OMGI'msotired!!!!!!!!

I am EXHAUSTED!!! I just can't get enough sleep lately! ;)

This morning I got up, checked my email, and found that a woman who had bought fabric from me back on the 30th had finally paid me Saturday. Surprise!!!!! And then she also emailed me this morning at 3:11 am wondering if I had shipped her package!
"Hi Jacki~
I am wondering if you shipped these already? I haven't heard from you??

Thx!"




WTH???? She takes WAY TOO LONG to pay, but then is on my ass to get it shipped? On the weekend, no less? WHO is the hell does she think she is? ARRRGGG! Anyway, I'm quickly learning which people to avoid doing business with.
I have another woman who owes me $30 from 3 weeks ago and hasn't paid, and I've noticed she owes several other woman money, too, so I may just have to re-list (or keep) what she bought.
I'd rather have the money, though, pttthhht!

The Business of Being Born

My husband and I saw this movie this weekend and it was very good. I really like that the movie is so informative and really encourages women to take responsibility for their births. I really feel that many women give birth and have no idea that they have choices about what happens to them. I hear this in their language "I HAD to be induced, I HAD to have a c-section, I HAD to have an epidural, episiotomy, IV, whatever..." It reminds me of that generation of older people who say things like "my doctor put my on a diet" of "my doc put me on these pills"..and they have no knowledge of the medicine they're taking or how the diet works, and they certainly claim NO responsibility for the diet or the medicine. It makes me wonder if they have forgotten that they are PAYING the doctor for a service, not the other way around. The doctor is not the boss: he/she is the employee of the patient.

I'm not saying that women shouldn't have inductions, c-sections, episiotomies, or any such thing, but I wonder if they are asking the question "what are the pros and cons of this procedure?" Are they REALLY giving informed consent? Shouldn't they be plainly and clearly informed that having an induction and epidural increases their risk for an "emergency" c-section? Shouldn't they be informed that every time they have a c-section more and more PERMANENT damage is done to their bodies? Shouldn't they be told that all the meds they are given for those procedures COULD interfere with the bonding process and making breastfeeding difficult or impossible?

I know many babies are born each day and are now JUST FINE even through all of these interventions, but I feel women need to know what COULD happen when they make these choices.

I hate to read people's birth stories that start out so optimistically with the woman scheduling her induction when she only 38 weeks, then getting an epidural because an induction is quite painful. Then because she not full term, baby isn't turned the right way and doesn't help the cervix open up (using laymen's terminology here), so the labor doesn't progress, and mom sure can't get up to change baby's position when she's flat on her back, can she? So maybe after mom doesn't progress after her allotted time, she's labeled "failure to progress" as if she's broken and given a c-section. Or even worse, the increased amount of pitocin given to women with epidurals cause contractions so strong that they put the baby "in distress" and a c-section is done to "save the baby" Hurrah! Could we have skipped the induction and epidural in the first place? Of course. Did the mom know any of theses things could happen to her or her baby when she asked for or agreed to her induction? HELL, NO! And then, the baby is here early...wow, on top of mom recovering from a painful major surgery, she must struggle to get a pre-term baby to nurse. One of the leaders at LLL one time said one of the biggest obstacles to nursing a baby delivered by c-section is the time it takes for all of the surgery meds to get out of it's system and become an alert, normal baby. For some babies, it can take up to TWO WEEKS! WOW, that's a lot of tough times during a stage when bonding and learning to nurse (mom and baby) needs to be happening and both parties aren't at their best!

I just wish doctors would be open with women! I really feel like women just don't know what they are agreeing to. In my opinion, it's not worth the risk. During such an important time, I wouldn't want to risk mine and my baby's relationship getting off to a poor start. It's difficult enough as it is.

Ok, off my soap box now. Go watch BOBB and see a NORMAL birth. It's enlightening and beautiful.