First up, Californians’ demand for better food labeling may change what America eats.

The issue of genetically altered food hits the ballots this November in California.

It’s not the first time.

Other labeling laws have been drafted by politicians, even in other states.

None have made it to legislation. UNTIL NOW.

This time it is the PEOPLE demanding and petitioning for “The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act.”

The referendum would require labeling to reflect all GMO and GEO foods.

Foods such as corn and soy byproducts and canola oil.

Frankenfoods, as they are commonly referred to, have been genetically changed.

The foods’ protein organisms have been altered to a point where substances that have never existed before in nature are ending up on our dinner plates.

An estimated 70% of the US food supply is Genetically Modified or Engineered. Products even found at Whole Foods include GMOs. Your safest bet is to purchase foods that are organic and even labeled non-GMO. Anything with corn, soy, sugar or animal products is suspect.

The effects of Frankenfoods are unknown, as no human studies have been done.

The FDA, food manufacturers and many lobbyists claim the foods are safe, even without effective human studies.

However, there are obvious causes for alarm with what IS known.

There has been a 400% rise in food sensitivities coinciding with the distribution of GMO foods over the last 20 years.

And there are high levels of kidney and liver failures (the detoxifing organs) of rats that ingested GM corn.

The correlations cannot be ignored.

Let’s hope the people in California are heard – and that that voice spreads across the nation.

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Next, tick-tock, tick-tock, is there a male biological clock?

We all know women’s childbearing years are finite.

They’re fertile.

Eggs get older – less viable.

Then, menopause.

Men, on the other hand, can, technically, reproduce their entire lives.

Take Tony Randall who fathered his first child at 76….

or Nanu Ram Jogi who fathered his 21st child at age 90. DANG!

But should they?

Studies recently indicated baby’s autism risks are much higher with older fathers.

Miscarriage is another increased risk.

Yet, this week, a silver lining was discovered.

A new study indicates that children of older fathers live longer.

The findings are based on research into chromosomes. Older dads produce kids with chromosomes associated with healthy aging. Makes sense. Dad lives longer and can reproduce. So does child.

And the effect was cumulative over the generations, so even an old dad’s grandkids can live longer.

So Papa Mikey, looks like we got some time after all?
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Now it’s time for some community news!

Mama Emily gave birth to her baby boy Sebastian or Bash for short on February 23rd at 11:17 p.m.

Emily found out she was pregnant on Father’s Day and it was no cakewalk.

She suffered from extreme morning sickness, was confined to bed and lost 20lbs. Scary.

She wanted to have a waterbirth and her doctor was actually excited since it would be his first waterbirth with the new tubs.

Emily started to have contractions at 32 weeks and her blood pressure was elevated, yet nothing progressed beyond that until her 40 week check up.

Her blood pressure was sky high again and when the doctor checked her there was no change in the dilation or effacement, but he could feel the baby’s head!

Needless to say, she was admitted.

She was given Cytotec around noon to start contractions. At 4:30 p.m. they gave her another dose. At 5, her OB broke her water. And that’s when things started really picking up… including the pain!

Emily decided to get an epidural because she knew she had a long journey ahead of her, and she says it helped tremendously.

At 8 p.m., she was 3 centimeters dilated. By 10:45 p.m. she was 10 centimeters!

BUT, she had to wait to push for TWENTY MINUTES because her OB wasn’t there yet.

Once he arrived, Emily wasted no time and she pushed out baby Sebastian like a pro. Born with a full head of hair, he weighed in at 7lbs 2oz and was just over 19 inches long.

Next time, Emily says she’s gonna have her natural water birth.

Congratulations to you Emily, Bash and family.

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Next up, mama Melissa gave birth to her son Teagon on March 1 at 6:17 a.m.

Melissa wanted a natural, med-free birth with a midwife, but complications arose.

She was medically induced on Leap Day and labored for 12 hours…

She pushed, and pushed to the point of “crowning” for 3 when finally an OB on call told her she needed to have a c-section. So off to surgery they went.

Her delivery was very traumatic as doctors broke a rib pulling out baby and she had to receive blood transfusions post surgery. Teagan also had to stay in pediatrics due to severe bruising and a gash to his head from the delivery.

Whew, Teagon is healthy now… he’s intact, breastfeeding exclusively, unvaccinated, cloth diapered, co-sleeping and is worn a lot by mama. Go natural mama go!

Congratulations to you Melissa, Teagan and family.

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Finally. I think most of us know when we’re ready to have our first baby. We plan. We pray. And then give it a whirl and see what happens.

But knowing when (or if) to have that second child – or the third, or the sixth – is a trickier proposition.

That’s why I got such a big kick out of Charlie Capen’s article on Huffington Post about the pros and cons of having another kiddo.

Here are five of Charlie’s reasons to hold OFF on number 2:

#5 – We’re only two years out of the gate.
Is it too soon? Maybe we should wait until the first goes off to college.

#4 – This cruel, cruel world
The Victorians didn’t have to worry about GMOs, bullying and SAT scores.

#3 — There are so many children out there without parents
Why should celebrities corner the market on adoption?

#2 – Those first few months.
Oh, the horror. I think Mike still has post-traumatic-stress-syndrome after all that lost sleep.

#1 – We can’t hack it.
We’re still getting back on our feet after baby #1.

Charlie’s top 5 reasons to GO for number two:

#5 – The miracle of birth
Maybe this time we’ll experience all the beauty involved without being scare silly?

#4 – We know more now
It would be a waste to not put our new parenting skills to use again.

#3 – Kids need siblings
After all, if my brother didn’t have me as a little sister, who would he have tortured?

#2 – Batch processing
Diapers. Nursing. Sleep training. Let’s have two close together and get all the hard parts over with at once.

#1 – Love without measure.
We never knew we could love so much until we had #1. With #2 our cups would truly runnith over.

Awwww.