Doula Workshop

I had the most fabulous time at my doula workshop the weekend before last.  I am very confident that I have found my calling in life.

After having shadowed a doula on one birth and taking this workshop, I feel I am ready to strike out and try my hand at attending births on my own.  So, if anyone is pregnant and in the Denver Metro area, feel free to message me if you’d like a free doula.  All you have to do is fill out an evaluation of my performance as a doula after the birth (your doctor and nurse does too).  I need to collect three evaluations to complete my DONA certification, but it sometimes takes a lot more than three births to actually get three evals from doctors and nurses, so don’t be shy about asking me to be your doula!  From now until I complete my certification, I will accept everyone free!  Yay! 

Now, that little bit of shameless advertising aside, I learned a lot during the workshop.  It was awesome.  And a little disturbing at parts (especially the part where we had to watch a video of a c-section being performed, icky!).

I learned that March of Dimes offers grants to people studying to become nurses, doulas, childbirth educators and lactation consultants.  Especially to those who will provide their services free of or for minimal charge to low income mothers (exactly what I’m getting into the doula profession to do!)

I learned about becoming a certified massage therapist, and how that could get me more business as a doula and allow me to charge more (for those who can afford to pay for a doula, that is).

I learned about a bunch of cool resources which I plan to share with you all over time.  Today, I am sharing with you the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth.  Enjoy!

And I met a bunch of really awesome women.  I really feel great about this path I have chosen.  I am going to take it even further by becoming a childbirth educator and a breastfeeding expert (I learned about a course that makes you one during my doual workshop).  One day, maybe, I’ll move a step beyond and become a midwife, but for now, that day is still a ways away.

Help fight prematurity!

Visit the March of Dimes website and sign their Prematurity Awareness Petition.  Over all, the United States gets a D on the 2008 Premature Birth Report Card.  Premature births are on the rise, and its the #1 cause of death for new born babies.  You can check the grade of your state on the site and learn the statistics that caused your state to get the grade it did.  Colorado gets a D, only one state got above a C, Vermont.

Ripping off other publications (with credit, so its not plagerism, right?)

I read this today on the Yes Magazine website.  I think it is worth reposting and spreading around.

Has the cash economy swallowed up your life? Here are some ways to extract some of your time and “life energy” from the cash economy.

Reduce debt. If you can’t pay cash, don’t buy it. Practice being mindful about what you buy and why.

Do it yourself. Grow food, pick berries, can and preserve food, make wine, bake bread. Make or repair clothes, furniture, and gifts. Create your own entertainment. Walk, bike, run, or play basketball instead of joining a fitness club.

Share & Exchange. Take care of neighbor kids and elders. Play music, sing, act in local theater, write poems, hold art shows. Exchange haircuts for applesauce, bike repair for massage, language tutoring for babysitting.

Reduce waste & pollution. Weatherize your home or apartment. Reduce your car usage, or get rid of a car.

Buy local. Run buy-local campaigns, print stickers, publish or post a directory of local businesses. Acknowledge business owners who foster the well-being of the environment, employees, and the whole community. Convert public funds from luring outside corporations to supporting local businesses.

Start a new local business. Start a food market, credit union, wifi network, or even an electricity co-op. Explore ownership options like cooperatives, nonprofits, for-profits, or single proprietorships.

Buy Fair Traded when you buy imports. Vote with your dollar for a better world for all.

Buy less

Let me tell you all about the buying goals I have been working on since Lent. I was going through some spiritual havoc over the season of Lent, and did a lot of soul searching (Lutherans, unlike Catholics, do not really give something up during Lent – although sometimes I do – its more a time of deep spiritual reflection and devotion) and this is what I came up with. Actually, come Easter time (the end of Lent, for those of you who don’t know) I had more of a skeleton of a plan. I’ve been fleshing it out through trial and error since then, and there’s probably still a lot more fleshing to do.

Anyway, the goal is to buy less. How much less? As much less as I can. My life is crammed with stuff (I’ve mentioned before here that I have a compulsive hoarding problem I’m trying to work on) and its not really doing anything for me except making my life more cluttered and stressed. So in addition to getting rid of the useless stuff responsibly, I’m really focusing on halting the in flow.

This has greater implications than just helping me get a handle on my hoarding problem. Our culture of consumerism is terrible for the environment and the main cause of global warming. All of this stuff we buy and use takes energy to produce, ship, use, and ship to the dump once its thrown away. Not to mention all the other chemicals, toxins, waste, byproducts and other unpleasantries associated with the production, use and disposal of consumer goods. Its in the best interest of our planet and our own health to buy and consume only what we need.

Also, the best way to save money is to not spend it in the first place. Duh, right?

So here are my rules, as they stand. Or should I say my goals.

#1 Buy only things that are consumable – food, personal hygiene products, diapers for Elijah (although I try to use cloth as much as I can), etc, and buy only consumables that you need (healthy, balanced food, only the basics for hygiene). Buy them as cheap and responsibly as you can.

#2 If I need something I don’t have and isn’t a consumable, make it or obtain it for free off of Freecycle or from a friend or family member

#3 When I must buy a non consumable item (for example, new clothes for Elijah, who is growing so fast I can hardly keep him clothed), buy used.

#4 If I must buy new, get it organic and local if possible (or as sustainable as possible). Avoid packaging and excess shipping.

So far I haven’t physically saved a lot of money, instead I’ve paid bills, but that’s equally as important. I can see the savings coming though. Other things I’m doing with money that isn’t being spent include

I started a retirement account. I can get one through my work, if you can, you truly should do the same. If your work doesn’t offer something like that for you, then see about getting involved in a financial institute or something. Hey, I don’t claim to be an expert. Maybe there’s something on Get Rich Slowly. This is why I read that blog.

I started a College Invest account for Elijah. I’d like for him to not have to join the military to go to college, like I did. I’m going to do the best I can to teach him discipline (which was really my biggest problem that prevented me from going to college, and the military fixed it for me), and I will put aside as much money for him as I can afford. Right now its only 25 bucks a month, but as I get more bills paid down, that amount will grow.

I also plan to start giving a set monthly amount to my church, probably something very small, like 20 bucks a month or something. I also let myself join the Sierra Club again. I hope that eventually I will be able to afford to tithe to other charitable organizations as well. I’d love to give some money for the crisis in Myanmar, but they aren’t letting aid through, so I will send them all my prayers instead.

Finally, I want to invest in some green companies. The Sierra Club offers ways to do that, and I’m going to look into it further and let you know what I find.

Now, these rules aren’t set in stone. I take vacations from them sometimes (this weekend, for example, I’m going to Chocolate Fest, and I might spend a bit there on some very un necessary consumables), but having them solid in my memory makes the vacations fewer and smaller. I also have a list of things I want to buy in the future, and I think about them before I buy anything else. For example, I want to put bamboo floors in my new house when I get it, and I want to paint Elijah’s room blue with low or no VOC paint, and then I want a new bed set made of organic cotton and some wool pillows. Next year, I would like to go on my church’s annual trip to India. Those are medium term goals and they help me to keep my eyes on the prize.

The other Lenten plan I made had to do with responsible eating, but I’ll blog on that later.

Speaking of religious stuff

I am ELCA Lutheran, in case you all are interested.  We’re the crazy, progressive Lutherans.

This is a message from an ELCA Lutheran bishop my mom sent me.  I think its a nice cause, no matter what your faith background is, so I’m posting info on it here.

a message from Bishop Bjornberg “give of what we have received” Dear partners,Among the current topics in the news, two subjects are persistently prominent.  The first is the disturbing spectrum of stories about the growing world food crisis.  From ethanol production, to rice shortages, from the ongoing famine in Darfur, to the possibility of crop failures in Eurasia, collectively these strands come together in a frightening way.  The United Nations relief agencies plead for increased support.  Asian governments block exports of rice from their nations.  Like you, I cannot say what is looming, but I tremble at the possibilities.The other constant headline is the arrival of economic stimulus checks in the mailboxes of U.S. taxpayers.  The economy is in a downturn, and some families are struggling to hold on to their homes in the midst of the lending turmoil.  But certainly many, if not most, of us have the resources to feed our families. Perhaps this is the time for us to speak a prophetic word to the followers of Jesus.  Perhaps this is a time for us to boldly suggest that we who count ourselves disciples of the Risen Lord should give of what we have received.  We can give a portion of our economic stimulus check, perhaps even a tithe, to ELCA World Hunger.  In all the many lists of suggestions about what we might do with this windfall, I have not seen one suggestion that we might share our gift with the hungry. I hope you will raise this issue within your congregations.  I invite you to join me in speaking and in sharing. In Christ, Bishop Allan Bjornberg

New Car, Urban Farming, Baby Wearing and Community

Well, I bought a car.  I really wanted a Yaris but it just wasn’t happening for me.  In fact, my only hope of getting financed was through GM, which I really didn’t want to do because of how GM works to oppose higher fuel efficiency standards, but it’s what I had to do because we unfortunately live in a society in which cars are a necessity.  — No Impact Man writes some great blogs on how we should develop towns and cities differently to make cars less necessary, see this one for some inspiration—

So I went with the Saturn Astra.  It gets decent mileage, has good pick up, lots of room for me and the baby and the stroller and all the crap you carry around with a baby and maybe some camping stuff, and it has all the swanky OnStar crap I swore I’d never own because it was pointlessly frivolous and now I have it and am tempted to call it up and ask for directions to restaurants we don’t have in this state, like White Castle and Pasta House.  But tell me honestly, did I get a mom car?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mine is white, not silver.  Its a mom car, isn’t it?  When I got it, it didn’t look like a minivan, but in this picture it does.  Its supposed to be hot in Europe, or something, its sold as the Opel Astra there.  Just because I am a mom doesn’t mean I have to give it all up and start wearing mom jeans and driving a mom car. 

 

 

 

<—– Mom Jeans

 

 

Anyway, its an okay car choice, I suppose.  Not the greenest you could go, but probably the greenest I could go.  Let me tell you, they tried really hard to sell me the VUE, Saturn’s SUV, but I wouldn’t have it.  Not only would I feel totally hypocritical driving that car (I told the dealer “How can I drive this to a Green Party meeting?”), but what the hell is the point of an SUV that isn’t meant to go off road?  Seriously.  The “U” in SUV stands for utility.  I have far less a problem with SUVs if they are used for their intended purpose.  Hauling dirty, heavy stuff and going off road.  SUVs meant to look pretty for soccer mom’s usage is really just a minivan.  Even more so than my little Astra which only slightly resembles a minivan in pictures.

Remind me later to blog about how much it bugs me that we feel the need to have a tv in cars these days.

I am still going to get a bike and use that whenever I can instead of the car.  That will make me feel a little better about buying something so big and expensive from a company that supports lousy fuel efficiency standards.

Another thing that makes me feel better (not 100% better, mind you, nothing will make me feel 100% better about purchasing a car, not even a fuel cell car) is the new urban farming project/CSA I’ve become involved in.  Its called Sense of Colorado, and its a bunch of people around town growing large gardens in their back yards, and we all go help in them and pay 50 bucks a month and we get our share of the produce.  Its the first year they’re doing it as an organized CSA, so its kind of a risk, but I think its going to work out well.  Anyway, even if it doesn’t I love the concept of urban farming and am glad to support and learn about it.  Our failures this year are fantastic learning opportunities, and hopefully the organization will grow and become stronger each year.  There may be a story about it and a similar program which has been up and running for a while in Boulder in the Washington Post sometime here soon. 

If we have a surplus of veggies after we divvy out the shares, then we are thinking about running a farmers market in Five Points.  The people in Five Points cant afford to do some of the bigger farmers markets around town, like the one in Cherry Creek, Boulder or down town Littleton (check ‘em out if you can, though), so we thought it might be nice to do a more reasonably priced one on that end of town.  I like that idea also because I’ve been toying with the idea of selling low cost slings to low income moms (particularly single moms) who would not otherwise be able to afford any baby wearing apparatus – especially not fashionable ones.  I would do this by selling slightly more expensive slings to women who can afford to buy slings.  I’d charge cost of materials plus, say, $15 for the work for the women who can afford to buy slings, which is still a tremendous bargon compared to other slings.  The main material for the sling is three yards of fabric, but fabric is sold in sheets twice as wide as is needed, so when I get the three yards, I can cut them in half long ways and have the material for two slings!  I’ll use one half to make the full priced sling, and the other half to make another sling I’ll sell for, say, 10 bucks at the Five Points Farmers Market.  Then the women who buy the full price slings can also know that a portion of their proceeds go to providing low cost slings to low income single mothers.  I wouldn’t make much of a profit with this “business model” if you want to call it that.  We’re talking around 5 dollars profit per two slings made.  But profit is not the point.  Sharing the tremendous benefits of baby wearing with the world is the point.

And coming together as a community is the point.  Sharing food and getting in touch with where it comes from, rather than being removed and disassociated from what we put in our bodies.  Sustaining our own community from within is the point, rather than depending on communities thousands of miles away to provide us with necessities like food and fuel is the point.  And real, authentic relationships is the point.

I am excited about the opportunities this urban farming project presents for me to get to know new people, to get my hands in the dirt, and begin teaching my son where food comes from (because, like the commercials say, learning begins long before school).  And I’m excited that it might give me a chance to do some community service type work too.

And maybe this will satisfy my urge to farm.