Sweet Little Lottie

All dressed up, and apparently somewhere super fancy (and rainy) to go!

Spring Fever

We got to remedy a bit of our spring fever today by enjoying the 70 degree temps at the zoo this afternoon. It was a great day for treasure digging. Not such a great day for going to the Capitol, though. I figured I didn't need to go this morning, only to change my mind about 10 minutes before I had to leave the house to meet Susan. And of course Jax and Lili were still in their jimjams. Unfortunately, it still proved unproductive, so I guess I changed clothes in the Capitol Parking lot for no reason. I did manage to leave several message and even convince my vacationing family to do so as well, but still it was a bummer. I'm still waiting to find out the outcome- stay tuned..

Working It

These awesome representatives of the Friends of Iowa Midwives are working so hard for our state and our midwives- we are so fortunate to have such awesomeness in our corner!

And now,...the shamelessness ;)

What can you do?

-- Write an email. Express your support of House Study Bill 229. Put it in your own words. It doesn't have to be long or poetic. (There is an easy list of do's and don't's for writing good emails below...)

-- Copy and paste that email to each one of the following Representatives (be sure to address each Representative by name, including his/her title):

Representative John Beard john.beard@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Marcella Frevert marcella.frevert@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Mary Gaskill mary.gaskill@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Brian Quirk Brian.Quirk@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Paul Shomshor Paul.Shomshor@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Mary Mascher Mary.Mascher@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Doug Struyk Doug.Struyk@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Christopher Rants Christopher.Rants@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Jack Drake jack.drake@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Dawn Pettengill Dawn.Pettengill@legis.state.ia.us
Representative J. Scott Raecker Scott.Raecker@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Rod Roberts Rod.Roberts@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Rene Schulte renee.schulte@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Kevin Koester kevin.koester@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Dennis Cohoon dennis.cohoon@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Charles Isenhart charles.isenhart@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Todd Taylor Todd.Taylor@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Jeff Kaufmann jeff.kaufmann@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Nate Willems nate.willems@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Vicki Lensing Vicki.Lensing@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Roger Wendt Roger.Wendt@legis.state.ia.us


NOTE: you only have to compose one e-mail message, but don't send one e-mail to all of those addresses. Instead, copy and paste your message into 21 separate emails. If you don't have time to do all of them, start at the top of the list and do as many as you can. (The list is prioritized.)

This needs to be done BEFORE 10:30 AM tomorrow morning!!!

Once you've done that, you've already helped tremendously! Thank you!


But wait...
Want to do more? Got 10 more minutes?


Start calling and leaving short phone messages, too! If you can leave a message for just one Representative, great! If you can leave a phone message for each one of these people, even better! Start at the top of the list and call as many as you can!

Phone messages can be brief, and should follow the same basic guidelines as the e-mails.

Call the main switchboard: 515-281-3221. Ask to speak to the Representative. Almost guaranteed you will be connected to voicemail. Or, you may talk to a Representative's clerk; you can leave a message with the clerk, too.

If you don't get a chance to call before 5:00 tonight, call in the morning!



What? You're not exhausted yet, and you're so dedicated to getting this bill passed that you want one more assignment??

FOIM members are so awesome!!!

There is ONE more VERY IMPORTANT thing you can do...

Tell your friends!

Know a FOIMer who doesn't check his/her email everyday? Call them on the phone and fill them in on how important it is for them to email or call TODAY! TONIGHT! TOMORROW MORNING at the latest!

Know someone who is supportive of midwives but hasn't gotten around to joining FOIM? Get them involved now!

Know a HEALTH CARE PROVIDER of any kind who is supportive of midwives? ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE that he or she calls someone on this list and lets them know that there are physicians, nurses, chiropractors, etc. who support House Study Bill 229!


Let's make this happen!


Now, as promised, here's your list of do's and don't's:


DO: Say "Please Support HSB229" in the subject line of your email.

DO: Urge the recipient to support HSB 229 in the body of the email.

DO: Say who you are. list relevant credentials (nurse, professor, etc.)

DO: If you are a parent who has given birth at home, or someone who wants to have a legal direct-entry midwife attend your next birth, say so!

DON'T: Don't say anything bad about hospital birth or hospitals or doctors or OB/GYNs. Don't say their rates of intervention are too high. Focus on the positive things about midwives.

DON'T: Don't say "lay midwives." Refer to Certified Professional Midwives or Direct-Entry Midwives.

DON'T: Don't mention insurance or medicaid. It's not a part of this bill and mentioning it sidetracks the issue.

Talking points:

-1% of the population gives birth out-of-hospital. In Iowa, that was about 400 families last year. We need to make sure these families have access to midwives.

-Research shows that planned out-of-hospital birth with CPMs results in outcomes equal to those for low-risk women giving birth in hospitals. (BMJ study, published 2005)

-It is in the interest of public health and safety for Iowa to license midwives so that the small number of Iowans who choose out-of-hospital birth can have access to these highly skilled care providers.

-CPMs are recognized in 25 other states, including our neighbors Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri. and are the only care providers specifically trained in out-of-hospital birth.

*source FOIM*

Wanna Ride?

Well, you can't have one. But I'll drag you around the room if you insist on holding on to one of the three cars I'm refusing to share.

Friends of Iowa Midwives

When I grow up I want to be able to translate my thoughts from brain to tongue like Renee Cramer. Dude, she has a kid- how did she not lose the standard 1/2 million brain cells per child*?


*More for subsequent children- at least in this household.

365 Project Update

Two months in and I've met my goal of a photo a day, AND have uploaded and post said photo each day by midnight. The problem is the midnight part. I'm definitely going to continue the project but I may take a note from Sarah and allow myself to post only once or twice a week. I guess I'm not committed either way, but I wanted to relax that part to see if I'd start posting more written content- because as it is by the time I get to sit down at night (which remember is interrupted at least every hour by a very short person upstairs) I have lots of other things I need to be doing (ahem, KNIT, screw the dishes!) so by the time I get those done and upload the photo I'm out of energy for writing anything. So, I will continue a photo a day but not necessarily POST them everyday. Thanks Sabbath for the reminder to check in with our goals for the year :)

Helping Daddy

Lili had a fun day helping Daddy. Two peas in a pod, I swear. Jax and I are just along for the ride...