What? Do you think you are going to get a medal or something?

Natural Birth. No drugs. No epidural. Just you and your body.

When a mother says she wants to do that, one of the many comments thrown out is the above - "You are not going to get a medal...just take the drugs and be comfortable."

You know what. I do want a medal. But not for the birth. The birth was wonderful. The birth was empowering. The birth showed me a side of myself that I have never met before. The birth made a mother out of a girl, a family out of a couple, and brought my son to the other side to meet us face to face. I don't need a medal for that.

However, I think I need a medal for standing up for the OB we saw who laughed at my desire for a natural birth. I deserve a medal for proving to my peers that birth is not trial or a pain, it is a passage. I deserve a medal for fighting my insurance company to cover my midwife. I deserve a medal for standing against the tide of society and doing what was best for my baby, my self, and my family. I deserve a medal for continuing to have the courage to tell my birth story to anyone who will listen and also share my breastfeeding experience.

I think that mothers need to understand that you don't have to be humble about your natural birth. How is the world supposed to know that it was beautiful if you don't tell them? My telling my birth story is not to "hate on" mothers who didn't do it that way. It is not about you. It is not a judgement on you. Why should you get to tell your traumatic birth story to every pregnant woman you meet, like some war story, but I cannot share mine?

Belly Cast Done!

Finally got this thing done...and my son is a year old. After alot of thought, decided to just smooth it out, put a semi-gloss white coat on it, and just write his birth information on the belly.

I was thinking that I was going to do something crazy and creative (I did go to art school after all), but after looking at it I just went for simple.

Here is what I did:

1. Let it dry/cure. I let mine sit a year...totally don't need to do it that long. As long as it is not super humid, a week should be plenty of time
2. I did a light sanding with a fine grain sanding block, just to get off the really rough stuff.
3. I applied joint compound to the whole cast with my fingers, filling in spots and rubbing it into the texture as I went.
4. Let dry again. Make sure you let it go overnight at least.
5. Sand again. If you still have some bad spots, you can do steps 3 and 4 again.
6. Cast is now ready for painting. Apply a coat of Gesso (primer) to get it ready for what ever else you are going to do. If you are going to decoupage it, you can skip the Gesso.

I applied a semi-gloss white paint (it is actually a house trim paint we had left over from doing the house). I then just took a Sharpie and printed his info on the belly. I didn't trim off the rough edges of mine, since I like it. You can trim them with sharp scissors. I would do it before you add the joint compound.

There are a couple things I want to do for the next one. 1) I want to do it standing up...you can cast the underside of the belly and you don't distort the belly shape at all like you do when you are sitting (mine is a little spread out). 2) I want to put his foot prints inside where he kicked the most. I saw this on another blog, and loved the idea. His feet are too big to do it now. 3) I want to take a picture of my baby inside the cast. I wanted to do this, but somehow we forgot, and they grow so fast.

I have this on top of our entertainment center in the living room. :)

Book Review Series

I am going to start a book review series soon. I read all the time, and would love to share my experience with not only birth/baby/breastfeeding books, but also the fictional books I read as well. Here are some titles I am thinking about:

• Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care
• Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth
• Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Breastfeeding
• Birth Matters
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
• Into These Hands

These are just a few...I have many, many more I will reviewing for you. I hope to start on this soon (since I have read all these books already).

Plan for the New Year

So, I totally forgot about a great opportunity not far from me.

I need to start taking some midwifery classes or at least meet with some midwifes in the area (closest are an hour or so away). I emailed those midwives in November and they informed me that not only would they love to meet me with me, but that they do a midwifery series once a month. The midwife I contacted, and a midwife from The Farm (!!!!) holds the classes each month. Even better...they only cost $100 per class. That is not bad at all considering that if I were to go to the series at The Farm it is going to cost me about $1000.

So after we get our transportation squared away, I am going to try to get to those every month.

Yay! for a plan.

2012 UnPaper Challenge!

Alright folks, here is my New Year's resolution:

We are going to UnPaper for 2012.

What is unpaper-ing you ask? Well, it is basically what it sounds like. You try to eliminate excess paper usage from your home. For most people the easiest way to do this is to start with paper towels. Think about it...paper towels are probably the most wasteful (and most easily replaced) paper product in our homes. You use them clean up the counter or stove, to wipe or dry your hands. You can easily replace that with cloth.

Many people love to use old prefolds, Gerber birdseye flats (you can get those super cheap), old t-shirts, cheap washcloths (like the 10 packs at Target or WalMart), and many other cotton fabrics. You can even purchase special sets of unpaper towels from sellers on etsy that snap together and can go on a paper towel holder.  I am going to be using some of the cheap washcloths, some Gerber flats, and eventually getting around to making some "pretty" ones for when guests come over to use just for napkins. Any cotton fabric will work, for many a "pretty" set would be made of a nice print flannel on one side, and a terry cloth on the other. I personally love micro-terry (like what baby towels are made of).

The next step for many is to use cloth wipes in the bathroom. Some people are weirded out by this, but it is a logical next step, especially if you are already dealing with cloth diapers. Many people still keep toilet paper in the house for guests or for really um...messy...bathroom visits. Basically you would keep a basket of wipes near the toilet, either pre-moistened with a wipe solution or with a squirt bottle to wet them before use. We are going to start slow on this goal, using them mostly for "number 1s" and going from there.

Other ways to cut down on paper is to buy things that are packaged with a minimum of waste, using "mama cloth" (washable cloth pads), cloth diapering, and generally cutting down on paper use in your printer and other places. Save your paper and put your grocery list on your phone as a memo.

If you have any tips or want to join, please comment below! 

A year of breastfeeding!

As of my son's birthday (yesterday) we made it to a year of breastfeeding. We are still going strong and I have no intention of weaning him any time soon, but our official goal was a year.

Through the tough early days, the many nights of nursing a wiggly baby, all the way to the toddler antics and gymnastics, I knew that we would make it to a year. We set a goal and reached it.

I would like to thank the midwife and supporting cast who made sure that he was nursing within minutes of being born. I would like to thank my husband in a huge way...he was there to encourage and tell me how proud he was (and tell other people too!). I would also like to thank every mom who breastfeeds, every mom I have seen nurse in public, and every wonderful comment I have gotten about it. It erases the bad comments/looks I have gotten from a few random people.

If anyone has questions about breastfeeding...please send them my way. I would love to help another mother reach her goal.

The Full Birth Story of my Son

This is the story of August’s Birth, both from what I wrote a few days after and what I am adding from memory as of his first birthday. The “added” parts will be [in brackets].

Well August – you are here! You were born on December 29^th, 2010 at 2:57pm. You weighed 6lbs 1oz and were 19 inches long. As I write this, you are laying on the bed in front of me, yawning and looking so heavenly.

On the 28^th, we went in for our midwife appointment. Though I was 2cm dilated and about 70% effaced, she said not to worry, that I wouldn’t be going into labor any time soon…well your daddy and I went into Orlando after the appointment and walked around IKEA [I really wanted the Swedish meatballs, and it was our favorite place to walk. We were at IKEA for about 2 hours.] and the Florida Mall [we were there for about another two hours]. My back was hurting more than usual but I just thought it was because of all the walking. [Now that I look back on it, I had to stop walking often, every few minutes. I was in early labor and thought I was just having back spasms again. Little did I know.]

We came home and had dinner [pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and broccoli, which I cooked] and turned in early. I was very excited about the baby shower the next day. Around 10pm, I started to have contractions, mostly in my lower back. At first I thought it was nothing [more back spasms, which were off and on all evening] but I had timed them anyway. They were lasting about one minute and were about 10 minutes apart. That is the pattern of early labor! I let your dad sleep since I knew he would need it later, and I tried to sleep as well [I was hoping that this would just go away, since I wanted to go the baby shower the next day]. I was woken up at 2:30am with stronger contractions.

I lay in bed and timed those contractions for about an hour. Lasting one minute and only 5 minutes apart – active labor! I decided to go to the bathroom and maybe a shower before waking your dad [Again, I was hoping it would go away. I knew that to make sure it wasn’t a “false alarm” that I could go the bathroom, have some water, and take a shower or bath and see if it died down]. I got to the bathroom and my water broke [Everywhere, movie style]! I carefully walked back to the bedroom and woke David – it was time to go. Luckily your dad thought ahead and already had your bag and mine in the car. [We also got towels for the car, since I was still leaking fluid every time I had a contraction.] We stopped for some Gatorade [Mommy Power Juice!] and hit the road.

The midwife Michelle Gawne was surprised to see us in labor – she had just had our appointment that day. By the time we got there the contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds to a minute each [I would say that the car ride was the most uncomfortable part since I couldn’t move or sway with each one. I plugged into my HypnoBirthing and just zoned out totally while your dad drove and called the family]. I was checked for dilation – I was about 6cm I think, and then I got into the Jacuzzi tub. [I also had an IV line put in just long enough to get some medicine in for GBS to protect you just in case, but they put it in pretty fast and then took the line out…Mommy hates needles and IVs.]It was about 4:40am. Your Grandma Michelle got there about 30 minutes later. While your dad and I worked through the contractions we listened to soft music [Lots of Cory Smith, Jewel, Counting Crows, and others from our favorite soft rock groups] and the HypnoBirthing CD [which we had practiced with every night since about the sixth month of the pregnancy]. I was able to stay calm and quiet for most the labor and birth because your dad was such a calming presence. [Your dad was the only person who could tell when I was having a contraction for most of the labor] I had to get in and out of the tub a few times because I was getting too hot, but you were just fine. [Fun fact, the way that I helped to zone out during contractions got more interesting as time went on. Eventually I was having your dad pour cold water slowly down my face during each one. Don’t know why…but it felt perfect.]

At around 10am, things started to get more intense. You were trying to start moving down and I was almost fully dilated. I was in and out of the tub a few more times to try other positions to help you move down. [I really lost track of time, we were in labor at the birth center for about 11-12 hours, but it felt like only a couple of hours to me – I just sort of zoned out.]

I am not sure what time it was, but I started to feel a lot of pressure…that was you moving down into the birth canal. I began to feel the urge to push.  I moved all around. I used the birth stool (not my favorite), the ball, standing, hands and knees on the bed. You would not move down for anything. We figured out that you were stuck at the pubic bone, and tried some more moving. After what seemed like a lifetime, we decided to quickly flip me from hands and knees to laying down flat on my back. With that quick movement - I could feel you make that last turn and start to crown! At this point the crowning/pushing felt like a lifetime. [I only pushed for 15-20 minutes, so it was definitely not a lifetime]. Your dad held my hand and supported my right leg while I started to really push you out. Feeling your little head gave me the power to get you into my arms. It was not the most comfortable feeling in the world, but it wasn’t pain. It was intense and too much to wrap my mind around. I sort of went into some other part of me and knew what to do [The way I would describe it is that my “wild woman” came out and took care of business]. You started your way out and I called for you. It was the most powerful moment I have ever felt. I yelled for you and held out my arms for you. They laid you on my chest and I loved you with every fiber of my being. [You stayed there on my chest for over an hour. Your father and I just admired you and you had your first meal at my breast only minutes after coming into the world. No one poked you, rubbed you, cleaned you, messed with you, until we got our time to meet each other and have a calm hour to ourselves. It was bliss. I cannot even imagine someone taking you from my arms at that time, and I am so glad that we were with a midwife and not in a hospital where they would have taken you away to “check you” before we got our time. You were not removed from my arms or your fathers for about 3 hours after your birth. Those first moments of your life, when we just breathed each other in and gazed at each other are moments that changed my life forever.]



Please ignore the really glamorous hair/face...I had just given birth. :)



It seems that we waited so long for you, and now I can’t believe you are here! I look at you and see a miracle – a little piece of your father and I’s love in the most adorable package. I love you August and I always will, more than you will ever know.

Love, Your mom