Bring Birth Home Wants YOU! Guest Bloggers Wanted

31 August 2010

Bring Birth Home is looking for guest blogging mamas!

Are you interested in sharing
your passion for home birth, breastfeeding, baby-wearing or other attachment parenting issues on Bring Birth Home?

This is your chance to become a part of the BBH guest blogging team is here.

What we’d like to see at BBH:

  • Inspirational, educational home birth informationif it’s pro-home birth, it’s a go.
  • Babywearing posts - this can be your personal experience wearing your baby and/or your favorite baby carriers and slings. Story or review.
  • Book reviewsshare your favorite pregnancy and/or childbirth preparation book with an audience of captivated mothers to be. They’re looking for first hand experience!
  • Home Birth After Cesareanhow empowering! Tell us your story!
  • Breastfeedingdo you love breastfeeding? Are you practicing extended breastfeeding? What have been your challenges? Favorite memories? Tips for new moms?
  • From hospital to homedid you have a hospital birth before a home birth? Share your story with us and describe how you made the decision to birth at home. Please feel free to compare your experiences.
  • Bed-sharing - do you share your bed with your child(ren)? Was this planned or did it just happen? How do you practice safe bed-sharing?
  • Home birth transfer storiesyou were planning a home birth but transferred to the hospital. It happens. There are women out there wanting to connect with other women who have transferred from home to hospital. Sharing your story can be very healing.
  • Gentle parentinghow are you raising your children in a non-disciplinary way? What resources have you found to expand communication and cooperation within your family in a peaceful way?
  • Elimination Communicationwhat has been your experience? We want to know!
  • Vaccinationswhat is your stance? No vacc, selective or different schedule?

If this sounds like fun, Bring Birth Home would love to have you on board.

You don’t have to have your own blog when you can use Bring Birth Home as your platform!

Please email Kaitlin at KaitlinRose@BringBirthHome.com for a nice conversation and further instruction.

Babywearing, Breastfeeding, Guest Writers, Home Birth Advocacy, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Reviews

1 Comment

Soothing Heartbreak (Tantrums)

28 August 2010

Slowly but surely, I have begun realizing my baby is becoming a little girl.

I can literally see her little brain working.

Behind her gigantic, bright eyes,
there is a lot of inquisition, curiosity and independence. Everyday, my daughter boldly goes where she has never been before, whether it is picking out new books to read, or sliding down the bigger of the slides at the park.

While most encounters as we phase from baby to toddler are absolutely heart melting and exciting, there are of course challenges. The biggest challenge we are currently facing, is a phase I have been dreading about parenthood: tantrums.

Before I tell you more about those tantrums, let me first describe my daughter.

Ella Rose is almost nineteen months old and understands a lot for her age. She can say over 50 words and has started putting little sentences of three words together (ie: dog. woof. come – it’s adorable). Some recent accomplishments include stepping down stairs unassisted, telling me when she’s going potty and sliding on her own at the park.

Ella is still nursing – we are practicing child-lead weaning, and we bed-share, thanks to our big family bed.

Now, about these tantrums.

First of all, they’re not that bad.
Really. There is no throwing down on the floor kicking and screaming. No flailing, no biting, hitting or slamming of doors. But there are tears. Massive, sad tears.

Let me paint this picture for you (keep in mind Ella is my first child – this is all new to me!):

We live in a friendly, open block. Very nice neighbors. A few days ago, Ella and I were taking a walk. She didn’t want to ride in the stroller, so we sauntered down the sidewalk, stopping here and there to admire stones and pine cones.

When we made it to the our next door neighbor’s driveway, Ella walked up toward the house. There were things to investigate. The first thing she spotted immediately had her heart. I saw the spark in her eyes. She picked up the pace and grabbed it – a beautiful, shiny green child size rake. Oh man. So cool. Ella loves rakes, brooms and mops.

Ella pushed the rake back and forth in their drive for a while. I sat there, watching her, thinking how cute she was and enjoying the simple pleasure she derived from pushing the rake.

Then Ella began raking toward the sidewalk.

Uh-oh. I knew right then she wanted to take it home. She wanted this rake forever. Breathing out tension, I calmly told Ella we had to say bye bye to the rake. Ella looked at me and said, “neh,” while shaking her head. When I approached her, she ran.

Crap. This isn’t going to be pretty.

I jogged over and scooped Ella up in my arms. She screamed in defiance, arching her back and kicking her legs. “Neh!!!” she protested. “We can’t take the rake home. Let’s say bye bye to the rake.”

No good.

I had to pry her little death-gripped fingers off the rake. She fought hard. And when the rake was finally placed back where it came from, she sobbed, looking over my shoulder at her long lost love.

These are the kind of tantrums I’m talking about. They are no fun, and depending on the day and circumstances, can be quite frequent.

I needed advice on how to handle these situations, so I posed the question over at the BBH Facebook page. I can always rely on those ladies for some kick-butt experience based wisdom. They came through for me, offering tons of helpful tips, even website and book resources! Love those ladies.

Have you had trouble handling tantrums? It’s challenging! Check out the BBH Facebook Fans Advice and/or join the conversation and tells us about your experience!

Motherhood

2 Comments

BBH Vlog #5.5: I Love Making Bread!

25 August 2010

I love making, (and eating) bread.

For the past couple of months, I have been making a lot of bread. In fact, I haven’t bought a single loaf! Yay! It is so good, so healthy, and super cheap! I have figured out how to bake 8-10 organic stone ground wheat loaves for the price of two.

Watch this short video (too short to be an entire video blog, hence the #5.5) for a peek at one of my glorious whole wheat breads. There will be a how-to video coming soon!

Video Blog, What's Cookin?

1 Comment

Home Birthing Moms Unite to Share Their Reasons for Loving Home Birth

18 August 2010

I bring you this post in a direct follow-up to yesterday’s post, “Top Ten Reasons Home Birth Results in a Better Birth Experience Than Hospital Birth.

The overwhelming number of brilliant comments left at both the BBH Blog and on Facebook was enough to create an entirely new post highlight them.

I purposely only posted 10 reasons why home birth is so fantastic to incite other home birth mamas to share their reasons why the experience of birth at home trumps hospital birth emotionally and physically. I’m so glad they did!

In this video I share my many thanks to these wonderful home birthing women! BBH Vlog #5: Home Birth Comment Queens


Here are just some of the reasons why home birth is so special to so many women:

Ice-cream sundaes about 14 hours in…just cus you feel like it!” – Sandi

You won’t get bullied, yelled at, coerced into interventions you don’t want, birth raped.” – Gaylee

After a home birth, your baby stays with you to nurse & bond without interruption. He can look at you with clear eyes, smell you & your home instead of sterilized hospital linens, hear your breathing, heartbeat, and voice instead of some nurses who’s taken him away to be cleaned.” – PocketBuddha

“Having my baby in MY OWN BED! and no one to wake me up in the middle of the night to …. take my tempature!!” – Tammie

Your children can see how a baby should be born; can welcome their sibling into the world and don’t have to be without their Mummy at all.” -Caroline

No nurses constantly asking you if you want an epidural or telling you to lie down! No beeping machines to make your nerves go crazy. No shift changes. You can climb in your own comfy bed after the birth! Baby never leaves your side.” – Danialle

Read the original post here and add your comment! Top Ten Reasons Why Home Birth Results in a Better Birth Experience Than Hospital Birth.

Home Birth Advocacy

2 Comments

BBH Vlog #5: Home Birthing Comment Queens

18 August 2010

Welcome to the Bring Birth Home Video Blog #5.

Today’s message includes two recent blog posts I’ve written lately – A Guide to Home Birth for First Time Moms and Top Ten Reasons Why Home Birth Results in a Better Birth Experience Than Hospital Birth.

Wonderful comments were left by home birthing mamas eager to share their advice and opinions with the community. Their words will help many women who come to the BBH Blog to read about home birth and gain insight and perspective on whether home birth is right for them.

Watch the short video below to see just how much your words of wisdom will help the cause of home birth advocacy!

Follow this link to be taken to the follow-up post to yesterday’s “Top Ten” list post > “Home Birth Moms Unite to Share Their Reasons for Loving Home Birth.”

Video Blog

1 Comment

Top Ten Reasons Why Home Birth Results in a Better Birth Experience Than Hospital Birth

18 August 2010

*list organized in no particular order

1. Home birth dramatically decreases risk for unnecessary obstetric and/or medical interventions, which increases safety and quality of birth.

2. Choosing your own care provider for your home birth means interviewing several midwives and deciding on someone who meets your emotional and physical needs.

3. After you give birth at home, enjoy a home cooked meal prepared by a loved one.

4. When you give birth at home, you decide who attends your birth. There are familiar faces of family and friends…and even your pet!

5. If you want to, take the clocks off the walls. Let go of time altogether and allow your body to move at it’s own speed.

6. The floors in your home are wood or carpet, not linoleum. The lights can be dim, (candles!) rather than glaring or florescent.

7. No interruptions at a home birth. Turn off the cell phones, pages and beepers. There is only the sound of your voice, soft music and the hushed voices of your birth team.

8. After you give birth in your home, you will see the location where you gave birth to your child and can tell them the story when they are older.

9. Feel the freedom of nakedness at home; your naked body and emotions.

10. During home birth, you are the boss. You call the shots. Who comes, who stays, what position you give birth in and where, how many times you get in and out of the tub, and who catches your baby.

Home Birth Advocacy

19 Comments