Both Sides Of The Fence

I am a self-proclaimed natural childbirth enthusiast and probably more accurately, advocate.  With 3 natural childbirths under my belt, I am the go-to person for advice, suggestions and encouragement among my pregnant friends.  I am halfway through the certification process as a childbirth educator and look forward to the day that I begin to teach classes full of women about the process of birth and the miraculous way the body is created to sustain and birth a child.

I absolutely believe that all women are capable of delivering a baby without drugs.

I also know that not all women want that.

I won't pretend by saying I understand.  But that's ok, because it's not my body, not my experience.

Do I think I can be a well-rounded, natural childbirth advocate and educator and yet be OK with women choosing to use drugs and interventions in labor?  I hope so.  That is my goal.

Because the bottom line is, regardless of the choices you make in the management of your labor, every woman deserves to be educated so you make those choices based on knowledge, not on second-hand information, ancedotal stories and blind faith in those in charge of your care.

I'm not gonna lie, any time I have the opportunity to help a woman see that she is able to do labor on her own, I feel a little thrill.  Only because I know what she is about to experience and the view from the post-NCB mountaintop is indescribable.  But the thrill I get when a woman logically weighs the risks and benefits of an intervention and makes an educated decision to proceed based on her assessment of those risks/benefits and her own desires for her child's birth is equally important (wow, sorry that was a loooong sentence!).  Because even though that woman may not choose to birth the way I did, she educated herself and made decisions to help her reach her desired outcome.  And that means I've done my job well.

Honestly, it's hard to be on both sides of the fence, both professionally and personally.  Childbirth is one of those hot topics that really pushes buttons and gets people fired up.  There is a lot of evidence on both (all?  Because of course there's more than just two ways to birth) sides and everyone comes to the table with their own biases, experiences, prejudices and dreams.  I'm not sure anyone can be completely non-partial when it comes to birth, especially women who have experienced it.

My hope is to not perpetuate the argument but rather halt it with education.  Because once a person is educated, there's really no room for argument on whether or not they made the best choice.

So, if you were to walk into one of my childbirth classes what would you learn?  You would learn first and fore-mostly about the physiology of birth, and about the beautifully intricate way your body is created to support labor.  Because the class is geared towards natural birth, you would learn about the mental game that goes along with the management of labor and techniques to use to help you cope.  You would learn about all interventions that might be offered to you at some point, and the risks and benefits that go along with each one.  But hopefully in addition to all of this, you would learn that you are an amazingly, powerful, inspired human being who was created to sustain life and birth it.  All the tools are there.  You just need to know how to use them.

My friends, tell me about your experience with childbirth education.  Was it well rounded?  One sided?  Did you walk away feeling confident or more nervous than ever?  In retrospect, is there any one thing you wish the class would have covered?

Do You Have To Be So 2?

Dear Princess #4,

I know this 2 thing is sort of new to you.

I have to say though, that you can't entirely play innocent.

I mean, you've got 3 older sisters who have been more than happy to show you how to act.

Maybe that's part of the problem.

You see, the constant screaming when you don't get your way isn't working for me.

The outright defiant refusal to come to me when I need to change your diaper is annoying.

(not to mention stinky)

The insistence that I let you do EVERYTHING is getting old.

You don't let me cuddle you anymore when I rock you to sleep.

You prefer to sit next to me in the chair, your little legs barely long enough to stick out over the edge.

You fight with me for control of the toothbrush,

(a fight you will not win by the way - mommy is not paying for fillings for baby teeth!)

You incessantly demand, "Mommy, 'mere!" (Mommy, come here!) and "Ho-dew!" (Hold you!)

and you usually do not care if I'm in the middle of something (ahem).

All I have to say is,

it's a good thing you're cute.


ABC's and Itsy Bitsy from planet pink on Vimeo.


My friends, do you have a 2 year old who is oh so very 2?  What is the best and worst of being 2?

Things That Make My Heart Go Pitter-Pat

It's Friday and that means, well, not too much to me since the Hubs doesn't get weekends like most people do.  But nonetheless, Friday is the precursor to Saturday, which ALWAYS means lazing around in pj's watching cartoons and doing generally nothing.  So, yay for the day before Saturday!

I'm feeling kinda lazy myself and trying to come up with interesting things to blog about.  But nothing comes to mind.  I wish I was like this super organized blogger who had a whole calendar of topics filled out, but I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants.  Which means that sometimes I bore myself (at this point you're probably nodding your head and saying to yourself, "so THAT explains it!").

So today, I feel like sharing just a couple things that I'm loving lately.  And without further adieu...

Seriously?  WHERE have I been all my life?  I just started watching Season 1 and O.M.G!  It's like, deliciously catty and marvelously satisfying.  Marc and Amanda are easily in my top TV duos.  Love them.  Love this show.  I may or may not be watching at least 2-3 episodes a night...

which brings me to...

God bless you the creators of Netflix, for giving a sadly behind the times mama a chance to catch up on pop culture hits.  Who watches stuff prime time these days anyway?  Now if only they would pick up American Idol...

Now I've already established that I'm obsessive about coffee.  I'm *almost* that obsessive about creamer too.  This little baby above, one of my faves.  I get all giddy when Starbuck's breaks out the red holiday cups because I know that means that Peppermint Mocha's are back in season!  So of course it's equally depressing when the dead of January hits and the jolly red cups are no more.  The same is true for the Coffee-mate verison.  In December I stocked up on this creamer, so I'd have plenty to get me through the cold winter months when it was absent from the store shelves.  I got about 6 in my fridge before I noticed the new addition to the label:  NEW Now Enjoy It All Year!

Oops.

Alot of the bloggers I frequent are starting to do vlogs here and there, which I find SO fun.  I'm loving getting to see more personality from my favorite bloggers.  I'm still a little wigged out about doing one myself but maybe... someday...

OK, that's it.  I could probably think of more, but I'm boring myself.  Ha.  

This Sucks

Ask me how much gas you can get for $20 these days...

About 6.25 gallons.

And in a mini van, how full does that get the tank?

About a quarter.

And how long does a quarter tank of gas last us?

About 2-3 days.

Pretty sure my gas budget doesn't cover this.

UPDATE:  In the 3 hours since I first took that picture, the price at the same gas station jumped 6 cents.  Sigh.

My friends, I know we're on the low end here, how high has your gas gone?  Anyone else wishing they lived near a subway system right about now?

Breakthroughs

I've been on quite a little journey with God recently.  I suppose that if you're a follower of Christ, you could say your whole life is a journey with God, but if we're really honest, aren't there specific moments for everyone where you feel like God is definitely trying to teach you something, or speak to you?

That's where I'm at.

I've always been in a relationship with Christ, He's been a constant in my life since a young age.  But there have definitely been times when that relationship has grown stagnant and stale.  Like any relationship, you get out of it what you put in to some extent, and I'm not always great at putting in.  I'd say I was at a real high point when I was in college.  I was focused on my future, and constantly seeking God's will for my life and desiring to walk with Him.  Of course, at that point in my life the most pressing issue on my plate was writing papers and finals.

Life gets a little more complicated than that, doesn't it?

And it's funny how the more complicated it gets, and easily the more I need Him, the less I seem to be able to find time to seek Him.

The first part of this year I knew something needed to change.  I felt lost, like I was spinning my wheels. Directionless.  I knew God, but I felt like He was more of a distant relative or an acquaintance, someone I knew once.  The kind of people you have on your Facebook friend list, but never speak to or reach out to.  And likewise they never speak to you.

Ouch.

It's kind of shocking when you realize it's been awhile since you've heard God speak to you.

I had a list of excuses a mile long.  Reasons why I wasn't hearing from Him, reasons why I just didn't have the time to seek Him.  It was just a bunch of bull.  Just some lame excuses from someone who was too busy trying to do life on her own (unsuccessfully I might add).

I decided it was time to drop the act.  I was at a cross roads.  Either get real and get serious or give it up.  Because the thing is, I know God is calling me to more than just a mediocre life of following Him.  He gave his Son.  He sacrificed Everything... just so I could have a mediocre life?  I think not.  Just so I could mindlessly go through the motions?  No way.

We are all called to a much higher purpose, and I for one am tired of settling for less.

It hasn't been all sunshine and butterflies.  In fact, I'd say that present circumstances have actually gotten more difficult as I've strived to reclaim my relationship with Christ.  But isn't that exactly when God's glory shines brighter?  When I am at my end, then it's no longer me and my own strength but the Holy Spirit living and breathing through me.  And there is hope in that.  And peace.  And joy.  I'm no longer spinning my wheels.  My direction is Him.  And that, in my opinion, is a much better place to be.

My friends, I know this post is not the norm on my blog.  I've always been hesitant to share too much of my heart for Christ, for fear of losing readers who do not share the same love, because I value everyone who spends some of their precious time in my little corner of the world.  But I would be doing myself a disservice if I did not at times share where I'm at spiritually, because it is the core of who I am.  And as this post demonstrates, it is becoming even moreso.  This blog will remain a place where I can express all facets of myself as a mother to 4 princesses.  So that means posts on potty training failures, preteen anxieties, small parenting victories and yes, spiritual breakthroughs.  Because it's all a part of me.  I appreciate your company on this journey called life.  :-)