September 8th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
This is Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor describing her experience with having a stroke. It was very moving and inspiring. Very much worth the twenty minute watch. 
September 1st, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
Here are some more exerts from How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor, by Roberts S . Mendlesohn.
The last line in the one below gave me a little tickle.
“Comparisons with standard growth charts also trouble me because no valid norms have ever been developed for breastfed babies, who often exhibit weight gains that are below those achieved by babies who are formula-fed. This is quite normal, and also beneficial, and there is no evidence that God made a mistake when he constructed breasts that don’t yield Neo-Mull-Soy or Enfamil.”
The next one I thought was rather funny too. During this section of the book he was talking about EEG’s tendency to give inaccurate readings….
“In one of my earlier books I reported the experience of one researcher who connected an EEG machine to a mannequin that had a head stuffed with lime gelatin. The machine pronounced the mannequin to be alive and well!”
The next two are regarding vaccines. This books has some good information about vaccines in it , definitely too much for me to quote!
“The greatest threat of childhood diseases in the dangerous and ineffectual effort made to prevent them through mass immunizations.”
“Medical science has yet to pinpoint the cause of SIDS, but the most popular explanation among researchers appears to be that the central nervous system is somehow effected so that the involuntary act of breathing is suppressed. That is a logical explanation, but it leaves unanswered the question: What caused the malfunction in the central nervous system? My suspicion, which is shared by others in my profession, is that nearly 10,000 SIDS deaths that occur in the United States each year are related to one or more of the vaccines that are routinely given to children.”
And here is one more for the road…..
“It always struck me as paradoxical that so many parents worry unduly about common, non-threatening illnesses and yet give scant attention to the childhood accidents that kill more children than all major children’s diseases combined.”
September 1st, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
We have just launched the re-design of my business website for Loving Labor Birth Services. There are now some new features and resources, including a Classes page because I will be teaching classes beginning in October. I will be offering a Nourishment During Pregnancy class, a Elements of Early Pregnancy class, and a Breastfeeding Basics class. For anyone that is interested, feel free to check it out!
August 28th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
What’s the number one cause of global warming? Cars? Nope. Factories? Nope. Planes? Nope. According to the United Nations, raising animals for food generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, planes, ships, trucks, and trains in the world combined.
Reasons to become a vegetarian.
Chew on this video!
August 26th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
Haden got a new hat from his granny. It looked quite lovely on everyone……
Isn’t he gorgeous.
Mommy looks even better! J/K
He is my sweetheart.
Girlie and Jojo wanted some hat love too.
And don’t forget Dilly!
Good times in the Bowden household. My little monkey is growing up so fast. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. 
He is like a minnie grown up. He is even starting to show interest in the potty. He has been telling me that he has to go “poo” so that I will sit him on the toilet and then he makes pooping noises like he is doing something. lol He has such a personality.
August 22nd, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
“Doctors aren’t culprits. Like their patients they are victims of the system. The are the first to be impaired by medical education’s preoccupation with intervention rather than prevention, its infatuation with drugs and technology, and the indefensible rituals, mores, and egotistical attitudes that are burned into the brain of every student who survives the rigid and often irrelevant curriculum and training. They emerge with their heads so stuffed with institutionalized foolishness that there is no room left for common sense.”
“Doctors absorb a lot of biased information about immunizations but is taught very little about pharmacology, despite the fact that as a practicing physician he’ll hook more kids on drugs than the most diligent pusher in town.”
“And although American medical schools teach their student very little about pharmacology, they do teach them to exploit all of the new drugs and technology that becomes available. New drugs and equipment appear almost daily, spawned by the laboratories of of the pharmaceutical industry and the medical equipment manufacturers. More often than not, they are unproven and unsafe. Most parents assume that they can rely on the FDA to keep drugs off the market until they are proven safe for human use. This confidence in the FDA is misplaced, because virtually all drugs are released without appropriate or significant human trials.”
- Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D. (Pediatrician)
These quotes are from his book, How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. I just started reading it and I love it so far. I can’t wait to finish it. I will probably add some more quotes from his book as I read along. He has another book I am really wanting to read, Confessions of a Medical Heretic. I am adding it to my very long wish list on Amazon.
August 16th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
The Unfolding Lap
I AM MOTHER who grows dreams in my belly
From my blood drinks the Tree of Life
Rooted in heaven until the birth quake
Splits me open in revelation and relief
And I awake from the nightmare of separation.
I AM MOTHER carrier of the secret told since the beginning
Hearth of the future, unfolding lap, volcanic breast
A daughter of uncertainty, the crone’s executrix
The ultimate harvester of hope.
I AM MOTHER so hear me! Listen with labyrinthine ears
To the purpose of sound, sense the movement of your cells,
And the pulsing message from your bones that resonate with this;
Serve the Breath-Maker and be the BirthKeeper the Earth needs now.
Your mother will be so proud.
© Jeannine Parvati Baker
11 March 2005
Joseph, Utah
August 15th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
August 10th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
I watched the documentary SiCKO tonight and although it didn’t actually tell me anything that I wasn’t already somewhat aware of it still seemed to have profound affect on me. There is something to be said about acknowledging in your mind that something is true and actually seeing it at work. This film made me cry so much. I felt so much pain for the people in the film and also understood their fear, seeing as my family is one of the some odd millions of people in the United States that do not have any health coverage.
At this point I don’t really care how unpatriotic this sounds…but the United States really SUCKS sometimes. The only people that could possibly defend the state of our health coverage at this point are people that are getting financial gains from a corrupt system, people with what they deem “good” insurance that haven’t had the opportunity to be royally screwed by their insurance company…YET! and then people that just don’t know any better. Sounds pretty harsh but sometimes the truth is harsh.
However at this point health coverage is not my only beef with America because it is hardly the one area that we are seriously lacking in. Our nation is built around keeping people as uneducated, unhealthy, and subservient as possible. What other reason would we have for making it so difficult for our children to receive a good education. Government school systems are so lacking that most children leave them with barely even a mediocre education and then we make the financial possibility for our children to receive a college education near impossible. Well, not if you have good credit. All you have to do is sign over your future for the promise of a brighter one with the bonus of thousands of dollars of debt, which I can assure you my family is well aware of because of what my husbands schooling has cost us.
Now I am just rambling…..because I am irritated…..so lets move on to some fun facts!
- The amount of uninsured is rising every year, as premiums continue to skyrocket and wages stagnate. From 2004 to 2005 the number of uninsured rose 1.3 million, and rose up nearly 6 million from 2001-2005.
- According to the Institute of Medicine, “lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. Although America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage.”
- “The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds.”
- In a study of older Americans and Brits, the Brits had less of almost every major disease. Even the poorest Brit can expect to live longer than the richest American.
- A baby born in El Salvador has a better chance of surviving than a baby born in Detroit.
- The government initially refused to pay for the health care of 9/11 volunteers, because they were not on the government payroll. It remains difficult for the volunteers to access the $50 million fund that has been appropriated for their care.
Wasn’t that fun?
August 2nd, 2008 / No Comments » / by Crystal Bowden
A woman in my Unhindered Birth group on Cafemom pointed out the opening song for the show Weeds, which I hadn’t ever given much thought before but after actually reading all the lyrics it is kinda errie as to how accurate they are about how our society works. Very sad.
Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky, Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes, all the same. There’s a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses All went to the university, Where they were put in boxes, And they came out all the same. And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers And business executives, And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf-course, And drink their Martinis dry, And they all have pretty children, And the children go to school. And the children go to summer camp And then to the university, Where they are put in boxes And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business, And marry, and raise a family, In boxes made of ticky-tacky, And they all look just the same. There’s a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same.
Welcome to the Bowden family blog!
Mike Bowden is a self employed web consultant and has been working for himself for over two years. Currently he's attending UAT for a Bachelors degree in Game Design, with two year to go. Mike runs Sinco Technologies, LLC a corporate site, is in the process of starting a new company By Geekz, for the masses, and runs quite a few service related web sites, such as Georgia Design Forum and YourPicHut.
Crystal Bowden is a stay-at-home mom. She is a DONA trained birth doula, as well as an educator, working towards her certifications. Her family is her number one passion. Her interests include scrapbooking, romance novels, childbirth, politics, environmental issues & learning about new things! Visit her site for Loving Labor Birth Services, to find great resources on childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting issues.
Haden Bowden will be two years old in September. He is a cloth diaper wearing, breastfeeding, co-sleeping toddler. ☺ His current interests are lovin' on his Ally- O, wearing his daddy's shoes, putting together his choo choo's track, and running until he can't go anymore. Haden also loves vroom vrooms (cars) and noonles (pool noodles).
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