September, 2011
This has been a busy week….and I am grateful for a slower pace this week. I am very grateful that/for/because:
1.) I witnessed two women give birth to their daughters completely unmedicated last week. Their strength is to be commended…their trust in the process of birth was unwavering.
2.) Difficult breastfeeding cases are all doing well this morning.
3.) Fall vegetables are delicious with butter…
4.) Hot tea and very dark chocolate go well together on grey afternoons.
5.) My group of mums in Calm Mum yesterday really want to make their lives as parents better. They want to stay connected with their children as they grow.
6.) I am learning to step back and take stock more often.
7.) I am anticipating a getaway with my favourite human being in October….
8.) There is a long weekend coming up and we will languish in an extra day together.
9.) Chemical free skincare has completely turned my skin around….
10.) I am loving the changing leaves.
11.) I was spoiled by lovely ladies last week.
12.) There are two new books on my reading list…
Please tell me what you are grateful for, I really do want to know. xoxo
Category : Blog
The weeks are whizzing by! As the weather changes and ragweed’s days are numbered, I am grateful. There is so much more I am grateful for/to:
1.) My busy week could not have started better. This morning in the wee hours I was honoured to bear witness to a family I love give birth to their daughter in their bed, at home, unmedicated, no stitches…and I know to the depths of my soul that is births like this that keep me here.
2.) I am grateful for Shannon, who is apparently able to tell me things like: “we will both be attending births at the same time, your client will have a girl….they will be awesome,” and she was right. Both of our clients were in our Babies Naturally childbirth education classes together, both went into labour on the same day and delivered their baby girls three hours apart…completely unmedicated.
3.) I am grateful to have spent two days in a classroom last week with other women that are passionate about breastfeeding. I am very grateful to Vesta Parenting Center in St. Thomas for organizing it and being incredibly passionate about the importance of breastfeeding.
4.) Pumpkin spice lattes are back!
5.) Fall mums are gorgeous JUST as they are about to bloom.
6.) I have a great detox partner as I fully drop sugar this week…last week it was all grains…..
7.) The notion of spicy soups makes me happy.
8.) Indoor soccer starts next month!
9.) Cozy sweaters are one of my favourite things.
10.) Apple cobbler with cinnamon (sugar and grain free)
11.) People will judge you…but if they do, it is not about you…and that makes me grateful.
12.) Calm Mum is this Sunday…I will let you know how grateful I am for that next Monday.
Please tell me what you are grateful for…I really want to know.
With much love,
Carol xoxoo
12.)
Category : Blog
Monday, Monday and today you are supposed to be 27 degrees! This Monday I am grateful for/because:
1.) My client that is past her so called “due date” is not giving in to unnecessary interventions. She is maintaining faith, trust and belief in the process of birth.
2.) Doing yoga while learning about the pelvis can imprint on you and make you sore!
3.) Being starch free means looser pants!
4.) I have a group of women I am working with right now that are absolutely amazing.
5.) I get to be a student every day of my life.
6.) There are multitudes of fresh vegetables showing up on my plate every day.
7.) I know what I know and what I really don’t know.
8.) Galaxy chocolate is manna.
9.) White t-shirts, faded jeans and leather belts on men with fresh hair cuts (salt and pepper hair) make me smile. A lot.
10.) Perio- menopause is manageable.
11.) DVDs of your first baby, made from old tapes, given to you by your parents after they cook you a lovely dinner at their house…after a long day of teaching is very, very, awesome.
12.) Listening to John Mayer’s “Perfectly Lonely” while typing this is sweet.
Please tell me what you are grateful for, here on our blog. I really do want to know.
With much love,
Carol xoxo
Category : Blog
I was in Home Sense today looking for a 16 month planner for my eighteen year old. Normally, I would have stayed a little longer and shopped the whole store but today I could not. I could not because I was devastated by the cries of a baby that could not have been more than one week old.
My first thought (often more than a thought, because it comes out of my mouth) is “that baby needs a breast.” I waited for the cries to stop but they did not. The pitch of the baby’s cry escalated and I had to go investigate.
The baby’s mum was in the pillow section of the store and was looking through the pillows one at a time. The baby was in the car seat part of its stroller, red faced and wailing. Mum paid no attention. My heart broke. All I could think was “how did you get to this point?” How could you be so disconnected from your baby? How could you not pick your baby up. From the next aisle over, I heard “shut up.” “Shut the f#*k up.” I froze. I froze partly because I could not believe what I was hearing and because, in all honesty, I did not know what to do next. I listened again and the baby continued to cry.
I walked over to the pillow aisle and just stood there. Then, the words came out. “Hi, are you okay?” She spun around and looked at me. She said nothing. I said “Are you okay? I work with babies every day and I know how hard it is to hear them cry.” At that, it was her that started to cry.
We stood for a second, I grabbed a kleenex out of my bag and handed it to her. She wiped her eyes and told me that she had had no sleep. I asked how old the baby was and was informed it was six days old, but she was tired because she had had a 2 day induction. My mind raced and the thought in my head was “Why the hell are you here, on your own, shopping?” but what came out of my mouth was “do you want to get a tea?” to which she replied “yes” and we went to Starbuck’s.
Settled in a seat (which was hard for her to get into…third degree tear caused by an episiotomy that went a little too deep) I asked her to tell me about her birth. By this time we had exchanged names, I had let her know that I really did work with women and babies all day and that I was willing to listen. Her birth story, as horrific as it was, is typical. She was induced…had her membranes ruptured at ten days post dates, nothing happened, she had pitocin, the pitocin was hard and she had an epidural. The pitocin reached maximum dosage after 18 hours yet her dilation did not change. They took her off the pitocin, let her rest for 12 hours and started it again.
After a second round of pitocin, her body responded – quickly. She dilated from 4-fully in an hour and her epidural was “patchy” to quote her. The baby was sideways (transverse head presentation) and she required a trial of forceps to help turn the baby. By this point, it felt like the pregnancy and the baby were secondary to her pain ending and she said that she could feel the moment she disconnected. The baby was suctioned after delivery (2.5 hours of pushing followed by forceps) and she had to be stitched. This young mum did not get to hold her baby until 45 minutes after delivery and was not allowed to be skin to skin because of the baby’s body temperature dropping. She kept asking for her baby and was told to wait. Her anxiety heightened. When she finally got her baby, the nurse grabbed the baby by the back of the head, grabbed her breast and tried to get the baby to latch on. Breastfeeding did not work. She was supplementing after every attempt at breastfeeding, six days out. I was angry.
I was angry that this woman was traumatized. This woman is disconnected from her baby…but at least she knows that. I AM angry that she was not educated….her childbirth class talked about epidurals, what the catheter looks like and how to hold an ice cube for labour pain. She learned nothing of position changes, avoiding induction, breastfeeding or how to heal at home. All she knew is she felt isolated, alone and needed to get out of the house. She has no support in town…her family is in Toronto. Her husband had two days off work. She had gone to two different breastfeeding clinics and was told to keep supplementing. We talked some more and I gave her my phone number. She is coming to our breastfeeding clinic tomorrow, where she can be around other mums. Her story needs to be told. She needs to process and start to heal. She has been referred back to her family doctor..by me. She has to talk about how she is feeling. More importantly, someone has to actively listen.
Our collective voice MUST change these births. Our collective voice must stop birth trauma. Our collective voice has to tell the truth – so we don’t feel isolated, abandoned and lost. Our collective voice needs to be LOUDER!!!
With much love,
Carol
Category : Blog
It’s Monday and we at Babies Naturally are grateful! I am grateful for/because:
1.) The fact that back to school this fall means I have all three of my children under one roof. My oldest is doing a work co-op from home and my younger daughter has decided to stay on in high school for one more semester. My son becomes a senior this year in high school…yikes! They really do grow up amazingly fast.
2.) The little people on my street two doors down love to come over and show my husband their new sports equipment, toys, soccer skills. They also like to excavate the frogs in our window wells and love to carry home treasures from our farm share to help their mum cook.
3.) Cooler evenings and running in the dark with an upcycled ipod, loaded with great tunes (I am particularly fond of “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5).
4.) My niece, Elizabeth….we have had some great chats on the phone over the last week. I love her and her twin, Nick more than I can say.
5.) The prospect of curried pumpkin soup and gluten free chocolate chip cookies (they are only 5 ingredients…so easy to make I will post the recipe at the end of this blog.)
6.) More of a routine and earlier bedtimes.
7.) Going to the gym with Sarah a lot this winter. We love to Zumba!
8.) Opening the windows this morning to less of a ragweed haze.
9.) The goings on of my neighbours and the children playing…which I am hearing through said open windows. It is virtually squeezing in the last day of play before school starts tomorrow.
10.) My awesome group of students. They are all truly exceptional.
11.) The new novel I am reading. Any story that starts with children has got to be good.
12.) My husband won’t travel as much this year in his job…I missed him too much last year.
Please tell me what you are grateful for…I really would love to know.
With much love,
Carol
Almond butter chocolate chip cookies
Mix 1 cup of almond butter with a 1/2 tsp. of sea salt, one egg, 3/4 cup of sucanat and 1/2 cup of gf dark chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool on rack to crisp up. Makes 18 cookies (you might want to double the recipe!)
Category : Blog
On Thursday, September 22nd we will be offering a free mum and baby bottcamp class in Hazelden Park, south of Oxford street and north of Riverside Dr. on the west side. The class will be one hour in length and you need to bring your stroller, a yoga mat and your baby! The classes will run for six weeks and we can accomodate 25 mums and babies. In order to participate, please leave your name on our blog, and then email carol@babiesnaturally.ca and in your email leave your name, your baby’s name and a contact number for us.
You will have to check the Babies Naturally facebook fan page if there is a class cancellation…we will cancel the class for bad weather – rain, thunderstorms- if we get called to a birth or instructor sickness. If we do cancel the class, there will not be a makeup available, so let’s hope the weather co-operates!
So, go ahead and leave your name on our blog and then email Carol the rest of the info to complete your registration!
okay bootcampers….go back to the Babies Naturally Facebook Fan Page and comment on today’s post…that will confirm your registration!
Category : Blog