Category: b’herayon
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Kids and reproductive biology 101: bellies, babies, birth and boobs.
Brought to you by the letter… Science. I have an open policy on Q&A with my kids. If they’re aware enough to ask it, they’re aware enough to get a viable answer. So now that the four B’s – belly, babies, birth, boobs – are major everyday topics around here, I’ve had plenty of opportunity…
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Driving in Israel meets the belly card.
Driving to gan pickup last week, I officially became that person. The person who looks down for a split second and looks back up to realize you’re a microsecond from hitting the stopped car in front of you. The person who, despite braking, hits the car in front of you. I’ve been here nearly nine…
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Something to tell you…
For months I wanted to tell them. “Get into bed guys, and I’ll tell you a סוד.” Especially Koala. I so enjoy sharing secrets with him… trivial whispers or major life developments. They stood at the edge of Bebe’s bed; she was nearly collapsed from exhaustion. “You know how some of our friends had babies…
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Where was your daughter born?
So while initially, after giving birth to my daughter, I was asked very often ‘where did you give birth?’ that question has definitely waned in the last 15 months. It just becomes the sort of question doctors ask you at initial check ups, I guess. And so, oddly, despite everything, I kinda forgot where my…
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New Israeli home birth restrictions delayed.
An update on the Israeli home birth restrictions situation: Health Ministry delaying delivery of new restrictions on at-home births The health ministry has yet to complete its labor on a new policy restricting home births. Responding to public criticism which followed Haaretz’s recent disclosure of the new restrictive guidelines, the ministry’s medical authority has decided to…
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New Israeli homebirth restrictions drafted (where’s midwife trust?)
From Haaretz: Israel ministry drafts new rules to restrict home births A woman planning to give birth at home will have to obtain a letter from her family doctor testifying that she is both physically and mentally sound, under new regulations being drafted by the Health Ministry that many believe are aimed at curtailing home…
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Good bras, good nursing.
Since having children, I have been on a journey. It’s not quite spiritual, but certainly challenging. It’s about… finding the best nursing bras. Seriously, what’s the deal? At least half the women in this country breastfeed, yet it’s fairly difficult to find good quality nursing bras here. Forget the malls – Intima and the like have…
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Home birth and the PKU test.
Because it doesn’t seem that many people know about this, and it’s unnecessary for more home birthers than just us to have that millisecond of freak-out when receiving the phone call, I’m sharing this information with the Israeli home birthing masses: If you’ve birthed in a hospital, you know that before you are discharged, your baby receives that torturous PKU…
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My home birth story: Israel, Tzur Hadassah, apartment, bedroom.
In the months leading up to labor and childbirth, I think we all spend significant time organizing our expectations, fears and hopes. For this birth, my expectation was it would be at least slightly easier than last time, my fear was that it could become complicated due to complications from last time, and my hope…
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Registering your newborn after home birth.
In Israel, when you give birth in the hospital, the hospital takes care of the bureaucratic paperwork fun-time, otherwise known as getting a teudat zehut number for your newborn. They submit the papers which go to Misrad Hapnim to get processed for a birth certificate and ID number. But when you do a leidat bayit – home…
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Rude awakening.
Ventured outside today for the first time since Bebe was born. I hated having to get in the car with my five-day-old daughter to drive into the center of Jerusalem and visit, of all places, Misrad Hapnim (ahem) (and here’s why). The idea of city-center air up her nostrils alone makes me sad. But really,…
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On the sixth day…
And on the sixth day, man… And on the seventh, they rested (sort of). Our baby girl was born in our home this past Friday, just in time for Shabbat. The labor took less than a third the time it took with Koala, and she beats her brother by 150 grams at 2.85 kilos – and…