More Economics

Good morning! If you can believe it, Seth is dressed, has eaten breakfast, brushed his teeth, washed his dishes, and is cleaning out the ashes. Unbelievable. Seriously. Cedric is dressed, has eaten, brushed his teeth and washed his dishes. Joseph is having trouble getting dressed. He ate and washed his dishes, but the getting dressed part is escaping him. I guess he wants to wear pajamas to school today.

Yesterday was a sort of fun day. My trip to Joann’s was successful. I found fabric to go with my two pieces of Star Wars Fabric as well as for a couple of bottoms to go with the tops that will be interchangeable. I also got some thread because my supply of really dark blue is getting to the point where it is almost nonexistent. They also had a sale going on McCall’s patters—5 for $7. It was hard finding five that I wanted that they had. There were three that I really liked and they didn’t have them. There wasn’t even a place marker to indicate that they’d ever had them. Bummer.  Anyway, I spent $51.45 and I saved $126.80. That’s a savings of 71.14%. That’s when I like to go shopping at Joann’s. In spite of the fact that I am happy with what I spent and what I saved, I realize that Joann’s didn’t lose any money on this transaction. It’s all about economics.

I was going to stop at Walmart on the way home but managed to forget. It was rather close to lunch and I guess I wasn’t thinking about much other than the fact that 104.5’s Way Back Lunch had a bunch of songs that I actually like and wouldn’t mind having again (you wouldn’t believe how much music I got rid of when I was married to someone—of course, it was all vinyl and cassette tapes so I guess I would need to update anyway).

At home, I had some rice with eggs and debated with myself as to whether I wanted to go out and about again. I decided to go ahead and go because then it would be done and I wouldn’t have to do it later. I got a bunch of things for the basket of goodies for the Young Women. Amena gave them all her approval so I think we’re good. I still want to get some pens and pencils at Staples.

Yesterday on Facebook, I erroneously mentioned that I only like to shop at Joann’s and Costco. I’d obviously forgotten about Powell’s Books and WEBS. And I do like to shop at Staples. Do you see a pattern here? I don’t like shopping for clothes (but I do the stuff to make them out of) and I don’t like to shop for food. Never have, probably never will. I like to wear Birkenstocks but I don’t like to go to a store to buy them. I do like to get them off ebay because who doesn’t mind getting hundred-plus-dollar shoes for fifty to seventy percent off?

Before I return to economics, I got some Footprints (Pittsburg—I’d like to try an Alton or a Wiesbaden) which are made by Birkenstock (off ebay although Paul did the actual ordering). I got 40s because I know that when you get closed toe Birkenstocks, you really need to get a size bigger. When I got my Boston’s I got 39s and really wished I’d have gotten 40’s. They’re okay now and I can actually wear socks with them now but it took a while to get them to that point and some of the socks I like to wear make for a really tight fit. What I noticed with the Footprints is that a 39 probably would have been fine although they do run narrower than a Birkenstock. Anyway, Mother, if you get some Footprints, this might be good information.

Back to economics. Why are women induced? Do they really understand the consequences of that one, seemingly simple act? There are several ways to be induced including stripping the membranes, rupturing the membranes, and Pitocin. Stripping can be painful from what I’ve read and can cause the membranes to rupture as well and doesn’t always work. Rupturing the membranes doesn’t always work. Both can introduce infection which is the most often cited reason to not be able to labor in the tub once they are. Once membranes are ruptured, there’s the rush to get things going and complete within a certain amount of time (I’m basing this on what I’ve read, watched and heard and experienced with Amena although with her they ruptured spontaneously but she needed to be born within 24 hours or we’d have to transfer to the hospital). In order to get things going, Pitocin is administered. And thus begins the cascade of interventions which often leads to cesarean section. If we assume (a dangerous thing, I know) that a 5% c-section rate is what we’d have if all c-sections that were done were for true emergencies, then we have the other 27% that are not true emergencies. Is it possible, then, that we would have fewer c-sections if women weren’t induced or augmented? Seems logical.

However, it is all about economics. Hospitals have staff to pay. They have machines that have to be both paid for and justified. They have facilities to pay for. They have supplies to pay for. Staff, including doctors, would like to get home at a reasonable hour because they have a life outside the hospital. Hmmmm. Sounds like a recipe for disaster with a continuous circle of less than optimal circumstances, actions, and options.

All of my labors, with the slight exception of Amena, were spontaneous. Amena’s started spontaneously but needed a little encouragement so we wouldn’t have to go to the hospital. My water broke and I had some contractions but when I got up, everything stopped. This is quite like Amena to this day—she’ll wake up but not get out of bed; she’ll get started, but get sidetracked. Looking back, I realized that Amena probably decided that she didn’t really want to be born because she knew that in a couple of days she’d be in a hospital and undergo surgery to correct a twisted bowel. It was time to be born, but being born was going to be just the beginning of two weeks of a rollercoaster ride. I never had to worry about the doctor wanting to get home to his family (when Daniel was born, the doctor brought is youngest daughter and his wife was his assistant so his family was with him) and midwives have a completely different focus.

In the hospital, a labor is induced. The body isn’t ready for labor and it seems quite likely that the baby isn’t either. But someone is. Parents, doctor, maybe both? So labor is induced in spite of the fact that the body and the baby aren’t ready. Because they aren’t ready, labor is going to take longer. Because of the induction, the contractions don’t start out relatively easy like they often (but not always) do. They come on like a freight train with a cargo and destination. They don’t feel good. So we add some pain killer. Well, that kind of causes contractions to lighten up so the Pit has to be increased. That causes more discomfort so we have to up the pain killer. Do you see a vicious cycle here?

Now we have Pit and pain meds. Is labor going to progress normally? What the heck is normal, anyway? To me, normal indicates a spontaneous beginning, letting the labor take it’s time to do what is needed, until the mother’s body is ready to birth the baby and the baby is ready to be born. That is normal. Being in the hospital would not be normal for me. That could cause a labor to stall for some, although not for all.

Basically, labor is not going to progress normally because the Pitocin and the pain meds are going to interfere with the normal functions of the body. Labors are often sporadic and do not follow the same pattern anyway, but interrupt the normal functions of the body and nothing is going to work quite the way it is meant to. So, we have a failure to progress. Or, the baby gets ‘stuck.’ Or, the mom just gets so darn tired. Or, the baby experiences distress. Or, the doctor has had enough and is ready to go home. Let’s get this baby out. How?

Forceps? Sure. After all, the baby is just a big salad, right? Vacuum extractor? Why not? It’s just like cleaning out those hard-to-get places in the car, right? Cesarsean section? Um, yeah. . . check this out from Silent Knife:

“In class, Nancy gets her stopwatch and a knife and says, ‘Okay, the males in this room have two minutes to get an erection and ejaculate. Those who fail to do so will have the tips of their penises cut off. One, two, three—go! Okay, who’s getting an erection? Anyone? Not yet? Hurry, hurry, or you’ll be cut!’ A little dramatic, you think? As we’ve already mentioned, thousands of women are threatened with a cesarean if they don’t dilate more quickly, even though the baby is fine and the labor has only been twelve or fifteen hours.”

C-section? Sure, why not? It gets the doctor home, it gets the baby out, it has the potential to cause myriad problems and issues for the mother and possibly baby, sounds like a good idea, no?

It’s all about economics.

And up for today are some fun things like cutting out patterns, maybe doing a bit of sewing. Reading Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz since I finished Silent Knife. Rescheduling my phlebotomy exam because I just don’t see myself being ready for next Thursday. Folding clothes. Yeah. Fun stuff.

Have a terrific day!

PS Sorry about the lack of pictures--I'm being told that permission is denied. Like I'm going to tell myself that I can't upload my own pictures. Get real.