Happy Birthday Mom
by Mamaoftwo on August 28th, 2006
filed under Celebrations, Pics, Updates
The summer seems to have just flown by! But it always seems to be the end of summer for me after my birthday.. We had lots of fun all July and August so far…with beach days, playing in the backyard on the slide, guided walks in the parks, exploring life and the world around us, we have not had any time to stop and blog much at all.
The kids are getting old enough that I have upgraded (or downgraded, I’m not sure?) to being called “Mom”
My Birthday was on the 13th of August, and the boy fed me cheerios by hand (an 18 monther’s version of breakfast in bed) and Butterfly made me a cake. Her very first, of which she is very proud, as you can see by the smile in the pic below.! I did the gathering of ingredients and she did all the work (aside from hot oven stuff)
The result was a delicious lemon poppyseed bunt cake with lemon icing, topped off with 32 sprinkles just for me 
Helper boy got in on the action and licked the beater
It was a good birthday
Breastfeeding = Love
by Mamaoftwo on May 27th, 2006
filed under Updates
Last night my 15 month old son was hugging his Linus Doll (from the Peanuts cartoon gang) and he gave him to me. I kissed Linus and gave him back and said to my son “Show Linus you love him.”
So, he took the doll and lifted up his shirt and put Linus to his chest and patted his bum like I do when breastfeeding him!!
It was so sweet!!!! I near melted right there on the spot!
Breastfeeding is showing your babies you love them
Mother’s Day
by Mamaoftwo on May 17th, 2006
filed under Celebrations, Outings, Pics, Updates
The flowers DH and the kids picked for me Wild flowers are my favorite
It was kind of a mother’s weekend for me. On Saturday I attended a local fundraiser for a midwifery practise starting up, with a friend and our two babies in mae ties attached at the hip It was nice to get out and do a “women” thing together, as I don’t often get the opportunity to do so with needing to care for my disabled husband and 2 kids daily.
When we walked into the banquet hall, It was a room filled with slung babies from ages 3 weeks to 3 years old. Breasts were unhindered and milk was flowing everywhere. It was a sight to see! We both looked at each other and said, “THIS is how it should be”!
It was magical for me to witness and be a part of. Along with the delightful squeals of babies, laughter and even a few cries, everyone smiled and acknowledged the baby. No one turned to “shhhh” the baby or complain that they could not hear the speaker when the baby cried, or yelled out in delight.
Everyone was understanding when a mom got up to walk to the back of the room. By the end of the keynote speakers presentation there was a line of moms and babies ( and even a dad) slinging and swaying back and forthin time with each other to sooth and calm their little ones. It was like a dance, and it was beautiful.
In fact with all the baby noises, the keynote speaker would often stop and address the child personally at times, smile and then go on with his speech.
And who was the perfect speaker to have at a midwifery fundraiser, in a room filled with breastfeeding, slung babies?
None other than Dr. Jack Newman.
We all listened as he joyfully and honestly shared of himself his knowledge of breastfeeding, how weighting babies for knowledge of growth is useless, how growth charts comparing children are redundant, on starting solids when the child shows signs of being ready instead of a certain age, and how baby cereal should be skipped going straight to real whole foods. We listened to his views on child birth and safety and how the medical establishments are holding us as mothers back, hindering our breastfeeding by forcing us to pump in early days to measure ounces etc. He was a delight to listen to. I could have sat there and listened to him all day long.
I spoke to him briefly before and after his speech and gave him some archived copies of Mother’s Milk Magazine which he was happily a part of from the beginning for the “Ask The Doctor” segment. It was an honour to finally meet him in person after three years of email correspondence.
He never leaves you feeling like he is a doctor know it all, who must be listened to, he is a peer and an equal, though is still found it impossible to call him Jack. To me he is the example of what ALL doctors should be, regardless of which field of medicine they are in. He never stops learning and he freely admits he is not perfect or right all the time. That is what a doctor should be, a person who listens and shares what they know to allow you to make the right choices. I know many with an MD behind their name who could stand to learn from him.
If you have never heard Dr. Newman speak in person, don’t miss the opportunity if it arises! He is a wonderful soul, teacher, and guide
cutting a path through the jungle of misinformation and malpractice of women, babies and breastfeeding in our medical society today. He is cutting a path to allow us as women and mothers to see our way through it easier.
For me as a buddhist mother, it was fitting that on Wesak, a buddhist holiday to celebrate the life of buddha,who was a wonderful teacher and guide from centuries ago, that I was in the presence of such a wonderful teacher and guide willing to share his truth with us.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be there yesterday among such powerful, positive energy.
On Sunday Afternoon we went for a drive to our favorite spot by the lake and just explored. Dh and DD picked me a bunch of wile flowers and I sat and tried to identify them with our wildlife and plants book.
We saw a quit large garter snake and DH got some cool pics of him as well. Hopefully we’ll post them on DD’s blog as she now has expressed an interest in blogging what she learns through homeschooling, in case other kids might like to learn too. The cool part of that is she will need to research the stuff to teach others about it in her blogs, so she will be learning too Gotta love how life works that way
First 2006 BBQ & Beach Day
by Mamaoftwo on May 5th, 2006
It was a nice day, so we packed up the mini BBQ and headed to the beach for a first bbq/beach day of the year.
The beach was quiet with just us. With the summer coming up fast we won’t have many days like these, enjoying the beach and the sunset alone. Dh hooked up the remote and tripod and caught a family picture.
A Home Waterbirth In Pictures
by PolarBear on February 4th, 2005
filed under Milestones, Updates
Here is a short picture summary of the birth of our new son on February 2nd, 2005. No freaking out allowed, if you do you’ll be sent to the principal’s office. All pictures will pop large versions in new windows. Before I go any further, I want to be sure to thank our neighbour, Sonya, who was amazing through the whole process – she took care of our daughter while her Mommy and Daddy were very busy, and it would not have been the same (if not impossible) without her. Mom went into early labour on Monday evening, dilating to 5 cm almost right away and then stayed there with baby slightly asynclitic and resting around the pubic symphysis. Active labour picked up on Wednesday afternoon. The water broke at 3:45 pm Eastern, and that’s about where we begin…
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Mom makes her best pushy face… baby is moving down but much slower than her first baby who was born 3 weeks sooner, so she is working hard. It is 4:26 pm. |
| A brief moment of rest as the last contraction ends, but more are coming – one almost on top of the other. Mom says, “I am never doing this again!” She is certain she makes sure that everyone present knows it, as well as the neighbours and anyone who may have been passing by in a vehicle on the highway 2 kilometres away. Big sister watches, wishing she could jump in the pool while the midwife twiddles her thumbs patiently. |  |
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Our daughter decides she wants to be a 4-year-old Lamaze Coach. “Its OK, Mommy, you can do it,” she says as she massages her Mommy’s arm since Daddy is a bit busy providing perineal support and trying to make sure baby’s head is still moving down. It is 4:31 pm. |
| The baby is out! And IT’S A BOY! It is now 4:38 pm. Big sister takes her first look at a new baby brother while the midwife reaches in to check his APGAR score (1 minute was 8, 5 minutes was 9, for those who may have been curious). |  |
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At 4:44 pm, Mom looks down and she and Daddy officially name their son. They’ve had names picked out for a long, long time and waited for this moment to find out which one they would use – the boy one or the girl one. No one wants to look in the pool any more. |
| Big sister gets in close and observes how he has such a cute, tiny nose. Little brother is only 16 minutes old right now, but everyone is in love with him. Mom has already forgotten how much work she just did, at least for the moment. |  |
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We wait for the cord to stop pulsing, making sure baby gets everything he needs from Mom before sending him into the world to survive on his own. After 20 minutes, at around 4:59 pm, it stops pulsing, so with big sister checking his work closely, Daddy clamps it with a plastic cord clamp and a haemostat… |
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…then big sister has her biggest moment: she cuts the cord to separate baby from Mommy. This is no token cut like often done in hospitals, this is the real thing, the first cut, and she does a great job! She has been waiting to do this for the last 2 days. It is now 5:00 pm. |
| Then, she finally gets to admire her work at 5:34 pm – baby is 56 minutes old and she can finally hold him now that he is all checked over and not attached to Mom any more. Ever had a 4-year-old beg for a toy in the store? Well, imagine that only with wanting to hold a baby. |  |
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At about 1 hour 45 minutes old, baby boy rests on Mommy’s chest. He was supposed to nurse to stimulate oxytocin and make the placenta come faster. He opts for a nap instead, so Mommy has to do it on her own – and she does, about 15 minutes later at 6:38pm. |
| So, we find out he weighs 4000 grams or 8 lbs 13 oz, and he is 51 cm or 20 inches long. Done with the day’s work, everyone tries to rest a little. Mommy gets hungry at 10:45 pm, though and only 6 hours after delivering a baby, she drives off to get everyone McDonald’s with the neighbour and daughter in tow. Daddy and new baby pass out on couch, because only Mommy is a real superhero. |