I get questions, about when I think the S will HTF, and when I recommend that people head for the hills.  I rarely answer those people. Most frame the question in such a way, it’s clear they think we aren’t to that point yet.  I’m of the opinion that we’re there.  Not in an OMG The Grid is DOWN! Let’s GO! sort of way, but in a pack it up, pack it in, downsize and settle someplace for the long haul way.

I’m not sure how many of you read the Archdruid or Lord Bison, but that message seems to be flowing from their pens as well.  At this point it’s not a question of when to BO to avoid the highway congestion, the question is why aren’t you already leaving? There are global protests over wide spread economic downturns, saber rattling from several consistently hostile countries, (including one that could trigger another oil crisis,) a jobless rate that’s staggering, a clear downhill tilt to the oil production, and so on and so forth.  There’s no guarantees about where the next Hurricane Irene or Katrina is going to hit. There’s no guarantees about where the next plant closing is going to happen. The only guarantee I see from this point on is that recoveries from the inevitable setbacks will be longer, harder and sparser.  The social nets are already starting to come unraveled:

Closed School in TX

Governor set to close schools on May 1st.

Public Employee Pension accounts headed towards depletion.

US Army Corps of Engineers will delay levee repairs.

States can’t pay their bills.

Why bother sticking around someplace you feel isn’t going to be a viable community when the SHTF? Sure your house may be nice, but you can’t take it with you.  Sure, your job might be nice, but will it survive a grid down scenario or an oil crisis or a reduction in federal spending? You’d arguably be better off if you give it up now, downsize, move to a more SHTF-friendly location, take the cut in pay and start living like you mean to survive. Waiting around to, “time it right” or suck a little more from the federal teat, that’s just a recipe for disaster.  Then you’re looking at having to relocate, job hunt, plant a garden AND rebuild stores all during the first year of a SHTF event.  Major suckage.

I know a lot of our regulars are already hunkered down.  For those that aren’t, what’s holding you back? Be honest. Are you still hoping for that big raise or trying to keep up appearances?  Are you just not ready to give up on the American Dream?

- Calamity Jane

No related posts.

The miracle of life, truly a fascinating time for a woman and her partner. It’s also a vulnerable, stressful time, with life altering decisions to make.  What factors should a prepper take into consideration when planning for the event?

I mentioned in a post last week that we considered birthing at home for Podling #2, but are currently planning on a hospital delivery. I want to share some of the thought processes behind the decision and touch on some of the risks inherent in both choices.  (I will mention, briefly, if you live in  or near a large enough metropolitan area, you may have a third choice, a birthing center. Those don’t exist in my neck of the woods, so I’m not as familiar with them.)

If you are unfamiliar with the legalities of birth, here’s a quick primer: Every state has different laws.  In Texas it’s legal to have a professional midwife attend your birth at home, even for multiples and breech presentations.  In Iowa homebirthing with professional midwives is not legal for any birth, but you can birth at home “unassisted” or you can go to a hospital and be seen by a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) or Obstetrician.  (There are midwives who attend homebirths in Iowa spite of the lack of licensing.)  Then there are states with everything in-between.

At home – Depending on your state laws and the outcome of your home birth, this choice could bring increased scrutiny by authorities.  That can range from EMT’s if something goes wrong, your OB dropping you as a patient or possibly even a visit from DHS. You may have to deal with the uneducated opinions of loved ones if you tell them of your homebirth choice. Birthing has become such a highly medicated event, that generations of women in the US no longer remember any other way. All of that should be weighed against the positives of homebirths.  Namely, complete freedom to labor and deliver exactly as the mother wants.  No Cover Your Ass procedures or restrictions. No limits to labor time. No limits to food/drink intake. No restrictions on labor or delivery positions.  No pressure for interventions like Pitocin, narcotics or surgery.

Cost is usually reduced for a homebirth.  My health insurance lists average birth costs at above $8,000.  (They don’t cover homebirths.) Most homebirth midwives charge in the $2-3,000 range, some even less, and going unassisted gets things down below $1k.  There are expenses even at home; you’ll need clean supplies for catching the various fluids, laboring devices like a birthing ball, birthing pool, etc. and general first aid/delivery supplies to deal with any tearing or pain as well as cutting the cord and suctioning the gook out of baby’s breathing passages.

You’ll need to make arrangements or plans for transfer options should an emergency or complication arise.  There are reasons women and children die in birth, things CAN go wrong.  If you are birthing at home, make sure the attendants know where/who and when to call for an EMT.

In a SHTF event, a homebirth may be your only option.  If the hospitals are full of pandemic victims or trauma patients from a large deadly event, you’ll be better off at home, so never rule it out as a possibility. Make sure you’ve done your research so you know what to expect.  I love Ina May Gaskin’s books for practical advice on natural at home birthing.  There are others out there though, find one that matches your situation. And of course have the preps on hand to handle such an event.

At a hospital - Going to a hospital increases your risk of interventions, surgery, and higher costs.  In large part due to the CYA procedures mentioned above, a short lis tof them includes:

Internal exams – Dr’s have to “track your progress” and will often insist on vaginal exams to do that. These can be painful, they can introduce foreign bacteria into the birth canal and generally throw a woman off her laboring  groove.

Limits to food and drink – Their thinking is if the woman needs a general anesthetic, (for surgery) the danger of inhaling undigested stomach contents if she vomits while anesthetized is greatly reduced.  Yea, I’ll let you figure out how often that actually happens.  But, they have to CTA so they deny ALL women anything other than ice chips.  This plays into the time limits they impose on laboring women, if you’re starving someone who’s working hard, of course their stamina will give out.

Labor “augmenting” drugs  – Dr’s (and nurses) prefer to follow timelines and schedules, no matter what is natural.  So, they have terms like “failure to progress” and “stalled labor” to justify pumping the laboring woman full of drugs.  Pitocin is the most commonly used augmenter. More and more often it seems to be used to keep women “on schedule” so the Dr can make a golf Tee-time.  There are dangers, please be informed before acquiescing to such augmentation.  I’m sure the fact that they get more money for every drug they prescribe doesn’t factor in at all.  Pitocin is also used to start labor in women who have gone over the guess-date.  Again, it’s back to the issue of wanting to schedule something that isn’t interested in the Dr’s vacation plans.  Most chemical induction methods have some pretty serious risks, risks I am not comfortable with, and would refuse. But, again, do your own homework.

Limits to labor and birthing positions – Women aren’t the only ones who have forgotten what natural birth looks like. Dr’s no longer like to crease their suits by getting down to floor level, so they prefer the woman push on her back in a bed so that the baby is nice and easy to catch. Nevermind that it works counter to gravity and often isn’t the most comfortable position to push in.

I could go on, but this post is getting long enough already.  Going to a hospital can be done though, know your preferences, and know your rights. Be prepared to say over and over again, “I refuse X procedure, write it in my chart and bring me the waiver.” Know how the cascade of interventions works and how to counter them so you lessen your risks of ending up in painful, expensive surgery.

In our case, the costs of a home birth vs the costs of a vaginal hospital birth were within a few hundred dollars of each other. ($2,800 vs $3,200) There are only a couple of homebirth midwives that moonlight in my rural area, and I didn’t click with any of them during interviews, so there was no pull to stay home to be with one of them. Our rental place is small, we have wall to wall carpeting covering every square inch, and we don’t have a couch or a tub.  So, comfort and ease of cleaning tipped me over the edge to the hospital decision.  It helped that the hospital we’re going to has an awesome CNM who we clicked with immediately and is dedicated to natural births and has a great relationship with said hospital.   I won’t have to fight every inch of the way for natural methods and respect.  I’m due late enough in the spring that I’m not worried about blizzards, and I’m strong willed enough to be close to narcotic pain relief without giving in to the temptation. So, it’s the right decision for us. It is good to know that we could birth at home if we needed to, hubby and I are both comfortable enough with the process to handle it, and we have all of the first aid supplies necessary for such an eventuality.

Would you ever consider birthing at home? Are you prepared for such an event?

- Calamity Jane

Personal political plug: If you are interested in seeing more freedoms for birthing mothers in your state, do consider joining up with your state’s midwifery association. I’ve done lots of work with our Iowa Midwives group, lobbying state legislators for state licensing of professional midwifes and increased support for homebirths as a valid and safe choice.

No related posts.

Awhile back I wrote about how the power went out here for about fifteen hours and I had to use my generator. The results were poor. I wasn’t able to run my pellet stove and at first it seemed that the refrigerator wasn’t going to work either. Obviously I had some work to do.

One of the things I like about writing for SHTFblog is that there’s some really smart people out there that give good advice in the comments section, so I listened and investigated.  Someone mentioned that it probably wasn’t running at the right hertz in order for the equipment to operate properly. (I can’t remember who made that comment – but thank you! Feel free to speak up and claim credit below.) Our modern day equipment likes a nice steady 120 volts in order to operate properly and when I checked the generator output it was somewhere in the 135 volt area! No wonder my equipment was having problems.

The electrician and I adjusted the throttle on the generator down until it was at 120 volts. I plugged in the pellet stove and voila! It worked like a champ.

Transfer switch. This is the main switch when the power goes out.

He installed the transfer switch, but I didn’t have a chance to test it last weekend. This Saturday I wheeled the generator out to its spot behind the house, plugged in the 30 amp cable to the special outlet, shut off the power to the house from the outside breaker, and started up the gennie. I went down to the transfer switch and started bringing various items up and online. Well pump. Check. Pellet stove and living room lights. Check. Kitchen lights. Check. By the time I was done I had about 80% of the house online.

Big ticket items are out. No stove, oven, or dryer, but I’ve got hot running water, lights and heat, when the power goes out!

I ran the house off the generator for about an hour and aside from the noise it made outside you wouldn’t even know the power was out.  Sweet.  And it wasn’t as noisy as the last time I ran it because it had been throttled down, so I’ll save gas and wear and tear on the generator.

Where the generator runs during a power outage.

Now if the power goes out for a week or more it could get dicey, but it will sure be a lot better than not having any kind of back up at all.

How much did the whole thing cost? I got the generator off Craigslist for around $400. It’s in excellent condition and I feel like I got a really good deal on it. The transfer switch was about $290 and I paid the electrician about $250 to hook it up. (I had one electrician quote me $850!) The 30 amp inlet box was $57. That’s a grand total of just under a $1000.

All I need is one good storm to make it all worthwhile.  My mother in law just bought a propane-based system that will run her whole house.  It’s an excellent system; however, she paid somewhere in the $5,000 range for it; money I just don’t have right now.  I’d like to have something like that someday, but I’m very pleased with the way things worked out during my test on saturday.  My plan is to run the house of the generator once a month so that everything works smoothly.  I hate it when I go to use something and it doesn’t work as expected.

Are you prepared?

30 amp plug. The other end plugs into the house.

 -Jarhead Survivor

No related posts.