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Have you written out birth stories for each of your children?
How soon after their birth did you write it up?

Did you find that you forgot the little details, or was it still etched upon your mind?
It is crazy how you spend 9 (ish) months (give or take), dreaming of your sweet baby – what he or she will look like, what they will sound like, how big they will be, whose eyes will they have?? What will their first carrier be?? And then… how will the birth be? Will it go “as planned”? Will there be any surprises?? Will they be early? Late? Just on time??

And then…

That moment.

When you hold your baby for the first time, breath in his sweet scent… and all the questions fade… it is like you knew them all along.

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*happy babywearing*

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The post Birthstories… appeared first on PAXbaby.

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Let’s chat about placentas, friends!

Who has questions?

Who has concerns?

Did you keep yours?
Did you have it encapsulated?

It seems that perhaps the concept behind ingesting placentas can be scary or misinterpreted; let’s talk about that to start!

You can either comment below, post on our Facebook wall, or email us at help@PAXbaby.com to share your questions, comments or concerns.
We would *love* to hear from you!!
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*happy babywearing*

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The post Let’s Talk Placentas! appeared first on PAXbaby.

Happy birthday to our Rose & also happy National Adoption Day 2013!

Our special girl is nine years old today, and such a blessing to our family!  To help us celebrate, I thought that you might like to read her story and enjoy the perfect timing of our life!

3 months into my second pregnancy, PAXdaddy was at a funeral for the mom of a little boy in the elementary class that he was co-teaching that year. Another mom approached him and asked if we were still interested in adopting at some point… He answered YES! however we are currently pregnant… She said, you never know, maybe the due dates would match, and we could have “twins!!” We arranged that she would bring the potential birthmom to our house the next day to interview us!

I was so nervous, sure that 12 month old Baby #1 would do something embarrassing, sure that I would say something silly, sure that this was a pie in the sky dream to have 2 babies join our family together!  When our friend introduced us to Rose’s birthmom, I met an angel!  Her eyes were kind, her smile was HUGE, and her heart was golden!  I so wanted to help her and be able to keep the baby safe, especially when it was revealed that our due dates were a mere 10 days apart!  Rose’s birth mom is exactly my age, but unmarried, and she told us that she was “unwilling to submit her baby to the backlash that happens in her native Aztec culture to a baby born out of wedlock…” She chose to share her baby with a family who would love & cherish the child, and keep that child from the life destined in her own village in Mexico where the child would be treated, she said, like a “slave.”  Although we didn’t speak ANY Spanish at the time and she didn’t speak any English, Rose’s birthmom returned the next day after interviewing 2 other families saying that she had chosen our family to love her baby forever!! She just gushed (in Spanish to our friend who translated) about how helpful and sweet PAXdaddy was with me and also with our oldest child. This was so unlike the men that she had known in her life, and she also valued highly the fact that I would be able to breastfeed the baby!!!

Rose’s birthmom moved into our little guest house and lived with our family for the last 6 months of both of our pregnancies!!!  As we each got bigger and bigger, we planned to use the same midwives and each prayed for safe home births!!!   A bilingual family counselor acted as a translator at her midwife appointments, and came weekly to help work out any issues we needed help with and to also help plan the babies’ births.   At 20 weeks, PAXdaddy and his two pregnant ladies went to have gender ultrasounds to reveal what we already suspected, that both babies were girls!  The fact that not only would the babies be “twins” but that they’d be “girly twins” caused the two mommies a lot of excitement and smiles!!!! PAXdaddy and I decorated the nursery in yellow and white with vintage baby decorations even though we were still cosleeping with Eli and planned to bedshare with the girls as well.  As we nested and planned, we couldn’t help but feel sad that Rose’s birthmom didn’t have these things to look forward to, but during counseling, she assured us that “the baby had never been hers, but had only been waiting for us!”

10 days before her due date, on November 1, Baby #2 decided that the HUGE Mexican feast that Rose’s birthmom had prepared for us to celebrate the Day of the Dead was just too spicy for her, and it was time to evacuate!!!   Baby Lucy was born in our bedroom after 2 hours of labor, and helped me to prepare my milk supply for TWO babies!!!  3 weeks later on November 23, Rose’s birthmom let us know that it was time for our second daughter to be born,  and our midwives returned to help deliver Baby Rose.  I remember Rose’s birth so very clearly that often I confuse the girls’ stories; they are so intertwined in my mind!  The baby was born into our midwife’s hands and set into my arms.  I couldn’t believe that I was so lucky to have not just one baby girl, but TWO!!!  I gave Baby Rose my breast and she latched right on; she knew who her mommy was.  Seeing the baby girls together the first time made me cry; seeing PAXdaddy holding his newest baby girl made me cry; my life was so overwhelmingly amazing – it made me cry.

Breastfeeding proved easier with the girls than it had been with my first baby, but part of that was luck and part was sheer willpower on my part to make it work out perfectly!  My midwives and I decided to keep things the most organized each; baby girl should have their own breast, and actually, my tandem nursing experience has been my easiest breastfeeding success so far!  Eli was still so young that most of the girls’ first 7 months ish were spent sitting on our favorite rocking chair, rocking and reading and feeding the babies!  It took me a long time to get in the groove, but once the girls were sleeping through the night and moved into their decorated nursery at that 7 month mark, I had enough energy to take my herd of babies out to the park on my own which we did every day.  Routine became my best friend since PAXdaddy was working that year from before the babies woke up til after they went to bed.  Weekends were pure family time with hikes, and reading time, and trips to the beach.

Eli doesn’t even remember life before the girls, and they thought he was great entertainment!  He was a bit of a bully as a two year old, so the girls were never left alone with him which is one of the reasons I’m so grateful that I had learned to babywear with my first baby!  I often wore one girl in a ring sling and carried the other on my opposite hip in my arm or in a secondary sling.  Eli was still keen on being worn as well, and I used a framed hiking backpack while pushing the girls in a tandem stroller to help exercise off the baby weight! By the time the girls were 14 months, they had weaned me at 13 months, and were very bonded as sisters.  When we decided to get pregnant again, the jump from having 3 to 4 children seemed so much less daunting because really, once you have experienced life with 3 under 2, you can do anything!!!!

Rose’s birthmom was Baby #4’s first visitor after his homebirth, she has come to each of the childrens’ birthday parties, and blessed us with her company on many occasions over the years until the summer of 2010 when she told us that she was preparing to return to Mexico to become a MIDWIFE!!! She says she wants to help other women in the same way that our midwives had helped her!!  I am so happy that the children have this wonderful, caring, sweet, amazing woman in their lives.  They call her Tia, which means Auntie in Spanish, and have many fond memories of her!!!  Bless her, and her beautiful heart that gave us another child to love and gave to Rose the gift of life!

*happy babywearing*

PAX

The post Happy Birthday, Rose! appeared first on PAXbaby.

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PAXmommy Jillian’s Baby #7 is here safely!  Thank you for your patience as we spent the first 24 hours with our newest blessing in privacy. We’re so happy to share her with you now!

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Our Cate was born on October 28 at 7:50 am after a wonderful 4 hour birth!!!!  Her  birth was an amazing home birth in the water with her two big sisters watching.  At 8 days early, Cate is a sweet 7 pounds 10 ounces, 20 inches long, and already an avid breastfeeding fan!  Thank you for all your love these past couple weeks; your support helped me have the birth I’ve always wanted!  <3

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Keep scrolling to read her full birth story!

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Welcome, Baby Cate!!!

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She’s a water baby!

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7 pounds 10 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long!

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Congrats to our #babycate game winner, Sarah B in Hawaii, who guessed the closest arrival date, time and birth stats!  You will be emailed to confirm your details!!!  Thank you to Calico Sunshine for providing our rainbow prize!!!!

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Read Cate’s full birth story below & see more photos at sons & daughters photography!!!

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Cate’s birth was planned to be my 6th natural birth, 5th at home, and 4th water birth (the remaining birth being that of our adopted daughter who was also born in our home)!  My mantra this pregnancy has been to have a “different” experience than my last 3 births which, although home water births, were all very similar and intense.  For this little girl’s birth, I was hoping & praying for more peace & power. And I got what I wished for!!!!!!

Thanks to 13 days of prodromal labor, when my body finally shifted into “active labor,” I was impressively efficient moving from a 2cm dilation at 4:00 am when my husband checked me to fully open and pushing by 7:40 am!  Zooming through dilation wasn’t painful this time, but just a task set in front of me.  I could feel my body responding to each contraction which on average didn’t last more than 55 seconds and spaced no closer than 5 minutes apart.  This gave me time to rest up, stay hydrated, and prepare for the next contraction with purpose.  I was very excited to have my water break on the way back into the tub from a bathroom break; this was the first time I’d ever had this experience out of the water! So different!

Once our midwives arrived at around 5, I felt so much comfort and support from their presence and was reminded of the awesome service that they provide to enable mothers to labor & birth at home!  What a blessing to be in my own room, with my own choice of things & people, without the imposition of unwanted interruptions or unwelcome intrusions.  My beautiful children sleeping in the other room served as a constant reminder of my ability to “do this!”

My 2 daughters had expressed interest a few months ago in being present at their little sister’s birth, so once the midwives were settled, my husband called my dad to come stay downstairs with the other children as they woke up for the day, and my girls came to join me.  They sat together in a chair next to the birth tub where I was laboring, reading their books, and every so often came over to hold my hand, or stroke my hair.  Their loving witness made me feel even stronger that this birth was going to be awesome if only to give them the ability to view birth as a wonderful & natural event instead of an emergency that can’t be controlled.

At around 7:40 after being in active labor for almost 4 hours, I suddenly had back to back contractions which were each a minute and a half.  I exclaimed loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “I need a BREAK!” which, as every birthing mother knows, is the sign that transition has come & the next stage of labor is imminent.  Sure enough, with my next contraction, I was able to push Cate’s head out.  Her sisters were watching as she rotated her head just like she was supposed to and wiggled her body – still inside of me!  I asked my husband if he was pushing on me, but when he replied in the negative, we both realized that it was Cate “helping me!”  After a long 5 minute break, another contraction gave me the strength to push out her body into the water.  Each of my babies have had either their cord wrapped around their neck or meconium in their water, or both!  So following tradition, Cate’s cord was around her neck as well as “rucked” around her shoulders and arms.  My husband and midwife worked calmly & efficiently to get her untangled while I waited for another contraction to birth my placenta. Then it was time to really take a look at Cate!!!

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My first observation of my sweet baby was how tiny she seemed; Baby #6 was born so large though that anything smaller than his huge 9 1/2 pounds would have seemed small!!!  Even my midwives were surprised by how petite she was in comparison, but at 8 days early, she didn’t have any signs of being “early” at all.  We rubbed what vernix there was into her dry skin later to help her peeling elbows and knees.  Moving into my bathtub with Cate for an herb bath was a great idea, and we all sat in our bathroom chatting for another hour, drinking coffee and a green citrus smoothie for me with the added benefit of a piece of raw placenta to boost my healing and help balance my post partum emotions. Cate breastfed for the first time in the bath after latching onto her daddy, oops, with a great latch and a big appetite! It was only after this break that my midwives (http://www.thenestingplace.org/) measured & weighed our new baby while the older kids observed and exclaimed over her adorable features!  It was so sweet to see the older boys’ immediate look of love when they met her, and to hear them oohing & aahing over her!  We made sure to give lots of attention to Declan who, at 2 1/2, is doing much better with his transition to being a “big boy” than we had even hoped!!!  Having had no tearing at all, I was able to sit comfortably right away and participate happily in the rest of the day which included a nap, a shower, and a visit from one of the PAXmommies who so sweetly took my kids to the park for an outing.  My midwife,Theresa, brought us dinner and took my placenta away to dry & encapsulate it which is usually my husband’s job!! We decided this time that with 6 other littles to look after, he simply didn’t have the time!  I’m looking forward to taking my daily placenta pill again – http://www.heartandsoulbirth.com/!!!

Our birth photographer is a long time friend of mine who last week moved locally to Southern California – lucky me!!! She timed both her move and her arrival to the birth perfectly with an hour to document my labor & then Cate’s birth!  AlisaMarie from Sons & Daughters Photography caught so many amazing moments on camera that it’s been hard for me to choose which picture to show you first!  She will be sharing more photos as she edits them here!

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Thanks for your love, and for being part of Cate’s life, even if only by reading the story of her birth.  Your participation helps the normalization of home births, shows the power of midwifery, and enables the belief that women’s bodies are designed to birth and sustain our babies naturally.  peace, jillian

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*happy babywearing*

The post Welcome, Baby Cate!!! appeared first on PAXbaby.

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 Will today be the day that PAXmommy Jillian has #BABYCATE??

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*happy babywearing*

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The post Will TODAY be the day?? appeared first on PAXbaby.

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The PAXmommies are homebirthing, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, natural mommies!!!

Some of us started out “crunchy”, and some of us grew into our “crunchiness” along the way and a few babies later.

Parenting is not always a cake walk and sometimes it seems like no matter what you do, someone has something to say.

Just like you, we have had ups and downs, struggles, triumphs, and many highs and lows along the way.

Today, we’d like to ask, which of your parenting choices have your family and friends made more difficult for you?

Amber necklaces?

Babywearing?

Extended breastfeeding?

The number of children you have?

Extended rear facing carseats?

Homeschooling?

All of the above?

PAXbaby.com is here to support you, and say WAY TO GO if you need a (((hug)))!

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*happy babywearing*

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The post PAXmommies and parenting choices appeared first on PAXbaby.