transitioning

Last week of teaching
This week marks my last week of teaching at St. Olaf for at least a year (plus some months). All exams have been graded and we've said our goodbyes to students, except for the seniors: the commencement ceremony is tomorrow, Sunday. For two years, I've been teaching for the great conversation program. Together with my colleagues Laurel and Chris and about 60 students that we have divided and rotated between the three of us, we've plowed our way through more than 70 great books from antiquity till today. It's been quite the experience. We have indeed engaged in some great conversations. Here we are at our final picnic.

A third and final baby shower
As the school year is ending, I've found more time to focus on baby's imminent arrival. Three amazing women that I know from Lakselaget, a professional organization for Norwegian-American women ("who swim against the current"), threw me my third and final baby shower. I thought we had all we needed, but we still received things we did not yet have, e.g. darling newborn clothes (so we now have a brand spanking new outfit to dress the baby in right after birth), long sleeved T-shirts with home-made prints to fit the independent spirit of our baby (it sure feels like there's a strong-willed person in there!), a Twins onesie (to remind the baby of its Minnesotan roots while we're in Norway), booties and a tie-dye peace sign T-shirt for our new world citizen. One of my friends is recovering from breast cancer, and so our discussion turned to the flaws of the health care system (or lack thereof) here in the US. I'm so frustrated over the lack of substantial health care here, how one has to fight the system--in particular the insurance companies--to get what one deserves.

The price of motherhood: lack of parental leave and rights in the US
But insurance companies are not the only 'enemy.' Towards the end of my women's studies seminar this spring, my students and I learned more about the Price of Motherhood. As the author Ann Crittenden writes, there is a huge discrepancy in this country between the lip service paid to motherhood and the actual treatment of mothers. Crittenden coins the term 'mommy tax' to describe how women are discriminated against as potential or actual employers in the US. Crittenden uses Sweden, France, and Canada to illustrate how other countries ensure that women can combine work with motherhood (e.g. with substantial paid leave, reduced work hours, universalized child health care and subsidized child care), and to ensure motherhood as a sustainable institutions. In Norway, parents are entitled to 44 weeks off with full salary, or 54 weeks off with 80% salary. 3 weeks before and 6 weeks after the birth are reserved for the mother and the father has to take at least 6 of the weeks. Other than that, the parents can share the weeks however they want to. On the other hand, as I wrote in this blog back in March, the US is the only industrialized country not to offer paid maternity leave (together with Australia, but they at least guarantee one unpaid year off). St. Olaf offers 6 paid weeks off after birth. But in a country where there are no federal laws ensuring this right, I've experienced that these 6 weeks are not fully respected. I may still be expected to attend meetings (lest I give the impression of 'not caring' about work); a colleague in the English department had to return to give a lecture and grade exams during these 6 weeks.

Toxic children's products and toys
The enormous corporations of this 'turbo-capitalistic' country, as Crittenden describes the US, are another 'enemy' for a mom-to-be. In February, I wrote about the seemingly unrestrained power of the pharmaceutical industry to continue manufacturing medications that have been proven unsafe (and that are forbidden in European countries such as Norway). The same seems to be true for manufacturers of children's toys and products. This week, Friends of the Earth released a new study on the threat of halogenated (or brominated; PBDEs) fire retardants in baby products, such as car seats and portable cribs (unfortunately, this includes our new GRACO car seat and pack'n play). But this is not new news. The European Union began phasing out products that contain such fire retardants in the late 1990s after finding preliminary evidence of toxic effects. Not so in the US. If you'd like to make a difference, please submit a letter to GRACO, one of the biggest manufacturers of children products, asking them to reconsider their uses of halogenated fire retardants.

We are also concerned about the use of toxic plastics (PVC, phtalates, lead) in toys, the use of bisphenol-a (BPA) in baby bottles (and other bottles, including, we found out, our own sporty Cyclone Hydration Gear water bottles that we got at REI), and the use of lead paint. Lead paint free wooden toys and safe plastic toys (see towards bottom of this page) are more expensive, but we are determined to think quality rather than quantity regarding this matter.

Patriotism and Simple living
As we prepare for birth, we have indeed been focusing on the simplistic quality of our life. This is the paradox of our life here; though I find myself constantly fighting a capitalistic non-caring system with which I cannot agree, I also find myself in the midst of friends who do care, about their fellow neighbors and this amazing land. At the shower earlier this week, we were talking about how in the US, patriotism tends to be equated with support of the military, but how patriotism is much larger than that; how it involves a support and defense of this land and its people in environmentally and socially responsible ways. In this holistic manner, I am a patriot of the US.

Approaching the birth day
In these past few weeks, we've had the opportunity to cherish the company of our friends here and the beautiful landscape of Minnesota. Trees, lawns and meadows have turned a lush fresh sour apple green color, tulips and bleeding hearts are in bloom, as are the lilacs, forsythias, and beautiful cherry and apple trees. In the midst of all this love and beauty, we are finding the safe space to prepare for the big birth day. Our baby has moved deep down into my pelvis, and my uterus has been flexing and strengthening in preparation for labor and birth. We are doing well. The meeting with our midwife this past week felt momentous; it may well have been our last regular prenatal meeting. Or baby may decide to wait. I'm very much enjoying these last days of carrying the baby so intimately, bonding, while I'm also looking forward to meeting the baby, seeing who's in there. I am looking forward to seeing how the birth will evolve; will it begin at night or during the day, will it be a long labor or shorter, how will we react and feel. My favorite birth video so far is BIRTH DAY. This woman's labor begins with contractions in the morning. She goes for a walk down to the river with her family, it begins to rain and they return to the house where they have lunch together, her contractions get stronger, she moves around the house with her husband, walking while looking into his eyes, she gets into the tub with her husband as the contractions get stronger yet, and is able, finally, to birth her baby gently. I would very much appreciate it if we are blessed with a labor and birth that is slow and gentle like this one. We shall see! No matter, I will cherish our baby's birth story and will share it with you as well here.