Pittsburgh Doula Vanessa

The ups and downs... and weird pregnancy sensations

2012-01-20T11:26:00.001-05:00

I had a near complete emotional breakdown yesterday. It seems to becoming a weekly occurance, usually on Thursdays... So a warning to my family, you might want to be busy on Thursday! :-P Poor me! What started as a simple incident of dropping a bottle of Tobasco on my dish of peeled, hard-boiled eggs and shattering it all over the rest of my breakfast, quickly became a full-on cryfest.

Trying to slow down... Not finding much success

2012-01-19T07:28:00.001-05:00

Cool image from: http://timwit.wordpress.com On of the biggest changes I've tried to make during this pregnancy was to try and slow down and enjoy the waiting time. Savoring the last moments with my big kids before adding another child; enjoying the internal and external signs of my pregnancy; and most important, not feeling over burdened with outside obligations. I never believed I would

Week 21 Pregnancy Update (Halfway there!)

2012-01-15T17:43:00.000-05:00

Or more than halfway, if this baby comes as early as his/her sisters! Madeline was urged to come out right at 37 weeks and Autumn came at 38 weeks and 1 day. The girls are so adorable. They recently discovered that if they talk loud enough at my belly, they can get the baby to move. Whenever I/they leave or come home they have started kissing my belly and saying "hi/bye" to "their" baby. So

Stationery card

2011-11-23T10:11:00.001-05:00

Tropical Cheer Holiday CardElegant holiday invitations for your friends and family.View the entire collection of cards.

I Reviewed The Birth House by Ami McKay on Goodreads! (4 stars)

2011-10-24T16:09:00.001-05:00

The Birth House by Ami McKay My rating: 4 of 5 stars As a birth worker, I was somewhat excited to find a work of fiction about a midwife. To my surprise and joy this book was not so much a story about midwifery as it was about the coming of age of a young woman at the turn of the 20th century. But being that it is a book rooted in midwifery and portrays obstetrics in its earliest state, I do

WOW! Check out this amazing Hypnobabies birth story shared by one of my students

2011-10-14T15:30:00.001-05:00

In Hypno-Mom, Nicole's own words... When I signed up for my Hypnobabies class I had fairly low expectations - I just wanted to get through the birth of my baby without having a panic attack. The pain-free birth experience presented in the Hypnobabies testimonials – an experience which I was supposed to enjoy instead of just survive - sounded too much like an infomercial pitch to be true. With my

Winter 2012 Hypnobabies classes added in Pittsburgh

2011-09-27T08:33:00.001-05:00

I was planning to take the winter and spring off for school, but I just couldn't do it! So I am offering two winter session of Hypnobabies in Pittsburgh. The dates are: Winter 2012 Session 1: 1/4, 1/11, 1/18, 1/25, 2/1, 2/8 (Wednesdays) Winter 2012 Session 2: 2/22, 2/29, 3/7, 3/14, 3/21, 3/28 (Wednesdays) These classes are excellent for those having babies in late winter, anytime in spring or

First time moms: You can help researchers learn more about pre-eclampsia!

2011-05-24T10:18:00.000-05:00

Many of you might remember Nancy Niemczyk who was at The Midwife Center of Pittsburgh for many years. Nancy is a CNM who is doing doctoral work at Pitt and is involved in a study looking for vascular reasons to help explain why some women experience complications like pre-term birth and pre-eclampsia. If you are in Pittsburgh and fit the criteria for the study, PLEASE consider helping. This

My nursing school application essay

2011-01-21T16:39:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I'm posting this... but here it is. Be kind but critical. I need it to be good since I'm sneaking in late. Since becoming a mother I have realized the value of quality medical support and discovered my own passion for providing care as a doula. When my older daughter was born late-preterm, both my husband and I were uneducated and unprepared to navigate the complicated maternity

Confessions of an non-Christian Christmas Addict

2010-12-29T10:17:00.000-05:00

This is the text of the message I delivered on Sunday, December 26, 2010 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills. I can only speak of Christmas from my own perspective- having been raised Catholic through grade nine. Followed by an evolution to a more nature-centered, divine self, agnostic-ish belief (or non-belief, depending on who you ask.) Or for short, UU-NOS (Unitarian

If there was just one piece of advice I could give a new mom...

2010-09-27T19:56:00.000-05:00

If there was a new-mama-genie who would grant me one piece of advice to a new mom with the promise that she would follow it. I would tell her to... Cherish the time. ALL of it. Find it within herself to enjoy the late nights. Treasure being the only one who can feed her baby. Drown in her baby's eyes, smell, sigh, squeaks and cries. Luxuriate in the fact that it is actually good to not bathe

Choosing Your Birth Careprovider

2010-09-16T20:12:00.002-05:00

Spend Time Considering All Your Options It is so important to objectively review your choices for who will care for your during your pregnancy and birth. Who you choose to attend you during your birth can impact all aspects of your birth from where you give birth to the choices you have to the amount of information and autonomy you have during your birth. Healthy and low risk women have the

What I Learned While Cleaning Out My Kids' Closet

2010-09-04T16:23:00.000-05:00

I don't have much time for a long post and actually there isn't much to say on this subject. I learned a lot today, but it won't take many words to explain. 1. My older daughter who will turn seven this fall is starting to become a young lady. She is starting to develop her own style. She has very specific tastes and things that were "cute" last year are "babyish" now. I've got to hold on to the

Being a doula for myself Part 1

2010-08-01T06:34:00.001-05:00

There is a whole semi-industry out there to train and certify anyone who wants to be a doula. You can become an antepartum doula, who specializes in serving high-risk moms during pregnancy; a birth doula, who works with expectant couples before and during birth; and a postpartum doula, who works with couples after birth... Granted there are some doulas who have never attended a formal training or

ACOG and VBAC

2010-07-22T17:21:00.000-05:00

A few months ago the NIH issued a statement on VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) after holding a two day conference where professionals and lay people alike were asked to present their views and research on the safety of VBAC. Their consensus statement was encouraging, but less instructive than many VBACtivists had hoped. They concluded: Given the available evidence, trial of labor is a

First Published Article!

2010-07-18T14:44:00.000-05:00

This is a little late, but I am so excited to announce that I had an article published in the Spring 2010 issue of Midwifery Today. A few months ago I wrote a blog post about the state of homebirth in Pittsburgh. When I heard that the magazine was putting together an issue about Homebirth I submitted my article and it was accepted! Here is an excerpt: It is inevitable. In every single childbirth

Updating my blog

2010-07-18T08:00:00.004-05:00

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it has been since I posted. I've been kinda anti-internet and staying away from birth-related stuff while on a break. But I have a client coming up at the end of August, another in late Oct/early Nov so I figured it is time to get back up on all the news.So look for new posts from me, a new placenta encapsulation website and more birth-related posts in general...I

Kind of harsh, but sadly true

2010-07-17T19:31:00.004-05:00

From Gloria Lemay's blog:Sadly, as an expectant mother and a doula, I have seen this play out personally and professionally many times. If you have a niggly feeling that your care provider is not in full support of your choices for birth, LISTEN! Your intuition is talking to you!Childbirth Connection has an *excellent* page that discusses what to look for and ask potential pregnancy care

Bravo, Office!

2010-03-05T07:47:00.003-05:00

I am a HUGE fan of The Office. Therefore, I was a bit scared when Jim and Pam became "pregnant" and I knew there would be a big episode regarding their birth. Television especially has a reputation for exploiting births for ratings, the more "dramatic" the better, often portraying the characters as needing to be "saved" or birth as unrealistically fast (because they need to fit it into an hour or

Losing "it"

2010-02-12T18:16:00.005-05:00

This post has been in the back of mind since December, when a bundle of fertilized cells failed to grow into the person that I had hoped it would. This wasn't the first time this happened to me. I've lost count of how many faint, early, positive pregnancy tests have turned negative after just one day. And after one of these bundles attached to the inside of my Fallopian tube and ruptured it

My kids are so funny!

2009-12-01T14:19:00.000-05:00

Eating popsicles:Autumn: "Oh nooooo... now I have a HUGE ice-cream head-aaaaaaaaycccccchhhhheeee"Explaining the world:Madeline: "Autumn did you know that when your blood is in your body, its blue?"Autumn: "Really?"Madeline: "Yes, when it comes out of your body it turns red because of the air temperature".LOL

In honor of Madeline's sixth birthday... HER birthstory

2009-11-21T07:58:00.002-05:00

NOTE: This story is virtually unchanged since I wrote it nearly six years ago. It does nothing to capture the heartache and sadness I experienced from all the interventions. It also doesn't say anything regarding the terrible side-effects Madeline and I suffered from the epidural, or from having my waters ruptured at what ended-up being 35/36 weeks gestation not 37 weeks as they had thought. I

Dissing the birth plan?

2009-11-08T07:10:00.003-05:00

I've read and heard a an increasing amount of chatter against the birth plan. L&D nurses feel that the moms who come in with a "plan" have a higher chance of having their birth go in the other direction. Doulas and midwives have questioned the wisdom of having a birth plan at a hospital birth. I feel very strongly in the power of the birth plan as a discussion tool for everyone involved in the

"THE" question of homebirth

2009-09-01T18:55:00.001-05:00

It is inevitable. In every single childbirth education class and doula prenatal meeting I lead, I am asked THE question. It never fails. Sometimes a particularly well-read mother or partner asks it at our first meeting before we even start getting “down to business”. Other times it does not come up until the last meeting, after we have watched videos of particularly beautiful births and we are

Hospitals are banning certain types of births in Massachusetts

2009-02-23T16:23:00.003-05:00

In a February 20, 2009 report by the International Cesarean Awareness Network some 821 hospitals in the country are banning a certain type of birth, while another 612 simply don't have doctors practicing that would support it.VBAC (pronounced vee-back), stands for Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. Studies show that risks exist for both VBAC deliveries and elective repeat cesearan sections or ERCS.