Saturday, May 5th, was International Day of the Midwife. In my city, it was celebrated by a special screening of a documentary by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein called The Business of Being Born. This film is a few years old (2007), but I had not heard of it until Daily Buzz Moms did a…
Tag: fear
Baby #3 is getting the groove on
Yesterday was our 19-week anatomy scan for baby-in-progress. How cute is our baby? THIS CUTE. But it looks more human. The ultrasound technician was very young-looking. She asked if this was our first ultrasound at the hospital, and I told her we’d had a 12-week scan and an ECG. I don’t know if these technicians…
When Your Child Is Sick
When your child is sick, it’s just about the worst feeling in the world. It’s worse than being sick yourself. You would do almost anything to take it away, and be the one to suffer instead. E has been “under the weather” – coughing, runny nose, whatever – many times (and even then I get…
Everything is fine!
You wonderful people made me totally cry last night (and today) – in a good way. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have your support. Thank you thank you thank you. And you were right, for the moment at least: all good on the uterine/fetal front. I was gonna say “all quiet”, but…
Anxiety Sucks
Hello, beautiful Di-hards. I’m freaking out a little bit. I mean, I’m not hyperventilating or feeling faint or anything. I’m pretty sure you can’t tell by looking at me (unless you catch me at very specific moments). Tomorrow, baby-in-progress is scheduled to have a fetal ECG (echocardiogram) at the hospital. Which is great – it’s…
Who would you have been when the Titanic sank?
Last night at about 2:30 a.m., the wreck of the Titanic turned 100 years old. There were four of us talking about it in our kitchen yesterday evening, and again this morning – about how there were boats travelling to that very spot in the Atlantic Ocean, to commemorate the centennial… and about what an…
The Gaza Doctor shall not hate – even if he deserves to.
Last week I attended a talk given by a man named Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, also known as “the Gaza doctor”. Before I went, everything I knew about this man came from the flier advertising the event: “Distinguished physician Izzeldin Abuelaish MD, MPH was the first Palestinian doctor to receive a staff position at an Israeli…
Expect Miracles
This is a picture of the bracelet I have been wearing every day in 2012, in the hopes that its auspicious message would sink in, beyond my skin, to my soul. This January, when I found out that I was indeed pregnant with our third child, I experienced a split-second of pure, undiluted joy. The…
Thinking about Jesus’ Mama
I was brought up Quaker, Christian in a mild sort of way. We didn’t talk lots about Jesus, but we knew what Christmas was meant to be about. We did Christmas pageants, we sang carols, we read the Bible story of the birth of Jesus every year. (Of course, we also read ‘Twas the Night…
Why I Vaccinate My Child
I first became truly aware of vaccination when I was about eleven. I’d had my standard (Ontario) childhood vaccinations, but didn’t remember them, and hadn’t actually thought about them. Then I read a story about Edward Jenner in Cricket magazine – and I never forgot it. As you may know, Jenner was the English scientist…