Hi I'm the mama that runs prettyprinteddiapers (prettyprinted.etsy.com), and I thinking of getting out of the diaper business or at least out of PUL products. I have a lot of custom printed PUL and I would like to see if there is any interest in it so I thought I would ask here, hope that's ok! This stuff is great for mama pads, wetbags, covers, etc.

I'm asking $10/yd I have 1-4 yards each of the cotton and 8-10 yards each of the polyester (I'll measure them if people are interested in buying)

Pix under cut!( 3 Cotton prints, 4 Polyester Prints, and 1 Polyester solid )So if anyone is interested or if you know anyone who might be interested let me know, commenting here is fine. This would be great for any crafty or wanting to be crafty mama or even someone who wants to start a small business. I had all of this custom done at Fabrite.

Thanks for looking!

X-posted to clothdiapering

So I've been hit hard by a post-flu depression that is very intense.
I'm not sure of the source but it can be anything- like still not feeling recovered from the flu, seasonal/light related, eating sugar/bad eating/diabetes, accumalated stress, lack of sleep, having a toddler who is not feeling well, CFS, etc.

It is so familair- that feeling like you are looking out from a dark tunnel. I am so glad I have a little boy to take care of, who saves me from myself, so I can't sit and mope, but have to get up and go and be happy and meet his needs. It really has helped so much and i think a few years of his care, will help to teach me how to do those things for myself.

I feel like i can't think, my brain is so foggy, and like i told David the other day that if i had the time i would just want to "eat tv and watch donuts all day!" (what i really said!)

i've had a lot of triggers lately- some unexpected- like the second season of True Blood and some things coming up from my past as a nun, some things i haven't really journaled about or finished processing...Then there was all the stress of moving, a new job, being diagnosed with diabetes, new health concerns about my mom, increased symptomology with myself and weird pain, etc, reconnecting with a long-lost sister who told me some things i never knew, hearing from my dad, and him disappearing right after, and chronic family and parenthood issues.

i have so much to write about, to do to talk about, and it has been wrapped so tightly inside me and i just need to start writing and unraveling this ball of string. it is going to have to be a discipline, and instead of FB, or shows, etc on most night, though tired, i need to just get on here and let stuff just come out, even if it is random or boring.

i got a good journal on depression to start working thru, and i have 3 counselors at my disposal, to make up for the lack of one good therapist! 3 counselors for 3 different issues! of course, when i am depressed, i am lost in time, and have a very hard time making and keeping appts.

i am in a fog- i do lots everyday- mostly the care of one little sweetie who is having lots of moods and tantrums himself, and do whatever is in front of me, but mostly i feel like i am in a time warp kind of daze, when i wake up i will be upset about why was i so unconscious? why didn't i get those things done? why wasn't i keeping track of the days/weeks/months?

i just checked the date and Loki will be 22 months tomorrow! That's the other thing- i so need to journal about him, about mothering, every day is full of jems- of precious memory.

I hope this is a good start. it feels good to finally be back and ready to tackle this wall i have put up around myself.

So I want to and need to start blogging again- prob daily and I have felt unsettled about where to do it, but I haven't found another blog site that I feel comfortable with. I think what I am going to do is make a lot of custom friends groups, and maybe a few different LJ blogs, and I want to know who still reads their LJ on my FL and who would like to read what. So here are some different subjects I might blog about and make custom groups for, and you tell me which one you would like to be on. And here's to coming back home to LJ!!!

1.) health/CFS/athsma/diabetes etc
2.) weightloss and exercise/ food journal
3.) Loki's life- fun updates/pics etc
4.) moody personal prose
5.) birth/doula/baby/birth politics
6.) autobiographical- nun years, punk days etc
7.) healing from sexual abuse and trauma/therapy/mental health
8.) marriage, family life and step-parenting
9.) daily life blah blah
10.) depresssed and angry rants and bitching

having a *really* rough time...lost in anger, depression, anxiety, tiredness, physical symptoms, pain and stress. hope i can pull thru this one soon, so i can even be clear enough to think.

So my birth kit came in yesterday from In His Hands. It was a custom kit my midwife creates and then I ordered it directly from the site... In any event, I went through it last night and it contained a bottle of olive oil... Anyone know why she would want olive oil at the birth?

Hello everyone. I am new to this community and just looking for some support and advice. My name is Danielle. I will be 31 weeks on thursday with my 2nd child, a boy. I gave birth to my first child, a little girl via c-section Aug 10 2006. When I became pregnant with my 1st child, to say I was misinformed was an understatement. I went to the hospital believing that I'd be able to have a nice peaceful drug free birth. I was a week overdue with her and was induced around...problem #1...then I was checked by some male student who I did not know...I was told I was 3 and my waters were high, my midwife came in 5 minutes later and rolled her eyes because I was 4 and my waters were low. She then broke my bag and left. I was vomiting and shaking from the pitocin and leaking fluid. My husband was cleaning up after me because there was no nurse in the room at the time. After only getting to 4 centimeters and in a tremendous amount of pain from the pitocin, I was given an epidural...after resting I was checked and was at 7 cm...two hours later I was still at 7 and was told it was time for a c-section because I failed to progress. I was wheeled into surgery and Violette was born a short time later. After I got to see her real quick the anesthesiologist told me he was going to put me to sleep for a little while. I remember telling him I didn't want to go to sleep. Next thing I knew I woke up in recovery a few hours later. When they wheeled me to my room and I finally got to see Violette, it had been 5 hours. I did not bond with her right away at all...I felt depressed and remember saying I didn't feel like a mom. We had a lot of problems with latching and she was given a pacifier in the hospital. Needless to say I tried to breastfeed for a month with no professional help because I did not have a driver's license and hubby had to work. I pumped for a month and finally gave in to formula due to exhaustion. My husband is in the army and I delivered in the military hospital for free, of course. I will be going back to that hospital again because I feel like it's the only option I have unfortunately. I contacted a nurse midwife here in the early stages of my pregnancy about homebirth. Her fee is $4800 and Tricare will not cover that. We just can't afford it. I called a doula today, she was in a birth and will be calling me back...lol... hopefully she will be able to be an advocate for me...but I am still just so nervous. I would love love love to have an HBAC. Does anyone have any advice or words of encouragement so that I can mentally prepare myself for this upcoming birth? I don't want another C-SECTION!

i know that blood sugar levels in pregnant women are normally a little higher than non pregnant women, but i can't find a website that has any info on what those numbers should be.
i'm hoping to avoid the 3 hr GTT (my practitioner is trying to push me into it) by keeping track of my blood sugar on a daily basis instead.  long history there, but i won't get into it.  really i'm just looking for normal blood sugar levels for pregnant women but having a hard time finding that info.
thanks to anyone who can help

Hi all, I've been a long-time lurker, but just now joined. I love this community. :)

I'm 20 years old and thinking about becoming a mid-wife after I graduate from college. I really want to spend this coming summer with a mid-wife (interning? I don't know what the appropriate word here is). The problem is that I don't know how to go about finding midwives who would be interested in having an understudy.

Location is not an issue as long as it is in the USA.

Suggestions very much appreciated either in terms of how to find midwives who would welcome someone like me or for specific natural-minded midwives.

Thank you so much!

Hello :-)

I am 38 weeks (and 1 day!) pregnant. I see my OB tomorrow but as of last week I was 1 cm dilated, cervix "softening", but was still posterior. My little guy and I are healthy, no major complications or health issues. I am not miserable and have had a fairly great pregnancy but would like to start methods of naturally inducing my labor. My youngest brother is home from the Navy but only has 10 days. It would be very special for my family if I could deliver while my brother was here.

I am aware of the "safer" ways...
Sex / orgasm 
Nipple stimulation
Walking
Bumpy roads
Ankle massage

But have questions on some of the herbs or oils that are recommended (or not)...
Black or blue cohosh
Evening primrose oil
Red raspberry leaf tea
Castor oil

Does anyone have ideas / comments / experience with these? Or more ideas on naturally inducing labor? 

Hey ladies- I have been working on a site that is geared towards woman who have not considered natural birth or are afraid of the idea and try to steer them towards seeking out more information, having informed births and seeing what could be scary about just listening to your Drs.

So far I really just have the layout and idea. In order to generate some content I would like to add birth stories. If any of you would like to add your birth story it would be amazing! The site is birthplancompanion.com there really isn't anything there yet but it is set up so you can log in and add your story. If you don't feel like doing that but would let me me use your birth story anyhow you could just link me to it and I will imput it for you.

TIA!

My friends home birth - her first baby...

This year I am working as a doula in Russia. I got a client in Moscow  who is pregnant with twins and would give birth in USA.
She looks for the doctor/midwife/doula/ medical center to help her with the birth as unassisted as possible (she understands that with twins it might be complicated).
When in USA she lives in Florida (where she found a doctor who is pactically pressing her into CS)  but the family is prepared to move any place for the period of several months nj be with the team who shares their wishes.
Please give us any infofmation you have.
   Thank you in advance.

If anybody is a fan of Xena: Warrior Princess...

( About ten years ago, Lucy Lawless had a home waterbirth. )

So my friend is about to deliver her 2nd child, and she's asked me to attend the birth.  :-)  So exciting!  I'm well-versed in natural childbirth and am working towards eventually getting certified with DONA and so on.  Now, my friend (Mary) had planned to have her first baby at home, but it didn't work out because the midwife was out of town, and so they ended up having Marc at a natural-birth-friendly hospital and all went well.  Only 5 hours from onset of active labour to birth.  Woohoo!  What a ride!  Mary had planned originally to have this baby at home as well, but as it turns out the baby has CCAMs, or Congenital Cystic Adnomatoid Malformation, which are cysts inside the lobes of the lung, in this case benign.  So, this baby will be born in a hospital as well.  In a way it's a high risk pregnancy, and in another way, it's not.  They seem quite willing for her to have a natural childbirth, but want her at a big hospital with plenty of people around in case there are respitory issues immediately and surgery is needed right away.  Otherwise, the labour and birth should be fairly straigh-forward.

First question for all of you though, is a very open one: As much as I know about pregnancy, natural childbirth, and all that goes into it, I have never birthed a child or attended a birth.  Thoughts on things I should keep in mind, bring, remember to say or not say, or anything else you can think of?  And has anyone else had any experience with CCAMs?  I can see Mary being a little concerned at the last minute and would love to have a comforting word from one of you lovely Mums.  :-)

Thanks a bunch,
Sheila

my husband and i are planning on moving closer to our families within the next year, and soon after, god willing and the creek don't rise, we'll get pregnant.

i consider my future self quite lucky because my husband is whole-heartedly supportive of a home birth, my best friend in dallas is a midwife, my sister-in-law will be a midwife by next summer, and my mother had a hospital birth with me sans interventions. oh yeah, and my grandma's a nurse with two natural births under her own belt. great support system, yes? 

a cursory google-ing finds me ONE midwife and ONE doula practicing out of corpus christi, texas. i'm not so worried about finding a doula, as i expect my grandma and/or sister will be acting as my doula. does anyone know of any midwives serving homebirths in the corpus christi area?

Hi all! I am 21 weeks pregnant(it's a boy!) and am looking for midwife/doula recommendations in the Seattle area..I've been doing a ton of research but would love to hear what you awesome mamas have to say. Thanks!

I nursed the bug to sleep--twice--and when she was, yet again, awake and screamy, I put her in the swing. Poor overtired child.

I made really wonderful Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Mint Cookies yesterday from Mollie Katzen's new cookbook, one for adult beginners called Get Cooking. Tonight for dinner we had black beans and rice (sort of) from Vegan Lunch Box Around the World. I say "sort of" because the recipe was on the front and back of one page and Bear read the spices from the *next* recipe and added them. So we had black beans, rice, coconut milk, and scallions with chili powder, cumin, coriander, and turmeric instead of the intended thyme, cinnamon, and allspice. Oh, well. A couple of nights ago we had the Asian Portobellos from the same cookbook. The mushrooms were baked in a marinade of garlic, ginger, Chinese five-spice powder, coriander, mirin, tamari, orange juice, and toasted sesame oil. They were really good. We had them with brown jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. (My steamer basket? Is from 1973. It belonged to my uncle's mother once upon a time.)

Rowan is trying to roll over (and not just from her back to her side, which she has done since birth). Instead she winds up wiggling her way around in a sort of circle, while her head stays in the same place, as if she's a compass. I left her asleep on a quilt on the floor upstairs (where she'd been practicing) and when I heard her squawk and went to get her, she, again, wasn't where I'd left her; she'd scooted over towards the leg of the guest bed and got stuck. Poor bug.

Today I dug out the baby book my aunt gave me and worked on filling it in. I already can't remember what Rowan weighed at her first couple of doctor visits, or when, exactly, she began smiling.

Hi, everyone,

Here's the link for my son's birth story. There were two minor interventions that I think were the right decision -- a bag of IV fluids since I was getting dehydrated, and AROM after being stuck at 8 cm with a bulging bag of waters for quite some time. But I'm really, really bummed about the vacuum extraction, and not just because I would have liked to brag that I pushed out a posterior baby.

( Rambling and second-guessing under the cut )

I was linked to an article that made me see red, but I lack links to specific, scientific studies that would contradict this article:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2392

I have always been a proponent of homebirth both psychologically *and* rationally. Meaning, that for all of the fulfilling ideals we ascribe to the natural birth experience, it also made more *sense* and was as safe if not safer. I have a feeling this is malarkey (another article on this site is about our "low" c-section rate and how the WHO is unsubstantiated in their stance about the ideal rate) but I want to back it up with something other than sputtering. Help?