Giving birth was one of the most powerful moments that will define my life, being in the moment is so different than watching it but this video made me feel like it was happening for me all over again
get your tissues!
Theo's Birth video from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.
and for a trip down memory lane here is Autumn's awesome job of telling our birth story
Melissa had this on her blog and i had to share
"You are writing the story of your only life, every single day. And my greatest hope for you, sweet child, is that I can teach you how to write a good one."
-Katherine Center (check her out here)
I recently decided to try out Shoe Dazzle, which is a shoe shopping membership club. Conceived by Kim Kardashian. Basically you take a small quiz about your style preferences and within 48 hours of that a team of stylists select five pairs of shoes for you to select your pair for the month.
All the shoes you choose are $39.95, so it seems like a pretty good deal. Be warned though, because sizes only go up to 10.
I went through their style quiz after signing up, and I chose this pair of shoes for this month:
Mona
my Vera Bradley bag i talked about in this post is here !!!
i have to say i love this bag, its really well made and for the price i got it at...well you can't beat it!
I got the hipster in puccini
this is the packaging it comes in...very pretty and perfect for a gift
I love all the details
it even comes with an envelope for your invoice
showing off my savings skill...ha ha
even the sticker that holds the tissue paper together is embossed!
love the vibrant colors
the zipper has the name on it
Perfect size to carry on its own or along with the diaper bag. forces me to keep just the necessities in there.
I was surprised also to find plenty of pockets and how extremely well made this little bag is
final result= I LOVE IT
showing off our 2 month cake...better late than never huh
he was happy with it i guess
and finally our happy family later that night
ok all together...awwww
I came home today from running errands to find this:
and found this inside:
which had all these goodies!
I had entered a contest on the bump way back when:
Hi Bumpies, I have a fantastic sweeps to share with you that will make you feel great!
Tell us something you do to pamper yourself (for example, I spend at least 5 mins giving myself a foot rub with lotion every morning), and 5 lucky winners will get this fabulous Mom Essentials Tote by Philosophy (a $125 value)!
Coos are your baby's way of expressing delight, as well as exercising his vocal cords. You can carry on a "conversation" with your baby now. When he gurgles or coos, say something brief or coo back at him. Then wait for him to "say" something back to you. This kind of conversational turn-taking may not sound like much to you now, but it's actually the beginning of learning how to talk.
Your baby can tell the difference between familiar voices and other sounds, and he's becoming a better listener. He can also show you that he's in tune with his environment. Notice how he looks to see where certain noises are coming from.
An ongoing conversation (although seemingly one-sided) can help your baby develop his sense of place. He may even watch your mouth as you talk, fascinated by how it all works. You'll be amazed by his ability to communicate with a growing repertory of coos (musical, vowel-like sounds), smiles, and unique cries to express his different needs.
Your baby can tell the difference between familiar voices and other sounds, and he's becoming a better listener. He can also show you that he's in tune with his environment. Notice how he looks to see where certain noises are coming from.
An ongoing conversation (although seemingly one-sided) can help your baby develop his sense of place. He may even watch your mouth as you talk, fascinated by how it all works. You'll be amazed by his ability to communicate with a growing repertory of coos (musical, vowel-like sounds), smiles, and unique cries to express his different needs.
At this point, your baby will begin to move beyond his early preferences for bright or two-toned objects toward more detailed and complicated designs, colors, and shapes. Show your baby — and let him touch — a wider variety of objects. Good choices include plastic cookie cutters, soft balls, and stuffed animals.
I saw this on the Bump yesterday and thought it was interesting, definitely a good read if anything:
In my first year of being a birth doula, I had this client. She desperately wanted a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). She told me how in her first birth that she was in labor for hours. Waters broken, Pitocin, epidural, tubes and wires coming from every direction. During her extremely long ordeal the only change to her cervix was the effacement (the thinning of the cervix). Her cervix never opened at all. I assumed at the time that this was because her baby was just not ready to come out. This time could and would be different. She would wait for labor to start. We would stay at home and labor where she was comfortable. When the day came, that is exactly what she did. Her labor seemed to be moving right along. When we got to the hospital I expected they would tell her that she was 4-5 cms. Instead what we got was, 100% effaced but only a finger tip dilated. I think I may have even gasped out loud. I immediately started beating myself up in my head. How could I have read her labor so wrong? 6 more hours would pass with her, her husband and I working hard. Moving from the birth ball to the shower and I swear every inch of that hospital room in between. After 6 hours, still a finger tip dilated. Obviously there is something wrong with her cervix, but what. No one seemed to know. Not the two different nurses that we had the pleasure of getting to know or the doctor who we saw just once when he was coming to explain that she would be having yet another c-section. This is one of those moments in my career that I really wish I knew then what I know now.
I have never stopped thinking of her. There has always been this part of me that wanted to call her and say “I know what it is now, can you have another baby so we can fix it?” I just know this would not make her feel any better. Instead, I keep her close to me whenever I ask the question now during each and every prenatal visit, “Have you ever had any procedures done to your cervix?” Every single birth professional that is assisting clients should be asking this question.
Look, I’m not a scientist, researcher, doctor and anything else that would know how to study this stuff. What I am is a doula that has had the pleasure of attending over 100 births. I know that the client I mentioned above was not the only one who had a c-section because of scar tissue during my earlier days. I can look back and think of all the clients that seemed to be in transition (7-10 cms) but when checked were still only 4cm. Stuck there for hours and hours. Then wondering for days after their c-section if there was something I could have done differently to help.
A New Day!
The day that changed my life as a doula forever, my very own sister was having a baby. She was having her second baby. I told her how great it would be and it would be so much faster than her first. When she started having surges just a few days before her due date, we were excited. I went to her home (3 hrs away) and stayed the whole weekend. She had surges off and on all weekend but nothing really steady. I went home after three days and decided that maybe my being there was freaking her out. For the next week, she had surges every day. I kept telling her it was going to be great. All this work would get her cervix open slowly and gently. Then she visited her midwife. She was just a finger tip dilated. I chalk this up to my sister being a big drama queen. All the surges have been Braxton Hicks! The next weekend comes and I find myself making the drive because this time her water broke. Now we know this baby is coming. She has mild labor, 7 minutes apart for 16 hours. Nothing is changing. I suggest we head in. Something is just not right. We get to the hospital and a different midwife she has never met comes to check her. 100% effaced but only a finger tip dilated. What?! Are you kidding me?! Then the words that changed my life. “Have you even had any procedures done to your cervix?” My sister says “yes, I had cryo surgery done a couple of years ago to remove pre cancer cells”. Midwife “ok well that makes sense, you have scar tissue on your cervix, and I can feel it.” Huh? Scar tissue on the cervix? Why had I never heard of this? My client from before comes rushing back to my head. Of course! The midwife proceeds to explain to my sister that she is going to try and massage the cervix and break the scar up. With some discomfort for my sister, she went from a finger tip dilated to 3 cms in a matter of minutes. An hour later she was 4 cms and an hour after that my nephew was born. Once the scar tissue had completely released, she flew to 10 cms.
As you can imagine, I asked that Midwife a ton of questions. I wanted to know all I could about this scar tissue stuff. Besides “massaging”, what can you do before hand? She shared her knowledge with me. Told me that HPV is so very common and more and more women are having these standard procedures done, but are never informed that it most likely will leave scar tissue. Although less common, this includes women who have ever had a D & C after a miscarriage or abortion.
Once I was armed with the knowledge, my successful VBAC rate shot up as did my vaginal birth rate in general. I would ask the question and if the answer was yes, I would tell them what I knew. I would suggest that they mention it to their doctor so that if anything came up during labor, would he or she be willing to massage the cervix. Also I learned from that Midwife that evening primrose oil taken orally and vaginally would help break up the scar tissue before labor. (Orally taken the entire pregnancy and vaginally each night only after 36 weeks).
Since this very important day 3 1/2 years ago, I know I have prevented c-sections. Several times in the hospital I have asked the doctor to please, when he is checking mama to feel for scar tissue. Almost every time the doctor has said “oh yeah, I feel some sort of knot here” or some other variation of that statement. This then leads to a question of; can you try and rub it out?
Why Doctors aren’t talking about this is beyond me. I honestly think they don’t know that it is an issue. I don’t believe it is something they are being taught in medical school. We all need to start talking about it because unless women are being asked the question, they just don’t know.
Written by: Doula Dawn Thompson
missed m/c ~ D&C
Ectopic ~ Emergency Lap surgery
missed m/c ~ D&C~ trisomy 16
blighted ovum
with us for 4wks ~ chemical 
with us for 5wks 3d ~ missed m/c ~ D&C 
