At My Shop

I forgot to mention last night, that I will be having FREE shipping on all the items in my Etsy shop over the weekend. If you need a sling or any custom order, let me know!

Brown Linen Ring Sling

mamakates.etsy.com

Shopping

Tomorrow is Black Friday. To some, this means getting up before the sun, shoving your way through crowds of crazed shoppers, standing in long lines, and most importantly getting a SALE! This whole idea sounds pretty unappealing to me, but some people love it–my husband being one of them. I don’t get it. Anyway, I’ve got the remedy for anyone who wants the sale, but not the crazy shopping trip. Shop online! Etsy is full of sales from Black Friday until Cyber Monday. My team on Etsy, The Busy Moms Team, is offering quite a bit of special offers this weekend. Check out the entire team’s listings here, and check out these lovely pieces I found.

Newborn Gift Set

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geeklingdesigns.etsy.com

Kids Room Octopus Painting

pittsburghcakegirl.etsy.com

Adjustable Coffee Cozy

bagelcreations.etsy.com

Bird Appliqued Play Quilt

pachamamma.etsy.com

Snowflake Holiday Greeting Card

tricia16.etsy.com

Happy Shopping!

With Teeth!

Today was the average day at the ranch. Jackson, Archer, and I rolled out bed and did the normal getting ready stuff: shower, eat, let Ruby out, play, etc. John came home for lunch. He came a bit early, so he cleaned out a cabinet in the kitchen that has been unopened since we moved in. It was full of beer mugs and random glasses that we obviously don’t need. So, yet another box of stuff to sell at the planned WAY in advance garage sale next summer. Purging our house of junk has been the trend lately. I went through my dresser and closet and cut my wardrobe in half. It felt glorious! I can actually see what I have to wear! I can easily open drawers! We also tackled the enormous job of organizing the boys’ clothes. The complexities of this process are astounding! We’ve got boxes of clothes to go through to either save for Archer, give them to a cousin, throw them into Jackson’s mix, donate them, or keep for sentimental reasons. All this requires a lot of looking at tags and trying to figure out who will be that big and when. It took some serious determination, but we are DONE! We are just going crazy with this organizing kick. We even have closets that are clean and easily accessible. This is so not like us.

Back to today! After lunch, we drove John to work and then Jackson to school. Arch and I came home for what I thought would be his nap time and my me time, but he had other plans. We hung out, played, then he finally slept for a little while. 2:40 rolled around, so I woke him up and we got ready to get brother. While I was walking around the house Ruby proofing (our dog loves trash, loves scattering dog and cat food, and LOVES to lay on forbidden furniture when we leave), Archer was in his normal spot, my hip, and was chewing on my finger. And behold! A tooth! He got his first tooth today! He’s 9 months old and is just now sprouting teeth. I am so excited! So far he has been pleasant. Maybe he’ll get lucky and the teething process will be pain free. Or, should I say maybe I will get lucky.

Happy 9 Months, Archer!

CNM

The other night I attended a seminar with the purpose of introducing the community to the new Certified Nurse Midwife that will be working at the Clarian Arnett Hospital. This will be the first CNM to work at a hospital in our area. What an amazing breakthrough! Welcome, Sharon Smith, CNM! My hope is that the demand for care from a Midwife will rise, and the hospital will hire more. Our community is in dire need of some change and improvement upon prenatal and childbirth care. Like I have said before, our choices until now have been fairly black and white.

The evening started with a dinner. I sat at a table with a friend, and a few very nice women I had just met. One was a NICU nurse, another a Lactation Consultant, and the other a Doula. The conversation was great! Following the dinner, Sharon began her talk, starting with a brief history of Midwifery. One thing she pointed out was the meaning of Midwife: ‘with woman’. She went over her credentials and where she got her education. She received her Masters of Science in nursing in Nurse-Midwifery at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. She has over 10 years experience working with women during pregnancy and childbirth and other life transitions.

The next portion of her talk was focused on what services she will offer to the community. They are as follows:

Routine Obstetrics
Support for Natural Childbirth
Health Education and Preventative Care
Preconception Care
Family Planning
Routine Gynecology

With these services the patient will be introduced to a more individualized and higher level of care. A Midwife’s philosophy is to focus on prevention and education. This would mean more of a collaborative relationship between her and the patient. She will offer advice for staying healthy by paying attention to nutrition and exercise. Concerning pregnancy and childbirth, the woman is encouraged to participate more in decision making. The Midwife will work with the mother to keep her pregnancy low-risk and give her the opportunity to decide how she would like to bring her child into the world. A Midwife’s view of pregnancy and birth is that it is a normal process. All of this means more time spent with mom. I love this. The small amount of time I spent with my previous OB always seemed oddly short. After my experience with a Midwife, I was immediately drawn to her model of care.

So, if you choose to use a Midwife for your child’s birth, and your goal is for a natural birth, she will work with you to try and avoid any unnecessary interventions while laboring. A Midwife is quick to try all other options before it comes down to using an intervention such as an epidural, an episiotomy, or a vacuum. This does not mean if you decide to use some sort of labor augmentation that she won’t support you. The choices you make for your birth are still in your hands, and the Midwife will stick with you throughout the course of labor and birth. She will also remain with you for postpartum care. She will stay to assure you and baby are doing well and breastfeeding (if that is the plan) has been initiated.

Overall, I feel the that the support you get when using a Midwife is tremendous. You get the education and preparation you need to fulfill your plans for pregnancy and birth. And you get a care provider that listens and supports you in your decisions for your family.

Go Team!

Jackson has been blessed with a Grandpa and Daddy that love taking him to sporting events. He’s been to numerous Purdue basketball and football games, and this year he has made it to quite a few professional games. He’s seen The Chicago White Sox, The Indianapolis Indians, The Indianapolis Colts, and just recently The Indiana Pacers! (Is it obvious that we live in the Midwest?) Anyway, I am just thrilled that he gets to go do all this fun stuff. Here are some pictures from a few of the games.

White Sox

Go Purdue!

Go Colts!

Boomer!

Bloomington Handmade Market!

This Saturday we plan on going down to Bloomington for the Handmade Market. I can’t wait to see what they have! There will be over 40 local and regional artists, so there should be quite a range of different art. I only wish I had a million dollars to spend at this event!

If you get a chance come down! And if you do, go buy all of this girl’s stuff. She’s a sweety!

Here’s the info you need:

Saturday, November 21
from 10am-4pm
at the John Waldron Arts Center,
located at 4th and College in downtown Bloomington, IN

Or visit here for even more info! The website has a list of the vendors that will be there. Check them out!

Formula Fed America

I MUST see this film. I am beyond thrilled that a movie is being made about the issue of Americans not breastfeeding. My hope is that we are making a turnaround. Check out the trailer for the movie, and visit the official website. Here is a wonderful quote I found on the home page.

When we trust the makers of baby formula more than we do our own ability to nourish our babies, we lose a chance to claim an aspect of our power as women. Thinking that baby formula is as good as breast milk is believing that thirty years of technology is superior to three million years of nature’s evolution. Countless women have regained trust in their bodies through nursing their children, even if they weren’t sure at first that they could do it. It is an act of female power, and I think of it as feminism in its purest form.

–Christine Northrup MD

Buy Handmade

I’m not sure if any of you are aware, but it’s already November! It seems like just last week all the leaves were green, we were thinking about mowing our yard, and plans for our weekends were to go swimming. Well now, the leaves are suddenly gone, the air is chilly, and Christmas is just around the corner.

With the holidays coming, this means most of us are doing more shopping. We, of course, haven’t started, but we are at least talking about it. So, while perusing the wonderful world of Etsy, I found quite a few things that would be great gifts. I put together a treasury of the highlights from my search to give you an idea of what really neat things you can find. My search was for Eco-Friendly items. Maybe this will get more people to consider buying green as well as handmade for the holidays.

And here we go!

Recycled Classic Tote

www.thecraftpantry.etsy.com

Mesh Produce Bags!

www.MissMotleys.etsy.com

Eco Cup Cozie

www.laurabucci.etsy.com

Recycled Collage Print

www.artandphilanthropy.etsy.com

Flattened Wine Bottle Serving Tray

www.dpholkdesigns.etsy.com

Paper or Plastic? No, Thank You.

www.zJayne.etsy.com

Free Standing Birth Center

On one of the blogs I follow, the question was asked by a local nurse if we want a freestanding birth center in our area. Her words:

Would folks who want a homebirth because of the restrictive nature of the hospital, come to a freestanding birth center? Is there a demand for Birth Centers? Especially a Birth center across the street from the hospital that has a large staff and 24 hour Ob and anesthesia folks so they can handle anything you throw at them. And a Nicu would be good too. I was thinking, if we did start up a birth center across the street from the hospital I worked at, would it be used? If we build it, will they come?

So for any home birth folks out there, could you please leave me a comment on your thoughts. What would you need in a birth center to make it attractive to birth at?

My answers is YES we need a birth center here! I personally wouldn’t use it, although, the idea of big fancy birth tubs does strike a chord in my heart. After having an amazing homebirth once, I don’t think I would have it any other way. But, I think our community is definitely in need of a birth center. Right now, our birth choices are so black and white. You either birth at home or go to the hospital. Introducing a birth center would be great, because it would appeal to those wanting a safe and natural birth, but don’t feel comfortable staying home. The facility even being available might encourage more women to consider natural birth, as well.

Women in our community also (mostly) have not had the experience of having a Midwife for either Well Woman visits or Prenatal Care. I think that once they were introduced to the care of a Midwife, women would be highly impressed. I know I can’t say enough good things about my Midwife.

So, again I say YES, please! A birth center for Lafayette would be wonderful. Let me know your thoughts. And check out the comments others have left here.

My Transition

To expand upon my last post, I’ll give you some insight on how my transition in my labor with Archer went. What I want to emphasize is that sometimes, during transition, a laboring woman needs some encouragement. What she also needs is the knowledge of what is happening with her body. I had a pretty good grasp on how labor progresses and was prepared if things got tough. My husband and I took a Bradley Method birth class that was wonderful. It broke down the stages of labor, explained exactly what is happening for baby and mother throughout the course of labor, and helped you and your partner prepare for your labor with relaxation techniques, massage, and positioning. I HIGHLY recommend taking this class if you are planning for a natural birth–whether it be in the hospital or at home, this class is outstanding preparation.

So, number one, I had education that helped me through my labor. Next, was John. He was amazing support for me. He knew what transition meant and knew what to do to help me through it. At one point, I was ready to give up, go to the hospital, and get an epidural so I could rest. This was after the birth team had left our house to let me get some rest as my labor seemed to be stalling out. To try to relax, I got in our bath tub, with John by my side. With my belly being so huge and the tub so small, I wasn’t able to fully relax enough to “sleep”, so we moved to the bed. Here is where labor got going! John was laying beside me rubbing my head and trying to soothe me enough so I could get the bit of rest I needed to continue with labor. Well, rest is not what I did. My contractions became more intense than ever at this point, and I was unsure if I could handle this extreme pain. Here I became worried about exhaustion and my only thought was, “I need to get to the hospital, get an epidural, and SLEEP!” John worked hard to calm me down, and reason with me. We both knew this was NOT what we wanted for Archer’s birth. Had I not had John there to talk me out of that, who knows what would have happened. Through learning about labor, he was ready for me to get to this point, and knew how to help me through it. The next step was to get into the birthing tub. Labor was still going in full swing, so I had John call everyone back. I needed them! Thirdly, on me list of help, was my Midwife and Birth Attendants. One of the ladies on the birth team, who I have mentioned before, was tremendous. I think she only wiped my forehead with a cold rag and here and there said some words of encouragement, but MAN was she lovely! My transition was hard, but it really didn’t last that long. All I could do during this time was lay against John in the water. Changing positions or walking around was not an option for me at this point. I was under the impression that my labor would have last forever due to having an Occiput Posterior (OP) baby. Luckily, labor didn’t seem to last much longer. I was blessed with a baby that wanted to come out quickly!
I remember towards the end of labor when it seemed that the whole world was quiet, I was looking up at the paintings on my mantle. One painting, a gift from my mother, is a scene in Guatemala of women walking to and from the fountain to get water. The painting next to this was tropical landscape watercolor painted by my Aunt. What gave me encouragement was knowing that these woman have all gone through natural birth. The painting from Guatemala reminded me that there are women all over the world that birth naturally, and they get through it. My Aunt has given birth naturally three times, so that was a huge comfort to me. So, after this, I prayed to God to help me deliver my baby, and next thing I knew he was here!

This is my take on transition: you need to be prepared for it. However you need to do it–with a Doula, a partner, family, friends, education, solitude, whatever. Transition can be rough, but it’s possible to get through. I think that more women need to know about this part of labor, so they and their birth team can be ready for it.