Is That My Head Cracking Open?

It starts with a warning of the pain yet to come: my vision starts to blurr. When this happens, my heart plummets because I know what is soon to follow.
The waves begin. Small at first, then building. They start in the back of the head, rush to the front and briefly subside before the next wave of pain starts.
Lights become too bright. Sounds become too loud. I am no longer able to focus, barely able to function. My daughter laughs, wanting me to come color with her. But her laughter sounds unbearable to me, and I cannot come color. Instead, I turn on the TV for her, low volume, give the Guppy a couple of rattles to play with, and lay on the couch with a blanket over my head.

I miss out on so much during these times.

I've had a migraine every single night this week so far. Every single night. My mother gets migraines, my sister gets migraines, and so do I. I haven't had one since the beginning of my pregnancy with the Guppy, and I thought maybe they had gone away for good. No such luck.

I've tried increasing caffeine, cutting caffeine out, going to be earlier, going to bed later, yoga, changing my diet, pain meds, meditation, pressure points, even praying.

Thank heavens for the Knight, who every night this week has taken care of the girls, cooked dinner and cleaned the house. Without him I would've been overwhelmed.

So, anyone have any good remedies for migraines?

Is That My Head Cracking Open?

Five Month Letter

Dearest Guppy,
Today you are five months old. No, wait, that can't be right....can it? September, October, November.....Oh my, that is right, you are five months old. I can't believe how big you are getting in such a short time! You are too young to be five months old already!

This month you have accomplished some milestones. You now roll easily from your back to your tummy. The first time you did it, I missed it, and walked back into the living room from the kitchen to find you on your tummy, so proud of yourself! But since you love rolling around, I've been able to watch you do it more than several times a day.

You also reach for everything within sight. If you can see it, you want to touch it, hold it, taste it. You are really good at grabbing things, turning them around, holding them just so. Your favorite toy to grab and hold is your duck rattle, and at times it is the only thing that will keep you from being fussy!

You've started to take increasing interest in your father. You've always been interested and fascinated with your sister, and it is so nice to see you show the same interest with your father. While I enjoy seeing you get to really know your father, it's nice that you still are a mommy's girl. I know that soon you will become as much as a Daddy's girl as your sister is, so I am enjoying every moment I can in this stage that you still prefer your mommy over everyone else.

You smile more. You laugh more. You try so hard to talk! You've gone beyond "ahhhhh" and "oooohhh" to forming the letter B, so now your favorite sound to make is "baaahhhhh". I call you my little lamb and you smile up at me, proud of your cute sounds!
I thank God every day that you are here in our lives. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you and your sister make me happy to be alive. I can't wait to see what this coming month brings, to see you bring even greater joy in our lives with each passing day. I love you, Guppy!

Five Month Letter

MySpace Anti Breastfeeding!

A month or two ago I put up a picture of me nursing the Guppy on my MySpace page. Within a week it was taken down because they considered it obscene. Well now they are taking down nursing pictures left and right. You can see the news story here. So, if you are a nursing mom and have a myspace page, go ahead and put up some nursing pictures. And while you are at it, if you are a nursing mom or want to support nursing moms, sign the petition that asks Myspace to allow women to put up nursing pictures.

MySpace Anti Breastfeeding!

Lookie Lookie

Look what I made, a pocket diaper for the Guppy!

Inside of diaper

close up of outside

Lookie Lookie

Basketball Hall of Fame

The Knight and I took the girls to the Basketball Hall of Fame today. We had a great time. Click on the picture to see the whole set.

Basketball Hall of Fame

Homebirth in the News

I haven't been writing in this blog as much as I would like to. I have committed to a goal of writing at least one post a day. We'll see how that goes. But in the meantime, some of these articles may be a little outdated. That is just because they've been sitting in my "things to blog about" folder a little too long and now I want to get them out in the open.

Midwifery has been in the news lately in South Dakota. According to state law, in order for Certified Nurse Midwives to practice, they must enter into a signed contract with a physician. This, of course, puts limits on how much freedom the midwives are allowed in their practice, and can often leave the midwives and their clients at the mercy of the judgement of said physician. Currently midwives are rallying to try to get this law changed, but so far they haven't had much luck.

Midwives are also facing opposition in Pennsylvania and Utah. Pennsylvania currently allows only midwives who are licensed with the state to attend homebirths. Those who aren't licensed risk being charged with practicing without a license, such as in the case of Diane Goslin. Goslin is certified with the North American Registry of Midwives, which is recognized in 28 states, but not in PA. In Utah, new legislation is being considered which would specifically define what would be considered a "normal" pregnancy, one which would be allowed to participate in a homebirth. Opponents of the proposed bill state that if this definition of "normal" pregnancy were to pass, 96% of all pregnancies would be risked out of homebirth.

I also got word of another movie on birth in America, called Pregnant in America. From the website:

Pregnant in America examines the betrayal of humanity's greatest gift--birth--by the greed of U.S. corporations. Hospitals, insurance companies and other members of the healthcare industry have all pushed aside the best care of our infants
and mothers to play the power game of raking in huge profits. His wife pregnant, first-time filmmaker Steve Buonaugurio sets out to create a film that will expose the underside of the U.S. childbirth industry and help end its neglectful exploitation of pregnancy and birth. Pregnant in America is the controversial
story of life's greatest miracle in the hands of a nation's most powerful interests.

This is definitely a film that all women who are giving birth should watch. You can view the trailer here.

That's all for homebirth in the news.

Homebirth in the News

Nurse In Video

If there is one thing that I regret about this past year, it was that I was unable to participate in any nurse ins. I am absolutely floored by how much success breastfeeding moms have had with coming together and showing their support for each other through nurse ins. Even if you are not nursing, I would encourage you to attend a nurse in anyway. You will be showing your support for nursing moms everywhere.
With that in mind, I was given the heads up on this great video of a montage on the nurse ins that have occurred in the past few years. Enjoy!

Nurse In Video