Mar 31, 2008
Mar 19, 2008
Mar 11, 2008
spring break in st. martin
Hi, there. Anne said that I'd post an entry about our Carib trip, so here goes:
We're going to the Caribbean— St. Martin to be exact, the French side. We booked a bungalow at a small, family-run place called Les Balcons d'Oyster Pond. It's situated in a Caribbean garden; our bungalow has a private balcony overlooking the marina where all the sailboats are docked, and there's a private pool. The couple (and kid) who run the place moved to St. Martin from France, and all the reviews say they make Les Balcons. Plus, the French bakery down the street delivers breakfast in the morning.
Sint Maarten/St. Martin is a small island divided by the Netherlands and France. There are 37 picturesque beaches on the island, so we've rented a car to get around. Apparently the Dutch side is more touristy, and the French side more quaint; we opted to stay on the French side with the yummy croissants. Actually, Grand Case on the French side is called the "Gourmet Capital of the Caribbean," so we plan to eat more than pastries on our trip.
There's more that I can say, but I don't want to make anyone too jealous—especially if you have to stay behind in the cold.
Lastly, thanks to our family, who funded this trip (as a belated honeymoon) with their generous gifts of money for our wedding last year.
baby belly week 28
Anne's baby belly, week 28; last night while getting ready for bed.
Anne asked if we could post a baby belly picture with her face this time, not just her belly.
Anne asked if we could post a baby belly picture with her face this time, not just her belly.
relax and adapt in recovery
I am now officially on reduced work time. I've spoken with the human resources director and my chair, and they both support me in reducing my teaching load. For now, however, I am continuing to teach all my courses, but cutting back on all other work (e.g. committee work). I go in to teach in the morning (fortunately all my classes meet in a row, from 8 a.m. till 11:40 a.m.) and then I go home to sleep and rest in the afternoon.
Leighton is pampering me and being very helpful. He's doing most or all of the cooking, runs all the errands, does all the laundry, and cleans the house on a regular basis. Last night, he poured me a warm bath with bath salts, lit candles in the bathroom, and had me soak in the tub for a while to help against the swollenness in my legs; he had read that this would help in How to Make a Pregnant Woman Happy, which he had just received in the mail. Later in the evening, I did feel better.
Our midwife, Rachel, came by on Sunday and we had a good meeting that lasted more than two hours. Our baby greeted her too, kicking vigorously and actively moving around when she was feeling for it and listening to its heartbeat. Leighton got to feel the baby's little head. Rachel also lent us a DVD, Birth As We Know It, which we saw last night. It was such a moving, inspirational, and empowering film to see. The film focuses on the benefits of water birth in particular, an option which Rachel will make available to us. The film explained water birth as an opportunity for the birthing woman to return to a natural element and there to let herself become all liquidy; surrendering to her body, letting it do what it knows how to do, deep down. The film also emphasized every birth as an opportunity to heal traumas from the past as we open up a loving, trusting space for ourselves and the baby.
Finally, the film recommended the expectant mother and father take the time to emotionally and spiritually prepare for the baby's birth through creative work, play, dance, and meditation. We both feel we haven't had the time to do this enough, but look forward to having this time during spring break (March 20-27), which we will spend on St. Martin in the Caribbean. Leighton has made all the practical arrangements for this spring break slash belated honeymoon, so I will let him describe our plans. It promises to be a wonderful vacation and time for us to really cherish the pregnancy and all that it holds.
Leighton is pampering me and being very helpful. He's doing most or all of the cooking, runs all the errands, does all the laundry, and cleans the house on a regular basis. Last night, he poured me a warm bath with bath salts, lit candles in the bathroom, and had me soak in the tub for a while to help against the swollenness in my legs; he had read that this would help in How to Make a Pregnant Woman Happy, which he had just received in the mail. Later in the evening, I did feel better.
Our midwife, Rachel, came by on Sunday and we had a good meeting that lasted more than two hours. Our baby greeted her too, kicking vigorously and actively moving around when she was feeling for it and listening to its heartbeat. Leighton got to feel the baby's little head. Rachel also lent us a DVD, Birth As We Know It, which we saw last night. It was such a moving, inspirational, and empowering film to see. The film focuses on the benefits of water birth in particular, an option which Rachel will make available to us. The film explained water birth as an opportunity for the birthing woman to return to a natural element and there to let herself become all liquidy; surrendering to her body, letting it do what it knows how to do, deep down. The film also emphasized every birth as an opportunity to heal traumas from the past as we open up a loving, trusting space for ourselves and the baby.
Finally, the film recommended the expectant mother and father take the time to emotionally and spiritually prepare for the baby's birth through creative work, play, dance, and meditation. We both feel we haven't had the time to do this enough, but look forward to having this time during spring break (March 20-27), which we will spend on St. Martin in the Caribbean. Leighton has made all the practical arrangements for this spring break slash belated honeymoon, so I will let him describe our plans. It promises to be a wonderful vacation and time for us to really cherish the pregnancy and all that it holds.
Mar 2, 2008
sick leave?
Last week, I was home ill the entire week. After a prolonged cold, I suddenly came down with a high fever, body aches, and a nasty cough last Sunday, just as I thought I was getting better. It appeared to be a post-cold viral respiratory infection and my midwife prescribed bed rest, fluids, C-vitamins, Echinacea, and chicken soup. As it happened, Leighton became very ill too, but with the care of good friends, we got both chicken soup and more. Five meals were delivered to us; first, Amanda came over with homemade chicken soup, then Dee followed the next day with her chicken soup. After that, Susan & Dan came over with minestrone soup, and Diane brought us two meals on wheels (among other groceries): a rice dish one day and alphabet soup with homemade carrot bread another day. What became clear to us from this experience is: 1) our friends are amazing cooks, and 2) we have amazing friends.
Sometimes I get so frustrated with this country, and in particular the lack of socialized care. Not only is the US alone among industrialized countries to offer no paid maternity leave (together with Australia, but Australia guarantees at least one unpaid year off work), nearly half (48%) of private-sector workers—and nearly 80% of low-wage workers—do not have paid sick days to care for their own health (to learn more, visit everyonegetssick.org). Most of these people work for smaller companies, so the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is no good to them either. FMLA guarantees 12 weeks off in any 12 month period to employees who work for larger companies (min. 50 employees) for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a family member, or if the employee him- or herself has a serious health condition.
While home from work last week, I certainly did not feel like I was on sick leave; I was managing my courses from bed and took care of other business too over email. According to St. Olaf College's Faculty Handbook, "Faculty will be paid for a reasonable number of personal absences due to their own illness or injury and for absences due to the illness or injury of their dependent child." This week, I'm meeting with Human Resources to find out what exactly "a reasonable number of absences" are, and how a faculty goes about taking out an actual sick leave.
In the meantime, as I'm stewing over the many flaws of this country's health care system (or lack thereof), my friends were a reminder last week of what I love so much about this place: it's people. The individuals and their stories, their capacity for care and love for community. It's ironic that the government of these people deny us the means by which we could be an even stronger community. But I am hopeful that change is possible; as Daddy Dialectic (who is also "Sick of it!") writes, "small victories can lead to bigger ones."
Sometimes I get so frustrated with this country, and in particular the lack of socialized care. Not only is the US alone among industrialized countries to offer no paid maternity leave (together with Australia, but Australia guarantees at least one unpaid year off work), nearly half (48%) of private-sector workers—and nearly 80% of low-wage workers—do not have paid sick days to care for their own health (to learn more, visit everyonegetssick.org). Most of these people work for smaller companies, so the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is no good to them either. FMLA guarantees 12 weeks off in any 12 month period to employees who work for larger companies (min. 50 employees) for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a family member, or if the employee him- or herself has a serious health condition.
While home from work last week, I certainly did not feel like I was on sick leave; I was managing my courses from bed and took care of other business too over email. According to St. Olaf College's Faculty Handbook, "Faculty will be paid for a reasonable number of personal absences due to their own illness or injury and for absences due to the illness or injury of their dependent child." This week, I'm meeting with Human Resources to find out what exactly "a reasonable number of absences" are, and how a faculty goes about taking out an actual sick leave.
In the meantime, as I'm stewing over the many flaws of this country's health care system (or lack thereof), my friends were a reminder last week of what I love so much about this place: it's people. The individuals and their stories, their capacity for care and love for community. It's ironic that the government of these people deny us the means by which we could be an even stronger community. But I am hopeful that change is possible; as Daddy Dialectic (who is also "Sick of it!") writes, "small victories can lead to bigger ones."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)