Pictures

We arrived home from our vacation yesterday. We flew to Puerto Rico for a tropical winter holiday!

The flying time was a bit longer then I expected, but everything went very well. Reed and I were able to relax in the sun (as much as one could expect with a toddler!) and it was so rewarding to see what a good traveler North could be.

We waited in the San Francisco airport for a long time as our first flight was delayed. We had arrived into the city earlier that afternoon to play in the Golden Gate playground as preparation for flying 12 hours!

Reed taught North how to say, "Zoom, Zoom!" as we were taking off. We had three different flights to take before we were to arrive into San Juan.

Looking out of the window made us feel very excited about getting into the ocean.

Therefore our first thing to do after dropping our bags off in the hotel room was to run to the beach!

Back at the beach on the second day. The sand was very soft and made great sand sculptures. North loved playing King Kong as he stomped on any sand castle he could find.

The hotel pool had a waterslide! I thought North would be too little and therefore scared, but Reed took him right over. North would do his happy dance once out of the pool and say, "Again!".

Every morning at eleven, a hotel staff member would bring out a tray of lettuce so the kids could feed the (semi-wild) iguanas. North was not nervous at all from being around the strange looking creatures. He fed lettuce to the lizards as fast as he could. Maybe he was missing the dogs back home?

On our last full day, we joined a group on a Catamaran boat to do some snorkeling. We rode out to an island and then to a reef. The front of the boat had a net stretched across the middle. When Reed would go into the water, North would climb out onto the net and throw his fishy crackers down into the sea. While he was looking through the net, he would call into the ocean, "big bish, big bish!"

On our last day, our flight did not leave until 5:00pm, so we checked our bags into the airport and then took a taxi into Old Town San Juan. We were hot and very tired, but we couldn't leave without seeing the city.

Back at the airport again. North has a Go-go Kidz attached to his car seat. This was the best thing I bought for our trip. When he wasn't riding in the Ergo, we could strap him into his seat and push him through the airports like he was in a stroller. The whole contraption was designed to be used straight from riding in our car to the airplane seat.

Great trip, but boy am I glad to be home! I love my washing machine! I love my dogs! I love, love my bed! There is no place like home.

Talking

Reed and I sat down a few days ago to list out the some of the words we hear North use. I think that it is so interesting to hear how his sounds are developing within the context of his growing expressive language.

For example, a few days ago he was asking for "wa-wa", yet yesterday and today he asked for a glass of water by saying "na-na". When he says the word fish, he pronounces it "bish". As I look over the list that Reed and I compiled, I see that about many of his words begin with "B". They include: "bird", "Bas" (Basil), "Bru" (Bruin), "buck", and my personal favorite as I hear the request from morning to night, "B-B's" (blueberries!)

In the last week he started to add words together. A few mornings ago I cracked up when North walked into our bedroom after watching Reed go to the bathroom. He looked at me and said, "Dada pee." He will also protest if I turn off the computer before he is done watching You-Tube videos of fish. "More bish!"


Manners are also in a process of developing. For a while now, Reed and I have been modeling saying please and thank you as we hand him food or other items. Yesterday, when he and Reed were in the kitchen he pointed up to the fruit platter and pleaded, "num-nums, nums-nums, peas?"

I can only wonder at the range of his receptive language. He seems to understand so much of what we say to him. I can ask a simple request of him "Please put these clothes on the couch" (He loves helping with the laundry), as long as I am very simple with my words and am sharing an idea he has heard before. However, the other day I asked him to get my new blue shoes from the shoe rack by the front door. I knew he didn't quite get the whole idea because he brought me my black shoes. Oh well, at least he tried!

On a side note

I was going to write of an experience from earlier this week, however Rixa has once again posted a thought-provoking link to a major study.

The Trouble With Repeat Cesareans published by TIME magazine, highlights the corner that our current hospital birthing practices are forcing onto many women and their babies. According to the article, the number of US hospitals not allowing VBAC's has risen from 10% in 2004 to 28% (currently). In addition to that number, an additional 21% of hospitals will allow VBAC's, but have no doctor willing to oversee the delivery. Slightly less then half of all American women who have healthy pregnancies and babies, will be forced to have a major surgery because of a lack of normal pregnancy care.

In this article, reasons given for the decrease of VBAC's range from fear of uterine rupture (in reality occurs in 0.75% of deliveries), increased rules placed on hospitals regarding availability of anesthesiologists on call, and of course! malpractice insurance rates skyrocketing.

This study parallels some thoughts I am having as I re-read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth . Near the end of her book, she describes what happens to women's bodies as synthetic versions of oxytocin ( the contraction hormone) are injected into women's bodies. Common amounts given to laboring women are greater then what the body would normally secrete during a contraction and might also interfere with the flow of oxygen transferring from mother to child. Ina May cites two studies (published in 1999) which found that uterine rupture increased by 28% when Cytotec (also a synthetic labor inducer) was given to women who have had a previous c-section. I think further studies need to be conducted as to safe levels of induction drugs given to women with previous c-sections scars.

On a personal note, based on what I read from this book while pregnant with North; I questioned my doctor about the way my uterus would be sewed up if a C-section was to occur. Many times, doctors will just sew the two layers of muscle together as they close up the uterus, which can cause the uterus to be not as strong during the next labor. I wanted to be prepared and proactive towards my second labor being as normal as possible.

So I wonder, is it our uterus we fear or could it be the medical interventions? Could it be a common mental vision of a uterus blowing up that is causing many women to lose their innate trust in their own body's abilities? Really, the numbers seem to be quite small to justify all that pain, healing, and lost time a Cesarean causes. Please read the end of this article, as it lists all the problems repeat Cesareans can cause. I wonder if all people were better educated towards preventing Cesareans, then maybe we could help future women and their partners chose a healthy birth when their time comes.