The Midwife Mommy Blog: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

Baby Constipation

If you thought it was unpleasant for you to be constipated, let me tell you - it all takes on a new meaning when your 7 month old baby is the one having troubles. She can't say what's bothering her - just that things aren't right. One night - the night we hit google big time asking for remedies - she woke up from a sound sleep and just looked at us sadly before bursting into tears. Talk about ripping a parent in two! That night we found ways to help her fix it and continued to have to help her (mostly with qtip covered in a lubricant) while I searched for the reason why this might be happening. I thought for sure it had something to do with the fact that I could barely get her to drink 20oz of milk when she was supposed to get between 20 and 28 so I would try harder to get her to drink more, but when she didn't want it there was nothing I could do.

I had already completely eliminated bananas from her diet and tried to make her cereal more soupy but she wouldn't eat it if it was too liquidy. Then, we went to my in-laws in Iowa for Christmas and I didn't want to bring a 1/2 empty box of baby cereal with me so I bought a new box while at Target. I was giving her Gerber brand cereal - not rice, oatmeal and whole grain so I thought I was doing good, but then because the box was smaller, I bought the Good Earth brand. I gave that to her and once she got that in her system the constipation totally disapeared! I love accidental discoveries like that and I hope that this post will help another mom struggling with the same issue figure out the problem faster for her baby.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

TIme Passes and Things Change

I realize that my last post was more than a year ago which means quite possibly no one reads this anymore, but as I learn more and more of what it means to be a midwife and a mom I have more to write. The problem is, until now, I haven't figured out how to write in here about things other than midwifery until now.

So - I changed the title. Now I can write about either mommyhood or midwifery or both as they collide :) And I do have some burning posts that I have been mulling around in my head as I learn first hand what this mommy business is all about. So stay tuned!

Check out New Birth Midwifery!

New Birth Midwifery is my home birth practice where I strive to help families enjoy and learn many things through their pregnancies, birth and postpartum periods. There are two pieces that tie together to make the name that I would like to share.

As I was asking the Lord for a name for my practice in June of 2010, I felt like He lead me to think of the verse 2 Corinthians 5:17 where it talks about when we accept Christ we become new creations - the old has gone, the new has come!

Part 2 of the name is although midwifery is one of the oldest professions in the book, it has gone through many, many trials and at one point in history almost completely dissapeared. Now, however it is making a comeback as more and more women are realizing that to be heard they need to speak up. So although midwives have been around for a very long time, the newness in birth comes from women realizing there is a "new" way to give birth - a gentler, more women centered way. One where they don't need to fight for their rights for a natural, baby friendly delivery, one where they can know the one caring for them during their pregnancy will be the one to care for them during the very intimate time of giving birth.

And so - I give you New Birth Midwifery - a practice that helps women give birth naturally and safely in their own homes. Check out the website for more information: www.newbirthmidwifery.com.