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huge interactive mouse pad on the floor at the mall

 

i am formulating a stereotype of ultrasound technicians

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How many ultrasound technicians have I met? Two. Which is why I ain't submitting my findings just yet to the Journal of Science and Medicine. Still, there is a pattern. I may have opportunity over the course of my lifetime to further verify or disprove this stereotype, maybe another time, maybe two, or maybe none. So, if any of you have evidence one way or the other, chime in. If you are an ultrasound technician yourself, I invite you, be not shy, but be informative. Does this stereotype ring true in your industry, yay verily, in your mirror?

• female
• late 20's
• pleasantly pretty
• thin
• quiet
• studious
• doesn't offer much extraneous conversation or information, either about life in general or the straight lines she's drawing all over my baby
• ample makeup
• spends time on hair
• clicks buttons on the computer really fast
• doesn't have obvious ties to motherhood, either bodily or in office photo displays
• wears basic, slightly trendy attire for business casual, which is a bit boring compared to non-medical office workers 

baby legwarmers

When Zoralee was a newbie, I tried making baby legwarmers from scratch using various stretchy materials. Unfortunately, I'm what you might call a fly-by-the-seat sewer; I don't know enough for things to turn out consistently well. The easiest and best fitting legwarmer method for a basic sewer like me is to re-purpose knee-high socks. Sometimes they can be had on clearance for less than $2 a pair. I'll post below a good instruction video I found on youtube.

Here is a batch for my nephew, Bennett David. I won't post a picture of him,
since I'm guessing most of you have seen several. Heh heh.

These two pair are for the newest addition to my extended family, Vera Love.
Is that not the most darling name? She is still under 6 pounds,
so I made these pretty skinny. Hope they fit.

Vera was born to my cousin, Autumn, and her husband, Nic, up in Alaska. Autumn had completed her midwife training last year, so what better final test than to have her own little munchkin at home? (She did have other attending midwives.) Vera arrived three weeks early, bottom first! Welcome to the family, sweet Vera, and congratulations, Nic and Autumn!

Fels-Naptha laundry detergent

I learned about this laundry detergent a few years ago from Elisha. There are many variations out there on websites and blogs; the recipe has a lot of wiggle room for adjustment. Elisha has done more experimenting and taken more notes in the pursuit of perfecting it. So, Elisha (and Shelsea?), please chime in with additions, subtractions, or updated ideas!

The main three ingredients are 100 + years old, but I don't know how absolutely natural the Fels-naptha soap is. When you first buy it, you'll be astounded at how perfumy the soap smells, but don't worry, you can never smell it on the clothes. In fact, your clothes will come out of the wash smelling the most nothing-like they've ever smelled. Also, some friends whose husbands have greasy jobs swear this stuff is better than store-bought detergents. I go through roughly a gallon a month. Perhaps best of all, it works out to be just a few cents a load!

Buy these 4 ingredients, found in the laundry aisle of most regular ol' grocery stores:

1. a box of Washing Soda
2. a box of Borax
3. a bar of Fels-Naptha soap (may as well buy a few bars, so you'll have them on hand for next time)
   
4. a small container of the simple blue Dawn dish washing liquid.

You'll also need these basic items:

1. a cheese grater or food processor to shred the soap
2. a small to medium saucepan
3. a 5 gallon bucket, plus several smaller containers for storing the soap (if desired)
4. a long stirring instrument that reaches deep into the bucket

The recipe here is for 5 gallons. I make it nowadays in a smaller 3-gallon batch and just approximate the ingredient adjustments, but since the 5 gallon version is more exact, I'm posting that.

1. Heat 4 or so cups of water in a saucepan. Grate 1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap and add it to the medium-hot water, stirring until melted.
2. Meanwhile, fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with HOT tap water. Dissolve 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda into the bucket. Then add the melted Fels-Naptha.
3. Stir well, then fill the bucket up the rest of the way with water (with some room left for stirring).
4. Let sit overnight. The mixture will coagulate heavily. The next day, stir, stir, stir and break up the chunks. Add 1/4 cup blue Dawn, and stir in.**
5. Either divide up the soap into smaller, pourable containers, or keep the 5 gallon container, with a lid on it, nearby where pets and kids can't access in, and scoop it out with a plastic soup ladle. Use approximately 1/2 cup per laundry load for top-loading washers or 1/4 cup for front-loaders. Note: this soap doesn't lather up much; you'll wonder if it's doing anything in the laundry water. It is. :)

**Elisha or Shelsea came up with the Dawn, and I use it too - it's not in the original recipe, but we found that over a long time, the soap can tend to slightly build up on clothes. The Dawn keeps it stripped nicely, and you're not using that much of it. Also, I always add a splash of vinegar to our laundry loads (aside from the soap), which acts as a disinfectant and breaks down hard water.


My personal preference is to store the soap in a wide-mouthed container like this with a lid. I just use any old dipper; the one pictured is from protein powder. After I dip and pour a couple of scoopfuls into the washer, I rinse the dipper in the washer water and store it on top of the bucket lid. As with any large container of liquid, ESPECIALLY THE 5-GALLON BUCKET, keep out of reach of small children and pets!

backblog: photos of nana's visit in early january

two days in San Antonio

Japanese Tea Garden

at the Alamo, in the unexpected frigid cold

last evening together

let's waste no time with frivolities

just now - - 

Me: [on the phone for several minutes] blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, good talking with you! Bye bye.

Zoralee: What did you say, Mama?

Me: I was talking to the midwife. I asked her if she could help me get the baby out of my tummy when we go to Montana.

Zoralee: OKAY! I'M READY! I SHOULD PUT MY BOOKS AWAY!

the support of strong women

Each time I have been pregnant, I have longed for (and received, thankfully) the support of the strong women around me. I love birth stories of every type, whether or not they went according to the mother's hopes/plans! I think so often of the generations of women who have gone before me, including many of you, doing the work of growing a child within, laboring until he is ready, and then birthing that child, welcoming him with love, a soft breast, warm milk - no matter the pain it took to get him here. Such a common event is childbirth, but what a holy, extraordinary one too. Carrying a child for nine months wraps her up in skin and dreams, blood and potential; birth is the longest, most arduous unwrapping job, and of such a gift.

Now that I'm pregnant, I keep remembering this image from Zoralee's birth.
There are a series of shots from different angles (by my cousin, Sabrina),
but what I remember is the arms, always outstretched arms.**

There are invaluable men in my life too. In the first place, pregnancy itself is awfully difficult to attain without the presence of a man at some point. Beyond that, my hubby is my go-to guy for the extra needs of a pregnant woman (snicker, snicker - no but seriously, like getting me an enchilada at 10 p.m. or rubbing my neck to stave off headaches). He was an angel during Zoralee's birth. And he and my dad rushed around taking care of logistical things, like filling the birth tub, keeping the sidewalks clear of snow for the midwives' arrival, etc. I know that my dad and one of my uncles prays for this baby and I each and every day. So, I am certainly grateful for the man-folk. But this post is about the actual work of carrying a child for 9-ish months and then delivering him to the world.

Last week, I dressed for our trip to San Antonio. I wore a necklace that Tamie gave me when I miscarried last year. It is a tiny painting of a woman on a path. I thought of my generation of women, walking our journeys, struggling, emerging. I wore ear rings from Jason's Grandma Elizabeth, in honor of the past generations, from whom we learn so much - everything, really - with my own mom and grandmas in mind. And they, you, were a strength to me. I thought of you specifically when I laid on the exam table, even as my healthy baby came into view!


In early pregnancy a few months ago, I had a conversation with another pregnant woman. She had moved here with her family from India when she was a teenager, so we discussed the different cultural approaches to pregnancy, birth, early motherhood. Get this. In India, it is typical for a woman to go home to her own mother and spend the last trimester there, sometimes more, being cared for and waited upon. When the baby is born, the woman is expected to stay in bed for like a month, her only responsibility being to recuperate and to feed and love the new baby. They don't even allow visitors for a long time, and when the baby is something like 6 weeks old, it is taken out for its official meet the family and neighbors extravaganza. Even after that, they may stay at her mother's home for months. It could be whole year they are away from their own household, though I gather that's on the long end of things. I'm not sure what happens to the other children; surely the young ones come along.

As a side note, they also keep the baby's head shaved for a few years. That part made me a little sad. All that thick, dark hair shaved right off. I mean, I'm used to people crying when they give children their first hair TRIM at a year or two old - and sweetly saving locks of it for the baby books.

Anyway, I'd have to basically become a totally different person with a totally different background to subscribe to that kind of treatment, but I think it's really neat. When I tore a bit during delivery, my midwife said, "The best thing to do is just let this heal naturally, but since I don't trust you'll stay on bed rest for a solid week, I'm going to stitch it." She is a smart lady. And as long as I was all stitched up, we took Z on a little hike through the woods, up to church, at 3 days old. Thinking back, that may have had something to do with continuing to bleed for ages. Nevertheless, laying still is very hard, because right away I want to show the baby the chicken coop! I'm not saying this is a strength or a weakness; it's just a thing. Possibly a Western thing - not the Old West of cowboys, well yeah, that too - but like Western culture. (That was a hardcore rabbit trail, starting with an Indian-American woman and ending with the Old West.)

I end by saying, women, you are a huge source of strength to me, and I thank you sincerely.



**Photo: I had quite a few participants over the course of the three days, all of whom I asked to be there. As it turns out, the literal presence of so many people might've been a factor in my slow labor. There's always a catch to the good stuff, right? But that photo is so meaningful to me because of what it stands for - hands outstretched, comfort, assurance that I can do this!

pee-pee teepees

I'm not 100% certain we're having a boy, but it's definitely my stronger hunch - especially after the ultrasound, even though we chose not to look. I dunno; I just got the wee-wee vibe. So when we hit that really cool Quarry Market on the way home, I picked us up a set of these. They're really simple, and look easy enough to make, but it was super fun to spend money on our (most likely) boy.