Holy smokes! What a couple of weeks we just had. Miss K and I flew across the state to go visit our family while I attended some wedding events for a friend. While we were there, both Miss K and I were hit with a BAD "respiratory" flu virus :-( Not only did the virus hit both of us right in the middle of our visit, but we had to push back our flight home to finish recovering from it so we didn't take it home to Daddy. My Mother was our Savior! She not only took care of me and Miss K when we were hit with the sickness but my Dad and Brother were just getting over it so she had a house full of sickos! LOVE my Mama!
Although I miss my family terribly, it's very nice to be back with my husband. It was so adorable to see how much Miss K's face lit up when she saw her Daddy.
While we were over for our visit, my Mother-in-law took us to Seattle and Miss K was able to experience her first aquarium visit to the Seattle Aquarium....let's just say, we'll be going back as soon as we get another chance to do so...she LOVED it!! She squealed the ENTIRE time we were there and all the other people visiting the aquarium were definitely entertained by her haha. It was the cutest! I was just super happy we were able to do one fun adventure before we were all on house arrest LOL. I've been DYING to visit Seattle for some time so my "MIL" and I walked around to all the shops, hit the best food places and visited Pike Place Market (MY FAVORITE)! I was in Heaven :-)
Now that we're back home, it's back to reality! I'll be hitting the sweat shop all next week making orders for my business Made With Love By Caty and making lots of invitations for Miss K's 1st Birthday Bash....still can't believe she's going to be ONE....*tear*
Hope you all are doing amazing! Would love to hear what you guys are up to this weekend or if you have any big plans in the coming months that you would love to share :-)
LOVE TONS! :-)
3.24.2011
3.09.2011
"The Business of Being Born"
Are you wanting children but aren't too sure about where you want to have your baby?
Do you already have a child/ren that you had at the hospital and had a traumatic experience or didn't like how you were treated?
Have you ever considered having a midwife attend to your birth?
If you've answered "YES" to any of these questions, you SHOULD watch this film!
Right before I had my daughter, I started doing research on midwivery and what they offered as an alternative to having a hospital birth. I ended up having an OB/GYN (who was a super nice gal) and a hospital birth. Since my daughter was our first, there were a lot of things that we didn't know or didn't know what to expect when it came to labor and delivery. Since our OB was very sweet and my pregnancy was low risk, we went ahead and planned for a hospital birth.
First off, I'd like to say that I don't regret having our daughter in a hospital AT ALL! BUT...now having gone through the experience I wish my husband and I had more control over our own labor and delivery "agenda".
Things that I did that I don't plan on doing with our other children...
#1 - I went in to induce labor. The reason we chose this route, was for convienance. All of our family members live 5.5 hours away from us, so it was VERY nice to plan our birth for a weekend where everyone could be there to enjoy the experience and not being afraid of missing it. Knowing what I know now, and having more information, I will not volunteer for an induction. My labor could've gotten ugly, but it didn't thanks to my A-MAZING nurse that made my "bump in the road" possible to over come, I had a pretty flawless labor and delivery. Since I was given pitocin, I had a VERY hard time handling the contractions on my own that were causing AWFUL back labor, I got an epidural because I had to stay in bed when they gave me the pit. When that all happened, I got stuck at 4cm for about 3 hours, when it's ideal for you to gain 1cm an hour. Like I said, my nurse was amazing and did every "trick" in the book to get me over that hump and then I dilated to 10cm in a matter of over an HOUR! And what they didn't tell me was that a side effect of pitocin is excessive bleeding after the baby is born. I almost had to get pumped full of unnecessary drugs because I couldn't stop bleeding! Not to mention that because of the insanely intense labor, Miss K's breathing was erractic because she didn't adjust well the the intensity of the contractions. This all could've been avoided! Babies will come when they're dang good and ready too ;-)
*What upset me the most about getting the pitocin is, even though I was there for a scheduled induction, I went into active labor on my own and it was progressing quickly and there was no pressing need for them to give it to me to make labor go faster. The nurses still pushed the pitocin even though I didn't need it. My water even broke on it's own before I was given the pit. I was super happy being able to move around to get through the pain and do my own thing. What some of you may not know is that once they give you the pitocin, you are forever trapped on your bed because they have to monitor you and the baby every 15 minutes to see if you both are handling the intensity of the labor that is being brought on by the pitocin. If I didn't have to stay on my bed, I would've done it on my own and I probably wouldn't have gotten the epidural.
#2 - Cutting the umbilical cord almost instantly after Miss K was born. I've done LOTS of research on delayed cord clamping and I will SO be asking to have a delay on the clamping! I had no idea that my daughter missed out on A LOT of great nutrients by not getting to soak up every last little bit of the goodies from my placenta. Even though my daughter's cord was cut immediately after birth, she's totally fine by all means, but it would've been nice to let nature take it's course and do what it was meant to do.
#3 - An epidural. I will not be choosing to get an epidural for the rest of my births, for many reasons. The first reason being that it almost completely stalled my progress during my labor and if I had been stuck at 4cm for one more hour...the doctor would've pushed for a c-section...NO THANKS to major surgery! The second reason, the stinkin epidural that I got didn't even fully work, so I was mad because it was like there was almost no point when it didn't fully work! Sure, it took away about 98% of my pain, but I could still feel a lot in one of my legs because the needle/epi catheder was placed wrong so it only numbed one of my legs all the way. Thirdly, Miss K has such a tough time with breast feeding because she was so druged out.
In the beginning, I defended medicine when it came to having a baby. Because my OB/GYN was so nice and helpful, I swore that there was NO WAY she would push things because of her agenda and I thought there was NO WAY she wouldn't let me do what I wanted as far as managing my own pain and laboring how I wanted....boy oh boy was I wrong!
I didn't know that your doctor is basically only going to show up to catch your kid, then peace out! I love the idea that a midwife is there with you from the beginning of your pregnancy, until your baby is in your arms. For starters, my doctor broke her wrist a week before my induction and couldn't deliver me anyways so I had to get all "chummy" with a gal that I was meeting for the first time just hours before she was to assist in my birth! Thank goodness she was just as sweet and nice as my regular OB. I also really didn't like how rushed I felt to have my daughter when the process itself takes TIME to let your body do what it was meant to do and lots of it! The fact that they push pit, no matter what the situation is, is just upsetting. Now, I don't lay full blame of the rushing on the doctor's and nurses...the insurance companies make it IMPOSSIBLE for you to take longer than 24 hours to have a baby without charging you an arm and a leg for going over that "time limit"! For our insurance, it was, "you better have your baby within 24hrs and be out of the hospital in 48hrs" for a vaginal birth or "get you and that baby out of there in 72hrs" if you have a c-section. Insane, right?! At least I thought so! Anything over that time frame, you got slapped with a bill :-( Thankfully, (because we were rushed) we didn't have to pay a penny of our stay.
I get a little upset sometimes because the whole process was SO rushed, there were so many things that we didn't get to do or the pictures that we didn't get because it was all RUSH, RUSH, RUSH and BYE! My husband and I never got to take a picture with the 3 of us after Miss K was born in the hospital. We never got to take pictures of family members with us but were able to get all the pictures of our family members holding Miss K. I never got to see a Lacation Specialist like I wanted because by the time one was available we were already getting kicked out the door. Not to mention, we had the most PSYCHO post partum nurse that was just MEAN! How does someone like that have a job where love and affection isn't just necessary but NEEDED!
Getting to my point, if you haven't watching this movie, PLEASE DO IT! I had a love/hate relationpship with it. I was so furious the first 10 mintues into the movie because people are just clueless sometimes! Anymore, society believes we'll "fall apart" without modern medicine and that we won't be able to have babies safely without it. How in the hell do you think our ancestors got her...WITHOUT MEDICAL INTERVENTION and a lot of us turned out just fine!!! (Sorry for the language haha). This video sheds light on an option of child birth with a midwife instead of just feeling/thinking that your only choice is to have a hospital birth. Ricki Lake (love her more after watching this) had her first baby in a hospital, and like me, felt like she was cheated out of an experience that women were MEANT to do without intervention. Before she was even planning her 2nd baby she went out on a mission to learn everything there was to learn about midwives, home births, etc. She had her 2nd child in her home and she says she'll never have another baby in a hospital as long as it's in her control and everyone is healthy.
I want this experience that Ricki Lake had, more than EVER! Let me make one thing clear...I'm SO SO SO thankful for modern medicine! I'm thankful that I have a place that can take care of me and my child if something does compromise our health or well being! If I, for some reason, have a high risk pregnancy next time around, you betcha I'd strongly consider another hospital birth. I'm not saying that I would ever put myself or my unborn child in danger for the sake of having control over my own birth...no way would I ever do that! My ultimate goal will always remain, healthy mother, healthy baby, no matter how it happens!
There are many woman out there that just can't take the risk of having a home birth and a hospital is their only option...and that's okay! I will NEVER judge anyone who chooses to have a hospital birth over a home birth or a birth at a birthing center. It's all about what you're comfortable with and what you're willing to go through to get your little baby in your arms. Every single person is different :-)
For myself, and the next baby I have, I want a happy medium. I currently don't live in a place that feels like "home" to me, so I don't want to do a homebirth. BUT, I would LOVE the company of a midwive at a birthing center where it still has that "hospital" atmosphere, but you are in control of your birth and the midwives are there to assist you through the entire thing and no interventions are pushed on you. The cool thing about the birthing center is that they have ALL KINDS of supplies or options for you to help you get yourself through your birth, such as birthing tubs, birthing balls, and other equipment. There was SO much I didn't know about midwives and their practice. It's a common misunderstand that midwives are just these control freaks that aren't prepared if something goes wrong. On the contrary! Midwives carry almost the EXACT same supplies as OB's do in hospitals! If for some reason you were to bleed excessively after delivery, midwives have the drug that OB's would use to stop it. Midwives also have IV fluids on hand if they're needed, they have pitocin if it's necesarry to administer, etc. They don't just show up with nothing and expect you to get through it all if something were to go "wrong". The men and women are licensed professionals! My favorite saying "information is POWER".
All I want people to get from this post and by watching this video, is the information! YOU HAVE OPTIONS! :-) I would rather people make their decisions on knowing all their options and all the information, rather getting scared into doing something that they're not to excited about in the first place. A lot of soon to be parents aren't aware that they have a choice as to how they want to bring their baby into this world :-)
I would LOVE to hear from those of you that have watched this movie and share your thoughts, if you're willing :-) I would also love to hear about your birth stories.
I want this to be a place where people can vent or share their ideas so please be respectful to others!
Here are some links to help you find out more information about midwives and midwivery (Courtesty of Ina May Gaskin's website):
Links to Midwifery and Supportive Organizations
American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
818 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC, 20006
United States
www.midwife.org
Phone: (888) MIDWIFE
MANA Midwives Alliance of North America
611 Pennsylvania Ave, SE #1700
Washington DC 20003-4303
www.mana.org
Phone:(888)-923-MANA (6262)
Birthworks
PO Box 2045
Medford, NJ, 08055
United States
www.hometown.aol.com/birthwkscd/bw.html
Phone: (888) TO-BIRTH
The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth
Box 5224
Sherman Oaks, CA, 914135224
United States
www.bradleybirth.com
Phone: (800) 4-A-BIRTH
Citizens for Midwifery
PO Box 82227
Athens, GA, 306082227
United States
Cfmidwifery@yahoo.com
www.cfmidwifery.org
Phone: (888) CfM-4880
Doulas of North American (DONA)
1100 23rd Avenue East
Seattle, WA, 98112
United States
www.DONA.org
Phone: (801) 756 7331
Birth Arts International
51 Redemption Rock Trail N.
Princeton MA 01541
International
www.birtharts.org
Phone:(866)-303-4372
Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators
PO Box 382724
Cambridge, MA, 022382724
United States
Jessica Porter, Executive Director
www.alace.org
Phone: (888) 222 5223
Childbirth Enhancement Foundation
1004 George Ave.
Rockledge, FL, 32955
United States
www.cefcares.org
Phone: (321) 631 9977
Lamaze International
1200 19th Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC, 200362422
United States
www.lamaze-childbirth.com
Phone: (202) 857 1128
International Childbirth Education Association, Inc. (ICEA)
P.O. Box 20048
Minneapolis, MN, 55420
United States
www.ICEA.org
Maternity Center Association
281 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor
New York, NY, 10010
United States
www.maternity.org
Phone: (212) 777 5000
National Association of Childbearing Centers (NACC)
(Write and enclose $1.00 for guidelines and brochure.)
3123 Gottschall Road
Perkiomenville, PA, 18074-954
United States
www.BirthCenters.org
Postpartum Support International
927 North Kellogg Avenue
Santa Barbara, CA, United States
www.postpartum.net
Phone: (805) 967 7636
National Association of Postpartum Care Services (NAPCS)
800 Detroit St.
Denver, CO, 80206
United States
www.napcs.org
Phone: (800) 45-DOULA
International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN)
1304 Kingsdale Avenue
Redondo Beach, CA, 90278
United States
http://www.childbirth.org/section/ICAN.html
Phone: (310) 542 5368
La Leche League
1400 North Meacham Road
Schaumberg, IL, 60173-404
United States
www.lalecheleague.org
Phone: (800) LALECHE
Midwifery Today
PO Box 2672
Eugene, OR, 97402
United States
Midwifery@aol.com
www.midwiferytoday.com
Phone: (800) 743 0974
Birth Matters
We envision pregnant women embraced by their communities, encouraged to trust the journey, discovering their strength and the transformational power of birth.
Warrenton, VA, 20188
United States
Melaine Copeland
melainecopeland@hotmail.com
http://www.birthmattersva.org
Do you already have a child/ren that you had at the hospital and had a traumatic experience or didn't like how you were treated?
Have you ever considered having a midwife attend to your birth?
If you've answered "YES" to any of these questions, you SHOULD watch this film!
Right before I had my daughter, I started doing research on midwivery and what they offered as an alternative to having a hospital birth. I ended up having an OB/GYN (who was a super nice gal) and a hospital birth. Since my daughter was our first, there were a lot of things that we didn't know or didn't know what to expect when it came to labor and delivery. Since our OB was very sweet and my pregnancy was low risk, we went ahead and planned for a hospital birth.
First off, I'd like to say that I don't regret having our daughter in a hospital AT ALL! BUT...now having gone through the experience I wish my husband and I had more control over our own labor and delivery "agenda".
Things that I did that I don't plan on doing with our other children...
#1 - I went in to induce labor. The reason we chose this route, was for convienance. All of our family members live 5.5 hours away from us, so it was VERY nice to plan our birth for a weekend where everyone could be there to enjoy the experience and not being afraid of missing it. Knowing what I know now, and having more information, I will not volunteer for an induction. My labor could've gotten ugly, but it didn't thanks to my A-MAZING nurse that made my "bump in the road" possible to over come, I had a pretty flawless labor and delivery. Since I was given pitocin, I had a VERY hard time handling the contractions on my own that were causing AWFUL back labor, I got an epidural because I had to stay in bed when they gave me the pit. When that all happened, I got stuck at 4cm for about 3 hours, when it's ideal for you to gain 1cm an hour. Like I said, my nurse was amazing and did every "trick" in the book to get me over that hump and then I dilated to 10cm in a matter of over an HOUR! And what they didn't tell me was that a side effect of pitocin is excessive bleeding after the baby is born. I almost had to get pumped full of unnecessary drugs because I couldn't stop bleeding! Not to mention that because of the insanely intense labor, Miss K's breathing was erractic because she didn't adjust well the the intensity of the contractions. This all could've been avoided! Babies will come when they're dang good and ready too ;-)
*What upset me the most about getting the pitocin is, even though I was there for a scheduled induction, I went into active labor on my own and it was progressing quickly and there was no pressing need for them to give it to me to make labor go faster. The nurses still pushed the pitocin even though I didn't need it. My water even broke on it's own before I was given the pit. I was super happy being able to move around to get through the pain and do my own thing. What some of you may not know is that once they give you the pitocin, you are forever trapped on your bed because they have to monitor you and the baby every 15 minutes to see if you both are handling the intensity of the labor that is being brought on by the pitocin. If I didn't have to stay on my bed, I would've done it on my own and I probably wouldn't have gotten the epidural.
#2 - Cutting the umbilical cord almost instantly after Miss K was born. I've done LOTS of research on delayed cord clamping and I will SO be asking to have a delay on the clamping! I had no idea that my daughter missed out on A LOT of great nutrients by not getting to soak up every last little bit of the goodies from my placenta. Even though my daughter's cord was cut immediately after birth, she's totally fine by all means, but it would've been nice to let nature take it's course and do what it was meant to do.
#3 - An epidural. I will not be choosing to get an epidural for the rest of my births, for many reasons. The first reason being that it almost completely stalled my progress during my labor and if I had been stuck at 4cm for one more hour...the doctor would've pushed for a c-section...NO THANKS to major surgery! The second reason, the stinkin epidural that I got didn't even fully work, so I was mad because it was like there was almost no point when it didn't fully work! Sure, it took away about 98% of my pain, but I could still feel a lot in one of my legs because the needle/epi catheder was placed wrong so it only numbed one of my legs all the way. Thirdly, Miss K has such a tough time with breast feeding because she was so druged out.
In the beginning, I defended medicine when it came to having a baby. Because my OB/GYN was so nice and helpful, I swore that there was NO WAY she would push things because of her agenda and I thought there was NO WAY she wouldn't let me do what I wanted as far as managing my own pain and laboring how I wanted....boy oh boy was I wrong!
I didn't know that your doctor is basically only going to show up to catch your kid, then peace out! I love the idea that a midwife is there with you from the beginning of your pregnancy, until your baby is in your arms. For starters, my doctor broke her wrist a week before my induction and couldn't deliver me anyways so I had to get all "chummy" with a gal that I was meeting for the first time just hours before she was to assist in my birth! Thank goodness she was just as sweet and nice as my regular OB. I also really didn't like how rushed I felt to have my daughter when the process itself takes TIME to let your body do what it was meant to do and lots of it! The fact that they push pit, no matter what the situation is, is just upsetting. Now, I don't lay full blame of the rushing on the doctor's and nurses...the insurance companies make it IMPOSSIBLE for you to take longer than 24 hours to have a baby without charging you an arm and a leg for going over that "time limit"! For our insurance, it was, "you better have your baby within 24hrs and be out of the hospital in 48hrs" for a vaginal birth or "get you and that baby out of there in 72hrs" if you have a c-section. Insane, right?! At least I thought so! Anything over that time frame, you got slapped with a bill :-( Thankfully, (because we were rushed) we didn't have to pay a penny of our stay.
I get a little upset sometimes because the whole process was SO rushed, there were so many things that we didn't get to do or the pictures that we didn't get because it was all RUSH, RUSH, RUSH and BYE! My husband and I never got to take a picture with the 3 of us after Miss K was born in the hospital. We never got to take pictures of family members with us but were able to get all the pictures of our family members holding Miss K. I never got to see a Lacation Specialist like I wanted because by the time one was available we were already getting kicked out the door. Not to mention, we had the most PSYCHO post partum nurse that was just MEAN! How does someone like that have a job where love and affection isn't just necessary but NEEDED!
Getting to my point, if you haven't watching this movie, PLEASE DO IT! I had a love/hate relationpship with it. I was so furious the first 10 mintues into the movie because people are just clueless sometimes! Anymore, society believes we'll "fall apart" without modern medicine and that we won't be able to have babies safely without it. How in the hell do you think our ancestors got her...WITHOUT MEDICAL INTERVENTION and a lot of us turned out just fine!!! (Sorry for the language haha). This video sheds light on an option of child birth with a midwife instead of just feeling/thinking that your only choice is to have a hospital birth. Ricki Lake (love her more after watching this) had her first baby in a hospital, and like me, felt like she was cheated out of an experience that women were MEANT to do without intervention. Before she was even planning her 2nd baby she went out on a mission to learn everything there was to learn about midwives, home births, etc. She had her 2nd child in her home and she says she'll never have another baby in a hospital as long as it's in her control and everyone is healthy.
I want this experience that Ricki Lake had, more than EVER! Let me make one thing clear...I'm SO SO SO thankful for modern medicine! I'm thankful that I have a place that can take care of me and my child if something does compromise our health or well being! If I, for some reason, have a high risk pregnancy next time around, you betcha I'd strongly consider another hospital birth. I'm not saying that I would ever put myself or my unborn child in danger for the sake of having control over my own birth...no way would I ever do that! My ultimate goal will always remain, healthy mother, healthy baby, no matter how it happens!
There are many woman out there that just can't take the risk of having a home birth and a hospital is their only option...and that's okay! I will NEVER judge anyone who chooses to have a hospital birth over a home birth or a birth at a birthing center. It's all about what you're comfortable with and what you're willing to go through to get your little baby in your arms. Every single person is different :-)
For myself, and the next baby I have, I want a happy medium. I currently don't live in a place that feels like "home" to me, so I don't want to do a homebirth. BUT, I would LOVE the company of a midwive at a birthing center where it still has that "hospital" atmosphere, but you are in control of your birth and the midwives are there to assist you through the entire thing and no interventions are pushed on you. The cool thing about the birthing center is that they have ALL KINDS of supplies or options for you to help you get yourself through your birth, such as birthing tubs, birthing balls, and other equipment. There was SO much I didn't know about midwives and their practice. It's a common misunderstand that midwives are just these control freaks that aren't prepared if something goes wrong. On the contrary! Midwives carry almost the EXACT same supplies as OB's do in hospitals! If for some reason you were to bleed excessively after delivery, midwives have the drug that OB's would use to stop it. Midwives also have IV fluids on hand if they're needed, they have pitocin if it's necesarry to administer, etc. They don't just show up with nothing and expect you to get through it all if something were to go "wrong". The men and women are licensed professionals! My favorite saying "information is POWER".
All I want people to get from this post and by watching this video, is the information! YOU HAVE OPTIONS! :-) I would rather people make their decisions on knowing all their options and all the information, rather getting scared into doing something that they're not to excited about in the first place. A lot of soon to be parents aren't aware that they have a choice as to how they want to bring their baby into this world :-)
I would LOVE to hear from those of you that have watched this movie and share your thoughts, if you're willing :-) I would also love to hear about your birth stories.
I want this to be a place where people can vent or share their ideas so please be respectful to others!
Here are some links to help you find out more information about midwives and midwivery (Courtesty of Ina May Gaskin's website):
Links to Midwifery and Supportive Organizations
American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
818 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC, 20006
United States
www.midwife.org
Phone: (888) MIDWIFE
MANA Midwives Alliance of North America
611 Pennsylvania Ave, SE #1700
Washington DC 20003-4303
www.mana.org
Phone:(888)-923-MANA (6262)
Birthworks
PO Box 2045
Medford, NJ, 08055
United States
www.hometown.aol.com/birthwkscd/bw.html
Phone: (888) TO-BIRTH
The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth
Box 5224
Sherman Oaks, CA, 914135224
United States
www.bradleybirth.com
Phone: (800) 4-A-BIRTH
Citizens for Midwifery
PO Box 82227
Athens, GA, 306082227
United States
Cfmidwifery@yahoo.com
www.cfmidwifery.org
Phone: (888) CfM-4880
Doulas of North American (DONA)
1100 23rd Avenue East
Seattle, WA, 98112
United States
www.DONA.org
Phone: (801) 756 7331
Birth Arts International
51 Redemption Rock Trail N.
Princeton MA 01541
International
www.birtharts.org
Phone:(866)-303-4372
Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators
PO Box 382724
Cambridge, MA, 022382724
United States
Jessica Porter, Executive Director
www.alace.org
Phone: (888) 222 5223
Childbirth Enhancement Foundation
1004 George Ave.
Rockledge, FL, 32955
United States
www.cefcares.org
Phone: (321) 631 9977
Lamaze International
1200 19th Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC, 200362422
United States
www.lamaze-childbirth.com
Phone: (202) 857 1128
International Childbirth Education Association, Inc. (ICEA)
P.O. Box 20048
Minneapolis, MN, 55420
United States
www.ICEA.org
Maternity Center Association
281 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor
New York, NY, 10010
United States
www.maternity.org
Phone: (212) 777 5000
National Association of Childbearing Centers (NACC)
(Write and enclose $1.00 for guidelines and brochure.)
3123 Gottschall Road
Perkiomenville, PA, 18074-954
United States
www.BirthCenters.org
Postpartum Support International
927 North Kellogg Avenue
Santa Barbara, CA, United States
www.postpartum.net
Phone: (805) 967 7636
National Association of Postpartum Care Services (NAPCS)
800 Detroit St.
Denver, CO, 80206
United States
www.napcs.org
Phone: (800) 45-DOULA
International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN)
1304 Kingsdale Avenue
Redondo Beach, CA, 90278
United States
http://www.childbirth.org/section/ICAN.html
Phone: (310) 542 5368
La Leche League
1400 North Meacham Road
Schaumberg, IL, 60173-404
United States
www.lalecheleague.org
Phone: (800) LALECHE
Midwifery Today
PO Box 2672
Eugene, OR, 97402
United States
Midwifery@aol.com
www.midwiferytoday.com
Phone: (800) 743 0974
Birth Matters
We envision pregnant women embraced by their communities, encouraged to trust the journey, discovering their strength and the transformational power of birth.
Warrenton, VA, 20188
United States
Melaine Copeland
melainecopeland@hotmail.com
http://www.birthmattersva.org
2.26.2011
GUILT.
Almost every Mom has one of those days where she wants a little quiet time to herself or a day where she needs to get a TON of things done, so we resort to plopping our kids in front of the television or finding them things that will keep them occupied for hours instead of playing with them ourselves.
Today, I had one of those days. I hate the guilt the rushes over me for choosing/needing to do my "TO DO" list over playing with my daughter, reading to her or just plain snuggling with her. I feel like today was worse than any other time I've done this. This day went by me so fast, I just realized I've only picked her up twice. She's been in her playpen or her bouncer most of the day :-( *SIGH* I totally know she's fine...but the guilt still sucks haha. I feel like I constantly have to chant to myself, "It's okay, I'm only human" but that never works LOL!
Have any of you guys experienced this feeling of guilt by distracting your child to get things done or to have a little quiet time? How do you cope?
Today, I had one of those days. I hate the guilt the rushes over me for choosing/needing to do my "TO DO" list over playing with my daughter, reading to her or just plain snuggling with her. I feel like today was worse than any other time I've done this. This day went by me so fast, I just realized I've only picked her up twice. She's been in her playpen or her bouncer most of the day :-( *SIGH* I totally know she's fine...but the guilt still sucks haha. I feel like I constantly have to chant to myself, "It's okay, I'm only human" but that never works LOL!
Have any of you guys experienced this feeling of guilt by distracting your child to get things done or to have a little quiet time? How do you cope?
2.25.2011
Party Time!
I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've actually just blogged and not ran a contest or giveaway! Well, I'M BACK!! WOO HOO! :-)
I've been struggling with planning Miss K's 1st birthday party. I'm in disbelief that my little baby is already going to be a year old when it feels like we just brought her home from the hospital. I'm struggling because I LOVE that's she getting bigger and changing daily, but I want my baby to stay a baby forever! HAHA! All you Mom's know what I'm talking about. How have you dealt with it? Any loving advice?
For Miss K's party, I decided to go with a Jungle theme! Her entire nursery theme is Jungle decor so I figured I'd stick with that. I've been having such a fun time finding all the little party accessories and want to buy it all. Problem is, I don't know where to stop or draw that line...haha. I want to get EVERYTHING I see for her party but I know for a fact that we won't use all of it and it would be pointless but part of me is screaming "she only turns 1 ONCE, just go all out!". This was the Jungle theme that I really like so far...
My other struggle is with the invite list....where do I draw the line as to who I should invite. I feel like I want the whole world to be a part of her big day, but at the same time it's a day that's really special so I want everyone to be able to enjoy it as much as possible and just share it with close friends and family. HELP!? :-)
For those of you that have thrown birthday parties, got any tips or tricks up your sleeves to make this day extra special without breaking the bank?! I'd love to hear what you all have to say.
Much Love,
Caty
I've been struggling with planning Miss K's 1st birthday party. I'm in disbelief that my little baby is already going to be a year old when it feels like we just brought her home from the hospital. I'm struggling because I LOVE that's she getting bigger and changing daily, but I want my baby to stay a baby forever! HAHA! All you Mom's know what I'm talking about. How have you dealt with it? Any loving advice?
For Miss K's party, I decided to go with a Jungle theme! Her entire nursery theme is Jungle decor so I figured I'd stick with that. I've been having such a fun time finding all the little party accessories and want to buy it all. Problem is, I don't know where to stop or draw that line...haha. I want to get EVERYTHING I see for her party but I know for a fact that we won't use all of it and it would be pointless but part of me is screaming "she only turns 1 ONCE, just go all out!". This was the Jungle theme that I really like so far...
My other struggle is with the invite list....where do I draw the line as to who I should invite. I feel like I want the whole world to be a part of her big day, but at the same time it's a day that's really special so I want everyone to be able to enjoy it as much as possible and just share it with close friends and family. HELP!? :-)
For those of you that have thrown birthday parties, got any tips or tricks up your sleeves to make this day extra special without breaking the bank?! I'd love to hear what you all have to say.
Much Love,
Caty
2.14.2011
**Knitted Together by Katrina Giveaway**
**US RESIDENTS ONLY PLEASE**
Looking for some ADORABLE, handmade, quality baby booties with a matching hat?! Katrina, a WAHM mother of two beautiful babies of Knitted Together by Katrina has graciously put up a set of baby booties and matching hat for this giveaway! All of her items are made with careful detail and love! This set of booties and hat make a PERFECT baby gift for any little one in your life.
BUY THEM:
Knitted Together by Katrina - She doesn't have a shop yet, so all you have to do is go to her Facebook page and request a custom order! She has tons of photos albums showing what she offers and she's always willing to work with anything new you'd like to try.
WIN IT:
Katrina at Knitted Together by Katrina would like to give one of my readers a hat with a matching set of booties of any size or gender!!
MANDATORY ENTRIES:
You must be/become a follower of this blog and tell me how I can find you! (example: what name or ID did you use to "follow" my blog?) Make sure you include your email address (so I know how to contact you if you're the winner) in your comment on this post.
Head on over to the Knitted Together by Katrina's Facebook page and become a fan. Come back and comment on this post with your Facebook name/ID along with your email address.
ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:
***You MUST complete the mandatory entries in order for the additional entries to qualify. If you haven't done so, scroll back up and see what you need to do for the mandatory entries. If the mandatory entries are not completely FIRST, all additional entries will be VOID :-)***
All additional entries count as just one entry unless otherwise stated.
PLEASE make sure you follow the instructions for each entry carefully. If there is one thing wrong with an entry it will NOT be posted and will NOT qualify for an entry. I definitely don't want you guys to miss out on this AWESOME prize, so please read carefully! :-)
Follow Modern Mommy - Paid in Smiles, Giggles & Kisses on Facebook. Comment back here with your name and email address.
Become a follower of my other blog Made With Love By Caty, come back here and comment on this blog saying you've done so with your name and email address.
Follow Modern Mommy - Paid in Smiles, Giggles & Kisses on Twitter. Comment below with your Twitter ID and email address.
Follow Made With Love By Caty on Twitter. Comment below with your Twitter ID and email address.
Tweet about this giveaway including Knitted Together by Katrina, @PaidInSmiles, #babyaccessory, #giveaway and the link to this giveaway, you may tweet once a day until the giveaway ends, just comment here with the link to the tweet and your email address each time.
If you have your own blog, write a blog post about this giveaway including the link to this giveaway. Come back here and post the link to your blog entry about this giveaway.
Grab my Modern Mommy-Paid In Smiles, Giggles & Kisses button and post it on your blog somewhere. Comment back here with the link to your blog and your email address.
Grab my Made With Love By Caty button and post it on your blog somewhere. Comment back here with the link to your blog and your email address.
With this giveaway, you have several ways to win, but you must come back and comment for each of them with your email address if you want to be entered for all entries. All entries must be received by Monday February 21st by 11:59 PM EST. I will be checking to make sure that each requirement is done and you will want to make sure you do the mandatory entry to qualify for this giveaway. Please remember that I DO LOOK AT EACH ENTRY and if they are not valid for the giveaway, I WILL NOT PUBLISH THEM. The winner will be drawn via random.org and will then have 48 hours to respond by email or another winner will be drawn.
Thank you guys so much! Good Luck!
Caty
Looking for some ADORABLE, handmade, quality baby booties with a matching hat?! Katrina, a WAHM mother of two beautiful babies of Knitted Together by Katrina has graciously put up a set of baby booties and matching hat for this giveaway! All of her items are made with careful detail and love! This set of booties and hat make a PERFECT baby gift for any little one in your life.
 |
| ONLY ONE SET IS BEING GIVEN AWAY FOR THIS GIVEAWAY |
BUY THEM:
Knitted Together by Katrina - She doesn't have a shop yet, so all you have to do is go to her Facebook page and request a custom order! She has tons of photos albums showing what she offers and she's always willing to work with anything new you'd like to try.
WIN IT:
Katrina at Knitted Together by Katrina would like to give one of my readers a hat with a matching set of booties of any size or gender!!
MANDATORY ENTRIES:
You must be/become a follower of this blog and tell me how I can find you! (example: what name or ID did you use to "follow" my blog?) Make sure you include your email address (so I know how to contact you if you're the winner) in your comment on this post.
Head on over to the Knitted Together by Katrina's Facebook page and become a fan. Come back and comment on this post with your Facebook name/ID along with your email address.
ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:
***You MUST complete the mandatory entries in order for the additional entries to qualify. If you haven't done so, scroll back up and see what you need to do for the mandatory entries. If the mandatory entries are not completely FIRST, all additional entries will be VOID :-)***
All additional entries count as just one entry unless otherwise stated.
PLEASE make sure you follow the instructions for each entry carefully. If there is one thing wrong with an entry it will NOT be posted and will NOT qualify for an entry. I definitely don't want you guys to miss out on this AWESOME prize, so please read carefully! :-)
Follow Modern Mommy - Paid in Smiles, Giggles & Kisses on Facebook. Comment back here with your name and email address.
Become a follower of my other blog Made With Love By Caty, come back here and comment on this blog saying you've done so with your name and email address.
Follow Modern Mommy - Paid in Smiles, Giggles & Kisses on Twitter. Comment below with your Twitter ID and email address.
Follow Made With Love By Caty on Twitter. Comment below with your Twitter ID and email address.
Tweet about this giveaway including Knitted Together by Katrina, @PaidInSmiles, #babyaccessory, #giveaway and the link to this giveaway, you may tweet once a day until the giveaway ends, just comment here with the link to the tweet and your email address each time.
If you have your own blog, write a blog post about this giveaway including the link to this giveaway. Come back here and post the link to your blog entry about this giveaway.
Grab my Modern Mommy-Paid In Smiles, Giggles & Kisses button and post it on your blog somewhere. Comment back here with the link to your blog and your email address.
Grab my Made With Love By Caty button and post it on your blog somewhere. Comment back here with the link to your blog and your email address.
With this giveaway, you have several ways to win, but you must come back and comment for each of them with your email address if you want to be entered for all entries. All entries must be received by Monday February 21st by 11:59 PM EST. I will be checking to make sure that each requirement is done and you will want to make sure you do the mandatory entry to qualify for this giveaway. Please remember that I DO LOOK AT EACH ENTRY and if they are not valid for the giveaway, I WILL NOT PUBLISH THEM. The winner will be drawn via random.org and will then have 48 hours to respond by email or another winner will be drawn.
Thank you guys so much! Good Luck!
Caty
2.09.2011
Banana Bottoms Cloth Diaper Winner IS......
The winner, chosen by Random.org, is.....
#8 - Kristi!!
I grabbed your Made With Love by Caty button and put it on my blog
http://flutiepatootie.blogspot.com/
flutie(dot)patootie(at)yahoo(dot)com
February 3, 2011 4:06 PM
CONGRATULATIONS KRISTI!!
Please email me within the next 24 hours with your choice of gender and size of diaper at cblakley0531@gmail.com or another winner will be chosen :-)
Thank you to all of you that participated and showing your support for Banana Bottoms!
#8 - Kristi!!
I grabbed your Made With Love by Caty button and put it on my blog
http://flutiepatootie.blogspot.com/
flutie(dot)patootie(at)yahoo(dot)com
February 3, 2011 4:06 PM
CONGRATULATIONS KRISTI!!
Please email me within the next 24 hours with your choice of gender and size of diaper at cblakley0531@gmail.com or another winner will be chosen :-)
Thank you to all of you that participated and showing your support for Banana Bottoms!
Win a Planet Wise Inc Hanging Wet Bag!!
Hey All,
It's been a LONG time since I've done a post that doesn't include running a giveaway but I guess this post is similar since it's me telling you about something amazing you can win from a giveaway!
For all you gals out there that have been following me on my cloth diapering journey since Day 1, you all know how much I love my Planet Wise Inc Hanging Wet Bag and Small/Travel Wet Bag from them! If you can get one...DO IT! You WILL NOT be disappointed!
If you can't purchase one at the moment, try to win it! Take Time to Smell the Roses is hosting a giveaway on her blog RIGHT NOW! So head on over there and enter to win! There are LOTS of opportunities to better your chances of winning.
GOOD LUCK!!
It's been a LONG time since I've done a post that doesn't include running a giveaway but I guess this post is similar since it's me telling you about something amazing you can win from a giveaway!
For all you gals out there that have been following me on my cloth diapering journey since Day 1, you all know how much I love my Planet Wise Inc Hanging Wet Bag and Small/Travel Wet Bag from them! If you can get one...DO IT! You WILL NOT be disappointed!
If you can't purchase one at the moment, try to win it! Take Time to Smell the Roses is hosting a giveaway on her blog RIGHT NOW! So head on over there and enter to win! There are LOTS of opportunities to better your chances of winning.
GOOD LUCK!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
