My guest post on Bellies and Babies

Bellies and Babies

I would love to get in my church and teach the young girls about the beauty of birth.  Sadly, my attempts to do so have been met with resistance, because the leaders are worried the parents will be bothered by it. 

I was going to wait to post this link until I could say… YES, I have done this.  But apparantly moms worry that if I talk to their teenagers about how beautiful birth can be than they will of course get pregnant right away and have a baby. 

My birth stories on a guest post at Rixa’s blog

I am a little slow in getting this up on my blog.  But I was honored to be asked to write a guest post on Rixa’s blog about my births.  Here it is!  If you don’t read Rixa’s blog, you should, it is great!

http://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2008/04/guest-post-1.html

Empowering Home Birth of one of my Hypnobabies Students

You may remember this mom.  G was one of my students, whose OB told her scary things which were all about the routines he did to EVERYONE (episiotomy, pitocin, etc), she changed to a homebirth midwife soon before her birth.  I got a phone message from her on a trip saying what a great birth she had.  

She has written out her whole story, here is some of it with a link to the complete story at the end. 

When I was 5 months pregnant and we started to talk about our choices.  Epidural or natural?  Bottle feeding or breastfeeding?  Episiotomy or natural tear?  Dry birth or water birth?  Most of these I already had a gut feeling like breastfeeding of course and absolutely no episiotomy.  I was still up in the air when it came to an epidural because honestly I was more afraid of having the epidural than the pain of labor but there was a lack of confidence that I could really do it on my own.  I also had hear some comments about how epidurals affect the baby so I decided to discuss the matter with my doctor who reassured me that epidurals do not pass to the baby and it’s perfectly safe. 

 

I decided to research natural child birth classes anyway and chose a Hynobabies class.  We met some great people and most importantly it was a great group for me to discuss all our options when it came to natural childbirth.  The class was six weeks long and it seemed that every time I went to class all I kept thinking was how these topics should be things that my doctor should be telling me and discussing with me and giving me options on.  Instead every time I went in for an appointment I would leave with information that I had to worry about like, when they checked me to make sure I wasn’t going to go into preterm labor.  I was told that my cervix was too short and how the doctor was concerned.  It turned out it was fine but I had to wait 4 weeks before finding that out in which I spent the whole time worried.

 

After some encouragement from the ladies in class, I decided to discuss birthing options with my doctor again and realized that even though he said he would support me in my decision, he really didn’t.  He was more concerned about how it was going to affect him.  When I told him that I didn’t want any drugs, the first thing he asked me was “what about an epidural?”  I told him no epidural, no pitocin and instead of saying something supportive, he told me how long my labor was going to be without those medications and how he might not end up delivering my baby at all if I didn’t take them because he has so many patients and usually women like to get in, get the drugs and get out.  This was the first time I wanted to give my doctor the finger.  I assured him I was fine with that and continued to tell him, NO DRUGS.  The more time went on the less I wanted this doctor to be the one who would deliver my baby our insurance didn’t cover any midwives and we didn’t have the cash.  In the end I figured it would all be okay even if I had this crappy doctor because I had started seeing a chiropractor who was helping me a lot and at least I knew my body would be ready for natural birth even if my doctor wasn’t.

 

Over Christmas vacation I sat Gabe down and discussed how uneasy I was feeling with our doctor and how much I wanted a beautiful birth not a stressful birth that I could see us having if were in a hospital with this doctor.  So we decided to interview and hire a midwife and plan for a home birth but keep out doctor just in case we ended up in the hospital.  My appointments with my midwife, Sue, were such a pleasure.  In comparison to my doctor, Sue spent close to 1 hour with me, asked me what I wanted to do every time she came over and there was a decision to be made and we always discussed the birth, how I was feeling, and the baby. 

 

Finally at what would be my last appointment with my OB I went over my birth plan and left the office feeling small and empty and completely stripped of any rights that I had as a soon to be mother.  My doctor told me that he couldn’t sign my birth plan because he didn’t agree with it.  He had a problem with waiting 3 minutes before cutting the cord, not giving me pitocin to get my placenta delivered and no episiotomy to name a few.  Looking back all I can think is ‘who does he think he is’ telling me what’s going to happen during my birth?’  Those choices were mine to make, not his and from that point on, this “doctor” was out of my life before he got the chance to ruin my birth which turned out to be one of the most beautiful and most powerful experiences of my life.

Here is her full story.  I am so glad that she said I could share it with everyone. 

She didn’t wait til Friday

V. had her baby on Tuesday.  It was a great birth and I am so glad it worked out that I could be there, thanks to my doula friends who helped with my boys.  :) 

Short version.  Water broke at 1:40 PMand sweet baby in moms arms at 3:24.  There is a much longer version, as mom was actually in hospital from 5:30 AM.  I will check with mom if it is ok to share the whole story, as it is a wonderful story to share! 

DH’s surprise business trip to London

So, this could be a good thing, except he doesn’t even want to go, he is behind in work, it is really meetings he could do over the phone, etc.  So he is grumpy about going.  Top that off with my stress about him leaving. 

I have a mom due with her 7th baby any day now.  One of my friends (the one I would call in the middle of the night to watch my boys) is heading out of town as well.  I luckily have a back up set of doulas, that I can call in case I can’t figure out someone to watch my kids. 

My client knows about the situation and is fine with whatever happens.  She has met the backups and is fine if I can’t make it.    She is planning on the baby being born next Friday, as it is good timing for her family (she was planning this before DH was even leaving)  It would also be good for me as DH is getting back before then. 

So let’s all hope that the timing works out that I can easily get to her birth.  I am thinking it will be a fast, easy one.  I really want to be there.  Friday would be great! 

Doula Faux Pas - aka Dead Cell Phone

It was Saturday, I had my lists of errands to run while DH watched the boys.  I headed out, happy as a clam.  I get almost half my errands done.  I am in Walmart looking at shoes for B. and realize I don’t know his size.  I get out my trusty cell phone to call home.  It is DEAD, not low battery, but DEAD. 

I freak. I have a mom due with baby #7.  Probably won’t be a long birth.  I ask if there is a pay phone anywhere (do those still exist?)  They do.  I have no change.  I decide to drive home and get my DH’s cell phone to finish the errands.  I hurry home, there have been no calls.  I get his phone and finish my shopping. 

I need to ALWAYS make sure my phone is charged each night.  Hopefully that is the last time THAT will happen. 

The broken leg episode or please don’t let anyone go into labor this weekend!

I had 2 moms who were in that 5 week window of baby could come at any time.  Life was good, it was chilly outside and the baby (ok, he is 2 years old, but he is MY baby) needed a nap.  So DH took Carson to soccer and I stayed home to enjoy a bit of quiet.  Baby napping and Devon on the computer. 

DH comes home a bit earlier than expected.  I hear him say, “I’ll get the ice.”  I hear whimpering.  I go out.  Carson is on the sofa crying.  He got kicked 2 times and his leg really hurts.  Even later in the day he refuses to put any weight on it.  We call his pediatrician.   She says if he won’t bear weight on it after dinner, to take him to Urgent Care. 

To make a long story short, he wouldn’t bear weight on it, we took him in and he had a broken leg.  He was pretty miserable until Monday after he got his real cast on.  But he was still homebound until we got his wheelchair, 3 days later.  Let me tell you I went about crazy calling Apria Home Care about where the wheelchair was.  They kept promising me it would get there “today” for 3 days! 

I was so hoping a mom wouldn’t start her birthing time until after we got the wheelchair.  It wasn’t easy carrying him around everywhere.  I didn’t want to have to subject anyone else to that.  Luckily the moms didn’t start their birthing time until a few weeks later.  Somehow it always seems to work out. 

Painless Childbirth

Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Childbirth by Guiditta Tornetta is available today on Amazon!  It was written by a wonderful doula in the LA area and she understands the power of hypnosis for childbirth and this book is all about that! 

Very inspiring and informational. 

Right now the #1 Pregnancy and Childbirth Book on Amazon is What to Expect When You’re Expecting.   Ugghhh.  Because today is the premiere of this book, if it sells 2000 copies today then it will be #1 and can boot that other book out of #1 position! 

If you buy it in the next day you can register to win some prizes by going here and entering your reciept number to be entered in the drawing. 

Orange County, CA Hypnobabies Childbirth Class Starting April 28th

I have a few spots left in my Hypnobabies Class starting April 28th.   This is a wonderful childbirth education series that covers all the important pregnancy and birthing information AND includes hypnosis tools to help you have a more comfortable and enjoyable birth. 

If you are an expecting mom in Orange County, CA and are interested in learning more about the classes please visit my website. 

Placenta: The Gift of Life, Book Review

I got this book Placenta: The Gift of Life by Cornelia Enning off the Midwifery Today website when ordering the Midwifery Today magazine.  (Highly recommended by my friends at Independent Childbirth, the magazine that is) 

Well, I am pretty enthralled with placentas.  I think they are so amazing and thought the book sounded interesting.  It was a fast read, only 70 pages.  There were some interesting things I learned about how placentas were used historically.  Also how animal placentas are used today in some beauty care products. 

The main thing that I came away with from the book is that the placenta is something that should be repsected and not thrown away in the trash.   It is an amazing wonderful organ your body creates for growing your baby. 

I think with my next baby (if I have one) I will do 1 of 2 things, bury my baby’s placenta under a tree or dry it and encapsulate it.  Or both, bury part and encapsulate part.  There are a lot of benefits that moms can have by ingesting their placenta.  Currently the thought of eating it grosses me out, but I could probably swallow a pill. 

For more information on placenta benefits visit Placenta Benefits or their blog