When we left St Thomas I had a ton of my books being shipped back to the states, well they are still there and its driving me NUTS. (note to self call PO tomorrow) Im doing all kinds of studying via internet and the ONE book I have with me... but I so badly want my other books, I NEED them!! *cries*
I have been thinking about two things lately... I really want to attend an herbalist course in the summer/fall (for my birthday). There are a lot of cool online ones, but I would much rather go to one in person. My other food for thought is The Virginia School Of Traditional Midwifery... I have been looking into it and it seams to be a great school and I would be able to do a lot of in person class work and would love that, buts its way too much money right now. *more crying*
On top of it I am having birth withdraw... I want to attend a birth so bad!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, December 18, 2011
I am so bad at blogging!!
I need lessons in blogging because im very bad at it! I always forget to update, I can not believe its been 3months since my last post! Maybe that should be a new years resolution? Blog weekly? :)
Well, we just arrived back in Virginia. I miss St Thomas but im glad to be back in VA, I love it here! I have finished everything for unit 1 and have all my hours but I still have one book (that im getting for Christmas!!) that I have to finish. SO hopefully by Kade's 1st birthday ill be starting on Unit 2! Yep, thats right... Kade's 1st birthday! I can hardly believe it!! Im starting to get my craving for another pregnancy, birth, and baby! :) All the more reason to get my head fully back into my books!!
Have a very Merry Christmas and be looking for my New Years update!
Well, we just arrived back in Virginia. I miss St Thomas but im glad to be back in VA, I love it here! I have finished everything for unit 1 and have all my hours but I still have one book (that im getting for Christmas!!) that I have to finish. SO hopefully by Kade's 1st birthday ill be starting on Unit 2! Yep, thats right... Kade's 1st birthday! I can hardly believe it!! Im starting to get my craving for another pregnancy, birth, and baby! :) All the more reason to get my head fully back into my books!!
Have a very Merry Christmas and be looking for my New Years update!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Getting back into the swing of things, in a new location!
My little family and I have made a huge move to St Thomas, Virgin Islands so I've been slack on updating (and studying) but now that everyone is settled in it is time to get back to the books! I have been searching for local midwifes but cant find ANY! That is both bad and good.... Bad because I have nobody to train or work with while I study but with the MW2B program I can travel for 1-2 weeks at a time attending births and get in hours/catches. Good because if we decide to stay here once I am finished with my studies I can start up my home birth business and possibly open up what would be the only birthing center on the island... all I know is St Thomas needs midwifes, definitely!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Facebook is study time? Sign me up!!
A email went around the the MW2B students stating that facebook (and other blog/internet sites) time spent reading/discussing birth can be credited to study hours... This is music to my ears because I spend at least and hour a day on various blogs and facebook pages that have to do with natural birthing, breastfeeding, home birth, midwives, ect. That is absolutely awesome! :) Learning from books is great, but its amazing what you learn from others and their real life sittuations!
Still loving my choice to become a midwife. Its a perfect fit for me! Almost done with Unit One... I still have to get the darn Practical Skills Guide once money allows, then ill really be done with U1.
Still loving my choice to become a midwife. Its a perfect fit for me! Almost done with Unit One... I still have to get the darn Practical Skills Guide once money allows, then ill really be done with U1.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Nothing better than a great birth to amp you up!
I got to witness a beautiful birth Thursday morning (8/11) at Carolina Community Maternity Center in Ft Mill, SC. Two family friends welcomed new baby John, earthside at 10:45am and I had the pleasure of being there. It was a very intense (first baby) labor of around 11hours but mom held in there and did a great job (so did dad). Everyone was so happy, I couldn't help but cry tears of happiness with them!
There is nothing better to amp you up to study than seeing a precious baby born into the world :) It gave me a huge boost! I was slacking off on study time the past couple of weeks (taking naps when Kade did, playing games on my phone when I couldn't sleep, ect), but im back on track! I have finished my clinical hours for unit one and have completed almost half of my study hours for unit one (20hrs of 45). I have a small section of Holistic Midwifery and half of Maternal-Newborn Nursing left to do and I still need to get the practical skills guide and do my reading in that, once I finish those books I will be done with unit one and on to unit two!!
There is nothing better to amp you up to study than seeing a precious baby born into the world :) It gave me a huge boost! I was slacking off on study time the past couple of weeks (taking naps when Kade did, playing games on my phone when I couldn't sleep, ect), but im back on track! I have finished my clinical hours for unit one and have completed almost half of my study hours for unit one (20hrs of 45). I have a small section of Holistic Midwifery and half of Maternal-Newborn Nursing left to do and I still need to get the practical skills guide and do my reading in that, once I finish those books I will be done with unit one and on to unit two!!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Kade is 6 months today! My birth story!
My baby boy is 6 months old today, I can not believe it! To celebrate im posting his birth story for all :)
The Birth of Myles Kade Johnson
February 9th, 2011 3:50am
7lbs 2oz and 21in
On Tuesday, February 8th, I woke up and was feeling a little "off" and kind of crampy, not a big deal or something out of the ordinary when your extreamly pregnant! Around 11am went to the bathroom and discovered I had lost part of my mucous plug. I texted my midwife to let her know but did not think much about it since you can lose it multiple times and it really had no indication of when labor
will start. A little after lunch my crampy feeling started getting more intense and figured it was my body preparing to start up labor. I went outside at 4pm and fed the horses grains so I was up for about 45min walking around in and out of stalls and riding on the bumpy ground in the Gator going from barn to barn. I went inside and started doing some laundry and realized my cramps were pretty consistant and started wondering if my "crampin" was easy contractions. They did not feel like the contractions I had been feeling for weeks with prodromal labor so I just brushed them off all day figuring it would stop like it had multiple times.
Around 6pm I decide to time them even though I did not think they were contractions, I did not want them to be contractions and them get too close before I realized it. I sat on my birthing ball and rocked my hips during my "cramps" and it relieved some of the pressure I was feeling. Between 6pm and 6:30pm I had 7 "cramps" putting them at 5-6min apart and lasting about 40 seconds. I decided they were really contractions but that since they were so easy that nothing was happening anytime soon or that like they had in the past weeks that they would stop. Mark came in from work and we decided to go to the Chuckwagon to eat dinner.
We shared Jalapeno & Rib Meat Potato "Nachos" for an apitizer and I had a Chicken, Onion & Pepers Quesadilla. I had contractions all through the meal and they stayed pretty consistant and seamed to get a bit stronger in intensity but I still did not think "this was it".
We got home a little after 9pm and jumped in the bed for some mommy & daddy time... of course having to stop every few min for contractions!! I went to the bathroom and lost more of my mucous plug and had some bloody show. It was around 10pm and I decided to start timing my contractions again, 4min apart!! I was trying not to get too excited because for weeks I had contractions (some as close as 3min apart) and these were not as bad as those so surely it couldn't be labor, right? I also figured if it was labor it was just starting and this being my first child it would be a while before my labor was in full swing and he was born. We went to bed to try and get some sleep and I was guessing that everything would cool down a little bit. I was having trouble falling alseep so a little after 11pm I decided to get into the bath tub and try to relax to help me go to sleep, I listened to a few of my hypnobabies tracks and started feeling tired so I went back to bed hoping to get some sleep because at this point I knew I was in the begining stages of labor and needed to rest up.
That did not happen! At midnight I started feeling my contractions MUCH stronger and quiet often so I woke Mark up and told him he needed to wake up because I was in labor for real and I was not going to be up all by myself! For some reason it was irritating me seeing him asleep peacefully while I was having contractions. It took a good 15min for him to get up and he was a bit annoyed! My contractions were 3min apart at this point so we pulled out the birth pool to get it blown up, I totally forgot we did not have a wall plug for the air pump so Mark had to take the birth pool outside to his car and plug it into the lighter plug in the freezing cold to blow it up. While he was blowing up the pool most likely was the most stressful part of my labor because all I wanted to do was get into the water.
I was going back and forth from laying in the bed, being on my hands and knees leaning over my birthing ball, snugling my pillow on the floor, and walking from room to room. Mark started filling up the pool around 1:30am and I texted one of my midwifes because I couldnt talk through my contractions and they were right at 2min apart from begining of one to the begining of the next. They both live about an hour away so I knew it would be a little while before they got there but I had no worried because I thought I was still at the begining stages of labor, the pain was really not that bad at all. I decided to wait until they got there and we saw how things were going to text any family members and let them know he was coming.
My midwifes, Aimee & Desiree, got there at 3:10am and I was in the pool. I decided to get out to let them check me. The minute I got out I felt like I had to use the bathroom so I sat on the toilet and tried to use the bathroom but nothing was happening, got on my hands and knees and tried, squated and tried but no poop! My midwifes told me it was the baby I was feeling so I stopped trying and layed on the couch for Dessire to check me. My contracting were so strong and often that before she could check anything I had to roll off the couch and get on my hands and knees because my contractions were coming so strong. I kept telling them, "I seriously have to shit so bad" and they said no that it wazs babys head making it feel like I needed to. I continued to go through contractions on the floor huging my pillow and leaning forward onto Marks chest. I was pushing in different possitions (trying to go poop) for a good 10min.
They then told me if I wanted to have a water birth Id better get back into the tub so I started crawling back into the kitchen and on my way back to the tub my water broke and there was a huge decrease in preassure. I got back into the tub and got on my knees leaning against the edge of the pool holding onto Mark and biting his hand with every contraction. I kept telling (im not sure who) that I wnated pictures and videos, my exact words were "Im not having a water birth and not having video proof". But things were moving too fast for anyone to worry about getting video or pictures! When I felt his head starting to crown I said something about was this seriously it, I couldnt believe he was about to come out! I told Mark to hurry and grab my phone to text my Mom and Dad because they would be mad and I had promised my Mom I would not wait to call until after he was born, oops! He sent a text that said, "Kade is on his way, dont call please" because I knew she would be calling and we were a little far into labor to be talking on the phone.
My body then took over and started pushing itself and after 5min of being in the birth pool his head emerged, I was so excited for the pause in between birthing the head and the body that I always heard people talk about but my midwifes said to keep pushing because he had oppened his eyes and was looking like he was about to take a breath and they did not want him to breath the water in. I gave two pushes and his body was out. I started pushing at 3:35am and he was born at 3:50am.
I think my mind went blank for a second out of shock that he was here because I was in my own little world and it took me a second to capture my thoughts, they told me to reach down and bring him up out of the water. I pulled my little boy from the water and snuggled him to my chest and was speachless. It took him seconds to cry but his eyes were open and looking at me, it was a wonderful quiet moment where I conected with my son. I sat back but could not sit down because his cord was too short to keep him out of the water unless I was squating. Mark came behind me and had his arms around us and I was in pure heaven. I had to get out of the water after a few minutes since I could not keep him out of the water and it was getting a bit chilly. We layed on the couch and he latched on wonderfully and nursed for a good 20min before I got on the birthing stool to deliver my placenta. After it was delivered we wrapped it up in a chux pad and layed back down on the couch and he continued to nurse for at least another 45min while I got checked out. I had a tiny tear but nothing bad thank goodness!
My labor and birth with Kade is by far the most amazing thing ive ever experianced. I can not believe how easy and natural it was. My body knew what it was doing and I believed in the ability I have as a woman to give birth. I feel very lucky to have felt what I thought was the "easy part" begining of labor when I was in my last two hours and what ive always heard to be the most painful part. My birth was very minimal pain and Kade had such a beautiful passage into the world.
My first picture with my son a few min after bringing him out of the water.
First nursing
The Birth of Myles Kade Johnson
February 9th, 2011 3:50am
7lbs 2oz and 21in
On Tuesday, February 8th, I woke up and was feeling a little "off" and kind of crampy, not a big deal or something out of the ordinary when your extreamly pregnant! Around 11am went to the bathroom and discovered I had lost part of my mucous plug. I texted my midwife to let her know but did not think much about it since you can lose it multiple times and it really had no indication of when labor
will start. A little after lunch my crampy feeling started getting more intense and figured it was my body preparing to start up labor. I went outside at 4pm and fed the horses grains so I was up for about 45min walking around in and out of stalls and riding on the bumpy ground in the Gator going from barn to barn. I went inside and started doing some laundry and realized my cramps were pretty consistant and started wondering if my "crampin" was easy contractions. They did not feel like the contractions I had been feeling for weeks with prodromal labor so I just brushed them off all day figuring it would stop like it had multiple times.
Around 6pm I decide to time them even though I did not think they were contractions, I did not want them to be contractions and them get too close before I realized it. I sat on my birthing ball and rocked my hips during my "cramps" and it relieved some of the pressure I was feeling. Between 6pm and 6:30pm I had 7 "cramps" putting them at 5-6min apart and lasting about 40 seconds. I decided they were really contractions but that since they were so easy that nothing was happening anytime soon or that like they had in the past weeks that they would stop. Mark came in from work and we decided to go to the Chuckwagon to eat dinner.
We shared Jalapeno & Rib Meat Potato "Nachos" for an apitizer and I had a Chicken, Onion & Pepers Quesadilla. I had contractions all through the meal and they stayed pretty consistant and seamed to get a bit stronger in intensity but I still did not think "this was it".
We got home a little after 9pm and jumped in the bed for some mommy & daddy time... of course having to stop every few min for contractions!! I went to the bathroom and lost more of my mucous plug and had some bloody show. It was around 10pm and I decided to start timing my contractions again, 4min apart!! I was trying not to get too excited because for weeks I had contractions (some as close as 3min apart) and these were not as bad as those so surely it couldn't be labor, right? I also figured if it was labor it was just starting and this being my first child it would be a while before my labor was in full swing and he was born. We went to bed to try and get some sleep and I was guessing that everything would cool down a little bit. I was having trouble falling alseep so a little after 11pm I decided to get into the bath tub and try to relax to help me go to sleep, I listened to a few of my hypnobabies tracks and started feeling tired so I went back to bed hoping to get some sleep because at this point I knew I was in the begining stages of labor and needed to rest up.
That did not happen! At midnight I started feeling my contractions MUCH stronger and quiet often so I woke Mark up and told him he needed to wake up because I was in labor for real and I was not going to be up all by myself! For some reason it was irritating me seeing him asleep peacefully while I was having contractions. It took a good 15min for him to get up and he was a bit annoyed! My contractions were 3min apart at this point so we pulled out the birth pool to get it blown up, I totally forgot we did not have a wall plug for the air pump so Mark had to take the birth pool outside to his car and plug it into the lighter plug in the freezing cold to blow it up. While he was blowing up the pool most likely was the most stressful part of my labor because all I wanted to do was get into the water.
I was going back and forth from laying in the bed, being on my hands and knees leaning over my birthing ball, snugling my pillow on the floor, and walking from room to room. Mark started filling up the pool around 1:30am and I texted one of my midwifes because I couldnt talk through my contractions and they were right at 2min apart from begining of one to the begining of the next. They both live about an hour away so I knew it would be a little while before they got there but I had no worried because I thought I was still at the begining stages of labor, the pain was really not that bad at all. I decided to wait until they got there and we saw how things were going to text any family members and let them know he was coming.
My midwifes, Aimee & Desiree, got there at 3:10am and I was in the pool. I decided to get out to let them check me. The minute I got out I felt like I had to use the bathroom so I sat on the toilet and tried to use the bathroom but nothing was happening, got on my hands and knees and tried, squated and tried but no poop! My midwifes told me it was the baby I was feeling so I stopped trying and layed on the couch for Dessire to check me. My contracting were so strong and often that before she could check anything I had to roll off the couch and get on my hands and knees because my contractions were coming so strong. I kept telling them, "I seriously have to shit so bad" and they said no that it wazs babys head making it feel like I needed to. I continued to go through contractions on the floor huging my pillow and leaning forward onto Marks chest. I was pushing in different possitions (trying to go poop) for a good 10min.
They then told me if I wanted to have a water birth Id better get back into the tub so I started crawling back into the kitchen and on my way back to the tub my water broke and there was a huge decrease in preassure. I got back into the tub and got on my knees leaning against the edge of the pool holding onto Mark and biting his hand with every contraction. I kept telling (im not sure who) that I wnated pictures and videos, my exact words were "Im not having a water birth and not having video proof". But things were moving too fast for anyone to worry about getting video or pictures! When I felt his head starting to crown I said something about was this seriously it, I couldnt believe he was about to come out! I told Mark to hurry and grab my phone to text my Mom and Dad because they would be mad and I had promised my Mom I would not wait to call until after he was born, oops! He sent a text that said, "Kade is on his way, dont call please" because I knew she would be calling and we were a little far into labor to be talking on the phone.
My body then took over and started pushing itself and after 5min of being in the birth pool his head emerged, I was so excited for the pause in between birthing the head and the body that I always heard people talk about but my midwifes said to keep pushing because he had oppened his eyes and was looking like he was about to take a breath and they did not want him to breath the water in. I gave two pushes and his body was out. I started pushing at 3:35am and he was born at 3:50am.
I think my mind went blank for a second out of shock that he was here because I was in my own little world and it took me a second to capture my thoughts, they told me to reach down and bring him up out of the water. I pulled my little boy from the water and snuggled him to my chest and was speachless. It took him seconds to cry but his eyes were open and looking at me, it was a wonderful quiet moment where I conected with my son. I sat back but could not sit down because his cord was too short to keep him out of the water unless I was squating. Mark came behind me and had his arms around us and I was in pure heaven. I had to get out of the water after a few minutes since I could not keep him out of the water and it was getting a bit chilly. We layed on the couch and he latched on wonderfully and nursed for a good 20min before I got on the birthing stool to deliver my placenta. After it was delivered we wrapped it up in a chux pad and layed back down on the couch and he continued to nurse for at least another 45min while I got checked out. I had a tiny tear but nothing bad thank goodness!
My labor and birth with Kade is by far the most amazing thing ive ever experianced. I can not believe how easy and natural it was. My body knew what it was doing and I believed in the ability I have as a woman to give birth. I feel very lucky to have felt what I thought was the "easy part" begining of labor when I was in my last two hours and what ive always heard to be the most painful part. My birth was very minimal pain and Kade had such a beautiful passage into the world.
My first picture with my son a few min after bringing him out of the water.First nursing
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