Fox News Anchor Pushes Paid Family Leave

Hmmm...Never thought I'd agree with a news anchor from Fox, but here I do!

December 12, 2011, 5:14 pm

Fox News Anchor Pushes Paid Family Leave

By KJ DELLANTONIA

Megyn Kelly, a Fox New anchor, is proudly and unabashedly, a working mother. As Pamela Paul wrote in the Sunday’s Styles section, the new generation of women news anchors juggles career and family life “full-throttle in front of millions of viewers,” and Ms. Kelly has become a surprising ambassador for working mothers. When Mike Gallagher, a conservative radio talk show host, mocked her three-month maternity leave, calling it a “racket,” Ms. Fox invited him onto her program and confronted him.

“What a moronic thing to say,” she told him. “The United States is the only country that doesn’t require paid maternity leave.”

That last line isn’t exactly true (the United States is the only remaining industrialized nation that doesn’t require at least some employers to offer a paid maternity leave — Australia introduced paid parental leave this year — but we are in the proud company of Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland). But as an attitude, and particularly the attitude of a prominent voice in conservative news, Ms. Kelly’s approach to maternity is liberal and practical, as is her inclusion of every woman in her criticism of family leave policy in the United States.

“We’re populating the human race,” she says. “It’s not a vacation. It’s hard, important work.” Who else hopes to hear more prominent parents stepping up to say that?

cramming

We got home a couple hours ago from a busy day of various events with family and friends, and I just spent a ridiculous amount of time updating our registries. (Thanks to all who offered feedback about cloth diapers and about baby registry stuff in general!! Much appreciated.) As I was winding down from this activity and couldn't decide what to do next, I realized that the frenzy in my mind was similar to when I was in school and was frantically trying to procrastinate on anything with a deadline. Hmmm....

(Maybe I can "psychologize" myself?)

Then it hit me! All of the sudden we're only about four months away from the biggest change of our lives, and I have no idea how babies work!!! Seriously, I've never even changed a diaper. And I'm such a neophyte that I don't even know what else I don't know!

So how did I use the rest of my evening? By reading ahead in my pregnany month-by-month book? Nope. By reading the stack of books on our coffee table about how to get baby to sleep well? (thanks, Ryan!)  Nope. By doing something unrelated but fun, in order to end my weekend well? Definitely (sadly) not.

Instead, I spent more time online by researching the "best" baby books. So we now have a couple baby books on order from Amazon.  Oh, and I also signed us up for our prenatal education class: March 10!!!

Once our books arrive, I think I may have to create a study schedule for the next few months, just like I used to do in the old days...

Sleep well, everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend.

cloth diapers

Mike and I decided awhile ago that we really want to give cloth diapers a shot. (Before you judge us, let me just tell you that they've come a long way since the 70's!) Our primary reasons are:
1. better for the environment
2. less chance of diaper rash
3. much earlier potty training (avg is 2.5 years with cloth and 3.5 years with disposables)
4. fewer leaks
5. no carcinogens, as in disposables
6. cheaper in the long run  (compared to the estimated $1500-2000 for disposables from birth to potty training - see these links for details)

So, having made that first decision, we were then faced with the daunting task of choosing a CD (i.e., cloth diaper) system.

Which turned out to be totally overwhelming.

So, like the good students we are, we did as much research as possible: We asked friends and family for advice. I read a book on the topic. We went to a free class run by the owner of this local, on-line store. I scoured the web for sites like this. And I checked out Peapods, which has the reputation of being the go-to CD store in the Twin Cities area.

And then we just took a giant leap and picked something. Hopefully it was a good choice!

Here's a very brief overview of the options (which I'm primarily typing out in case we need to make any changes to our plan down the road!):

1. Prefolds with Covers.
These are the closest to the old-school diapers of yore.
Pro: cheapest option
Con: may have troubles with fit, depending on how baby is built
Price: prefolds are $20-30 for a dozen, covers are $8-14 each. Total needed: 2-3 dozen prefolds and 6-8 covers (aka ~$180 for 3 dozen)


2. Hybrids / All-in-two diapers (AI2s)
These have a waterproof outside with a liner that snaps into place.
Pro: covers can be reused throughout the day
Con: slightly more expensive than prefolds
Price: 2 covers and 6 inserts = $50 (aka $200 for 2 dozen)

3. Pocket diapers
These have a waterproof outside and you stuff the liner into an interior pocket
Pro: very easy for grandparents, daycare, etc. because (once stuffed) these are basically like disposables
Con: have to be stuffed after laundered, price
Price: about $15-18 per diaper (aka $400 for 2 dozen)

4. All-in-ones (AIOs)
These are just like they sound: everything is already prepped and ready to go, just like a disposable diaper
Pro: Super easy to use, no work required (other than laundering)
Con: slow to dry, price
Price: about $18-20 per diaper (aka $450+ for 2 dozen)

I already listed the general CDing "pros" above, so I might as well list the general CDing "cons," just to be fair:
1. having to do laundry (with special detergent) every 2-3 days
2. most "one-size" CDs don't fit until baby is 7-10#. So you can buy special newborn size CDs (which increases the total price), or you can use disposables for a couple weeks (which compromises your morals) - we decided on the latter (so much for morals!).
3. not all brands fit baby the same way, so you may need some trial and error to find out what works best for you

Overwhelming, isn't it?

So after all that investigation, we decided on AI2s (specifically the Flip system) since we figured they be a good balance between price, convenience, and versatility. But just to be on the safe side, we registered for a few prefolds, pockets, and AIOs as well. Hopefully it's fun to play around with these, and hopefully we made some good choices.

If anyone has any cloth diapering advice for us, please let us know!

Baby looks healthy!!!!!

All parts seem present and accounted for. Brain is symmetrical. No gross evidence of club foot, cleft palate, or major genetic/anatomical abnormalities. Due date is still 4/25/12.

Woohoo!!!

Email me if you want to know the gender! Only caveat is that you can't tell my dad or mike's dad, as they want to be surprised. Oh, and you can't buy baby anything obnoxiously pink or baby blue :)

week 20: cantaloupe

Baby's the size of a cantaloupe!

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

still nervous

I find it really hard to believe that we're done with week 20 tomorrow! Half way - whew! (Although, not really halfway if you think about the fact that you don't know you're pregnant until after 4 weeks. So really, hitting week 22 would be the halfway point of knowing that I'm pregnant.)

Anyway, I still keep waiting for things to really seem real. I'm more open to talking about pregnancy with people (early on I was afraid to say anything for fear of jinxing it), but I still feel like we have all these milestones to pass. First it was getting pregnant. Then staying pregnant past week 8. Then finishing the first trimester. Now it's getting through our big ultrasound on Friday. Then it will be getting past week 25, when my coworker lost her baby. Then getting past week 28-30 when baby will be "viable." Then getting to week ~37 to be full term. Then keeping baby alive after s/he's born. Then all the anxieties about parenting.....

So maybe there is no time when the anxiety goes away? At least I'm thankful that my anxiety has decreased (marginally) since the early days. Although I would feel a lot better if I could feel movement! (My doctor says it looks like I have an anterior placenta, so I may not be able to feel anything until week 22-25. Ugh!) Right now it just feels like I've eaten several very large dinners in a row.

So if you see me, please tell me that I have a cute baby bump, because that will help reassure me. And if you have any spare "good vibes" to send our way for Friday, that would be much appreciated as well!

Thank you!

I have some pretty awesome friends and family.

Today I am thankful for:

1. Santa (aka Jack and Marsha), who left an early Christmas present on our back steps last Friday. I finally have something to wear other than the 2 pairs of maternity pants I've had in rotation for the past several weeks! Plus, I have some shirts to wear now that my regular shirts are starting to get too small. (I really did pop!)

2. Megan, who loaned me her entire maternity wardrobe!! Not only are we the same size (long/tall pants and everything!), she is much more stylish than I am, so I have some snazzy outfits to look forward to.  :)

3. Dotty, who is hosting a friends' shower for us!

4. Louise, Janice, Anne, Leah, and Ashley, who are hosting a family shower for us!


There are so many other of you that I am thankful for as well! Thank you all!!