New Website

I finally broke down and bought a website. A legit one, I think. I hope. Please feel free to visit and look around. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing with this blog after today. Its been quiet over here anyway, so I can't imagine being missed too much. Follow the link to view the new High Desert Doula Birth Services

Another Peek Into Our Homebirth

A picture of my amazing husband supporting me during labor this past year. I still haven't written my birth story yet, but I wanted to share a little something from that wonderful day. I couldn't have done it without his support (or the support of my doula(s) and midwives!)

Energy Bites! Yum!

In May of this year I had my first baby at home with two licensed midwives, a certified doula, my mother, best friend and my amazing husband. I'll post more about this later, but for now I wanted to share my favorite labor food.  These little beauties are no bake and hold up in the refrigerator quite well. Someone had introduced me to them earlier this year and a quick Google search brought me the recipe. I found the recipe at gimmesomeoven.com and have been referring to it on a regular basis ever since. You can view the exact recipe here. My husband would offer me bites of one of these throughout my labor, and it was the perfect thing to keep me going.The honey and peanut butter were what I enjoyed the most about these treats, and even in active labor, I was willing to take a bite. Visit Gimme Some Oven to try other amazing ricipes.

How To Choose A Doula by Parents Magazine

Parents Magazine recently put out an article on how choose a birth doula. I just wanted to share a link here today. Its great to see that birth doulas are going more mainstream than before. 

 "When considering whom to have at your birth, your list might not go beyond your partner, your mother, and perhaps a good friend. But you may want to consider hiring another set of hands to help you through the experience. "Women have always nurtured other women during birth, and pregnant women are often drawn to this type of support," explains Jessica English, a DONA-certified birth doula and director of public relations for DONA International, the leading association of doulas. Unlike most doctors or hospital-based midwives, your birth doula, or trained labor coach, will spend hours getting to know you, help you write a birth plan, and be by your side from the moment in labor you decide you need her until a few hours after the baby is born" -Amy Palanjian from Parents Magazine

 Click here to read the full article.

New Business Cards

So after two years of being in business, I finally ordered new business cards.

I've long been infatuated with Joshua Trees. . .and Sunsets. Desert Sunsets to be quite precise. So it seemed very natural and fitting for me to use one of my photographs for my business. I would really like to have someone design a logo for me, and I have my heart set on having Tegwyn DeForest making me my own business logo/image. But I spent way too much money this month on different classes and workshops, so for now I'll have to wait. I'm faithfully saving my pennies though, dreaming of the day when I have my own unique look for my business cards. Check out Tegwyn DeForest's website to view some of her amazing work.

In the mean time, I'm handing VistaPrint small amounts of money to get me by until I can move on to bigger and better things. They do a satisfactory job. I just hope they look like the pictures. It would really stink if the print was a lot smaller than shown here, or if my pretty Joshua Tree image was blurry. . . Yeah, I wouldn't be happy.

 

  The main reason for new cards is because I've run out after two years. Also, I've become certified within the last year and I also started doing placenta encapsulation, and I wanted to make sure I had that advertised on my cards. For sure. I'm pretty excited about getting new cards. I always love handing them out and leaving them at local coffee shops. I'm also considering leaving them in bathroom stalls, since pregnant women have to pee a whole lot and that is where they will be  visiting, for sure. Especially in Target. Pregnant woman love Target. I should know. . . .

Welocome Baby Chloe!

High Desert Doula would like to welcome the last little one of 2012. Sweet little Chloe Ranae came before the end of the year and her mama did amazing! I was blessed to be apart of such a beautiful birth. Congratulations to Chloe's mama and family!

Yes, Station Is Very Important Too!

Everyone knows about dilation. Everyone wants to hear that they are at 10cm, because that means they are almost done! But station is important too. It tells you where in the pelvis the baby's head is. Often times you need the baby to drop low enough in the pelvis to put pressure on the cervix so that it can dilate to 10cm. . .But sometimes, you can be fully dilated, and still have a baby high at a -1 or -2.