Finding that Birth Center

I think that the comfort of having a birth at home for me is related to my living situation.  Right now, we have two wonderful roommates, there is not any real space to give birth, and everything is carpeted in the house.  I'm due in October, and we're planning to buy a house in July, so who knows what the situation will be then.  I've talked about why we don't want to use a hospital.  So, we were on a mission to find a nice birth center and a midwife with s similar philosophy to us about health.

When we started searching for birth centers in our area, we only came up with one.  There were certified nurse-midwives that worked there, and we discovered as we went along that we wanted to opt for a certified professional midwife instead to further remove ourselves from a conventional birth.  We didn't make an appointment with any midwife yet, because I was waiting to hear which place Sean recommended, as he's done way more research about childbirth than I have.  There was some spotting, so I started to freak out and just made an appointment with the certifed nurse-midwife that my pregnant coworker recommended just to make sure everything was all right.  After that experience, I was determined to find the right birth center, so I searched again.  Up popped  a new place that looked pretty fancy, so I scheduled us to attend the next open house.

The open house at the birth center went well. We sat in a circle in the cozy waiting room, shared our introductions, and then asked questions about having a baby at the birth center with the midwives. One of the women was having her fourth child, but this was the first child for everyone else.  Two of the men were doing their due diligence to the process by coming with a list of questions.  One of those gentlemen printed a list of questions off of the internet that was touted as good practice to ask prospective midwives. I had seen many of those question lists while researching midwives.  The other questioning gentleman was affixed on numbers and percentages of complications, deaths, and transfers to the hospital.

As long as we were in an environment with knowledgeable and experienced professionals where we had little interference from those who would push conventional medicine practices on us, we knew that we would make a fine choice. So, we were sure that we would have no problem at this birth center. We still had a few questions, but they were answered without us having to ask.  One of the midwives was originally a nurse that helped deliver babies at a hospital.  She said that she didn't want to work as a certified nurse-midwife in Virginia, because they are required to have a doctor back up and do tend to rely on conventional practices more so than certified professional midwives.  CNM's and CPM's do go through the same midwifery training.  That same midwife is also trained as a naturopathic doctor.  Before Sean could ask how they felt about hypnobirthing techniques, since we plan to use Hypnobabies, I pointed out that there were hypnobirthing pamphlets on one of the tables.  Score.  And, to put icing on the cake, the other midwife was drinking out of a glass VOSS water bottle just like we do.  This all said to us that it was very likely we shared many of the same philosophies about health.

The birth rooms there are nicer than any room in our house. Each has an electric fireplace, a birth tub, and their own private bathrooms with showers.  The use of the birth tub can be a last moment decision, as laboring moms are often guided to the right position by their bodies.

The only downside is that neither Sean's nor my insurance covers the birth center.  The total fee will be  $3,400 if we pay by cash or check before my 28th week.  So, we've made an appointment for the first week in April.

Hot Lunch at Work

When the hormones reared up, I really had trouble finding foods that wouldn't upset my stomach, let alone foods that would feel good when I ate them.  After organizing a new event at the community center at which I volunteer, I craved a big plate of fettuccine alfredo, which was the first thing that felt good in my stomach in weeks.  I went to Whole Foods and bought organic, whole wheat pasta, and some wholesome alfredo and shredded parmesan.  That lead to Amy's shells and cheese in a box.  I was eating that once or twice per day to sooth my tummy.  But, it had to be hot and fresh.  I also discovered that my aversion was to most seasoning, save a little salt and pepper.  So, my other fall back was a hot and fresh hamburger with cheese. The baby wants good fatty foods that to grow a healthy brain!

I discovered that Panera's broccoli and cheddar cheese soup soothed my tummy the best!  But, I didn't want a staple food to be something that wasn't organic, where the broccoli (and likely the whole soup), had been frozen, and that I was sure had seen a microwave at some point.  So, I found a similar recipe online.  I use organic milk, organic butter from grass-fed cows, and organic cheddar cheese.  I shred organic carrots and use organic broccoli.  I also used an organic chicken bone stock that Sean made from a free-range, vegetarian-fed chicken.  If I could find everything for the recipe from grass-fed animals, that would be glorious!  Free range, veg/grass-fed animals that produce organic products are much more healthy than conventionally fed and treated animals.  And, because they are healthier, we eat healthier meats, eggs, and dairy products.

I don't believe in freezing foods, because I believe the process of freezing foods kills the food and depletes it of a life-giving force that keeps us healthy.  It's fresh or bust for me.

My aversion to microwaves stems from the intuitive sense that using radiation on a regular basis isn't a natural process.  I just feel like it messes with my food.  I haven't regularly used a microwave since 2008, and when I moved in with Sean, I found out that his microwave was in the basement storage.  We use them for convenience, because we live busy lives.  Could you imagine your life without a microwave?  Dinner takes about 20 minutes to reheat instead of 5 minutes.  It just takes a little extra time, but, there's no radiation in the equation.

Sometimes, I eat an early breakfast, and then eat an early lunch while driving to work, so that I don't have to answer the food question.  Some shells and cheese or soup in a cup has done the trick.  There was one day that I took a long lunch and make pasta at home.  But, there are a few yummy places that I've been able to get hot food without a microwave while at work or on the go. I know that I can't have food the way I want it all of the time, but I can try to make better choices when away from home.

Zpizza: There is a Zpizza in my office building!  They cook everything via oven!  "A passion for great food is why we start with dough made from 100% organic wheat flour prepared fresh every day, hand-thrown and fire-baked until uniquely crisp. Our zest for quality continues when the toppings go on. We combine select ingredients using award-winning skim mozzarella from Wisconsin, certified organic tomato sauce, MSG-free pepperoni, additive-free sausage, and fresh produce."

Silver Diner: Fresh and local food.  Their beef is grass fed, which is perfect for a burger!  And, they can put organic ketchup in a container to go!

Whole Foods hot bar: And, most of the Whole Foods around here have a pretty good hot bar.  But, because I cannot eat seasonings right now, I have to stick to the macaroni and cheese when they have it.

Eating on the Job

Well, eating, like most everything these past six weeks, has been difficult.  And, eating at work has been even worse.  First of all, my body was demanding hot food.  Secondly, I refuse to let microwaves be a part of my regular routine.  And, of course, I'm now in need of hot, organic food, I can only eat about three things for a meal (fresh alfredo pasta, fresh burgers, and fresh pancakes), and I no longer live a five-minute walk from work.  Oh yeah, we're not lucky enough to have a full kitchen here.  That would be wonderful!

I've usually packed a pretty good lunch since I moved away from work and in with Sean (before he was baby daddy).  But, since the preggers stomach is so finicky, and the organic preggers worman so particular about her food, my lunch box has become a full-on paper grocery bag.  Let's peak into today's stash:

What we've got here is an organic baby romaine salad with lemon olive oil dressing, organic carrot slices, organic raspberries, organic bananas, a smoothie, a glass water bottle filled from home, and a mason jar of raspberry leaf tea.  We eat different lettuces at home, usually an herb salad or spring mix, but my stomach would only take romaine.  Most romaine salads have a lot of hearts, but the baby romaine salad we found was a better alternative, being dark green and purple.  Though these carrots are from a five-pound bag, I usually prefer to grab the ones from Whole Foods with the tops on and a little dirt still on them.  I believe that the more processed my food is before I buy it, the more potential that process has to remove nutrients from my food before I get it.  Baby daddy and Green Babies Sage Moms both say that banana's are safe when they aren't organic, and Sean goes further to say that organic bananas are a waste of money, because they don't require any pesticides to grow.  I still like to buy the organic ones, but I'll just grab whatever is ripest, because I want to actually eat them this week!

My fruit smoothie is a blend of fresh-squeezed organic orange juice, organic raspberries, organice strawberries, and a banana.  My friend, Norma, dropped off some raspberry tea for this preggers girl, which I had just been reading about in Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Years, is good for strengthening the uterus before and during pregnancy.  So, I brew it before work to ensure that I will drink it!  The water at home has an Aquasana water filter.  I was an avid Brita user, but Sean did the research long before I arrived on scene, and he chose this one because it's the only one that filters out unnecessary chemicals, like fluoride.

You'll notice that my water bottle is glass (a VOSS water bottle you can pick up at Whole Foods), as is the mason jar and my salad container.  We try to minimize the plastic in our lives.  It's hard to do, because plastic is so convenient and cheap.  I don't have a good glass container for my smoothie yet, but I just started carting those into work yesterday.  Prior to that, I was drinking it in a glass on the way to work.  I just really don't trust plastic to not leech junk into my food, even though some plastics are better than others.  Stainless steel leeches a little bit, and it's certainly better than plastic.  The only thing that doesn't leech into your food is glass and silicone.

In my next blog post, I'm going to talk about the yummy places that I've been able to get hot food without a microwave while at work.