O Give Me A Home...

Okay well you don't have to give it to me...we have one now!

After searching and looking we find a lovely home to rent that only needed some paint and love to be up to our standards. A three/two with garage and big yard. Separate laundry too-big plus. All moms know how much laundry a family makes.

We are back in cloth diapers again, much to mine and A's satisfaction. We have moved to pockets and I love them. We have several brands and I will post reviews soon. So far we have Kawaii, Sunbaby, iCute (ebay dipe), a Goodmama One, and one Fuzzibunz.

I can't believe A will be nine months old soon. It almost breaks my heart. I look at him every day and beg him to stop growing. He has seven teeth now too! We are still Breastfeeding just fine, though he loves solid foods now too. I make almost all his food (baby bullet) but I buy some organic too. He loves the organic puffs and snacks.

I hope to be posting again on a regular basis now. Good night for now though.

Six Months

My son is six months old today. Not to brag, but we are still Breastfeeding and cloth diapering. Okay, wait, I am bragging about the Breastfeeding. Many nursing pairs don't make it this far without giving up or supplementing so I am proud. In our new town I get the "look" when we breastfeed in public and I have family members already looking for teeth or solid foods to cut the relationship short.

Off the soap box though, at six months our little boy is playing with solid foods, crawling, babbling like crazy, sitting unsupported, and has two teeth. It seems crazy that only six months ago we were at home with him not sleeping-just watching him in amazement. I had to be convinced to take a shower because I was so afraid to miss one moment.

I love my little boy and the mother he has created out of the woman I was. I love our little family. All that was created at 2:57pm six months ago.

Hurry up UPS Man...

I want the UPS man to hurry...I want my new diaper covers and pail liner. Hurry up man.

In other news, if you are in the Huntsville area, visit A Nurturing Moment. Cloth Diapers and breastfeeding stuff galore. I loved it. I will be back soon to look at night-time diapering options for our little one.

Ordering Fluff

I got to order 4 new diaper covers and a new pail liner today. We are still using our Thirties Duos since I have never had a blow out or leak in them. Just needed size twos. For the record our size ones went to about 13lbs (not the advertised 18) due to the rise. He has a long torso. I am going to post a review of the Planet Wise pail liner when I have used it a few times. I love buying fluff. :)

Doula=Midwife....Um...no?

So I went to the health department a couple of days ago to get my son's immunizations. He was about a month late getting his 4 month round due to the move. I was speaking to the nurse that was giving the shots, and she pointed out that it would not bother her for me to nurse my son after his shots and that she breastfed her children. Well, here I am thinking...Awesome!, this is an open-minded lady (which no one else at the health department seemed to be).

I asked her about how to best reach out to the large community of pregnant teens in our area to offer my doula services (which I will do for free for teen or military moms). She said "Well, most are on Medicaid, so they can have an M.D....they don't need a doula." I was confused, since I don't know what having a doctor has to do with labor support. After a few more exchanges, I realized that she thought a doula is a midwife! While I would love to be a midwife, a doula is nothing close to a midwife.

I explained this difference and she seemed to understand a bit better, but then started to ask why you need more than your husband (this said after she told me how much her husband annoyed her during her births).

I think that educating this area on what a doula is will be more of an uphill battle than I anticipated.

Teething...oh joy

Our little one has started teething in earnest these past few days. We had drool and lots of hand chomping before, but the past few days have been miserable. It is so sad...he still wants to laugh and play, but looks at me and just wimpers...he is so uncomfortable.

A neat thing we have found is the mesh feeder/teether...I put crushed ice in it and it gives him a few minutes of relief when nothing else is working. Other than that, Humphrey's Teething Tablets and occational Tylonol is what is keeping us going.

Any suggestions would be lovely. The teeth seem almost through, but just won't break through already...I wish they would hurry up so he can feel better.

Become the Change You Wish to See

I think that "being the change" is a pretty common saying...but how many people actually do it? I am compelled, pulled, destined to become the change that is needed in MS with concerns to midwifery.

As of right now, there are 12 midwives that "admit" to practicing in the state of Mississippi. Here is the thing about MS right now...anyone can call themselves a midwife. I could put an add in the paper tomorrow advertising myself as a midwife if I wanted (though, trust me, I am not going to). This is not the safest of situations.

Now in 2010 a bill was put forward that did not go into law...thank God. It basically stated that only licenced Nurse-Midwives would be allowed in the state, and only hospital births allowed being closely overseen by doctors. In other words, home birth would become illegal (as it is in Alabama...another bone of contention with me, since I go to school in Alabama). Direct-entry midwives would be in danger of being arrested and charged with the felony of "practicing medicine" without a licence. (By the way, midwives do not, nor pretend to, practice "medicine"). But as I said, this bill died in committee.

This year, a much better bill was put forward at the urging of those 12 midwives and their many supporters in the state. This bill would require all Direct-Entry Midwives (also known as "lay" midwives) to register with NARM (North American Registry of Midwives). Doing this would require them to take a test, both written and practical, and stay current with their registration (every 3 years I believe). They would also register with the Health Department and submit records for the public to access through the DOH. The bill "died" this year, but received quite a bit of attention, which perhaps will help next year.

This bill would have done several things. The most important being that women choosing a midwife would know what her education and qualifications are. She would be able to see their history of births and outcomes and make an educated decision. The next thing it would do is protect the art of midwifery in the state. Midwives kicked out of other areas for bad outcomes would not be able to come to Mississippi expecting to hide (as they could now, since there is no regulation). Midwives would also be protected from arrest and prosecution, which has been a problem in other states where the situation is similar to ours.

The issue is this. Women in this state need to write, call, email, and generally badger their representative. Many people, and especially many of the men in the legislature have no idea about the benefits of midwifery or the need for the service they provide. If they are not presented with the information they may never look for it themselves. It is our job as thinking women to help them gain the knowledge. Perhaps next time a bill comes forward to help midwifery, they will remember a letter from us and know what they are voting for.

So, women of Mississippi (and everywhere really) stand up! Shout! Make noise! You may feel like one drop of water in the ocean, but waves are made up of drops of water. Lets become the wave that washes out the bad birth vibes in this state and improve the outcomes for mothers and babies.