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Over my oatmeal this morning, I read in the Gazette that Hot Harry’s on Union Street in Schenectady will be opening for lunch today.  Don’t bother to click on the Gazette link unless you’re already a subscriber: they are one of those websites that make you pay for the privilege of reading them (bitter?  yes, I am).  I tried to find a better link for you, especially when I heard that they have a group on Facebook.  But when I started to look, “hot harry” pulled up more than 1000 groups.  First, “Prince Harry is Hot”.  Well, maybe, in a “bad boy” sort of way, but I think that it’s really crown-related.  Then many “Harry Potter is Hot” variations:  he’s always seemed delicate and childlike for me, but perhaps that’s because he’s practically a child, which can’t be helped.  And it’s true that he’s been working out. . . . But anyway, for those who don’t know, there was a fire at Harry’s and it was closed for quite a while, making our family rather sad.  Now, for my grown-up tastes, I’d go for Chipotle any day (it also has grass-fed beef and other animals that were at least happy before that last bad day).  In my opinion, Hot Harry’s is a little bit more basic and less flavorful, but let’s face it:  that’s great when you’re trying to feed children.  And they have a super-yummy self-serve salsa bar which can convert dull to delicious.  And we can walk there!  Excellent, because after a large burrito, you feel like you need to take a walk.  So, hooray for Harry’s, glad to have them back!

Meanwhile, in the Albany Times-Union, there’s an article about the impending move for  Seton Health/St. Mary’s birthing center to the Burdett Care Center, which is part of the hospital merger in Troy.   There’s quite a stir over whether the new care center will preserve the “midwifery model” of care.   I love midwives.  Midwives “caught” both of my girls, even though after an incredibly long natural labor & childbirth for M, I decided to drug myself up for J’s birth.   So, it’s not like I’m a natural childbirth activist by any means.

But this reminds me of what happened when I first moved here.  I must have been about 7 months pregnant with M, and we were still commuting up from Brooklyn on the weekends to house hunt and make other arrangements, like finding someone to help us with M’s birth.  At that point, little M was breech, and being first-time parents, we were worried.  First, we visited a doctor.  He was deeply concerned that M was still head’s up.  Well, we asked, is there anything that we can do?  Nothing, he answered, and he literally pulled out an appointment book to talk about tentative timing for a C-section!  Wade and I left nauseated by stress.  Then we visited a midwife.  She said, these babies have a way of getting ready in time–I wouldn’t worry.  Well, meanwhile, we asked, is there anything that we can do?  She pulled out a sheet printed with different ideas of things for me to do at home to encourage M to turn around.  Did some of them seem a little “out there”?  Yes.  Did I do them anyway?  Heck, yeah!   Who knows if I helped the situation, but feeling less powerless sure helped us.  And, sure, there are fabulous doctors, and there must be a god-awful mean midwife out there somewhere, but that’s my little bit of anecdotal evidence.  If, after reading this and the statistics in the article,  you’re feeling inspired to support the midwifery model, there’s a petition going around.