And The Winner Is.....

Drumroll please....................































TOPHAT!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated! Tophat, feel free to contact me via email and we can discuss shipping!

Bloomin' Belly Soaps

Our final featured contributor for the Bellies and Babies Blessingway Giveaway is Bloomin' Belly Soaps. Her creations are gorgeous! In addition to Bloomin' Belly Soaps, she is also the owner of Bloomin' Body, The WAHM Product Review and She Births. Beyond all of that, and as if she is not busy enough, she is also a published author as well as a mother of 3 beautiful children!

To enter to win the silky sweet mamas in bloom belly soaps that she is contributing, along with other goodies that have been featured previously and will be featured later, please follow the instructions here.

Now, without further ado, here is Marcie Macari.

Bloomin' Belly Soaps was "born" from my work with expectant women through my book:"She Births: A Modern Woman's Guidebook For an Ancient Rite of Passage". I noticed that no matter how beautiful I thought they were, most of these women were very negative about their changing form, and with the desexualization of women during pregnancy, coupled with the over-sexualization of women when NOT pregnant...it made for a poor situation for growing healthy self images! I've always been creative, and I decided that I wanted to create something that would help to change that in a subtle, yet tangible way.

One night, I had a dream about these soaps, (not kidding!) and started seeking the molds. I came to discover that not only did noone make these molds, but that I couldn't find a mold maker to make it for me-they were happy to do a pregnant form sans nipples, OR plain breasts/nipples. They would NOT make a pregnant mold with nipples- in spite of the fact that they made penis lollipop molds. I don't have to tell you that the social and gender inconsistency in this situation was too blatant for comfort!

So I made the mold myself!

Over 2 years later, and 2 other sizes of Mamas in Bloom later, and I've expanded my line to include non-pregnancy items for the whole family and home. I'm loving what I do! All of our products are SLS-free, fair-trade, vegan, handmade by real live WAHMs, and free of artificial scents and colors. I am very proud of the products I create, and it's so much fun! I'm working on rolling out a whole new Organic line early February, and that will be a terrific addition to our product base!

I'm also really excited to have created a new Business Opp. for work at home moms. In this uncertain economy, many women are trying to help bring in a bit more household income, and I'm pleased to have opportunities for those who want to invest in their own business, and those who want to work on a commission basis. I also offer WAHM and Small business coaching, so if you have your own business already and feel "stuck", I can help! Noone understands the special needs and desires of a WAHM Business like someone who has been doing it for over 10 years! I love to work with creative women, and there is no time more creative in a woman's life that pregnancy!

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I am so happy to have opened the box to find 2 beautiful miniature mamas! They smell wonderful, look beautiful, and are a sweet addition to this giveaway... thank you so much Marcie!

BlessingWay Beads

Our third featured contributor for the Bellies and Babies Blessingway Giveaway is BlessingWay Beads. She has some truly amazing pieces of art on her site!

To enter to win the trio of beads that she is contributing, along with other goodies that have been featured previously and will be featured later, please follow the instructions here.

Welcome I-dra
My name is I-dra, I'm 29 & I live in Portland, Oregon with my partner, Tim, and our 2 year old son, Solomon Elijah. He was born with midwives at a birth center in Otis, Oregon after about 24 hours of active labor. I feel pretty confident that, had he been born in a hospital, I probably would have been subjected to a cesarean for taking so long. His birth was transformational in more ways than I could have predicted - it is because of his birth that I'm blessed to be doing what I love today. I found my passion & my calling when I became a mother.

We had a Moby & a pouch sling, but I wanted to try a mei tai, so after finding a pattern online, I sewed my own. A friend encouraged me to sell them, so my website, Sew At Home Mama was born. It's fun creating custom carriers for people & my style definitely evolved over my son's first year. He was a great little model, too, helping me demonstrate the different styles & carrying techniques. I now specialize in onbuhimos, a Japanese carrier.

Last year, The Business of Being Born was playing in Portland for one day only, so I went to see it. One of my heroines, the midwife Ina May Gaskin, was being interviewed during the film & I loved the pregnant torso necklace that she wore. I scoured the internet & local shops to find something similar, but to no avail. I'm pretty crafty, so I picked up some polymer clay at the grocery store & tried to make something like what she had. What I came up with was my now-signature roll that is featured on all my mamas. I also experimented making other beads including placentas, breasts & crowning vagina's. That same night I opened my Etsy shop, Blessingway Beads. I have great fun making these & work best when I follow my creative bend. I like to come up with different themes for my little mamas, but they usually just wo-manifest themselves maybe in a dream or on a burst of inspiration. My all-time best seller is the Vine Mama!

My second most popular bead is the placenta. I think the placenta deserves more respect than she gets! In some cultures, she is regarded as the baby's "twin" & is given a proper burial when her work of sustaining the child is done. One of my favorites is the Lactivist. It is unapologetically unsubtle in that the breasts are there, they're bare, get used to it! I even added a drop of translucent "milk" to make it extra unmistakable. My hope is that our American society can overcome the stigma of breastfeeding & can embrace the lactating mother as the nurturer she truly is. We must support our breastfeeding mothers.

In addition to operating two small home businesses, I'm also studying the become a certified childbirth educator through the program offered by ALACE. I'm learning so much & I can't wait to start teaching. I'm totally committed to furthering the natural childbirth movement, lowering the national cesarean rate & protecting the genital integrity of all children, as I believe circumcision is a personal choice to be decided when a person is of consenting age. I also support & practice breastfeeding with child-led weaning, bed-sharing & infant pottying.


For the future, I'd like to attend births as a doula, study herbalism & become more self-sufficient in a "back to the land" sort of way. My ultimate dream is to establish a "red tent" women's community center that will serve as a sort of all-purpose meeting hall, hosting guest speakers, craft or dance expos & childbirth classes. I'm always looking to network with others who share my vision & commitments.

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When I opened the package from I-dra, I was delighted to see a beautiful trio of beads for the Blessingway Giveaway, along with a gorgeous placenta bead for me! I am so excited to have a chance to show it off sometime soon! Thank you, I-dra!

Daphne and Nemo's Births

These two birth stories are sibling birthstories, 22 months apart. Enjoy!

Cary York

Our second featured contributor for the Bellies and Babies Blessingway Giveaway is Cary York from Cary York. You can also visit her Etsy site here. Her slogan is Art, Illustration, Inspiration... and her work truly is.

To enter to win the beautiful birth altar kit that she is contributing, along with many other goodies to be featured later, please follow the instructions here.

Now, without further ado, let me introduce to you Cary York!

I started my career as an artist when I got my BA in fine arts. I was a starving artist for 10 years then went to nursing school in the hopes of going on to be a nurse midwife. I became a labor and delivery nurse who discovered the broad divide between natural and medical birth at a conference with all the big players - Ina May, Marsden Wagner, Robbie Davis Floyd, etc. I never saw labor the same way again. I decided to birth naturally at home with a midwife for my own two.

I am not a obstetrics basher. I fully recognize the value and necessity for sound medical intervention in some high risk cases. I have been on both sides and think that the system is horrible for the most part, and a god-send in a crisis. Women have lost so much power in the name of "safety".

So I bumbled around trying to figure out what I could do with my passion.

I could no longer stand working in the L&D, but couldn't see my life without birth. So then the first part of my career life converged with my second and my purpose was then clear. I started selling my birth art on Etsy last year. It has been a fantastic success already. I am thrilled, especially to meet such amazing women from around the world. So cool. I still work as a nurse part time in pediatrics and I love it.

The art may eventually allow me to let go of that, but for now one career informs the other etc. I am turning 40 in two weeks, I have two daughters both at home, the first was an amazing vision quest type experience with a transfer to the hospital for complications( I had been sick with pneumonia-It was my informed, empowered, choice, and the best choice for me, long story) the baby was born healthy and so was I.

The whole thing was otherworldly and I cherish it for how deep and hard it was. And the second was the simple, fun, beautiful, waterbirth that is now my most popular painting. I created the book for siblings out of my love of kids and a need in my birth community. I also sell my work at birth conferences and through midwives.

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Cary is also a blogger, as seen at RagaMama, so be sure to visit her there.

In addition to all of this, I have to also add that, when I opened the package from her, I found her beautiful coloring book for children "Mama, When Is The Baby Gonna Hatch" as a gift to me! Thank you Cary!!! This book is definitely going on my recommended reading for families with small kids who are getting ready to welcome a new little one.

Moon Over Maize

Our first featured contributor for the Bellies and Babies Blessingway Giveaway is Monica from Moon Over Maize.

To enter to win the necklace that she is contributing, along with many other goodies to be featured later, please follow the instructions here.

Now, without further ado, let me introduce to you Monica!

A little about me...

My name is Monica and I am a 31 year old Mom to two little kids (ages 3 & 1). I have been married for five years to a lovely English chap who is supportive of all that I do, even when it is outside of the norm (i.e. extended breastfeeding, home birthing).

Growing up I was fascinated and heavily influenced by my Mom. She is a compassionate, nurturing woman who is incredibly creative. She sews (including my wedding dress), bakes, gardens, designs large scale metal work and cooks grand meals and it seems everything she touches turns to gold! It was through her excitement of creating and crafting that I found my love for designing and creating jewelry some 20 years ago. I have used many different materials over the years including glass, gemstones, thread, hemp and clay. In the last year or two my jewelry has taken a slightly different direction. Having had two babies I discovered new passions such as breastfeeding, home birthing and natural childbirth. This was such a huge part of my life that I decided to fuse my love of pregnancy and birth with my love of creating jewelry and that is when my business, Moon Over Maize, came to life.
My Birth Stories…

Arthur, March 2005

When I was pregnant with my first I was living in England and was assigned a midwife through the NHS. My midwife said that I fit the profile for a safe homebirth and asked if I was interested in trying it. I had never even known that homebirth was an option. I just thought everyone went to the hospital, got the epidural and that birth was a long, painful experience. Something about homebirth just seemed right though so I said yes and my darling husband said ‘I believe in your body and your choice to try home birth’. He’s so wonderful!

In March 2005 labor started and we called the midwife. She arrived and checked me and said that she would just monitor me as labor continued. A couple of hours later and not much progress had been made and she told me I had until midnight to have the baby at home otherwise we would have to transfer. (I still have no idea why. There was nothing medically wrong. All I can think is that it was Good Friday and I know she wanted to get to her family’s place for Easter) Anyway, 11:00pm came around and while labor had picked up it was obvious it would be more than an hour before I had my baby so she offered to break my water. I said yes and just minutes after that REAL labor was upon me! WOW! They were huge contractions and they were coming every 2-3 minutes. I was a bit blown away with it and instead of trying to comfort and reassure me that all was normal and fine she suggested we should transfer. Well, I said yes and the car ride there was agonizing. Every little bump we hit would send me into another contraction. By the time we arrived at the hospital contractions were longer and closer together. When they checked me I was at a 7 and they kept asking me what medication I wanted. I said ‘NONE’. I said it several times, but they were so adamant that I have something that I finally broke down and had an epidural. I had the epidural inserted and minutes after that I had a pushing contraction and the midwife checked me and said I was fully dilated! Did they stop the epidural and allow me to push, nope, I had to wait 3-4 hours before I was able to birth my baby when really it would have only taken another hour at the most. I was so upset about that. I had made it all the way through transition and then was given drugs. I hated the epidural. I couldn’t get comfortable, I couldn’t sleep, all I wanted was my baby in my arms. When I was able to feel the contractions again I started to push, but I couldn’t feel them well enough to really know when the right time was. It was so frustrating and after about 45 minutes they threatened to do a cesarean if no progress was made soon. Thankfully, I did make progress and the midwife said with the next contraction she would ‘help’ me. I thought she meant she would do a perineal massage or something natural, no she gave me an episiotomy. How can they do that without even asking? Finally, my sweet little guy arrived (7lb 12 oz) and I was glad to be holding my first born baby! He nursed wonderfully from the get go and nursed for 3 years before he self weaned. My first birth experience taught me a lot about different types of midwives, different procedures and what is best for me and my babies. This leads me to my second birth story….


Juliet, July 2007
This pregnancy was as easy and fabulous as the first. The big difference was that I chose my midwife (highly qualified DEM who birthed all four of her children at home) and had the most amazing hour long appointments with her throughout my pregnancy. We talked about fears, birthing positions, nursing while pregnant, etc. She took such great care of me and my baby and I felt so comfortable with her from the beginning.

It started on the night of Friday 13th when I was having contractions 8-10 minutes apart. They went on through the night, but never got any stronger and by morning they had pretty much tuckered out. Round about 9:00 am on Saturday the 14th I had a bloody show and I thought I had at least another day. I was assuming it would be the same as last time and I was totally wrong!!

The morning went on and I was getting stronger contractions, but they were still 10 minutes apart and I was still in denial that this was the real thing. Around 2:00 pm I was eating lunch with Arthur when a wave of nausea hit me and I knew I wouldn’t be eating another thing until the baby was here. Not long after that contractions went to about 8 minutes apart. They were still relatively easy to work through though. I went to my bedroom to try and relax a bit before things really kicked off. This went on for about 3 hours and then I suddenly lost track of time as the intensity and frequency of contractions picked up immensely. I had planned on giving birth in the pool downstairs, but the thought of moving all the way down there was excruciating. Around 6:00 pm I was able to make my way to the toilet and throw up which did make me feel a bit better. We phoned my midwife at this time and she didn’t think I was as far along as I was because I sounded so upbeat and cheery on the phone. We decided to wait another half an hour and then call back with an update. Contractions were now 4-5 minutes apart and more intense than I ever remember them being with Arthur. We phoned the midwife and asked her to come over. It takes her about 35 minutes to get to our house and in that time period I was in transition and was seriously wondering how I was going to make it because contractions were now right on top of each other. It was insane!!! I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. I was doing my best to keep breathing deeply and my husband was fantastic. He never left my side and allowed me to squeeze his hand to a pulp! This time around I made a lot more noise than I did with Arthur because the low, deep moans somehow made it feel better. Anyway, around 7:30 pm I heard the midwives pull into our drive and at that moment I started getting the urge to push and my water suddenly went. I was SOOO happy because I knew things were happening quickly and my baby would be with me soon.

They came in and were absolutely wonderful. They took a quick look and could see my baby’s head descending and said I would probably have the baby any minute. Once my water broke and I made it through transition my contractions eased off and I was able to have a breather in between them. I also lost the urge to push with those contractions so I was kind of stumped as to what to do. Finally after 45 minutes of not getting anywhere the midwife suggested sitting on the toilet. This really helped for some reason and I decided that this was it, I was not waiting any longer. With the next contraction I got off the toilet and pushed with all that I had and my baby’s head was out. It took another push after that and she was in my arms. I ended up giving birth in our bathroom on my hands and knees. My bedroom was the last place I thought I would labor and birth (although in my dreams I was always in there).

The midwife passed my baby to me and I got that miraculous feeling of love and life that I remember having with Arthur. I never feel prouder and stronger than just after I give birth. We moved to my bed and she nursed straight away. My placenta gave us a little trouble, but nothing too bad. While my midwife and her assistant were cleaning up I was nursing Juliet with my husband, son and mom standing by. It was incredible! I never had to go anywhere, I showered in my bathroom afterward, I had all the snacks, drinks and comforts of my own home. Home birth is phenomenal!!
I needed about 3 stitches in the end. I tore where I was given the episiotomy during Arthur’s birth. My recovery time was amazing. The day after I was a little swollen, but honestly by the next day I felt completely healed and back to myself (except for the baby jelly belly!).

Juliet weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and is absolutely perfect.


What comes to mind when I think of pregnancy and birth?

Pregnancy and birth are such a beautiful and natural part of life. Pregnancy makes me think of newness, joy and excitement of what is to come. I cannot think of anything that compares to giving birth. For me it was the most joyous and fascinating time of my life. From my experience, when I was able to labor and birth in my own way, in my own home my labor went much faster and easier then when I had an epidural and was told how to birth my baby in the hospital. For other women it is probably the other way around. What I wish is that all women were given choices when it comes to their labor and births. It would be wonderful if when a woman becomes pregnant she speaks not only to her ob-gyn, but is then referred to a midwife or doula to hear about a different approach that she may not have known about before. At that point, the woman is able to make a more educated decision about what is going to work best for her and her baby. What I want is for women to enjoy the whole process from conception through to the birth of their baby. I want them to feel that they were involved in all the decisions being made and they were able to have the birth they hoped for, whatever it entailed. I believe in the strength and power of the woman’s body to birth naturally and safely and I am so grateful for all the compassionate and dedicated midwives and doulas that not only believe the same thing, but encourage other women to trust their bodies too.

Oh - I do so love this!

Bellies and Babies BlessingWay Giveaway!

With the new year's promise of change and hope, I bring you Bellies & Babies Blessingway Giveaway 2009

We will have some great items to giveaway in our Blessingway basket - which will be a perfect compliment to anyone's upcoming blessingway.

There will be such contributors as Bloomin' Belly Soaps, Cary York, Blessingway Beads, and Moon Over Maize, among others.

All you have to do to enter is save the Giveaway logo above to your computer then repost it on your blog or website, and create your own post on Blessingways. Then, link back to this blog.

In the comments of this post, copy and paste the url back to your post and you are entered to win.

Every few days I will be having a post on one of our contributors with a link back to their store. For additional entries, visit those stores and come back to comment on their post, telling us what your favorite item was from their site. You must have a link back to this post on your own site to be entered, though.

Th giveaway will be closed to new entries on January 21st, at noon, and the drawing will occur on January 25th.

I can't wait to hear from all of you, what your favorite items are, and your posts!

The Blessingway

With all of the changes occurring in my life, and the changes that a New Year promises, I wanted to do a special post on Blessingways.

For all intents and purposes, I am planning my own Blessingway for my family this weekend. It will honor us as a family unit, while also retaining the components of a Blessingway by encouraging peace, protection, and community through a few ceremonies I have chosen that are family-friendly for our needs.

As for Blessingway's for a woman transitioning into motherhood, there are wonderful books available outlining the ins and outs, including Mother Rising and Blessingways, but here is a short outline of the history, purpose, and how to do your own.

Origins and Purpose:
The Blessing Way is 1/2 of the ceremonial song of the Navajo people. The second 1/2 is the Enemy Way. The prayers and words of the Blessing Way center around healing, creation, harmony, and peace. The song cycles retell of the Navajo creation story.

A central part of the Blessingway is the Changing Woman.

The Navajo creation story says that, in the beginning of everything, First Man and First Woman emerged from the earth. First Man and First Woman 'planned the birth' of Changing Woman' and, one day, First Man found her as a baby on a nearby mountain.

The baby matured in four days and became Changing Woman. Changing Woman created the four original Navajo clans from her body and she embodies the seasons. Her sons rid the land of dangerous monsters and created peace for the people to inhabit these lands. The teachings of the Blessingway include history and major religious practices, such as girl's puberty rite and the consecration of a family's hogan. The Blessingway is a 2-day ceremony whose purpose is to obtain peace, harmony, protection, and to help teach new generations.

Today's Blessingway:
For an expectant Woman's Blessingway in modern society, a Blessingway is a mother- and baby-centered alternative to a baby shower. A Blessingway's purpose is to give her peace in a hectic and sometimes frightening time, help her see the support and encouragement of women around her, center her in harmony with her changing body and roles, offer her protection for the duration of her pregnancy, upcoming birth, and early motherhood, and provides and opportunity to teach her, through woman-to-woman wisdom, precious knowledge about this stage of her life.

Some components to consider while planning a Blessingway:

The number one thing to remember is that this is a celebration to honor, nurture, and uplift the woman entering motherhood, as well as welcoming a new life. As such, the space should be kept intimate, peaceful, gentle, and subtle.

Attendees should be kept small, between 5-15 guests. This should be a well-thought out list, with no invitations out of mere courtesy, but people who mean something to the honoree. These people should likewise be people who are supportive of the woman's philosophies on pregnancy, birth, and parenting. These can include mothers, sisters, close friends, best friends, midwives, doulas, and close female relatives.

The location should be a place that can feel homey or peaceful, whether it be a home or park. Likewise, the atmosphere should be peaceful; with candles, relaxing music, soft lighting, and a reminder to leave loud remarks, fearful or negative remarks and stories, as well as pagers and phones all at the door.

Food served at the Blessingway can be something that reminds a woman of her upbringing or heritage, or it can be food specific tonourishing the woman body, mind, and spirit.

And finally, ceremonies. Ceremonies are the Blessingway's version of a baby shower game. These ceremonies sole intent and purpose are to strengthen and uplift the mother-to-be. As there are a number to choose from, finding out what a mom's belief system will allow for, along with what her personal comfort level will allow for will help the coordinator to know what will provide the most nurturing experience for the woman.

• Birthing Beads - the coordinator can either collect beads that are meaningful and specific or she can request that each guest bring a special bead to string on a necklace or bracelet for the mother to wear until labor commences or through to the time that she has birthed. This ceremony can be coordinated by having all of the women sit in a circle and pass a length of cord around, hand to hand. At each turn, the guests add their bead or beads (can even suggest a bead for each birth a guest has had). When it reaches full circle to mom, she strings the final bead to represent her birth or child(ren) and then it is tied on mother. The birthing beads/jewelry symoblizes support and strength of the birthing women who surround, support, and strengthen her through shared experiences and history.
• Cord of Red - Similarly, the coordinator can continue the previous ceremony by preparing a ball of red string, hemp, or cord. With this cord, the coordinator goes from guest to guest, looping one wrist of each guest. When all are connected, the coordinator can talk of how your experiences support and uphold one another in a web of womanhood (Christian's can talk about the cord of three strands and even incorporate it). Explain how this unites all of you, along with all that have come before you. Then the coordinator cuts the cord, leaving enough length to tie the ends at each guests wrist into a bracelet. At this time, suggest to the women to continue to wear their simple length of cord as a reminder to pray for the birthing mother, and to continue to uphold her in strength and encouragement.
  Henna - The mother's belly can be hennaed by a professional. This is a good ceremony to couple with W2WW (see next)
  Woman to Woman Wisdom - bringing special stationary and envelopes, the coordinator can ask each guest to speak wisdom, a wish, a prayer, or advice unto the mother after taking time to write it on the paper and sealing it in the envelope.
• Candles/The Lighting - a great 'party favor' for the guests is candles. Guests are given candles with instructions to light the candle when they are notified that the woman-of-honor has started her birthing time and to leave it lit until the baby arrives. Likewise, mom can be given a larger pillar candle for the same reason.
  Washing of the Feet - the woman-of-honor can recieve a foot washing and massage (be careful to avoid pregnancy 'hot-spots'). She can then keep any left over massage oils and soaks for later during her birthing time. This can be done by another woman of honor; either the mother of the mother-to-be, the midwife, or doula. This is another good ceremony to couple with W2WW.
• Belly Casting - a more modern advent, it is still memorable. This can be done ahead of time by a professional or a smaller, more intimate group and allowed to dry for a few days before the Blessingway. During the Blessingway, the belly cast can be pained and decorated by the guests.
• Quilting - Each guest can be given instructions to prepare a certain sized quilting square prior to the party which either embodies a character trait of mom, a blessing for baby and/or mom, or prayer or memory that would carry sentimental or personal value for mom. The quilt can then either be assembled at the Blessingway and presented to mom, before the Blessingway and presented to mom during the event, or after the Blessingway and presented to her after baby is born.
• Songs and Stories - If a close female has a singing voice, a song can be prepared ahead of time and sand to the mother. Likewise, a story or legend appropriate for the setting and circumstances can be recited.
• Nurture Basket - a Moses Basket or other basket can be set at the feet of the woman-of-honor. Then, in leiu of baby shower presents, the guests can bring items to place in the basket that will nurture and strengthen the woman-of-honor. These gifts can be massage oils, gift certificates for pedicures or massages, candles, photo albums or scrapbooks, or other meaningful gifts.

Now that you know what a Blessingway is and what it represents, perhaps some of you will have the desire to request one for your next (this) pregnancy, ask a mother-to-be if she would like to have one, or at least pique your interest into considering it further.

And that brings me to the last reason for this post. In honor of my families changes, the New Year's changes, and the life-changing journey that so many women will be embark upon in 2009, I would like to announce to you the Bellies and Babies Blessingway Giveaway!

Check in tomorrow for details...

MG Prints

I was witness to the beautiful birth of Sebo awhile ago. A few days ago, a package came into my possession.

I was so excited as I tore open the package to reveal this...


Isn't it gorgeous?

Ok - who of my readers knows what this is?

ABC's 20/20 Reports

ABC's 20/20 reports on Orgasmic Childbirth... just in case any of you missed it.