By: Anna Shannon,
on 10/16/2016
Nowadays we use the term ‘first ‘1000 days’ to mean the time between conception and a child’s second birthday. We know that providing good nutrients and care during this period are key to child development and giving a baby the optimum start in life.
The post The first 1000 days appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Simon Turley,
on 7/25/2016
The importance of a healthy diet for proper functioning of the brain is increasingly being recognized. Week in, week out studies appear recommending a high intake of certain foods in order to achieve optimal brain function and prevent brain diseases. Although it is definitely no punishment for the most of us to increase our chocolate consumption to boost brain function, the most important period during which nutrition affects our brain may already be behind us.
The post The lifelong importance of nutrition in pregnancy for brain development appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Monica Gupta,
on 4/22/2016
एक कडवा सच- रंगीन दुनिया का बदरंग चेहरा खुद पर लक्ष्मण रेखा जरुरी है.. कुछ समय पहले आनन्दी बनाम प्रत्यूषा की आत्महत्या ने सकते में डाल दिया पर जैसे जैसे इस बारे में और खबरें आती गई हैरानी बढती चली गई…!! मन अनेक सवालों से घिरता चला गया…!! चाहे फिल्मी दुनिया हो या धारावाहिक की […]
The post एक कडवा सच- रंगीन दुनिया का बदरंग चेहरा appeared first on Monica Gupta.
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By: Monica Gupta,
on 4/22/2016
एक कडवा सच- रंगीन दुनिया का बदरंग चेहरा खुद पर लक्ष्मण रेखा जरुरी है.. कुछ समय पहले आनन्दी बनाम प्रत्यूषा की आत्महत्या ने सकते में डाल दिया पर जैसे जैसे इस बारे में और खबरें आती गई हैरानी बढती चली गई…!! मन अनेक सवालों से घिरता चला गया…!! (तस्वीर गूगल से साभार) चाहे फिल्मी दुनिया […]
The post एक कडवा सच- रंगीन दुनिया का बदरंग चेहरा appeared first on Monica Gupta.
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By: Katherine Soroya,
on 9/11/2015
Every year, across the world 287,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth along with at least 2.6 million stillbirths, of which about 50% are intrapartum deaths. Among 133 million babies born alive each year, 2.8 million die in the first week of life. The latest MBRRACE reports of the UK show a maternal mortality rate of 10 per 100,000 women giving birth (December 2014).
The post Managing high-risk pregnancies in obstetrics today appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Laura Orchard,
on 6/6/2015
Does preconception stress increase the risk of infertility? Dr Courtney D. Lynch will be presenting the results from a couple-based prospective cohort study, the LIFE study, at this year’s Human Reproduction Keynote Lecture in Lisbon. We meet Dr Lynch to learn more about how she came to specialise in reproductive medicine and the findings of her research.
The post Preconception stress and infertility: a Q&A with Dr. Courtney D. Lynch appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Michelina Ouellette,
on 3/16/2015
By: DanP,
on 3/9/2015
The news that Britain is set to become the first country to authorize IVF using genetic material from three people—the so-called ‘three-parent baby’—has given rise to (very predictable) divisions of opinion. On the one hand are those who celebrate a national ‘first’, just as happened when Louise Brown, the first ever ‘test-tube baby’, was born in Oldham in 1978. Just as with IVF more broadly, the possibility for people who otherwise couldn’t to be come parents of healthy children is something to be welcomed.
The post The third parent appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Julia Callaway,
on 9/26/2014
A new study shows that women who have difficulty accepting the fact that they can’t have children following unsuccessful fertility treatment, have worse long-term mental health than women who are able to let go of their desire for children. It is the first to look at a large group of women (over 7,000) to try to disentangle the different factors that may affect women’s mental health over a decade after unsuccessful fertility treatment. These factors include whether or not they have children, whether they still want children, their diagnosis, and their medical treatment.
It was already known that people who have infertility treatment and remain childless have worse mental health than those who do manage to conceive with treatment. However, most previous research assumed that this was due exclusively to having children or not, and did not consider the role of other factors. Alongside my research colleagues from the Netherlands, where the study took place, we found only that there is a link between an unfulfilled wish for children and worse mental health, and not that the unfulfilled wish is causing the mental health problems. This is due to the nature of the study, in which the women’s mental health was measured at only one point in time rather than continuously since the end of fertility treatment.
We analysed answers to questionnaires completed by 7,148 women who started fertility treatment at any of 12 IVF hospitals in the Netherlands between 1995-2000. The questionnaires were sent out to the women between January 2011 and 2012, meaning that for most women their last fertility treatment would have been between 11-17 years ago. The women were asked about their age, marital status, education and menopausal status, whether the infertility was due to them, their partner, both or of unknown cause, and what treatment they had received, including ovarian stimulation, intrauterine insemination, and in vitro fertilisation / intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI). In addition, they completed a mental health questionnaire, which asked them how they felt during the past four weeks. The women were asked whether or not they had children, and, if they did, whether they were their biological children or adopted (or both). They were also asked whether they still wished for children.
The majority of women in the study had come to terms with the failure of their fertility treatment. However, 6% (419) still wanted children at the time of answering the study’s questionnaire and this was connected with worse mental health. We found that women who still wished to have children were up to 2.8 times more likely to develop clinically significant mental health problems than women who did not sustain a child-wish. The strength of this association varied according to whether women had children or not. For women with no children, those with a child-wish were 2.8 times more likely to have worse mental health than women without a child-wish. For women with children, those who sustained a child-wish were 1.5 times more likely to have worse mental health than those without a child-wish. This link between a sustained wish for children and worse mental health was irrespective of the women’s fertility diagnosis and treatment history.
Our research found that women had better mental health if the infertility was due to male factors or had an unknown cause. Women who started fertility treatment at an older age had better mental health than women who started younger, and those who were married or cohabiting with their partner reported better mental health than women who were single, divorced, or widowed. Better educated women also had better mental health than the less well educated.
This study improves our understanding of why childless people have poorer adjustment. It shows that it is more strongly associated with their inability to let go of their desire to have children. It is quite striking to see that women who do have children but still wish for more children report poorer mental health than those who have no children but have come to accept it. The findings underline the importance of psychological care of infertility patients and, in particular, more attention should be paid to their long-term adjustment, whatever the outcome of the fertility treatment.
The possibility of treatment failure should not be avoided during treatment and a consultation at the end of treatment should always happen, whether the treatment is successful or unsuccessful, to discuss future implications. This would enable fertility staff to identify patients more likely to have difficulties adjusting to the long term, by assessing the women’s possibilities to come to terms with their unfulfilled child-wish. These patients could be advised to seek additional support from mental health professionals and patient support networks.
It is not known why some women may find it more difficult to let go of their child-wish than others. Psychological theories would claim that how important the goal is for the person would be a relevant factor. The availability of other meaningful life goals is another relevant factor. It is easier to let go of a child-wish if women find other things in life that are fulfilling, like a career.
We live in societies that embrace determination and persistence. However, there is a moment when letting go of unachievable goals (be it parenthood or other important life goals) is a necessary and adaptive process for well-being. We need to consider if societies nowadays actually allow people to let go of their goals and provide them with the necessary mechanisms to realistically assess when is the right moment to let go.
Featured image: Baby feet by Nina-81. Public Domain via Pixabay.
The post Do children make you happier? appeared first on OUPblog.
The painted owl belly cast is finished! I sculpted the flower from scratch (it's not a flower dipped in plaster) and am quite happy about how sturdy it feels, never having done sculpture before. The belly looks so beautiful, so amazing! The even more amazing part is when my doula, Suzanne Moquin (of Gentle Touch Birth Services), came for a visit today to help present it to the new mom, touched the cast and could feel how the baby had been positioned inside her body- where the bum and where the head was. So ridiculously amazing. What a way to capture your pregnancy, hey? Can hardly wait to get these casts professionally photographed!
By: April S. Hopmere,
on 11/15/2011
By: admin,
on 10/31/2011
The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s BagBradley, Alan. (2010) The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag. (The Flavia de Luce Series) Bantam, division of Random House. ISBN 978-0385343459. Litland recommends ages 14-100!
Publisher’s description: Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head? (Bantam Books)
Flavia De Luce is back and in full force! Still precocious. Still brilliant. Still holding an unfortunate fascination with poisons…
As with the first book of the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, we begin with a seemingly urgent, if not sheer emergency, situation that once again turns out to be Flavia’s form of play. We also see the depth of her sister’s cruelty as they emotionally badger their little sister, and Flavia’s immediate plan for the most cruel of poisoned deaths as revenge. Readers will find themselves chuckling throughout the book!
And while the family does not present the best of role models (smile), our little heroine does demonstrate good character here and there as she progresses through this adventure. As explained in my first review on this series, the protagonist may be 11 but that doesn’t mean the book was written for 11-year olds :>) For readers who are parents, however (myself included), we shudder to wonder what might have happened if we had bought that chemistry kit for our own kids!
Alas, the story has much more to it than mere chemistry. The author’s writing style is incredibly rich and entertaining, with too many amusing moments to even give example of here. From page 1 the reader is engaged and intrigued, and our imagination is easily transported into the 1950’s Post WWII England village. In this edition of the series, we have more perspective of Flavia as filled in by what the neighbors know and think of her. Quite the manipulative character as she flits around Bishop’s Lacy on her mother’s old bike, Flavia may think she goes unnoticed but begins to learn not all are fooled…
The interesting treatment of perceptions around German prisoners of war from WWII add historical perspective, and Flavia’s critical view of villagers, such as the Vicar’s mean wife and their sad relationship, fill in character profiles with deep colors. Coupled with her attention to detail that helps her unveil the little white lies told by antagonists, not a word is wasted in this story.
I admit to being enviou
By: Lauren,
on 5/31/2011
On making boy babies, and other pregnancy myths
In her novel, Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver celebrates the lush fecundity of nature. The main character marvels at the way her ovulation dependably comes with the full moon.
It’s a poetic image – but is there any evidence for it?
Actually, no. It’s true that the length of the average menstrual cycle is close to the length of the lunar cycle. But like so many notions about fertility, an effect of the moon on ovulation is just a nice story. The menstrual cycle is remarkably variable, even among women who say their cycles are “regular.” This is not surprising – unlike the movement of stars and planets, biology is full of variation. The day of ovulation is unpredictable, and there is no evidence (even in remote tribal cultures) that ovulation is related to phases of the moon or other outside events.
We humans are susceptible to myths about our fertility and pregnancy. These myths also invade science. One scientific “fact” you may have heard is that women who live in close quarters synchronize their menstrual cycles. The paper that launched this idea was published forty years ago in the prestigious journal Nature1. Efforts to replicate those findings have been wobbly at best – but the idea still persists.
Another scientific myth is the notion that sperm carrying the Y male chromosome swim faster than sperm carrying the X female chromosome. It’s true that the Y chromosome is smaller than the X. But there is no evidence that this very small addition of genetic cargo slows down the X-carrying sperm. As often as this idea is debunked, it continues to appear in scientific literature – and especially the literature suggesting that couples can tilt the odds towards having a baby of a particular sex.
Choosing your baby’s sex
Many couples have a definite preference for the sex of their baby. The baby’s sex is established at conception, which has led to a lot of advice on things to do around the time of conception to favor one sex or the other. Recommendations include advice on timing of sex in relation to ovulation, position during sex, frequency of sex, foods to eat or avoid, etc. The good thing about every one of these techniques is that they work 50% of the time. (This is good enough to produce many sincere on-line testimonials.) Despite what you may read, there is no scientific evidence that any of these methods improves your chances for one sex or the other, even slightly. The solution? Relax and enjoy what you get.
When will the baby arrive?
Everyone knows that pregnancies last nine months – but do they? Doctors routinely assign pregnant women a “due-date,” estimated from the day of her last menstrual period before getting pregnant. The due-date is set at 40 weeks after the last menstrual period. You might think the due-date is based on scientific evidence, but in fact, 40 weeks was proposed in 1709 for a rather flaky reason: since the average menstrual period is four weeks, it seemed “harmonious” for pregnancy to last the equivalent of ten menstrual cycles.
So what are a woman’s chances of actually delivering on her due date? Fifty percent? Twenty percent?
Try four percent. Just like the length of menstrual cycles (and every other aspect of human biology), there is lots of variation in the natural length of pregnancy. If the due-date is useful at all, it is as the median length of pregnancy – in other words, about half of women will deliver before their due-date, and about half after. So don’t cancel your appointments on the due-date just because you think it’s The Day – there’s a 96% chance the baby will arrive some other time.
1. McClintock MK. Menstrual synchorony and suppression.
By: Lauren,
on 5/11/2011
In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves the retrieval of an egg and fertilization with sperm in the laboratory (in vitro) as opposed to the process happening within the human body (in vivo), with a natural conception. IVF was first introduced to overcome tubal factor infertility but has since been used to alleviate all types of infertility and nearly four million babies have been born worldwide as a result of assisted reproductive technology.
The birth of Louise Brown in 1978, the world’s first IVF baby was from a natural menstrual cycle without the use of any stimulation drugs. As success rates were low with natural cycles in the early days of IVF, ovarian stimulation regimens were introduced into IVF to maximize success rates. The aim was to retrieve more eggs to overcome the attrition in numbers at fertilization, cleavage, and implantation. However, with the introduction of ovarian stimulation regimens the complication of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) arose.
There have been several discussions among IVF clinicians on what the ideal number of eggs should be to optimize IVF outcome and minimize risk of OHSS. We analysed a large database of over 400, 000 cycles provided by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in order to establish the association between egg number and live birth rate in IVF.
We found that live birth rate increased with increasing number of eggs retrieved up to 15 eggs and plateaued from 15 to 20 eggs with a decline in live birth rate beyond 20. The analysis of the data suggested that around 15 eggs may be the optimal number to aim for in a fresh IVF cycle in order to maximize treatment success whilst minimizing the risk of OHSS. We also established a nomogram which is the first of its kind that allows prediction of live birth for a given egg number and female age group. This is potentially valuable for patients and clinicians in planning IVF treatment protocols and counselling regarding the prognosis for a live birth occurrence, especially in women with either predicted or a previous poor ovarian response.
The full paper and supplementary data has been made publicly available here, as published in Human Reproduction by Sesh Kamal Sunkara, Vivian Rittenberg, Nick Raine-Fenning, Siladitya Bhattacharya, Javier Zamora and Arri Coomarasamy. Above table appears with full permission from Human Reproduction and Oxford Journals.
By: Lauren,
on 2/18/2011
It’s being said that if you want a baby born on 11-11-11, you should “get ready to get on it this weekend.” So…
You already know where babies come from – the business about sperm and eggs, and getting them together. You also know something about birth control – after all, people spend most of their reproductive years trying NOT to get pregnant.
But there comes a time for many women when they ready to have a baby. That’s when some interesting questions arise.
- Once you stop using birth control, how long does it take to get pregnant?
- Is there something women should do to increase their chances of getting pregnant?
- What can a woman do to help make sure her baby will be healthy?
Let’s start with the last question first. The most important thing a woman can do before getting pregnant is to start taking daily multivitamins with folic acid. Folic acid helps prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine (neural tube defects) and probably other defects as well. These defects happen very early in the baby’s development – waiting until you think you are pregnant can be too late.
Another thing you can do, if you are a smoker, is to quit smoking. Smoking puts a damper on women’s fertility (although apparently not on the fertility of men – life is not fair). Smoking also increases the small chance of fetal death later in pregnancy. Do yourself (and your baby) a favor, and give up the cigarettes.
Besides that, what should you do (besides the obvious)?
Nothing.
Really, nothing. You already have a lot going for you. Consider the benefits of your family history – not a single one of your ancestors was infertile. If you are a reasonably healthy person with no history of reproductive problems, and if you are having unprotected sex at least weekly, biology is on your side.
Some useful facts
There is a spectrum of fertility, ranging from very low to very high. You won’t know where you are on that spectrum until you actually try to conceive. On average, your chance of getting pregnant in the first month is 25%. For a few unlucky couples, the chances are zero – they are sterile. Other couples may have a 50% or 75% chance of getting pregnant in their very first month of trying. For couples as a whole, about half will be pregnant after three months. That goes up to two-thirds of couples after six months, and more than 90% after a year. Even if you don’t conceive in the first year, you still have a 50% chance in the next year or so. Only about 5% or so of couples are unable to conceive at all by natural means.
Probably the biggest predictor of fertility is woman’s age. Women are at their reproductive peak during their twenties. As they move through their thirties, their fertility begins to decline. This is relevant because many women (for lots of good reasons) delay their childbearing until they are in their 30s or even older. If a woman is not so fertile to start with, this delay can cause problems. Unfortunately, there is no medical test to tell women in advance how fertile they are.
The fertility window
Let’s get down to the biology. Pregnancy happens when couples have sex during the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself. (In other words, sperm can survive up to five days in the woman’s reproductive tract.) This six-day fertility window gives you a fairly wide span of days in each cycle for intercourse that can produce pregnancy.
But there is a catch. Most women don’t know
By: Chris Singer,
on 12/6/2010
Reviewed by: Chris Singer
About the authors:
Founded in 2004 by Troy Lanier, Clay Nichols and Brad Powell, DadLabs aims to be the voice of the new fatherhood. The trio brings more than 30 years of teaching and hands on fatherhood experience, as well as professional filmmaking and writing experience. Troy Lanier and Clay Nichols are accomplished authors and were named to the Austin Chronicle Best of 2005 for their book “Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling off Your Shorts.” The company’s first DVD, DueDads: The Man’s Survival Guide to Pregnancy won a 27th annual Bronze Telly Award.
About the book:
So the baby’s butt is redder than a baboon’s and he’s screaming like a crazed hockey fan. What’s a new father supposed to do? Since 2007, more than 2 million men have turned to DadLabs for the answers. Home to the Internet’s finest weekly video program about modern fatherhood, DadLabs.com is the brainchild of four regular guys in Austin, Texas and now they’ve compiled the best of their advice into a book.
In DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood, readers will learn:
* How to keep the baby alive until the wife gets home
* That washing bottles will not make your balls fall off
* Things not to say during birthing (“You’re sure it’s mine, right?”)
* Top-secret delivery room tips (No. 1: Bring change for the snack machine)
* Why sex is overrated (and other lies fathers tell themselves)
* Why other parents’ children are inferior to yours
Full of guy-friendly advice, DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood proves that being a man with a sense of humor and being a skillful parent are not mutually exclusive. Check out the book trailer on Amazon.
My take on the book:
Every month or so I go speak to a class of expectant fathers who are taking a newborn care class through the local Expectant Parents Organization. Since I discovered this book by Dad Labs, it’s become the main resource I share with the expectant dads. I often use a form of the Dad Labs’ tag line in my introduction to the dads: “I [instead of We] screwed up so you don’t have to.”
The Dad Labs Guide To Fatherhood: Pregnancy and Year One is an excellent simply resource because it is written for dads by dads. Out of all the books geared towards expecta
By: daddydoctrines,
on 11/30/2010
30 Things Future Dads Should Know About Pregnancy by Hogan Hilling
Reviewed by: Chris Routly
About the Author:
Hogan Hilling, a twenty-year veteran at-home dad, is author of The Modern Mom’s Guide to Dads: Ten Secrets Your Husband Won’t Tell You (Turner Publishing) and The Man Who Would Be Dad. He has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post and appeared on ABC’s The Story of Fathers and Sons and NBC’s The Other Half. Hilling founded Proud Dads, Inc. and is Board Member At-Large of Daddyshome, Inc. He and his wife have been married for 23 years and live in California. They have three sons.
About the Book:
How prepared do you feel about becoming a new dad? 30 Things Future Dads Should Know About Pregnancy provides a refreshing perspective on how a man can transform into a caring and devoted dad—without losing his masculinity. Included is practical, priceless advice and insight into your pregnant wife’s thoughts and behavior, helping you reach your full potential in one of the most important roles of your life. These 30 Things will teach you how to:
My take on the book:
With my second son due to be born in just a few short months, this book came to me at the perfect time.
Actually, scratch that…
If I’d read it before the birth of my FIRST son I could have avoided plenty of stress and confusion, and been a better expectant father; more supportive of my wife where and when she needed it, and more prepared to voice both my worries and my opinions. I like to think that I did pretty well regardless, but when it comes to being a husband and a father I hope someone out there will hit me in the head with a rusty shovel if I ever claim to have no need to improve.
Now that we have Baby Boy #2 on the way, though, it can sometimes be easy to expect that THIS time, as a Veteran Father, the whole pregnancy/delivery/oh-god-we-have-a-newborn thing won’t be a big deal. Been there, done that, right?
But I try not to kid myself. It IS a big deal. It’s different, absolutely. I’d say it’s marginally less scary for me, personally, at this moment. But all of the same issues that every expectant father must face still exist, and 30 Things Future Dads Should Know About Pregnancy was a fantastic reminder of all the ways I can step up to be an involved dad all the way through this period in our marriage and family history.
Hilling really hits the nail on the head in addressing several subjects that were and are vital for future dads to wrap their heads around, including everything from how to effectively support your wife, to how t
By: Julio,
on 3/23/2010
Red Families v. Blue Families by Naomi Cahn and June Carbone examines the differences between the value systems of conservative and liberal families. The book compares, contrasts and connects the differences to explain how these shape contemporary American culture,
economy and law.
The following excerpt explores how red (conservative) families struggle to successfully impart traditional norms of sexual behavior to a generation that no longer lives in the world of unanimous values of the nineteenth century. Today, conservative teenagers subscribe to the irreconcilable values of purity imparted in the home and the individualistic, liberal way of thinking they find outside. The wide gap between “belief and behavior” stems from the disconnect between competing value systems, a challenge that Sociologist Mark Regnerus words as “serving two masters.” Cahn and Carbone lay out the consequences of this dichotomy in red families.
Moral Backlash
This new middle-class ethic, unlike its nineteenth century counterpart, is a direct affront to those who do not accept its premises. The nineteenth-century emphasis on purity, with its condemnation of those who could not live up to its principles, may have been hypocritical (and often racist), but it reaffirmed consensus-based standards of morality. The new version, in contrast, is disdainful of traditional moral restraints, insistent on the rights of women and same-sex couples, and skeptical of once-venerated institutions such as marriage.
Traditionalists have responded to the changes in family form, the negative consequences for children, and the class-based nature of the transformation with a sense of crisis. If advocates of the new order are right that a promising future is the best contraceptive, this disturbing news for poorer men and women who face less-hopeful prospects. Moreover, if investment in women opens new opportunities to prosper in a post-industrial world, it does little for the poorly educated men who have less to offer in a society in which the factories that once employed them have moved overseas and the farms of their youth have given way to mechanized agribusiness conglomerates. The advice to defer childbearing until financial independence just does not resonate for those who may never achieve it.
At the same time, the growing gap between the beginning of sexual activity and marriage creates much more dissonance for evangelicals and their parents than it does for those with more tolerant attitudes towards sexuality. In today’s society, Protestant evangelical teens experience the biggest gap between belief and behavior. Both the teens and their parents hold more-conservative sexual attitudes than many others, but evangelically affiliated adolescents, for a variety of reasons that include class differences, lose their virginity at younger ages than the average for many other religious groups, and they are almost likely to do so with someone other than the partner they will mary. Sociologist Mark Regnerus reports:
“[Evangelical adolescents]…are urged to drink deeply from the waters of American individualism and its self-focused pleasure ethic, yet they are asked to value time-honored religious traditions like family and chastity. They attempt to do both (while other religious groups don’t attempt this), and serving two masters is difficult. What results is a unique dialectic of sexual-conservatism-with-sexual –activity; a combination that breeds in
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By: Lizzy Burns,
on 3/12/2010
Stranded
With great reluctance, fifteen year old Kelly Louise and her mother are leaving Des Moines for her mother's hometown of Heaven, Ohio.
Kelly Louise -- named for Tina Louise, of Gilligan's Island fame -- tells of being dragged back to the small town her teen mother escaped from years ago, to live with her cleaning-obsessed Nana and religion-obsessed cousin Natalie. Natalie, fifteen, seems to love unicorns and Jesus equally. Her mother promises it's just temporary, but it's the middle of the school year! It's going to be that much harder for Kelly Louise to get a boyfriend.
Kelly Louise tells this story; and her voice makes this fresh and different; she's funny and amusing, self-centered and a drama queen, and, like Lola from Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
But there is a seriousness to this novel; a gravity. Because Heaven is best known for the recent news story about Baby Grace, an infant abandoned in a cornfield.
Dutton's story of the unthinkable -- a baby left to die -- is told against a setting of lost family farms, alcoholism, and second generations of teen pregnancies. Kelly Louise's voice brings humor, and she thinks of herself, first, most of the time. But she also thinks about Baby Grace, and family secrets, and what it means to do the right thing.
Teaser: A mini post about a book I've read that won't be published for several months. The full review will be posted closer to the publication date.
Amazon Affiliate. If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
By: Lizzy Burns,
on 9/8/2009
Jumping Off Swings
The Plot: Four friends. Ellie, Corinne, Caleb, Josh. High School Juniors. Ellie and Josh "hook up." Three months later, she's late. One person's choices impact all their lives.
The Good: You start feeling sorry for Ellie and hating Josh. It's September, and Josh walks away from the van as Ellie fixes her clothes. She thought, this time, this one time, the guy would stay. She watches as Josh returns to the party and laughs with his friends. And, she realizes, laughs at her. With his friends, some of the other boys -- boys who she believes as the say they love her, yet then walk away and laugh. Hook ups but no boyfriends. It's her friend, Corinne, who is there as Ellie throws up, disgusted.
Different chapters tell the different point of views -- Ellie, believing the boys, wanting the love, being left with nothing. Corinne, the best friend who doesn't know what to say or do. Caleb, their friend who has a crush on Ellie and doesn't want to believe the rumors about her. Josh, who did believe the rumors and now is embarrassed by what he did and didn't do.
Knowles drops in on these four for a few days every few months; in September, when Ellie and Josh hook up and Ellie realizes that her attempts to find love are having the opposite affect. When Josh realizes that his actions don't reflect the person he thinks he is. In December, when Ellie realizes she is pregnant and isn't sure what to do or who to tell. In March and June, when Ellie, Josh, Corinne and Caleb live with the consequences of their friends' actions.
Swings are an actual physical place -- where these teens go to escape, where they meet each other now and met each other as children. But it also reflects teens with a foot in two worlds: childhood and adulthood. Trying to figure out how to leave one and enter the other. Is it what one does -- having sex? What one does not do? Is it how one deals with the consequences of ones actions? Does one choice define us, or is it the sum of our choices?
At the beginning, it is Ellie, left alone, who we know the most, who we feel sorry for. But as the story unravels, we see more about each of these four teens. Corinne, who everyone thinks is the bad girl because her sister had an abortion last year. Caleb, shy, a bit nerdy, who doesn't say what he wants until it's almost too late. Josh, who has been emotionally abandoned by his parents and was looking for -- something -- that night in September, something more than a conquest, a joke, a laugh. Josh, who needs as much reassurance and love and acceptance as Ellie. As anyone.
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
By: Tasha Saecker,
on 8/15/2009
Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles
When Ellie gets pregnant, it changes her life and that of three of her friends and classmates. Coming from an outwardly perfect but very distant family, Ellie tries to find comfort and love by having sexual relationships with boys. Josh, finding Ellie willing, loses his virginity to her and then ignores her. When Ellie discovers she is pregnant, she turns to her best friend Corinne for advice. Caleb, a classmate and friend of Josh’s, is furious about the way Ellie has been treated. The four lives of these teens are now entwined in a larger way, giving readers a chance to see how they cope with an overwhelming situation and series of choices.
Knowles, author of Letters from a Dead Girl, has created a novel filled with sensitivity and grace. Her deep exploration of the impact of an unexpected pregnancy offers insight into not only this issue but any momentous occurrence in the lives of teens. The inner strength it takes to deal with such situations is a large focus of the novel. Knowles’ writing is easy to read and keeps itself simple while exploring such complex subjects.
The various choices of a pregnant teen are shown not only through Ellie but through the families of all of the characters. There are sisters who had abortions, parents who got married because of a pregnancy, and the option of adoption. The beauty of the novel is that there is no judgment about any of the decisions made. They simply are.
Knowles also excels at creating four distinct types of families for the teens. Ellie’s distant aloof family, Josh’s dysfunctional one, Corinne’s loving parents, and Caleb’s nearly-perfect but embarrassing single mother. Again, Knowles offers a banquet of diversity without judgment.
Highly recommended, this novel is deep, moving and lovely. Appropriate for teens 14-18.
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By: Thomas Kingsley Troupe,
on 1/12/2009
So, it doesn't sound like my new son is going to show up early as Laura's doctor predicted. To say it's been a little tense around the House o' Troupe would be putting it lightly. I mean...everything's ready. His room is all set up and ready for him to come and not notice it until he's...oh, around three or so. We've got all the stuff laid out on his changing table so that we don't have to improvise and wipe his little backside with say, the good towels or anything.
We're prepared. We're anxious. We want to meet this little kid.
Kid...we're ready for you.
Janurary...it's definitely going to be one for the books. Travis just started pre-school last week and he seems 12x happier because of it. He still talks about the horrors of his daycare provider like it was years ago, back when he was a little kid.
"Sometimes Julie says I need to go potty too much."
or
"Julie watches Dancing With the Stars on TV."
That last one...I just. Oooh...I think I gave myself the shivers. Seriously? People watch that???
But it's been good for the boy. He's so much more engaged at his new school and excited about stuff. He sings songs. He can draw letters when coaxed. He tells us about the little arts and crafts he puts together. When Laura and I went to pick him up today, I got to see the picture they took of him. His big, smiley face right in the middle of a snowflake, grinning from ear to ear. He's such a fun, goofy little kid and there's never been a question about who his parents are. There's something comforting about that. The little TKT fits right in.
But that's what's so crazy and just so....maddening about the impending arrival of Troupe Kid Mach 2. Is he going to be like Travis? Will he look like him? Is he going to come into the world on the heels of what's supposed to be the coldest days EVER? The anticipation is killing me.
It's killing Travis too.
"I want my little brother to come out now."
This will come as a surprise to no one, but I'm not a very patient guy. I tend to fidget and stare off into space and do anything BUT wait whenever possible, so this last week has been an exercise in patience, which has been...interesting.
This isn't to say I'm a fly off the handle and punch puppies sort of fellow. Oh, no. Sure, I'll call the occasional guy on the road an idiot and come up with creative non-swear words when a certain almost-four-year-old is riding in the backseat, but I'm not that kind of impatient. It's hard for me to wait and even harder for me to concentrate when I am waiting. You know?
Even now, I'm finding myself pausing after every fourth word or so, listening for the creak of floorboards upstairs, thinking that Laura is going to call down to me in the Nerdery with the 'It's time" call. Usually, though, it's her sleepwalking to the toilet. Ah, pregnancy...
So, looking at the pathetic frequency of my postings, I'm guessing post #197 (or so) will have pictures and details about the newest (and final!) addition to our family. I promise not to wait until he's in college to update this thing, for reals.
Thanks for hanging with me and for all the peeps out there (on Facebook, work, friends, etc.) with the advice (some good, some bad) on getting this kid ready to drop. One way or another...
HE'S COMING.
And you know what? We're ready for him.
Bring it.
By: Melissa Wiley,
on 1/9/2009
During the long months of this pregnancy, I have been blessed with the companionship of a few special friends. We used to see each other only once a month, but lately we’ve been able to get together once or even twice a week, and how eagerly I have looked forward to these sweet moments of fellowship with women whose joy in motherhood outstrips even my own!
I realized today that our time together is drawing to a close…very soon (very, very soon, do you hear me?) it will be time to go our separate ways, and we shall see each other only once a year or thereabouts. Ah, dear friends, whatever will I do without you? Fortunately I happened to have my camera in my bag at our visit today, so I was able to capture a few treasured snapshots of these fair and tender ladies I have come to know so well.
Here they are all together with their precious infants, the whole beautiful bunch of them. Aren’t they lovely?
So serene, so gentle, so rouged.
I have learned so much from these ladies. For example, here I am about to give birth to my sixth child, and yet until I met Angelica would you believe I had no idea it was proper to blow-dry one’s hair to a silky sheen, tie back a few glossy locks with a ribbon, don a ruffly off-the-shoulder gown, and apply several coats of blusher before sitting down to breastfeed one’s baby?
This is going to make a real difference in my next post-partum experience, let me tell you. Angelica always looks so calm and well rested. I realize now that my customary get-up of hastily scrunchied ponytail, spit-up-stained T-shirt, and no makeup whatsoever has been at the root of the exhaustion I typically experience during those first weeks with a new baby. LOOK beautiful and you’ll FEEL beautiful is Angelica’s motto.
Elspeth has a similar philosophy about pregnancy. I understand now that in banning white clothing from my wardrobe several sticky-fingered toddlers ago, I have been depriving myself of a kind of delicate radiance that would surely have blessed the child in my womb and all in our presence. And that band of pink ribbon below her bosom—how beautifully it offsets her the rosy glow of her lips. Every word that comes out of a mouth like that is pure honey, I suspect. (I can’t say for sure, because demure Elspeth never utters a word. But you can see just by looking at her that she is full of warm and soothing thoughts.)
As for our ringleted chum Swoozie, I admit I worry a little about her sometimes. Those raw bruises on her cheek…the dark rings around her eyes…her habit of staring off into the distance, lost in thought, bottle-feeding her infant without even looking at him…I have some concerns about her home life. But she has never uttered a word of complaint, so perhaps I’m mistaken. Possibly she is only thinking about when to get her next perm.
Oh, dear friends, how grateful I am for the many times you have entertained me while I waited for our obstetrician to amble into the exam room! It is very good of you, all of you, to have kept such a patient vigil with me as the long, long minutes ticked by.
You will be sorely missed.
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Absolutely stunning!