You can now read the second part of my guest post here. I'd love to hear your comments!
Happy Easter!!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Today I Am Not Here
..... because I am somewhere else! And excited to be there! :)
Today marks my very first stint as a guest birth blogger - on my sister blogger Olivia's birth blog, Write About Birth. Be sure to check out her blog!
Last month Olivia wrote an utterly fascinating article for my birth blog, Giving Birth in Serbia. It is a fascinating article (take a look if you haven't yet!), and after reading it I realized that if that type of hospital was my only choice, I too would be birthing my children unassisted.
Olivia and I agreed to trade blog articles, and for her blog she asked me to write about hyperemesis gravidarum. I'm afraid I got a little bit carried away, because my long-winded article made her wordpress crash, and she is going to be publishing my article in two parts. The first is up today! Check it out here. It is a "hyperemesis primer" - I tell my story, in brief (readers who have read my story before will remember parts of it, which I rewrote from memory for this article), as well as various facets about HG and some various points (those latter parts are coming tomorrow). Feel free to write in and leave comments!
Have a wonderful Holy Week and a terrific Easter, dear readers!!
Today marks my very first stint as a guest birth blogger - on my sister blogger Olivia's birth blog, Write About Birth. Be sure to check out her blog!
Last month Olivia wrote an utterly fascinating article for my birth blog, Giving Birth in Serbia. It is a fascinating article (take a look if you haven't yet!), and after reading it I realized that if that type of hospital was my only choice, I too would be birthing my children unassisted.
Olivia and I agreed to trade blog articles, and for her blog she asked me to write about hyperemesis gravidarum. I'm afraid I got a little bit carried away, because my long-winded article made her wordpress crash, and she is going to be publishing my article in two parts. The first is up today! Check it out here. It is a "hyperemesis primer" - I tell my story, in brief (readers who have read my story before will remember parts of it, which I rewrote from memory for this article), as well as various facets about HG and some various points (those latter parts are coming tomorrow). Feel free to write in and leave comments!
Have a wonderful Holy Week and a terrific Easter, dear readers!!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Apologies
Any readers of this blog have probably noticed that I have been a very bad blogger recently! I have not been writing nearly as much as I normally do, and I apologize for it. I love blogging, I love the interaction with readers, and I have missed that lately.
Why have I not been writing much as of late?
I'm not sure. Partially, I'm just in one of those natural lulls that fall between periods of productivity. I just haven't had that great spate of ideas that leads to vast amount of blogging in recent weeks.
Also, I have sorta-kinda reached a crossroads in my birth junky path - I have finally decided to lay down the idea of becoming a doula (quite voluntarily, don't worry), for now at least.... and while I hadn't really had my heart set on that anyway, it does leave me wondering what my eventual role will be in the birth community. Am I fated to be forever-and-only a birth blogger? I hope not! But you can read more about that on my other blog in my recap of last week's DONA birth doula training.
Additionally, I have been thinking a lot about our family and the future of it (think "baby bug"). Thus, I've been doing a lot more blogging on my other blog - my hyperemesis blog. You can find me over there! Unfortunately, for a hyperemesis mother such as myself, having babies is more akin to going to war than just getting pregnant. You can read about mybattle strategy hyperemesis protocol/plan - any non-HG mothers out there might find this interesting!
When I get back on the blogging band wagon, my first project will be not a post but a guest post for a sister blogger's site, also on the topic of hyperemesis gravidarum. Stay tuned; I'll post the link! I'm hoping to write something worth reading, but no guarantees.
Also (though I know this sounds ridiculous to moms of many), I am finding that life with two kidlets takes all of my time - even though one of them is still non-mobile! But housework, teaching, MOMS Club, playdates, AWANA, preschool, life in general - I find that it demands all of my time and energy - and then some! So blogging has had to take a back seat, though I still love to find time for it whenever I can.
In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week! Love to all!
Why have I not been writing much as of late?
I'm not sure. Partially, I'm just in one of those natural lulls that fall between periods of productivity. I just haven't had that great spate of ideas that leads to vast amount of blogging in recent weeks.
Also, I have sorta-kinda reached a crossroads in my birth junky path - I have finally decided to lay down the idea of becoming a doula (quite voluntarily, don't worry), for now at least.... and while I hadn't really had my heart set on that anyway, it does leave me wondering what my eventual role will be in the birth community. Am I fated to be forever-and-only a birth blogger? I hope not! But you can read more about that on my other blog in my recap of last week's DONA birth doula training.
Additionally, I have been thinking a lot about our family and the future of it (think "baby bug"). Thus, I've been doing a lot more blogging on my other blog - my hyperemesis blog. You can find me over there! Unfortunately, for a hyperemesis mother such as myself, having babies is more akin to going to war than just getting pregnant. You can read about my
When I get back on the blogging band wagon, my first project will be not a post but a guest post for a sister blogger's site, also on the topic of hyperemesis gravidarum. Stay tuned; I'll post the link! I'm hoping to write something worth reading, but no guarantees.
Also (though I know this sounds ridiculous to moms of many), I am finding that life with two kidlets takes all of my time - even though one of them is still non-mobile! But housework, teaching, MOMS Club, playdates, AWANA, preschool, life in general - I find that it demands all of my time and energy - and then some! So blogging has had to take a back seat, though I still love to find time for it whenever I can.
In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week! Love to all!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
More Adventures in Breastfeeding
Tonight we had dinner with two couples from our new church - the pastor's family and one other family.
When we were sitting down to dinner, the pastor's 7-month-old baby started to fuss, so his wife very matter-of-factly grabbed her Boppy and a nursing cover, and nursed him right at the table with us while we ate.
Awesome!
Then a few minutes later, the other mom borrowed the nursing cover and nursed her 13-month-old at the table with us.
Again, awesome!
And then I nursed our 19-month-old while everyone sat in the living room playing with guitars, and no one batted an eye.
May I say - awesome!
Christians, of all people, ought to be among the most supportive of breastfeeding, but like many, we tend to be stuck in the unhealthy habits and attitudes of past generations and regard breastfeeding as indecent or yucky/gross. It's awesome to see the new generation of conservative Christians embracing God's gift to infants and mothers like the blessing it truly is.
When we were sitting down to dinner, the pastor's 7-month-old baby started to fuss, so his wife very matter-of-factly grabbed her Boppy and a nursing cover, and nursed him right at the table with us while we ate.
Awesome!
Then a few minutes later, the other mom borrowed the nursing cover and nursed her 13-month-old at the table with us.
Again, awesome!
And then I nursed our 19-month-old while everyone sat in the living room playing with guitars, and no one batted an eye.
May I say - awesome!
Christians, of all people, ought to be among the most supportive of breastfeeding, but like many, we tend to be stuck in the unhealthy habits and attitudes of past generations and regard breastfeeding as indecent or yucky/gross. It's awesome to see the new generation of conservative Christians embracing God's gift to infants and mothers like the blessing it truly is.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Birth Story from Birth Faith!
Busca from "Birth Faith" recently finished posting her birth story, and it is awesome! Here it is, in all four parts:
Surrender, Part 1
Surrender, Part 2
Surrender, Part 3
Surrender, Part 4
There are so many things to love about this birth story! You'll just have to check it out for yourself. Probably the most unusual thing about this birth is that the mama got all the way to the verge of transition while still thinking she was in early labor - very rare! She writes:
"It was tough to read Mary’s face as she measured my cervical progress and said, “Yeah…” I immediately thought… “What does that mean?!” And asked, “Where are we at?” She said, “Six plus and totally effaced. And six is being conservative… you’re really more like seven.”
"I was shocked. Did Mary really just tell me I was walking around on the verge of transition and didn’t even know it? She said only maybe once or twice before (in over 30 years of midwifery) had she felt a cervix like that… so soft and flexible that, as she explained, “All I’d have to do is swipe my finger around it and you’d be at nine centimeters.” Of course, she got herself right back out of me and didn’t mess around in there. She didn’t want to encourage any more cervical progress until we were home and she was there to assist us."
May I say - I want a birth like that, LOL!! Hopefully it runs in the water around here.
Enjoy!!
Surrender, Part 1
Surrender, Part 2
Surrender, Part 3
Surrender, Part 4
There are so many things to love about this birth story! You'll just have to check it out for yourself. Probably the most unusual thing about this birth is that the mama got all the way to the verge of transition while still thinking she was in early labor - very rare! She writes:
"It was tough to read Mary’s face as she measured my cervical progress and said, “Yeah…” I immediately thought… “What does that mean?!” And asked, “Where are we at?” She said, “Six plus and totally effaced. And six is being conservative… you’re really more like seven.”
"I was shocked. Did Mary really just tell me I was walking around on the verge of transition and didn’t even know it? She said only maybe once or twice before (in over 30 years of midwifery) had she felt a cervix like that… so soft and flexible that, as she explained, “All I’d have to do is swipe my finger around it and you’d be at nine centimeters.” Of course, she got herself right back out of me and didn’t mess around in there. She didn’t want to encourage any more cervical progress until we were home and she was there to assist us."
May I say - I want a birth like that, LOL!! Hopefully it runs in the water around here.
Enjoy!!
Friday, April 1, 2011
This Weekend: DONA!!!
This weekend I am finally doing a DONA birth doula training in Phoenix.... I am very excited!! Also nervous. Why nervous? Nervous because I have to drive into Phoenix, of course! :) I find driving into the city (or any unfamiliar place, for that matter) to be quite intimidating, and my sense of direction is equal to a blind and drunken mole rat during the depths of hibernation (i.e. non-existent). I always manage to get lost! (And stressed out regardless of whether I'm lost or not.) So wish me luck!
I'm also nervous because our little guy is going with me. There is no way he would stay with daddy for such long days, so I'm going to bite the bullet and take him (and about five bags of baby supplies) with me. Thus, he'll either have a great time, or I'll spend most of the training in the hallway walking with him while he fusses. Thankfully there are going to be at least two other babies there, so it should be a cheerfully noisy event (as opposed to the dead silence while everyone glares accusingly at the sole noise source in the room - my baby!).
In retrospect, I probably should have waited to do a doula training till our little guy was old enough to stay with daddy..... I just couldn't resist the price! And I've been wanting to do one for ages. I was actually registered to go to one two years ago, but ended up being too sick (NVP strikes again!) to make it.
All of this would naturally lead one to conclude that I am studying to become a birth doula. Well, not really. I haven't really felt "the call" to become a birth doula, and in honesty I think I'd be pretty awful at it. Time will tell. I have not yet felt a distinct call into any specific type of birth work - which is just as well, as I don't handle an insanely busy schedule well, and I think God may be waiting on this one for a different season of my life (don't quote me on that one). But in the meantime, I am still passionately interested in birth work, and I'm really looking forward to learning all of the skills and information at this workshop - if baby lets me attend any of it, that is!
I'll check in after it's all over! Have a great weekend, all!
I'm also nervous because our little guy is going with me. There is no way he would stay with daddy for such long days, so I'm going to bite the bullet and take him (and about five bags of baby supplies) with me. Thus, he'll either have a great time, or I'll spend most of the training in the hallway walking with him while he fusses. Thankfully there are going to be at least two other babies there, so it should be a cheerfully noisy event (as opposed to the dead silence while everyone glares accusingly at the sole noise source in the room - my baby!).
In retrospect, I probably should have waited to do a doula training till our little guy was old enough to stay with daddy..... I just couldn't resist the price! And I've been wanting to do one for ages. I was actually registered to go to one two years ago, but ended up being too sick (NVP strikes again!) to make it.
All of this would naturally lead one to conclude that I am studying to become a birth doula. Well, not really. I haven't really felt "the call" to become a birth doula, and in honesty I think I'd be pretty awful at it. Time will tell. I have not yet felt a distinct call into any specific type of birth work - which is just as well, as I don't handle an insanely busy schedule well, and I think God may be waiting on this one for a different season of my life (don't quote me on that one). But in the meantime, I am still passionately interested in birth work, and I'm really looking forward to learning all of the skills and information at this workshop - if baby lets me attend any of it, that is!
I'll check in after it's all over! Have a great weekend, all!
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