Latest Updates in a Mama's life

Dang it!  Time got away from me again and Life handed me way too much to do....well, honestly, I guess I found too much to do...crazy days....

So here is my quick list of what has happened (I know I will leave things out just because it is late and I really should be in bed...):

We have started - and continued - homeschooling our five year old and have been loving that decision :D  If I haven't mentioned it before, we are using Oak Meadow, a Waldorf based school.  It has curriculum and educational tools for K-High School and are really liking

We have not been going to the chiropractor weekly and I am feeling it :(  I hope to be able to get back to it in a few months, though ;)


I went to the Florida La Leche League Conference last weekend...well, just Friday and Saturday, and for just a day and a half instead of three days.  I was there with Sandy Jamieson and Sandy Hill, my ladies full of lactation wisdom.

And I killed three chickens (not our own!) at a friend's "Meat Harvest"...got the war-wounds to prove it!  It was something that I have been thinking about for a while and am in a place in my psyche/life that I can/could/did do it.  One more small step away from the grid....and I will be there again for more "Harvesting" next Sunday!

The Birth of Daciana

I awoke just before 4 am on Wednesday, February 25, 2009. I had to pee, just like every other night for the past few months. As I was on the toilet, I had a hard contraction. It was noticeably different than those I had been having for 2 1/2 weeks before - that wonderful prodromal or early labor. It felt really like a bad menstrual cramp. I made it back to bed and had a few more hard contractions. I sat on the edge of our bed, rocking through the next few, my husband Patrick and our daughter Anastasia both fast asleep. The contractions lasted about a half an hour and did not go away. I nudged Patrick, told him to wake up, and that I have been having contractions. I got into the shower (probably the last one for a while :) and stood there, contractions continuing. The hot water felt good. At one point, I needed to be on my hands and knees. That's when I plugged the tub and let it fill with water. Contractions where getting stronger. "Patrick, call my Mom and call Amy (midwife)." I think this was the last thing I remember saying. I stayed in the bath for a while until the water got cold. I wanted to get to the bed - made it as far as the toilet. Patrick knelt in front of me, he counted through the contractions for me... "it's been 30 seconds, you are doing awesome..."

I think this is when I slipped into the zone, or as I teach in my BIRTH classes, the Ebb & Flow of Labor™. It was awesome! I had my eyes closed and let labor happen. Each one quickly rolled into the next, not sure when one ended but knew that another one had begun. I was preparing myself for a long and hard day of labor, thinking that the contractions were going to get stronger, more intense, and also thinking, "Don't I get a few minute break between them??"

I only opened my eyes if I needed to see where I was going - from the bathroom to the bed. I caught glimpses of who was there at different times: Patrick, my Mom, Amy and Erica, Terri R, my doula...

Anastasia was in our bed, where she had slept the night before. I made it to Anastasia's bed - which is next to ours - while someone put plastic on our bed (I had the birth bed prepared for about 2 weeks but got annoyed by the plastic and removed it 2 days before...). By this time I was moaning loudly with each wave into a pillow, hoping not to wake Anastasia. I got into my bed and was fully into the Flow of the event, each one coming so quickly...

I wanted to go bad to the bathroom to use the toilet...the waves were getting harder...
When I got off to go back to bed, I made it as far as the sink and had to lean on it and rock and sway...heard someone say there was bloody show in the toilet...got into bed...

This was the point that I opened my eyes, wondering where Anastasia was, thinking was she still asleep? or was she awake? Lo and behold, there she was right next to me in my bed still asleep! And I was not quiet at all! Those moans were loud! They needed to be. Never did she stir...

And then Amy said something about pushing with the next contraction... Was she serious?!? It seemed too early! I couldn't be THAT far along...could I? "Hold your breath and bear down!" someone said. I felt pressure like Amy was stretching my perineum... she was asking for more olive oil... "Chin down to your chest and hold your breath and push your baby here..."

I came out of my zone to find Patrick kneeling on the floor to my right, Amy at the foot of my bed. Feeling the urge to push and everyone saying "push," I proceeded to, well, push. I pushed...Amy said something about breaking my bag of waters... I had mentioned my wish to Patrick (sometime well before birth) to birth the bag of waters intact if possible or at least let it break on it's own. When Amy mentioned breaking the BOW, Patrick told her what I had said (my hero! sorry I had never mentioned it to you Amy :) and she responded jokingly with, "Then we are going to get a bath!" (When the BOW did finally break, Amy said that it wasn't that bad, but Patrick got the fluid down his leg...what a trooper!)

Then came the Ring of Fire...I don't think I ever had a feeling of "I can't do this" or "this is too hard," it really happened too fast to have these thoughts... but the Ring of Fire did seem to last quite a while...I pushed the head out and it still burned..."Look at these linebacker shoulders!" (She gets those from Patrick...) She felt like a big one when she finally slid our and oh my God relief! I breathed in that relief and relaxation and peace...and no crying...hmm, babies are supposed to cry, right? Anastasia did and she was born at 31 weeks (although with the steroid shot to develop her lungs early...) I looked down, Amy said "Talk to your baby"...I called her name "Daciana! Daciana!"...Amy was vigorously rubbing her back, then laid her down at my feet and put what looked like an oxygen mask on her and pumped air into her seeming to clear leftover mucus or fluid from her lungs...she cried a little and got a really good color on her skin.... straight to my chest for our first moments...

Our first glorious moments! I did it! I birthed at home in my own bed without any interventions! With people I knew and trusted and hired to keep me healthy and safe... and it only took about 4 hours! Daciana Guinevere was born @ 7:55 am on February 25, 2009. She weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz, with a 14 inch head and 14 inch torso (which is why the Ring of Fire lasted as long as it did), 21 inches long and wonderful baby fat everywhere! I got her to the breast withing 20 minutes (I think) and left the placenta attached for the Lotus Birth.

And Anastasia slept throught the whole thing!!! She started to wake up at one point and almost got her foot in the placenta bowl :P This is when Patrick picked her up, woke her and said to her, "Look who is here!" (meaning Daciana) She saw my Mom first, "It's Grandmama!" Patrick said, "Well, yeah, and look who else!" She looked over to me, saw the baby and exclaimed, "It's Daciana!" She smiled so big as joy grabbed a hold of her and probably wonderment as well...

This experience was awesome, exciting, fulfilling, rewarding, healing, and - I have to admit - easy!

{Pictures shall come soon! Oh! and the story is far from over... but that is a blog for another time...}

Mr Rogers talks about nursing on YouTube

For those of you who may find yourself in Hong Kong...

So I was searching for info on linea negra the other day, when I came across this site for pregnancy and nursing clothes, cleverly named 'Linea Negra,' "where the stylish bellies shop."

[From their site:] 'The genesis of Linea Negra Maternity came out of our own experiences while being pregnant in Hong Kong. We all shared the same feelings of shock, frustration and unhappiness with the selection of clothing that was then available to us. The good news is that now, things are different.'

The bad news is, THEY ARE ONLY IN HONG KONG!!!

Such great styles, colors and patterns yet not available to anyone outside HK...

But if you do find yourself in Hong Kong ;o) please pick me up one of these (size large):

Breastfeeding is NOT obsene!

Over on Facebook - no I don't have an account over there yet, but my husband does - there has been a virtual nurse-in all day.

Here is more info about it on another blog.

I changed my MySpace pic to a painting of a nursing mother for a while in support of it and my Husband changed his Facebook pic to one of Maggie Gyllenhaal nursing her little one in public. Yes there do exist pictures of me breastfeeding my DD but they are all out of focus and not composed very well at all! And by the way, I breastfed my DD until her 3rd birthday! I hope to nurse her sister at least as long ;o)

Right now, The Child Inside is constantly kicking and rolling and moving and giving my joy that she is INSIDE not OUT like her sister! I am doing well and am pregnant longer that I have ever been (I am just past the 31 week point in this pregnancy - the short version of last pregnancy is severe preeclampsia at 30 weeks, hospitalization, delivery of DD at 31 weeks, 17 day NICU stay, 3 months of preemie care, PPD for 6+ months, pain suffering...whole 9 yards...)

And now...your moment of Zen:

"$13 to $20 billion a year could be saved in health care costs by demedicalizing childbirth, developing midwifery, and encouraging breastfeeding."

- Frank Oski, MD,

Professor and Director, Department of Pediatrics,

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

No Big Deal...

Birth should be no big deal. It should be as simple and straightforward as perhaps putting on pants. Of course there was a time where women could not wear pants without thoughts of scandal..."Oooh, ankles!!"
And breastfeeding should also be no big deal. It is as normal as anybody else in public eating..."Oh my God! She's eating with chopsticks!!"
So, there are several really good movies about birth, and ABC's 20/20 is doing a story (finally) on one, called "Orgasmic Birth." "OMG! What does sex and birth have to do with each other?!?"
Anyway, after reading the media hype about homebirth and such on the ABC page, please visit this one which tells a more balanced story about midwives.

This is the post from "Mama Is..."

"I BFed my DD until she was 3 years old. I have a friend who is BFing her 5 and 3 year olds. But at the same time, my brother’s ex-wife and her mother think that BFing is the ‘most disgusting thing in the world…’
I have also heard in this economy that mothers are skimping on formula (not mixing it to proper dose) and the babies are suffering Unfortunately, it may get worse before getting better. And hopefully with the speed of the internet and news, more moms will finally ‘get it’ through their thick formula-fed skulls that the only way to survive is to go back to the basics - breastfeeding, natural birth, everything in moderation, etc!!"

"Mama Is..."

I just left a post on today's "Mama Is..." And in case you don't know what that is, it is an online breastfeeding (among so many other wonderful topics!) advocacy comic. Done by Heather Cushman-Dowdee (I think I got that name right ;o) the "Mama Is..." and "Hathor the cow goddess" comics talk about natural mothering/parenting, with topics such as: breastfeeding, baby-wearing, attachment parenting, homeschooling or unschooling, co-sleeping or bed-sharing, and then she will also get into politics and economy and issues affecting any of the above topics. I had the fortune to meet her briefly at the local La Leche League conference in 2007. Awesome Mama she is! Full of creative energy and the same need (as any good mother has) to change her world for the better with the talents given her!