Confirmed and questions

CONFIRMED:
-- Our home is not flooded.
-- Whole Foods (the store a half of a block up from us on Magazine) lost it's roof.
-- Whole Foods "was stripped of all it's inventory" -- we take this as looted.
-- Our immediate and closest neighbors evacuated and none were left in the city.

NOT CONFIRMED:
-- Any wind or storm damage to our house or others on our street. (ie: do we have a roof?)
-- The status of looting on our street.
-- Whereabouts of many of my friends at Tulane -- Alex, Leigh Anne, Hongyun, and others.
-- When residents of Orleans Parish are able to visit their homes to collect belongings and assess damage (other Parishes are announcing these dates/times).
-- Whereabouts of Margarita and her family.
-- Whereabouts of many friends.

US:
-- Strong but deteriorating. It is getting harder to hold back tears. Reality is setting in and we are a bit winded. It is not an issue of "stuff". We are facing the loss of our community. We love our neighborhood, our neighbors, our home, our careers, and the quality of all of those things in our lives. The past year has been more rich for us that any other and we have relished it.
-- We are well aware of how blessed we are. It is difficult to deal with this blessing while considering how we are going to deal with the destruction of our lives and begin to rebuild. We have really built a wonderful life over the past year and we are dealing with its loss.

Sad news

We are fairly certain of two things:
1. Our house has not flooded.
2. Our house is in an area of heavy looting.

...and happy news

This is starting to get around, so I'm just posting it so at least folks can hear it from me.

I found out Saturday that I'm pregnant. Timing, timing, timing. Baby would be due the first week of May. Exciting, but as you can imagine, not a great time to be fatigued and all that. I'll try to see a health professional when we get back to Mobile to check things out.

We had intended to call her "Kate" -- now we joke that maybe it should be short for "Katrina." (Raw attempt at humor...)

News

Based on the information we're pulling together, we are quite confident that our home has not flooded. That said, we've heard that the Whole Foods store, one block up from our house, lost its roof in the storm. There are rumors that this store has been looted -- but these are not confirmed. If looting rumors are true, this is very scary -- our street is the most direct route between the back of Whole Foods (ie: where the grocery carts are located) and Winn-Dixie, which is in a shopping center along the Mississippi River about 4 blocks down from our house. So, following logic... we are concerned that looters, squatters, and others without the best intentions may be helping themselves to our beloved home.

We are sad, frustrated, and conflicted. What's the bigger crime, a hundred plus years of institutionalized racism or looting of the few safe places left in the city? It is difficult to think about what may be happening to our home, but within the context that those who may be invading it are the ones who were offered no recourse to leave, whose homes are the most affected by the storm, and who ultimately stand the most to loose. What a tremendous challenge.

Update from Jacksonville

We survived the storm in Mobile. Heavy winds, trees down, signs mangled, and the like. But best guess is that the winds did not top more than 70-80 mph (with higher gusts). The big news in Mobile was the surge and the effects it had on the area around Mobile Bay. That oil rig that slammed into the Cochran-Africatown bridge... yeah, we have some intimate knowledge of that debacle, but that story will have to wait.

With the news that power was likely to be out for weeks, and Paul's precious vacation time slipping away, we decided to set off for Jacksonville, Florida, to the home of my brother and sister-in-law. We left around noon and made the 430 mile trip in about 7 hours. The most interesting part: seeing dozens of convoys heading in the other directions... tree removal crews, search and rescue hauling boats and ATVs, and many, many power vehicles.

About an hour after our warm welcome in Jacksonville, we got the call from Mom. Miracle of miracles... the power is back in Mobile. Paul is anxious to go back and settle back into a routine, so I think we may be truckin' back tomorrow. To say that Will has been incredible is the world's biggest understatement. It is impossible to not feel blessed when he is around.

However, being here tonight has allowed us our first exposure to the visual impact of our city. It is one thing to be contemplating the complete loss of property -- but to pile on that the loss of neighborhood, community, livelihood, and city... that is overwhelming.

Quick bullets of where we stand:
-- Our home sits in some of the highest ground in the city. We do not think we have experienced flooding.
-- We have no idea of wind damage. While it is possible that we remained dry in terms of flooding, it is also quite possible we lost all or part of our roof, several windows, or both.
-- "Looting" in our neighborhood is a possibility. We live between two major grocery stores, across the street from some upscale, newly built homes. That said, I feel that the little I've heard about the New Orleans looting situation has a strong racist undertone that makes me ill, so I'm trying to steer clear of that type of talk at present.
-- I still hold my crush for Mayor Nagin and my fondest for Mary Landrieu. Governor Blanco is worthless.
-- We do not expect to go back for weeks. Months, maybe? And are, frankly, terrified and overwhelmed.

My deepest thanks to those who have been following the news, trying to contact us, and taking this as seriously as those of us who are living it. It means the world and is what is keeping us going. We are trying to remain upbeat and focusing on how thankful we are.

Please keep your thoughts coming our way. We love seeing the blog comments. Also, you can reach us at coldspaghetti@gmail.com . We anticipate having power and regular phone and internet once we arrive back in Mobile.

Update from Mobile

It's 9:47 -- the rain is just starting to pick up, but is still not unusual. No lightening, no thunder. Little to no wind. It is very, very humid out -- otherwise, it is actually pleasant. About an hour ago I went out and brought in the front door welcome mat... and almost wanted to go for a walk because it was such a nice evening (I actually like humid nights.)

Of course, we aren't expecting this to last. Current news is that Katrina has actually shifted a bit to the east -- a bit better for NOLA, but puts us a little more in the danger zone. We've got the hurricane lamps, candles, hand-held battery-run tv/radio, flashlights, and batteries gathered. We'll fill up bathtubs. The news and weather is on constantly... I am going to try to get Paul to play a game of Scrabble with me. Will and I played fuzz-ball, pinball, and golf all evening. He seems blissfully unaware of any danger, so we must be doing a good job of sending out positive messages.

Some comic relief. Discussing the potential challenges in front of us, I said, "Jeez, with this, we'll have gone through just about everything challenge a marriage can face, short of one of us dying." Without missing a beat, Paul said, "You mean you're having an affair?!" He always knows how to make me laugh.

We will post as we can.

Look down the other side of our street. Only two houses here had closed shutters when we left on Saturday afternoon. (We left at 4pm.) 

Looking down our street before we left on Saturday. At the time this picture was taken, neighbors were closing their shutters -- but not leaving. We've since learned that everyone (with the exception of the physicians on-call) had left. 

Our house: boarded up before we left. About half of the windows on each side have shutters that are closed. Paul moved shutters to the windows that are the most exposed.  

Update

With heavy hearts, we are bracing for the storm. We think we will be safe here -- it's high ground, and as far west and north we can be and still be in Mobile County. It will definitely be a rough 24 hours and we are expecting power outtages, no water, and are preparing accordingly.

Personally, I am no longer able to stomache the weather news -- although I admit the science and mystery of the power of nature periodically draws me back. The thoughts in my head are consuming and sad. There are so many little things that I wish I would have grabbed... two paintings by Paul's grandmother (we took one, but reasoned the others would be protected.) Two figurines by my grandmother. A few pieces of silver that were Paul's great-grandmothers. I don't know how I will forgive myself if those things are lost. Granted, I am so happy that I managed to pack up other things (Paul's first anniversary present to me, our wedding pictures, some family pictures and two paintings, a porcelain shoe that was my great-grandmother's.) The things I took were out and about in the house -- I was worried that wind coming in a broken window would damage them. Other things I took down from walls and put in drawers or closets. I thought even if we lost part of the roof, I would still be coming back to something and these things would be protected. Now, I am not so sure.

And more than my personal concerns, I cannot stop thinking about the thousands that cannot leave the city. We were shocked that the Major issued a mandatory evacuation. It's well known in New Orleans that the city would not (we thought ever) issue this type of evacuation -- simply because it did not have the infrastructure to help aid in getting out the people who have no means of leaving. It is speculated that the Superdome, now a huge shelter, may not hold up to the winds that will threaten it in a few hours. The possible reality is too terrible for me to seriously consider in this moment.

I thank those who have sent kind words and hope that they will continue. Chances are, we may need to rely heavily on those around us very soon.

Safe!

We made it back to Mobile, safe and sound. We packed up the cats, some valuables, a few paintings by our grandmothers, and some other heirloom items that would be mourned in the event of a disaster. Paul tied down the shutters in the front of the house and had plywood on hand to cover the front door once we secured the inside. All the outside shutters are closed, plants are down, swing and trash cans locked in the outbuilding, etc. The house is as ready as we could make it.

Traffic was relatively light getting out of town. The slowdowns we had were actually related to news crews on the side of the road (!) and police direction of traffic to *increase* the lanes into the medians. Yes, widening lanes apparently slows down traffic! From the lines that were starting, I think we got out just in time to meet the rush. And *I* got to town just in the nick of time -- a few hours later and they closed the roads to only go "out", not "in".

The strangest thing is that you would never know that anything was happening in New Orleans. A few homes are boarded up, a few people are getting in cars to go, but generally, folks were just out walking and shopping and going about daily lives. Granted, there weren't as many people out doing those things, but enough to make us feel a bit silly. It's an odd feeling: you don't want your efforts to be for a non-event (like last time), yet you don't want all your efforts to be in vain.

I'll post pictures of the house secured later tonight! But the bottom line is that we are okay!

*gulp*

From the National Hurricane Center discussion on Hurricane Katrina, 10am CDT:

...IT IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT KATRINA COULD
REACH CATEGORY 5 STATUS AT SOME POINT BEFORE LANDFALL.

Katrina: Could New Orleans flood?

So Katrina is looking bad for us in the Big Easy. Some thoughts.

Our house is actually above sea level, and in its hundred years, it has never flooded. This somewhat puts us at ease... in the sense that, if our house were to flood, it would basically be the least of our problems. You can see a good discussion on the possibility of New Orleans flooding here. And here, you can scroll down to an elevation map of New Orleans (it's the fourth graphic going down on the page). Where will live according to the elevation map: in the "U" shaped curve along the Mississippi (hence our nickname the "Crescent City") -- inside this "U" to the left is a large blank area with no roads. This is Audubon Park. We live a few blocks of the park, about 5 blocks from the docks on the Mississippi. In other words, we're actually on some of the highest land in the city and are definitely above sea level.

From the discussion on flooding, the issue is that a storm from the south or southeast would push water from Lake Pontchartrain (a huge, shallow body of water just north of the city) over the north leeves and into the city, filling the its interior "bowl." (And not ironically, some of the poorest, most vulnerable, parts of the city.)

Our concerns in terms of evacuation are related to city infrastructure. Getting in or out would be impossible: the roads and bridges to leave the city would be flooded. Without question, there would be no power, and probably no water, for days -- maybe weeks. It would take a long time for the city to recover. Other concerns (and why Paul is hestitant to leave) are that if water somehow gets into our house through the eaves or a crack in a window somewhere, the water would sit in our house for a long time until we came back to find it and start clean-up. But if this *is* that every 100 years type of storm, there isn't much we can do about it.

And finally, logistics. Will and I are actually in Mobile right now. Paul was doing some very messy work with the door frames this weekend and we left yesterday. I would have to go back to New Orleans and get Paul... and then leave the city. We haven't made any decisions yet on what we are doing.

Yippie!!!

My *first* academic, peer-reviewed publication (as second author!) is out and official!

The article, "Challenges for traditional birth attendants in northern rural Honduras", is "in press" with the journal Midwifery. You can see the corrected proof and abstract online. Yippie!

The tag goes in the back

Many people have dressed Will during his 21 months of life. But out of all those people, only *2* manage to regularly dress Will backwards in his clothing: my Dad and Paul. Here is an example of Paul's style on our sleeping child. Paul accuses me of being a conformist by insisting on putting on clothes in the correct direction. I don't know... doesn't this decorative application imply to you that it should go in front??

Setting the record straight about epidurals

Inspired by my a recent experience my friend Gwen had during an antenatal care visit, I decided to take a moment and reflect on epidurals.

Disclosure: I am an advocate of natural childbirth. I believe, have been told, and have seen that the natural process of labor and delivery can be a transformative experience where women may be surprised at the power and strength within themselves. This is not to say that a woman is better for having a natural labor or that women who try at a natural process and then decide to use drugs are failures. Women never fail in childbirth. My intention is just give some food for thought. And to begin to show how one intervention may easily lead to others – and ultimately, create emergencies and problems in an otherwise natural, perfectly normal, event. Birth is a miraculous, unpredictable process. Like nature itself, it challenges the rigor and boundaries loved by modern biomedicine. When we try to control it through medicine and machines, things can often go awry.

I believe that good maternity care means using science in support of this natural process, not in using science to manipulate controls over it. Sometimes, the best medicine is to use nothing at all. When you have a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.

So, epidurals. Benefits: Labor is work, it is painful (the word is labor, not vacation). An epidural takes away pain but allows you to stay alert. An epidural can help a woman get needed rest or regain strength during a long and difficult labor.

But there are drawbacks and complications to consider.

-- Epidurals require more intervention, which requires more intervention, which requires more intervention, and so on. Because of the risks involved with an epidural, additionally monitoring needs to take place: you must be hooked up to an electronic fetal monitor and an IV -– both of which carrying consequences within themselves. And having these interventions is strongly associated with additional interventions – see the next bullet, below. (Consider the reality of being hooked up to these large machines. Even if you did have enough feeling to walk, could you really experience a walking epidural? Not likely.)

-- Pain signals your body and guides labor. Without that sensory experience (and with the combination of other factors) epidurals slow down, or prolong, labor. When this happens, women are often given synthetic oxytocin (called “Pitocin”) which causes stronger contractions. Use of oxytocin is (strongly) associated with higher rates of episiotomy, forceps, vacuum extraction, and cesarean sections – especially in first time mothers.

-- With an epidural there is an increased risk of needing bladder catheterization (associated with UTIs). You are more likely to develop a fever because body temperature rises over time with use of epidural drugs. There is risk of excess fluid from the IV building up in your or the baby's lungs.

-- The anesthetic given in an epidural is administered into spinal fluid (cerebrospinal fluid). However, it easily passes into your blood vessels, crosses the placenta, and into the baby’s bloodstream. (Consider the craziness of this… you’ve spent months keeping your child away from a myriad of beverages and stimulants… and now your provider is giving your baby lidocaine and/or narcotics? Maybe drinking coffee isn’t so bad after all!)

-- Henci Goer notes that two complications that can occur with the injection and tubing, the needle going deeper into the spine and the catheter migrating inward, have been reported to occur in as many as 1 in 3,000 cases. (These complications are serious and may result in convulsions or even cardiac arrest.) Drugs causing this type of serious reaction in that small of a range are commonly pulled from the market or put in very restrictive use.

-- Spinal and epidural headaches are serious pain.

-- Do you really want to make early breastfeeding more difficult for both of you?

-- Finally, consider the look. All hooked up to machines and in a bed… versus unfettered and managing her labor with a group of trained supporters.

The bottom line. Few women are given the support they need to be successful at natural childbirth. Further, women go into the birth experience with very different expectations of what constitutes good medical care. Perceptions don’t change overnight, even if they are informed by biased or incorrect sources. What is important to me is that women understand the full scope of complicated procedures that are seen as so commonplace. Maybe if we asked more questions about the care we receive, we will eventually be more informed patients who can better advocate for improved childbirth experiences.

Further reading: Henci Goer, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Ina May Gaskin, Pam England. Email me for reading suggestions!

Tonight's trip "Around"

Will has a certain routine when we walk "around" the block. (See the post about "around", which is more a fun-filled game of exploration than a walk, from back in April.)

Will is very enthusiastic at the start of any trip "around!"

Will peeks through a neighbor's fence, looking for friendly dog Noel.

Sniff (snort) the flowers!

Action shot! Bouncing on Dad's shoulders. "Around" usually ends this way as we get closer to home.

We're home!

Fence Update

Five of the seven fence posts are in. That's four hundred pounds of concrete, not counting the weight of the water mixed in. Yowza. This picture is looking from our yard into our neighbor's. You can see the metal fence posts and our lime tree (to the right) and Will (to the left). The old fence (which fell during tropical storm Cindy) is in back of Will.

Propaganda, anyone?

I enjoying reading this interview with a very well-spoken Kelly Dougherty, who is an Iraqi war veteran. One of the many disturbing bits in the article...

First of all, when I was in Iraq, the news they showed, which probably won't come too much as a surprise -- they show FOX news. That's all the coverage the military in Iraq gets.

Not surprising, but *yikes*.

So. Pat Robertson is crazy. Now that he has shown his true colors as a "terrorist", as defined by our (their?) president, what I find crazy is that the Christian Right hasn't rushed to discredit him as a spokesperson for their cause(s).

Gosh Darn Mosquitos!!

While many others believe themselves to be the ultimate mosquito magnet, I must argue, I have yet to meet anyone who can match my ability to get bitten. As a child, my bites were so plentiful and humongous that my poor legs were a mess of scars, bruises, and red lumps. I was forbidden to swim in the public pool at times. Parents and teachers questioned me about if I was being beaten at home. Medicines were sometimes taken.

There is some medical confirmation of my attraction. A doctor once told me that folks with my blood type (AB negative, present in less than 1% of the US population and the most rare) seem to attract more mosquitos. A possible, but odd, confirmation of this: on a Discovery show about vampires (I watched an odd assortment of things while confined to a breast pump after Will was born) a woman who claimed to be a vampire said that blood did differ in taste according to blood type, and that AB negative blood tasted the best, it was the sweetest.

Anyway, my point is:

What the frack is the deal with the mosquitoes in our front yard?!? I am beyond tired of getting bit several times every time I walk out my front door. And I *swear* it is something unique about our house. Yet there is no standing water anywhere in our front yard, porch, or (so we know) neighbors yards and porches. So where in the world are these beasts coming from?!?

Current thought: we have a storm drain in front of our house. Could they live in the storm drain? And if so, is there something I can do to kill them off? I will surrender my usual affection for organic yard applications in this instance. I want them dead and gone!!!

Will's Plate

After 20 months of talking about it, I finally made a plate with Will's handprint. It took some coordination from Paul and I to get his hand on the plate (notice that Will dragged a bit) and Paul had to babysit while I finished painting. But it was worth it! I picked up the final product today. The back reads HAS *heart* WSW. I can't wait to do more!

Evening Project

Paul painting the numbers on the front of our house! They were painted over in the same white as the front of the house and not visible -- we've been meaning to paint it for awhile. (Although this type of painting is usually my contribution, I cannot step outdoors past 7:30pm without turning into a 'skeeter buffet. I did take on a few bites to get the outside view, though...)

Night time on our street

Our house! Paul is painting the second house numbers over the door on the left. When it was originally built (circa 1900, give or take 10 years) it was two units that shared a center wall and fireplaces. We only use the door to the right, although it is popular to keep both doors in renovated houses to honor the wonderful architectural history.

Conversation Transcript

Paul: "Will, do you have a poopie?"

Will: (while straining and grunting as his face turns red) "Noooooooooo.... ah"

*pause*

Paul: "Now do you have a poopie?"

Will: (with innocent, blinking eyes) "No."

Quack!

Will gives the duck statue a kiss (much to the delight of passers-by!)

To the zoo!

Yesterday afternoon, I had a painting date with Weezy (our retired medical anthropologist neighbor*). So Paul took Will to our neighborhood Zoo. It was a quiet afternoon visit for them and they spent a great deal of time in the bayou nusery with the baby nutrias and snakes. (Unfortunately, those photos didn't turn out.) But here is Will with the giraffes!

*Weezy and I love to talk shop. During our talk yesterday I found out that she is very close with Rayna Rapp (very awesome anthropologist and author of a book on amniocentesis that I think is fabulous called "Testing Women Testing the Fetus") -- that is TOO COOL.

Coming in for a landing

This toy mimics a plane control panel -- when buttons are pressed, it okays for take-off or landing and makes 'whoosing' flying through the air sounds. We press the buttons and go running around the room, arms wide, pretending to be airplanes. As the picture shows, it takes a lot out of him. Tired out from playing "airplane", Will rests.

Creepy One

I am having a tough time with the "ONE" campaign. All in 'one' place (pun intended) you can read about the plight of poor (read: pathetic) folks living in vulnerable places of the world, *and* get your fix of glossy photos of your favorite celebs. A bit creepy, no?

While I am absolutely for celebrities coming out in support of foreign aid, debt relief, and fair trade, when these messages are surrounded by pictures of Brad Pitt and trendy bracelets, they are reduced to catch phrases. Somewhere along the line, the effort misses the point. Educating the world about poverty shouldn't be about celebrity, fundraising, donations, and sorrowful stories.

It is either patronizing to assume that Western youth will only engage on important international issues when brought to their attention by celebrity, or it is terribly sad. Do we honestly need that kind of buzz to think beyond I-Pods and Idol?

And yet I have to admit: if I were the director of CARE, or Save the Children, or OXFAM, or another of the One campaign partners, I would be all over this. I would know that this campaign would be an important political tool and possibly help us acquire funds. But I would also be sad, as I do not believe in trotting out the world's hardest luck cases to drum up sympathy money. On the outside, I would champion the One campaign, play to the sympathies of celebrities, and work to promote my agency. But inside, I would know that I had only compromised to something that would never be a solution to the problems I seek to challenge.

The campaign would do more if it put efforts in educating the on the why(s) and how(s) of health and poverty. Educating about the dangers of liberalizing trade agreements, ill-focused structural adjustment programs, drug company games, and business monopoly --- this is more worthwhile than yet another picture of starving children. While giving voice to those 'on the ground' is incredibly important, I am not comfortable doing so when it is framed in such a limited and damaging binary: rich vs. poor -- white vs. black -- giver vs. receiver -- educated vs. noneducated -- free vs. not free -- etc. These distinctions only serve to create divides between us, minimizing our similarities, trivializing the complexities of our lives and experiences. They do not make us One.

The door saga... continued

Turns out Paul wasn't so off in the doom-and-gloom estimates for the door timing.

One side is stained... 24 hours until the first coat of poly. Then wait 24 hours until the next coat... for three coats. So, that's 4-5 days per side, just for staining and sealing.

So, it is probably going to take 10 days to 2 weeks per side. We're still on the first of 8.

Did I mention that old homes are a lot of work!?

The door... sanded. Ready for stain!  

Stained with Mahogony Red (Benjamin Moore, our favorite paint/stain brand). Wow! 

But Daddy said it was a hat!

As we are experimenting with Will on the toilet, we got him his own toilet seat. Will helped us unwrap it and then happily put it on his head.

Raisins = Gato Food?

Will tries to feed Scout a raisin. When this didn't work, he tried other methods...

Will encourages Scout to eat a raisin. He is trying to push Scout's head over to the raisin to try it. "Yum!" 

Hi little man!

Boogy-oogy-oogy

Showing off some dance moves.

Sharing kisses with Daddy. (Telecommuting rocks.) 

Will plays with his airplane! (And tells us all about it!)