Pregnancy & Birth
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
March 25, 2013
As a doula, I often get asked if I only work with women that have postpartum depression. To the contrary, postpartum doulas have a positive effect that has been proven to reduce the incidence of postpartum depression.
The word doula is usually associated with birthing women, however, there are also postpartum doulas that assist families after the birth. After having a baby, many women feel quite vulnerable and unsure of their new role as a mother. Postpartum doulas are there to emotionally support the new mother and their family. They offer a non-judgemental ear and provide a safe environment for the family to express doubt, joy, frustration and concerns about the newborn.
In addition to providing emotional support, postpartum doulas will educate the new family on basic topics such as feeding, bathing and sleeping. Doulas are not health care professionals and do not give medical advice. Having a doula will help parents discover how they want to parent.
Mother after mother
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
February 04, 2013
I'm in the third trimester now with baby number two, and I've started to put a lot of thought into preparing for this new little one. Even though my first daughter, Violet, is only two-and-a-half, it's amazing how quickly you forget about what things are needed/helpful in caring for an infant. When we were pregnant the first time around, we had no clue what to register for. Our registry was largely based on the recommendations of our friends and family who had already had babies. Based on our experience with Violet, here are a few things that would be a must on my registry if I did it all over again:
1. A Video Monitor: With Violet we only used the traditional sound monitor, but if I could do it again I would have chosen a video monitor for sure. After we moved her into her nursery at around three months, I so missed being able to watch her while she was sleeping. Those sweet sleep smiles are so precious and the time is so short! For the new baby I am thrilled that we
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
January 07, 2013
Dear Matthew,
This is the story of your birth, from my perspective as your parents doula:
Contractions started early Friday morning, about 1:30am. After a bit your mommy woke your daddy up and then called me around 3am. I was so excited to hear you were on your way! I told your mommy to try to sleep as much as possible to save her energy and to call me when she wanted me to come. Around 4:45am your mommy called me back. She had some bloddy show and was too uncomfortable to sleep - every time she did get comfortable, a contraction would start. I packed up my stuff and started for your house.
I arrived about 6am. Desty barked when I knocked on the door which woke up your daddy. Your mommy was doing a great job coping with the contractions. She learned on the birth ball, or got on her hands and knees while using deep relaxed breathing. I rubbed her back a little bit and hooked up the TENS unit for her to use. We relaxed in the living room watching the news and patiently waiting for
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
November 02, 2012
When I found out I was pregnant I was fairly certain that my plans on ever having a natural birth were out the door but nothing prepared me for the roller coaster ride my son birth turned out to be. I was born with a uterus what was split in two that required reconstructive surgery and even after the surgery I was told I would probably never have children because my FSH levels were too high. Six months after my surgery I was PREGNANT!!! I could not believe it. I was automatically considered high risk and I was fairly disappointed that I wouldn't be able to have a natural birth, and that I wouldn't get to feel labour. To add insult to injury my placenta was covering my cervix. At 20 weeks we scheduled a c section for June 20, my due date was June 30th and even the doctors were skeptical I would make it that far so I was put on bed rest. I was jealous of all of my friends having babies and home births but I was happy I was having my little miracle baby so I did what ever it took to keep him
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
November 01, 2012
My beautiful Marcella was born in the early morning hours on a Spring morning. This is her story.
I awoke Saturday morning at 4am, March 21, 2009 to a trickle of water. My husband, Josh, wanted to call the midwife but I assured him labor had not begun.
We went back to sleep and woke up around 8am and called the midwife. Per her instructions, we headed over to the birth center a couple hours later.
The midwife gave me a strip to check the fluid and it was indeed amniotic fluid. We left to do some walking around and get some lunch since labor had not started yet.
Around 2 pm the midwife recommended we go home and get some rest since I was still not in labor. After a couple stops (one for Red Raspberry leaf tea), we went home and did just that.
Around 7pm, I went and laid down. Contractions had begun. I had remembered
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
October 08, 2012
Make It Count
Hundreds of thousands of women die from pregnancy-related complications each year.
90% of these deaths are preventable.
You can help.
Ergobaby and Christy Turlington Burns' Every Mother Counts have joined forces in an exclusive collaboration.
The Guest Designer collaboration between Ergobaby and Every Mother Counts (EMC) is our first initiative that aims to be a multi-year collaboration with various celebrities led by Christy's Turlington Burns’ vision and creative direction to benefit families everywhere
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
September 28, 2012
At 37 weeks, I’m considered full term. This means that even though I’m not due until October, my baby could come any day now and be considered “on time.” In my opinion (as a first time momma), this is equally exciting and terrifying. However, in the last week, I have scrambled to prepare myself for what’s to come and surprisingly found peace with the whole process. Here are a few things I wish I’d known from the very beginning that probably would have brought that peace on much sooner!
Don’t wing it. This is one of my biggest regrets and quite possibly the reason I felt the need to blog. When I found out I was pregnant, I instantly felt the urge to buy tiny little items, but failed to buy any books, sign up for classes or do much of anything to prepare myself mentally for labor and delivery. I looked at it in a very primal way - women didn’t have the internet, classes and books to prepare them before, so why should I have
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
August 29, 2012
When I got engaged, it seemed everyone felt the need to share their opinions on how to be a wife. While it sometimes made me feel as if I had no idea what I was doing, in all actuality, not one of the unsolicited advice donors knew my husband or what he wanted in a wife more than I do.
Now that I’m pregnant, it seems like I’m having deja vu. Only at 33 weeks, my unborn child has become much more obvious than an engagement ring, meaning even strangers feel the need to offer their advice. While I try to keep my cool, it gets old hearing that I should give up my vegan lifestyle and shouldn’t teach my child why we live the lifestyle that we do. That being said, here are 5 tips I’ve found to help prevent a pregnancy
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
August 16, 2012
When I was a first time mom, I got a lot of advice. I even got advice about people's advice! Now that I've been through three years of motherhood and have just become a new mom again, I suppose I've earned my turn to give some advice. Take what speaks to you, and leave the rest, but most importantly, enjoy the journey!
Take the first 2 weeks and lay in bed with baby. Have other people in place to do everything else that needs done. Freeze some meals ahead of time so you don't have to worry about food (and have full instructions on each meal so you don't have to look that up and anyone will be able to just follow the instructions.)
Motherhood
Pregnancy & Birth
August 10, 2012
It was just about five months ago now that my husband and I stood peering at two very positive lines on a pregnancy test. Our thirteen month old daughter; oblivious to our fast changing life, was sleeping soundly down the hall. Unreal is the only word that could describe that moment; coming to grips with the fact that we would have two children, under the age of two in the very near future. Of course, once the shock wore off, we were thrilled beyond words. A brand new adventure was about to wrap us up into an exciting, fresh chapter in our lives.
Fast forward a few months into my pregnancy. I woke up with a sense of excitement; I was to see our sweet baby on a ultrasound screen this day at my OB/GYN appointment. My daughter woke up, and I hurried around our home, getting little one and myself ready to walk out the door. Already, I was a little flustered; feeling a likeness to a pack mule as I tried climbing the stairs with a twenty four pound toddler on my hip, and a diaper