In about 2hours…

In about 2 hours my heart will stop, why you ask! becuase in exactly 2 hours from now at 1:32am it will mark exactly one year since i woke up my husband, mom, and bestfriend and said “i’m not sure but i think my water have broke” yup 12/13/09 marks the one year anniversary of my first baby’s birth!

The story is long and you can read it about here. But to highlight the day went something like this.. 9pm on 12/12 spoke with christina who asked are you in labor? to which i replied no this baby isn’t gonna come for another month, he is dropped but i think he has a couple more weeks, atleast i hope he does anyway. but if he is gnna come he better come tonight cause i dont want him any closer to christmas! HAHA by ten i was in bed with a “tummy ache” at 1am my husband comes to bed and i went to the bathroom. at 1:25 i climbed back into bed at 1:26 i got out of bed to change my sweat pants after i sneezed at 1:26 and 30second sweats soaked and water everywhere:) at 1:30 i scream “tyler i think my water broke!” (yes it took me several minutes to decide that was infact what happened and not jsut that i peed my pants) i then called my mom and my bestfreind so they could then describe to me what it is like when your water breaks so i could be sure, i really wasn’t convinced yet. they convinced me to go get checked so about an hour later i wonder into the hospital and made my way to LDR where  was promptly checked out and hooked up to monitors, i was asked to rate my contractions to which i replied “i dont feel anything” to which the nurse argued “well i can see on the monitor your having a decent contraction” to which i again replied “i don’t feel anything” she then felt my stomach to confirm the monitor was working properly and it was. we went like this for a couple hours me saying i think i feel it, wait maybe not, oh wait here is one, and its gone. there was a lot of laugher and giggling at lack of certiantity in my labor. and then bam! oh man was i working hard! they dont hurt but holy cow were they strong! and then suddenly “someone get the nurse i think i need to push!” and sure enough by 6am my baby boy was in my arms! 4.5hours after my water broke!

it was instant love!

the year went something like this….

Daddy caring baby around in football hold as we packed up our hospital room. we spent a week on lights at Mame’s house for jaundice. we celebrated his first christmas at only 2 weeks old!

by a month we had a beautiful routine down of nursing and napping and going out during the day

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at two months he was baptized in the name of the lord.

At 3 months we went to dland as a family for the first time! so fun!!!

at 4 months we started sitting on the potty, learned to roll over and a week before 5months on mothers day to be exact he sat up for the first time.

at 6 months we started on food!!

at 7 months we got our first 2 teeth and had started crawling.

on his 8 month birthday we found out he was gonna be a big brother.

at 9 months he was standing and trying to walk without holding on.

at 10months we moved, Harv mastered walking furniture and discovered the cell phone and calling daddy!

at 11 months we are talking up a storm, he can say Dad, George, Dog, Tree, Duck, that, no, hi. and just yesterday he stood without holding onto anything, clapped for the first time and said up, and cut his 6th tooth!

Where has this year gone? what happen to that baby boy so tiny in my arms, who would sleep in my lap and stare up at me. the baby boy who i use to just sit and watch sleep for hours on end? at what point did my baby go from being my baby to being a boy? and at what point will he come a little man? a grown man? why does time goes this fast? for now for this moment i am going to sit and savor my photos, my journal, and my memories of my little boy who will so quickly be grown even more!!!!

Doulas Covered by insurance!!!

A friend posted this article on BabyOhm about Doulas being covered by insurance. i am so excited to hear this!!! Its a great benefit to moms wanting doulas at their births but who can’t afford it, nor can they find a finance friendly doula. Exciting for me in both sides, financial help to my clients and insurance coverage for my doula, pretty sweet deal to me!!!!

Anyway here are the details as posted from DONA International’s eDoula special announcement dated September 29, 2009, found here. (PDF Link!)

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DONA International is pleased to announce that a new code for doulas in the United States has been approved and defined by the National Uniform Claim Committee. This code will come into effect on October 1, 2009 for services rendered after that date. Pat Burrell, a birth doula and registered nurse from South Carolina, was successful in lobbying for the assignment of the code, which will allow doulas to be assigned provider numbers to submit claims to both Medicaid and third-party payers for their services.

“While this does not guarantee third-party reimbursement, it is an enormous step forward in our mission to ensure a doula for every woman who wants one” says Debbie Young, President of DONA International. “Individual doulas will have to apply for a provider number and comply with other requirements that have yet to be determined. Regardless, we are excited to announce Ms. Burrell’s success with this initiative, which will benefit thousands of women and families for years to come. This is an exciting day in childbirth in the United States.” For further information, please contact Jessica Atkins, DONA Third Party Reimbursement Chair or  Stefanie Antunes, Director of Public Relations.

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Insurance Claim Code Q & A

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Q: What is a taxonomy code?
A: The National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) is the association which defines and assigns code numbers that can be used by provider groups and individuals to obtain a National Provider Identification (NPI) number. The NPI is used in conjunction with the taxonomy code to submit claims forms for reimbursement through third party providers such as insurance companies.

Q: How can a doula get a provider number?
A: Doulas must file for an NPI number through National Plan and Provider Enumerator Systems (NPPES). They will need the taxonomy code to do so. Access the NPI Application Instructions here.

Q: Can a doula group apply?
A: Yes, a doula group can apply but it is suggested by the NPPES that individual doulas apply for their own NPI code.

Q: What will doulas need to do to apply for reimbursement?
A: Doulas will need to obtain a provider number. We are unclear at this time if there will be minimum certification or training requirements or what other steps might be required. Doulas will need to complete and submit a 1500 Universal Claims form, which can be ordered on-line or picked up at most medical supply stores.

Q: What is the Health Care Provider Taxonomy Code that we are talking about?
A: It is a number 374J00000X. It is called “doula” and falls under the “Nursing Services Related Provider” section.

Q: Will doulas need to be nurses to qualify as a provider?
A: No, doulas do not need to be nurses to qualify. We believe all doulas will be able to apply for a provider code, but more information will be available in October when the code comes into effect.

Q: Does this guarantee reimbursement for my clients?
A: No, this does not guarantee reimbursement, but all parties should be considering it equally. The need for a taxonomy code and a NPI number has been an impediment to reimbursement in the past. DONA International recommends that doulas use appropriate caution as it remains unclear how, who, and what amounts will be covered. We encourage you to ensure a contract outlines all expectations and fee structures in the event that services are not covered.

Q: How much can I expect to bill for birth or postpartum doula services?
A: We do not know the requisite standards at this time.

Q: How can clients get reimbursed for doula services?
A: Clients can still file for reimbursement through their insurance providers.

Q: How does a doula get paid for providing services to Medicaid recipients?
A: The doula must apply to become a provider through her state administered Medicaid provider system. This varies from state to state. The Taxonomy code and NPI may help facilitate this process. Most of the provider application processes are posted on the state websites

Q: Is this just for birth doula services?
A: No, the doula code includes professionals who “provide physical, emotional, and informational support to a mother before, during, and just after birth and/or provide emotional and practical support to a mother during the postpartum period.” The code appears to apply to both birth and postpartum doula services equally.

Formula Fed America

Let me start out by saying i am not anti-formula. My son for various reasons of the course of his year life span has and does drink formula. This has been a bittersweet decision for my husband and I. Bitter right now because i’m not ready to wean and yet we are fighting hard to maintain a minimum supply while i’m prego; and “sweet” when he was 5 days old and with no chance to have an adequate pumped supply i had to resort to formula after i had a cat scan and had to pump and dump for 24 hours. But even though I’m not anti-formula I am Pro-breastfeeding. I believe in the health benefits of it, i believe that its complexity can not be replicated in formula and i believe in the emotional value of breastfeeding. I believe its important to breastfeed if you are physically able to breastfeed. The AAP recommends to breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months, but to continue at minimum through the first year. I believe this is so important!!! yes there are going to be occasions where fixing a bottle would be easier but thats what pumps are for; so i believe if you are physically able to its important that you give your baby breast milk.

With that said, i want to share with you a website i recently came across… Formula Fed America. It’s a website centered around a movie that i can’t wait to see about Formula Feeding vs. Breastfeeding in the United States. I recommend checking out the site and viewing the trailer for the film. 

The film is based on the lack of education, mis-education and support available to women in this country who choose to breastfeed. Such an important topic!

I read once on a blog that someone felt that nursing mothers get more attention in the hospital than mothers feeding their baby’s formula. This may be true, i dont know i’m a mom who choose to breastfeed. but i do know that once you leave the hospital after your 1-2 day stay, it’s a lot of work to find the support you need to continue the relationship if there are any hiccups. I discovered for myself that while all the hospitals in my area have lactation consultants not all are free to visit after you’ve been discharged. Also not all pediatricians and OBs are made a like some will fully support you in your breastfeeding relationship and help you diagnose your problem but others will actually encourage you going to formula because they have little to no experience or knowledge of breastfeeding. Get a further than first week, like say into your 4th month or 8th month and run across roadblocks such as an infection, growth spurt, or nursing strike and you may get misinformation that you are drying up, or that you should stop due to a risk for your baby; and if you try to see that lactation consultant at your hospital you may get told as i did that once your baby is 6 weeks old they will no longer see you. Given all of this its no wonder that so many moms turn to formula feeding. its accessible in every store, free samples are often available from the makers, and well just about any sales rep can help you pick out a can and bottle. I do see more and more moms breastfeeding, and now that i am around more natural parenting parents i have come across more and more independent lactation consultants but i am excited to see a documentary comparing the two choices and i hope it will help women to make more informed choices.

 

Much to be thankful for this year!

As i get ready for thanksgiving i watched my husband and my son share in their morning routine of tickles, headbuts, kisses, hugs, and laughter while they got dressed today. and it made me realize how thankful I am. My husband and i have made a lot of choices this year, most of which we have gotten a slack from from family and misc. people. But those choices have been choices of sacrifice. Sacrifices that sometimes were hard to make or were slow to be made and have made life a little more difficult, yes, but sacrifices that are well worth the end result. Because of these choices and sacrifices i get to be home with my son everyday, i get to be here for every up and every down, every smile and every tear, every laugh and every scream. Sometimes its hard, some moments i cry with him, but at the end of the day, or as it was the start of the day today i am so thankful for those choices we have made. No matter how tough it is right now i wouldn’t trade any of it to be away from my son and miss out on who is he is. Sure i could work a 40hr (or as it was a 50/60hr) work week and we could be in a position of owning a house but i would have to do that at the sacrifice of missing my sons first attempts at words, his first time rolling over, the first time he crawled, the first time who stood, and the first time he decided he could walk. I would have missed the first time he danced, and the joy on his face when he discovered that more than just balls can go into his pound it away boat. Yeah i would get to see the later attempts of all of these in that hour i would get to spend with him between 5pm when i would get off work and 6:30 when he goes to bed and on saturdays and sundays. But Its not the same, i know its the same when i see the look on my husbands face when i told him his son said duck and quack quack, or the tears that came to his eyes when i told him Harvey just spent the last 15min in the car saying dada dada dada because he was so excited to have lunch with his daddy. 

My son may not ever be able to say his parents bought him a car, he may not ever get every christmas present or birthday present he ever wanted, Heck we may not ever be able to buy him a whole lot period, but in 20 years when he grows up, he’ll be able to say my mom and dad were there. and for that I am thankful. Today i am thankful to know that i am here and tomorrow i will be thankful that i was here, and someday when i can’t be there anymore he will be thankful that i was here.

another reason to breastfeed

My baby is sick, he has had a runny nose for a few weeks, one that has been attributed more to teething than anything, but then this weekend that runny nose got worse and it broke my heart. and then i realized yet another reason why i choose to breastfeed and why i am choosing to tandem nurse, that reason… the antibodies. My son obviously has a cold, that i am obviously fighting (or i’d be sick to) so my immune system is obviously putting off antibodies. what a huge benefit to my son! he can get my antibodies from nursing and that will make him feel better physically and emotionally! and that makes me feel better! I can’t imagine not offering that to him!

New national Hospital Policy..

So i heard rumor last week of a national policy on the visitors in hospitals so i tried to do some research….

The policy itself appears to vary from hospital to hospital state to state, but generally speaking there is a national initiative that limits the visitors in hospitals. Most hospitals have raised the minimum age of visitors, and limited the number of visitors or barred visitors all together in some cases.

According to the LA times on Oct 20th, here  in Orange county UCI and Kaiser had not yet placed any restrictions but that would change as the outbreak of H1N1 changed. 

Other than that information was limited and hard to find, i even went to the different hospitals websites. If you have more info about here in Orange county please share, i’d love to be able to inform more on the topic but i just couldn’t find anything.

UPDATE: I was able to speak with information at the local Hospitals and this is the current visitor policy:

Hoag Hospital: No change, any # of visitors and visitors of Any age. however masks are available if you must vist, but they ask that if you have any flue symptons u stay home.

Saddleback Hospital: There is still no change in the number of visitors in a room however currently no children not even siblings are allowed in the room in maternity under the age of 16. (Expected to stay this way until March)

Mission Viejo Hospital: Same as Saddleback

St. Jude Hospital: No Change Unless its Sibling children must be atleast 12 years of age, there is no limit on visitors.

St. Joseph Hospital: No change Unless its a sibling Children must be 12 years of age, and there is no limit on visitors. However this is expected to change Dec 1st.

Babyohm.com

I am so excited about a new site called Babyohm.com its gonna be an awesome website, but its just getting started so check it out and keep checking it out. So what is Babyohm.com ? It’s a resource website for an alternative in birth and parenting. 

The couple who started the site are good friends of mine who have a passion for helping women and parents make informed decisions. They themselves like me have found themselves raising their children and doing things that before baby never came to mind, but also like me they were faced with the challenge of finding good and reliable resources and so the site was born.

The site itself offers links to books, articles, and resources of all kinds that can help you make better informed decisions. it has a community voices blog, that will feature 6 bloggers who will speak on such topics. Babyohm also offers a comprehensive directory of midwives, doulas, classes, Pediatricians, OBs, chiropractors, and so many other birth and parenting professional in all kinds of fields. Within that directory you can view the professional, rate the professional, and read and leave comments on the service you received. You can also find a forum to talk with other like-minded parents as well as a place to share your birth story and hear other birth stories. 

As i said the site is still a baby and just like a baby is still growing and learning. But please check it out, register, and share. If you do have any questions or comments on it please share them with either the admin or myself and i’ll pass along the message.

life advice

Today at nurture we talked about our fears as parents, things we worry about for our kids and families. Our church’s junior high pastor is the one who lead the discussion today and he shared a bit of advice, something i have found myself telling a lot of fellow wives lately. its one of those pieces of advice that we can apply to our children but that we can also apply to our entire lives. so what was the advice.. well here it is in a bit of long form.

We often get hung up on an individual’s behaviors, we are shocked and angered and hurt when our 13 year old daughter is having sex, or 16 year old son his doing drugs and getting drunk with his buddy, we are saddened when our children rebel and appalled when a husband or wife has an affair. And not to diminish the behavior, because yes the behaviors or bad but they are the result of a large issue. that 13yr old is looking for validation that she is loveable, the 16year is stressed about school, sports, family and is looking for a way to escape for a little while. that husband or wife may be felling trapped and needs to escape a little while, forget his or her problems. 

so how should we react? We need to address the behavior yes but if we don’t address and fix the root, if we don’t look at the real problem then the behavior may change for a little while, but it will come around again. maybe in a different behavior maybe the same but it will find its way up again. 

So we need to stop focusing on the behavior itself and focus more on the why… i know harder said than done but i have been living this advice for the last week and 1/2 and i have to tell you its freeing. I have moments of anger but that is part of the process, overall though i have a new attitude, a new piece, and a new trust in the possibility of change the possability of deeper and healthier realtionships both with my kids and husband.

she will be saved through the bearing of children

I have always stood by that my birth was painless. mind you that doesn’t mean feelingless it means it was work it was intense and emotionally hard but i felt no physical pain. Pain to me is what you experience when you break your arm or cut yourself but in my opinion childbirth is work, it is glorious intense hard tiring uncomfortable work, but not pain. I have also stood by my belief that birth for me was an act of worship. and i believe that the reason i didn’t feel pain was that my focus was not “this thing is happening to me” which so many women say and think when bearing children either in pregnancy or labor but rather my focus was what i was doing, and why i was doing it, and who i was doing it for. For me it was for the glory of God.

But in contrast many people believe that pain in childbirth is a necessary part of childbirth. for many genesis 3:16 reigns true. But the word we often translate to be “pain” in childbirth is also translated to mean “sorrow” and so for me the verse reads 

Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;

For me emotional pain was what i felt in childbirth. For me bearing a son made me face emotional scars and wounds and i faced them with God’s grace behind me. and it was healing. and now i face #2 with those some of those same wounds still needing to be healed more and in new ways along with some new wounds. and again i trust and believe that when my baby is born it will again be sorrowful but will also again be an act of worship and will be healing. 

and then today in the midst of facing some of those wounds i stumbled across this verse that neither I or my husband and ever read and it brought affirmation to what i had always believed about birth and God. the verse i felt spoke for itself in response to Genesis 3:16 and the act of redemption it reads…

(please go back and read the whole passage it is good)

1 Timothy 2:15 “But women will be saved through childbearing- if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety”

So i challenge you to look at your future birth or past birth with new eyes…. rather than focusing on what you think is happening to you which will most likely result in physical pain, as that thought alone brings on fear which in physical form causes pain, but rather focus on God’s hand in your birth. How is your birth an act of worship and in what ways God is trying to redeem you?

 

 

How long would you go?

I got to wondering last night if baby was proven healthy (heart tones sounded good, mom looked good, fluid levels good all that kinda stuff) then how long would i push off induction? personally i would push it off as long as i could, the way i figure it God must have a reason for me to not birth this baby yet. 

I found a woman only who went 17 months, and i’ve heard that Dr. Bradly himself saw a woman go a year. the average human gestation is actually 41 weeks and 1 day not 40 weeks like we say here in the US. so given that why at 40 weeks do we starting pushing the lines of induction and get out the pitocin and such.

i haven’t done a ton of research but i would imagine that as long as all is well and with baby there should be no reason to worry about going well past your due date.

So how long would you go?