June 7, 2012

Driving With An Influence	Bunnies, Bees and Babies
As I was driving home this evening I was stopped at a stop light and a car with 5 teenage girls pulled up behind me. They were talking and laughing and emoting, as teenage girls are wont to do, and then it happened. It inevitably does; someone spots my bumper sticker. I like to imagine what people think when they first see the bumper sticker proudly stating "I *heart* HOMEBIRTH" along with my midwife's website. Perhaps they think I'm crazy. Perhaps they think I'm a bit of a martyr. Perhaps they think I'm the ultimate crunchy hippie mama. I'm none of those things, truth be told. I'm just someone who wanted the best possible birth experience and who, after much research, decided the way to get that was by having a homebirth. I have no idea what the carload of teenage girls thought when they spotted the sticker. They all looked, the ones in the backseat craning forward, to read it. Then the driver pointed, barked at her pals, and the front passenger quickly picked up her phone and started typing furiously, probably navigating to the website on my bumper sticker. It was then that the light turned green. About a hundred yards up the street the girls turned off and that was that. I wondered later what kind of influence that bumper sticker might have had on those 5 girls. I'm not sure if I sparked a flame inside any of them. I'm not sure if they would now go and seek out resources and information about birth statistics and choices; about their labor and birth rights, risks of interventions, best practices, and drugless birth. I'm not sure if they would begin to question what "normal" birth means. But I'd be willing to put money on the fact that my bumper sticker was the first time the thought of modern homebirth had crossed their minds. Here's hoping that thought lingers and becomes a spark. ~M	We all watched with excitement as this baby bunny made its way through our yard.  When we first saw it many weeks prior it was so tiny.  “Look how big it’s getting Mommy!”, our 9 year old exclaimed.  We aren’t exactly sure where it lives but it is somewhere around our house.   And why not?  Much to our neighbor’s dismay our yard is full of lots of goodies for bunnies, bees and babies all who love dandelions and clover (our 11yr old is the master of finding four leaf clovers).  Truth is, I refuse to put chemicals on our lawn, yes for environmental reasons. So it will remain a playground while we are here. Today this bunny seemed to know we were watching and it was happy to perform for us.  SJ knows when we are watching him now too and he loves it.  As we are gazing at him in all his cuteness he will turn his head and catch our eye then give us the most adorable bashful smile.   Then we all giggle and continue watching his every move. ~A