Posts Tagged ‘connecticut’

July 1st, 2011

Apparently DUI’s Don’t Exist in My Town

To say I am fed up with not only the city for not doing anything to improve the dangerous curve by my house, but now there is a repeated pattern of them letting drunk drivers go.

If you remember, on St. Patrick’s Day night, our mailbox was hit, and someone fled the scene of the accident.  I was able to locate the totaled car around the block continuing to drop off his buddies.   That marked the 4th mailbox in three years since we moved into our house. Worst part of it all?  The police let the driver go. And let him drive himself home in a car that could have burst into flames at any moment. And smelt like it was already ON fire.

Well last night, another holiday weekend… it happened again!

The car was physically STUCK… and as she paced and FELL off of my front porch all she could say repeatedly was “I can’t get a DUI!! I am going into the medical field!  My medical dreams!”   and “Oh my god, can I just go home?  I can’t get a DUI my parents will kill me!”

I should have video taped it because not one but TWO cops said she wasn’t drunk, and drove her home.  I would like to know their definition of drunk, because the girl herself repeatedly admitted being drunk.

I will be contacting MADD about this because this is the second clearly intoxicated person let go. I am also going to contact the city hall about the speeding issue and that turn. There are A LOT of children that live in the block of 5 houses surrounding ours, and someone is going to get hurt, whether it is playing or at the bus stop right where that rock wall is.

January 12th, 2011

January 12th, 2011

Yes, that says 16 inches, although it is still snowing, and I don’t think that is an “even” estimate in my yard.
On top of it, my husband is on storm watch at the fire department, so no shoveling will be getting done anytime soon unless I do it. I already shoveled a small path for the dogs to go outside from the back porch, but they don’t seem too amused that they can’t make it down the stairs or into the back of the yard.  Poor pooches.
Snowmagedin!  The state is basically shut down, and they are saying this is the worst storm we have had since 1978. Wow!

December 4th, 2010

Tackling C-Section Rates by State/Hospital

I love the Unnecesarean. I am sure most of my readers already know this though. Jill, the name behind the blog is always open to helping women, and overall does an awesome job.

In the past year she has started looking up, researching, and finding the c-section rates per state and then breaking it down to hospital numbers. During 2009 Michele from Birthcut.com and I sat down and started investigating the cesarean rates in Connecticut where we both live.

It took us 4 months to get the numbers which we published online, and still use because updated statistics aren’t available at this time.

Yesterday Jill published all of our hard work with the c-section rates, by hospital for Connecticut.  If you are interested in seeing the rates in your area, or your local hospital, check out her website and I am sure she will have your state on there somewhere!

Click on the picture to link to her post

November 2nd, 2010

Voting

My attempt to get a picture of their "I Voted" stickers

I think voting is important.

Ever since I was a child, my parents always brought me with them when they voted, and I wanted to press buttons, and touch things I shouldn’t. I think that really sparked my early interest in politics.

Since that time, polls have changed. There are no more buttons or levers in our voting locally. Everything has gone to paper ballots, with circles you fill in with pen. Much less exciting for children, but that hasn’t stopped me from getting my children involved in the voting process.

I braved the polls this morning with a double stroller, two children still in their PJ’s, and  lack of entertainment. I tried to keep my toddler interested every step of the way though. I kept talking about voting, and how it is important for all of us, as it is our “civil duty” as Americans.

I was also sure to throw in that if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. Which is true. If you want the right to bitch about the outcome, do something about it. If you don’t get out and vote, you have no one but yourself to blame if the outcome is less than ideal in your eyes.

To me, this was a big year, especially with the candidates in my state. As you can see in some of my recent posts, I have been loud and proud in my stance against two very wrong women for the jobs in my state. Which is sad to me because we could really use some strong women in Government. But certainly not the two that are running.

I am proud to say I voted for the following :

Dan Malloy for Governor – We need to get the Republican’s out in CT after what Rell has done!
Richard Blumenthal – He has done amazing things for the people of Connecticut, and Linda McMahon and her 50 million dollar trash campaign have done nothing but turn me off!  Sorry lady, but your 46 Million dollar income, doesn’t represent this Mother!
George Jepsen – Because I do not believe our children should be taught how to use guns in school, I believe Gays should be able to get married, and someone whose slogan includes the word “fortune” is clearly out of touch with the majority of Connecticut residents.

Just a few, but certainly most important to me…

All-in-all, it was a somewhat educational experience for us today. Certainly as much as the boys can learn at their age. And I will continue annually as they get older. We are parents who are here to guide our children through life, and this is something many of us should stand firm in, as it is so important to the future of our country!

October 12th, 2010

Violence Against Women is Never Acceptable

In recent weeks I have noticed a ton of violence against women in the National spotlight, and it got me thinking about it on such a larger scale. Why is it acceptable to be plastered all over television, and even further, why are there supporters behind a candidate for Senate who has made a living off exploiting and perpetuating violence against women on a large scale television entertainment show.

First it started Thursday night when I was laying down to watch some television and drift off to sleep. I was flipping through the channels and stopped at The Jersey Shore, which is like a train wreck to me. I typically don’t watch it and I think all total I have watched maybe 45 minutes of the show, but I tuned in just in time to see “The Situation” slap “Snooki” in the face. Like it was nothing… Big strong man gets a hair up his ass because everyone is having fun but him, and he slaps a chick in the face. I used to be a fan on him, at least on Dancing with the Stars, but he is on my shit list now. It is never acceptable under any circumstances to hit another person, especially a man hitting a woman. No way, no how… NEVER!

This is a popular MTV show which tons of teens, and even younger children are watching despite of the show rating, and by keeping this kind of actions in the show and not leaving it on the cutting room floor only shows these same children violence against women is acceptable, which it is not, and it is wrong.

Then we move on to Linda McMahon and the WWE empire. This has been on for ages, and in one year grossed her over 46 million dollars. That is a lot of money, but the problem I have with this money is it is being made off violence against women, and serious exploitation of women. Yesterday I came across a news cast that broke down some of the actions of the WWE, and her actions specifically.

First off, viewing what Linda has to say defending her actions, and part in the programing of WWE does not do it for me as a parent, and a feminist. Her husband Vince McMahon, and founder of WWE goes on National television and tells a woman to get on all fours and bark like a dog, and she has the nerve to defend these types of actions? Not only are they not acceptable, but they are degrading to women all over.  It is part of a cycle that needs to be broken in our society.

Families, including younger children are going to these live events and witnessing this, and by watching this whether live or on television, it is showing our next generation of men that these are acceptable actions. Further perpetuating the gender gap, and acceptance of domestic abuse in our society, which is never ok.

This is a person running for a Senate seat showing her open acceptance for domestic violence, and exploitation of women through her first amendment rights. Which I think is a total crock.

While most of my readers are not here in Connecticut where this is taking place, I think it is important to get this message out on a National level. These images and messages are never acceptable in our homes, on our televisions, or being taught to our children in any way, shape, or form.

We need to break the cycle, because if we do not step in now, it is only going to continue through the next generations, and there will be no end in sight!

October 6th, 2010

Women Politicians in Connecticut

This year during our election season, I have been seeing two women taking the front page in politics in my local community. One has been making a splash nationally, Linda McMahon as in WWE Matriarch. Yes, the wrestling wife is running for United States Senate in my state, against the much loved Attorney General who has made a huge difference in protecting Connecticut residents as long as I can remember. Even helping my family when we had a dispute with a contractor my husband worked with. Needless to say the race has turned into a circus, but isn’t that always what happens in politics around October?

So first Linda McMahon. A woman, who exploits women, and of course men for money. Her income is something to the tune of $46 million dollars a year, and if you have ever turned on Friday Night Wrestling which I despise, but sometime my husband flips through you will see next to naked women fighting each other in a ring for the entertainment of men everywhere. Even recently when we were traveling on the highway to go apple picking as a family, we were passed by three huge WWE trucks and trailors, all of which had next to naked women in compromising positions just driving down the road.   To my knowledge there are male wrestlers too right?  But since the majority of fans are men, it is more appealing to exploit the women.   Not cool with me by any means.

Next comes a woman by the name of Martha Dean. I had no idea who she was, or what she was even running for until my husband and I were cut off on the highway by some rich snob with a HUGE Martha Dean magnet on the side of their car.  Turns out it was Martha Dean herself driving like a complete asshole on I-95 in rainy weather. That was my first strike against this woman. Once I learned she was running for Attorney General of Connecticut, a huge and sometimes powerful position for laws in our state, I had to investigate and the more I learned, the more I did not like about this misogynistic mother.

First things first, I am all for single mothers, but I am not for anyone who plays out their nasty custody battle in the public eye, and I also am not for someone who plays their child against the other parent. Which is something apparently which has been well documented through our local news media. Next, she is something I like to call a hypocrite. She is running her campaign on traditional religious backgrounds, while she herself was an unwed mother. Makes my head spin a little bit.

Next, her slogan : Freedom, Faith, Fortune.

In the economy the way it is today, drop the fortune. Connecticut has a population living in poverty, a large unemployment number still, and the majority of residents are middle class, not the wealthy that everyone thinks of when they hear about Greenwich, or whatever area this woman is from. Not someone that represents the majority of us in Connecticut, that is for sure!

Next, Freedom… someone who believes gays shouldn’t be allowed to marry and plans to examine the legality of gay marriage in Connecticut if it comes up is not someone who believes in freedom. Not to mention, someone who also wants to look at the abortion legislation which has been in place in our state since before she was even born?   No thanks. Move on lady.

As a strong feminist there is no way I could vote for either of these horrid female misogynists for any kind of office in my state, and it is truly a sad day for Connecticut politics when the male candidates are more concerned about feminist issues than the women!

July 16th, 2010

10 Places I Would Enjoy Living

I think we all have those “what if” moments in our lives where we second guess everything we have known, and the place we live, and way of life thinking, wow… Where else would be super cool to live?  I had a moment like this almost 2 years ago when my husband and I were discussing long term what would be the best for our family after his lay off. Would it be best for him to re-enlist in the Marine Corps, and up root our family from our life in Connecticut to possibly end up around the world in Japan? Or take a turn on our path in Connecticut and make it work.

Well, we are still in Connecticut so I am sure you know what choice we went with. Hah!  But it got me thinking off and on, where would I want to live if we weren’t in Connecticut. If we could move anywhere, money not being an option, and of course take our family with us too..  I have lived in North Carolina, but I was way too far inland.
I started making a list of places in my head, and these are some I have come up with, you will certainly notice a pattern quick.

10 – Cape Cod, Massachusetts – After watching the Bachelorette home town dates this past week, If I was Ali, I would be picking Chris, come on!  Cape Cod is beautiful, water front, full of history, it just doesn’t get much better then that. Give me a little waterside cottage with the ocean in  my backyard!

Cape Cod

9 – Old Orchard Beach, Maine – When I was a kid, this was a vacation spot for our family. Beautiful beaches, lots to do, and our family roots all stem in Maine. I have wanted to go back since I haven’t been there in ages, at least a decade, if not longer. I hope that we can at least bring our kids on vacation.

8 – New York City – Although I require a yard, and water close by, I would still love to live in the city. Even if it was just for a year. I think there is so much the city offers in more then just culture and tourism. But in life lessons, and experiences you could never pick up anyplace else.  Apartment or high rise, brownstone or pent house, I don’t think we could ever realistically afford an apartment I would find suitable for my kids. LOL!

New York City

7 – Orlando, Florida – Who wouldn’t want to live that close to Disney World?  Despite having a family member employed by Nickelodeon, my children are total Disney kids. The Mickey Mouse obsession in our house is borderline unhealthy, and I can’t wait till they are older, and able to enjoy a place like Disney World. I just think it would be amazingly awesome to live so close for a year, at the least.   Plus, isn’t Florida always warm?  I could go for nice weather all year, of course minus he Hurricanes.

6 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Food, fun, culture, and an abundant amount of history. What more would I want to raise my children around?  I always wanted to make it there pre Hurricane Katrina, but never made it. My father used to go down there yearly as a child because his aunt lived there. They kids would spend a couple weeks with Aunt Wanda then head on back to Connecticut. The area is so rich with history and culture, I would love to live there.  Just look how beautiful it is?

New Orleans French Quarter

5 – Orange County, California – Really anyplace in Orange County.  In his early 20′s after my Dad got out of the Navy, he lived there and loved it. He always raves about it and how he would love to go back. My husband was stationed in California when he was in the Marines also, so between the two of them, my desire to visit this area of California has slowly grown.

4 – Salem, Massachusetts – I love Halloween. It is my favorite time of the year, and I have always wanted to go to Salem. Even if it was just for the holiday, but how cool would it be to live there?  If you haven’t noticed a pattern here, I love towns rich with history. I am a huge history buff and I think the Salem witch trials are some of the most interesting parts of early American history. Another huge plus?  It is seaside!

Salem, M.A.

3 – Chicago – High rise buildings, seaside, water will do it doesn’t need to be an Ocean!  Fashion, pizza, you just can’t do wrong. So much history, so much to do, and overall just a neat place to live. It would probably be some place I wouldn’t stay long term, but it certainly is some place I wouldn’t mind settling down in for a bit.

2 – San Diego, California – San Diego means, The Whales Vagina, per Ron Burgundy of course. Please see Anchorman if you don’t know what that means. LOL!  I think San Diego has to be one of the most beautiful seaside communities/cities in the US. Although the price is sky high, if I was a millionaire, that would be the first place I packed up shop and moved to.  Plus, I have always wanted to live some place with palm trees! LOL

San Diego

1 – Boston – Last but certainly not least… BOSTON!  If you are new to my blog, or don’t know me well, we are giant Red Sox fans. I have always loved Boston, I have vacationed there, headed up for day Red Sox games, participated in a Boston Tea Party reenactment… I just love Boston. It has my New England heart.  What would be better than living in walking distance to Fenway Park and other landmarks, again rich with the history of our country being founded, and being able to listen to the nightly games!  Nothing would be better than that!  Not to mention, I would probably totally go back to school.

Fenway Park & Boston

There ya have it!  My list… so here is my question to all of my readers… If you could move anywhere (in the US) where would you live?

June 26th, 2010

My Beef with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

Don’t get me wrong. I think what the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is going is awesome. Breastfeeding education, help, and promotion is key in our society today. But my beef is regarding some of the hospitals being deemed baby friendly and their birth practices.

I am going to focus around the hospitals in my state of Connecticut that have been deemed baby friendly, and their birth practices and statistics because all of these numbers are easily accessible for me.   In Connecticut we have 3 “baby friendly hospitals” which are Middlesex Hospital, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, and Hartford Hospital.  My qualm?  One of these hospitals has THE HIGHEST cesarean birth rate in the entire state.

Lets look at the numbers :

Hartford Hospital : 38.17% C-section rate for 2007
Middlesex Hospital : 37.50% C-section rate for 2007
St. Vincent’s Medical Center : 44.50% Cesarean rate for 2007

St. Vincent’s Medical Center also holds a VBAC Defacto Ban. Meaning there is no official ban on VBAC, but there is also no providers on staff that will allow a woman the chance to have a vaginal birth after a cesarean. Not friendly at all if you ask me.
Middlesex has a 1.26% VBAC rate, and Hartford Hospital has a 2.0% VBAC rate.
All are hospitals I recommend women stay far away from when giving birth.

These numbers are all more than DOUBLE the recommendations put in place by the World Health Organization, which is 15% at most, including high risk patients. So, here is my question….   How can a hospital be baby friendly when their cesarean birth rates are so high?   Answer : The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative does not take how a baby is born, or a hospitals L&D practices into account when it comes to the label baby friendly.

The Baby Friendly tag has to do with breastfeeding.
The 10 Steps a hospital needs to accomplish to become baby friendly are :

Nothing about the birth statistics, nothing about the amount of unnecessary interventions during childbirth that can and do impact breastfeeding relationships, especially c-sections. Typically babies are separated from mothers longer, have more medication in the days after, and have an unhealthy start to breastfeeding.

There is simply nothing baby friendly about subjecting our children to unnecessary medical procedures that may or may not impact their health long term.

So what is my suggestion to the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative?  Start looking at the L&D unit’s as a whole, not just breastfeeding steps. The way hospitals treat women when they are in labor, or giving birth IS going to impact their breastfeeding relationship long term. Hospitals jumping through those 10 hoops also does not give them breastfeeding success which we saw in Connecticut again with a hospital that is not on the Baby Friendly list, but has a higher breastfeeding success rate than all three of those above hospitals combined.

The three hospitals above are not baby friendly.
They are NOT mother friendly.
They do NOT practice evidence based medicine.

March 7th, 2010

The Week’s Wrap Up

So much has gone on this week in my life, and in the world that I thought it would be best to really cover it all, and post why these events are important.

ABC News covered two high profile news stories regarding birth, and promotion of Natural Birth as well as Out of the Hospital birth.

• CDC Says Home Births on the Rise in the US – New CDC report shows home birth rates, as well as other out of hospital birthing options in recent years. And magically it cannot be blamed on Ricki Lake like groups like ACOG have been claiming in recent years.  You can go back and read My Post on it that even attracted the #1 internet troll in the childbirth community!
• World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer also covered the topic of the rising Maternal Mortality rates in the United States.  Tackling the issues that new mothers should know, including AVOIDING UNNECESSARY MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS which are very typical, and routine in the hospital. You can view the video of this story right here.
• New York Times takes on VBAC – A great article showcasing a Native American hospital and how so many National Hospitals could be learning a lesson from their rate of VBAC and maternal health.  To read the article, click here.

Now to talk about things going on around the world of Blogging… I try to keep up with as many of my favorite blogs as I can, but with two kids, and the increased amount of things I have going on in my life it is hard to make my way every where I want to be.
If I forgot you, or your awesome blog, I am sorry!

• The Feminist Breeder was on my TV!!!! – Gina, AKA the Feminist Breeder, one of my favorite bloggers, as well as internet buddy was featured in a discovery health channel special on “Radial Parenting” which, I don’t think she is very radical at all as she parents pretty similar to us, but some ignorant assholes on the internet seemed to think they are fruit loops.
  Anyways, Gina blogged about it, and keep an eye out for the special!
• PhD in Parenting wrote a post about Mentoring the next Generation, which I loved. It may have been a “Wordless Wednesday” post, but it speaks volumes, and honestly, it doesn’t require any worlds.
• Michele from Birthcut.com, and a good friend of mine blogged about choices regarding VBAC and her own feelings. It is powerful, and moving, or at least it was to me! It really shows so many sides of the thoughts women go through when deciding their path for a birth after cesarean.
• Dou-la-la one of my all time fav bloggers talked about her new found love for Kourtney Kardashian. Which I am right on board with.  I am a total reality show junkie, and I really think the message that Kourtney has been sending to the general public, and mothers all over is awesome.

National Institute of Health is holding its VBAC Conference this week. No ya don’t say right?  I have only talked about it how many times in recent weeks right?  LOL  Well there are a lot of good posts, and posts about the conference coming up. I will be starting my live coverage tonight starting with The Feminist Breeder’s Radio Special. You can watch all of my live updates on NIH’s VBAC Conference here.

• Henci Goer talks about the conference and what may or may not come out of it.
• The Feminist Breeder discusses how VBAC access is a human rights issue.
• Kristen from Birthing Beautiful Ideas discusses NIH VBAC in detail and discusses who to watch for.
• The Unnecesarean talks about why VBAC should be the Norm.

And last but not least, the highlights from my own life this week.

• I got a new computer!  And I am in love with it.
• We have had awesome weather, and I have been able to take my children outside to play!  (Pictures to come)
• Our new couch is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday.
• Connecticut Worst to First received an awesome donation that will enable us to do a lot of the work that needs to get done for 2010.
• My baby only wants to sit up and play, and eat table food… it seems like he has grown up overnight.
• Because of the above, the playpen has come back out in our house!
• I am dying my hair tonight…

So overall, it was a pretty good week.
I am thinking about doing this type of a post weekly, so it you like it, comment and let me know!

March 2nd, 2010

National Project : Submit Your Story

The Connecticut Worst to First Campaign is looking for stories from women all over the Nation as part of a video project we are working on.
We are looking for women from all walks of life, and all areas who want to tell their story of struggling with the Hospital system regarding maternity care and birth.
From women victimized in the hospital, or subjected to court orders, CPS, or other forms of harassment, to unnecessary episiotomies, cesareans, and just overall rude comments.
If anyone would like to submit a story, or learn more, you can e-mail me at
Danielle@CTWorsttofirst.com

March 1st, 2010

Echo Hose Past Captains Dinner Awards

As many of you already know, I am super proud of my husband for winning the Probationary Firefighter of the Year for 2009, I thought I would share the other award winners which were announced that night:

50 Years of Service – Firefighter Charles Sutton

Probationary Member of the Year – Firefighter William Elwood

Captains Appreciation Awards – Treasurer Max Aulet & Secretary Matt Skurat

Life Saving Award – Captain Steve Hoffmann & Firefighter Alex Munoz Jr.

Appreciation Awards – Firefighter Don Zak (Huntington Co. #3)

Lieutenant Matt Lawrence (Huntington Co. #3)

Firefighter Adam Polaski (Pine Rock Co. #4)

Firefighter Shaun Wheeler (White Hills Co. #5)