Four days in Philly

I'm back from a whirlwind trip to the USA for a breech conference in Philadelphia. I was so busy that I didn't take a single picture--aside from pictures of the presenter's slides. But fortunately other people took pictures and sent them to me!

Eric and Inga came back from Senegal this evening. Inga is happy but exhausted and says it was an emotional experience to visit a lower resource country.

Time to get my jet-lagged body to bed!!

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Back home!

I'm home, finally! No travels until mid-April (conference) and then I stay put.

Ivy and Inga went to a practice for A.S. Monaco, which has been trying super hard to recruit them. It's looking likely they will go there next year. Nothing is decided yet, though. They had a great time, loved the other girls and the coach.

Closing arguments on the breech case I testified for are supposed to start tomorrow (Wed) at 9 am Pacific US time. Tune in for a very interesting time if you're into birth-related things!

https://oregonjudicial.webex.com/oregonjudicial/j.php?MTID=md8dda5575a7a99f4e54bb72b7cfd82bb

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Arrived & testified!

My 2nd attempt to fly to Portland was successful. Phew. I didn't appreciate having to wake up at 4 am again. But on the up side, I was able to sleep for an hour or two on the flight, which is highly unusual for me. I think that helped me make a quick adjustment to the 9-hour time difference.

I arrived Monday mid-day and drove to the city where I was testifying and got settled in. I watched the last few hours of the trial to get a feel for what it would be like.

I went over to the attorney's place in the evening to finalize what I would be testifying on. Almost everything got cut due to time restraints.

I was in court all day Tuesday as an observer, but ironically there wasn't time for me to present that day. My turn came this morning, the 2nd to last witness for the plaintiff.

I never knew that being in a courtroom is like playing sports: there's strategy, counter-strategy, shifting around of the players (witnesses), good sportsmanship and bad sportsmanship, people calling foul (objections), the referee (judge) occasionally reprimanding people for focusing more on showmanship than on justice.

It also reminds me of parenting young children. If you have a problem, you can never address the person directly. You have to go to the judge to settle your differences. "Mom, Dio pushed me!" "Dio, is that true? Did you push Inga?" "No, Inga ran into me and then she fell over." "Okay, I'm going to ask both of you to take a minute and give each other some space."

I'll talk more about it once the case is done, but in short I think it went great. Once I realized the attorneys had no idea what they were talking about, and that I was very comfortably in my home domain, it was fun to field their cross-examination questions.

I stayed to listen to the final witness, who finished at noon. Then I drove to Portland to see my brother. We had a beautiful sunny day--unusual for this time of year--and we went out for a walk at a nearby off-leash dog park. My brother has a lovely dog, Sasha. We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant (driving in his convertible, which was super fun) and then did 3 rounds in my brother's sauna, which he built himself a few years ago. Ahhh...

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Conference done!

I gave my presentation late this morning. I'm so used to public speaking that I was surprised to feel a bit nervous. It's not that the audience was scary--they're midwives!

I didn't take a single picture, other than pictures of other presenters' slides, but someone took a photo with me and sent it to me. I had my breech earrings on because why not!

I met with Betty-Anne Daviss after the conference to go over our video analysis paper. Then Zari and I headed out for a walk to the grocery store. Dinner was sandwiches, salad, and strawberries. We bought lots of goodies for the family back home: chocolate and Tim Tams. She also has a bag of flavored mealworms. Yum? She ate some but I just couldn't.

We head home early tomorrow morning, flying with the sun so we'll have a super long day and get home in the evening local time.

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Conferencing day 1

After 3 days of teaching, attending a conference is like a relaxing spa retreat! All I have to do is sit and listen and eat delicious food! (To be fair, I also multitasked and got some breech work done.)

I loved the Cloak of Righteous Anger, a "craftivism" project about obstetric violence and protecting and nurturing laboring women. It is totally the kind of thing I'd love to help create! I took a picture of the slide and I hope to get pictures of the actual cloak tomorrow.

https://www.instagram.com/cloak_of_righteous_anger/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DA_EElSy-GU/

I give my presentation tomorrow morning! Super excited. I hope I can finish on time.

Zari visited the Australian National Maritime Museum and loved it. She spent 4 or 5 hours there.

We had a gala dinner tonight and I had so much fun laughing at midwife humor and swapping stories.

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3 days of teaching

I just got done with 3 days of teaching in a row: 2 days at Birth Time doing our usual vaginal breech training, and then 1 day of breech skills & drills as part of the Convergence of Rebellious Midwives. I could barely grip the baby by the end of today's training!

Because I'm speaking at the conference, Zari and I transferred over to the conference hotel last night and felt very awestruck. This hotel is super posh and we don't feel fancy enough! We woke up to a gorgeous rainbow from our room on the 27th floor.

Tomorrow will be relaxed for me: I'm just listening to conference speakers. On Sunday I give my presentation in the morning.

Zari and I had a few hours this morning before I taught. We did touristy things and visited the zoo and the aquarium in Darling Harbour, right near where we're staying. She got a multi-pass ticket and went to the wax museum and the observation tower in the afternoon.

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Midwestern Midwives Meeting

I traveled down to Fulton, MO for a gathering of around 100 Amish and other Plain midwives. It's been a lovely event. They have been so friendly and welcoming, even though I'm the outsider.

They scheduled me for a 2-hour presentation this afternoon. I did my best to cover the most important aspects of breech, knowing that this could not be a comprehensive training. I had all sorts of teaching materials with me: giant pelvis, Sophie and Her Mum simulator, regular doll & pelvis, full-color cardstock handouts, clinical scenario booklets, and of course our new books.

I didn't want to be driving late at night, so I'll stay here tonight and leave first thing in the morning. My IUD car (seriously, that's all I can think of when I see the Tesla logo) is plugged in and charging overnight.

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Feeling better

I've been feeling progressingly better throughout the day, thank goodness. I was able to attend all of the conference sessions, do a simulator session, and hang out in the hot tub with a group of attendees after the final dinner.

It's been a long weekend filled with laughter and sharing hard stories and hugging and crying and feeling nurtured.

Morning simulations tomorrow and then a 2.5 hour drive HOME!!

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Done teaching!

After a great day of teaching a group of obstetricians and midwives (and one doula!), I came to my apartment all smiles. I get to go home tomorrow! And then I collapsed on the bed and crashed. Eric woke me up to check in--I'm glad, because it was too early to go to bed.

I don't have to wake up early tomorrow (although I probably will, knowing my luck). I'll have an unhurried drive to the airport, only 15 minutes away, and see my family by the evening!

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Santiago de Compostela

If only I had a backpack, hiking boots, and walking sticks, I would blend in with everyone else. This city is the final destination of many pilgrimages. My mom did the final 100 km of the Camino de Santiago several years ago.

I'm just a few minutes from the main cathedral. I wandered around a bit this afternoon while waiting for my airbnb to open up. I went out again to see a bit more of the central city and to buy some food for dinner.

It's still not very warm: high of maybe 9 Celsius today. And my apartment is mostly unheated and I'm SO COLD. I hoped to warm up by taking a shower...and the water only goes to warm, not hot! It was so frustrating. I'm now running the hair dryer on myself, trying to warm up a bit.

I was walking around town, wondering why everything just felt a bit...weird, when I realized that there is no color anywhere! The buildings are all a darker stone or white. It's such a difference from Nice, where every building is painted a different vibrant color, usually in warm yellows, oranges, reds, and pinks with blue or aqua shutters.

It's still not completely dark, but I need to get to bed soon. I've been up since 4:45 am and I have an early start tomorrow.

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Barcelona breech training

We had an outstanding training in Barcelona today, with a mixture of OBGYNs, midwives, and some midwives-in-training. Some worked in hospitals, some in home, some with MSF. They came from Spain (of course!), Italy, Iceland, Belgium, the USA, and Israel. (If I missed a country, I apologize).

We met at a trendy coworking space, La Vaca Coworking. We had the entire space to ourselves, two floors.

By the end of the day I was so tired! But also so happy because I made it through another day!

Just for fun, here's a picture of Ivy with the trophy she won at the end of this week's soccer camp.

Tomorrow morning, very early, I am off to Santiago de Compostela for one last breech training! Then I get to go home! So many exclamation marks today because I am just that excited!

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Birthdays & Barcelona!

Happy 15th birthday, Dio! I was able to talk to everyone twice today, once in the Prague airport and once in the apartment here in Barcelona. But it's not at all the same as being there. I can't believe it's already been 15 years! Dio had white-blond hair when he was born and little skinny chicken legs. He was just 7 lbs, very long and skinny. Kind of like he is today, except now he's over 6 feet tall, long, and skinny.

My day started at 4:45 am...2.5 hour drive to Prague...flight to Barcelona...taxi ride to the venue...45 minute walk to pick up the apartment keys and the handouts...10 minute walk to our apartment...then a 2 hour super fast walking tour so I could see some of the main buildings in Barcelona. I won't have any time tomorrow and I fly out early the next morning.

I walked 13 km in total. All I wanted to do was collapse on the couch but I'm glad I got out. I saw several Gaudi buildings, one by accident as I happened to be walking past (Gaudi Palace). The other ones were the Casa Batlló and La Sagrada Familia. The last two I remember learning about in university. I also saw the Torre Glòries from afar.

It was very interesting to walk all around the streets, which are laid out precise squares as far as you can see...street after street, row after row, perfect squares. It feels a bit overwhelming after a while because you walk and walk and feel like nothing has changed!

I need to get to sleep soon. Good night!

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Breech in Brno

We had a fantastic day of teaching. It started a bit stressful--the parking instructions we had weren't great and we couldn't get past the barriers and then we had to go a few different places. But we got it all sorted out and still had time to set things up.

This workshop was funded by a grant that our amazing organizer secured, so all 32 participants got to attend free of charge! Because they enrolled relatively late, most had not done the online training beforehand. So we had to adapt a bit and do some teaching to the group before doing our simulations and other activities. I also came up with a new simulation teaching format (just last night!) and tested it out on these students to rave reviews.

We had a videographer/photographer there. I asked her for some headshots, which I hope turn out ok. They also set up a little film studio and interviewed me and Kristine. I said some spicy things at the end, one of which was about "how I find it quite ridiculous that women are not being allowed to use their own vaginas." (Referring to the mandatory C-seciton policy for breech in so many places in the world.)

Kristine and I came home just dead. It's just after 9 pm and I'm heading to bed. We have to be up very early anyway, so it's for the best.

You will appreciate the sketchy elevator in our apartment building, originally from 1979 and not inspiring confidence at all. It lurches up, bangs and thuds upon arrival, and has no guard doors.

Also: baby Sophie's post-workshop bath time.

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Drive to Brno

I rented a car for the first time in our Grand European Tour. I was a bit hesitant because I was driving into the Old Town and then back out again...but it wasn't so bad.

We had a 2.5 hour drive to Brno, with heavy traffic the whole way. I'm not sure if this is something taught in Czech driving schools, or just something that everyone does, but when cars want to pass, they go RIGHT up to your back bumper. This must have happened to me at least 30 times (and I was going 130 km/hr!). Seriously, it's so dangerous.

By the end, I could anticipate it and get out of the way quickly. But sometimes it was not possible because I was passing a large truck and couldn't move over. They would still drive right up to my bumper.

It was cold and rainy so we took one quick trip to the grocery store (a Lidl! and right next door!) and then stayed indoors the rest of the day.

We teach all day tomorrow and leave the following mornings suuuuuper early to catch a morning flight out of Prague.

We won't even see Brno itself; we're in the industrial outskirts.

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Underwhelming and overpriced

I worked most of the day on video and book editing. But I decied that I coudn't stay indoors the whole day! So I booked a "Prague Underground" tour that sounded really fun. In reality, it was underwhelming and overpriced. We saw the basements of 3 buildings, 2 of the 3 decorated with kitschy themes. The torture one was fun if only because I was taking pictures for the kids to see later 🙂

I met up with Kristine and some of the workshop organizers and attendees for dinner. I had a beetroot risotto with goat cheese. So good!

When we were walking to get Kristine, the street was completely blocked by a swarm of ambulances in front of her apartment. We joked, "Oh no, what has Kristine been doing this time?!?" Turns out it was for someone who fell (or maybe was pushed?) out a window.

Tomorrow we drive to Brno. Wish me luck driving in the Czech Republic! It doesn't seem any different from driving in France, so I think I'll be ok.

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