More Birth Stores

Birth 1) My Brother's birth Story: From Father Perspective
When my moms pregnant with my brother, and as soon as the water broke my father and mother went straight to the hospital, they didn't rush but definitely were nervous and didn't really know that it would take hours of waiting till the actually labor. Since it was my mother's first time she was very nervous and they both went straight to the hospital thinking that it wasn't more then a couple hours till she would give labor. Little did they know it took around 24 hours till the baby starting to come out. When my brother came out, my father stated that he came out very active, him eyes were open, he had a full head of hair, and was looking up and everyone as if someone shocked. "If he could it seemed like he would have ran straight across the room, away from us if he could" my dad said. After my dad was able to cut the umbilical cord, which he was able to do the same for me he was grossed out and surprised at home rubbery it was. They were again only able to hold the baby for a few till they took the baby off into another part of the hospital. Afterward they were able to hold the baby and nurse it but that was not till a while later. After that my father made many calls to as much family members as he could think of, my grandfather, aunt, uncles, etc. (Most of them were on my mom's side of the family). Some feelings my father had was nervousness and thought that everything was very intense because even though they had to wait such a long amount of time till they it was time for labor, as soon as it was time for labor everything boomed into a sudden rapid speed, it was a lot of anxiety. My father said that you really have to be ready or you'll be stuck in mass confusion and be left behind for being able to see the process. As for expectations, it wasn't exactly what he expected because it was so fast, there was so much blood and "gore" that it made it kinda scary for that is not something seen on a daily bases. What would have made it a more wonderful or better experience is that if there was more family there for support or just to be there because it was just my mom and my dad alone. The equipment that they used for what he can remember was some sort of sonogram monitoring the stomach so they can see whats going on to the baby while giving labor, just in case the baby was turning and was coming out the wrong way or whatever reason. He was very confident and comfortable with the hospital and believed that the equipment and techniques of the hospital was safe.
Birth 2)My Birth Story (More details then "thoughts on birth blog")
Unlike my brother I remember my mom would tell me it was much more comfortable having me in her rather then my brother because my brother use to move and kick and make it really uncomfortable for her to the point where she would have to sleep in totally weird positions like curled up and on her chest (hard to explain how she does that). Anyways, I am the youngest and my brother was the first child, as my mom's water broke in the house my father, my brother, and her lived in, my father and mother drove to the hospital leaving my brother with a baby sitter/ nurse. They drove calmly since it was their second time they knew it would take FOREVER till she actually will go through labor. At that point my mom was having contractions but none of which was making her struggle painfully, her contractions were about every hour. Since they knew it would take hours and hours of waiting and my mom thought it would be a good idea being her womanly self to do a little shopping. My father parked a block and around the corner to the hospital (Lenox Hill) as she dragged my father along to go look at some clothes, shoes, etc. After about half an hour or so they decided to just head to the hospital. In the room they waited....and waited...and waited and waited as the contractions go more stronger and more painful. Although my mom was able to take is better since it was the second time. Plus the epidermal that was given to her. My father was getting really tired and fidgety. The nurses were just..nurses, talking they way they were trained too but doing so also made my parents feel that the doctors and the nurses were well trained giving them confidence. They were much more ready for the long hours or waiting then the sudden boom of rushing, sweating, paint and gore this time since they knew what was coming. Skipping to my mom actually giving labor my father stated there was a very nurse that annoyed my mom as she kept of squeaking "come on push push, common push push" over and over like a cheerleader. My father remember that when i came out i had a full head of black hair, he was also able to cut the umbilical cord just like he was able to do with my brother. He stated that I was quite calm coming out and wasn't quite as shocked, with eyes wide open such like my brother. He said the method they use wasn't really any different then the birth of my brother's. When i asked him what would have made it more wonderful he again said it would have been a lot better if there was more family support as they were on their own. Another typical thing that there were picture taking of me just as I came out and a few mintues after when i was cleaned up as a little baby. I still have those pictures today. :) (there kinda gross yet at the same time i feel a certain awe when i found them).
Birth Story 3) Mother's perspective (anonymous
We shall call this person "Amy" because i want to keep the name confidential because I am not sure if this person is comfortable having her birth story told. When Amy's water broke she was working in a factory in queens. She was somewhat shocked but didn't feel rushed. She called her husband to come picker her up, when she was picked up they did not take a taxi or a car but took the subway since they did not live that far from where she worked. They took there time, when they went home they picked up some clothes and other necessities for there stay at the hospital. That is when they called the ambulance which then took them to the hospital. There stay at the hospital was much more difficult a longer then what they thought as there was a lot of complications. Although the nurses and the doctors, from what she said, was very kinda and patient. The machines they used were old fashion machines back in the 1987. She suffered excruciating pains even after the epidermal. This mainly was because the baby's arm was stuck behind it's back, this caused a lot of complications for the baby come out. In the end they had to do a C-section in order to get the baby. It was a very scary experience for she was almost near death because the pain was so excruciating and she had high blood pressure. The whole process took two full days. She said it would have been a more wonderful experience if it didn't take that long and if there wasn't as much complications as there was. There wasn't any other family member there but her and her husband and the methods were the basics, her on her back. They did not allow any pictures or video tapping and made her husband wait outside the labor room. This is really different they what they do today because today you are allowed to have the husband in the same room from most of the stories I hear from. Maybe its because of different hospital regulations. In the end it was very exhausting and at first she stated that she didn't really look forward to another experience like that one but obviously she went for it because she wanted to try for a baby girl since she had a baby boy. She ended up with 3 sons and no girls and she says that she is still happy with her sons.

Birth story 4)anonnymous
We'll just call this mother "carol" because I'm not dure if the mother is comfortable having her birth story told. Her wster broke while dhe was getting some food from the kitchen and for some reason she was kind of shocked because she wasn't expecting it at that momment. They drove to the hospital as they had a car back then. They didn't rush but they did want to get there as soon as possible. When they got to the hospital she was kind of annoyed because no one was really payin her any attention. There was contractions like every 20 minutes, they hurt but they weren't too extreme and she could take it. She was on the hospital bed and there were monitors and other "hospital equipment" as she called it. There was pain around "down there" but she took the pain and didn't find it anything that was suppose to be unusual. When a doctor finally got to her and checked her he told her that she was actually giving labor. From then on everything was a rush as many other people came in strapping on booties' masks, and gloves. They allowed her husban in the room but they wanted him to stand off on the side. They told her to breath a deep breath in and as she exhaled to push and that was the thing that sirt of annoyed her because she didn't thing it helped at all and made ir more diffuclt then if she would have just pushed and breathed her way. In the end she had a baby boy, it wasn't her first birth so she said maybe that is why she took the pain a little better then she did the first time. One thing she said would have made it a better experience is if the doctors were less demanding and more fufilling to her needs. All and all the whole process took around 7 hours.

Birth

For the new semester in history class we've been discussing the topic of birth. As everyone sees on television and such, birth is usually portrayed as a rushing painful experience taking up to a few minutes making everyone go mad. When hearing my birth story from my father is was quite amusing to me as what was different or similar to what is usually portrayed when throwing out the topic of pregnancy and giving labor.
This is the basics of my birth story: When my mother's water broke my father and her was on the way to the hospital, apparently on the way my mother knew it would take forever until she actually gives labor and even though she was having contractions they only came about every half an hour to an hour. So on the way to the hospital my mom thought it would have been a good idea to do some window shopping on the way to the hospital which to me was the most amusing thing i have ever heard. When they finally got to the hospital it took around 10 hours till my mom finally was going to give labor, my father stood in the room with her by her side but not watching the baby come out because that would be "gross" is what he stated which also greatly amused me as well. Skipping to the after, my father was able to cut my umbilical cord (which i thank him for doing such a great job) and was able to hold the baby only a few minutes till they took me away to do other nursing stuff.
This really shows me how different birth really is portrayed compared to actual birth. I think it is made so much more dramatic then it is because people (especially in America) like excitement, drama, and something interesting to look at but nothing intense that would gross out. I think birth is a very amazing experience for those who experience it but also a scary one. Many people make the mistake of having a child because when there babies they are "so cute". Some people may not really be ready as they think simply because they just want a baby. In my own opinion when people say things like "I don't have the motherhood skills" or "i don't like kids", I think it has nothing to do with having a child at all. Personally, what is needed is responsibility. I can say that i don't have motherly skills to take care of a baby but obviously if I were to ever have one for what ever reason I wouldn't just throw it away like some toy as it is human life, I would have to take responsibility. So the thing that would be correctly said is that I don't have enough life experience and responsibility experiences to take care of a child.
Although i would most likely try to prevent from having a child as much as possible, if i ever change my mind when I am older and more responsible I would most likely raise the child here in New York, more general America. Although i was raised most of my childhood in Hong Kong i feel more at home and more in place in America. I don't see myself anywhere else and if i were ever to have a child they would most likely grow up with an American way of life. Although I would most likely keep some of the Chinese traditions that i was taught. But to get back to the topic of actually giving birth, to go through that process and how creepy it is is the most likely reason why i would never want to get pregnant and go through that birthing process. The fact of having something alive within you and coming out of you just seems unpleasant, maybe my view of it will be different when i become older and have had more life experience but for now I am sticking with what i think of birth.

Inauguration day

Today was a very historical moment as not only is it Martin Luther King Day but also Inauguration day where the 44th president of the United States was officially/finalized the president for the next 4 years. Barrak Obama not only being the 44th president of the United States but what is known to be the first African American president of United States. I was able to watch Obama's speech as it was made official he was the president. I was packed in a classroom with many other student and teachers, everyone was a lot more inattentive then they usually are in a regular teaching class. By judging from the atmosphere and mood of the room, half the people were bored out of their minds as the others seemed enthusiastic, cheerful, they cheered and clapped to Obama's words. As well as being able to watch his speech I was also able to watch a part of the parade on CNN news and a news reporter showing us a satellite birds eye view image of the vents taking place. Firstly, it amazed me how advance our technology was, being able to see such a clear image of the millions of people gathering, they appeared to look like swarms of ants on the image. Secondly, I was surprised how much people were curious and into this year's election and Inauguration then any other. They didn't have the same enthusiasm for George's Bush's election and Inauguration day as they did for Obama ("I wonder why..."). I heard from a friend that this year was in the Guinness worlds records of how many people were actually watching Obama. This big event brought up many discussions and questions in history class today. The first of which I remember was brought up by a fellow student (I think, if i remember correctly was Yazmin Pina), she asked how come there was around 180 million dollars spent on Inauguration day even when the US is already in such a economical crisis. This made me wonder as well of why can't Inauguration just be a simple rally listening to the president taken oath and his speech? Is it because America doesn't think? Personally, while relating it to the American way of life, Americans are known for there waste in money (personal opinion), families and people tend to spend money on luxury and leisure before solving any crisis's'. Looking at the Inauguration, it is a enjoyable show everyone can see. It is a way for every person in America to feel a part of History and have that feeling of "togetherness". This being up another topic in class of "National Unity". In many of the speeches heard today brought up, many of the words such as "we", "we the people", "freedom", etc. These words give the citizens of the United States a sense of dignity and equality, as if they took part of this great history, as if they had a sense of power. Although this is the good side, there was mention of the evil side of National Unity. One example is the military force, before Obama people avoided drafts, no one wanted to fight for George Bus which everyone saw as "stupid". Now that we have what most people see as a "cool" president since he is black and "hip" and be able to relate to citizens, now people are more willing to risk there lives and join the military. They would more likely want to fight for the "cool president". To wrap it up, this blinds people from seeing social classes. This can be bad because many people will sink deeper into their class, making the poor people poorer and rich people even richer, creating no balance in social class and a expansion of military force.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a philosopher and mainly researched on capitalism and didn't necessarily approve or disprove with the ideas of capitalism but more likely tells the future of where society is heading. A few things that caught my attention during history class was primitive accumulation of capital, alienation of labor, empiricism, and the crashing of capitalism. First off was the primitive accumulation of capital. None of the capital we have now in our modern society would have become if it wasn't for the accumulation of capital through stealing, enslavement, genocide. An example of how these things was the primitive accumulation of capital, by stealing another person's labor or enslaving people to work for you helps build the capital which in result causes industrialization. As workers are exploited for there labor this causes the theory by Karl Marx of vampire. "Capital is dead labor which, vampire- like lives by sucking living labor, and lives the more the more labor it sucks"(-Karl Marx). This quote basically means that in order for capital to survive it sucks labor from workers such like a vampire sucks blood from a person to survive. This was the ideas that caught my attention the most as it compares captial to a vampire, this giving me the idea that if there was no labor there would be no capital, so why is it that workers work for such a little amount then what they should be getting? According to Marx he stated that "Capital is going to grow and suck until everyone becomes a proletarian." A Proletarian is someone who sells there labor in order to survive, they have nothing else to sell to survive but there own labor. This giving the idea in class that since capital needs labor it produces proletarians, as proletarians grow it eventually will cause everyone to become proletarian. I think this will one day be true as the more people find work and sell there labor it gives capital more of a oppourtunity to get more labor. This will eventually cause all of society to be selling there labor and just the very few that are capital. Marx also gives an idea of alienation or alienation of labor, this is when someone does not work for themselves or because they want to but because they work in order to survive thus making a person and there work alien to each other. Marx did not see this theory as a good thing. I think this is a very big idea about society because most people today don't really end up working to be something they want to be but working in order to earn a living. This is a big part of the American way of life, these makes me think back to the interviews we did with random people on the street, when asked what they think the American way of life is most of which answered back "work work work!" instead of personal values, dreams, and goals and none of which mentioned enjoy there job but describing it as "tiring". This shows how people will get any work they can no matter at what wage which causes the idea of alienation and capital taking over. This makes me wonder what if one day people start to realize that they are being paid at a low wage just for capital to earn the rest of the higher pay that the workers make for them, what will happen? Would we ever have a crashing capitalism where there is exploitation of works. This usually goes towards the direction of socialism. Would this ever happen to America?

Christmas Break

Christmas break is probably the best holiday for students mainly because of the long amount of time we are able to spent sleeping in and wasting time. Christmas this year was no different then any other this year. Now that I think about it I realize that it wasn't as different to Thanksgiving Holiday either. This Christmas/ New Years I spent it with my boyfriend and his family. This supports my idea that no matter what culture Asian, Hispanic, or Caucasian, Christmas is primarily celebrated the same way. Christmas in the american way of life mainly includes family, gifts, and parties. Typically in the American way of life, people dominantly spent new years including things like gatherings of some sort, thoughtlessness, family, and alcohol. From what I personal know Christmas was celebrated by many Christians for it was the day for the birth of Jesus Christ(I'm not saying this is a fact, this is what i personal heard). Although I don't exactly think this is the case now in the American way of life as much as it was in the past. Now in modern day I think people mainly celebrate Christmas as a time to get together with family and just like Thanksgiving an excuse to SHOP.I didn't get any new outfits this Christmas although i managed to cough up some dough to get new shoes. This shows me that in the typical American way of life people tend to spent more of their time on personal items and necessities rather then survival. During Christmas, Chanukah or whatever it is people tend to look forward to gifts rather then quality time. Now the American way of life is a lot revolved around buying, as things are on sale people bombarded the stores for things that they see as on sale. Just like Thanksgiving Christmas is a wonderful excuse to have get-together and shop for things that are able to have an excuse to be on sale. As new years is a excuse to have big parties and get drunk and celebrate what I think is just "time". In conclusion Christmas Break is definitely a big part of the American way of life for every year it is the same, it is as well the same for every family or person as well.

Ebay

Ive always heard a lot about eBay but never really took the time to really look at the website. I always thought it sold items that weren't really of any important. When i got the assignment to take a look at eBay and try to do an auction for an item i was interested in. I happen to find a lot of items that was either surprisingly expensive or surprisingly cheap. Many of the items I saw was from common stores such as American Apparel. Most clothing from that store is ridiculously expensive, for example a colored hoodie would cost around 40 to 60 dollars, on eBay I saw a lot of the same exact items selling at a ridiculously cheaper amount around 20 dollars. When i found a sweater that I was interested in (no a item that was taken from American Apparel) I attempted to bid for it, as there was zero bids placed on it I bid it in the very beginning. I wasn't really anxious or anything because I thought I wouldn't have won the bid as no one seemed interested in biding on it as well. The next day as I check back I had surprisingly lost the bid. This taught me that no matter what it is crucial to bid at the very beginning which is a strategy i learned in class. This made me think that the other person who had won the bid most likely had used that strategy.

This very much relates to the idea of capitalism. The first thing that came on my mind was supply, demand, scarcity, and oppourtunity cost. On eBay, as many people bid on the same item this is the idea that there is a limited amount of supply as demand is more because there are more people who want the item. Scarcity is when you get what you get when you buy something. As i search through eBay there was a certain amount of money that I was willing to spent which also meant I only had a certain limited amount as well, this meaning i also only had a limited amount of items i could get with my certain amount of money. As lastly relating it to opportunity cost, when I didn't get the item that I wanted I went on the the second best thing that I had my eye on.

Part C

Amendments 12, 13, 14, & 15 are often referred to as a major turning point in US government policy. Why?


In the amendments 12,13, 14, 15th it introduced ideas such as the electoral college and abolishment of slavery. These few amendments are often known to be what caused major turning points for America. It was most important probably because it made certain changes in how the government was runs. Firstly it was a major turning point because in the 14th amendment it made it so the government cannot rob people of their freedoms, slavery is basically robbing people of their freedoms. Letting the African Americans have their freedom and abolishing slavery sets a huge turning point for the US. As the 15th amendment allows all citizens to be able to vote even the African Americans. Although at that time women were at that time not able to vote. This, in personal opinion, contradicts the 14th amendment at that time. Of course it has changed and women are allowed the same freedom and rights. As people know, "freedom" and "equality" is how America is viewed, it is what America is meant to go by. If it wasn't for these amendments it wouldn't have made such a big turning point for American towards it's goal is a country with freedom and equality.

Does the 14th combine with the earlier "no religious test" clause to guarantee a vision of a diverse and equitable society with no government discrimination?

The 14th amendment states that laws made against liberty, freedom, and citizens property are not allowed. As the "no religious test" clause states that a person in office cannot discriminate against the religion of others in the office. Although i do not think they combine together to guarantee a vision of diverse and equitable society but I do think that it in some ways it supports the idea of a diverse and equal society. As the 14th amendment supports diversity and freedom by abolishing slavery, this guarantees a vision of a equal society. Having the "no religious test" clause keeps diversity of culture and religious beliefs, not making anything mainly based of raise OR religion.