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Searching
for a land far and distant.
I’ve glimpsed it in lucid detail
before my eyes met the morning.

I’ve felt it in every chamber
of my restless heart that’s searching
for meaning,
for dreaming,
for respite from this bated breathing.
For dancing,
for singing,
for nothing short of life fulfilling.

This vision left burning bright
keeps me searching every night.
Until I wake from this place keeping
Me trapped in this state of being.

Copyright © 2012 Cole Bradburn

Then we decided to go through our pregnancy with a midwife and use a birthing center for delivery.

Open the floodgates.  I was now treading water in a sea of questions.

• What kind of training to midwives have?
• Is that safe?
• Wouldn’t a hospital be better?
• What if something happens?
• Can you get prenatal tests?
• Don’t you want the best for your wife?
• Aren’t they just labor coaches?
• What are you thinking?
• Ok, but who is your OB?
• Don’t you care for your wife?

You can see that they range from curious to malevolent.  And so this post was born to explain our decision and serve as a resource for future parents-to-be.

Midwife versus Hospital Birth

At the core of our decision was this: Casey and I have a philosophy that pregnancy is a naturally occurring healthy experience to be nurtured, and shouldn’t be treated as an illness or disease.  We did not come to that conclusion lightly, it took a lot of thought and fact finding, and it is one that I encourage all parents-to-be research and make on their own.

Here is what we learned through our discovery process.

Midwives and birth centers are for healthy, low risk mothers and healthy babies.  What constitutes low-risk?  Here is a list from our birth center:

I have certain health problems, so how do I know if out of hospital birth is safe for me?  Many women have health issues that are well controlled by lifestyle or medication and can still birth safely at the birth center. Examples are:

• Thyroid disorders managed with medication
• Mild asthma
• Depression managed with counseling or medication
• Abnormal pap smears, or surgery on the cervix
• Pregnancy with a prior history of infertility
• Women 35 or older
• History of miscarriage

The following is a partial list of common medical conditions that would “risk out” a woman from the birth center:

• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• Diabetes requiring insulin or medication
• Prior surgery on the uterus
• A new patient with a prior Cesarean birth planning on a vaginal birth with a subsequent pregnancy, or VBAC.
• At this time we can only offer VBAC’s to our established patients whose prior pregnancy under our care ended with a Cesarean birth
• Bleeding, or blood-clotting disorders
• With a first pregnancy, being very overweight with a BMI higher than 35
• With a second pregnancy or higher, being very overweight with a BMI higher than 40
• History of a blood clot
• Smoking more than 1 pack per day

The vast majority of women (80%) fall into the low-risk category and can have a normal birth.  The main benefit of using a midwife is that they are specialists in normal birthing.  Midwives focus more on women and babies, and less on technology.  Their thorough knowledge of normal birth allows them to safely minimize the use of technology and medical interventions during pregnancy and delivery.

Benefits of a Midwife Assisted Birth

• A personal, individual level of care than honors the woman’s body and birth plan.
• Lower intervention rates.  An episiotomy occurs in 80% of hospital births and midwives use it less than 1% of the time.  Labor is induced in 40% of hospital births and almost never in midwife-assisted birth.  Midwives also have lower rates of Cesarean, forceps and vacuum extractions, and infections.
• Midwives allow women to change positions, eat, and drink during labor.  They also allow labor to take the amount of time it needs.
• Midwives monitor the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle (it’s typical to have monthly visits in trimester 1 and 2, and weekly in trimester 3).
• Midwives provide the mother with individualized education, counseling, prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support.
• Midwives DO identify and refer women who require obstetrical attention.
• Here is a great independent article on 8 Ways Midwives Promote Safe Childbirth

Research on Hospital Births

When you begin to research hospital births, what you find will shock you.  For all our technological advancements and incredible expenditures in modern medicine, our results are appalling.  About 99% of all births in the U.S. take place in hospitals, yet we currently rank 29th in the world in infant mortality.  This is the second worst newborn mortality rate in the developed world!  Who is in front of the U.S.?  Hungary, Northern Ireland, Australia, Israel, Japan, and 24 others (see full list here).

U.S. ranks 39th in deaths in childbirth

Even more important to me is the safety of my wife, Casey.  When examining the safety of women delivering babies in the Unites States, we find that maternal mortality is higher than 38 other industrialized countries, and is double that of Canada and much of Western Europe (remember, 99% of U.S. births take place in hospitals).

Extra Reading: U.S. urged to confront shocking maternal mortality rate – Amnesty International.

This is even more of a shock when you consider that Americans spend much more per person on health care than the rest of the world, with care for mothers and newborns combined being the fourth largest category of hospital expense!  That seems crazy.

Women from all cultures, tribes, and countries have been successfully having children without hospitals since time began.  Check this out:

In 1900, 95% of births in the United States took place at home.

In 1938, 50% of all births took place at home.

By 1955, less than 1% of births took place at home.

In 2008, midwives attended over 70% of births in Europe and Japan (remember those countries that did better than us in infant mortality rates?), but in the United States they only attended 7.5% of overall births.

Study: Comparing Equally Matched Midwife Attended Home-Births to Hospital Births

Women birthing in hospitals were:

• Five times more likely to have high blood pressure during labor
• Nine times more likely to tear
• Three times more likely to hemorrhage
• Three times more likely to undergo cesarean sections

Hospital-born babies were:

• Six times more likely to suffer fetal distress before birth
• Four times more likely to need assistance to start breathing
• Four times more likely to develop infections

Our Conclusion: hospital outcomes are simply not as good and involve much more risk for normal, healthy women than choosing a midwife.

What was your birthing experience?  Did you choose hospital, birthing center, or home with a midwife?  Any wisdom to share?  I’d love to hear your story, please share in the comments.

OK Cole, pick your jaw up off the floor

Such was my 6:30 am wake up call on October 29th, 2011.  My wife was anxiously trying to get me out of bed to come see something, and like a bear coming out of hibernation I was resisting the waking world.  As I stumbled out of bed, protesting the whole way, she presented me with the above picture – in full stereoscopic 3D of the real world.

BAM!  Ton of bricks, meet Cole.

Standing there in my emotional cocktail of disbelief/elation/befuddlement/awe, I realized that even Starbucks couldn’t brew such a potion of instant-alertness.  In that moment I had two instances of clarity:

• I had never loved my wife Casey more
• I had never felt more unprepared

Now that is a beautiful mommy-to-be

It seemed odd.  I had been waiting for this moment, yet when it came I felt shook to my very core.  What was it?

Dad.

I had not truly seen myself as a Dad.

I sometimes still don’t.  It can be a challenge to intentionally remind myself of the inevitability of my child’s arrival when lost in the day to day minutia of life.  In fact, much could still be the same right now if I would let it.

But I know my child is in there in it’s own little world, just inches from mine.  Soon, little Baby Burn, we shall meet.  Until then I will take great joy in preparing the way.  I can’t wait to be your dad.

How did you react when you found out you were having a baby?  Funny stories?  Insights? Scared you were going to be like you parents?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Avoid Equinsu Ocha at all costs!

Nutritional White Devil #1 – Sugar

I’ve written in depth about the consequences of sugar before (see Sugar, Cholesterol, and Plaque Explained).  Sugar can be harmful to your organs, lowers your energy, rots your teeth, and makes you gain weight when it is present in your food on a regular basis.

We know that too much sugar is bad for us, but people desire sugar so greatly that land and laboratory have been scoured for substitutes that have all the taste and no negative consequences.  Guess what?  That doesn’t exist.  These chemicals – saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, sorbitol, maltodextrin, dextrose, splenda – are so dangerous that if a sugar substitute is added to a product, manufactueres must put a warning label on the package!

Bottom Line: If the only sugar you are getting is from fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables then you are doing great.  Fruits and vegetables deliver a small amount of natural sugar along with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water.  That is a huge win in your eating lifestyle.  If you need to use a sweetener, your best bet is raw local honey.

Nutritional White Devil #2 – White Flour

Flour is bleached.  Dead.  It is an empty food stripped of all nutrition where only compressed sugar remains.  Flour does nothing for your health.  No vitamins or minerals, just loads of empty calories.  Still want to know why it’s bad for you?  Go back and read White Devil #1.

The problem with sugar and white flour is that they are both incredibly calorie dense, nutrient deficient, and easy to eat a lot of.  They are present in anything you buy in the middle of the grocery store (the outsides of a grocery store are produce, deli, meat, and frozen – shop the outside and you are off to a great start).

Refined carbohydrates like sugar and flour also increase the oxidative stress level in your body, which increases overall inflammation (if you haven’t read Sugar, Cholesterol, and Plaque Explained, now really is the time).   Over time this leads to obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease.

Bottom Line: When you see flour, think compressed sugar.

Nutritional White Devil #3 – Milk

More specifically, pasteurized and homogenized milk.  Here are two very interesting facts

1. Humans are the only animal that drinks another animal’s milk.
2. A calf cannot survive on pasteurized milk.

Make you think?  Good.  Let’s go deeper.  All foods have purpose, the purpose of human breast milk is to add a couple dozen pounds to a child over a relatively short period of time.  The purpose of cow’s milk is to add several hundred pounds to a calf in the same period of time!  What’s the difference?  Human milk has a much lower concentration of proteins that are smaller in size than that of cow milk.  It’s no wonder dairy products are a leading cause of allergic reactions and immune problems, it isn’t made for humans!

Due to pasteurization, the calcium in milk and dairy cannot be used by humans for bone growth.  In fact, consuming it does just the opposite!  Milk depletes calcium from bones and increases fracture risk while creating an acidic environment inside your body.  Read more here, here, and here.

Bottom Line:  Stay away from milk, especially if it’s pasteurized.  Almond milk and Coconut milk are great alternatives.

Do you have anything to add to the conversation?  Did I leave out any White Devils?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Bonus Tip: If you see this guy coming your way, he’s scared of bats.  Especially large white ones.

Nicole works at Crossfit South Hills in Pennsylvania.  You can follow them on facebook here

Let’s start with the obvious.  When was the last time you tried to squeeze through a 10cm hole?

"It's kind of hot in these rhinos"

Being born is tough work, there are a lot of pressures and forces being exerted onto your baby during their journey into the world.  A current study demonstrated that 90% of newborns suffered birth trauma and associated strain through the neck and cranial areas following birth:

Over 1500 babies were studied periodically across an eight year period by Viola Frymann, an American osteopathic doctor. All babies were examined within the first five days of birth; in fact, many were checked within the first 24 hours of birth. This study revealed that approximately:

• 10% of the newborn babies had perfect, freely mobile skulls or cranial mechanisms.

• 10% had severe trauma to the head, evident even to untrained observers.

• The remaining 80% all had some strain patterns in the cranial mechanism.

Left uncorrected this trauma continues to impact your baby’s spinal growth and development, reducing the healthy function of their nervous system.  This can cause many health challenges later in life that could easily have been prevented.

The first year of life is the greatest time of spinal elongation

A baby’s spine lengthens by 50% by the time they reach one year old!  At no other time does this growth happen so rapidly, so you want to make sure your baby is in proper alignment ensuring proper symmetrical growth.

The Hueter-Volkman law states that bones change shape with pressure by slowing bone growth in response to pressure (compression forces).  Any spinal misalignment changes the balance of pressure across the spinal bones and can lead to asymmetric bone development.  This is the difference between having a spine like a straight, strong Oak tree versus a crooked tree.

The first year of life is also the time of spinal curvature development.  There are curves called “lordosis” present in your neck and lower back, and curves called a “kyphosis” in your mid-back and sacrum.

These spinal curves are necessary for movement, balance, upright posture, protection, and shock absorption.  Without being in alignment during this crucial time your baby’s spinal curves may not develop properly – giving them a poor foundation for later in life.

Optimize the function of the nervous system

The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, and it processes everything that your body does.  Movement, a heartbeat, seeing a baby smile, feeling the sun on your skin, laughing, smelling, creativity – all coordinated by the brain and spinal cord.

In infants the central nervous system also controls their growth and development.  Being the time of greatest brain and proprioceptor (body position sensors) development, you want to ensure the health of the nervous system.  This is what chiropractors who take care of babies look for, disturbances in their nervous systems that interfere with healthy growth and development.

Remember: If your baby’s spine stays out of balance, it can put tension on their nervous system.

Is it safe for infants to get adjusted?

Yes.  Adverse events linked to pediatric chiropractic care are virtually non-existent, estimated at 1 in 250 million pediatric visits.  There is not a single medical procedure safer than that, but I would encourage parents seek out chiropractors who routinely take care of children in their practice.

When adjusting a newborn, a skilled chiropractor will only use the amount of pressure that you would use to comfortably push on your eye.  The child gets checked by hand and with technology, then is placed in position (usually in mommy’s lap), and gentle pressure is applied.  That’s all there is to it.  Simple, safe, effective.

Would you have any reservations to taking your infant to get adjusted?  Have you heard objections to babies seeing a chiropractor?  What other things have you done for newborn health?  I’d love to hear from you, please share in the comments below.

-Cole

Bonus: Check out Dr. Jennifer’s 10 Reasons Parents Take Healthy Children to Chiropractors

It was 1988 in a Wal-Mart in the middle of midwestern nowhere that I first saw it, and was hooked at the title screen (in my defense, it had a sword on it and I was six years old).  Standing at the demo kiosk, I heard to the now classic theme music (click here to listen while you read) and could only wonder what adventure awaited when I pushed start.  Little did I know how the series and I would grow together and the many lessons it would teach me along the way.  I know we all remember this one, as it was in the first cave on the first screen.

“It is dangerous to go alone.”

We all like to feel like “I got this,” but the truth is we aren’t meant to take on life alone.  When we do push out on our own without God, friends, or a player 2, we carry the entire burden on our shoulders.  This isn’t just exhausting, but over time can drive us to inaction.  Worse yet, when we succeed we have no one to share it with!  Men are particularly prone to the “I got this” ailment, as asking for help can damage pride and falsely be seen as a sign of weakness.

When we find people who have the same goals as us, who we can be open and honest with, and who can hold us accountable we can progress much faster while having more fun (think Contra with 2 players).  This power of support is regularly seen in brainstorming, mastermind groups, and team sports. Heed the wisdom of the old man in the cave – “It is dangerous to go alone,” in Zelda, and in life.

Full hearts = Full life

Well that seems obvious, right?  Let’s go back to 1988 when I was standing in Wal-Mart trying to save Hyrule (man, this game had a sword that would shoot swords!).  Zelda was the first game I played that represented life with hearts.

What struck me was that the more I explored and adventured – the more I pushed against my comfort zone and worked towards my purpose – the more heart I gained.  Experiences and efforts were steadily making me stronger!  Not content to play through without reaching full hearts, I sought out each piece even when it was painful to do so.  Playing as Link, I wanted to realize my full potential.  Such a simple concept that is anything but easy to live out.  In fact, if we could take this simple game mechanic and apply it to our lives we could not only transform ourselves, but truly change the world.  The lesson?  We are more powerful when our hearts are full and set to purpose.

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness

Ever walk into one of the dungeons before you acquired the candle?  It was maddening.  Unseen enemies attacking compounded with the unknown layout of the room was enough to drive you crazy.  If you had taken the time to read the instructions (which I didn’t) you would have known there is a candle that lights up dark rooms (again, clueless).  This simple action turned the tide back into your favor and made vanquishing evil all the easier.

In today’s world, we are surrounded by a constant barrage of depressing/negative information more than any other time in history.  Murder, rape, crisis, economy, tragedy.  News channels are built on it, gossip thrives on it, and if it is all we are seeing it becomes too easy for us to buy into it as reality and we lose hope.  Hope is what light brings, and since darkness is just the absence of light, a little light goes a long way.  We all will face darkness, a time when we feel hope slipping away.  It is in that time we remember to light our candle and see the darkness for what it really is, empty.

Mow some grass if you are short on money

If you’ve played Zelda you know exactly what I’m talking about.  You need provisions, things like bombs and arrows, yet you are short on cash.  What is a hero to do?  Cut grass.

Link was not too proud to do some hard earnest work while he was on his quest to save the world.  Sure, it may have been boring, repetitive, and time-consuming, but it got the job done (and someone had to do it).  How often do we put aside our ego and just get the job done, no matter what it takes?  It can be humiliating, but that means we just needed a healthy dose of humility to knock us off our high-horse and accomplish what we set out to do.  We spike our own difficulty by fabricating rules for ourselves that get in our way.  There is always work to be done, and we are never too good to get our hands dirty to see a quest to completion.

Always save the princess

This one goes without saying. Not only is it Link’s legacy, but there is nothing more gratifying than showing up big for your spouse/significant other.  Giant spiders need killing?  Check.  Grass need cut?  Check.  Do they need you to be their hero?  Check.  The Legend of Zelda is more about this relationship through time that keeps us playing.  Sure, we save the world, but we do it for her.  Deep down, men want to save the princess and many women want to know that their men are willing to do so.  We want our relationships to be the stuff legends are made of (this is in fact one of my goals, that my wife and I live the great love story of our time).

What else have you learned from the Legend of Zelda?  If there was a Legend of (insert your name here), how would it play out?  Leave your story in the comments!

-Cole

This year I found myself reflecting on my trip home last December.  It wasn’t monumental or life-changing, but a few days after I returned to Carolina I felt compelled to write a list of things I learned during the trip home.  Some of them were real-world reinforcements of the blatantly obvious, some were things I knew but didn’t know, some hit me like a ton of bricks.  All were poignant.   Today I share that list with you.

My family out on the road

Nine things I learned during my trip home.

1. Need to play offense to create growth.  Defense, while necessary, doesn’t move you down the field of life (yes, I learned a lesson from the anemic Kansas City Chiefs offense).  I’m committed to forward progression, so I need to be seeking out new opportunities for growth.
2. Life is all about relationships and experiences.  Nurture old and new relationships and seek out new experiences.  This is how you live.
3. I need a mentor and I need to be a mentor.  If I am to reach further, it will only happen by standing on the shoulders of giants.  I also have a responsibility to invest in those coming after me (thanks little bro).
4. Shortcomings/vices grow exponentially through life.  If you don’t overcome them, they’ll control you.
5. If you are not living in the present you cannot learn the lessons life is trying to teach you in the here and now.  Pay attention.
6. Change is possible, but only through Christ.  Without Him people remain the same.  Observe the lives of your old friends and tell me this isn’t true.
7. Conflict and tension are necessary to move forward together.  Iron sharpens iron, and in this case arguments sharpen spouses.
8. I am still fascinated with life.  I cannot overstate this enough.
9. Traditions are good.  Traditions with a purpose are great.

Your turn, what has travel taught you?

Do you travel to your childhood home throughout the year?  Do you travel around the globe?  Leave your lessons in the comments so that we may learn from you.  Thanks for reading, and please share!

Something wants to leap out of my heart,
yet I am not knowing what it is.
It is pure, powerful, and has always been present
especially on this night
at this time
staring up at this sky.

I am left feeling small, feeling overwhelmed
feeling moved, feeling significantly insignificant
in this great world that is longing for what is in my heart.
For it’s purity
for it’s power
for it’s omnipresence, it’s connectedness.

Maybe it is this night, and this night only
that I seek it
that I glimpse it
that I realize it is a vision inside me.
I have been searching in the wrong places with the wrong eyes
afraid to open my heart, that it may leap out and be gone,
leaving this shell without feeling, without purpose however unknown.
powerless.

Oh if that were true, yet I know it cannot be.
I cannot wait another year, far too many are now passed
and with each it takes longer to find.

Oh, that it may live in my heart forever
radiating purely,
powerfully,
purposefully.
Christmas, the miracle of birth
of Hope
of Love
of Salvation.
Open my heart, my eyes
Unlock my passion, my purpose
That I may share it with the world all year long.

Copyright © 2011 Cole Bradburn

Learn about the World Vision Twelve Blogs of Christmas here

This excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt’s Citizenship in a Republic speech has always been both uplifting and motivating to me, I hope it will be to you as well.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.  [buy this as a poster]

truth

What does this mean to me?  

Devote yourself to something great, shed the cynicism of the world, don’t be afraid to begin, fail a time or two, learn from it, and build character.  Do these things next year and I promise your life will be different, mine has been.

What are you striving for?  Share in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.