It was an amazingly easy travel day today. There was *no* line at security at Pittsburgh International Airport. None. It was quite pleasant. We landed at DFW 30 mins early so I had plenty of time to eat and write a blog post for next week before my next flight to New Orleans.
On the flight from DFW to NOLA, I sat next to a woman who asked me what I did for a living. After I told her, she launched into a rather impressive monologue about how she is a breastfeeding advocate. She told me how she breastfed her children and how she expected they’d breastfeed too. One of her daughters had problems breastfeeding. This was an eye opener to her because she hadn’t realized that someone could have problems breastfeeding since it had been so easy for her to do so.
Her mentioning of her other daughters’ unused freezer stash of pumped milk prompted me to direct her to Human Milk 4 Human Babies and Eats on Feets. She was enamored of the idea of mother to mother milksharing. Score for mamas and babies!
After much reading of Game of Thrones, I deplaned and collected my luggage. At baggage claim I met a woman who noticed my shirt, “BELIEVE in women, babies, birth, midwives”. She thought for a moment, and then mentioned she had a homebirth with a fantastic midwife.
We ended up on the same shuttle to the French Quarter and chatted the whole way about the politics of birth, the need for community among mothers, breastfeeding challenges and going back to work, advocacy for normal birth, and so on.
What intrigued me about this shuttle ride conversation was that when I told her I was a Lamaze instructor she said, “Oh, didn’t think people took Lamaze classes anymore.” I found this a wee bit disheartening. She did take her midwife’s childbirth class and other classes, but had thought Lamaze was a bit passé.
This mentality needs to change. The newer, slicker childbirth education programs out there may be a bit more social media savvy, but I have great faith in the good work I and my colleagues do. I think a bit of better PR is called for. Lamaze Rocks! I am so glad to be here at the conference.
After checking into my hotel, I was off to wander the French Quarter…. For three hours. What amazes me is the human interaction here. People make eye contact and *want* to talk to you. Not just to sell you something, but it’s a genuine friendliness. I found it a bit disarming. We Pittsburghers are nice and all, but this is a whole other level of welcoming. I’m not used to this interacting with strangers on the street… I kind of like it.
While wandering up Decatur St, I found a goth-steampunk shop. ‘Old me’ couldn’t help myself and a retro-styled dress with skeletons and such was purchased. Love it! Dinner was a HUGE half muffuletta. Tasty goodness, that one. Yet another street conversation with some gutter-punk artist types brought me a pair of upcycled earrings… still have to find trinkets for my kids, but that won’t be difficult in the land of schlock tourist merchandise.
Now, I need to be heading off to bed, as I am teaching at 8:00 am. I’ll be lulled to sleep by the melodious sound of Bourbon St. from underneath my 2nd floor window.
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