Category Archive

childbirth

How to find the perfect midwife or OBGYN for your birth

You have mentioned the necessity of finding a health practitioner you trust and feel a connection with. Do you have any tips for how to go about this? Are there particular questions you recommend asking to help “screen” potential midwives and doctors? Any responses that should trigger a warning? The very first step is to […]

A premature baby can change your entire birth plan

Our baby, Jasper, was born on 27 March 2009 in Portland, Oregon. My husband and I moved to Portland in December of 2008, and I hooked up with the nurse midwives at OHSU for our birth shortly thereafter. Before going into his birth story, let me preface this by saying that my husband, Sean, and […]

A fast and furious second home birth

July 18th, 2009 – the day I had guessed my baby would make her grand entrance, and by 5pm I was showing no signs of labor whatsoever and feeling pretty discouraged. I was only six days overdue, as I had fully expected, but my parents had to travel back to Wisconsin the next morning, and […]

Eating placenta rocked my post-partum world

So, while I know it’s not for everyone (and it did smell kinda like funky beef jerky) eating my placenta really turned my birth recovery up a notch.

I had a horrible pregnancy, and I can’t wait to try again!

A lot of women I know talk about having the perfect pregnancy, the perfect birth, the perfect baby. I was one of them. In the beginning of my pregnancy, everything WAS perfect. I was healthy, my growing baby boy was healthy, my hubby, Devin, was amazing, our families were thrilled, friends were ecstatic, life couldn’t […]

Beautiful belly pendants celebrate the awesomeness of birth

Looking for a unique and special BlessingWay gift or a way to show appreciation for your dedicated Midwife or Doula? Maybe you yourself need a talisman in the birth room to give you strength to push that baby out. When I was preparing for the birth of my daughter, I wore one of these beautiful […]

Facing your birth fears

Q. We are planning our first homebirth with our 2nd child due in February in a state that has laws preventing homebirth. I am so excited to not be in a hospital setting….but I am becoming consumed with fear. Fear that something is going to go wrong, that we’ll have to transport to the hospital […]

Yes, it IS possible to not know you were pregnant

The woman started the ultrasound and said, “Yeah, there is a heart beat.” My doctor in the ER asked how far along I was, and that’s when it all started to sink in. The ultrasound tech said 38 to 39 weeks. I kind of understood what they were saying, and I soon realized I was going to need to tell my parents they were going to be grandparents that very day.