Intuitive Mothering is Born

Hello all you faithful followers of Bellies In Bloom. I have a new endeavor I want to share with you all. It is Intuitive mothering, a site with all my services and a mothering blog to go with it. It has been a wonderful journey here at Bellies In Bloom, but you can see all of my previous posts at my new blog. Please join me over here and see my latest post!

Muah!

MIA

So sorry to my faithful followers. I currently have a new website and blog in the works and it has been consuming my time. When it gets up and running I will let you all know what to convert to. Thanks for understanding on the lack of posting lately.

Blessings!

FREE TICKETS - Only 20 Hours Left

BOLD is nearly here! As it quickly approaches, we are so excited to have media recognition for our event. We will air on Good Morning Texas on September 22nd at 9am, be sure to tune in if you are local. Also, The Dorsey Gang on 96.3 will play our interview on their station the week of the show. And, The Star Telegram is doing a special feature article. What great news....literally!!

You still have until 10am on Friday, September 17th to enter to win FREE TICKETS to see "Birth" on stage.

See details below on how to enter and visit the BOLD website for more details on the event happenings.

Free Tickets to BOLD

In the post below, I told you all about BOLD Fort Worth.

Girls Night Out, date night with hubby, or spend an afternoon with your mom! This event is on Saturday, September 25th!

The play will be fantastic. The professional actors have volunteered their talents and time to make this an awesome show. Curtain times are 2:00pm and 7:00pm.

Before or after the show you can head over to the free Birth Fair and Silent Auction (12:00pm-6:30pm).

There will be many vendors at the Birth Fair for you to peruse and enjoy.

The Silent Auction will boast items from local and national companies. You don't want to miss it. Some of the items include: baby girl bedding, restaurant gift cards, spa gift certificates, jewelry...but I don't want to give it all way. You definitely want to show up and bid on these amazing items. (all proceeds will benefit the Tarrant County Birth Network)

Now it's time to win a pair of tickets to the play!

How to enter:
1) Comment on why you want to go to this event - 1 entry
2) Become a follower of my blog - 1 entry
3) "Like" my Bellies In Bloom Facebook page - 1 entry
4) Write about the event on your blog (1 entry) and if you live and blog in North Texas (2 entries)

Be sure to leave a comment and tell me how many entries you earned!
Winner will be chosen on Friday, September 17, 2010 at 10:00am.

Fort Worth Birth Event

Birth, a Play by Karen Brody, Birth Fair and Silent Auction

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
WHERE: MARTIN HALL, 1309 WESLEYAN, FORT WORTH, TX
ADVANCE TICKETS: $ 10 (available through www.boldfortworth.org)
AT THE DOOR: $ 15

Fort Worth, TX - BOLD Fort Worth is presenting a day of focusing on mother-friendly childbirth choices on September 25, 2010. Theatre goers will gather to see the DFW premiere of Birth, a play by Karen Brody, and a Birth Fair will offer new, expectant and future mothers access to professionals and companies who follow the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative.

All proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships will benefit the Tarrant County Birth Network. The event is part of BOLD (Birth on Labor Day), a global arts-based movement aspiring to create childbirth choices for mothers around the world.

“Childbirth today is a human rights issue for low-risk pregnant mothers,” states author Brody, who spent a year interviewing over 100 low risk women before writing her play. “Choices in childbirth have been severely restricted for this large population of pregnant women despite strong evidence-based research supporting a wide variety of birth choices.”

Brody founded BOLD in 2006 with the intention to use her play to raise awareness and money that promotes childbirth choices that work for mothers. As Brody explains, “Pregnancy today is typically viewed as an illness and emergency. BOLD uses theatre to raise people’s consciousness that childbirth is normal. Once this is recognized people will start demanding a childbirth model of care that is compassionate, evidence-based and puts the mother at the center of her birth experience.”

Producer Shannon Blackwell became interested in the play after the birth of her second child in 2009.

"My two different births and the care I received during my pregnancies from my providers showed me the huge difference in experience a woman can have," she states. "Being educated and knowing your options are significant factors in walking away from a birth feeling empowered. It is a milestone in a woman's life and we should celebrate that."

Blackwell recruited Christi Moore-Murphy, an established theatre director and long time friend, to direct “Birth” after Moore-Murphy delivered her second child via emergency c-section earlier this year.

"We have an amazing group of actors, an unbelievably talented director and a fabulous group of volunteers who are coming together for one day to change the way Fort Worth views birth," Blackwell continues. "And the best part is that our advocacy efforts will continue through the funds we raise for the Birth Network."

Since 2006 nearly 100 BOLD locations have raised over $130,000 for childbirth organizations. Tickets are available online at www.boldfortworth.org. The play is PG-13 and not recommended for younger children.

The Tarrant County Birth Network is a community organization, with national roots, whose mission is to provide information about, and advocacy for, evidence-based, Mother-Friendly care for expectant Tarrant County families seeking a healthy, informed, and enjoyable pregnancy and birth.

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BOLD Fort Worth is a small group of (mostly) women in the DFW area joining others around the world in September 2010 in performing the play, Birth, by Karen Brody.

The Book I Cannot Be Without

I am a natural birthing, breastfeeding, baby wearing, sleep sharing, non-circumcising mommy and this book helps me do that the best way I can.

The Baby Book my Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears is my go to book for all kinds of questions. I have referred to it for anything from newborn procedures, to potty training, to growth and breastfeeding. This book has it all.

One of the reasons I really like this book is because it coincides with a lot of the beliefs I have about how to care for my baby. This 28 chapter, 767 page book is written from a non-biased prospective and points out both sides of issues and questions I have. But, I like the fact that my questions regarding parenting from a somewhat non-mainstream point of view are answered.

Cloth Diapering

Are you overwhelmed by the idea of cloth diapering? Does it seem too time consuming? Or, are you kind of grossed out by all of it?

There are many reasons to use cloth. It is cost effective, eco-friendly, there are many brands and styles available, and they are so comfy on your baby's bottom, not to mention healthier too.

We have chosen to cloth diaper for all of the reasons listed above. Let me tell you why I absolutely love to cloth diaper.

COST EFFECTIVE:
The average cost of diapering a child from birth to age three with disposables is between $2,000 - $3,000. Cloth diapering for the same amount of time can cost about $300 - $800 depending on the diaper choices you make. And, you can reuse them for subsequent children - an even better savings!

So far for our 7 week old we use organic cotton prefolds and little beetle hemp diapers. I bought three sets of a dozen prefolds in three different sizes to use as he grows for about $15 - $18/dozen from Hip Green Baby and the Little Beetles were hand-me-downs from my sister. Although you change diapers more often and do laundry about every other day, cloth diapers are less expensive in the long run. And, if you line dry, you are saving money on your energy bill too.

ECO-FRIENDLY:
Cloth diapering allows you to reuse and recycle. It makes me feel good to know that I am not contributing to the landfill. And, being open to using hand-me-down diapers helps out our wallet as well. We use flannel washcloths to wipe his bottom when changing him which also helps reduce the use of disposable baby wipes. I have a large pail lined with a washable bag from Hip Green Baby and a small bag for holding dirty diapers so that cloth diapering can be just as convenient on the go. If you have a baby like mine, you can often times change several diapers within a matter of a few minutes. Think how little time that diaper spent on that little bum compared to the hundreds of years it will spend in the landfill.

MANY OPTIONS:
Cloth diapers have come a long way in the past few years. If you are thinking messy, hard to fold cloths with scary diaper pins and plastic covers, think again! There is quite a variety of choices when it comes to using cloth diapers. Cloth diapers are snug fitting, waterproof (in some cases), breathable, and have user friendly covers with Velcro or snap closures. We use a leak free, inexpensive diaper cover from Terra Tots over the prefolds and Little Beetles, as well as the diaper cover from gDiapers that we place a prefold organic cloth diaper in. As he grows, there are many adorable cloth diapering options including FuzziBunz, BumGenius, Swaddlebees, and many more.

COMFORT and HEALTH:
Thankfully my little guy hasn't had a diaper rash from the little bit of disposable diapering we have had to do. But, many babies get diaper rash and their bottoms can become irritated by the chemicals in disposable diapers. In addition, the toxins associated with disposable diapers have been known to cause respiratory problems and asthma. Disposable diapers are made with Tributly-tin (TBT), a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals. They also contain a harmful ingredient called Sodium Polyacrylate which is the gel-like, crystal substance used as a super absorbent. Other harmful ingredients include: polypropylene plastic, petrolatum, stearyl alcohol, cellulose tissue, elastic, and perfume.

Consider investing in the health of your child, planet, and your pocketbook. It is well worth it for you, your baby, and the environment.