Sunday, February 21, 2010

THE plan (part 2)-

Wayyyyy back on June 1, 2009 I posted about my plan for becoming a midwife. Since then the plan has remained essentially the same, however Kent and I have fine tuned some of the details and the Lord has opened up a few doors for me along the way. Thought I would share:

1. I have found a simple online AFFORDABLE midwifery course that can help to keep me organized as well as fulfill my educational requirements for Washington state licensure. Yay- I am officially enrolled in the Midwife-To-Be course for home birth midwives. I am so thrilled that I will be able to report to people how far along I am in my coursework when they ask! Midwife-To-Be has thirty modules that are self-paced. I intend to complete one module per month, resulting in my completion in 2 and a half to 3 years.

2. I have a study partner! Another doula and friend is doing the Midwife-To-Be course with me, and we will meet weekly to review and track our progress. This is very good for me, as I really lack self-motivation and can really use the accountability. We also intend to put together some skills workshops and study sessions with a larger local group of midwifery students. This will also help to promote unity and professionalism within the local midwife community. Generally, the current local midwives do not respect one another, nor act professionally towards one another. Instead they seem to be largely territorial. We can change this all-around attitude and further promote more safe and healthy birth options in our community by establishing a new generation of midwives- supportive and respectful of one another as different, yet valuble health care providers. Go us!

3. I have officially ordered my Portfolio Evaluation Process (PEP) packet from NARM (the North American Registry of Midwives) and can start to dig through the paperwork and get my skills signed off on, one by one. This will allow me to get my Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) certification and then license in the state of Idaho in early Spring of 2011, even though my coursework and apprenticeship I will continue for likely two years beyond that. This will allow me to attend births in Idaho and financially support the rest of my education and set up for my solo homebirth practice.

A new nephew!!!


Isn't he so handsome? I long to hold him and see him up close!!! Too bad they live so far away... :(

The girl-




Here she is with Santa (she was very serious about Santa this year!), in her splint and with her rainbow-colored cast. Yes, she broke her arm. Jumped off the top bunk and landed on a toy. She will have the cast on for six weeks. Woo-hoo! Our first Young family broken bone. Two actually- the radius and ulna.

The boy




This photo of our son is a good description of him- kind of a nerdy...animal. Hee-hee!
And check out the Lego lynch mob he set up. Hilarious!

Christmas 2009










was fabulous. It was a third Christmas, and every third Christmas (from the time I was a little kid), my entire mom's side of the family gets together. So, since I am local, this means that my sisters' families come to town- yay!!!

It was a wonderful time! Lots of gatherings, sledding, feasting, singing, all-around conviviality celebrating our Savior's birth!!

I tried....


Here's a photo of the felt advent calendar that I vivaciously (yes, vivaciously!) started sometime the first week of December. Yes, it was after the first week of Advent. I made great strides and did not give up. In fact, days before Christmas I was embroidering numbers on the pockets. I got to about 13, I think. I have now put it away, and hope to vivaciously pull it out BEFORE Thanksgiving next fall. We shall see, eh?

My new favorite blog-

"Doesn't urgency over everything imply that God's in control of nothing? Or do we secretly like blustering about perpetually stressed --- because we suppose it's evidence of the pressing importance of our work? And yet if I'm on edge, doesn't that mean I'm not centered in Him?" Ann Voskamp, Holy Experience blog

This quote is from an old post called "Real Stress Relief" on her blog, just an example of her lovely journal.

I will add this to my list on the right. Five days a week I check this blog and am deeply touched and moved by the raw beauty and truth that she posts. It is a true encouragement and you would be blessed to go there with me

Saturday, February 6, 2010

A Walk to Beautiful



Kent and I watched this tonight and were so inspired. What a tragedy for these women! How we take for granted having roads, cars, instant access to hospitals with surgeons and technology right when we need it.


We long to be out of debt and free to serve wherever God is leading us. Please pray that we will persevere and be faithful in our efforts.

Cover letter for my midwifery resume

To Whom It May Concern:
I am becoming a midwife because I have seen too much to not become one. Over the past five years, since I had my daughter at home and started attending home births (and the occasional birth center birth), I have seen a better way, and I need to spread the word. I had been working as a doula attending hospital births for three years prior, and truly had felt called to help empower women and the families to achieve their desired births. But I now know that that was just a stepping stone on my midwifery path. Since then, I have seen numerous beautiful and safe births at home…
I have seen a young 20-year-old woman sail through the transition phase of labor in the jetted tub at the birth center, and then beautifully deliver her own daughter while lying on her side on a queen-sized bed. I have witnessed the serene birth of a couple in their thirties who spent most of the labor of their first child outside under the stars in their hot tub. The mom then calmly entered the house, only to deliver her baby crouching in the 4:00am moonlight streaming from the window. She immediately, yet slowly pulled the baby to her chest, so quietly. I have seen a 42-year-old home-schooling, goat-raising mother of ten rejoice in her first waterbirth. My doula clients of over five years ago have no idea that this world exists, that this kind of birth is even possible. I had no idea when I had my son. But now I have seen too much to go back….
I have seen a lot- good and bad, wonderful and terrifying. I have seen shoulder dystocias- handled expertly by midwives, then gruesomely by an OB. I have seen severe maternal hemorrhages, an inverted uterus, an umbilical cord snap upon delivery, mouth-to-mouth baby resuscitation, malpresentations, thick fresh meconium, preterm labor, partial placental ruptures and a complete breech (undiagnosed) home delivery (on a primip!), ALL of these complications handled perfectly by a skilled midwife. I have seen that good, wise midwives can handle these events appropriately or transfer care to the hospitals when warranted. I am going to be one of these midwives.
So I want to become a midwife. I hope to serve families in my community by providing them with safe, yet beautiful birth experiences. I want parents to truly learn what informed consent is and what their rights are; as consumers, as patients, as parents. This will empower them so much as they become bigger families and go on from their birth, to hire pediatricians, family docs, or any healthcare service provider in the future.
I want to help women learn to take responsibility for their own health and diets, during pregnancy and throughout the rest of their lives. Their nutrition and lifestyle can affect their health, for good or bad. Too often I’ve seen healthcare providers fail to teach women this. It is all pathology to them and the answers are all too often pharmaceuticals or other technologies. They don’t trust birth. They don’t trust the design.
I trust the design. I have “what it takes”. I have good math, science and problem-solving skills. I am very relational, and have a keen sense at all times of what my role is in situations with other people. I consider myself to have a very observant nature in general and pride myself on my ability to remain calm in crisis. And as my maid of honor pointed out at my wedding, I am very loyal. Completely reliable. Ask the midwives I have assisted in the past.
I am first and foremost a child of God, secondly my husband’s wife, and thirdly my children’s mom. But God has given me a passion for birth and I firmly believe that midwifery is my calling. He has provided me with the honor of being present at each birth I have attended. I will go where He next leads me on this path.