"Ask me for strength and I will lend not only my hand, but also my heart."
~ Unknown

Thursday, February 24, 2011

My Farewell for Now

To everyone who has followed From Womb To Cradle:

I have recently decided that I can no longer be a part of this great company at this time. The ladies at this company, Michelle and Sherel, are putting much of their time and energy into getting this company up and running. At this time I feel I cannot put as much effort into the company as they can or as much as I would like to.

My daughter is now 3 months old and I have decided to focus all of my attention and time on her and my husband. This does not allow for any time to help get a company running successfully. I am currently still working on my doula certification and plan to continue working on this until I am completely certified. I am hoping this can be accomplished in the near future. I have also decided that it would be best for me to do this on my own as I don't feel I yet have enough experience as a doula to charge the going rate for doulas. In the future I am planning on getting as much experience as possible and learning as much as I can while still keeping the focus on my family. It is also difficult to work as an equal partner with these two great ladies when they both live in Redcliff and I am in Tilley.

I wish Michelle and Sherel best of luck with this company and their doula career adventure. Thank you to all of you who continue to support myself, Michelle, and Sherel in our doula careers. Also thank you to all of you who followed my pregnancy and birth story. Farewell for now.

~Amanda

Monday, February 7, 2011

Intro

I thought since I am new to this blog I would take the time to introduce myself as well as tell you all a little about myself. My name is Kaitlin and I am 21 years old. I am the mother to a beautiful baby boy Zephran who was born 5 weeks premature and was also born with a cleft in his soft palate, I am also a fiance to Dean! I am a student as well currently taking nursing but planning on switching to become a Doula and then Midwife. When Michelle asked me to guest post I admit I was nervous at first as I do have my my own blog but have received quite a bit of flack from now ex friends for my opinions on certain things. However, I feel that what I have to share is important, that my learning experiences as a parent can maybe educate and help others out there.

Zephran was born at 35 weeks 3 days at 6lbs 1.7oz, a good weight for being 5 weeks early! He was breathing on his own and was a fighter. He spent 10 days in the NICU which was a very hard time for my fiance and I. He had jaundice quite bad and was in an incubator two separate times in these 10 days. His birth is still something I deal with on a daily basis, it bothers me that I didn't have him with me after he was born, that he was taken away immediately. I have a lot of people tell me well at least you have a healthy baby. That is definitely not something I like to hear, I am very happy I have a healthy baby but that doesn't make my experience any more happy than before. I am very proud though that I did it drug free(except for pitocin) and did not end up with a C-section. For our next baby however I plan to have a home birth with a midwife.

Because Zephran was born with a cleft in his soft palate he cannot directly breastfeed, this means that I had 1 of 3 options: to pump breastmilk, to give him formula, or to give him another woman's breastmilk(Yes you can do this!!). I chose option one. I am an exclusively pumping mom, I chose this as I knew it was best for my child, it is exhausting but so worth the benefits! Some may say its like having twins, I feed Zephran, and then I pump for an equal amount of time and then the cycle repeats itself throughout the day. His cleft will be repaired around 10-12 months of age and I still have a sliver of hope that maybe he will breastfeed after this, though not likely I will never give up that hope as it is something I desperately wanted when I found out I was pregnant with him. I still struggle with him not being able to breastfeed on a daily basis. That aspect is definitely part of PPD. I am one of many women who struggle with PPD. I have had to start taking antidepressants and have also received a ton of flack over this as well. Unfortunately yes I have to take them, the alternative is much much worse than not taking them and they do not cause any harm to Zephran.

I am a very strong believer in the most natural aspect of pregnancy, labour and parenting. A lot of people don't agree with me but I know I am doing what is best for my child and that is all that matters to me! I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and writing on this blog as well as my own. Until next time!