Some big news, and some little news

Yesterday while burning a pile of wood I found a snake - I was able to grab it and MamaP and the girls pulled in to the driveway while I was looking for a place to keep it until they arrived.


The big news (for me anyway) is that it was a new species for me - a Brown Snake. I had assumed the snake was a baby but it was probably at least close to being an adult. It was extremely docile, so I let Lily bring it back to field to set it free. Even Holly got to hold it, but we didn't get a pic of that since I was helping her.


In other, much smaller news, I managed to fix the hot water heater. The board that had to be replaced is below. The heater is a tankless heater from a brand called Paloma, that was bought out by a company called Rheem. Overall the customer service on the phone was really good - inefficient (I was transfered about 4 times) but very helpful. I told them my error code, and about 20 seconds later he was getting my address to ship the part to me. When I ran into a problem with the installation related to some poor documentation, they were open on Saturday and explained the procedure to program the board very clearly - they were obviously familiar with the product and not reading from a script.



The offending board is here - the round things on the left side are capacitors, and the ones that look like they have a rounded top do, and aren't supposed to. They failed for some reason which is why we were receiving the error. The capacitors on the new board were a little different - I suspect they were replaced for that reason.

Deserting the dessert menu....

List of to do's today that are mostly done:
Dump run, hive check, and gas tank fill.

Now we still have:
Back at home.....plant a few more rows and work on flower beds. I am starting to wish we had our own chipper so I can make non firewood worthy storm fall branches into landscaping mulch. As it is I think I will just rake up grass clippings. I have zinnia's to plant! WOO!

I think an all day outside is just what we need.

So that's what is on the menu. I got to thinking about something this week. Lots of people have been posting pictures of desserts or listing out meals with desserts. Now, I love me some sugar, but the problem with desserts is that I eat them. I eat all of them. No, I eat all of all of them. No one else here really cares for sweets except Blueberry and she will forgo dinner if she knows there will be dessert.  I eat less of the good stuff too. Gobble gobble like cookie monster. Ice cream would last longer melting on the counter than in my presence. I love me some sugar.

Solution: I don't plan for desserts. I don't make them. We might have a before bed snack but it is cheese or meat or fruit. Hardly dessert menu worthy. So when we have a special occasion, the dessert really is special. Cake is not a common occurrence here. I've only ever made brownies once in my entire life and have not made them again because I would EAT them all nom nom nom nom.

I wonder when dessert became such a huge part of American daily life. You know?

Just my thoughts for the day.....

Doctor and Birth Center

Resigned to a C-Section and really stressed out and tired of the treatment that I have received from my current provider (I love the midwife at the practice, but not some of the staff nor the labs they contract), I decided to search out other options. I mean, a 5th blood test scheduled, each test negating the worrisome result of the preceding but finding something possibly new and then I find out that non standard and inappropriate tests were run without my knowledge or consent. That kinda pissed me off. I only found out about it because they billed the wrong insurance company who denied the claim and sent me the denial form, with each test detailed out. Wrong. Neither insurance company, the labs, nor the doctor would tell me what the labs were for. There were 17. I finally pushed enough for someone to tell me and that was still just a guess. Grrrrrrr.

So I sat down and made a list of things I wanted this time around with my limited options.
1) I actually would like a vaginal birth. It is called a VBAC2. It is possible. The risk of uterine rupture is 1.36%, with a VBAC1 it is 1%. If the doctors tell me it is not possible, I am coming to terms with that. I feel healthier and stronger now than ever before in my entire life. If ever, the time would be now.
2) I would at the very least like a C/S at 40 weeks, not 38. Or better yet, a labour indicated C/S. That would mean I know for sure that the baby's lungs are ready, even if I can't deliver baby through the proper channels.
3) I want my Doula in the OR with me. Chad for the baby, CB with me. I get terrified and I need someone to hold my hand. I would never in a million years take Chad away from the baby, but I still need someone with me. CB was with me through the other two C/S.
4) For prenatal care, I need someone who understands my reluctance to be touched too much. I need a doctor I can trust not to treat me like cattle or another folder that they have maybe read.

So, I could go back to the group that delivered both my girls. I was ok with them, but something in my heart was reluctant. It is why I searched out the midwife I was with at the start of this pregnancy. They are excellent surgeons. They were even supportive of my VBAC attempt with Blueberry, but the support staff assigned to me in labour sucked. I didn't like her at all, but when I get admitted I get submissive. This time I needed more assurance.

It started with a phone call to the local health center. There are billboards all over town with advertisements for the new birth center wing. I asked few questions of the nurse, she asked questions to me as well and she scheduled a tour.

Wow. The place is nice. There is a courtyard for labouring women to walk around in. The labour suits each have a door to it. The nurse couldn't quite answer my questions, saying the doctor would have to answer them. The place is very family friendly, but also very small. It was not at all like the giant factory 30+ babies that the big hospitals have. They had one woman in labour. They were getting the nursery ready for her new baby. The nurses all smiled at us. One even started a conversation with Lil'Bug. Lovely! One nurse said her first baby was born while she was strapped to a bed with Pit plugged in and it was horrific, 30 years ago. She said no woman would ever suffer like that under her care.

Then we got to interview the doctor! He spent about 20 minutes with us, answering my questions and concerns, asking some of his own. He is very VBAC supportive. He asked what led to the C/S's before, and stated he would review my file if a VBAC2 is what I wanted. He said he'd done a successful VBAC3! He explained risk, which I knew. He said the only barrier is really the small facility, could only accommodate a VBAC during the week, day hours.

He said he never does planned C/S before 39 weeks. It's not good for the baby. He said I could have as many support people as I liked in the OR as long as there was not a need for them to leave.

He said pregnancy is not a disease! YAY! He also said that confidentiality is very important to them and what happened with my 1st blood test in Des Moines would not have happened under his care and lab. Yes. That. It is not the law, as I was told by the labs in DM and the doc there.

You know, the attitude of the facility is what really sold me. Respect for the women and their babies is really important. I have not made the decision to VBAC2, but it feels empowering to have options again. I canceled the 2nd ultrasound and 5th blood draw that the other doc scheduled. I'll get them done if this doctor says they are necessary.  Until then, I am feeling so much better. I actually feel like he will read my files and history before making decisions. It was a pretty easy decision for me once I got home and reviewed everything with Dearest.

Oh, and while we were there I got Dearest to get treatment and Tetanus shot for the nail hole in his foot. Yay!

So a frustrating start has a new beginning. The farther away from the big city I get, the happier I am. I just never thought that would apply to health care.

Chicken-Zilla

I watched this chicken eat no less than 7, possibly 8, mice while cleaning out the chicken house ( I mean while I was cleaning out the chicken house, she's not THAT awesome). This is also the chicken that lays the giant double yoked eggs some of you may have seen in the eggs you bought from MamaP. I've identified the breed (I think) as Dark Cornish.

My current plan is to transition our flock of layers into a mix of those and barred rocks. I need our chickens to be predictable, hardy, and nice with kids and these seem to fit the bill.

I'm raising 30 barred rocks as meat birds this year to see how it goes. I had decided to standardize on these two breeds before I realized that they are the breeds the mega-chickens are created from, which is some kind of interesting coincidence. I don't have anything specific against the crosses, though a lot of people seem to - but based on my reading they are just too fragile for me. Our chickens get a scoop or two of food a day between the 19 we have currently and are allowed to free range for the rest of the day. I like this laid back approach - I have a friend who let her crosses go a few weeks longer than expected and her chickens could hardly walk. No doubt proper feed management could be playing a role there, but I'd rather not worry so much about it. I'm willing to give up some efficiency to get a little extra hardiness out of the chickens we do raise.