Candles and Ultrasounds

I was driving around a cemetery tonight (because who doesn't like cemeteries?), and I saw a bunch of candles lit up. Upon closer inspection, it turns out that they weren't real candles at all, but battery-operated ones. (Which made me wonder how it was that the whole cemetery was lit up with them at once. There must have been at least 20. Were they on some sort of timer? Do battery-operated things even have timers? Does someone come out every night to turn them on?)

But enough about all that. It's all pretext for the thought that came next, which was something along the lines of how much I love candles. Real, actual candles. The ones with flames that you light with a match. Or a lighter. Or whatever have you.

And then I got to thinking about how when people give birth in a hospital, they can't have real candles. They can only have those battery-operated ones. And I got to thinking how sucky and pathetic that was. Those stupid, fake candles. All those people giving births in hospitals without any real candles.

Poor things.

And that started to make me angry about other things. (I've been angry a lot lately, due to other circumstances... those other circumstances mainly having to do with internal issues which I haven't quite figured out how to remedy yet. Our outside life is a reflection of our internal, remember that.)

So, anyway, then I started to get angry about this picture of a 6 week ultrasound on facebook from someone I used to know (who I am almost 99% sure doesn't read this blog so I feel like I can write about this freely without getting into trouble. But, I'm not really saying anything bad about him/her, just my reaction to it. That's fair, right? I'm allowed to have feelings. Plus, they're just doing what the rest of society is doing. What do they care what I think?)

But, anyway, I started thinking, are hospitals doing 6 week ultrasounds now? Really? (I don't really keep abreast of what hospitals are doing anymore, because it's a waste of my time, and I don't really care.)

But, the topic of ultrasounds has always annoyed me. I just don't understand the purpose of them. Or, the "routine use of them", I should say (so I don't get in trouble). I mean, if they find something *wrong* (and what is "wrong" anyway), "doctors aren't going to be able to do anything about it anyway" (that was a quote from my mom, people. My mom.)

So, what's the point? Or, if that IS the point, then why get more of them? Isn't one just good enough? And why at 6 weeks? What is a 6 week ultrasound going to tell you (besides dates)?

And nobody but me seems to care about the effects of ultrasound anyway.

A large study in the United States of more than 15,000 pregnant women showed no improvement in the mortality rate of the babies if ultrasound is routinely used during pregnancy.

And a couple of studies showed that ultrasounds increased left-handedness. Now, that may not seem like much on the surface, because what's the big deal about being left-handed? But what it does show is that ultrasounds DO affect neurological development in some way (because otherwise there wouldn't be an increase in left-handedness)... so how ELSE does it affect it?

Not to mention that ultrasounds sound like jackhammers to the poor little fetuses. And most people don't even know that Dopplers and the Electronic Fetal Monitor are also forms of ultrasound (it's not just about the scan). The EFM is really a big one. And some women are on it for a long time when they're in labor (and, unlike the scan, it's a continuous form of ultrasound). So, don't even get me started on the EFM. (Don't get me started. Don't even get me started.)

I wonder if my husband remembered to pick up the kids from religion.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that ultrasounds are going to ruin a kid's life. Obviously, 99% of kids today are walking around having had an ultrasound prenatally, and they seem be doing alright (although, what is the definition of "alright" anyway)? But there really is so much more too it.

"In fact, the FDA and professional medical associations know that prenatal ultrasound can be dangerous to humans, which is why they have consistently warned against the nonmedical or keepsake ultrasound portrait studios that have cropped up in malls throughout the country."

So, I'm not the only one saying it.

But enough about that. So, did Vernon remember to pick the kids up or not? I don't know. I don't know.

I'm just such a naturalist. None of this non-real candles, ultrasound stuff makes any sense to me.

I was reading this post in the Bad Catholic blog, and he ends it with this statement:

"The point is this: My Dear Catholics, do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel with confidence. There existed an age that demanded incredible subtlety, an age when heresies made actual claims and a time for delicate evangelization. This, the Age of Stupidity, is not it. This is an age that requires us to boldly claim absolutes, for no one else is doing so."

So, birth is my truth, and I want to proclaim it. Nobody believes in it anymore. We living in the Age of Stupidity, and people don't know the truth. I just want to tell people the truth.

I know that I can't change people (God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change), but I certainly don't need to stop proclaiming the truth. About birth. About candles. About cancer. About everything. Or not. I don't even know anymore. I'm losing interest in this already.

Now where is Vern? They should have been home by now.

Oh, there they are. They're home.

Here is a good song. Good night.