"You're freaking nasty"

Yep, you read it. That's a direct quote from my instagram. And what could it be in response to? A photo of my umbilical cord keepsake from Jayden's birth. Which I will include below.

But seriously? "Freaking nasty"?! I actually understand things like "ewww" and "gross" and "weird". Normal reactions for people who are so far removed from the ideas of natural birth, parenting, and living. The same people think "gross" and "indecent" when seeing a breastfeeding mother in public not cover up... which also includes me. Yet those same people are ok with teenage girls wearing what looks like denim underwear for pants and a brassiere for a shirt.

No, I don't think that everyone should just jump on the all natural bandwagon. It's a decision that should be well thought out. You have to determine if it's something that belongs in your own life, and to what degree. Eating organic? No GMOs? Only grass fed beef? Vegetarian? Vegan? Natural remedies? Birth? No chemicals or solvents in your home? There are many aspects and we are far from following them all in our home. You need the money, time, and dedication.  Of course I think it would be awesome if everyone did incorporate natural aspects into their lives, but that isn't really the topic here.

The problem is judging people for living and doing differently from yourself. Something we all do to some degree, try as we may not to. But to follow through with judging something you don't understand? Well...to me that's a bit childish.  Maybe it isn't for you.  Maybe you think it's disgusting. That doesn't mean anyone else has to agree, or that you have to bash that person.

And no, it's not a big deal that someone thinks my umbilical cord keepsake is "freaking nasty". But I'm sure someone also thinks that about my uncovered breastfeeding, my placenta encapsulation, or my water birth. Sometimes what is so different and "nasty" is actually what's natural and rooted in the history that has kept our species alive...

Food for thought.

Featured on the Birth Without Fear {BWF} Facebook Page!

Total awesomeness!!! A bit of our breastfeeding story can be found HERE on the BWF Facebook page! -the story is either below or beside our photo - I'm so honored to have our story featured among the many strong Mommas out there to share and support others. Be sure to like their page and check out the BWF blog as well! It's full of amazing stories of strong women...I pour over the birth stories whenever I want a good emotional read :-)

Also, if you haven't read our FULL breastfeeding story yet, the post can be found HERE. Our birth story can be found HERE as well.

Have a great day! (below is my nice & fat breastfed boy...I love those chins!)

16 Ways I Blew My Marriage

Hahaha, no silly, we're not divorced already! But I came across this blog post by a guy and took a look at it....let's just say he's found some wisdom after his two divorces. I'd say EVERY MAN that is or wants to be married...even the women...should memorize this list. And remember it. And carry it out. So far I think we're doing pretty good. But I wont re-write it here and take his views, the link to the blog post is below :-)

16 Ways I Blew My Marriage

I'm on INSTAGRAM!

Follow me on Instagram - www.instagram.com/jessjanoff - thanks all! I'll be adding more to this post once my crazy nursling settles down :-)

@jessjanoff

Home Birth in North Carolina

After our wonderful birthing experience at Women's Birth & Wellness Center, I began thinking about what our next birth will be like. Obviously its great that the birth center is an option for us here, however it was so much like birthing at home, my husband and I wouldn't mind leaving out the 30 minute+ drive each way.

*insert - I must say I'm BLESSED to have a husband that TRULY wants me to birth however I want, and has never once fought me or debated me on our out-of-hospital first birth. EVER.*

Well, I started looking into it a little. Of course we want to purchase a home first, especially since I DEFINITELY want another water birth...and I think they frown on full-sized blow up pools in apartments haha. I also know a few people that had home births after hospital and birth center births and they, like me, successfully avoided interventions (I probably would have been termed "failure to progress" since Jayden was born about 4 hours after I hit 9.5 cm dilated - had a lip - and most hospitals give you a 2 hour window at that point. Ironically I only pushed for 45 minutes once I started feeling "pushy".) Well, I'd been listening to the homebirth conversations around me since one of my friends is again pregnant and planning one, when I realized what I was hearing...there are TWO OPTIONS for midwives here. That's right, you counted it. TWO. FOUR, if you count the ENTIRE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. And of course no physician will even attend an out-of-hospital birth, much less one at home.

Well wow. Talk about limited choices. Of the certified nurse-midwives who can legally attend home births in NC there's Deb O'Connell of Carrboro Midwifery, though her site seems to be down at the moment, so I'm not certain she's available in the Cary/Raleigh/Morrisville area that I'm in. There's also Nancy Harman (nwharman@gmail.com) in Bear Creek near Sanford and Siler City; Donna Galati of Monarch Midwifery in Fayetteville; and Olivia Marshburn of Midwifery Services in Hampstead in Pender County (nowhere near me). Let's recount: Deb, Nancy, Donna, Olivia. FOUR. And I think my only options are Deb & Nancy, unless I can get Donna here (who mentions on her website that she serves Fayetteville & Raleigh, probably since there is a huge natural parenting community here).

Which got me thinking...I've been trying to pinpoint what to do once my nurslings are older, what to study next. I've got an undergraduate degree in Boichemistry, which I loved...but I've been slowly feeling that tug back to the medical world, and especially towards the breastfeeding and natural parenting communities that are so alive here. Hmmm...what better way that to go against my years-old anti-passion and get my nursing degree...so that I can then get an advanced degree in midwifery! I also want to get the IBCLC certification (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) so that I can help other nursing Mommas the way I was helped so much in our early days..and help empower them to avoid those nasty pitfalls of false/misleading/uninformed/inaccurate information like we were given.

So, to recap again - I want to become a homebirth midwife in NC and an IBCLC that does house calls. MAYBE works part time for an institution, to instill some true understanding into the help given to brand new moms, instead of handing out nipple shields every five minutes. Now, I've figured out where to begin for each, just haven't figured out which to do first. I also know that both will take years...which is perfect really, because I don't really want any more full-time leave the house work until all our nurslings are no longer nursing, or at least not as often and can go hours in between/eat solids. So. What do YOU think?  Fighting the good fight for informed parenting and breastfeeding as a mother is one thing, but its so much more potent as a provider. I've been called to childbirth my entire life, and of all the things I've wanted to do/be, this finally sounds and feels right. Oh yeah, and throw in a little photography (pregnancy/family/birth/breastfeeding) in there :-) I even helped my Barbies "give birth" as a little girl, and start their families, all with lots of Barbie babies haha. 

I obviously got a bit off topic in the middle there, but the bottom line here is that we NEED more homebirth midwives in North Carolina, and I want to be one of them. It's a shame that as I look forward to my second birth (NO, we ARE NOT pregnant yet lol) I have maybe 2-3 options for a safe assisted home birth in my area, and only 4 in the entire state. And while I commend the women that have unassisted births, that's not quite right for us right now.

What options are in YOUR area?

Happy 5 Months Jayden!

Our baby boy is FIVE MONTHS OLD today!!!

Happy 5 months of breastfeeding, cloth diaper wearing, smiling, laughing, baby talking, and loving!

Stats:

Almost 15 lbs 

Increasingly ticklish

Loves when Daddy gets home (INSTANT SMILES)

Dislikes diaper changes without singing acts from mom

Will chew on ANYTHING he can get his hands around - including YOU

Will chew on a teething paci sometimes, but will look at you like you're crazy if you try to get him to take a normal one.

Will NOT take a bottle

Sleeps most of the night & with Mommy & Daddy

Has morning and sleepytime conversations

~

We love you so much little bean, you're growing so much every day that it makes mommy a little bit sad...her little newborn seems so long ago!

It's World Breastfeeding Week!

HAPPY WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK 2013!!! 

I know I'm a little late since today is the 4th and its officially August 1st through 7th 2013, but its still awesome!!! Besides, its hard to write often or complete a post with a VERY ATTACHED *almost* 5 month old baby boy :-)

I've included some breastfeeding pictures of me and my itty boy, and would love to see/post any that are sent my way! We're also on instagram @jessjanoff and are posting all the time.

I've also included the official link to the WBW website at the bottom after the pictures, and the Big Latch On is already over, but plenty more events are planned!

Have a great week!!! Happy nursing!!!

http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

We're changing our name!!! HELP!!!

Hey there!!! SO...I'm starting to like the direction this blob is taking, BUT I don't think that that direction is reflected in the title or web address...the problem??? I REALLY don't want to change the web address so that readers can still find the blog, and I'm not yet savvy enough for redirects...and as for the name, I HAVE NO CLUE!!! Well, a few ideas are below, can anyone help me out with more?! The general blog theme will be natural parenting, birth, pregnancy, breastfeeding, opinions, interesting news, family life. Etc.

HELP!

Oh yeah, and the list of potentials....

• Purely Ingenious
• Small Happy Fam(ily) - for obvious reasons
• Janoff Journey
• A Mother's Journey

Please leave suggestions in the comments, and if your suggestion is picked, there may just be a treat in it for ya!

Thanks all!!!