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Young Mom, Old Soul

HEALTH, MOMS, RELATIONSHIPS
Kristal Heath | VenusBlogs Contributor

I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I lived until I was eight years old. After my parents’ divorce was finalized, my mother packed up shop and brought us to Lorain, Ohio. Supposedly, this was to be a bright and fresh beginning; to be around her family, to find happiness. And yet, all I can remember is the struggle.

My mother suffered many injuries to her feet. Being a single parent, she never had time to recover and heal properly, and over time, these small instances became quite serious. She was diagnosed with a rare disease called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSDS). The doctors sent her to specialists and pain management clinics, only to tell her there was not much they could do. Read more

Love at First Heartbeat

MOMS, PREGNANCY
Dori Hartley | VenusBlogs Managing Editor

Dear Valentine,

Years ago, as I reclined comfortably on an examination room table, an attendant jellied my belly with sonogram goo and, within a few seconds, I heard a sound I would never forget for the rest of my life: your rapid, sparrow-small heartbeat.

Even though the heartbeat was strangely distorted in it’s muffled amplification, all I heard was life — precious, vital life. There was life inside me — a heart beating inside my womb! It was so hard to believe a human being’s heart could beat that fast, but, then again, you were no bigger than a hummingbird at the time. Yet, there you were, alive, inside my body, making your presence known. You were undeniable.

When I first heard this manic, throttling little drum, I immediately and instinctively understood the power it would forever have over me, and I knew, also, that you would look to me as its source. Accepting this grand responsibility came as natural to me as breathing, and, before you were even born, I had already fallen deeply, unshakeably in love with you. Read more

Me and My Microbiomes

HEALTH, PREGNANCY, V TALK
Adrian Lamb | VB Blogger
Photo: Canwest News Service

Did you know that maintaining a healthy vaginal microbiome can be key to avoiding preterm birth? Slate tells it like it is, microbiology-wise.

The human microbiome consists of the microbes living on and within the human body. Most of these bugs inhabit the large intestine. There, a few pounds’ worth of bacteria, yeasts, archaea, and even viruses help digest food, calibrate our metabolic and immune function, and hold off would-be invaders.

A special subset—the vaginal microbiome—inhabits the vagina. And successful human reproduction, it turns out, owes an immense debt to this microbial community.

A healthy vaginal microbiome produces lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide, which maintain a level of acidity that keeps troublemaking microbes at bay. When the vaginal community becomes unbalanced, on the other hand, acidity decreases. The wrong microbes may then invade or, if they’re already present, bloom.  Read more

A Celebration of Choice

ABORTION, HEALTH, PREGNANCY, SEX
Gabrielle Vaughn | VenusBlogs Editor at Large

An older friend of mine told me a story about what it was like to grow up female in the 1950s. I got the impression that during these days — if you were a young woman — you either dressed fashionably demure and acted accordingly, or you wore black leather and had sex with bikers. No middle ground; just virgin angel or devilish whore.

You had to keep yourself chaste for your future husband, because the goal of being a woman — back then — was to get married, have children and become June Cleaver. Boys became men and could do whatever they wanted, but you — the woman — had to maintain your image as the dainty virgin that would one day become the respectable matron. Read more

My Legitimate Rape

ABORTION, PREGNANCY
Sandra Harmon | VenusBlogs Contributor

It was 1959. Eisenhower was President, “Ben Hur” was the highest grossing picture, with “Sleeping Beauty” coming in second, and “Some Like It Hot” third. I was nearly twenty-one years old, reasonably pretty, sexy with the glow of youth and anticipation, and working as a clerk/typist for a low-end dress manufacturer in the Garment District.

I’d moved into a studio apartment on 57th and 8th Avenue in Manhattan one hot August day. Although it was an old building in a then run-down neighborhood, at $97.00 a month I could just afford the rent. I bought some secondhand furniture from the Salvation Army store, but ordered a new bed from Macy’s. Unfortunately, it was going to be delivered after I moved in, so until then, I’d no choice but to sleep on the floor.

The next morning, at a neighborhood coffee shop, I ran into Enrique. In his early thirties, he was tall and well built, had a square, handsome face and straight black hair. He worked with the Chilean Embassy. Sometimes I’d see Enrique and his two sons, on Sundays, carrying bats and balls on their way to Central Park. Sometimes I’d meet him on the street with his pretty Chilean wife.

Hearing that I’d moved into a new apartment without a bed, Enrique offered to loan me a beach lounge. He climbed up five flights of stairs with the heavy lounge chair on his back as it was too large for the building’s tiny elevator. At the apartment, tired and sweaty, he asked for the Scotch I’d brought with me.

While he drank, we chatted awkwardly and then suddenly, he lurched towards me. I tried to back away, but he grabbed me and pushed me down hard on the floor. He ripped my cotton shorts aside and pushed himself inside of me. I screamed, begged and pleaded with him to stop. He wouldn’t. He had me pinned down and I was frightened. After what seemed like forever, he finally pulled out and was instantly ashamed and sorry. “I don’t know what came over me,” he said. I started screaming at him, and he quickly ran out of the apartment. I showered, my tears mingling with the steamy water, trying to wash the dirty feelings away.

Read more

Money Makes the Womb Go Round

MEDIA, POLITICS, PREGNANCY
Gabrielle Vaughn | VenusBlogs Editor at Large

I do have to admit that at one point I looked at my TV during an Obama campaign advertisement and said, “Barack, babes…I appreciate the woman-push and you’ve totally got my vote because of it, but dollface, you’ve got to talk about other issues.”

Erin Gloria Ryan, political blogger for Jezebel.com writes:

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. The War on Women, as the GOP line goes, is a myth drummed by the liberal media to distract from important economic issues. Issues like jobs, the economy, and building a giant fucking oil pipe across the middle of the country. A real President would focus on things that matter to real Americans rather than spending the entire campaign playing in the Barbie aisle with the ladies and their special interest concerns. But since when did reproductive choices decouple from economic consequences? As long as pregnancy and childbirth cost money, and time that could be used to make more money if it wasn’t being spent on kid-wrangling, a woman’s ability to control the size of her family is the most important economic issue of all. So why is anyone getting away with pretending it’s not?

Big bottom line, you make the rocking world go ’round.

Please read, “It’s Time to Stop Pretending Abortion and Birth Control Aren’t Economic Issues” over at Jezebel.com. And while you’re there, check out the comments, too. Some are very insightful, indeed.

Time to Bring in the Thought Police

The latest scientific findings indicate that The Morning After Pill is not so much an ‘abortion pill’ as it is an ovulation delay method. This new and scientifcally supported idea is going to make it difficult for the hard boiled religious conservatives and politicians to shriek out a Holy Tirade against the pill — simply because, in truth, it’s not an abortion method.

There is no embryo to be destroyed because by delaying ovulation, sperm have nothing to fertilize — there is no egg. And without a fertilized egg, there can be no embryo, which means that a human being cannot be created, hence none can be destroyed.

So, what’s the beef going to be about now? Maybe the zealots will find a way to condemn women for even thinking about delaying ovulation? Maybe that will be the new sin against God?

Is it time to bring in the Thought Police?

For more reading on this subject, have a look at this article in The New York Times.