5k baby! (not the exercise kind)

Yesterday my blog reached over the 5,000 mark for all time hits...I think that is super cool for the short amount of time I've been blogging!  I hope one day I laugh at how "cute" it was that I was so excited to reach 5K, lol

What started out as an attempt to preserve and promote natural birth...ended up morphing into just me promoting the idea of wanting a better birth experience all the way around. I hope I have inspired women to have a voice in their birth and have provided some thought provoking topics and info that help with decisions you might face when having a baby.  

I really like where the blog has headed because the last thing I want is to contribute to the "Mommy Wars" over who's right and wrong...let alone make a Mother feel bad for the choice she made for the birth of her baby. 

The Fam & Da belly

Since starting this blog, it has opened a world of conversations with women when they run into me...telling me their birth stories and what they wished they had known and what they would have done different. They truly find value in what my goal is....to improve the stories of birth that women will share with each other in the future.  

Something that I do want to try to figure out how to improve, as well, is 99% of people's reaction upon hearing the words natural childbirth, midwife, home birth...They make a face...like a scrunched up face and then shake their head and wave their arms like they dont want to hear nothing about that... I really dont appreciate that, 9 times out of 10 when people see this conversation-starter-of-a-baby belly they start asking all kinds of questions,  Who is my Doctor?  What hospital am I going to go to? .... and then have THAT reaction to my answers...its just plain rude...I dont know how to avoid it though...I'm not going to lie just to make them more comfortable, maybe I will just slap them... I mean, I dont make a face when people talk about so-and-so scheduling their induction....even though I have opinions on that....

Back to what I was saying, lol....sorry about the tangent.
This blog has brought me a lot of joy and has made me very proud and I wanted to thank all of you who read it regularly and share it with others...Shout out to the readers in Germany as well, danke schön!!

I like to refer to my readers as the strong, silent type but I am hoping more and more of you feel comfortable commenting...sharing your take on the things I post. 

Some of my friends say leaving a comment looks confusing,  but here's how to do it....

You can either select Name or Anonymous from the drop down menu

Put your name, no url is required, but if you have a blog put it on there so I can check it out!

Click publish!

Success!

Birth Photography

From Kellie: I am so excited to have a birth photographer at baby # 2's birth!! Whitney sent me pics from her first birth session and the pics & video are so beautiful!! The bonding and teamwork between husband and wife, the love and support from her Doula & Birth Team.....to have actual images to go with those moments you re-live over and over in your mind....so very special!!!
Makes me even more excited to see what she captures at my birth!

From Whitney:

My second birth experience was quite different from my first. One, I wasn’t the one giving birth! Very good friends graciously gave me the chance to pursue a dream of mine, to be a birth photographer. I received a text message early Saturday morning, “Today might be the day!” I was so excited! I waited to hear more from the mom, but she had other things on her mind. They notified me when they were getting close to leaving for the hospital. At this point I was thinking, “ok, I am an hour away, but they would probably have a long day ahead of them.” It was 1:00pm. I was very nervous, but arrived at 2:20. The Mom was very focused and working hard. By 3pm she was already pushing!!! And at 3:11 Adella was born. It was a successful natural childbirth using the Bradley method - 11 hours and 20 minutes total.
In that moment I realized this was a calling. This is what I need to do with the talents God has blessed me with. There is nothing in this world that can compare to the moment when a parent meets their newborn baby. This is what I want to capture. Raw, natural, unconditional love between parents, between a child and a mother and father. 

If you or someone you know might be interested in having their birth captured, please have them call me at 979-540-7168. 

~Whitney Faske

www.faskephotography.com
Read Whitney's Birth Story Here

From the Proud Papa:

My wife wanted a natural birth. That's what we prepared for and we were blessed to have as textbook a birth as we could have ever hoped for. My Wife was an absolute champ through labor and delivery. She made it look easy but she swears it wasn't. Adella Pearl was born on 4/19/14 at 3:11 PM after about 11 hours of labor.

Whitney Faske agreed to document the birth for us and we weren't 100% sure we wanted a photographer in the room but decided to try it. We are both so glad we did. Whit did a fantastic job. Neither of us noticed her moving around the room and she got great pictures. Sales pitch over. 

me complaining

Everything is getting on my nerves....

Like my Husband....at night, before I go to bed, I set the thermostat to my preference for comfortable sleeping....then his sneaky ass turns it it up 4 or 5 degrees after I go to bed! Then, I wake up tossing & turning...uncomfortable & sweating and go turn it back down in the middle of the night.....every night we do this....cant he just give me this one??....AT LEAST WHILE I'M PREGNANT !!!!!

My Pets....A.K.A "the noisemakers"- they are quite possibly annoying me the most....at all times.  We'll start with my cat, Lima. Her annoying qualities mainly consist of relentless whining for food at 5:30am and 5:30pm and wanting to lay in my lap(on the belly), and hissing at my son. So it annoys me that she's hungry wants attention and doesn't like little people pulling her tail...maybe I'll give her a pass.  My dog Deets is ok, he just whines a lot when he see's me and licks my knees, gross.  My female dog, Lulu...she is the source of a lot of stress for me and I keep hoping I come home one day and she's just gone.  This dog barks non stop, at everything...all day..its enough to make a sane person crazy...let alone a crazy pregnant woman just lose it. If I give you my address will you please come steal my dog? No? You dont want a bob-barker? me neither. I need a bark collar that never looses its charge and I might be ok.  I told my Husband he better lock it up and get Lulu under control before the new baby gets here....or else.

People trying to help when my kid is whiny- I know this shouldn't annoy me but it really does...I mean really. I'm already frustrated and I just cant concentrate when I have another person make suggestions and offers and it just sounds like noise to me on top of hearing my whiny kid, ....I really just prefer to handle it myself and ask for help if I need it. Usually a change of scenery will calm him down and I can figure out whats wrong. I can handle it, just give me a minute!

Work- The restroom is just too far away from my desk...and by the time I make it back to my desk I have to go again....

Sleep- waking up every 2 hours to pee and having acid reflux all night long...and the temp thing we talked about earlier.

Comments- Why do I rarely get comments on my blog?? It must be broke, surely