To be clear, we are not expecting.
But someday we might be. And learning about it is super interesting and important. Jonny + I took a class in college about reproduction and the politics of motherhood, and it was seriously enlightening.
This article from Consumer Reports is worth reading. I think it does a great job of presenting facts and interviews in an unbiased fashion.
Parents can get super passionate on the choices that they make, and I’m not judging anyone. But I think the one of the best things you can do as a parent is to become educated and informed about how to keep your children healthy and loved, and if your children enter your family biologically, part of that is doin’ a little research about how your little ones enter the world.
Here’s an excerpt to get you started:
Despite a health-care system that outspends those in the rest of the world, infants and mothers fare worse in the U.S. than in many other industrialized nations. The infant mortality rate in Canada is 25 percent lower than it is in the U.S.; the Japanese rate, more than 60 percent lower. According to the World Health Organization, America ranks behind 41 other countries in preventing mothers from dying during childbirth.
With technological advances in medicine, you would expect those numbers to steadily improve. But the rate of maternal deaths has risen over the last decade, and the number of premature and low-birth-weight babies is higher now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s.
But another key reason appears to be a health-care system that has developed into a highly profitable labor-and-delivery machine, operating according to its own timetable rather than the less predictable schedule of mothers and babies.Why are we doing so badly? Partly because mothers tend to be less healthy than in the past, “which contributes to a higher-risk pregnancy,” says Diane Ashton, M.D., deputy medical director of the March of Dimes.
I’m a black coffee type of girl. Jonny and I only buy whole beans and we prefer to purchase pre-made drinks from local coffee shops. My mother-in-law drinks instant decaf Folger’s and we cry every time we witness the offensive crime to coffee everywhere.
That being said, our cool coffee quota is going down. We bought a half gallon of International Delight iced coffee yesterday.
OMGOSH, you guys. It’s super delish.
We opted for the vanilla flavor and I was slightly dubious. But I actually think it’s better than the iced lattes I’ve had from Starbucks.
A $1-off coupon mixed with 80 degree temps gave us the push we needed to try it. I know pre-made stuff is super lazy, but what can I say? Sometimes we’re super lazy.
We had to check two local grocery stores before finally finding it at…Wal-Mart. (I know.)
But guess what? $3 for a half-gallon of creamy coffee goodness is worth all of your judging eyes! (And for the calorie-concious, a cup has just 150 calories.) I’m usually not a huge iced-coffee aficionado, but this is super yummy. And I’m riding a pretty nice caffeine buzz now, so there’s that.
So, what say you? Does my laziness offend you, or are you intrigued? Have you tried pre-made iced coffee before?
Confession: I read this book two years ago.
I found the story of Guinness family’s altruistic efforts so compelling that I lent it to a favorite friend and forgot about it. She recently texted me about a dream she had regarding me and Guinness-flavor cupcakes (?), which triggered my memory of The Search for God and Guinness and how much I liked it. And so I thought I’d share a little review of the book.
Stephen Mansfield effortlessly outlines the Guinness family members’ hearts for Jesus in an under-resourced Dickensian Ireland. Drinking water was awful. Living conditions were worse. Men were overworked, women were suffering, children were hungry. Workers were drunk. The idea of God was distant and laughable. (Yikes. How’s that for a mental picture?)
Throughout the “biography of beer,” Mansfield chronicles a history of how one of the world’s most recognizable brands has Christian roots. How the beer was brewed in an attempt to provide factory workers with something decent to drink that wouldn’t make them completely shwastey like the moonshine they were chugging. How Guinness families paved the way for social services, giving employees and their communities dignity through education, health care, and the arts. How evangelizing + imbibing somehow made sense.
Whether you’re a history nerd, a craft-brew guru or a staunch prohibitionist, the book is well worth a read. The book is super informational and steeped in history, making it a genuinely interesting book to flip through, whether or not you drink or are a Christian.
Cheers! (Too much?)
[Full disclosure: BookSneeze provided me an advanced copy.]
The mommy wars have me thinking about what it’s like to be a work-at-home mom (WAHM), an awesomely tiring combo of being a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) and working mom (is there a mommmy blogger abbreviation for that?).
Before getting into this, I feel like I have to say that I give a giant standing ovation to all moms who love their kids and parent to the best of their abilities. I’m still learning that being a mom is beyond-words wonderful and difficult all at the same time, and I know that every family is different. OK, so no judging here.
At different times in my life, I’ll probably experience being a full-on stay-at-home mom and a work-in-an-office mom. Right now, on this day, in this moment, you could/can call me a work-at-home mom.
But what is a work-at-home mom?
That’s a good question.
Most conversations with acquaintances usually tend to follow one of two formats:
Conversation 1
Person: So, how do you like being a stay-at-home mom?
Me: Well, I actually work from home, too. It’s stressful but great!
Conversation 2
Person: Hi, Kayla! Good to see you!
Me: Hi, person!
Person: So, what are you doing?
Me, to myself: Well, this morning I was planning a content schedule, grocery shopping, writing an e-newsletter, visiting the pediatrician, wiping my son’s nose…
Me, to person: I work remotely and stay home with Joseph.
Honestly, neither of these conversations bother me. Unless you have experience being a parent and freelancing/working from home, it wouldn’t be fair to expect folks to understand.
I’m a weird mix of both, but it works. I get to experience life with my son, and I’m thankful to have a gig with a flexible schedule that I can do remotely.
Sometimes, I’m stressed. Really stressed. Sometimes I feel really guilty for being on my computer and plopping my son in front of Curious George. Sometimes I feel really guilty for taking my son to the park and not working on that newsletter. It’s a balance that is new every day.
I will now be slightly self-indulgent and let you know what being a work-from-home mom currently looks like for me:
What I do: Edit magazine print content for Web, plan and write e-newsletters, and tackle story assignments for various media outlets as they pop up. (I don’t know if this sounds fun to you, but it is! Now you know I’m a nerd.)
How often I do it: I work about 20 hours per week (give or take).
When I do it: My laptop is never far from me. I work during naptime, in the evening, and on weekends. Friends & fam fill in and watch the little one during in-office meetings. Sometimes I have conference calls while simultaneously cooking chicken nuggets and serving mac + cheese.
Working from home means that your office looks like this:
And you need lots of this:
And your afternoons get to look like this:
And it’s all worth it.
