BIRTH

10 top birthing misconceptions

Hey – keep your fingers out of there! Great reminders of why we don’t need multiple vaginal exams.

I love these VBAC goals!  I agree with them whole-heartedly.

Not all midwives are created equal. It is so important to question your care provider, even if they are midwives!

I love the 10 Zen Seconds concept, I use it every day.  My favorite is I embrace – this moment! Learn how to apply in birth for help centering!

PLACENTAS

Placenta Encapsulation with pictures!

RANDOM

Interesting thoughts on NOT boycotting Dr. Mercola.  I tend to agree, he is a business man first and foremost.

Has Facebook Killed Blogging? As a person who loves blogging and sees the use of facebook, I loved this post.

I find it interesting that I have been praying that my 3 moms have there babies a week apart and so far they have, exactly! So I am guessing next Friday I will get to attend another beautiful birth. (Edited to add – Now that I have had a good nights sleep I am praying for any day, so hopefully before Friday.  However I know BABIES choose their birthday, I have no bearing on it at all.) 

I will say that it was sort of a bummer that the little boys had no school on Friday and none of my friends were free to watch them, so DH had to stay home and work. My house is quite a disaster today and I am sure the no media rule was NOT followed!

It was so worth it though. I love what I do. (I don’t know if my DH would agree, but he thinks it is OK because I get paid. I think I would do it for free. I get paid more to make it worth it for DH)

I will ask mom if I can share her story at my postpartum visit.

My biggest memory of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly is when Thing 1 was little.  He was “taking a nap” when I went in to get him up I found he had opened a HUGE jar of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and spread it around his room.  He smeared it into the carpet, rubbed it on his bed the walls and himself.  It was less smelly then the next time I found him and he had done something similar with his Poop.  It wasn’t long after that I discontinued his naps.

There are many positive uses for Vaseline, which is why I had such a huge jar.  I just learned to keep it out of my boys reach!

1. Diaper Ointment – My favorite.  Especially for newborn babies.  Their meconium poop can be hard to clean, but put a little Vaseline on their bums and the poop wipes off so easily.
2. Softening Skin – My boys have sensitive skin.  I found that normal lotions can give them rashes. Vaseline softened their skin and never gave them rashes.
3. Cradle Cap – My babies all got cradle cap.  I found if I rubbed Vaseline on their head it loosened the dried stuff.  Then I could more easily pick the stuff off their head.
4. Keep soap out of babies eyes! You can put a little streak above their eyebrows (like a uni-brow).  When you wash their hands it helps keep the sudsy water out of their eyes.
5. Lip Gloss – It is easy to put on and keeps your lips nice and glossy!  I am sensitive to smells, so I love that there is NO smell with it.
6. Refrigerator stickiness – My grandma told me this idea.  She puts it on where the fridge door seals to the door.  She insists it helps keep things flexible and the seal nice and tight.
7. Dying Hair – I dye my own hair and I hate having my skin colored after.  I found that if you put a layer of Vaseline near your hair line, it protects your skin from the hair coloring.
8. Prevent Bloody Noses – My boys would sometimes get bloody noses when it was dry out.  I learned if I put Vaseline under their nose it helped to keep their nasal passages moisturized.  No more bloody noses!
9. Remove Chewing Gum – Every mom knows the joy of a kid coming to her with gum stuck in his hair.  Even better, his brother put it in his hair.  Well, Vaseline to the rescue again.  Put it in their hair and it will help loosen the gum and it will eventually slide off.
10. Jack-O-Lanterns – I don’t know if this works, but I will try it this year.  Rub Vaseline on the edges where you cut your jack-o-lantern.  It supposedly helps with slowing down the ripening of the pumpkin.

So get a big jar, but remember to keep it out of your 2 year olds hands!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Vaseline blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

I may have to have 4.

No, I am not talking about boys.

I am talking about book clubs!

There is a Book Club at the Waldorf School that I may just have to join! 

(I am late posting this, I did join it and love it!)

I love this picture of Crystal smiling at 9.5cm! Here is her birth story.

July 23rd I felt crampy all day long, but didn’t think anything of it since they weren’t tightening like contractions. I decided to take DD and her BFF to see Ramona and Beezus at 1:40pm still feeling crampy, but no contractions. We took the BFF home and then headed home for a nap. I decided since Sarah had not arrived that DH and I would attend my friend’s Wedding that evening. We got there right on time and it was a beautiful ceremony. I had about 3 contractions in that 30 minute timeframe. DH insisted all the cramps I had been having all day were contractions too, but I didn’t know for sure… maybe it was. LOL

Just as they dismissed everyone for the reception I felt some dampness and told DH I needed to find the restroom. He pointed it out to me and I took 2 steps and down my legs it went.. my water broke right there in the church. ( 7:40 pm)I told DH and he smiled really big and said, “I guess we aren’t staying for the reception”. I waddled on up to the pastor to apologize for the mess and to ask him to explain to the bride and groom. He was exstatic! Don’t think that has happened to him before at a wedding, or maybe at all in the santuary.. its probably a really great omen. LOL

We headed on home to let the kids know and give them kisses before heading up to the hospital. (we only live 8 minutes from the hospital and I wasn’t really having many contractions at this point) After calling the sitter we have set up for us while we are away, and all the moms and key family members we went right up to the Birthing center and DH checked me in at admissions because I was drenched and didn’t feel like going all the way to admissions first.

After we got settled in to our room, the nurse came in to check me and I had not really progressed from 2 days earlier, but the surges were starting to come every 3 minutes. They only felt like cramps to me so I wasn’t feeling them at all! We walked around for a while and quickly went from a 5-7 in 1 hour and then stalled out. My Dr. was pushing Pit on me and I really didn’t want it so he gave me one more hour. I bounced on the birthing ball, and took walks, and rocked in the glider and by the time they checked me an hour later I was 8 1/2. YEAH!! No Pit!!

The hypnobirthing was really working for me.. I was laughing and talking between surges and having an awesome time. The Dr. was amazed at how happy and relaxed I was. I decided to spend some more time on the birthing ball and then after a short time got in bed. I guess I knew what was coming and I was tired. I napped between surges for an hour and a half and then got stuck at a 10 with a lip at +1 station. I was feeling pushy but they were concerned for tearing the cervix so I did agree for just a little Pit, reluctantly ( only 30 seconds between contractions now). 3 or 4 contractions later the urge was unbearable.. they kept telling me to wait, but at this point everything went black and I couldn’t stop pushing, all I could hear was the sound of my husbands voice and someone shouting “Grab the other leg!!”

She was out in two surges , and no tear! I got to enjoy cleaning her off and feeding her right away. We delayed the cord cutting and dad cut the cord. Unfortunately, things happened too quick in the end for dad to come catch her, but he was beaming from ear to ear.

She was born at 4:55am

7lbs 11.8 oz. and 19.5 inches

Praise the Lord!

BIRTH

MOMS – good bill vs MOMS bad bill

Great tips for preventing Preterm Labor -

An awesome sounding Birth Movie highlighting births from around the world!

Sounds so cool, I just went to Amazon.fr and ordered a copy!

10 common OB procedures not supported by science.

BIRTH WORKER

Are you a Childbirth Educator?  You can get a free (small fee) Cloth Diaper Kit to share with your students.  I have one and it is GREAT!

BREASTFEEDING

Vote for your favorite breastfeeding photos.

It is in French, but pictures need no translation.  After you vote there is a place you have to type something – put in your e-mail and you are good!

PARENTING

Chore Cards – great way for helping pre-readers keep track of their responsibilities.

Flu Shot – pros and cons and alternatives

Is it possible to be a mother to young children and stay spiritually in tune?

Sometimes, continually struggling to ‘be somewhere else’ – somewhere more peaceful and ‘spiritual’, which early parenthood with all its noise and messiness hardly embodies – we can’t see where we’re really at from the inside, and it takes someone else to point out that we are exactly where we need to be.

I was nervous because the hospital isn’t even VBAC supportive so I wasn’t sure what we would be up against. Would it be a huge fight? Would they really let it happen?

All I can say is we got an angel of a nurse and baby looked perfect the whole time (until last minute of pushing) and the Mom ROCKED! She fought for and got her VBA2C and I was so honored to be there.

I am hoping she will let me share her whole birth story. I will ask for permission at our postpartum appointment.

Just wanted to share my joy.

That might make you question what your OB wants to do!

I love the blog My OB Said What?   This great quote prompted my post.

At 12 week prenatal appointment;

OB: “So, are you reading books about birth?”
Mother: “Yes, I am…”
OB: “Well, don’t bother, nobody has any control over labor, least of all the laboring woman. Just leave it all up to me, and I’ll take good care of you.”

Hmm, does this seem like a care provider you would want?  How are you going to know what questions to ask?  If you just let your OB take good care of you for pregnancy and birth and don’t think about it how empowering of an experience is that going to be?

Choose your care provider wisely!  Click here for a tutorial on how to create the best birth team!

I started wearing glasses when I was 9.  My eyesight got worse and worse and my glasses got thicker and thicker.  I eventually got Lasik, which was great until after my 3rd pregnancy when my hormones messed with my eyesight and I wear glasses again.  My vision is WAY better then it was, but still I need the glasses to drive and do computer work, etc.

It was no surprise when T1 needed glasses in 4th grade.  T2, wanting to be like T1 insisted he needed glasses and when I finally took him in, when he was 8, his eyes were as bad as his brothers!  Sadly I think their eyes are on the same track mine were.  I am sure one day soon T3 will say things are fuzzy too. (He is crossing his eyes for fun in this picture, he is so in the Calvin and Hobbes picture taking stage!)

I never could imagine how many choices there were for lenses when I picked out the boys glasses!  When I was a kid it was glass or plastic.

T2 plays sports and my DH was really worried about his glasses breaking. So I was so excited when I had the chance to get a free pair of Airwear Lenses. (It looks like the contest is still on, so maybe you could win a pair!?)

They are lighter, safer and healthier.  12 times more impact resistant!  That makes my DH feel better when T2 is out there with soccer balls flying at his head. 

The next time I buy glasses for the boys I will ask if they carry Airwear lenses, or even better Essilor Junior which:

combine Airwear polycarbonate material with Trio Clean, a new coating specifically designed for children. These lenses are designed to respond perfectly to the needs of children and the expectations of parents: light, resistant polycarbonate lenses with visual comfort specifically adapted for children and 100 percent protection against UVA and UVB rays.

The Trio Clean coating eliminates parasite reflections, resists scratches and smudges, and makes cleaning lenses easy. They are 43 percent lighter and 25 percent thinner than regular lenses and come with a one-year unlimited warranty from Essilor.

T1 is crazy with his glasses and they are scratched up and smudged and dirty all the time.  I honestly don’t know how he gets so many scratches on his lenses.  I don’t even know how he sees through them sometimes.  So maybe I should have gotten the sample lenses for HIM?

My 12 yo knows how to push my buttons, even about birth.

Thing 3 (age 4) was talking to me about birth.

Thing 1 (the 12 year old) pipes in, “You HAVE to go to the hospital to have a baby.”

Me – No, you can have a baby anywhere, at home…

Thing 3 suggests,  In the car!  he had loved this story.

Me – Yes in the car.

Thing 1, “You HAVE to have a doctor.”

Me – No, you can have a midwife.  If we have another baby we are having it at home, upstairs in my bedroom, with a midwife.

Thing 3 – How about down here in the kitchen

Me – OK

Thing 3 – How about on the sofa.

Me – OK

Thing 1 Shakes his head in dismay.

DH ignores the whole conversation and I imagine is secretly praying Please let’s never have another baby.