And here is a photo of the giveaway: (I also blog on blogger, and I find it SO much easier to deal with)
Thank you everyone for playing! I hope that Shannon has received it!
32! Which means that Shannon is the lucky winner. I will be emailing her presently. Thank you all for playing and for your sweet comments. I am inspired to make my blog more accessible and tied to my ‘other’ blog, momosarah. I wish I could give each of you a sling, really, I do! It was fun to see the other giveaways and enter some of them, but sheesh a girl (okay mother of 4, including a newbie) can only spend so much time a day lounging in front of the computer looking at giveaways… even if the 7 year old helps. We are so creative, aren’t we? It is such a cool, kooky, creative world that we live in, and those of us that are ‘makers’ are making interesting fun stuff. Now off to dreamland so I can get up and do it all over again.
On a side note:
Cradle cap…. So far, this baby has the most of any baby of mine. I wonder what it is all about. Is he just a sensitive soul? I am rubbing olive oil onto his head and he is soooo flaky. Luckily, it doesn’t seem to bug him, however. He was a nappy happy boy today.
I just found this through another blogger who commented on my blog (affectioknit) I will be giving away a PeaceBabies ring sling with a handknit stuffed animal for some lucky family with a new baby, or friends with a new baby. I am willing to ship internationally if you live outside the US. Just leave a comment here! And if you want to know more about GiveAwayDay check out this link at SewMamaSew
I am in the land of a peacebaby again, and thus, am inspired to write about mothering, babies, parenting, women’s health and all of the other stuff that I get inspired to write about when in the presence of a little buddha baby. There are several things that I have learned this time around, that I hope to blog about and help other mamas and families through their babymoon time.
BELLY BINDING:
Inspired by passages in Aviva Jill Romm’s wonderful book, Natural Health after Birth I decided to try wrapping my belly with a piece of cloth following the birth of my baby. I had just the right thing, a long piece of cloth from an Indian outfit which was languishing in my closet. So, the day after baby was born, I folded the cloth so that it was about 8 inches wide and proceeded to wrap it around my belly, and then realized I didn’t have any safety pins. Hmmm. Also in my closet was my BellaBand, a stretchy piece of knit fabric that I wore through the second half of my pregnancy to extend the life of my ‘normal’ pants and cover the gap between my ‘normal’ shirts and skirts or pants. Aha! I unwound myself from my lovely Indian fabric, and folded my belly band in half and it was the perfect width and tightness around my non-pregnant belly. So, don’t give that thing away yet! I have been wearing it since then (with some trips through the wash) and it feels really nice. Here is what Aviva says about belly binding:
It is traditional in many cultures to bind the belly, to promote complete drainage of blood and to help contract the uterus.
It is thought to prevent excessive bleeding while maintaining the uterus ina contracted position.
It can be worn from several days or for up to 3 months, but do not wrap too tightly.
Use a long strip of fabric 8-10 inches wide (or a belly band!) Place one end between your belly button and your pubic bone and proceed to wrap firmly but not too tightly. Use safety pins to hold it on. You may remove it while you sleep, or not.
Did I mention how nice it feels? Like a good strong hug right around the middle, where you just might be feeling kind of wobbly.
I have put out some calls for new photos, but was doing some photo work in my old files and found some lovely sling shots. here they are.
I have been doing postpartum work as a doula for a few years now, and each time I enter the home of a family with a new baby, I feel so incredibly blessed to have the privilege of being there, helping the family with whatever they need. I have chopped vegetables so mom could quickly cook a meal. I have done light cleaning too strenuous for a mother with a new cesarean scar. I have folded laundry. I have cooked whole meals to nourish a new family. I have given mom a massage. I have taught infant massage. I have encouraged new parents who feel unsure of their new jobs. I have held baby because both parents needed a break. I have bathed baby. I have sat and talked to mom because she was feeling isolated, lonely and frustrated with her new role. I have fed babies, burped them, changed their diapers, and spent time just enjoying being with them.
I have been in awe of these new parents and their courage on the path of parenting. Why? Because we here in the very civilized U S of A, are not very civilized about postpartum care. Two of the first families I worked with were from Saudi Arabia and India. In India, your mother comes to live with you before the baby is born, and stays with you afterwards. In Saudi Arabia, you go and stay with your mother before, and after. How about that for maternal health care? Now I realize that the familial relationships in this country may not allow for this sort of thing, but perhaps this type of maternal care helps with that. I am interested to know. Not only is this helpful to the mother, but also to the father or partner, who must continue to have his normal life, AND step into the role caregiver to the new mother, as well as figuring out how to be a dad. Whew!
Hello Lovely Parents, I have just had the pleasure of being on a panel of birth professionals for a discussion following a screening of Ricki Lake’s film The Business of Being Born . It was a great experience to be speaking to a sizable crowd about birth in our community and in our country. If you have a chance to see the film, I would recommend it. I think it is an important film for our times, because it spurs us to ask questions about the birth industry. I was so impressed with the questions that came from the audience, and especially happy to answer one directed towards me, “How important do you think doulas are to our community?” I think doulas are very important! Of course, I think that homebirth midwives are very important. I think that having certified nurse midwives working at the hospital is an important change for our community, and I think that the acceptance of doulas from the hospital staff and all of the care providers is of utmost importance if we are to continue to support healthy birth practices in this community. Like one of the men in the audience commented, we must all work to bring some sort of balance to the way that births and birthing women are perceived and cared for in this country. In working towards better birth practices, I am attending a workshop for advanced doula training regarding the loss of a baby and how to help families dealing with that painful situation. I look forward to spending part of the weekend in the company of my doula sisters.Long overdue is the posting of this, the next generation–we are imprinting our kiddos all the time, before, during and after birth. It matters!! Here’s some Hope for all of us: 
I am in the process of updating my sling fabrics page, hopefully with better photos of the fabric. I’d like some better photos/scans of the fabric. For now, you can see the availabe fabric here
And, here’s another photo of the same Dad and Baby (with Mama now). Note how the baby is not very big still, and they are using what I call the ’snuggle’ hold, with the baby upright. Whereas, in the previous photo, they used the cradle hold.
hello out there. i hope that if you have found this page, it will be of some use to you. for right now, I am going to upload some sling photos, so you can see at least one sling.
