Remember our link a few weeks ago about the exorbitant cost of childbirth in the States? Well, here's another way to put it in perspective: Kate Middleton (or those paying for her birth) probably spent less on childbirth than the average American woman.
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| Graph from here. |
And while we're discussing Kate Middleton, can we just take a moment to thank her for not hiding her postpartum belly. That's one giant step for motherkind. Love that girl. Cup of Jo expressed this wonderfully.
Here are some more beautifully honest birth photos.
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| Image from Jenna Shouldice here. |
Remember the CTFD Method of parenting that swept the interwebs last week? Here's another take: 'Calm down': The Best Advice for Parents, or the Worst? Either way, I love it that it's the daddys running this conversation.
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| Calm the "F" down. That's what we're calling it over here at Mama Congo. Image censored from here. |
And as we wind down our summer Stateside, we leave with one question: What the heck is going on with Cornhole and why on earth is every single social interaction revolved around it? Here are a few answers from Cornhole Galaxy, the DC Cornhole League, and from an actual journal.
Jill's List:
Did you know that in our little hometown (yes, Sarah and I come from the same Valley town), there is a Cornhole Bag store? Oh yes. I saw it with my own eyes yesterday.
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| Image from Sam's Cornhole Bags. |
Can't stop thinking about this Atul Gawande piece in the most recent New Yorker.
We yearn for frictionless, technological solutions. But people talking to people is still the way that norms and standards change.
Some of my (30+ year old) friends are convinced that this is the summer for their first tattoos. They are thinking lines, geometry, and this guy. (I have a tattoo. It says "kick" and is right under my right rib. Get it?)
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| Image from here. |
Enjoying this blog.
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| From here. |
Had amazing, huge, crab cakes this week in Baltimore - from this place. On the downside, Elias said, "Hey these roads are super bumpy just like the ones in Kinshasa!"
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| Thanks for the treat, Aunt Mary (on the left)! |
Feeling tired. One more week. Wait. Less than one week to fit a year's worth of oatmeal into our allotted checked baggage. Panic ensues.
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| Tired. |
Can you seriously not get oatmeal in the Congo? That's borderline tragic!
ReplyDeleteIt's the rolled oats, Jennifer. I've only seen them once in two years and the price was $40 for a cardboard can. There is plenty of Jungle Oats and other versions of the quick mush stuff. Yes, we're being a bit picky...but the rolled kind really come in handy...
DeleteHaha! We live 2 blocks away from where you bought your crab cakes in Baltimore. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks we need new roads!
ReplyDeleteNice! Those cakes were really something else...
Deletevery interesting stories! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat normal delivery cost chart is crazy!
ReplyDeleteHere in Argentina, for women without insurance, the delivery cost is fully paid by the state (if they have, the company in obliged, by law, to pay). That includes prenatal visits, tests, meds, suplements and vit A skin lotion, full hospital stay, mother care for the first post partum month and baby care for the whole first year. The plan does not includes formula, so mums are encouraged to nurse.
Around here is very common that a mum with extra milk breastfeed another's mum baby (my aunt did with both her daugthers). Did you know that we have breast milk banks? The milk is colected, analyzed, frozen and then delivered in ziplocs to the baby who needs it.