Intro

Welcome to my blog! How about I tell you just a little bit about myself?

I'm a first time mom...my son was born on 8/14/10 and my husband and I just adore him.

I'm a wife...my husband and I have been together for 10 years, but just celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary in September.

I'm an artist....I attended Columbia College Chicago and received my degree in Theatre: Performance. I'm also a costume designer, production designer, sometimes-makeup artist, scrapbooker, knitter and seamstress.

I'm a writer...I maintain a few blogs and am working on a novel and a screenplay.

I'm a working stiff...I work 40+ hrs from home in market research.

I'm a seeker....I'm incredibly interested in all aspects in a lot of things. One thing this blog will be used for is my seeking.

What am I seeking? I'm seeking answers....as a first time mom, I'm learning as I go. This will be a place where I can share what I'm learning. I'm also interested in becoming a midwife/doula/hypnobirthing coach. In truth, I'm searching for me.

The birth of my son was an exhausting one. I spent 53 hours in labor...53 hours from the beginning of the contractions to when my son was in my arms. I had planned a water birth with a birthing center. I spent 36 hours in back labor, at which point I was admitted to the hospital and given an epidural. 17 hours later my son was born. So my birth wasn't what I had planned.

24 hours later, my son and I went home...where we began to breastfeed. I was given no release instructions and no help with lactation. My mother in law came to stay for a week 2 days later...and my mother came to stay a week after that. The advice and instruction I received told me to supplement my sons' eating with formula, since he wasn't gaining weight. I almost destroyed my supply and I definitely destroyed my confidence in myself. So that wasn't what I had planned.

At my 6 weeks post partum visit, I was informed that I hadn't fully healed. There was still a tear and a hole. The doctor who delivered my son didn't tell me anything about my delivery or how to heal. I guessed that I had 11 stitches based on the nurse counting bloody wads of cloth. I learned an herbal way to promote the healing. 2 weeks later, I had a visit with a CNM who is to be my gynocologist who finally told me that everything was healed and gave me the first real information since my child was born.

So that's a brief synopsis of my story....stay tuned to find out more!