here is Senate Bill 93 (SB93): http://le.utah.gov/~2008/bills/sbillint/sb0093.htm


If you would like to write to your rep, but aren't sure what to say in your letter send me an email and I'll put together a message for you.

THANKYOU!!!!