Doulas NOT ALLOWED

My friend Tera posted this on FaceBook today. As a midwife and doula (they spelled it wrong) - she was understandably upset. As a woman reading this I felt so violated.

Just read this from the DONA website

Numerous clinical studies have found that a doula’s presence at birth

• tends to result in shorter labors with fewer complications
• reduces negative feelings about one’s childbirth experience
• reduces the need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps or vacuum extraction and cesareans
• reduces the mother’s request for pain medication and/or epidurals

Other studies have shown that having a doula as part of the birth team decreases the overall cesarean rate by 50%, the length of labor by 25%, the use of oxytocin by 40% and the request for an epidural by 60%.

Now why would a "woman's clinic" take away her support system? I am guessing that the clinic doesn't want someone advocating for the mother. Maybe they prefer to have "control" over the birth. Maybe they use scare tactics, maybe they are just plain mean. For whatever reason it's time to make a stand.

Lets call this clinic and tell them that:

We are in charge of our births

We decide who will and will not be our support

We will use any safe method we choose to manage pain (Bradley for one)

We deserve an advocate

We will not be bullied, scared or discriminated against.

We are women, HEAR US ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Aspen Woman's Clinic.. Give them a call 801-374-5000- Let them know you don't like their SIGN!!!

Conversations with Zoe age 4

My daughter Zoe had an uncanny way at looking at life. Here are some recent conversations:

While we were driving in the van Zoe shouts, "Mom look! It's a bury garden!"

"What's a bury garden?" I ask.

"Well Mother,(I don't know why she calls me Mother), A bury garden is a place where dead people go to bury themselves and then they turn into dirt and people plant flowers over them."

Can you guess what a bury garden is? A cemetery



Zoe has been insisting for quite awhile now that she needs a cell phone. She asks me for one at least once a day. Today I told her that she could get a phone when she was older. "But Mother - I am a 4 year old teenager!"


I was driving with Zoe in the van and we were having a conversation about where we were going. I told her we were going to the corner of Broadway and Campbell. She asked me if that was the name of the place and I said, "No those are the cross streets to where we are going." Zoe thought about it for a minute and said, "Mama May (my grandmother) lives on Tigers Street." The last time we visited my grandmother was in January and for the record she lives on Lyons - which none of my older children could name.

Zoe asked me to escort her to the bathroom because she's scared of skeletons, ghosteses and lobsters

Zoe warming up after a swim in "Lost Vegas"


Teaching yoga to her siblings

Zoe is fascinated with dragons

I've Come To Like Michelle Duggar

I know, she's not a real popular person at least amongst my circle of friends and she has a very different value system then I do but I can't help but admire the woman for one big reason.

She is a natural childbirth and VBAC advocate.

I tuned into her show last night anxious to see her granddaughter make her way into the world. I was pleasantly surprised to see her daughter-in-law deliver little Mackynzie at home, peacefully and safely.

Congratulations to the Duggars.

Now, if we can get them to switch from disposable diapers to cloth...

Apple Pie For Sunday Breakfast...

I woke up this morning in a baking kind of mood. The kids were all still asleep and the kitchen was clean, (I can't cook in a dirty kitchen). I had all the fixins for an apple pie so I went for it.

I made the pie as I regularly do with organic ingredients, a tinge of evaporated cane juice and my own mixture of nutmeg and cinnamon. Instead of making a top crust I scoured my pantry to find something resembling breakfast

The result - oatmeal.

I mixed oatmeal with organic brown sugar and butter and spread it on top. I reasoned that people put brown sugar and butter in their oatmeal all the time and although my kids don't eat sugary breakfasts - lots of people do and this one time won't hurt them.



Doesn't that look wholesome :)

For what it's worth I ALWAYS use Granny Smith apples - they are so flavorful that you really don't need a sweetener.

Grocery Store Observations

I went shopping today at my local Albertsons. I prefer Trader Joes but it's about 20 minutes away and I had three kids with me. So Albersons it was. They have a little "healthy" section now with organic produce, dairy and snack items.

At the checkout line I look around to see if anyone notices Talia screaming for candy (which she didn't get). As I'm looking around I start to notice what's in other people's carts. I was amazed by the ratio of processed non-food to produce.

I was trying not to be judgmental because my cart was produce-free as well. Now I'm no saint but I really try to feed my kids clean so we have organic produce delivered once a week and we buy all natural antibiotic-free meat from a local guy.

So I'm watching this older lady maybe in her mid to late 60's. Everything she bought was "lite" or fat-free. For example she had fat-free cheese, TV dinners and bread. Lite juice drinks that didn't look like they had juice to me, lite creamer and snack cakes.

I'm watching this lady and I feel so sad about the things she is putting in her body. What a lot of people, including me at times, put in our bodies. We are poisoning ourselves by putting all this non-food "food" into our bodies. People can't understand why they have aches and pains, migraines and cancer. Look at your food people!

Processed, packaged foods have almost completely taken over the diet of Americans. In fact, nearly 90 percent of our household food budget is spent on processed foods, according to industry estimates.-Readers Digest

Artificial sweeteners, artificial coloring, trans fats, refined grains, sodium, high fructose corn syrup!

I've heard the argument that a little bit won't hurt. How much is a little bit?

Please I beg of you, read the nutrition labels, buy as much fresh organic produce, dairy and meat as possible. Learn to cook your favorite snacks so that you can make them healthy. You can easily make potato chips with fresh potatoes and olive oil. Replacing trans fats with good fats could cut your heart attack risk by a whopping 53 percent.

That's worth it to me!