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!

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?