This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And THIS little piggy went wee-wee-wee!! all the way home.

We know this from childhood. You knew how the story ended as you read the opening line. But while this is a fun game, it is not such a nice story. Why do the second and fourth pigs get the shaft — not getting to go to market or share in the roast beef. Which brings me to my major problem — a pig eating a cow is sick and wrong. Pigs don’t eat beef. So we have a different version in our library of rhyme games:

This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy baked bread,
This little piggy ate apples,
This little piggy sat and read,
And THIS little piggy went wee-wee-wee!! all the way home.

This is something that I just might have time to do, so I’m going to go ahead and give it a shot. It might take me longer than other folks to knit my chunk, but that’s life with the infant.

If you knit, you could sign up too. It will be fun!

Okito did not have surgery on Monday. No, his symptoms flared up on Thursday night and he had my mom take him to the hospital at 3:30 Friday morning. He subsequently had surgery Friday afternoon.

***THIS IS THE GROSS BIT FOR THE ANATOMY/MEDICAL DORKS. DON’T READ IT IF YOU HAVE A QUEASY STOMACH. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU.***

They drilled two small holes, one on each side of his head and attached some tubing with light suction. A full pint of blood and fluid was drained from his brain. Think of the last pint of beer you drank. Damn.

***THE GROSS BIT IS OVER NOW.***

He felt much better after the surgery, and by Sunday morning was trying to exercise and run up the hospital walls, he was so bored. The doctor felt that he was doing fine and released him to go home. He went to the Asian Celebration instead. He told mom that the doctor was conservative because she didn’t want him to go skiing for a while, particularly not on Monday (3 days after his surgery).

So he’s fine. Thank you for all your good thoughts and loving support.

Several weeks ago, my mom’s sweetheart (Okito) was run over by a snowboarder while he was teaching a ski class. Headaches, CAT scans, bruised ribs, and an MRI later, we find out that he has sub-dural hemotomas. These are bruises on his brain. These are not good.

He had another MRI today and things aren’t getting better — they are getting somewhat worse. So he is scheduled for brain surgery next Monday. This is scary.

Okito is awesome. He is a talented contractor/architect, a great cook, makes good pasta, teaches ski school for the kids up at the Pass, keeps my mom sane, and generally is an all around wonderful guy. He is always the first person to volunteer to help when help is needed.

Send him (and my poor, worried, harried mother) lots of love and energy. Pray for them to who- or whatever you pray to. Light your candles. Do your thing.

Thank you.

As you may know, Arthur was born at home gently and according to my preferences. I have known his midwife for a great many years and her support and presence allowed me (as well as Sam and Arthur) to have a wonderful and amazing experience. She is a lay midwife who has been catching babies in Oregon for 20+ years, but does not currently carry any official license. We are lucky in Oregon to have very open midwifery laws — our state doesn’t require license to catch babies.

There are 3 different kinds of midwives in Oregon: Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs), Licensed Direct-Entry Midwives (LDMs), and Direct-Entry Midwives who do not carry a license (DEMs or CPMs). The midwives who choose to be unlicensed have a variety of logistical, ethical and/or religious reasons for this choice. Up until now licensure has not been mandatory. This creates the most options for a woman planning her birth. This is a place where we cannot put enough emphasis on ‘consumer choice.’ Every woman should be able to labor and deliver where she wants to and with the people she wants to.

Currently the Ways and Means committee, especially State Senator Phil Barnhart are talking with the Health Licensing Office (HLA) about making licensure mandatory for Oregon midwives. There is a push here to protect the consumer — our hardworking, laboring mothers — and so the opinions of all of us non-midwives is extremely important! At present the discussion is about how to make licensing mandatory, while at the same time protecting the rights of mothers (and fathers, I suppose) to make informed choices about how, where, and with whom they choose to give birth.

We, as Oregon parents, potential parents, and friends of Arthur (and any future homebirthed siblings) need to get in touch with Senator Barnhart and the HLA and tell them that we heard that midwives are in danger of being forced to be licensed and that we want the HLA to protect women’s choices in childbirth by keeping licensing voluntary.

Here is a strong argument from a licensed midwife against mandatory licensing:

Although I am licensed now, if the licensing rules
changed such that I couldn’t do VBACs, breeches, or
twins, I want the option to drop that license so I can
still serve all my clients. If licensing is
mandatory, my choices will be to follow the licensing
rules even if I don’t agree with them and have to turn
away some of my clients, or keep all my clients and
break the law. I’d rather have a legal option to be
able to serve all my clients.

This is so important to me. I can’t even begin to describe the awesomeness of Arthur’s birth and how wonderful it was to be safe at home with a woman that I love and trust. There are many arguments, both for and against, but here’s the nitty gritty: A midwife can be licensed in Oregon and I can, if that is what makes me feel safer about my birth, choose that option. I like having options.

Please call or email Senator Barnhart and the HLA.

Sen. Barnhart: 503-986-1411 rep.philbarnhart@state.or.us

HLA: 503-378-8667 ohla.info@state.or.us

Also, please forward this to anyone and everyone you know who will speak up and keep women’s right to choose their birth attendants.

For myself, Arthur, and all the women waiting expectantly to call their midwives and say “It’s Time!!” —

Thank you.

Taylor

“Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books.”

(Harper Lee as quoted in “O” Magazine, June 2006)

Because Sarah said that she had watched the other one 19 times on her dial-up connection. So she bugged me and I bugged Sam and

HERE’S ARTHUR!!!!!!!

(If you look closely you can see his teeth!)

Arthur made it to four months yesterday — as fat and happy as a baby can be. The cold symptoms he has been exhibiting in the last few days turned out to be his first tooth! It broke through this morning, much to our surprise. He really didn’t give us much notice, beyond drooling on everything in a three-mile radius. Let’s hope that teething is always this easy for us.

I was at the mechanic yesterday, waiting for the diagnosis of my car (. . .yep, we need a new clutch alright) and leafing though some magazine while musing what to do for dinner. They had an article on “5 Ingredient Dinners.” There was a chicken idea that I (naturally) improved upon. It took about 15 minutes to put together, then about an hour in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 475.

Some chunks of chicken - I used 4 thighs (with bone and skin)
1-2 sweet potatoes (or yams)
2-3 carrots
1 onion

Cut all the veggies into cubes (1 inch or so). Place in a tupperware or other container that will seal well if shaken.

Mix
1/2 cup maple syrup (the real thing, not some cheap knock-off)
Some salt and pepper
and my addition: 1-2 tablespoons of Chipotle Tabasco sauce

Add a little water to thin it out, and make sure that the salt is dissolved. Pour about 1/2 this mixture over the veggies, put the lid on their tupperware, and shake well to get the sauce all over everything. Put 1/2 the veggies in a baking dish. Add the chicken pieces and slather them with the rest of the sauce. The rest of the veggies go on top.

Throw that in the oven. Check the chicken after 45 minutes so that it doesn’t over cook. Mine had to bake for an hour.

It was really tasty and nice on a cold evening.