in the thicket

Returning to this space!

Greetings!

It's been a very long time since I posted here, in part because my method of payment expired and my account was suspended and I never got around to fixing that. I assumed that at some point that my blog would just "disappear" but it hasn't, so I decided that I really need a place to write. So, here goes!

I've read that no one reads blogs anymore. Well, I personally do still read blogs, though not as avidly as I did before. But since no one actually reads blogs other than me, that does take some of the pressure off me in terms of worrying about whether people will like my blog. Since no one will read this, likely! But, if you stumble across this and do read this and are a real person, not a t r o l l or s p a m  b o t, Welcome! :)

So, what do I plan to write about here, going forward? Pretty much what I wrote about before, I think! Though I have some new topics of interest to me, of course... primarily the Ketogenic Diet- I have lost close to 50 lbs eating this way, and I'm excited to share resources, recipes (that I like, not that I have created) and a bit of my journey here. Also I will soon be homeschooling a high schooler, middle schooler and preschooler! 

I also have some projects around the house that I hope to get done, and perhaps having a place to post my "before and afters" will be motivating. Plus sharing about what I'm reading, fun places we visit, and other random tidbits about my life.

First up will be to dust off some cobwebs and spruce this place up a bit! That might take a while, though, and honestly I have more time to sit down and write a post than I do to figure out how to change the physical characteristics of this blog. So I thought the best thing to do would just be to "start writing!"

An 11 Year Old Girl's Guide to Minecraft

 Mountain in Xenocontendi resourcepack

I must have asked a few too stupid many questions of my two Minecraft fans (11 and almost 9 years old) because I recently received a very helpful email from my 11 year old. I'm sharing here, edited slightly but really not much because C did a wonderful job writing it up. So, if you are like me and feel unsure of some of the details of things like texture vs resource packs, read on!


Minecraft - Summarized

WARNING: Bit long

Okay, I'll explain it the best I can.

Minecraft is a build anything, sandbox-y game.

You know that already though.

This will be split into two categories, The game and fan content.

Okay, but first, MINECRAFT TERMS.

 

Here is a dictionary someone made: http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-discussion/discussion/125484-minetionary-the-minecraft-dictionary-and-glossary

Ignore that he says: "Beta: The current version" at the time of me writing this, the current version is 1.8.3

 

THE GAME

Minecraft was created by a man named Notch, (AKA Markus Person) A Swedish man.

It started as a game, called Cave game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9t3FREAZ-k

Here is a video shown at Minecon 2011 (Doesn't show the latest updates though...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0eqSgkDuW0

It shows the updates of Minecraft. (Well, at least till 2011)

The Minecraft wiki: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/?cookieSetup=true

That is the game portion of this email.

FAN CONTENT

This portion will talk about Fan Content--and there's a lot of it!

 

Okay, first off, YOUTUBERS There are TONS of Minecraft Youtubers, and probably the most famous ones that kids can watch are: 

 

iHasCupquake: Who a lot of young girls love. Most watched Video:
  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3qM6j3AceU&feature=youtube_gdata_player   

Best series:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iPvhUfIxoQ&list=PLR44pzd1Ewa6xH4gw1FIgq-69cKsdio1l

What not to watch: Anything that's not Minecraft

Stampylonghead: Of course, everyone knows about Stampy, and his annoying laugh...

Most watched Video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w4zzVPJ4WU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Best series:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkOsAelrvyI&index=2&list=PLEZiAg2bYC7ngh-_Z_ruvzSfn1KPQRL5V

What not to watch: Nothing, all of the videos he every made that were inappropriate (when he first made the channel) are made so you have to prove you're over 18 to watch.

DanTDM: Who many, many, many, young boys like, just look at one of his mail opening videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWfRZ6ZcMLI 

Most watched Video: Can't figure it out.

Best series: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDiamondMinecart/playlists

What not to watch: Very old videos, anything below 1.6.4 Minecraft

Amylee33: Little girls adore her, she is a very sweet lady.

Most watched Video: Also can't figure it out. :/

Best series: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ws83r_UXI0&list=PLrzK3MizkCX0HFIPPHZE1OrwsYIZbg7q3

What not to watch: Nothing, never made a bad video, she is AWESOME.

 

 

(Note: The term Youtuber, is not limited to Minecraft players, it can be used for a person who records themselves doing stuff, if it they get popular)

 

 

Next up, SERVERS. There are lots of servers, but the most famous are:

Hypixel: Made by a famous Minecraft builder, Hypixel. A very nice, well organized server, the second most played server, with Mineplex being the most.

Mineplex: A very popular server, it is the most played Minecraft server.

The Hive: A popular Minigames server, with 5+ original games on there.

 

Servers a are a public (or private) world where a certain amount of people can play at a time, depending on how much you pay.

There are MILLIONS of servers.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY SERVERS

 

Here is a list, I didn't make this one though: http://www.brightpips.com/11-family-friendly-minecraft-servers-where-your-kid-can-play-safely-online/

Good family friendly ones are:

Towncraft:  http://towncraft.us/  By far one of the most famous family-friendly MC servers, and one of the first.

Cubeville:  http://www.cubeville.org/   A family-friendly server, and one of the longest running. (As they say themselves "We have lived through DDoS attacks, software failures, inutterable glitches, SAs turning the world into bricks, and losing a map far too early during the switch to the Anvil world system" PS: I know it's supposed to be italics, it wouldn't let me make them that for some reason though)

Intercraftin:  http://www.intercraften.org/  I don't know much about this one, I haven't played it since 1.7.4...

mcMagic: http://mcmagic.us/ A very AWESOME server, a exact replica of Disneyworld/land

Now, MODS

Mods are modifications made to the game code, to allow things to be added, changed, or deleted.

Some mods are not safe, but some, the most famous ones especially , are completely safe, the only ways they could be un-safe, would be from a bugged link, or something of that sort.

Here is a list made by MineMum: http://minemum.com/popular-mods

And a How to dowload mods thing also by her: http://minemum.com/installing-mods
Most famous mods for Minecraft:

Mo' Creatures:  http://mocreatures.org/  a mod that adds what the title implies, MORE MOBS.

Tinker's Construct: http://www.curse.com/mc-mods/minecraft/tinkers-construct The most downloaded mod on Minecraft (I think! Could be wrong... o.o)

Those are just two of the most famous mods... (._.)

Here is a list of the most downloaded mods:
http://www.curse.com/mc-mods/minecraft/downloads

Okay now, RESOURCE PACKS!

(Note: Texture packs are old ones, Resource packs are new, they can add sounds and such as well as textures)

 

Now, parents seem to call these MODS, but they are in fact NOT MODS.

Weeeellll, they are technically mods, as they change the game, but they are much more safe and stable than mods. (And servers won't be mad at you for using them on a server like they would if you used something like Mo' Creatures on a server, which would glitch it out and stuff)

Here is how to download Resource packs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_T7nJEELwI

I present to you: Kat's (Charlotte's) Top Ten Minecraft Textures!

(NOTE: Some computers will not allow you to download these, this is your overly-protective security blocking these, I know they are safe, I have all of them without it messing up anything)

(NOTE2: If on Planet Minecraft, make sure to chose the Mediafire download, and if it go's to Adfly first, wait till skip ad comes up, then click that, Media fire is very easy to download from!)

10)  http://www.minecraftdl.com/alternia-texture-pack/ Alterina is a kinda weird one, it kinda messes with your head..0.0

9) http://resourcepack.net/jadercraft-hd-resource-pack/ Jadercraft is a nice, pretty, realistic Res

 

8)  http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding/resource-packs/1233891-ocd-pack-by-disco-1-8 It's super colorful and fun!

 

7) http://www.tylertyza.com/simplysharp.html (Yes, that is the right website) As he says, cartoony and simple!

6) http://jolicraft.com/ Jolicraft has an awesome, nature-y feel!

 

 Example of a sunset in the Jolicraft resourcepack
 
5) http://www.planetminecraft.com/texture_pack/parrlight-resourcepack-for-minecraft-18---mcpatcher-highly-recommended/ Very simple and blocky, one of my favorites.

4) http://www.planetminecraft.com/texture_pack/ponycraft-2103500/ Unfortunately, it is only updated to 1.6.4, you can still get it for 1.8 plus, it just won't have the new things in pony-y textures. It is an awesome pack though! PONIES EVERYWHERE.

3) http://www.planetminecraft.com/texture_pack/high-on-sugar/ High on Sugar is defiantly for gals, MUCH KAWAII. Very pink, and sugar-y! (ALLONS-Y!)  

 

 Example of a sunset in the High on Sugar resourcepack (almost same landscape as in sunset above)

2) http://www.planetminecraft.com/texture_pack/default-3d-models-by-sibsib92-v01/ A 3D Minecraft pack, this 'aint mods, just a texture. Very cool!

1) http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding/resource-packs/1223592-xenocontendi-resource-pack Xenoconte-no. Xenoconta-still no. Xenocontendi? Yeah, hard to say.

LOVES IT!

Well, that concludes this very long email about Minecraft.

2015 Reading Challenges

Maybe it's just me, but I find it incredibly hard to read when I have a baby... I really think that there is something to the "baby brain" cliche! I don't know if it is trying to keep up with them (and the endless nursing, diapering, wrangling and just enjoying their sweet antics) or if, as I suspect, my brain truly doesn't function at the same level. Either way, it's always been a challenge for me. I do feel like I'm doing better this time, perhaps because I have a certain amount of reading that I need to do for homeschooling? Also I find that the Kindle (or Kindle app) really do help me read more. The ability to turn a page with a flick of a finger and not have to keep an actual book (with paper, delicious paper) inside is very helpful!

Just a quick blurry snapshot to illustrate my sweet challenge... blurry, because she doesn't sit still and I usually take photos with my phone which can be hard to focus. Notice the toys behind her, the eager look on her face. You can't really see it, but she's probably dripping snot (poor baby has had a cold since Christmas!) So, I do have a good excuse not to read as much, but it is so good for my mental and emotional health to read, so I am going to stretch myself and try to read as much as I can. (While chasing her, I'm sure... did I mention sitting up at 4 months and has been crawling since 6 months, and is cruising and standing independently at 8 months?)

So, I have three reading challenges that I'm going to participate in for 2015. First up is the Goodreads challenge... easy enough, right? My Goodreads goal is 65 books... I do update my Goodreads account somewhat regularly, so hopefully the challenge will encourage me to do a better job with that (and perhaps write more reviews?)

And the first book I finished this year was Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay. I did enjoy it, and felt that it had a lot of wisdom in it for what in some ways felt like a light read about a weighty subject. (I also enjoyed "Dear Mr. Knightley by the same author last year.)

This brings me to my next reading challenge, hosted by my current favorite blogger, Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy. I have really loved a lot of her book recommendations over the past year (she is my "go to" resource for finding book ideas AND great Kindle deals!) Plus she's a homeschool mom, does Whole 30s and loves her Jawbone (my new fun gadget) so what's not to appreciate? I also love that she does a great job interacting with her readers on her blog and on Facebook, so I'm exicted about her 2015 reading challenge.

(To be clear, this is Modern Mrs. Darcy's graphic, NOT mine- so click through for more info!)

 

And finally, I am joining Candace at Mercy is New in "Praying through the Bible in 100 days". She also has a Facebook group, and lots of resources and encouragement. I'm finding that I can accomplish most of the reading in the early morning while nursing the baby (though I must admit I almost feel BACK asleep while reading this morning!) I have wanted to read through at a fast past for some time, and I have tried (and failed) at this challenge in the past. But I am hoping that this time I will be successful!

My perspective is that even if I "fail", at least I will read more in 2015! 

A space for me

I haven't written here for quite a while, because I've been busy! We welcomed sweet Josephine Rose to our family on April 29th, 2014. She is now a crawling, busy baby who is much adored by all of her family.

 

 

I haven't let this space "go" because I feel like I still need it. I've never been a very good blogger, but I love the idea of blogging. I love the habit of writing. I feel like if I let this space go, then I would be giving up on that, somehow. 

So I'm going to dip my toe in here again, and see what I end up writing. I'm OK with no comments, or happy if someone takes the time to read. I am pretty much focused exclusively on others in my life in this season, but this blog is really a space for me!

Mothering, love, grace and forgiveness

There are four words that I am learning go together: mothering, grace, love and forgiveness.

The longer I mother, the more I love my children. I thought I loved them when they were babies. When there was the amazement and joy of getting to know that new little person. Of carrying them and kissing the tops of their heads much too often because I just could not stop myself. (Even now I want to kiss other babies' heads- I will be one of "those" old women one day!) Of course, that was love, sweet love that it is so easy to give to a precious baby, and love that I believe all babies should be saturated in. Both us and them are better for it, and what a precious, precious time it is!

What is amazing to me is how deep and fierce my love for my children, who are becoming complicated and interesting people, is. They are not as "easy" to love as they were as little babes and toddlers with chubby cheeks. I am thankful that my 6 year old still has remnants of her toddlerhood, in her little cheeks as she sleeps and breathes deeply, and her still child-like voice. But I'm seeing hints of young womanhood, of the woman she will one day become in my 9 year old. Just hints, still, but they are there.

And now there is love, grace, and forgiveness. Because I am mothering immature children while I'm still immature myself. I need God's grace as I mother, as I teach my children (at times things which I have not yet learned myself- I'm learning with them!), and practice forgiveness. To forgive myself for making as many mistakes as they do, for having a hard heart, for being selfish. And I never knew how hard my heart was, how selfish I am, how imperfect I am, until I started this mothering thing. And I know that I should give thanks for that, really! Though some days I envy my 26 year old self, so confident and excited. I became a mother the day after my 27th birthday, and then the true shaping of my character began.

I'm so thankful this morning that I'm not parenting alone. I have my husband, of course. But we both have our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit. I'm still learning, daily, always to walk in the Spirit and trust Him as I parent. All mistakes are definitely my own, and they are many. So praise God for love, grace and forgiveness!

Some resources that I have found helpful:

Whole Heart Ministries lead by Sally and Clay Clarkson (Over the years their conferences and books have been immensely encouraging to me) Specifically:

Sally's blog "I Take Joy"

And I am being so blessed by the new edition of "Heartfelt Discipline" by Clay Clarkson.

Also, a variety of books by wise authors, some Christian and some secular:

 

 

But, most important, and what I know I need to do more, is prayerfully seeking wisdom in God's Word!

 

Christmas Craft Challenge

I love it when books live up to their expectations, don't you?  As you might guess, today I was "inspired by" the lovely book "Inspired You" by Marian Parsons, better known as Miss Mustard Seed. I've been a long-time reader of her blog, and have been encouraged by her DIY attitude toward home decor (her motto is "Move mountains in your home"). But honestly, all I ever did was just READ her blog... uncertainty, perfectionism and feeling overwhelmed by just "keeping up" have largely kept me from doing the crafty and home decor projects that I enjoyed before I had kids.

I was thrilled to recieve her book as a birthday present last week! I read her book over the past two days. Today I was inspired by her gentle words of encouragement; her honesty that her life is truly not picture-perfect either; and her reminder that we create in our homes for ourselves and that however we are restrained (finances, ability, state of our home, etc) we can use our creative abilities and do something to make our home a more lovely place. And I decided that I wanted to create something!

At first I wanted to make one of the sheet music wreaths that I've admired for so long, but decided that would be best to do after kids were in bed. If there's one thing true for me and crafting and home decor, it is that it either needs to be kid-friendly or kid-involved. Meaning, it's better if I let them help or at least it's not a complex project. Because I always have my two lovely helpers nearby...

Today I decided to use what I have to start the decorating process in our dining nook. I was also semi-inspired by the amazing blogger Jean at The Artful Parent, and I'm looking forward to buying her ebook and trying out some of her ideas! The ideas I came up with are pretty simple, but not something that a child could do alone because of the hot glue gun.

I really just went through my smallish stash of stuff and pulled out things that I thought might go together in a Christmassy way, and started playing. I'm not a huge crafter, really, and I'm very cheap so a lot of what I have is kids craft materials, from the dollar store, or even given to me!

As you can see, I have clothes pin, paint, glue gun and specifically I pulled out my gold biocolar paint which I later thinned with water to make it more like a glaze.

I couldn't get it all in one shot, but I also have (non-smelly, boo) cinammon sticks, some red ribbons and some vintage (1954) Christmas music that my grandmother had saved. This was what I really wanted to use, it just made me smile!

Oh, and just to be "bloggish" and such, I even wrote myself a cute chalkboard sign to prove I was giving myself a real challenge. (I think I need to improve my chalkboard drawing skills!)

I ended up developing two ideas. The first was for the bay window in our kitchen. This window is one I both love and hate. I need the light, but we have ugly blinds and I am not up for investing money into changing them (we currently rent our home from a family member), and I don't love all the wood trim. Maybe some people do, but I would prefer to paint it all, but since that is not going to happen anytime soon, I will just have to live with it!

I wanted to take this lovely sheet music, with the sweet winter scenes, and somehow display it around the window. At first I thought of making "swag" to go along the top...

But I thought that looked too messy. Then I decided that it would look better if I attached the clothes pins (which I ended up painting, just the front, and leaving the reset natural) to ribbon I had, and hanging it vertically against the wooden window frame. It would break up the wood a bit and really allow me to stop and look at the music if I wanted to. And the top of the windows would still be "free" if I wanted to put something swagged up there!

I started by laying them out to get a sense of how far apart I wanted them.

And this is where crafting gets hard for me, personally. Just the sheer logistics. I am definitely more of an "eyeball" it person that "let's measure it" plus I sometimes struggle to figure out work flow. And how not to glue things to the counter. Important stuff like that! But I actually was able to think through a process that ended up working well. I taped two equal lengths of ribbon on the counter (since I wanted to make two of them) and then made them at the same time so that they would be symmetrical. Maybe it's common sense, but this is the kind of stuff that makes crafting stressful for me, I need to figure out a good "work flow"!

I just hot-glued the clothes pin to the ribbon, and let it set on the plate.

Then just scooted the plate down to the next spot and eye-balled it. Very quick and easy!

Not the best picture, but this shows about how big it ended up being. I love the way it looks up close, though. Really so easy. I'm sure someone else has done this before! (I would give credit, but I don't honestly remember being inspired by any one particular person.)

My next craft was for our chandelier. Such as it is, I really need to replace the shades! I like to hang something from it and put a little swag on it. I was inspired by the pack of cinammon sticks I had, and some simple hearts. I wanted to bring in a natural element and create something that was a little rustic and also had meaning. I started by painting the cinammon sticks with some watered-down gold paint, just to give them a bit of sparkle.

Thankfully, I had a little helper.

I wanted to keep it pretty simple, so I decided to just make a simple cross shape (with glue gun) and then wind some red floss around the middle just for a bit of red.

That was just a bit more plain than I wanted, so I decided to cut some hearts out of some of the sheet music that I was considering to use to make the sheet music wreath (I think I need more sheet music to do that, actually!) Then I just put one heart on each side, not to hide the red but that is sort of how it worked out.

Next came the hard part... the part where I burned my fingers... eeek! I had to figure out a way to make loops out of grosgain ribbon and then attach my crosses to it. The problem was I wanted short loops, which wouldn't fit over the chandelier very well with the cross attached. My first idea was to use the glue gun in mid air, to make the loop ON the chandelier, but this was NOT smart. Really burned my fingers! So then I thought hey not aiming for perfection here and got out my stapler.

yes, I stapled my loop. That still left the issue of attaching the cross to the loop, but I finally figured out that gluing the cinammon stick and then quickly moving to the loop (hanging from the chandelier) worked fine. And did not result in burned fingers!

This is really just step one of decorating the chandelier. Right now I have different length loops, but it looks strange, so I will try to adjut that.

And bopping in and out I had my helper... this is what she thought of me at times:

But being the little crafty girl that she is, she also came up with her own craft idea, which she is working on here. Maybe I'll blog about it later, if she finishes it. She is sometimes a bit distracted!

Glimpses of my home this fall

I have to say, trying to take pictures for this post gives me a new respect for home decor and DIY bloggers! I'm not aspiring to that, just trying to document some of my fall decor, as simple as it is. Real mom, real family decorations! I'm not sure if my home is hard to photograph (poor natural light, dark woods, etc) or if I am just not a great photographer. Hmmmm, I am going to say both of those!

I do love days like today, though. It's definitely fall, not winter, though Halloween is past. I hear the leaf blower outside, as my husband is doing the second of many rounds of getting up leaves. Our oak leaves are just starting to turn, and unfortunately they just go brown so it's a bit of a let-down in our yard. So I must confess that I feel a bit guilty, sitting here sipping my coffee and posting to my blog!

Anyway, I won't share tons of our Halloween pictures, just this one of our jack-o-lanterns and some little pumpkins that my girls decorated with sharpies. (This was a FUN activity, I loved how it turned out!) The big pumpkins are gone now, of course, but we brought the little ones back inside to enjoy for another week or so.

Moving inside... We actually have a real focal point in our family room, our very large fireplace. It's on the "long" side of the room, flanked by two windows. I don't love the dark rustic mantel (which matches the dark rustic chair rail in the room) but it does give me a lot of room to decorate. I tend to put quite a lot on this surface, because I don't have any big "impact" pieces to draw the eye up to the mantel, instead of the toys below. A couple of years ago I made a "Give Thanks" banner (I found this on the internet, if I find the link I will come back and update this post!), and I like to put different crafts that the girls have made up there. This year I put up two "turkeys" that they made, and in my glass bowl I have salt-clay leaves that they have painted. Also I have a Thanksgiving book up there (in my house, books are worthy of being used as decor!) I also have our nature guides, plates with birds on them, candles, and interesting rocks the girls have collected. Not the best picture, I tried to not use a flash but didn't use a tripod...

And, just to keep it real, a full view of the fireplace, with the toys on it. (The main reason that I don't aspire to "real" decor!)

And as I said before, books are decorative AND useful of course, in my house. This is a picture of the shelf in my kitchen dining area (which often becomes cluttered, so I should sew a skirt for it). I have a tray with some glass pumpkins, more salt-clay ornaments, and of course some favorite fall and Thanksgiving books. (Cranberry Thanksgiving is a favorite which has been re-issued!) Yes, it's cluttered looking, but my girls love that I have the salt-clay ornaments out that they made.

And finally, a glimpse out my front door. This hallway is truly nothing special and definitely a work in progress (I have shelves with homeschooling materials, and it's an on-going effort to keep them tidy; the wall art are taped up there, and the painting is one my 6 year old did the other day on an extra canvas I had and it's literally hanging on a random nail on the wall... keeping it VERY real here!) But I love it when I can open the door on days like today and enjoy the sun streaming in.

Thanks for taking a peek at what is going on in my house this fall! I hope that we can create some more kid-friendly crafts and decor this week, so much great inspiration out there on Pinterest!

Happy International Homebirth Day

I just learned that June 6th is International Homebirth Day. I had no idea! I have warm, wonderful memories of my own homebirth with my second daughter, six years ago. But currently I have a heavy heart because of steps that have been taken against homebirth attendants in my state of North Carolina.

There are many other bloggers who have discussed the challenging status of homebirth in NC. Direct-entry or CPM's are not legally allowed to attend homebirths here, though in fact they do. CNM's are legally allowed to attend homebirths under the supervision of an MD. Recently, though, a local MD notified a handful of CNM's that he "supervised" that he would no longer be able to sign their licenses, and as a result those CNM's cannot attend births (unless they find another MD to supervise them, not an easy task.) I learned this information via social networks that I can't directly link to and blog posts like this one.

As I understand it, there are two issues that are important here: the licensing and regulation of Certified Professional Midwives, aka HB522/SB522 (being promoted by The North Carolina Friends of Midwives) and the requirement that MD's "supervise" CNM's attending homebirths (I do not know the details of this.) I did call NC Speaker of the House Thom Tillis that I supported the bill and want it to be heard and voted on!

Later this afternoon, I was shocked and saddened to see that the North Carolina OB/GYN society was seeking "bad outcome" homebirth stories. I had read some discussions, but someone was able to post a picture of the letter. After reading this, I decided to do something that is probably futile. I don't think my words will be heard or appreciated. But I decided to email my thoughts and personal story to the NC OB/GYN Society, just to be a positive voice. Since I'm pretty sure that my note to them (which had an error in it that I will correct below) will be deleted, I wanted to at least share it here for posterity.

To Whom it May Concern:

I recently became aware that the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society is seeking information about tragic outcomes of homebirths. I understand that homebirth is not the typical birth experience in the US today, and that there have been some recent tragic outcomes that might be concerning to your organization, as they are to me. I believe that those isolated incidents are far from normal and in fact may be due to the hostile "climate" for homebirth in our state. Instead of taking efforts to restrict the ability of mothers who wish to give birth at home from having access to competent, trained midwives I believe that your organization should in fact be seeking to support the licensing of CPMs and increasing the ability of CNM's to attend homebirths. I am quite sure that you will still have plenty of "business"! (Ob-gyn's who attend hospital births.). My hope is that the current antagonistic relationship between the homebirth community and organizations such as this one can be improved. Please let me share my personal experience to explain why I feel this way.

I am a North Carolina native, but for eight years I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Similar to NC, Michigan also does not license CPMs (though there is an on-going effort to change that), however the homebirth community is quite active there. I personally knew at least a dozen mothers who had homebirths with excellent outcomes. My first birth was in 2003 at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, and was attended by a family practice physician. I was induced at 42 weeks with cytotec (though I expressed concerns about the safety of this) and had a very, very challenging labor. I nearly ended up with a c-section, but after the 4th dose of cytotec my body finally went into labor, and then I struggled with contractions 2-3 minutes apart along with a premature urge to push. Once I was "allowed" to push, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep and they had to wake me up and tell me to push. My daughter was born well and healthy, which I was thankful for. The attending physicians were surprised when they saw my placenta, and described it as a "39 week placenta". There had been no medical reason for the induction, even though I did not want to have it, and it was considered an "elective induction".

I did not wish to repeat my first birth experience, which led to some breastfeeding challenges and great emotional distress on my part. My first choice, after I became pregnant with my second child, was to seek out CNM's who delivered in a local hospital. I quickly found out that once again they would "require" me to be induced if I went to 42 weeks, and given how my first birth went, I was not at peace with that. At this point, I sought out the homebirth community. I was pleased to find that there were a number of CPMs who practiced in the city where I lived. I met and interviewed several midwives, and ultimately chose a midwife who had been licensed in Tennessee, a state that has a significant history of midwifery and licenses these attendants. Even though she was not able to have a license in Michigan, her extensive training and background was important to me and my husband.

My homebirth experience was wonderful. Because our own home was very small, we traveled a short distance to my midwife's home and I was able to labor in her large tub. We had previously discussed my birth plan, what would constitute the need to transfer to a hospital, what actions she would take before birth (setting up oxygen, etc) and after birth. I had complete informed consent. I also had a doula who was present. My labor began when I was 42 weeks 5 days pregnant, and it progressed easily and there were no complications. My homebirth was notable because of the lack of drama and excitement. I went into labor, and supported by my midwife, husband and doula, gave birth to a healthy baby girl who weighed 8 lbs 2 oz, without any complications or issues.

My story is truly not unique. The search for bad homebirth outcomes by your organization is extremely concerning to me. Women have the right to chose where they want to give birth, and I believe that they should have the right to chose care providers/birth attendants who can pursue and obtain the best training possible for the role that they are in (i.e. Ob-gyn for high-risk births; Ob-gyn for your normal hospital birth; CNMs to attend births either in or out of the hospital; CPMs to attend homebirths or birth center births.) I truly believe that there is the need for all of these options to best serve the women of North Carolina.

I sincerely hope that your organization puts politics and personal preferences aside and looks at the facts. Some women in North Carolina will chose to have homebirths. Would your organization prefer them to have unregulated care providers, or attendants who are "out in the open" and accountable?

Like I said, I do not think that the above email will change anything. I'm not sure that my quick phone call changed anything. But I whole-heartedly support those working toward making positive changes to improve the legal status of homebirth attendants in North Carolina.

So that's my 2 cents on today, International Homebirth Day.

A picture of my homebirth baby with her dad...

 

 

A new series I'm loving

There are certain authors and book series that I just find so comforting. Sometimes I just need a comforting read that helps me see the beauty of simple things... anyone else? In the past I've turned to my childhood favorites and read and re-read L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeliene L'Engle (yes, I know, all very predictable but they are classics for a reason!) I no longer really re-read books (other than by those authors) so I'm on the lookout for new authors who evoke those similar feelings in me.

My recent find has been "The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter", an eight-book series by Susan Wittig Albert, set in the time period between the death of Potter's fiance and her eventual marriage. They are charming and have a wonderful sense of place. (Yes- I would LOVE to visit the Lake District one day... so many sights to see, from Potter's home to Ambleside!) What has been surprisingly enjoyable to me has been the emergence of the animals (both pets and wild) who are important characters in her stories. I think as an adult, we need a bit of whimy sometimes!

They are light mysteries, but not really page-turners. But I'm happy to spend a few hours enjoying a story unfolding in Beatrix Potter's world.

Oh, and I just discovered, the author has a charming website dedicated to the series! The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter... off to explore!

What I've been reading and (mostly) loving

Recently a facebook friend lamented that she had to turn in "Maise Dobbs" because she couldn't renew it, but was tempted to keep it a few days extra to finish reading. I immediately wanted to know more, that is the kind of book recommendation that I appreciate! Thanks to that comment, I've discovered Jacqueline Winspear's "mystery" series featuring Maise Dobbs. These books are a bit hard to categorize, but I would say they are psychological mystery novels. Each book does have one or two investigations that the insightful private detective Maise Dobbs is engaged with, but there is a great deal of character development and backstory packed into these relatively slim little books. The setting is England after the First World War, which is a time that I am fairly ignorant of so I have really been enjoying that as well. (Another similar series that I like, but not as much, is by mother/son writing team Charles Todd- it also features an independent young woman investigating things, but she currently a nurse during the war during the course of the stories- the Bess Crawford series, also worth checking out though!) There is a bit of "spiritualism" and a sort of new-age vibe in some of Winspear's books, but I think that reflects the time period as well. (She likes to sit in a room shortly after a crime was committed and make observations and try to sense what the spirit/personality/mood of the person involved had been.) So far, I've read the first book, "Maise Dobbs", "Pardonable Lies", and then going backwards, I'm currently reading "Birds of a Feather".

The next book I've finished recently qualifies me for a "I can't believe I read the WHOLE THING!" award. If there isn't such an award, I hearby make it up and give it to myself. "Fall of Giants", by Ken Follett. I read and really enjoyed the other two historical books he wrote ("The Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End"). I had some concerns about starting this book, because I had started it as an audio book and didn't get very far. It is definitely a book that I needed to be able to read on my own. There were certain parts/story lines that really drew me in, and others not so much. This is book one of the Century Triology, covering the time leading up to the first World War (I can't say WWI, since at the time they obviously didn't know about the second one to come, thank goodness!) I really enjoyed most of the storylines, though there were really some unlikeable characters, though no villians per say. (Unlike Pillars of the Earth in particular, which had characters I loved to hate.) I've described Ken Follett's writing style to my husband as excessively detailed at times- in terms of actions (building a cathedral, but a good kind of detailed), relationships, and ummm intimate bedroom scenes. Almost more like a man describing a detailed battle (which he does quite a bit) except he is describing a more intimate encounter- almost a dry, clinical, detached description at times. One positive is that really there was a bit less of the latter in Fall of Giants than in his other two books, which as a mom who is often reading while watching her kids at the park or taking care of them generally, I do appreciate. I hate to be a kill-joy but some things are best left inferred, don't necessarily need a word picture!

That leads me nicely into a book which I also truly loved, and was quite an undertaking for me to read. "When Christ and His Saints Slept" by Sharon Penman. This was a wonderful historical novel about Empress or Queen Maud and her cousin Stephen, and their bloody decades-long battle over England's throne. I had some curiousity about this time period because of "Pillars of the Earth" by Follet (same time period), and also because of the history readings we have done for my daughter's homeschool. I felt this author had a wonderful writing style, character development and told a darn good tale that spanned decades and countries. And thankfully, the bedroom scenes were very tastefully done and appropriate. I am excited that I enjoyed this book so much, because this author has been quite prolific so I have a lot of good books to look forward to! Next up is "Time and Chance" which picks up with Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Acquitaine. Between Penman's books and the Winspear series, I will have plenty of good "curl up and read" books to keep me occupied this winter!

Oh, but how could I forget- I'm also getting current on old favorite, Father Tim! I have "In the Company of Others" by Jan Karon in my reading pile as well. It will be nice to pick that up if I am feeling overwhelmed by all the historical fiction I'm reading!