What to Do With Leftover Breast Milk

I found this great article the other day about what to do with your leftover breast milk. Many women pump milk for their babies for times they may be away and often times, there is extra.

Breast milk won't last forever, so this article gives ways to use the breast milk before it's unusable.

Did you know breast milk can cure conjunctivitis (pink eye)? Actually, it's good on all kinds of infections, even ear infections!

If you want to find out more about what breast milk can do, check out the full article:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/454888/things_to_do_with_your_extra_breastmilk.html?cat=25

Happy Reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Quote Give Me Chills

I am in love with this quote about birth!

"There is power that comes to women when they give birth. They don’t ask for it, it simply invades them. Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it." 
Sheryl Feldman

It just gives me chills. So true.

Awesome Pictures of Babies in the Womb

I found this really neat website that has some really neat pictures of babies in the womb. It's geared a little more pro-life. Regardless of your viewpoint, these pictures are neat.

http://www.justthefacts.org/clar.asp

Are You Looking for A Doula?

Then you've come to the right place. If you live in the East Valley of Phoenix AZ, then I'd love to be of service.

I'm a birth doula. My job is to be with you throughout your birth, offering support and answering questions. The range of ways I can be of assistance is quite broad, but my main goal is to help make your birth the best it can be.

For more information, please visit me at http://www.azbirthdoulas.com/.

I also do placenta encapsulation, visit http://www.azplacentaencapsulation.com/.

I look forward to hearing from you!

AZ Birth Doulas, LLC Store

AZ Birth Doulas has an Amazon store! I've loaded up my Amazon store with all types of goodies. There's hundreds of different books that I love (yes I've read that many) as well as things to nourish yourself during pregnancy and postpartum. There's my favorite type of cloth diapers (Bum Genius) in as well as pregnancy jewelry. I also have lots of natural and organic toys that my children loved.

If you're looking to buy any of these things, why not buy them from my Amazon store? I get a small percentage of the commission, which directly helps to fund my ability to offer my services free of charge to teenage mothers as well as run my parenting website. I feel very passionate about these things I do even though financially speaking, they're not very lucrative.

At the very least, go check it out. It's pretty cool!

http://astore.amazon.com/azbido-20

Thanks for your support!

Normal is a Very Scary Word

I took this information from this website here.

"You've probably heard many times that breastfed babies are "healthier". That they have "fewer illnesses." That they have a "special" bond with their mothers. Maybe even that they tend to be "smarter". Some of those reasons may be why you decided to breastfeed.
    
The scary thing is, none of those statements is really true. Breastfeeding is merely the way human infants are built to eat, just as air is what they are built to breathe, or walking is the way they are built to move when they get older. Breastfeeding is nothing extra or special. Breastfeeding is just... normal.

Fine. So breastfeeding is normal. What's so scary about that? Ah, well if breastfeeding is normal, what happens when a baby is not breastfed? The scary reality is... he's much more likely to get sick, in infancy, in childhood, as an adult. His life expectancy is a little bit shorter and his IQ is a little bit lower. His relationship with his mother is different. In short, he suffers from not having a normal start to life.

You probably know breastfed people who are sicker than many formula-fed people. Breastfeeding is no guarantee. It's like the yeast in bread: every loaf turns out differently, because of different temperature, moisture, timing, kneading. But for any particular loaf, if you leave out some of the yeast it's not going to rise as high as it could. 
    
Here's part of the scary list:

People who were not breastfed tend to have:
     poorer vision 
     a lower IQ
     more appendicitis 
     more breast cancer
     more hernias 
     more diabetes
     more childhood cancer 
     less well-developed nerves
     a thymus smaller than normal during infancy 
     a less effective immune system
     more trouble with cholesterol 
     more emotional problems
     more intestinal disorders 
     more allergies
     more risk of crooked teeth or underformed jaws 
     a higher risk of SIDS

Women who don't breastfeed tend to have:
     more premenopausal breast cancer
     higher anxiety 
      lower self-esteem
     more osteoporosis
     more cervical cancer
     less pleasure in early parenting
    
There are about 13,000 studies showing problems with formula-feeding, so why haven't you heard any of this before? Maybe someone thought it was too scary for you, that you would feel guilty, that you wouldn't be interested, that it doesn't really matter that much. But wouldn't you rather know now, instead of finding out later? 

 Breastfeeding. It's just plain normal." 

Pretty good, huh? 

Book Reviews

I love to read! But have you ever read a book that you finished and then felt like you wasted your time? Me too. That's why I do a book review blog in conjunction with my parenting website (http://www.theholisticparent.org/). I can't imagine my life without reading, but I don't want others to have to waste their times with books not worth reading.

This is why for every book I read, I write a review of my opinions on it. Most books I like, but if I don't I do not hesitate to be honest about my opinion and I explain why I feel the way I do. Most books I review are about parenting, birth, breastfeeding, doulas, natural healthcare, alternatives, and nutrition.

So anyway, take advantage of this resource before you run out and get a book: http://www.theholisticparent.blogspot.com/.

If you want an alphabitized list of titles, click here. I update it as often as I can, so always check the most recent posts on the blog too because sometimes I update them in chunks every so often.

Watch Your Language

This is a really good article about breastfeeding. It's about how the language we use can have different meanings than we intend and also how we say things can affect the rates of women who choose to breastfeed. Check it out:

http://www.motherchronicle.com/watchyourlanguage.html

Resources

If you haven't checked out the resource section of my websites, you may want to do so. they're filled with great information and are quite extensive. I've put a lot of effort into finding the best of information, so check them out.

My doula resources can be found here.

My placenta encapsulation resources can be found here.

The Holitstic Parent.org's resources are scattered under each subheading page, so click here for the main website.

My Birth Story

I very much enjoy writing, so when my daughter was born, I did not hesitate to write down the experience. I've posted the story on my website http://www.theholisticparent.org/. It's a looooooong story, so I'll direct you there instead of posting the entire monstrosity here. It also includes bits from my first birth experience.

You can read my birth story here.

My Parenting Website

My husband and I run a parenting website. We're a bit into natural and holistic methods of living. This website is devoted to parenting in this method.

http://www.theholisticparent.org/  If you like it, follow us on Facebook (there's links on the website).

A Little About Me

I haven't really introduced myself yet on this blog.

I am the mother of two, a six year old boy and a 2 year old girl, well she'll be two in a month! I am married to my high school sweetheart for 7 1/2 years. I love birth!

My love affair with birth began with the birth of my oldest. Though it was a difficult birth, I fell in love with the entire process of bringing a new life into the world, the wonder, anticipation, excitement.

I pursued a bachelor's in nursing so I could be around birth every day. I landed my dream job in labor and delivery right out of college- a difficult feat, it's not an easy specialty to get into. I, of course, was estatic.

I became pregnant for a second time while working this job. Slowly things began to change. There were things that went on in the hospital that I wasn't completely comfortable with. I wasn't able to spend enough time giving support to the actual women who were in labor. To me, they should be the most important focus, yet it wasn't that way. I felt bound by hospital policy that served only the hospital and the doctors, not the women or babies. I learned there are certain things you're simply expected to keep your mouth shut about. It's difficult to question physician orders and I didn't feel I could give my patients truly informed consent.

Informed consent is being able to make a decision by having all of the information available- risks, benefits, options. A lot of information in the hospital is one sided. I couldn't outright tell my patients what their doctor wanted to do was not necessarily in their best interest.

I continued to educate myself, research, and I eventually discovered an entirely different world of birthing- the one with homebirths and midwives, the one where birth is regarded as a natural process and respected. Long story short, I hired a midwife, had the most transformative experience of my life as my daughter was born in my bathtub into the awaiting hands of my husband, and subsequently quit my job in labor and delivery.

I much prefer being able to give my clients information about all their choices in childbirth so they can make the best choices for themselves. I'm now working as a doula and loving every bit of it.

I also encapsulate placentas! I am also keeping a blog devoted to this journey. More info on that can be found at http://www.azplacentaencapsulation.com/. I offer discounts for my doula clients.

In my spare time- what tiny bit there is- I love to write. I have a forthcoming novel about birth that should be published in the next few months.

My doula website is http://www.azbirthdoulas.com/. I'm based in Chandler, AZ. It's a great place to live!

Thanks to my Husband

I have to give credit and thanks to my husband for designing this blog for me. I designed my website (http://www.azbirthdoulas.com/), and I told him what I wanted for my blog, and he just takes care of it. He also designed my logo. So, thank you to my wonderful husband. I love you.

Greetings and Welcome!

Greetings to AZ Birth Doulas blog! I thought this would be a good opportunity to share the life of a doula as well as provide resources for a healthy pregnancy, empowering birth, and successful breastfeeding relationship. I'm a birth junkie and I like to research like crazy. I have no idea what this blog will evolve to be, but I invite you to take this journey with me and peak into the life of a doula.