After much prayer and research, I have decided to begin my certification to become a birth doula sometime in the next year.  Madelyn is down to nursing only twice a day and I now have the "extra time" since leaving my part-time retail gig.  The only thing holding me back now is seed money.  Now, my certification will not cost nearly as much as me going back to school, but it is certainly an expense for a family of 4 living on one income.  Fortunately I have two years after I take my initial class to finish up everything.  Sooooo, if you live in the Hampton Roads area and are planning on having a baby in the next few years, please keep me in mind! Also, after reading though scripture, I have come up with the perfect name for my soon-to-be business.  I wanted something catchy, but also meaningful, so with no further adieu...

™

I chose this name because I absolutely LOVE the verse it comes from.  Psalm 127:3 says "Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward" and I can't think of anything more fitting to describe what the result of pregnancy is :)

Fruit of the Womb (Graphics and Name) by Erin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

My Daughter, My Joy

Madelyn Paige is nearly 3 months old, but it's better late than never to share her birth story, right? Most of you are aware that I had an epidural with our son, William, and suffered from a spinal headache shortly after delivery. With Madelyn's pregnancy I was determined to have a natural childbirth and, with the help of my husband and wonderful doula, I am thrilled to tell you that my goal was achieved!

On January 2nd at 4:30 am, my water broke...or so I thought. My amniotic sac didn't completely tear, so regular contractions never began. After trying to stimulate labor for 12 hours, we headed to the hospital and opted to have our midwife induce labor. After my sac had been ruptured and pitocin started, the contractions started to pick up. I'm not a fan of unnecessary intervention, but since I had my "water" partially broken for more than 12 hours, induction was necessary.

As of midnight I was only measuring 5 cm and thought that I had tried everything. In an effort to avoid an epidural, we tried a shot of nubain. IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM! From about 12:30 to 1:00 I dilated to 10 cm and was able to push Madelyn out in less than 10 minutes.

I can honestly say that if I hadn't prayed, planned, and prepared since day one, a natural birth would not have been possible. My doula, Chris, had such an impact on my birth experience that I am considering becoming one myself (but that's another story for another day).

I hope you enjoy these pictures from Madelyn's birth:

Surrounded by love:

Still able to text!

God bless our doula for showing Sean the moves!

Comforted by Sean and my doula, Chris:

Welcome, Miss Madelyn!

Jaunary 3, 2010

1:19 am

6 pounds 10 ounces

19 3/4 inches long