Birth & Parenting Series

Birth & Parenting Series (12): Beautiful Little Girl Passes Away After Long Battle

April 9, 2012

This is part 12 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here, and part 11 (Followup on Little V’s Traumatic Birth) is here.  The family that I shared with you about in November, whose little baby girl had the rare medical condition requiring a bone marrow transplant, suffered the most difficult weekend as their little girl passed away on Holy Saturday. She was just shy of 8 months. What a fighter! What an amazing little sweetie. Her Caring Bridge website is here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/quinnseymour. Her condition is called Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa – Herlitz. Please pray for her parents and their little 3 year son as they grieve. And please pray for all the wonderful medical support staff they’ve had throughout these long hard months up here in the Twin Cities. Thank you to everyone who was able to bring them meals, and prayed for them. I know it meant so very very much to them during this time. Life is a…

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Birth & Parenting Series (11): Follow Up on Little V’s Traumatic Birth

April 3, 2012

This is part 11 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, and part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here.  This story picks up where my sister left off last week, wherein her daughter was born, but not breathing. I was able to fly out to New York the day after she was born and stay for almost two weeks to help them a little during this unbelievably difficult time. AA and I are V’s godparents and pray for her continued strength every night. We feel so blessed by her presence in our lives! The experience of childbirth, even in this day of technology and modern medicine, is an open portal into the great unknown. Mothers can hemmorage; babies can arrive in critical condition without any sort of advance indication. But no one ever hears a horror story and thinks it could happen to them. I never imagined having anything other than a normal healthy baby. Why shouldn’t I? All the scans were normal, we…

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Birth & Parenting Series (10): Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents

March 26, 2012

This is part 10 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, and part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here. My sister, Molly W, chose to plan for an unmedicated birth in a metropolitan area where everything about birth was very medicated. She, her husband, and her doula worked hard to make her birth experience the best it could be–and as medicine-free as possible. Talk about determination! The ending is a cliff-hanger, but I promise to give you the rest of the story next week.  How Little V Came into This World My pregnancy made its grand finale in the sweltering months of August in New York City. I had ceased taking the train to work at that point, indulging in the luxury of the local Mexican car service. At two weeks to go, I left work a little early on a Friday, feeling out of sorts. I had been having lots of benign contractions in the weeks leading up and I could not stand sitting at a desk another minute. Of course,…

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Birth & Parenting Series (9): Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies

March 19, 2012

This is part 9 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, and part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here.  This first-time mama went through more medical interventions than she had planned, but she stuck with her desire to use as little medical aid as possible and endured terrific and tough pushing to meet her baby girl! Talk about strong. Even with her daughter needing a little extra help to get her breath going, our author has faith in birth process and her daughter’s determination. I wonder where the little sweetie gets that from? A beautiful story to be shared by a sensitive and attuned mother. Before I give my story, I would like to say that a woman’s body is amazing and strong. Everyone is unique and has an amazing birth story. Whether a woman has a c-section, water birth, home birth or some other process, she produces a miracle and accomplishes something extraordinary. I had two goals, besides the most important one of having a healthy baby, for delivery. I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth and a vaginal delivery. Unfortunately, when…

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Birth & Parenting Series (8): A First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth

March 12, 2012

This is part 8 of our Birth & Parenting Series.  Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, and part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here.  For the first time, we have the privilege of hearing about birth from the father’s perspective. This dad helped his wife welcome their little girl into the world at a local birth center. His story shows how crucial partnership and support are through this beautiful and difficult process of birth. Amazing parents! Amazing support from the birth center. And a beautiful little girl at the end of it all. This article was first printed on the website, Family Dinner. Our baby, Vera, was born on December 28th, 2010 at the Morning Star Birth Center in St Louis Park, Minnesota. It was by far the most profound and amazing experience of my life; I now understand purpose, responsibility, and meaning in ways I never knew possible! Since becoming a father I’ve had a number of thoughts I’d like to express on the subject of birth centers, Morning Star Birth Center, the midwives who work there, and the whole concept of an out-of-hospital birth. To be honest I didn’t know what to expect when my wife suggested…

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Birth & Parenting Series (7): Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling

March 5, 2012

This is part 7 of our Birth & Parenting Series.  Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, and part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here. This mother of five chose homeschooling after a brief stint for her eldest daughter in traditional schooling. She shares how she got there, why she chose that as best for her family, and what they do during the day. It’s inspirational! What a family. She also runs the website Diapeepees about her young son with diabetes. See link here. She says she’s a novice, but she’s pushing pro in my world! Homeschooling: A Novice’s Perspective. Homeschooling. An idea that is simultaneously intriguing and intimidating to a young mother. As my daughter approached school age, I remember telling everyone we were heading in the homeschool direction. But at the last minute, I fell for a Catholic school girl uniform and sent her off to kindergarten. It was easier that way, quite a relief in fact. Homeschooling was a grand idea, but I had no idea how to actually implement it. Then we moved. The new Catholic school was expensive. I wasn’t sure I wanted my daughter in school anymore anyway. She was only on the verge of second grade then, but I was already worried…

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