Book Review: The Birth House

The Birth House

The Birth House by Ami McKay is a work of fiction, but is based on events in the town where she currently lives. The author moved to Scots Bay, Nova Scotia and lives in an old home in the community. After finding interesting artifacts all over the home and grounds, she discovered that her home was actually the home of the community midwife and served as a birth house. The seed was planted, and this novel is the product.

The book is set during WWI and also the beginning of the scientific movement in the world of birth. It chronicles not only the story of a Traditional midwife passing her knowledge to the next generation, but also the fight that began when doctors decided to join the birth business. It also briefly covers the advent of "cures" for hysteria in women, which at the time basically meant any behavior out a woman other than obedience. The birth of the modern vibrator is due to these cures...so ladies, we can thank crazy doctors for our toys.

The birth scenes in the book are very raw and powerful, and the author took great pains to get them correct, speaking with midwives while writing the scenes. The herbal treatments used in the books actually have root in many of the herbal remedies used today by midwives. For those interested in midwifery and the history of the profession, this is a great read for that purpose.

I enjoyed the way the book is written, which is almost as a scrapbook of sorts. It includes not only the narration, but also news clippings, ads, letters, and other memorabilia. It does not do this in an annoying way (like a kids book or some other novels I have read), but rather just sort of slips it in. It adds to the realism of the story.  

I don't want to give away the plot, since this is a work of fiction (I hate when reviews do that), but I will say that it captures your attention and will not let go. I did not know that the book was based on the home the author lived in, but after knowing that (in the afterward), it makes the book seem that much more rich.

My star rating: 4 of 5

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.