Beautiful Calling

photo adapted from jessica.diamond After birth, at minimum your perineum is sore and chances are, you may have some minor tearing. A soothing herbal bath is great for promoting healing and also good for helping baby’s cord stump to heal. The Hamilton Midwives’ website has the recipe but I simply went to the drug store [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond Considerations for Setting Up: So you’ve gathered all your supplies. Good job! Before you begin to set up, you’ll want to decide where you will labor. {Note: I’m not a doctor, or any sort of medical professional or birth expert. I’m simply sharing what works for me.} There are three main [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond I’ve had two wonderful home births and am hoping for another one. Part of having your home birth go smoothly is being prepared. You should have a packed hospital bag for labor ready to go.  You never know! The midwife’s office and pager number’s should be in a prominent place. A [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond Is it Safe?!? Choosing a home birth is not just for the brave. or the insane. It’s not really even that radical of an idea; though society would have us believe that. Prior to the introduction of hospital births 100+/- years ago, home was where you had your baby. Oh, yes [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond Choosing a midwife doesn’t necessarily mean choosing a homebirth. or even a medication-free birth. At least around these parts it doesn’t. I live in Ontario, Canada where midwives training is regulated by the government and their services are funded by the government and thus free to residents. Choosing a midwife: means [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond My sister had children quite a few years before me. After watching them all get attached to something {blanket, stuffed animal, quilt etc.} we decided to be a bit pro-active. When I was expecting our first child, we talked about it and decided that our children would have small, square, lovey [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond I’m planning to have our baby at home, just like Chloe and John. That being said, with both of them (and this baby), I packed a hospital bag (about 33 weeks) just in case. Labor, birth and babies are all unpredictable and I find it best to be prepared. I know [...]

photo adapted from jessica.diamond There is a ton of information online about birth plans; there are even sites where you can customize your birth plan online. There are samples of birth plans that are vague and then there are others that are planned and written out to the last minute detail. There are also forums [...]

I took a picture of this little plaque that hangs on our wall in the library, in memory of Isaiah; who was a good thing! You can read what I wrote on the back here.   Five years ago today, we experienced a devastating loss and I was forever changed. We lost our first baby [...]

Photo by jeremy.wilburn The other day Chloe (4), who has been day trained for 2+/- years and night trained for 1+/- years had an accident. She had a bowel movement while sleeping. She got up and changed her pj’s and underwear and as a result, the poop ended up in a pile on her rug. [...]