Breastfeeding Not Protected in PA

You may remember my post a few months ago where I got all fired up over some poor woman being kicked off a Delta Airlines flight for nursing her child. I read in the news that this woman had a legal right to breastfeed her child and she was contemplating suing the airline. I mistakening assumed that the legal right to breastfeed a baby anywhere that eating is allowed was a federal statute, or at least something covered by all reasonable states.

Not so! I was recently horrified to find out that Pennsylvania is one of only 13 states without a specific law protecting public nursing. This is actually frightening to me, as I get ready to nurse my second child. I only found this out after a story about a woman nursing at the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, PA, where I used to live, who was harassed by mall security. When Nathan was born I lived two blocks from that mall and spent a LOT of time there, and believe me, I fed my baby there. Usually I chose to feed him in a department store fitting room. But boy, could that be uncomfortable sometimes. I would NEVER feed him in a bathroom. I still can't believe people don't understand how disgusting that is.

This woman claims not one part of her breast was exposed and frankly, I totally believe her. Women do not WANT to "let it all hang out" the way some people accuse lactivists of being. We just don't want to be made to feel like second class citizens because we choose to follow our doctor's guidelines to do what is healthiest for our babies. The following week some mothers organized a nurse-in at the mall. Take a look at the picture below and tell me how many nursing moms you count, and HOW MUCH BREAST you see?

I almost screamed when I heard four women call in to a radio show about this issue and all said "I just don't want to SEE that!" Well don't look! You can't see anything anyway. One woman said the mother should have stayed home to feed the baby. The radio host replied "For an entire year? She shouldn't leave the house when the baby has to eat every two hours?" To which the woman replied "She can go shopping in between feedings!" Uh huh, right. So with 45 minutes of feeding time you get a window of an hour and fifteen minutes to get the kid bundled up, go to the mall, accomplish something, and get home in time for the next feeding? RIGHT. One woman said "but nowadays they have those devices where the woman can express some milk and feed it to the baby in a bottle. So she shouldn't HAVE to nurse in pulic." She obviously never heard of nipple confusion, the reason some nursing moms never give a bottle.

I think this issue is so much about ignorance and lack of education. It's just what current generations aren't used to seeing, and if we don't enact laws protecting the right of a baby to eat in the same place mom can, people will never get used to it. I do not buy the argument that nursing is natural in the same way that peeing and pooping and having sex are natural, but we don't do that in public. Nursing is EATING. Plain and simple.

There is a piece of legislation waiting in Pennsylvania that would change the law to protect breastfeeding in public. That is one political policy I can get inspired to get behind.

Motivation

Breakfast
Originally uploaded by Mainline Mom.

I find it very hard to get motivated to do my job lately. I guess because there isn't anything pressingly urgent to get done. I'm not finding very much of anything inspiring lately either. Maybe it's just the weather.

I really loved watching Oprah's special on her leadership academy last night. I'm sure I've mentioned 1000 times on here how much I loved my visit to South Africa, and how I have a heart for those people. But the show didn't really inspire me to actually do anything.

I need to re-organize my closet. Maybe I should read a good book. Even food isn't inspiring to me, because nothing tastes as good as it used to. Nothing. It's why I find it difficult to actually consume 300 extra calories a day for baby...I actually eat less than usual.

Tomorrow is picture day at school. I'm interested to see if these turn out any better than the last picture day.

Yoga tonight. Jenifer's going to New Zealand to teach yoga for a few months, so my classes will be all Mark. I suspect it will be a nice change, as long as he mixes things up like Jen does. Oh, and I also signed up for a pre-natal hydro-aerobics class starting in mid-March. I'm not sure what I'm thinking, having to actually shave my legs and don a bathing suit once a week when it'll still be cold out. But I think my aching joints will thank me.

Weekend Recap

Yeah, it's been awhile since I've posted, huh? Not having my main camera lens discourages me from taking photos, which in turn discourages me from writing! So what's new? Not much. I'm now 16 weeks (4 months) pregnant, and everything is pretty normal. I still tire pretty easily and have scaled back my exercise to just walking and yoga. Yoga feels good, especially back work and stretching out the hamstrings which helps with sciatica, but walking is actually painful. I do it anyway. Thank God for my iPod which distracts me as much as possible. Not much weight gain yet, just a couple pounds, which is good I guess. Due date is early August. Won't know for another month if it's a girl or a boy. Does that cover all the questions?

Because the Oscars were this weekend and everyone I know loved Little Miss Sunshine, we rented it Friday night. Mike and I both loved it, which is rare. So funny. I'm not sure Alan Arkin deserved and Oscar for it, but like they say, people usually get Oscars for their past work history after they've paid their dues, and he certainly is a great actor. Jennifer Hudson is a distinct exception to that rule. I haven't seen her movie yet, but I like that girl. I'm appalled that Barbara Walters would infer than she should dump her janitor boyfriend now that she's a star. Puleeze. I got a good laugh out of the Leo/Al Gore schtick. Melissa Ethridge's stupid winning song is completely unoriginal. Sounds like many of her others. Ellen could have done better. Overall the whole show is way too damn long.

Saturday night we had MOPS and POPS night, where my mommy friends get to bring their hubbys along for a fun dinner out. We played the Newlywed Game, and learned some rather interesting things about some of the couples. Like one of my friends apparently has had sex in a pack-n-play. None of us could figure out exactly how or why. After a desperate search I finally found an outrageously expensive babysitter for that evening from a local college. She was great, but in the car Mike pointed out that she was hot. I hadn't noticed. Expensive + hot = not using again. :)

Baked Blueberry-Pecan French Toast

Last week I mentioned that my MOPS group was responsible for breakfast this month, and that I was making baked french toast. Running 42K didn't know what this was and asked me to post the recipe. I hardly claim to be a masterful chef, but I know a good recipe when I see one and it turned out fabulously delicious. Being the host group for this month's MOPS meeting was a lot of work, but we pulled it off and I think everyone was pleased. It involved making about a billion phone calls between last week and this week, setting up the hall at the church at 9:45pm the night before, slicing and dicing a ton of fruit for a giant fruit salad for 64 women (which was eaten in about 5 minutes) buying ingredients and baking my french toast, buying table decorations including two large vases of roses, preparing and presenting a morning inspiration for moms, and finally cleaning up all the mess including vacuuming 6 childcare rooms. That's just what I did, the rest of my group helped too.

So anyway, here's the recipe:
a 24-inch baguette
6 large eggs
3 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup pecans (about 3 ounces)
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) plus
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries (about 12 ounces)

Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Cut twenty 1-inch slices from baguette and arrange in one layer in baking dish. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 3/4 cup brown sugar and pour evenly over bread. Chill mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by bread, at least 8 hours, and up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a shallow baking pan spread pecans evenly and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes. Toss pecans in pan with 1 teaspoon butter and salt.

Increase temperature to 400°F.

Sprinkle pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut 1/2 stick butter into pieces and in a small saucepan heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, stirring, until butter is melted. Drizzle butter mixture over bread and bake mixture 20 minutes, or until any liquid from blueberries is bubbling.

Winners

I'm pretty sure I've talked about my grandparents before, but I don't feel like going back to find where and link it for you. They are my dad's parents, and since my dad and my uncle are gone, I feel pretty responsible for them and keeping them happy. I don't do a great job at that, but I win a lot of points for inviting them here for Christmas and stuff. Their primary residence is Houston, but they are from Boston and drive up there in May and stay all summer in the house my great-grandparents built. They've been doing this every year since my grandfather retired from his first career at Shell. But he has never really stopped working, because after that he consulted a lot, taught Chemical Engineering at U. of Houston, and works tirelessly trying to save their church from running out of money. Did I mention they are 86? Or something...I lose track. Maybe 87. My grandfather is really really smart, and my grandmother is a social butterfly who keeps their calender FULL to the max.



Anyway several weeks ago my grandfather was having dinner at Luby's cafeteria before a church meeting, and the cashier gave him some kind of scratch off game ticket. He shoved it in his pocket and went home, thinking it to be some stupid gimmicky advertisement. Later he took it out and scratched it off, revealing "Grand Prize Winner" and a phone number. He didn't take it seriously, but didn't throw it out. A few days later he figured he'd call the number, and much to his surprise he got Luby's corporate headquarters. The woman asked him to bring in the ticket, so he decided he would. The woman was surprised to find it was a valid ticket, because someone else had supposedly already won and claimed their prize. She said somebody must've made a mistake and put two winning tickets in.

At this point in the phone conversation my grandfather is telling me, I think "oh nice! so he won a month's worth of dinners at Luby's or something." Nope. A freakin' car. The grand prize was supposed to be a Chrysler Crossfire, which someone had already gotten from the dealership. So they were going to have to wait a few days to figure out what to do. My grandfather actually sounded excited about having a tiny little sportscar, which would be rediculous and impractical because my grandmother could never get in or out of it.

It turns out they got a Chrysler Pacifica, a much more practical car for them. Craziness. They currently have a big Caddilac and an old gigantic Buick station wagon. Well thank goodness they replaced that wagon. My grandparents' comments about this car are hilarious. My grandparents are wealthy people. But my grandmom says "I hope it's a good car, because we have to pay income taxes on it!" She's all worried about how they are gonna haul big loads around. As if my grandfather runs to the lumber yard once a week. HA! Their Caddy holds a crapload of stuff, trust me, they move half their house in it from Houston to Boston and back every year. My grandfather's comment was much more reasonable. "Too bad somebody who needed it more than we did didn't win it." That's my grandfather for ya.

Homemaking Meme

My friend over at Musings of a Housewife did this meme that kinda cracked me up.

I'm not really much of a housewife. I'm home a LOT, since I work from home, and only part time, but I suck at the housewifely duties. Especially now, that I'm pregnant. I didn't cook (except for the holidays) for almost the whole first trimester because of the nausea and food aversions. The exhaustion and barfiness often led me to lay around on the couch complaining (or napping). Now the barfiness is gone but I have new symptoms, like indigestion and mega pain that makes it hurt to move, and hurt to sit. So my motivation to clean is still not there. I'm actually seriously considering finally budgeting in a cleaning lady, but Mike thinks that would be wasteful. However, he gets very stressed when the house is a mess, which is always is these days. His stress leads to my stress, and so forth.

But really I do some stuff. So here ya go:

Aprons- Y/N? I asked for a Williams Sonoma one for Xmas and got it. Then I asked Mike to hang a hook on the wall for it, but I'm still waiting for that.

Baking- Favorite thing to bake? Chocolate chip cookies. Or maybe brownies from a box, because I love to lick the batter.

Clothesline- Y/N? I dry almost everything but I have a nice little drying rack that sits in the hall to dry all the delicates.

Donuts- Ever made them? No. Dunkin Donuts all the way.

Everyday- One homemaking thing you do everyday? Not sure I really have one. Does changing diapers count?

Freezer- Do you have a separate deep freezer? No. I wish.

Garbage Disposal- Y/N? Who doesn't?

Handbook- Y/N? Yeah right. Is this the 50's?

Ironing- Love it or hate it? Hate it. Everything goes to the cleaners. Everything that would need to be ironed.

Junk Drawer- Where is it? One under the phone, and one to the left of the sink. Plus a basket FULL of junk paper, like coupons and credit cards and mail worth saving.

Kitchen- Design and decorating? Didn't pick it but I love my maple cabinets. If I could I would replace the floor with tile and replace the counters with granite. We STILL haven't painted, so the walls are all builder's white.

Love- What is your favorite part of homemaking? None of the above. I guess vacuuming would be my least dreaded task.

Mop- Y/N? This is a question? Actually I don't mop, my husband does. I stink at it, so he takes care of it.

Nylons- Wash them by hand or in the washer? Washer. Don't wear them much, but they go right in the washer. Then on the aforementioned drying rack.

Oven- Do you use the window or open it to check? Open.

Pizza- What do you put on yours? Pineapple.

Quiet- What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Lately? Nap.

Recipe card box- Y/N? Yep. My grandmother's. Plus all kinds of loose scraps of paper shoved into cookbooks. Which explains why I could not find my awesome spinach salad recipe for my sister today. Drat!

Style of house- Mid-atlantic two-story colonial. Stone front. Very pretty but needs a bit of style added, in AND out.

Tablecloths and napkins- Y/N? Frequently use cloth tableclothes, but not always. Usually use paper napkins, except for good company.

Under the kitchen sink- Dog foor and cleaning supplies.

Vacuum- How many times a week? Maybe once. If I'm ambitious.

Wash- How many loads do you do a week? Hm...I'd say maybe 3-6. I don't mind laundry too much.

X’s- Do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off? Job related, not house related.

Yard- Who does what? That's all Mike.

ZZZ’s- What is your last homemaking task for the day? Folding the pile of laundry on the bed, so we can get in it.

Tragedy

I took this picture on Thursday at Nathan's class Valentine's party. I just love this one in particular. Kids are so cute.

Unfortunately those may be the last pictures I take for awhile. Today my Nikon 18-55mm kit lens met with an unfortunate accident. Nathan was checking out the pictures of his classmates and naming them one by one, when he turned to run away and pulled the camera off the desk. It took a hard fall, but it landed on carpet and I figured it should still be fine. I figured wrong. The camera body is fine, THANK GOD, but the zoom ring on the lens is locked at 55mm and the shutter appears to be stuck partially open. And when I took the lens off to peer inside and see if something was caught? some kind of internal plastic ring was knocked completely loose, and of course it's too big to actually pull out without unscrewing the entire lens.

Thankfully I still have the receipt and warrenty, and the camera shop I bought it from said they would send it in for me. So we shall see what they say. A new lens would set me back about $150, which isn't terrible, but the new brakes on my car today cost me $450, so I'm not in a spending mood.

Delayed Valentine's Day

I love this picture. I can't help thinking my kid is the cutest kid on the planet. Those blue eyes, those rosy cheeks! If he weren't so shy I'd be terrified of him becoming a total heartbreaker when he grows up. Speaking of shy, Nathan's teachers report to me that he is chatting up a storm during circle time at school now. He is VERY proud of knowing all his colors, and he loves to count to ten. When I put him down for his nap I often hear him singing little songs over the monitor.

Since school was cancelled yesterday, today is his class Valentine's Day party. I thought we were going to miss it, but the teacher encouraged me to bring him back for the party after his nap today. The only problem was he didn't fall asleep right away and now his nap will be pretty short, maybe an hour. But I made three beautiful cards for his teachers and 11 special valentine's for his classmates, plus I bought decorated cookies, so we are GOING.

Nathan was the only kid wearing blue this morning. My poor husband didn't even get a gift. Sometimes I suck at holidays. My mom's birthday present is almost a month late, but it's a GOOD one. I admit it was my sister's idea, but I did the research and we both think my mom is gonna love it. My husband hasn't even got the GPS he wanted for his birthday yet, also almost a month ago. Ok maybe it was only two weeks on both of them, but since going to San Diego and being stuck home with a sick kid in a snowstorm, it feels like a month. Ok time to make myself presentable and get the camera ready. Hopefully I'll have some cute party pictures later.

Snow Day!

Yesterday Nathan took the rest of his breathing treatments like a champ, and overall was a pretty happy kid. I even risked taking him out in the snow to play for awhile with the neighbor kids. Everyone just looked like they were having so much fun, and I didn't want Nathan to miss possibly the only snow we get this year. He looks so cute all bundled up. I didn't take pictures because the snow was still falling and I didn't want to get my camera wet.

I started to take him down a small slope in a sled, and then decided it probably wasn't smart for a pregnant person. So my neighbor did instead, and Nathan loved it! Too bad Mike isn't home, he's missing the fun.

We only got a few inches but it's still snowing or icing or something, and it looks very trecherous out there. Pepper protested leaving the porch this morning, but I threw her out into the yard to pee anyway. Both my neighbors offered to help clear my driveway, but I'm in no rush to go anywhere. No school, no MOPS. I didn't get time to buy a Valentine's Day present for hubs or Nathan either, or cards for all Nathan's little classmates. I suppose I could help Nathan handmake some today. I think it's a good day for being a couch potato.

Oh by the way, I finally watched Hotel Rowanda last night. It came from Netflix way back in December and I kept putting off watching it because I was never in the right mood. Then someone told me it wasn't really depressing, it was uplifting. Whoever told me that LIED. It is one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen, but deeply disturbing. In the same way Schindler's List is my favorite movie, but not one I've watched over and over. Since my trip to Africa I have a big place in my heart for the African people and their various problems. I highly recommend Hotel Rowanda, but you better bring the tissues.

In Which She Whines A Lot

Having a sick kid while you're pregnant blows. I can only imagine what having a sick kid when you have other kids to take care of is like. I came home from California to find Nathan had a pretty ugly cough. It got worse overnight, and he developed a fever, so I figured with the snowstorm coming I'd better get him to the doctor. Mike left early Monday morning for a business trip...perfect timing. So I kept Nathan home and we saw the doc first thing.

It was worse than I expected, he was really having trouble breathing, so they gave him a breathing treatment with a nebulizer in the office to see how he responded. He took it well, and they prescribed breathing treatments every four hours for awhile. Then they proceeded to take almost an hour to find a pharmacy in my area that sold the machine and accepted my insurance. Of course the insurance people put my doctor's office on hold forever while I waited in a tiny room with Nathan. Then they tell me there ARE no pharmacies around that take my insurance, so I'm just going to have to buy it and bill my provider myself. But I had to drive 20 miles to a town I'm unfamiliar with just to buy the darn thing. So I ran around all morning with my sick kid. Work? What work? Somebody wanted me to get something done?

As I mentioned, we're supposed to be getting a major storm today and into tomorrow, so I had to drag my sick kid to the store to buy some food and diapers. Poor kid. Oh yeah, did I mention I barfed twice along the way? Gross. To make matters worse, the MOPS group that I lead is responsible for breakfast at our monthly meeting this Wed. That means making tons of food, setting up the tables the night before, and preparing some kind of inspirational message. But nobody really thinks we're going to HAVE the meeting because of the storm. However just in case, I had to buy the ingredients for the fruit salad and french toast bake I'm making. I'm fairly certain we'll find out this afternoon that I have to eat all the stuff I bought, since it won't keep till our rescheduled meeting next week. Ugh.

Naturally Nathan woke me up several times overnight, mostly just to tuck him back in and maybe give some more cough medicine. He asked for milk at 5:30am and apparently never went back to sleep, because he decided 6am was time to get up. I was thinking 8am would be more appropriate. If I'm gonna miss work, I want to at least get some sleep. Nope. He sounded awful so I tried to give him a breathing treatment in front of Sesame Street but he screamed and protested. I don't know if he actually got the medicine or not. And it's snowing already. My husband left the shovel and snowblower ready for me. Yay. I can't wait till he gets home tomorrow night...

Monday Blahs

Yesterday I slept all day to try and shake off my time zone change jet lag. Plus I'm still pretty snotty. I asked Nathan if he would like a baby brother or a baby sister. He shook his head and said in a tone more like a question than and answer, "No?" Then I thought I'd try again to see if he had any idea what a brother or sister was. "Nathan, would you like a baby brother?" A more definitive "No!" Ok. "Nathan, would you like a baby sister?" An even stronger "No!"

Glad that's settled.

Hello from Sunny San Diego!

Just taking a brief break after my MOST boring all day meeting. Can I just say? San Diego ROCKS. It's downright hot here when the sun is out, which is most of the afternoon. I didn't pack my swimsuit! I took a nice long walk along the waterfront yesterday and had lunch outside both yesterday and today! Amazing. I think I'm bailing on Tijuana tonight, I just don't feel like going that far from the hotel. Well, time to go chill!

Spoke Too Soon

Ok so the barfiness is not gone yet. Better, but not gone. I just wish I could make my body stop generating so much snot. To steal a term from Southern Fried Girl, it's Snotfest 2007 over here. I am taking all kinds of prescription and OTC meds to try to make it better, but nothing works.

Also I have nothing to pack for this trip to San Diego. Like almost zero clothes that fit me. My regular pants are all too small. I discovered yesterday that not only is my belly expanding, I think my ass widened too since I stopped dieting and doing much cardio. Darnit. Fortunately or unfortunately my entire extensive maternity wardrobe from my first pregnancy is way too big for me. I was two sizes and about 30 lbs larger going into that pregnancy. Those were nice clothes too, since I had to travel for sales calls for the first 6 or so months of that pregnancy. I am going to consign them at our upcoming MOPS consignment sale.

I bought a few pair of maternity pants at Old Navy but most of them are still a bit big, and I can't walk around San Diego pulling my pants up every five minutes. I don't really even have many tops that fit well either. No businessy button down blouses. Only about two sweaters that I'm willing to be seen in. It's a disaster. Thank goodness this isn't really a sales type meeting, or I'd be screwed. It's all volunteer committee meetings and no one will mind my casual dress, since I have an excuse. Thank God for my Uggs. Shoes in general.

The other thing...I get that low necklines are flattering for pregnant women, but when you already have humongous cleavage like mine, most maternity tops are not appropriate work attire. Especially when you work with all men. Well at least I probably don't have to worry about any of them actually hitting on me. Surely not.

Yoga For Pregnant People

So I'm entering my second trimester and FINALLY the barfiness is gone. YAY! I still feel exhausted, I think from the anemia, and I still have weird cravings and food aversions. My congestion is as bad as ever. I'm really worried about how my sinuses are going to handle flying to San Diego on Wednesday.

Hey, did I mention I'm going to San Diego this week? So happy!! It MUST be warmer than our high of 8 degrees today with biting wind chills of 10 below. It's a business conference but a small one with just a handful of good friends to hang out with. Wed night should be fun, despite not being able to drink. Thursday night a few of us are heading across the border to Tijuana for dinner. I fly home Sat afternoon. Nathan will get to spend extra time at school this week.

I've still been going to yoga at least once a week, but it nearly kills me! I think my ab muscles have mysteriously disappeared because I can't seem to get any lift in headstands. I'm also very chicken about doing any inversions or arm balances lately. The one in the picture is up against the wall. After last week's class my glutes and hamstrings were sore for three days. I simply could not keep up with the class and it bummed me out. I was huffing and puffing and getting dizzy a lot. It's tough when you don't LOOK really pregnant but you feel like a completely different person. I may go back to doing the Level 1 class for awhile, not sure.

I Heart My Uggs

On Wed night I realized my husband's birthday was coming (Happy Birthday Honey!) and I asked him what he really wanted. Much to my surprise, he wants a new GPS unit, a fancy one with directions and stuff like the one his dad and my mom have. So I suggested we go shopping.

After looking in a couple stores he decided he needed to do more online research, so we went and had dinner. Then I somehow persuaded him that I needed to stop by Nordstrom and see if I could find some new shoes. I wasn't really expecting to find any, but I had a giftcard to spend. I normally covet their high heels but stillettos and pregnancy do not go well together.

Sometime around Christmas I started thinking I might actually like a pair of Uggs. The original Classic ones. But of course they are very hard to come by. The saleslady at Nordstrom looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if she had any in my size. So I called up my very good friend, the shoe fairy, (he would probably HATE that term), and asked if he could find me some. He contacted his friend the Uggs sales rep and asked. No luck, even someone working for Uggs couldn't get them. The Nordstrom website claimed if you ordered them they would ship in February, but I'm not about ordering stuff you won't get for over a month.

Fast forward to Wed night. I saw they had new Classic Shorts up on the Uggs display table, and they looked a lot smaller than the usual size 10s they have on display. Sure enough, they were my size!! Unfortunately I realized that my size is actually not my size in Uggs, because they run HUGE. But I was still in luck! They had that size too! There were at least four other women in a flurry around the Uggs display trying on boots. So I decided not to hesitate and proceeded to the register.

I asked the girl "Did you just get these in recently because every time I've checked before there has been nothing?" She smiled and replied, "OH Yes! We got them just today! Oh and they'll all be gone tomorrow."

Fate.

12 1/2 Weeks

Ok ok here's my formal announcement. Drumroll please....

I'm pregnant!

Yeah you all figured that out. I think I've told all the crucial people. Finally told my boss, but haven't told my other two coworkers. Keep trying to figure out how to slip it into work conversation.

Due date is August 9th or 12th, I've heard both. So now I've had THREE ultrasounds already, and everything looks perfect. The last one on Tuesday was amazing, I had a big screen to watch it on, and it lasted a long time. It was like really getting to spend time with my kid. Two arms, two hands, one wavely wildly at me, two little legs and two feet. One rapidly fluttering heart. He/she had the hiccups and liked to swim around a lot. Plenty of room in there I guess, as evidenced by my expanding waistline.

I couldn't believe the difference in size from the first ultrasound I had, just four weeks ago. I also could not believe how at 12 weeks gestation, when many women still don't even know they are pregnant, someone could deny that it is a fully unique human life. There is no way that is just a lump of tissue that can be discarded if it presents a problem for the mother.
It's not about control over women's bodies. It's not about regulating reproductive rights. Not for a second. I know so many pro-choicers question the real motives of the pro-life movement, and argue why don't we do more for the unwanted babies that ARE born. But we DO, don't you see? So many of us work hard to support mothers in crisis and adoption programs. We provide food, shelter, clothing and emotional support for unwed or abused moms. We support agencies and families that house foster kids and promote adoption in many ways including money and prayer. We ARE pro-life. Pro-child. Pro-family.

It's not about who controls my uterus. It's about that innocent child in there that cannot be ignored or murdered just because you can't see it yet. It's true that at 12 weeks it could not survive the outside world....YET. Medical science keeps advancing and advancing and they are down to something like 20 weeks as the age of survival. That's only HALF the normal pregnancy. Who's to say in a few years they won't be able to keep a 12 week old baby alive. And why does every doctor I've ever had call it a baby from day 1 if it isn't?

I know many of you won't agree with me. You'll argue that while you might not agree with abortion, it's not the anyone's place including the government's to say what we do with our bodies. But if you saw someone with a gun aimed at a child's head, would you not say something? Do you not agree that it IS the government's place to prevent murder?

Ok I'll get off the soapbox now. Oh yeah, and don't forget it's MY soapbox so while I welcome good discussion, play nice or I reserve the right to delete you.