T Minus 13 Weeks…

 

 

It seems mind boggling to me that in a mere 13 weeks (give or take one or two weeks) I will be having another baby.  Lately, my two year old has seemed younger and younger, but I’m sure that once he’s a big brother, he’ll seem so grown up! They just grow up too fast, that’s for sure.

I’m feeling really good right now, I just found a  Chiropractor that helped me with easing some aches and pains associated with pregnancy. I highly recommend Chiropractic care during pregnancy. I’m hoping that it will help with the labor part! But being able to walk without limping isn’t bad, either!

I’m also loving my midwife and the choice to homebirth.  During my last appointment, it was almost baffling when she was asking me if I wanted to take the Gestational Diabetes Test. The one where you drink that nasty stuff… I was shocked, because she asked me like it was MY CHOICE! I’m not used to having any choices during pregnancy, I’ve always just done what my assigned Doctor or Midwife told me to do, like show up at a certain time to take these tests.

She also sent me home with “home work” to read over and either refuse or sign my consent for various tests and things for the baby after he is born- like the eye ointment, the Vitamin K shot, and the heel prick. I have some research to do before I make my choice, and I’ve also been researching Circumcision.

Here is a wonderful article that totally covers any thoughts I’ve ever had about it (which I never thought about it until after my  second had his procedure done while I was in the room, and I’ve regretted it ever since).

The Circumcision Decision

I don’t want to get to deep into it, but let’s just say that this baby boy might be a little different looking than his big brothers… And I think he’ll be just fine.

So, any thoughts on any of those topics that I mentioned I have a CHOICE over? This is exactly what I wanted – to have choices—and now, I just have to Decide :)

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holiday Season… I’m looking forward to my Husband having lots of time off to relax at home- or to just be home so I can relax a little! I know after the holidays are over, the rest of the pregnancy is going to just fly by, and I have so much to do, still to prepare for this little one. Especially since he’ll be arriving in our home, and I’m a procrastinator, I need to get everything ready!

Pregnancy update and some ponderings…

 

I’m now almost 22 weeks along in pregnancy #3… My, how this one is different!  I’m having more aches and pains and am more tired than with any other pregnancies so far at this point!

But, my two little ones keep me busy, and I’m grateful the time is passing by quickly.

I’ve been pondering a lot about how I will be able to continue working after this baby comes.  I don’t have to work, and for that, I am so thankful! I love staying home with my kids, especially when they are so young… I know there are a lot of Moms out there that work out of necessity and I have so much respect for all they do. It can’t be easy.

But with our Military lifestyle, i.e., moving from state to state, not being in one place very long, it makes licensing and building clientele a little challenging! And with this pregnancy being the way it has been, there is no way that I have been able to pull myself together enough to try and work. So I’m trying to figure it all out.

The reason I would love to keep working, is because I really feel passionate about helping women educate themselves in their choices during pregnancy and childbirth, and my goal to become a hypnobirthing instructor would really allow me to help women achieve a natural birth with the tools to accomplish it in a more pain free, fear free way.  So that is on my mind for the future and I can’t wait to get more involved in that!

But for now, I’m so excited to be planning our first homebirth! I have been reading lots and lots about it, and especially reading lots of successful home birth stories.  I guess once I get into the third trimester it will really hit me that it is really happening, but I am more excited for the actual process of labor and delivery this time around than ever before!  I think it will be a really great bonding experience for our family, especially to be able to have big brothers around so soon after the new baby arrives, I just can’t wait for that moment- having all my boys together…Did I mention we are having our third BOY?!?!

I had mixed emotions at first. I really thought it was going to be a girl, and I still would love to have a daughter someday…But I am so happy and excited for this sweet baby boy to join us. He will fit right in!

Well, I have been learning lots and hope to carve some time out in the near future to share some useful links to some great articles and new information that I’ve been learning. I will do that soon!

Until then, I’ll be making my chiropractor appointments for this really intense sciatic pain, and massage for the other pains! I’m taking it easy!

Wow! Where has the time gone?

I am amazed to see how long it’s been since I updated. I apologize. I’m sure everyone’s lives are just as busy (if not more than mine), but sadly, my blogging has been on the back burner for a while!

To update on my Doula adventures, I’ve been blessed to attend/witness my first two births… Each were completely amazing but completely different in their own ways, and I learned so much.  But mostly, I learned that I have a lot to learn!

After attending the second birth, we moved into a different house, and I swear that moving across town is worse than moving across the country! At least, that’s what I remember thinking at the time… I also kept thinking about how that move was the most tiring move we’ve ever done! And we’ve moved 6 times in 5 years (2 times we moved twice in the same town), so that is saying something!  

A few days after we moved this time, though, I found out why I was so tired!

If I had known before we were supposed to move, I probably would have canceled the move!  Because now, we are back to looking for a new place to be settled into before baby #3 arrives! We are due towards the end of February, and we couldn’t be more excited! We think it’s a girl :)

Having experienced attending my first two births as a Doula, I came to the decision that I would be choosing to welcome our third one into the world in a way I have never done before…A home birth! I can’t wait to start blogging again, and share more about what I’m learning and finding out about this wonderful option that is available to us as birthing mothers!  It’s not for everyone, but I know it is for me this time around.  I am actually looking forward to birth! That seems crazy!

Stay tuned for more information regarding home birth, and other pregnancy related goodies and more!  Since it will be on my mind constantly for the next 6 months, I know I’ll be talking about it a lot.

Call now!

I’m excited to announce that I will be available to take appointments starting next week! Starting on the 26th, I’ll be working out of The Marie David Salon and Spa. I mentioned them last week, and couldn’t be more thrilled. Not only is Laura (the owner, experienced hair stylist/nail tech) totally accepting of what I’m interested in doing- prenatal massage, massage doula- she is very excited about it, and going above and beyond my expectations to accommodate me!

I’ve only ever worked out of a salon/spa set up, and I absolutely love it! Not only is there more potential for clients, it’s fun to work in that setting! 

I have my business cards coming, and I just have a few more things to get so that I’ll be ready to start working!

So friends and expectant mothers in Fayetteville,  come and get your first massage from me! I promise, you’ll love it, feel better, and wish you had gotten one sooner!

As an update, my first Doula client is ready to have her baby any day now. I know she’ll do great. I’m so excited to get to help her stay mellow!

Stay tuned for some more exciting posts!

Making Strides...

 I started out my morning with a phone call from the owner of a very nice, quaint, well established salon & day spa. She had advertised a spa room rental on Craigslist, and I called her on Saturday. I was so excited to hear back from her first thing this morning! We had a great talk, and I really liked her! I'm going to go in tomorrow evening and check it out. I'm really positive about this, because I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how this is all going to work.

I would love to have 3-5 clients at a time for Massage/Doula Services. But that amount of clients wouldn't be enough to necessitate me renting a room to work in. That is enough clients, however, that I wouldn't want to work solely from home. I'm hoping to generate some word of mouth business, and I'm just not comfortable having strangers come into my home, or me go to others' homes that I don't know personally. 

After talking to the owner, it sounds very promising. Not only would I have a key, I set my own hours, can have my own clients, but they are also turning people away on a weekly basis, because they only have one other therapist who is working there. So I would be getting business from them, as well! That would more than pay for the cost of a room rental and be a great opportunity for me to make a nice income.  

The only last thing to take care of is finding someone to watch my kids. I'm looking for a married, no kids adult, or a college student. I'm hoping that just twice or 3 times a week, maybe in the morning one day, and during naptime until Roland comes home from work the other days. I'll schedule all of my appointments during when the nanny/sitter will be here. It still just really makes me stressed thinking of leaving my kids. But I know this is something I need to do, and there isn't a job that I could get working for someone else that would be as flexible, nor would I love it as much. 

I'll be getting my NC state license this month, I hope. For some reason, maybe because I've lived in so many states, I thought that they only required the National Certification, I thought I read that somewhere once. But when I checked this morning, I do need to apply and pay to be licensed here. Oops! That'll take about a month, and I hope by then, I'll have everything else lined up, so I can jump right in!

Stay tuned...I need to figure out business cards, start leaving pamphlets at doctors offices, and just get out there in the world and promote myself--- VERY much out of my comfort level! Wish me luck :)

Alaina 

Getting Started…

 

I can’t tell you how excited I am with the creation of this blog. I guess it just makes my plans and visions seem more real, all the sudden.  I have a few more details to iron out, and I’m hoping that soon I will be getting myself out there and getting some new clients. 

I currently have a lovely client, and am so excited to be working with her! It was fate that we met and both had the same childbirth philosophies, and she happened to be looking for a doula right at the same time I started my training. Now that I am done, we are 4 weeks away from her due date, and I can’t wait to put this all into practice!

I just wanted to share some information that I learned from my Massage Doula course.  The woman who designed it, Judith Koch, is such an inspiration to me. She was a pioneer in combining the massage therapy and doula fields,  and I’m so grateful to be learning from her.

Benefits of a labor support (doula):

Shortens Labor

Length of labor, study#1: No Doula, 19 hours/ Doula, 9 hours

Length of labor, study #2:No Doula, 15.5 hours/ Doula, 7.7 hours

Length of labor, study #3:No Doula, 9.4 hours/ Doula, 7.4 hours

Increases your odds of a natural birth from 12% with no Doula, to 55% with a Doula.

Reduces requests for epidurals (which are indicative of the level of pain being experienced) from 55% with no Doula to 8% with a Doula.

Reduces the need to use oxytocin, (a drug used to stimulate labor that is not progressing normally) from 44% with no Doula, to 17% with a Doula

Reduces the use of forceps from 26% with no Doula to 8% with a Doula

Reduces the need for C-Section from 18% with no Doula, to 8% with a Doula

Mothers experienced several benefits: They reported bonding more quickly with their baby, could take their babies home sooner, and had fewer maternal fevers when supported by a Doula.

Cost Savings: It is estimated that a reduction of Cesarean sections from the current 20 to 25% average down to 10% would mean a savings of about $3,500  per birth, more than $2 billion annually.  A reduction of epidurals from the current 80% down to 10% would result in an average savings of $1,300 per delivery, saving more than $4 billion annually.

(Source:  Mothering the Mother, M. Klaus, M.D., J. Kennell, M.D., P. Klaus. Second edition of this book is called The Doula Book)

The results don’t surprise me at all. While I didn’t have a Doula present at either of my children’s birth, I agree that it makes all the difference in the world to have another support person. I also wanted to mention that a Doula isn’t there to replace your spouse or significant other, should they want to be there.  There is actually evidence that proves when a Doula is present, your spouse or significant other is likely to be more involved than if a Doula were not there.  More on that, later.

So thanks for stopping by, and sorry for all the construction that is/will be happening on the blog in the next little while.  I’m doing it on my own for now, but hope to get busy enough in the future to upgrade! 

Making of a Mellow Mom…

 

I would love to describe myself as mellow.  While others may want to sound more serious and straight-laced, I enjoy sitting back and enjoying what life brings to me. To me, that is mellow. Being comfortable and happy!

Of course, one can’t be mellow at all times. There are times when we do need to be serious, hard, and not so laid back. But pregnancy and childbirth are not  times to be uptight and rigid. We need to be mellow, relaxed, and be able to adapt to whatever our bodies are telling us we need to do. That, in a nutshell, is my philosophy. I  want to use this blog as a way to share what I have learned, from my experience as a Massage Therapist, Mother, Student, and as a woman who is interested in being the one who gets to decide what happens to my body.

If it sounds like I am a feminist, well, I guess I am. But I am also a really Mellow Mom who just wants to help other Mothers  realize that if you take care of yourself, relax, and enjoy the journey, you will accomplish amazing things!