Downtime? Yes, plenty of it.

Well, since it appears I will continue to have the entire summer with plenty of downtime, I have certainly been relaxing quite a bit.  I have been reading an average of one book every two days, spending hours upon hours at the pool, and have been cooking fabulous meals for the family.  Tonight was homemade lasagna with yummy homemade bread.  My youngest child must have devoured five pieces of the bread!

I had picked up a good 20 (or so) books at the annual library book sale (mucho cheapo!), and have read almost all of them so far.  I just finished reading "Next" by Michael Crichton today.  Halfway through the book, I realized that I've read it a few years ago.  Oh well!  No loss!  Next book is going to be "Picture Perfect" by Jodi Piccoult.  I also ordered a handful of books from Amazon today.  Gotta keep the supply of books fresh!

I picked up a copy of "Sunday Morning, Shamwana" by Linda Robinson.  A definite must read for midwives, student midwives, mothers, women, nurses, etc!  Linda is a midwife who worked with Doctors Without Borders for a year in the Congo.  She kept a diary of sorts, of her emails and written entries about her year serving women and families in the Congo.  What an amazing, scary, funny, and often times sad and frustrating year.  I just could not begin to imagine what it would be like to work in a 3rd world country.  Where death is almost expected or anticipated during childbirth or in the first year of a child's life.   How ridiculously spoiled we are in this country, the land of epidurals and elective inductions for social reasons.  But I digress.....just read the book.  You'll pick up some french when you read it as well (Linda learns french as she spends her year in the Congo).

I'm off to go read some more........good night all!

"Arms wide open: A midwife's journey" by Patricia Harman

I just *finally* finished reading "Arms wide open" written by nurse-midwife Patricia Harman.  Starting with entries from her red journal (Little Cabin in the North Woods, 1971-1972), to the green journal (Commune on the Ridge, 1977-1978), flashing forward to the silver journal (Cedar House on Hope Lake, 2008-2009), Patsy takes us on a whirlwind of portions of her life.  From her early days as the self-taught homebirth midwife, to the blossoming mother she became to her own sons, to the path that led her to nursing, and finally nurse-midwifery.

I am blessed and amazed that Patsy kept such an amazing record of the journey she followed.  It becomes apparent, early in the book, that midwifery is a calling that will not be ignored!  Patsy weaves stories of the difficult life of living on the homestead on 80 acres, far removed from society, with her partner Stacy, and son Mica.  You can feel the cold seeping through the homestead as you read about failed attempts at gardening, poor planning for the rough winter ahead, daily chores, and repairs needing done before the snow arrives.

Throughout the book, Patsy tells stories of memorable labors and births she attended.  As you progress to the latter portion of the book, the silver journal and her current life with her husband Tom, it makes me wonder: what other amazing and interesting tales does Patsy have to tell us in the intervening years?  How did it come to be that Patsy and Tom moved towards their practice that focused on chronic pelvic pain?  When did Patsy stop attending births -- and why?

This reader is left wanting to know more about those years in between homebirth to nursing to nurse-midwifery.  Please Patsy...more journals!  I just know that you have many, many more stories to tell.

Books, books, everywhere books

I recently bought a new bookshelf unit to store more of my books (not just school texts, but also pregnancy/birth and fiction books). Well, I quickly managed to fill up almost every space on the new shelving unit. (See the 2nd picture - that's just SOME of my school texts!) The first picture? Did you notice what it originally was? If you guessed an entertainment center............you would be correct!! Yes, I turned an entertainment/TV center unit into bookshelves. Quite ingenious, no?

Below is the new bookshelf unit. Already full. With books in crates and piled on the floor in front of it.

Sigh.....

List o' books

What have you read lately? What are you currently reading? What's on your "to read" list?

Most recent:

Flynn Brothers Trilogy by Heather Graham














Nightwalker by Heather Graham









Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich















Currently reading:

Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen















My pharmacology textbook - yippie!!



Up next:

More from my pharmacology textbook.

Midwifery History Books

This is just a partial list of the books I own. I have not managed to read them entirely yet. I know I have a few more laying about the house........

(Author -- Title of the book red is my comments for each book)




Rooks -- Midwifery and Childbirth in America required for current class


Davis-Floyd -- Birth as an American Rite of Passage read bits and pieces so far, has been reprinted since my copy


Breckinridge -- Wide Neighborhoods required reading before attending Frontier


Jordan -- Birth in Four Cultures haven't read yet, compares four different countries re: birth


Cassidy -- Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born excellent piece with lots of history!


Wertz -- Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America I plan on using this one for my current class, haven't read it yet though



Ulrich -- A Midwife's Tale read most of this one, hard to follow with the old style of writing, was a diary, so reads as such


Lee -- Vaginal Politics: A Midwife's Story haven't read yet


Bovard & Milton -- Why Not Me? haven't read yet


Ehrenreich & English -- Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers a small pamphlet/booklet, printed in 1973, but still with relevant history


Urang -- Playing Catch: A Midwife's Memoirs awesome!


Block -- Pushed makes me frustrated to be a nurse

Am I crazy? Yes, I must be crazy

My classes start in 3 days, and just what did this crazy nurse/student/woman do? I started reading "Under the Dome" by Steven King.

Have I mentioned that the book is over 1000 pages long?