I Missed Blog for Choice.

January 22 was the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, a court case that started the argument for women's reproductive rights in the US. This argument rages on today, and is becoming more heated as the election draws nearer.

NARAL Pro-Choice America is an organization that engages in political action to promote the pro-choice movement in the US. They started "Blog for Choice" day every Jan 22 and encouraged bloggers to write about why it is important to vote pro-choice in the upcoming election.

Why am I writing about this? I didn't plan on writing anything about Blog for Choice day since I didn't think I had anything to add to the great posts out there. I am also Canadian, and didn't think this applied to me.
All of this changed when I got not one but two invitations to join a Pro-Life message board at facebook. I declined them.

I have always stood for the reproductive rights of women. I am a woman. I am a mother. I have a daughter. For all of these reasons I am pro-choice. I chose to be a mother. I want my daughter someday to be able to make that same choice. I do not believe that a fetus has rights that super cede the rights of the woman incubating it. Pregnancy is hard work. No woman should feel bullied into carrying a pregnancy to term because some nameless, faceless people think they know what she needs better than her. The choice to have a child should be no one's but the woman carrying it.

I live a cushy middle-class life. My first two pregnancies were planned. The third one caught me completely by surprise. I knew about the possibility of my becoming pregnant the last time early enough that I could have obtained a prescription for Emergency Contraception. I thought hard about how our life would change either way. My heart told me not to take the pills. I am thankful that I was allowed to make up my own mind. I will continue to support women's reproductive rights so that we can continue to make up our own minds and protect our bodies.

To quote from one of the following articles: "To be born is a gift. It is not a right."

For more information check this article out.
Here is an interesting essay by a young woman who is Christian and pro-choice. I couldn't have said it better than she does.

OK, I feel like I have opened a can of worms. Go easy on me. I welcome articulate, well thought out opposition. If all you have to say is "Abortion is murder! You suck!" try a little harder, please.

Helpless.

I am feeling helpless today. My grandma is feeling under the weather. She is in pain. I want so badly to help her. The illness she has could spread to my children and make them sick so all I can do is bring her food and leave it at the door. I hate seeing her alone and in pain. I can hear the pain in her voice when I talk to her on the phone. I want to do more, but I have to protect my kids. I wish I could do more.

What do you think?

I went out on a limb today and ordered glasses online. I have bought a great many things online, just never something that is so important in my day to day life. I agonized over frames.
I thought I would go out on a limb and get something crazy and bright. I kept going back to these ones. They have a really feminine shape, I love the tortiseshell with a shot of bright blue on the inside, and I tried on this brand at my optometrist's office and found them very comfortable.

What do you think? Should I have gone with the red?

The World Through Emmett's Eyes

This is what happens when you give your camera to your 4 year old.

I hope this can help us.

Genetic flaw appears to increase risk of autism

Updated Wed. Jan. 9 2008 5:04 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Researchers have made an important discovery in the search for answers in the mystery of autism. They've identified a genetic flaw that appears to increase one's susceptibility to the condition.

The researchers found that a segment of chromosome 16 is either missing or duplicated in about one per cent of individuals with autism or related disorders.

That may not sound like much, but the study's senior author, Dr. Mark Daly, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Human Genetic Research, tells CTV News that those people who have this chromosomal abnormality have "a very, very high risk of autism."

I saw this on the news this morning. You can read the complete story here. I am hoping that with this new discovery the genetic testing Emmett is scheduled for this Spring will really be able to give us answers. I know that experts have told us that Emmett is not Autistic, but he does have some behaviours that Autistic children exhibit. In my quest to get Emmett the help he needs I feel like I am putting together a puzzle with half the pieces missing. I feel like this is one more piece found. It seems so funny that the one time I get to turn on the news for five minutes in the morning this is the story I see.

God is with me. I just know it.

At the very least, I know that this means hope for many, many families besides mine.

Hi Grandma!

Matthew is 4 months old already!!!! What is he up to? Well, he giggles, he rolls from front to back, and he can grab things with his hands quite capably now. He is entertained by his sister--she sings and dances for him to his great delight.

Why????

How did the dryer know to die the very same week we chose to quit diapers cold turkey with Emmett??

Mmmmm yummy!

Fire up your slow cookers and head over to my food blog. Tis the season for rib-sticking hearty fare to warm you up. I have two new recipes there that can help you out.

Rambling about Emmett

Just when I think I have scaled another peak on the mountain that is Emmett and his speech, I get my flag out to plant it and find another mountain in front of me.

Last week I got a letter from the Children's Hospital in the Big City. The developmental pediatrician has advised us to get some tests done and they are being scheduled for the Spring. Emmett is to have genetic testing and a MRI. We head off to our doc to fill out the forms on Friday. I am pretty sure I am going to decline the MRI. Emmett will need to be sedated for the procedure and I don't feel the risks of putting him under outweigh the benefits of knowing what this scan will tell us, if anything. The genetic testing may actually be helpful, and it is just a simple blood test so that I will go forward with.

In addition to all of this we are making preparations for Emmett to enter Kindergarden next Fall. I have been thinking about his education a lot. At first I thought I would home school him since he is so bright, but he has made such tremendous progress with his communication skills by being in preschool that I really think he needs to be around the other children. We also wanted to put him in French Immersion (for you American readers, since Canada is officially a bilingual country you can choose to put your child in school where he or she will learn to speak French from kindergarten in full-immersion style.) Our therapist advised against French Immersion since he doesn't even speak English fluently. He will have a teacher's aid with him in the class room and his speech therapy will continue through school therapists. We will lose the developmental therapy.

We had dinner at my mother-in-law's last night. In her classic way she started planting seeds of doubt in my mind about the choices I am making for Emmett. She is a professor at the University in our city. She asks her colleagues in the faculties of Psychology and Education about Emm a lot. She told me last night that an Education prof told her we should keep Emm out of Kindergarden for another year and place him in day care instead. This teacher has never met my boy.

Of course I got defensive because I felt like our privacy had been invaded. I had to remind myself that my mother in law is only doing this because she cares for Emmett and wants the best for him. I sometimes get the feeling that she doesn't think I am qualified to make these decisions because I don't have the level of education she does.

She said that the kids will be extra mean to him because he can't speak and that will continue all through his educational career. Now, I know how cruel children can be. I was tormented from grade 1 to grade 9 and I had no speech problem. I don't want to hold Emmett back--he is already bigger than a lot of kids his age. I think that making him the biggest and oldest kid in the class will set him up for problems more than his communication issues will. Won't his classmates learn to communicate with him? Won't they then follow him through school knowing how to communicate with him?

I hate feeling this way--I want so badly to do the right thing and now I am not sure at all what that is.