Friday, August 27, 2010
MAX Challenge Success!
I have successfully completed the MAX Challenge. I rode all ride-able tracks on TriMet's MAX. It was quite an experience, totaling 7.5 hours! Please check out the slideshow below, or view it larger here.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Midwife Statistics
- Percent of countries providing universal prenatal care that have lower infant mortality rates than the US: 100%
- Percent of US births attended by midwives: 4%
- Percent of European births attended by midwives: 75%
- Number of European countries with higher perinatal mortality rates than the US: Zero
- Average cost of midwife-attended birth in the US: $1,200
- Average cost of physician-attended birth in US: $4,200
- Health care cost savings if midwifery care were utilized for 75% of US births: $8.5 billion/year
- Health care cost savings by bringing US cesarean section rate into compliance with WHO recommendations: $1.5 billion/year
- Health care cost savings by extending midwifery care and demedicalizing births in the US: $13-20 billion/year
From the book Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Ultrasound update
A week and a half ago we went to get the routine ultrasound checkup to make sure Nolan is the correct size and all that good stuff. It all went wonderfully. The thing that I keep remembering the most was how much movement we saw. We could see, on the monitor, his little heart beating. We could also see that he was kicking a lot, even though we couldn't feel it on the outside. Nolan was kicking Jen's bladder (which needed to be full in order to do the ultrasound) so much that Jen couldn't take it anymore, needed to stop halfway through and go the restroom.
It is most amazing, as a father, seeing this little being moving around inside of my wife's uterus. I have always been looking forward to this moment because I have always anticipated being a father. I always thought I would be joking around, saying stuff like, "Wow, that's my little alien!" But in this moment I am realizing that this is something miraculous. God created a life when my sperm met her egg and now he is the size of spaghetti squash. Pretty soon, he will be born, in school, learning long division, wanting to kiss a girl, and eventually making babies of his own. It's the amazing circle of life and I had better not screw it up! I am quite confident that I will be a good father, however, feeling the responsibility that lies ahead of me after watching a little kicking on an ultrasound monitor really helps me realize that being a father is a serious thing.
Oh yeah... and finding a job. :-)
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