I recently attended PyCon in Dallas, Texas. The first keynote at the conference was Ivan Krstic who spoke about the One Laptop Per Child or OLPC project. They have chosen Python as the platform development language and imagine kids all over the world who get these devices will be able to push a button on the laptop that will bring up the source code for everything from the filesystem to the user interface -- all will be written in Python.
The second keynote speaker was Adele Goldberg who talked about the state of technology in education. Her premise was to figure out how to use technology in education outside of school first. She mentioned a lack of high quality educational software but I didn't get a chance to flag her down to see if she knew about the research at CMU with the cognitive tutor.
So, I may be getting the keynotes mixed up, but one of the underlying themes of these two talks was obviously how technology can be useful in education. Taking the OLPC example, the idea is that students will be able to not only see something but also begin to understand what it takes to make it work. You wouldn't just learn about what a circle is, but how to write out instructions for creating one to achieve a much fuller understanding of how it works.
Just some thoughts to keep in mind when nugget starts to get older. I remember at a young age my father sitting me down to teach me about fractions. The demonstration of a physical pie that I could move and manipulate proved an effective means.
So, by what age do you think I'll have nugget programming a computer?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Nugget Kung Fu
One of the most exciting things to happen when there's a baby pushing all your organs out of the way is when you can actually start to feel the little thing kicking around, both on the inside and out.
Starting in mid-January, I sort of had a sense of where the baby was and thought I felt it sloshing around in there, but it was hard to distinguish it from other bodily processes (i.e. gas, digestion, etc.)
By the time January was ending, I was better at guessing when it was the baby and when it was those other processes.
THEN, on February 16, Nugget made an unmistakable first kick (or punch?) while I was attempting to write some of my lectures. I was lying sideways on the couch with the laptop and my elbow was on my belly and I felt it both inside and outside. I'd have to say that it's pretty much the coolest thing ever! Needless to say, I didn't get much else done that day waiting for it to happen again!
Now, it seems that Nugget kicks when it's time to eat, a few minutes after I stop eating, and any time I'm sitting still for a while (particularly during boring meetings, right before bed and right when I wake up).
One of these days we'll have to make a video of my belly when Nugget kicks - because you can actually see the little kicks!
Starting in mid-January, I sort of had a sense of where the baby was and thought I felt it sloshing around in there, but it was hard to distinguish it from other bodily processes (i.e. gas, digestion, etc.)
By the time January was ending, I was better at guessing when it was the baby and when it was those other processes.
THEN, on February 16, Nugget made an unmistakable first kick (or punch?) while I was attempting to write some of my lectures. I was lying sideways on the couch with the laptop and my elbow was on my belly and I felt it both inside and outside. I'd have to say that it's pretty much the coolest thing ever! Needless to say, I didn't get much else done that day waiting for it to happen again!
Now, it seems that Nugget kicks when it's time to eat, a few minutes after I stop eating, and any time I'm sitting still for a while (particularly during boring meetings, right before bed and right when I wake up).
One of these days we'll have to make a video of my belly when Nugget kicks - because you can actually see the little kicks!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM's) vs. OB-GYN MD's
Why a midwife you ask? There are a number of reasons.
1.) OB-GYN MD's are trained surgeons. They're trained to cut and intervene and basically play God. They're fabulous to have if something goes wrong, but in natural circumstances, they're less likely to go with the flow in terms of the normal range of variations, which can actually hurt rather than help the mother and baby during labor and birth.
Certified Nurse Midwives on the other hand, are experts in natural childbirth and non-invasive techniques for dealing with minor complications. They understand that each woman is different and they know when a variation is a complication and when it's not.
2.) Personal Attention! The midwife model of care is one that focuses on spending time with each patient and in my experience with various midwives and md's on both coasts, the exams performed by midwives are much more thorough and leave me being a much more informed patient.
3.) CNM's promote natural childbirth unless it is absolutely necessary to have some sort of intervention and ALWAYS try the most natural interventions before resorting to medical interventions (provided there is no emergency of course).
4.) In studies examining low-risk women, CNM's use fewer medical resources in that they have MUCH lower C-section rates, MUCH lower labor augmentation/induction rates, lower rates of episiotomy and natural tearing, lower rates of pain medication usage, and the babies they catch have equal or higher APGAR scores to those of the OB's.
Avoiding the medicalization of birth is generally better for both the mother and the baby in terms of recovery and being prepared and alert in the outside world. For more on the reasons for avoiding all the medicalization see the "Why Natural Birth" post.
5.) In most European countries, and in many traditional cultural, mid-wives handle the majority of births (since most are low-risk), and success rates are equal or better to those in the US where we medicalize the birth process by putting surgeons in charge of even low-risk women.
So given the research, the health of both Nugget and myself, and my own experiences with both types of practitioners thus far, we ultimately chose a CNM to catch Nugget. Not everyone will make that choice, as some people want the pain killers and feel more comfortable with a doctor, but we feel strongly that our choice was the right one for us and our baby and the research supports our decision as well.
1.) OB-GYN MD's are trained surgeons. They're trained to cut and intervene and basically play God. They're fabulous to have if something goes wrong, but in natural circumstances, they're less likely to go with the flow in terms of the normal range of variations, which can actually hurt rather than help the mother and baby during labor and birth.
Certified Nurse Midwives on the other hand, are experts in natural childbirth and non-invasive techniques for dealing with minor complications. They understand that each woman is different and they know when a variation is a complication and when it's not.
2.) Personal Attention! The midwife model of care is one that focuses on spending time with each patient and in my experience with various midwives and md's on both coasts, the exams performed by midwives are much more thorough and leave me being a much more informed patient.
3.) CNM's promote natural childbirth unless it is absolutely necessary to have some sort of intervention and ALWAYS try the most natural interventions before resorting to medical interventions (provided there is no emergency of course).
4.) In studies examining low-risk women, CNM's use fewer medical resources in that they have MUCH lower C-section rates, MUCH lower labor augmentation/induction rates, lower rates of episiotomy and natural tearing, lower rates of pain medication usage, and the babies they catch have equal or higher APGAR scores to those of the OB's.
Avoiding the medicalization of birth is generally better for both the mother and the baby in terms of recovery and being prepared and alert in the outside world. For more on the reasons for avoiding all the medicalization see the "Why Natural Birth" post.
5.) In most European countries, and in many traditional cultural, mid-wives handle the majority of births (since most are low-risk), and success rates are equal or better to those in the US where we medicalize the birth process by putting surgeons in charge of even low-risk women.
So given the research, the health of both Nugget and myself, and my own experiences with both types of practitioners thus far, we ultimately chose a CNM to catch Nugget. Not everyone will make that choice, as some people want the pain killers and feel more comfortable with a doctor, but we feel strongly that our choice was the right one for us and our baby and the research supports our decision as well.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Prenatal Care Switch
When we first found out I was pregnant, we had one hell of a time trying to find the right prenatal care provider with our HMO (I really wanted a midwife - Why? Click here). I miss the PPO we had in Boston! However, prenatal care is really important so to get started right away, we went with an OB in Livermore who had a reputation for being the go-to guy for natural childbirth in our area. And we learned that there weren't any independent birthing centers within a 50 mile radius, which was a total bummer so unless we wanted a home birth, a hospital was the only option (I'd LOVE to do a home birth, and I'm a good candidate for one, but we're too far from ANY hospital if something were to go wrong quickly). And it seemed in our first search that the midwives around only did home births and weren't covered by insurance.
So, the OB was horrible. He rushed through exams and had absolutely no bedside manner. He practically grunted answers when I asked questions! I was not comfortable with him at all, even though he claimed to have the lowest intervention rates in the hospital. But, being a full time brand new professor, I really didn't have time to do anything about it.
Finally, after a 2 minute office visit in early January, when I had a breather between semesters. I found a midwife who works in a hospital in Berkeley that also staffs additional back-up midwives and seems a lot more amenable to natural birthing than the hospital closer to us. And, after meeting her and seeing her credentials, she's a much better choice for us and for little nugget. She has a relationship with high-risk OBs, who serve as her "backup", which means that I'm actually in better care if something goes wrong than if I had gone with a regular OB. And, in addition to her being a certified nurse midwife (CNM), she's also a nurse practitioner, so she can prescribe medication if necessary.
So, we made the switch midstream, and despite my disappointment about having to birth in a hospital rather than a birth center, we seemed to find an alternative that I can live with, with a care provider who genuinely shares our value of having a natural, unmedicated birth.
So, the OB was horrible. He rushed through exams and had absolutely no bedside manner. He practically grunted answers when I asked questions! I was not comfortable with him at all, even though he claimed to have the lowest intervention rates in the hospital. But, being a full time brand new professor, I really didn't have time to do anything about it.
Finally, after a 2 minute office visit in early January, when I had a breather between semesters. I found a midwife who works in a hospital in Berkeley that also staffs additional back-up midwives and seems a lot more amenable to natural birthing than the hospital closer to us. And, after meeting her and seeing her credentials, she's a much better choice for us and for little nugget. She has a relationship with high-risk OBs, who serve as her "backup", which means that I'm actually in better care if something goes wrong than if I had gone with a regular OB. And, in addition to her being a certified nurse midwife (CNM), she's also a nurse practitioner, so she can prescribe medication if necessary.
So, we made the switch midstream, and despite my disappointment about having to birth in a hospital rather than a birth center, we seemed to find an alternative that I can live with, with a care provider who genuinely shares our value of having a natural, unmedicated birth.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Behind the Scenes Second Look...
A second look at little nugget taken Feb 1, 2007 at 20 weeks. We're halfway there!
More Pictures
No, you can't see the sex of the baby in the pictures and No, we don't currently know either. Although we do have a sealed envelope in case we want to know at some point. No, I will not send you the envelope just because YOU want to know. If we don't know, no one knows!
More Pictures
No, you can't see the sex of the baby in the pictures and No, we don't currently know either. Although we do have a sealed envelope in case we want to know at some point. No, I will not send you the envelope just because YOU want to know. If we don't know, no one knows!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Baby Shower
My mom and sister threw me a baby shower recently. Thanks Momma C and Amy! It was quite a success! And almost everything fit in my suitcases to get it all back to California.
I will get those Thank You notes out soon - once things calm down at work maybe (things are a little nutty with the semester starting).
But a big general Thank You in the meantime to everyone who attended and/or sent gifts!
I'll post pictures when I get some! I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures with my camera.
I will get those Thank You notes out soon - once things calm down at work maybe (things are a little nutty with the semester starting).
But a big general Thank You in the meantime to everyone who attended and/or sent gifts!
I'll post pictures when I get some! I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures with my camera.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Why Natural Birth?
Some of you might wonder why we have the huge focus on Natural Birth. And we know that some of you are just waiting for our naivete to get blown apart by the reality of experiencing childbirth, but I'll at least explain why we're leaning in this direction.
This focus on natural childbirth comes partially from my philosophy that being pregnant and birthing aren't medical events in most cases. In fact, in many countries with similar infant mortality rates as the US, there are far fewer medical interventions. This tells me that there's either something wrong with American women that makes us ill-adapted for childbearing, or we're doing an awful lot of unnecessary interventions. Plus, genetically speaking, women tend to follow their maternal line, which bodes very well for my ability to have a vaginal, unmedicated birth.
I'll summarize what I've learned from research studies and books on birthing. And keep in mind that this is for information, I'm not judging anyone's past, present, or future choices in these areas. I'm simply sharing what is playing a role in our decision to go for it naturally.
Anaesthesia - both IV and epidural anesthesia (opiate and narcotic types) do reach the baby and can lead to fetal distress, a need for oxygen or intubation at birth, and can impede the normal progression of the baby through the birth canal, affecting how the baby's head and shoulders present (they don't do the normal twist in some cases). Also, these drugs can slow labor and reduce the effectiveness of the mother's ability to push, which lead to greater rates of cesearean and forceps or vacuum delivery due to failure to progress. AND a lot of the drugs that MD's choose for laboring women are drugs that have warnings AGAINST use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, and childbirth (Nubain and Demerole are examples of drugs with this warning). So we're dedicated to avoiding the drugs because there's no such thing as a completely safe one and I want to embrace the experience of childbirth, no matter how much pain is involved - after all - it's pain with a purpose.
Episiotomies - can actually lead to women tearing clear through to the anus, which occurs almost never in women without episiotomies. Plus they lead to longer recovery times and rarely lead to getting a baby out any faster (which is a justification sometimes given for slicing and dicing the woman's perineum).
Also, interventions like pitocin induction and forceps/vacuum delivery and c-sections are often the tools of an impatient provider. Failure to progress is a subjective call which due to the natural variations in time from early labor to birth, is nearly impossible to diagnose as a problem, and thus is rarely a reason in itself to use intervention. Basically, unless the mother or baby are in distress, there is absolutely no medical reason to use any of these. I don't think that these tools are useless - some babies and mothers are saved by them. However, there is research suggesting that they're overused and that many practitioners jump the gun on using them when a less invasive option can resolve issues that typically lead to them. For example, fetal distress often resolves with a simple change of position, which can resolve the issue quicker and with less risk than a c-section.
So we're choosing to go with a natural approach, and our CNM is in agreement that natural interventions be tried prior to medical interventions, as long as there is ample time, should a complication arise. We've based that decision on the research and on the philosophy that in a low-risk situation, nature knows best.
I guess we'll all have to wait and see how it goes, but right now, we're all-systems-go on Natural Childbirth.
This focus on natural childbirth comes partially from my philosophy that being pregnant and birthing aren't medical events in most cases. In fact, in many countries with similar infant mortality rates as the US, there are far fewer medical interventions. This tells me that there's either something wrong with American women that makes us ill-adapted for childbearing, or we're doing an awful lot of unnecessary interventions. Plus, genetically speaking, women tend to follow their maternal line, which bodes very well for my ability to have a vaginal, unmedicated birth.
I'll summarize what I've learned from research studies and books on birthing. And keep in mind that this is for information, I'm not judging anyone's past, present, or future choices in these areas. I'm simply sharing what is playing a role in our decision to go for it naturally.
Anaesthesia - both IV and epidural anesthesia (opiate and narcotic types) do reach the baby and can lead to fetal distress, a need for oxygen or intubation at birth, and can impede the normal progression of the baby through the birth canal, affecting how the baby's head and shoulders present (they don't do the normal twist in some cases). Also, these drugs can slow labor and reduce the effectiveness of the mother's ability to push, which lead to greater rates of cesearean and forceps or vacuum delivery due to failure to progress. AND a lot of the drugs that MD's choose for laboring women are drugs that have warnings AGAINST use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, and childbirth (Nubain and Demerole are examples of drugs with this warning). So we're dedicated to avoiding the drugs because there's no such thing as a completely safe one and I want to embrace the experience of childbirth, no matter how much pain is involved - after all - it's pain with a purpose.
Episiotomies - can actually lead to women tearing clear through to the anus, which occurs almost never in women without episiotomies. Plus they lead to longer recovery times and rarely lead to getting a baby out any faster (which is a justification sometimes given for slicing and dicing the woman's perineum).
Also, interventions like pitocin induction and forceps/vacuum delivery and c-sections are often the tools of an impatient provider. Failure to progress is a subjective call which due to the natural variations in time from early labor to birth, is nearly impossible to diagnose as a problem, and thus is rarely a reason in itself to use intervention. Basically, unless the mother or baby are in distress, there is absolutely no medical reason to use any of these. I don't think that these tools are useless - some babies and mothers are saved by them. However, there is research suggesting that they're overused and that many practitioners jump the gun on using them when a less invasive option can resolve issues that typically lead to them. For example, fetal distress often resolves with a simple change of position, which can resolve the issue quicker and with less risk than a c-section.
So we're choosing to go with a natural approach, and our CNM is in agreement that natural interventions be tried prior to medical interventions, as long as there is ample time, should a complication arise. We've based that decision on the research and on the philosophy that in a low-risk situation, nature knows best.
I guess we'll all have to wait and see how it goes, but right now, we're all-systems-go on Natural Childbirth.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Birthing Class
The one good thing that came out of my bad OB experience was that he recommended taking a Bradley Method birthing course. We found a Bradley class that we could fit into our schedule and dove right in. We'll let you know how the birth goes with this method, but everything we're learning makes intuitive sense. I'm not worried - one of my new colleagues had two very successful Bradley births - so it comes with high recommendations!
One of the most frequent questions we get is, "Is that like Lamaze?" And well, it's hard for us to say since we've never taken a Lamaze class.
From my understanding they're similar in that both focus on unmedicated, natural childbirth, and emphasize the importance of the labor coach (usually the baby's father or a doula).
The difference lies in philosophy. Bradley focuses on embracing the bodily sensations (err...pain) involved in labor and relaxing through deep breathing and visualizing those sensations so that the body can do what it was meant to. Lamaze focuses on deflecting pain through using other focal points (distraction) and breathing in a way that is theoretically supposed to act prophylactically.
Both seem to have good outcomes in terms of women having unmedicated births, Bradley's statistics claim that 86% of women who take the courses give birth vaginally without the use of pain medications of any kind. I couldn't find statistics on Lamaze.
What made me choose a Bradley course was that it's more intensive (12 weeks vs. 6weeks) and that it focuses on embracing all the bodily sensations of birth and working with them, rather than trying to mask them, which can work against their purpose.
If you're curious about the Bradley Method you can check out their website.
Our Bradley course is on Saturday afternoons for 2-3 hours in San Francisco. This is just over an hour away (if there's no traffic), which is hard sometimes, but it does get us out of the house and exploring the city every week! AND it's in the Mission district, where a lot of good Mexican restaurants are so it guarantees that my permanent Mexican food craving gets assuaged at least once each week!
One of the most frequent questions we get is, "Is that like Lamaze?" And well, it's hard for us to say since we've never taken a Lamaze class.
From my understanding they're similar in that both focus on unmedicated, natural childbirth, and emphasize the importance of the labor coach (usually the baby's father or a doula).
The difference lies in philosophy. Bradley focuses on embracing the bodily sensations (err...pain) involved in labor and relaxing through deep breathing and visualizing those sensations so that the body can do what it was meant to. Lamaze focuses on deflecting pain through using other focal points (distraction) and breathing in a way that is theoretically supposed to act prophylactically.
Both seem to have good outcomes in terms of women having unmedicated births, Bradley's statistics claim that 86% of women who take the courses give birth vaginally without the use of pain medications of any kind. I couldn't find statistics on Lamaze.
What made me choose a Bradley course was that it's more intensive (12 weeks vs. 6weeks) and that it focuses on embracing all the bodily sensations of birth and working with them, rather than trying to mask them, which can work against their purpose.
If you're curious about the Bradley Method you can check out their website.
Our Bradley course is on Saturday afternoons for 2-3 hours in San Francisco. This is just over an hour away (if there's no traffic), which is hard sometimes, but it does get us out of the house and exploring the city every week! AND it's in the Mission district, where a lot of good Mexican restaurants are so it guarantees that my permanent Mexican food craving gets assuaged at least once each week!
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Origin of Nugget...
Some of you may be wondering what the deal is with this whole Nugget thing. Well, after an adjustment period of referring to our first born to be as "it" we decided we needed a temporary name. Our dear friend Koos suggested nugget as both descriptive of it's size and symbolic of our big move to California gold country. And there you have it.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Behind the Scenes First Look...
This is our first peek at little nugget on November 17, 2006 (9 weeks). Really the baby just looks like a bean here, and in some cases it looks like the head is detached, but remember that it's only like 27 mm (just shy of 3 centimeters!) at this point.
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