Mary Breastfeeding Jesus: Christmas' Missing Icon

I saw the following Huff Post article: Mary Breastfeeding Jesus: Christmas' Missing Icon and wanted to share it. The writer makes some very interesting points about the church in regards to its shift in iconic photographs and artwork over the years. There are some beautiful pictures at the end of the article as well! Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

NBC's "The Voice" Opens Season Finale With Touching Tribute For Sandy H...

First Miracle BY A.E. Stallings

First Miracle BY A.E. Stallings

Her body like a pomegranate torn Wide open, somehow bears what must be born, The irony where a stranger small enough To bed down in the ox-tongue-polished trough Erupts into the world and breaks the spell Of the ancient, numbered hours with his yell.

Now her breasts ache and weep and soak her shirt Whenever she hears his hunger or his hurt; She can’t change water into wine; instead She fashions sweet milk out of her own blood.

i just want a damn pap

Yesterday I went for my annual GYN appt. I had an appointment with a new doctor who my friend recommended. I got to the office just before the appt (which as at 4:45pm) and my first thought was "oh shit" this is going to be a while. You see, there were about 10 women in the waiting room - waiting for 2 doctors. Not looking good... So I filled out the paperwork, returned it to the woman at the desk and sat down. I grabbed a magazine and flipped through it while watching the depressing news on TV. A half hour went by...I told myself...okay...be patient...

Twenty minutes later, I decided to ask what was up. The woman at the desk said "Dr. Behindschedule is running 45 minutues behind"

"I have been waiting for over 45 minutues."

"Let me check your chart"

A couple minutes later, she came back and said "It's going to be about another 20 minutes"

Now I was about to walk out at this point, and some people may have does just that but I needed a pap and a script, plus I had waited 6 weeks to see this doctor! And my friend said she was really nice! So I decided another 20 minutes was fine.

25 minutes after the 20 more minutues had passed, I seriously contemplated leaving. But I NEEDED A PAP! and my Rx!!!!!

Finally at 6:30 a nurse called me in. When she took me into the little room and asked me to remove my sweater so she could take my blood pressure, I explained that it might be a little high after that waiting room experience. She replied "yeah, this always happens with these evening appointments..."

WHAT?????? This is normal? Okay, I guess I have to find ANOTHER GYN!

The only saving grace was that I only had to wait another 8 minutes (naked) to see the doctor who was in the room for a total for 6 minutes. And thankfully (for them) I had no co-pay because I would have flipped my shit if I had to shell out money after that.

So that saga of finding a good GYN contintues......and boy do I feel bad for all of the pregnant women who have to deal with these horrible OB/GYN offices.

Fall cold remedies

Elderberry Syrup

As the weather shifts and colds are going around try this great (and yummy!) Elderberry Syrup recipe. It helped me fight my cold!

Other awesome cold remedies:

Astragalus tea

Ginger tea

Coldcalm

Luvs' Breastfeeding Commercial

This is hysterical. I love the mom, she is so sincere looking.

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advise, solutions or cures, have rather chosen to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand."

-Henri Nouwen

Life is Terminal

Blossoms fall and weeds grow wild

Enjoy the ride dude

-Craig Kyusen

nursing panda

I have always loved pandas....and now this! Nursing Pandas!! Beautiful!

Healing from a Traumatic 1st Birth

This morning I woke up with a text from a past client who gave birth to her 2nd baby boy early this morning. She gave me the stats of the baby and wrote "Great birth!" I was so happy to hear this as her first birth was quite rough and left her feeling unsure about what she wanted for her 2nd birth. This time around, she ended up achieving what she wanted the first time: an all natural birth. This is the 2nd time in the last couple of months that I've had a past client contact me to tell me similar stories. It got me thinking about birth trauma and how subsequent births can truly HEAL some of the scars from traumatic births.

If you have experienced a traumatic birth, you may be frightened the next time around, as was the case with this client of mine. We met early in her pregnancy to discuss her birthing options. She expressed to me that she really wanted to try again for a natural delivery but was afraid because of what happened the first time around. When we met, she had been seeing her primary OB/GYN and wasn't sure if she should switch because he was very C-Section happy. I encouraged her to explore other options and she did end up switching to a very well-known midwife in the area. She signed up for hypnobirthing classes. She prepared for this 2nd birth and worked through her fears.

So when I recieved the text from her this morning that said "Great birth!" I was immediately curious as to how it went! She had a perfectly natural, uncomplicated birth. Here are some good resources about preventing traumatic birth as well: http://givingbirthwithconfidence.org/2-2/traumatic-birth-prevention-resource-guide/

Birth in the Squatting Position

Birth in the Squatting Position

GRAPHIC!

I saw this awesome video at my doula training. It is a must watch!!

happy friday :)

Happy Friday! This story warms my heart: Bulldog Adopts Litter of Orphaned Kittens