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The White Women Home Birth Extravaganza!

January 28, 2012 //
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You heard me right, there’s a white woman home birth extravaganza and you’re invited!  Actually, no matter what color you are, you’re invited!  All you need for the extravaganza is a live pregnant woman, a house and a desire to deliver a baby in it!

Home-birth setup

Home Birth Setup!

Statistics show a growing concern about the hospital birthing procedures, and rightfully so.  In the great United States of America, we rank 50th in the entire world for maternal mortality.  Yep, that’s right.  Mothers dying while giving birth.  It’s not widely known, but the data speaks for itself.  (Maternal Mortality reference.)  The infant mortality rate in the U.S. is 46th in the world.  (C.I.A. reference.)  It’s pretty appalling, don’t you think?

I love my wife and I want to keep her around for a few more years.  We also plan on having a few more Gavins.  So, this article (see bottom of page) interests me, because it pertains to my wife and future children.

I despise some hospital birthing practices as I witnessed firsthand both the good and the bad sides of a hospital birth.  My own childbirth experience was beginning to turn into a science experiment before I had a “come to Tebow” talk with the staff. There were way too many interventions “being offered” to Steph in labor.  (But, that’s another story soon to be told.)  So, naturally I understand the desire of a home birth, especially if the mother and fetus are in good health.  (I would also be heavily in favor of a home birth for our next child.)  Apparently, white women are leading the charge toward more home births in the U.S.  There’s been an increase in out-of-hospital births by 29% between 2004 and 2009.  The major party working the non-traditional (I hate how the unconventional birthing practice in America has become the “traditional” method) birthing angle are, as the article title states, non-Hispanic white women.  They’ve accounted for 36% of the total increase in home births in that 6 year span.

Seeing as how I married a white woman, the chance for me getting our second baby home-birthed is better than average.  So, I feel pretty good about my odds.  (Obviously, this only makes sense from a statistical perspective…and in my own mind.)

There are good reasons for wanting a home birth.  Control of the experience, no one forcing their agenda on you, privacy, intimacy, makes for good story, etc.  Having a home birth can be safer than a hospital birth, but make sure the mother-to-be is a low-risk pregnancy before you grab that leather strap and bottle of whiskey to hunker down in the trenches with your old lady.  And do your homework.  Guys need to understand the tools, tricks, and risks of the L&D trade before they have their own home birth extravaganza.  You can’t just toss back a beer and cheer from the couch.  You’ve got to be involved.  (You can be the hero that Enrique Iglesias sings about in that song…)

Anyhow, if you’ve made it this far into my article, you’ve either got a high tolerance for number crunching, or you’re serious about making sure your ball and chain gets the best that healthcare has to offer.  If you’re looking for the latter, you may want to move to Singapore.  Just kidding, you may want to man up and learn about what you can do to increase the odds of your family’s next successful birth.  Get informed.

Article I was reading:

CDC Home Births on the Rise

There’s tons of information out there on natural birthing methods.  Google it!

 

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Categories News

Measuring Autism in Babies. Is it Possible?

January 27, 2012 //
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Major brain structures implicated in autism.

Image via Wikipedia

The article linked below is about the possibility of measuring brain patterns in babies to check for autism.  It’s an interesting idea.  What the scientists are saying is that there is a difference in the brain patterns of a normal baby making eye contact with you and an autistic baby making eye contact with you.  It goes along with one of the clinical signs of autism, which is lack of eye contact (and the non-verbal mannerisms or behavior that are associated).

Well, the study took 104 kids (6-10 month old) and measured their brain patterns.  The same study measured the same kids’ brain patterns at 3 years old.  Some of the autistic children were found to have different brain patterns than those of a normal, or undiagnosed child.

The good news is that doctors are looking for ways to diagnose autism earlier in children so that these cases can get special attention from an early age.  The bad news is that this study is small and that there was some unexplained brain behavior even in undiagnosed children.  Therefore, the study needs to be held on a larger scale and the data needs more accurate markers for interpretation to become definitive.

Anyhow, parents should be aware of how their children behave and note anything that seems unusual.  Consult a doctor or physician if anything seems out of the ordinary.  Please note that most cases of autism is diagnosed after the age of 2.

The link to the article I read:

http://news.yahoo.com/study-finds-early-signs-autism-baby-brains-170455953.html

I also remember reading a few daddy blogs with autistic kids.  Here are some links for the curious.  Here they are:

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Categories News

Please Drive Forward and Enjoy the Fruits of Your Wife’s Labor

January 27, 2012 //
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750 mm by 1050 mm (30 in by 42 in) Preferentia...

Image via Wikipedia

Forget what I said in an earlier post about losing 30 minutes of my life.  I wasn’t in my right mind.  Today, Tebow shines on my brain and blesses me with a stroke of genius!

I’m driving along and I see the usual signs on the local freeway:  merging traffic, exit only, carpool – 2 or more…wait, 2 or more?  I’ve got two or more in the car.  In fact, I’ve got three in the car at the moment!  Me, Gavin and Duncan = 3!  I can’t believe it!  I’m 2 or more!  I’m 2 or more!  The sign doesn’t say anything about the description of 2 or more, just 2 or more!  The pint-sized progeny finally has a purpose.

Wow!  So, now I’m entitled (well, aren’t all Californians entitled?) to a new entitlement!  I can use the carpool lane!

I see myself saving minutes of freeway driving every week now.  Added up over the course of a few months, I may save enough time to go for a good mountain biking excursion!

All I need is to do is bring the baby wherever I go.  Rush hour traffic?  No problem.  Put the baby in the car.  Morning traffic?  No problem.  Put the baby in the car!  (What else has he got to do?  Nothing!  He’s a baby!)  Minutes saved from traffic will become hours and hours will become days!  This baby isn’t a time vortex anymore, he’s a time machine!

I finally understand why having kids is so rewarding.  Thank you, Tebow!  Hallelujah!

Gavin is the gift that keeps on giving…on the freeway!

Gavin – 5; Dad – 3

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Categories Random Thoughts

First there was Steph and I. Then at 12:45am he showed up…

January 26, 2012 //
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You want me to do what?

Separating mommy from baby was my first job as a father…Does that face say “I’m clueless about fatherhood” or what?

Due to the high demand for baby pictures on this blog, we have started a new category called GPOD – Gavin Pic of the Day.  It’s a way to shamelessly promote the adorability of our son Gavin.  We will be starting from his very first breath of air.

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Categories GPOD

Be Prepared – A Practical Handbook for New Dads

January 26, 2012 //
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Cover of "Be Prepared: A Practical Handbo...

Cover via Amazon

Steph and I have read a lot of books trying to prepare ourselves and our lives for the new baby.  Some of these books we liked, and some of them we loved. This book is one of my favorites.

The authors are Gary Greenberg and Jeannie Hayden.  ‘Be Prepared‘ is a funny, yet practical book that is sure to bring a laugh.  I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.  Near the end of Steph’s pregnancy, I read the first half of the book, you know, to be prepared.  I reread the first half of the book just after Gavin was born…during the midnight feedings.  After Gavin turned 6 months old, I read the second half.  The book is split up into categories (First Week, 0-3 Months, 4-6 Months, 7-9 Months, and 10-12 Months)  so you can read the part that pertains to you and your baby.  But, I’m sure that once you pick this book up, you will read it through from beginning to end.  The ideas and information presented are very much the way a man would do things. It’s entertainingly useful and well organized, kind of like me!

The things I loved about this book is that it made learning about my baby fun and memorable.  It was also nice to pick up and read in short bursts during those midnight feedings.  (Just make sure you don’t laugh too hard or you’ll distract the baby from feeding!)

On a side note, this book makes a great baby shower gift for the dad, but only if he’s got a sense of humor about things.  Well, even if he doesn’t, it may lighten his mood somewhat under the magnanimous pressure of pending responsibility of caring for another human.

It’s definitely worth a read.   Everything you need to survive your first year of fatherhood.  I highly recommend it.

———-

Overall Rating:  10 Worms   

Readability:  10 Worms

Usefulness:  10 Worms 

Manliness:  10 Worms 

Retail Price:  $15

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Categories Product Reviews

The Baby Mind Meld…

January 26, 2012 //
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I work one day during the week.  Let me back up here.  I go play for one day a week at my office and I leave the “work” to a babysitter.  She takes the Worm all day and I get some much needed adult time.  During this glorious day, I carry on conversations with people other than myself!  I see clients and do adult things like speak in full sentences.  I look forward to it.  It’s a brief, but welcome respite from my SAHD duties.  (I just found out that there’s an acronym for me, Stay At Home Dad or SAHD).  In other words, getting a day at the office keeps me sane and able to handle the rest of my week, sort of like what coke does for Charlie Sheen.

Yesterday morning, Gavin was cranky.  Not happy with the rigors of baby life, he wouldn’t stop fussing.  (You know those mornings, right?)  So, I decided to get him over to the babysitter’s early, so that she could deal with him spend more face time with him.  I grabbed everything I needed for his day (car seat, diaper bag, food, formula, toys, stroller) and everything I needed for mine (kit, backpack, laptop, phone, treatment table, travel bin, lunch, tea).  The truck was packed and ready to go.  The only forgotten item was my brain.  Leaving the house was a blur for me.  I could only remember bits of it.  There’s no other valid reason for this except the baby mind meld.  (Has he been watching Star Trek re-runs late at night?)  In that clever Spock-like maneuver, Gavin jostled my mental acuity and I drove away from the house with the garage door open.  A brief moment of clarity made me realize it once I got on the freeway.  I panic and turn around to race home.  All I’m visualizing is a group of neighbors standing in front of my garage, mouths agape, and the Hoarders TV crew filming their next episode.  Luckily, as I approached the house there was no one there.  (What? Am I not good enough for Hoarders?)  I close the garage and leave again…for the second time.

At this point, I’ve lost 30 minutes of my life (actually, I don’t want that 30 minutes back.  Keep it.)  I head back to my original destination, the babysitter’s house.  Of course, once I get there, the babysitter is not home.  Her husband tells me that she’s at my house waiting for me.  Brilliant.  I drive back home and drop Gavin off with the babysitter.  (I probably threw him at her, but he deserved it.)  I leave the house again…for the third time.

After all the morning fracas is sorted and I show up late to work, I conveniently lock myself out on the back patio…Argh!  Blast this mind meld trick!  It’s still working on my brain!

Young grasshopper, you have learned the art of confusing your adversary.  You win again.

Gavin = 5; Dylan = 2

Don't worry, it won't happen again. I'm wearing protection. 😉

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Categories MVG Oddities

Purple Nurple? The Dylanobscuro Effect

January 24, 2012 //
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I’m a new dad.  Of course, you knew that.  So, there are things that I don’t know about babies.  (It’s hard even for me to believe.)  But, I’m learning.

For example, the other day I was changing Gavin’s pajamas.  As a normal routine, I check his body for cuts, scrapes, bruises, redness, rash, etc.  (I’m a medical professional.  It’s a habit.)  I also look at the color (or lack of color) of his skin.  And if you remember from some of my other posts, Gavin’s a little on the white side.  Ok, he’s a lot on the white side.  (For the first 7 months of his life, he had less melanin in his skin than my wife, Steph.)

Since then, Gavin’s gotten some coloration.  His skin is not as light as Steph’s anymore, but it’s definitely not the caramel cinnamon cocoa color of his old man.

Again, the other day I was checking out the Worm’s skin like normal and I was shocked to see that his areolas had darkened.  Now, it doesn’t freak me out or anything because it’s not like his nipples turned purple.  But, they’ve definitely changed color from a pinky pink to a browny pink.  (Ladies, you can translate that to whatever name I’m sure you already have in your color palette.  But, to keep things simple for the guys reading this, pinky pink and browny pink are extremely accurate descriptions.)

I’ve done searches online and I didn’t find anything about baby nipples changing color as they get older.  The only search results that come up for me are for mom’s areolas changing color during and/or after pregnancy.  And the other searches come up with nipple rings and other weird stuff like that. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

So, here I am stating to the world that I have the first documented internet webpage denoting that baby nipples can actually change color as they age.  For the record, Gavin was 9 and 1/2 months when this happened.  In return for sharing such said knowledge to the world, I proudly accept the new term for baby nipple pigmentation, Dylanobscuro.  (Obscuro means darkness in Latin, duh!)

So, if your baby begins to gain more pigmentation as he or she ages, it’s only the Dylanobscuro effect.  (Add it to your MS Word dictionary people!)

My explanation of why this is happening is because Steph and I have a mixed up baby.  Two different species races. We’re seeing different genes and characteristics manifesting at different periods of baby’s growth.  Pretty interesting.  It reminds me of the old saying “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”  (Come on, that movie was 18 years ago!  That’s old!)  And we’re not sure how the Worm is going to turn out.  But, if you are interested, stay tuned to Me vs. Gavin!

And I can’t show you his nipples because then you’d be looking at child pornography (only in America, right?).  So, to save you a trip to jail and to save me from having my website shut down, I leave you with the edited picture below.  It’s safe for you to view now.  It’s safe for America now.

Uh, Dad what are you doing?

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