Guadalajara Breech Conference, Day 3

12+ hours of pushing

We started at 9 am and ended at 9:40 pm. Today was all hands-on, training 4 groups of 12 people each. We had 3 stations set up with 3 Sophie and Her Mum simulators.

I left totally exhausted but also full of oxytocin. These midwives and doctors are amazing and give the best hugs! I got a rebozo shakedown at the end of the training, which felt amazing.

I found a few more pictures from yesterday--one with an attendee, one of my colleague lecturing while I demonstrated with a doll and pelvis, the the last where we ate lunch.

I made a quick dinner from leftovers and ingredients in the fridge. I'm SO tired. Time to crash...

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Guadalajara Breech Conference, Day 2

We were conferencing from 9 am - 8:30 pm and didn't get home for almost an hour after that, and didn't get dinner for another hour after that...

So I will leave you with a few pictures and call it a night.

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Guadalajara Breech Conference, Day 1

16,710 steps

I woke up way too early, just after 6 am, despite a late bedtime. I read in bed then got to work on my presentations. There are always more things to tweak.

I met up with a birthworker friend who I've known for probably 15 years online. For the first time, we actually saw each other in person! We met at the Bosque Los Colomos park and had a lovely few hours walking briskly through the forests and gardens.

On our way out, we bought mangos con chile estilo México, which was AMAZING. Fresh mangoes with a lime-chili sauce and a sprinkling of salt.

I had lunch with one of the conference organizers and my two co-presenters. We had tortas ahogadas, a traditional Guadalajaran pork sandwich that's swimming in a spicy broth. I managed to keep it off my white shirt.

Then the conference began with Dr. Chavira presenting first: "El parto pélvico: Un arte en peligro de extinción" (Vaginal breech birth: An art in danger of extinction). I love his blend of humor and storytelling.

After a brief break, it was my turn to present on the evidence on vaginal breech birth as well as physiological breech birth. We ended shortly before 8 pm. Not even a half day and I was exhausted (in a good way).

A big group of us went to eat at a restaurant that served a certain type of street food, typically cooked in people's kitchens and served right in their dining rooms. This was a "fancy" version of those same foods, being in a real restaurant. I had:

• Pozole con carne (hominy and pork soup)
• Sopes de picadillo (corn sope topped with minced meat)
• Ate de Membriollo con queso de adobera (quince jam with local cow's cheese)

That's it for my day!

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Guadalajara!

I had a smooth transit to Guadalajara, leaving my friend's house shortly after 9 am and arriving to my airbnb by 6 pm. The conference organizers stocked the apartment with some food, so I didn't have to go out and find something. I was tired and had a lot of work to do. I was grateful to be able to stay in.

My other two colleagues arrive either very late in the night or very early in the morning. The conference itself starts mid-afternoon tomorrow, so I'll have some time to walk around town in the morning.

The city has almost 1.5 million people, but it's really over 5 million in the entire metro area.

After dinner, a big rainstorm rolled through. This apartment opens into three interior open-air courtyards, so the sound of rain surrounded me on all sides. I suspect the roof is tin or galvanized steel, based on how loud the rain was!

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Mountain therapy, Ikea, & feminist book club

I woke up bright and early (for Utah) and read in bed until I heard others in the house stirring awake. My friend got her kids to do a house cleanup and then we had a late breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, and avocados. A real treat, since I rarely eat breakfast (maybe once or twice a year). This definitely counted as a special occasion.

Then we headed up into Big Cottonwood Canyon. Her family owns land a few miles before Solitude and Brighton ski resorts. We parked at a campground and hiked the rest of the way in. There's a tiny one-room bunkhouse, an outhouse, and a big clearing with picnic tables and a firepit. Their property includes part of Big Cottonwood Creek as well as a natural spring, which we drank water from. We hiked up, trying to find a meadow higher up on their property, but she couldn't find the right trail.

We had an idyllic few hours lying in hammocks, talking deeply about our lives and our histories. This was therapy for me on so many levels: being in the mountains is a spiritual practice in itself, plus having a friend who I can talk to about everything, really everything, and who has enough shared experiences that she understands what I'm communicating. I realized that this is a part of my life I've been missing deeply.

Some of the time we laid in silence, looking up at quaking aspen.

We finally had to pack up and head back into the valley. Salt Lake Valley is a neverending city with overly wide streets and unnatrually lush green lawns (hello, Utah is in a megadrought--please stop watering your lawns!) and gigantic shopping centers. We stopped by Ikea in the south part of the valley to pick up houseplants for her sunroom, then a grocery store for dinner and snacks for tonight's gathering: a feminist book club.

I helped repot and arrange her houseplants. Her sunroom feels like a little oasis with all of the greenery.

My friend prepared a delicious curried lentil soup and I made a dark chocolate tart. Around 7 pm, her bookclub friends started showing up. We shared delicious food and drinks, talked politics and religion and intersectionality and marriage counseling, and also eventually got around to discussing the book (Audre Lorde's collection of poetry, The Black Unicorn: Poems).

The most moving part of the evening was when one of the women, her first time at this gathering, revealed issues with her marriage that she hadn't shared with anyone. We all affirmed that what she was experiencing was not only gaslighting but abusive and that we had her back, whatever she needed. Some of the women had great advice for first steps in protecting herself and what to do if she wanted to end the relationship. I know it might sound cliche, but let's just be honest: if women could run the world, we'd get things DONE.

My friend disappeared before the end of our book club, trying to find where her youngest had gone. I haven't seen her since, so I suspect she fell asleep with him. Too bad...I was hoping for more moonlit hot tubbing! 

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Salt Lake City breech workshop, naked dolls, and naked hot tubbing in the moonlight

I have such a weird and interesting life.

My OB colleague and I arrived at 7:30 at the Miracle Midwifery birth center in Layton, a small birth center with one birth suite. We were anticipating 28 people but were a few short due to the inevitable: midwives getting called away to births! I had a lovely time and was completely exhausted by 6 pm. Teaching is both invigorating and draining. I packed up and said goodbye to my colleague--he is teaching another day tomorrow to a smaller group.

Then I headed to my friend's house in Cottonwood Heights, near the canyons that go upinto the big ski resorts (Brighton, Alta, and Snowbird). One of her little children met me at the door and immediately spied my fetal doll. "Oh, you have a doll!! And she's NAKED!?! I will get her some clothes!" She ran off and fetched a dress so now my fetal doll model is sporting a sun dress.

I dropped off my bags and we headed out to a sushi and tapas restaurant, which was fantastic. One of her friends and teenage son joined us for a few minutes, and later on one of her college-age daughters joined us to finish off what was left of dinner.

I was beyond exhausted and thought I might head straight to bed after dinner--it was quite late to my body's clock, which was 2 hours ahead of local time. But then my friend asked if I wanted to go in her hot tub. Sign me up! And then she said we could either put on swimsuits or go naked. Of course I chose to go naked.

We stayed out in the tub, soaking in the water and moonlight. It sounds idyllic but the tub hadn't been covered that day and the water was just 95°F/35°C (lower than body temperature). By the end I was shivering, but the conversation was so good that I didn't want to get out.

Hoping for more naked hot tubbing tomorrow night--this time in hot water!

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Salt Lake City

It took me 12 hours to get to Salt Lake City, between getting to the airport several hours early (due to Eric's schedule) and the normal wait for baggage, airport shuttle, picking up a rental car, then driving to my final destination in Layton. I stayed at a simple airbnb--bedroom with a shared bathroom--as all I needed was a place to crash for one night.

I got settled, read in bed for a little while, and then passed out.

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It's been a busy few days...my apologies for the radio silence.

Yesterday was another soccer marathon. Inga and Dio both had day-long tournaments out of town, and Ivy had a game as well. Inga's team won the first two matches and made it into the finals. I was able to go to that last game (swapping with Eric so he could take Ivy to her game). Unfortunately, they lost 6-0 and there was much crying afterward.

On the upside, Inga and her two best friends had a sleepover directly after the tournament, which helped raise their spirits. They even had an outdoor movie!

Today was more relaxed. Lots of family time, some movie time in the early evening, and just one soccer game (Ivy's) that both Eric and I went to. They won 6-4 with Ivy scoring 3 goals.

I'm packing for another breech trip, this time to Salt Lake City and Guadalajara.

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Stranded at school

22,918 steps I finished editing and encoding my new breech maneuvers lecture! It's under inspection from some of our BWB team to check for any typos or errors before I upload it to our course platform. I estimate that for every minute of footage, I spent almost an hour in production and editing. It's close to 1 hour long...so yeah, a lot of work!

Zari got stranded at her school after soccer practice; the girls she normally rides with had other things going on. She tried calling me using her coach's phone, but I was in the middle of a Zoom meeting and couldn't answer (plus I didn't recognize the number). She couldn't call Eric because she didn't have his phone number memorized.

Finally I got a call from another unknown number, the assistant coach as it turns out. I told him I'd be out the door ASAP...and then I discovered that Eric had the car! He was an hour away watching Inga and Dio's soccer games. She didn't know how to walk home, either. (It's not exactly easy--there's a hidden path through the woods that connects to the main roads.)

So I picked her up the old-fashioned way: I rode my bike there and we walked home. It was 2 miles away so took about an hour round-trip. We got home right on time for Ivy to arrive back from her soccer practice (getting dropped off by her coach).

Seriously, life is too crazy.

Oh, here's a sneak peek at our new book! This is our NZ printer's proof but it's basically the same thing, except for British English spellings and a slightly different page size.

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14,277 steps

Zari had a stressful sendoff this morning--she was doing math homework until the last moment and wasn't watching the clock. She had to run out the door with undone hair and chewing gum in lieu of brushing her teeth.

I had several Zoom meetings: one to talk about an article I'm co-authoring, another to consult with parents expecting twins (babies #5 & 6) who have no support for a vaginal birth in their area, despite 4 previous vaginal births. My other time was spent video editing.

I let myself take a little break after I picked Ivy up from school--well, during that break I still cooked dinner (split pea soup), but at least I took a short break from working. She was outside making Halloween decorations and playing with a neighbor's cat. I joined her on the front steps and enjoyed the fall sunshine.

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21,511 steps

I'm so exhausted that I feel nauseated. Ugh. Definitely a day of feeling overwhelmed with how much work I have to get done. And it's never "done" because there's always more to do. Today was all video editing.

Same for yesterday--I was too tired to write.

Poor Zari is still doing homework and it's after 11 pm. There ought to be a rule that high schoolers can't have more than 8-hour workdays. After all, we make that rule for adults and they actually get paid for their work. And then we turn around and punish students for not "working" unpaid overtime. Normally I can help her, but it's a certain type of math problem that I am not familiar with. I can figure it out the back way, but not the way the textbook wants.

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Soccer & Smores Sunday

I slept in for the first time in...a long time. Just until 8 am but it felt great.

Eric was gone all afternoon at soccer games (Ivy's, and then Inga's). Once we were all back home, we had dinner together and then sent the kids off to gather firewood at the pack in our back yard. We made a big bonfire, roasted Smores, and enjoyed the cool air and warm fire.

I've been falling asleep just about every time I sit down today. This is highly unusual. Anyway I'm off to get some real sleep in a bed on purpose.

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Chores and thrift stores

4,468 steps

In the morning, I gave the kids a list of chores (put your laundry away, vacuum your bedroom, and vacuum one other room). I told them that I would be back in an hour and expected their chores to be done when I came home. If not, I'd give them one more job to do.

Then I went off all by myself to the thrift store! I needed some winter pajamas and found those and more. The chores were all done when I got home. Well done :)

The rest of the day was relaxed. Eric took Ivy to a soccer game and I got a ride with Inga to hers. It was one of those idyllic fall days: warm in the sun, cool in the shade, crisp air, and a gentle breeze.

Dinner was steamed broccoli, pork chops with melted pepper spread (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019370-melted-pepper-spread), and ice cream.

We watched a movie after dinner, but I had to leave right before the end for a breech live session. It was quite lively.

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23,699 steps

I've been exhausted in the evenings the past two days. Then I looked at my step count for today! Maybe that's why. 8,000 of those steps were "real" (mostly running) and the rest were on the treatmill while I was working.

One big advantage of my walking desk is that my core temperature stays much higher. I normally get cold very easily and can't warm up. But when I start walking, I stay warm and even shed layers despite a cooler house.

Zari's school had a lockdown due to a weapons threat. Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm. It's so frustrating to live here, never knowing if there will be a school shooting.

Yesterday I re-filmed one of my breech lectures--again--because the first refilming was out of focus on the whole time. Take 2 worked.

This is Inga's school team photo. She plays on two teams: her middle school team and a regional league.

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Filming day

7,651 steps

I spent most of my workday re-filming lectures and simulations for our online breech training course. After over 2 years of hybrid courses and 3 years of teaching, it was time to update our materials.

The next several days will be full of video editing. Then I have to do it all over again once my MD colleague sends me his new lectures.

We're in a heat wave but it's supposed to be 30 degrees colder by tomorrow. I finally broke down yesterday and turned the AC on. It got up to 90°F (32°C) today, which is unusual for September.

We have Zari's followup visit tomorrow to see if she can go off crutches. We anticipate at least another week of rest in a boot or brace. She had a theater audition tonight--the first she's ever done. I'm hoping she gets some sort of role--big or small, it doesn't matter. It's fun to be involved in theater.

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15,235 steps

When I'm walking on my treadmill desk, my fitness tracker doesn't record the steps. But my desk itself does. Between my morning run to drop Ivy off and walking for a few hours at my desk, I'm at 15k steps for the day. Pretty typical. It would have been longer, but I decided to pick Ivy up via bike rather than on foot.

I had a webinar late in the afternoon (breech-related). I feel so lucky to have the job that I do. Yes, it's often never-ending and hard to put down, given that I don't have a clear end to my workday and there's always more to be done. But on the other hand, I get to use all sorts of creative and intellectual skills and I see the real-time results as parents and birth professionals write back to me about their breech birth experiences.

If the light cooperates tomorrow, I'm going to refilm one of my breech lectures in Breech Pro. If it's too overcast, I'll need to wait another day.

We all were home for dinner tonight, which was unusual given the kids' soccer schedules. It's such a normal thing for us in France but not a given over here.

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Post-apocalyptic thunder

We were all jolted awake at 2:30 am by one of the loudest noises I have ever heard. In the milliseconds it took me to wake up, my brain processed it as a huge bomb going off and I even started to wonder if this was the beginning of a global apocalypse. Yeah, it was that loud and that foreign.

We figured out it was thunder when we saw lightning flash in the distance, but it sure didn't sound like thunder--none of that rumbling or rolling or crackling.

Then we were hit by a huge storm that, had it not been 2:30 am, would have been fun to go out and watch.

Then I lay wide awake the rest of the night, drifting off to sleep a few minutes before my alarm went off. I read a book for a few hours because sleep was eluding me.

Anyway it was an exciting night and an exhausting day for all of us. Eric is in bed at 11 pm, which, if you know him, is NOT normal.

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Marathon Saturday + restful Sunday

I was so tired after yesterday that I put off everything else in the evening. It was fun but busy. Eric and I both did some yard work in the morning. Then I played chauffeur for several hours, dropping Eric and Ivy off at a soccer game, picking Dio up at a county fair 15 minutes away, coming home to pick up Inga and Zari, driving 30 minutes south of town for a cider press activity, driving back home in time for Inga and me to catch a ride to her soccer tournament 45 minutes away. As soon as we got home from that, Eric dropped Zari off at a school dance and then had to come get her 2 hours later.

So much coming and going! It was my first opportunity to watch one of Inga's games this season. She went to a sleepover right after the game with two of her teammates, and I think (hope) they went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Right when she arrived at the school dance, one of Zari's crutches slipped and she feel, hurting her ankle again. So she had a frustrating time and stayed on the sidelines with a painful ankle. She had planned on going out to eat with her friends after, but her ankle hurt too much. I'm just so frustrated on her behalf!

Today was quite restful in contrast. Eric and Ivy had another soccer match in the afternoon, in which Ivy was on fire and scored 3 of the 5 goals. The rest of us stayed home, watched a movie, read books, and otherwise took it easy.

Dinner was roasted brussels sprouts, marinated chicken, basmati rice, peach cobbler (from the peaches we picked last month), and fresh apple cider.

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Several hours of walking, bike rides, and sore eyes

8,411 steps

Note to self: don't put hydrogen peroxide in my eyes. (I already knew this, but I grabbed the wrong bottle of contact solution and put it in my eyes...owwwww! First time this has ever happened since I started using H₂O₂ solution as a teenager.)

I still have very red, sore eyes and I imagine they'll take some time to heal.

Zari's arms and shoulders are sore from using crutches.

Inga had two friends over after school. They ran around and played, ate dinner with us, and made Smores around a bonfire. They're fun kids.

Ivy was at a birthday party for several hours. They had two bouncy houses so she wore herself out. (This family bought used bouncy houses a while back and they've paid themselves back and more, between all of their kids' parties and renting them out to people in town. Good idea!)

We have a busy day tomorrow filled with soccer games and youth activities all around the region.

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Sprained ankle

6,478 steps

Yesterday I was all sorts of motivated. Today...well...I was lethargic and wanted to curl up in bed.

Bad news: Zari came home last night with a sprained ankle. During her soccer game, she stepped in a hole on the field and twisted her ankle. She was still in a lot of pain this morning and could barely hobble around. I brought her to an urgent care clinic, which turned out well because the physician had been trained as an orthopedic surgeon in India before immigrating to the US.

She has a sprained ankle with some torn ligaments, so she's on crutches for a week, a boot for a week after that, and then who knows when she can go back to playing soccer. This means she might miss the rest of the season. Poor girl--she is so disappointed.

I'll probably get to bed early again. I can feel my body shutting down.

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