MOMS for the 21st Century Act :: Update

So as I've blogged about before, there's an act out there called MOMS for the 21st Century Act.

As a reminder, here's the overview of the act:

Official Summary

7/21/2010--Introduced.Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services for the 21st Century or the MOMS for the 21st Century Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Office on Women's Health, to:
(1) establish the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Promotion of Optimal Maternity Outcomes; and
(2) develop and implement a consumer education campaign to promote understanding and acceptance of evidence-based maternity practices and models of care for optimal maternity outcomes among women of childbearing ages and families of such women. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to make publicly available and update an online bibliographic database identifying systematic reviews for care of childbearing women and newborns. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to:
(1) designate maternity care health professional shortage areas under the National Health Service Corps program;
(2) establish a loan repayment program to alleviate critical shortages of maternal care professionals; and
(3) award planning and implementation grants to address workforce disparities for such professionals. Directs the Secretary to support the establishment of two additional Centers for Excellence on Optimal Maternity Outcomes to conduct research to improve maternity outcomes. Requires the Secretary to convene a Maternity Curriculum Commission to discuss and make recommendations for:
(1) a shared core maternity care curriculum;
(2) strategies to integrate and coordinate education across maternity care disciplines; and
(3) pilot demonstrations of interdisciplinary educational models. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover services provided by a supervised student midwife or an intern or resident-in-training under a teaching program under certain circumstances.

(www.opencongress.org, 2010)


After reading this morning's blog A Tale of Two Moms / ACOG Pulls a Fast One from theunnecesarean.com, I realized that the war has now begun.

According to the ACOG's May 2010 update, their new bill, Making Obstetrics and Maternity Safer (MOMS) Initiative, will:

ACOG’s MOMS Initiative is a multi‐pronged approach that will help the U.S. develop and implement evidence‐based interventions to improve maternal health.
1)Understand the Causes, Improve Interventions for, and Reduce the Prevalence of Premature Births.
2)Focus on Obesity Research, Treatment, and Prevention.
3)Improve Surveillance and Data Collection On Maternal and Infant Health.
4)Support Maternal/Infant Health Programs at HRSA.
5)Research Disparities in Maternal/Fetal Outcomes, to Eliminate Disparities.
6)Develop, Test and Implement Quality Improvement Measures and Initiatives.
7)Test an Obstetric Medical Home Model

ACOG is scrambling to gain ground - financial ground - that they are losing to home births and midwives. They have only been about the care of their Obstetricians, not their patients, and it now shows. I am both saddened yet joyous. I can only hope that by re-posting this (and see more people re-post) that it gets the word out there. There's only ONE MOMS Act and it's NOT the ACOG's.

The dreams are rolling in!

So last Wednesday, the 29th, I had this beautiful baby dream about my friend's baby. She's currently in the home stretch of her pregnancy, estimated to arrive around mid October, and apparently I'm WAY more excited than I let on. I had a dream that I got sent a text saying she had her baby girl with stats and a pic of her husband, her, and her baby. They named her Madeline Grace and were calling her Maddie.

I woke up with the most awesome feeling and so I talked to both of my friends, as they have been having a slight name crisis and they loved it! One can only hope my dream names her! ;)

Then on Thursday night, the 7th, I have a dream that this same friend and I were swimming in a pool. I watched this water bag float up and I tell her that her water is gone so we may need to get ready for baby. We almost make it to the hospital, because for some reason we were walking there (gotta love dreams), and my friend looks at me with this determined face and says "I've got to push!" and with one push she caught her little girl. The baby was healthy, beautiful, and latched right on to momma's breast. Obviously I really can not wait for this little one to make her entrance.

Now last night, the 8th, I had another dream - this time about Baby G! We got a call and I couldn't stop smiling but tears were rolling down my face. T. (our adoption coordinator) exclaimed in excitement "It's a BOY!". I immediately hung up and posted those words on Facebook (uh oh, it may be intervention time). We traveled to Japan around Thanksgiving and our little boy was so tiny and adorable and S. and I had never been more in love. I didn't want the dream to end.

<3

How it will all go down

I've actually been getting this question a LOT and thought I should make a blog post about it. It's a great question, just not one I want to repeat a thousand times. haha.

So here's how it will all go down when we get "the call":

1.) The bio mom will be in the hospital with the baby for about a week after the baby is born. Within that time she will decide if this is the right decision for her. If she decides to give up her parental rights, she has 3 days from the date she signs to the date it's "finalized".

2.) When it's finalized, the parents-to-be (PTB) get a phone call saying they have a baby.

3.) The agency in Japan then files paperwork with the Embassy to get a court date for the PTB to appear with the baby.

4.) A couple weeks later the court notifies the agency of a date (usually about 2-3 weeks from that notification).

5.) The agency notifies the PTB immediately, which gives them about a 2-3 week (give or take one or two) leeway to book travel and get out there.

6.) The PTB will then travel to Japan for a couple weeks. They welcome their baby into their family a couple days after their arrival and begin a whirlwind of appointments with doctors, the embassy, etc.

7.) The PTB then come home as a family.

:D

When the PTB see their baby for the first time the baby is anywhere from 5-10 weeks old. It really depends on many factors - when the bio mom chooses to sign over the child, when the agency submits paperwork to get an appointment, and when the Japanese government is able to get an appointment.

Now we just wait.

Yesterday afternoon I headed back to my desk to find an email from our agency coordinator.

Our photo book is approved.

I was shocked as I just had a breakdown about it earlier in the morning. The stars are aligning - God is watching over us.

I ran in to S.'s office yelling and clapping letting him know we're approved. He smiles and says "hooray! BABY!" I head back to my desk to respond to the email (as there was a question in there), I hit send and lose my mind. I begin crying and crying and S. comes over and gives me the biggest hug I've ever received from him. He whispers how much he loves me and how he's so excited that we are literally one step closer to our family.

I tell him I cry tears of happiness, tears of release - the past (almost) 9 months of paperwork, appointments, meetings, and waiting has all come to a head.

We are now a waiting family - waiting to be told a mother has chosen S. and I to parent their baby, waiting to meet our baby, waiting to be a family of 3.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Movie Review: Pregnant in America

I finally got "Pregnant in America" from Netflix. S. and I watched it Monday night and enjoyed it. It was a cute movie, made by a first time father to be who was outraged at the maternity system in America. It actually made S. feel better to know that he wasn't alone. ;)

One segment talked about how there is no oversight over the medical community with regards to what drugs can and can not be used for labor - specifically CYTOTEC. This one family interviewed has been petitioning the FDA for help in banning it's use in obstetric care, however their response was that they had no jurisdiction over that. Disgusting.

The rest of the movie, for me, was all info I'm very well aware of so it didn't have the punch power, but still had some great info nonetheless. And any one that rolls the great Ina May Gaskin, Mardsen Wagner, and some OBs pissed at the system into their film deserves an A+ in my book. ;)

My personal spiritual journey

Some of you may notice I took down my research on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

The reason being is that I have had some amazing quiet time with God - He's allowed me to yell at Him, scream about things I'm confused about, and cry on His word and has still been faithful and loving. In this time, while I am very interested in learning more about other religions, God is calling me to lay at His feet and listen to His words.

As always, God is good to His children and I wish I would have opened the Good Book sooner.

I have been writing down notes on my daily devotional and have decided to make Sundays my "weekly devotional day" where I'll write down my readings for the week and share my notes.

Thank you to those that have been prayer warriors for me. Trust me, they were received and appreciated.

I pray the spirit of the Lord is upon you and gives you peace. Much love.

Acne be-gone!

About 3 years ago I got hit with adult acne. I thought I had missed the high school/teenaged acne bus and was home free. Ha! So I tried different creams, masks, cleansers and nothing worked. It felt like it was getting worse. I also started charting my cycles and noticed that when I got to my luteal phase I'd have even more acne.

So to a dermatologist I went. She ended up prescribing a low dose of antibiotics, a prescription-only cream, and then asked me to wash with La Roche Posay (2 different cleansers, one for night and one for morning). Just about $100 later, I noticed things were getting better.

Then we start trying for Baby G. Thankfully I had a follow up with my dermatologist as she yanks me off the pills and cream - not suitable for a growing baby in the womb. So within a month or two, the acne was back. Now I'm even more worried about getting pregnant because progesterone seems to have an ill-effect on my face and when pregnant your body surges with that hormone - oy vey!

Well, a year and a half passes and I'm at the end of my rope. I'm tired of masking the acne with layers of make-up; tired of not wanting to wash the make-up off my face as I'm too embarrassed even to let S. see my face; tired of walking around feeling so insecure with myself.

I finally decided to try the oil cleansing method. The oil cleansing method is easy - you take caster oil and sunflower oil, mix it together (proportions are in the link provided), rub it on your face, steam your face, and done! You only do this at night, no need to clean in the morning.

I wish I had taken before and after photos for your viewing pleasure, however the thought of having my acne-filled face on the internet forever makes me cringe. But take my word for it, I am SO SO SO happy with the results. S. even notices a HUGE difference. He's excited for me just because he knew how much it bothered me. He's even started cleansing his face with the mix and LOVES it. The cost is also amazing - $4 for sunflower oil and $6ish for caster oil and it LASTS! I love that it's all-natural, too.

So here I am, a week and change later, feeling like a new woman. I can go out of the house with just powder and blush and feel confident about my face.