Breast Milk Cheese?

"You can milk anything with nipples."

Today in Infantilizing Pregnant Women . . .

Bravado, a company that designs nursing/pregnancy bras, sometimes features pregnant models in its runway shows. Since their lingerie is designed for nursing and pregnant women, this might seem like a no-brainer.

In February, the Blush Boutique Nightclub in Las Vegas, which had agreed to host this runway show, barred a pregnant model from participating because it was at night and there was alcohol in the building!

“We did not feel it appropriate to feature a very pregnant model in a nightclub, at midnight, where alcohol was being served,” Jennifer Dunne, a Wynn spokeswoman, wrote in a statement responding to questions. “Our team made a judgment call which we feel was correct given the environment and circumstance.”

Why? Is it past her bedtime? Might she see people drinking?

Let's clarify once and for all:
Though pregnant women are carrying infants, they are not, in fact, infants themselves.

When I was an elementary school teacher, you would see this when principals and professional development people would treat teachers as they would treat the students in that teacher's grade. Are you a kindergarten teacher? Let's cover your assessment folders with stickers! I had a friend who switched from first grade to sixth and she said she was shocked to find that people started talking to her like a grown-up.

Babies in Bars

Should babies be allowed in bars?

As long as they aren't drinking or screaming and the parents aren't being obnoxious by blocking the bar area with strollers, who cares? Some of the people interviewed say that they don't want to drink with 5-year-olds staring at them — that seems a little whiny to me. Do they think that little kids (and their parents) should be hidden away until they are teenagers?

4,000 Years for Choice

Here is a very cool project exploring the ways in which women have sought to control their fertility over the last 40 centuries.

Not So Tired

I feel like I am waking up out of my extreme exhaustion. I had a full day at work today, walked a mile and a half there and the same back, but am still awake and happy at 10:30. Tired, yes; exhausted, no.

It's been about a week since I have felt the exhaustion that characterized the last month or so of my pregnancy. It used to be that I would be laughing/crying from tiredness by 8:30 at night. Now, I just yawn and feel sleepy, but I am confident in my ability to walk up the stairs.

I'm looking forward to the rumored energy increase of the 2nd trimester. Only a couple of weeks to go!

Thickening

It will be a while before I really begin to show. I'm fat enough to begin with, so it's not really easy to distinguish a baby bump under my normal belly.

Yet, I have started to notice a definite thickening right around the top of my underwear. It might not be very visible to others, but it feels different — firm, rather than soft, rounded, and thick. I suspect that it will be at least another month before I have a real bump, but this little change is helping me to feel pregnant.

My next appointment with the midwives is on Thursday. I really hope we get to hear the heartbeat.

Point and Pray

In Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, David Hackett Fischer describes a peculiar method occasionally used by Puritans to name their children:

There is evidence that parents sometimes shut their eyes, opened the good book and pointed to a word at random, with results such as Notwithstanding Griswold and Maybe Barnes.

FB and I tried this method, first with a Bible, then with the US Constitution.

I opened the Bible and FB pointed. Result: Reconciled.

FB opened the Constitution and I pointed. Result: President.

Reconciled is actually not too bad, though it does sound a little defeatist. I like some of those old virtue names like Temperence, Thankful, Remember, etc. I maintain that Diligence and Vigilance would be good twin names.