Muscle Rub Liniment

As part of my on-going herbal course, I decided one of my formulations should be a muscle rub for that post-run soreness.

I used a formulation I found in my studies from Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar. She calls it a “Goldenseal/Myrrh Liniment.” I altered it slightly, to meet my needs.

I began by mixing the four powders it called for. (Amounts are in the text, and for copyright and respect, I will not list them here.) I bought my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbal, and highly recommend them. These are the herbs used: Echinacea Purpurea, Cayenne, Goldenseal Leaf, and Myrrh Gum.

I mixed the ingredients in a pint-sized canning jar, and they filled very little of it.

Finally, I filled the entire jar with 100 proof Vodka.

I gave the jar a good stirring until it seemed all the powders were well dissolved. 

I then let it sit for a few weeks. 

Overall, I was pretty happy with it's use. It's certainly messy, and even stains a little (I used a rag/washcloth to rub into my calves), but the massage alone helps. 

Valerian Tincture

Valerian Tincture

I’m catching up on my herbal coursework through Birth Arts, so the next few posts will probably be herbal-related. It’ll still be fun. I decided early on in the course that I needed to drastically decrease my stress levels. I’m still working on that, but there are many better days. As one of my stress helps, I decided to do a simple, a valerian tincture to help me sleep. Valerian is commonly used to aid sleep and relieve stress.

I order my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbal (highly recommend) unless I’m growing them, and my Valerian came from MRH. I also used 100 proof vodka. 100 proof gives the best balance of alcohol and water (in my humble opinion) which is why I use it.

I initially tried this tincture in a small dropper bottle. I’m not sure what possessed me to do so other than the fact that it used very little herb and it would be the size bottle I planned to use for the finished product.

It didn’t work out well.

I filled the entire little bottle with the Valerian, which became pretty tightly packed. Then I added all the  vodka I could. (Yes, you can fill a bottle twice when it comes to herbs). I allowed it to sit for at least six weeks (I don’t have the dates written down now) and attempted to strain it. I couldn’t get the Valerian out of the bottle and got the equivalent of 10 drops of tincture from the bottle. I tossed it.

When I tried it again, I used a half pint canning jar, like you’d use for jelly. This time I decided to fill it about ¾ of the way full. I was afraid of using a good bit of my Valerian and not being able to get it out of the jar again. I again used the 100 proof vodka and filled the jar. I shook the jar well as I added the bottle (capping it of course) to get as much vodka as I could throughout the Valerian. I then allowed my working tincture to sit in a dark place. I shook it in the first couple of weeks daily or so, and as the Valerian swelled a bit, found that I didn’t need to shake it very often at all.

I started this on December 30, 2010.

On March 12, 2011, I got ready to drain and strain it. I had wanted it to sit at least six weeks, but had to find a time when it didn’t matter than my hands smelled like gym socks to strain it. (Good valerian has a very gym socks kind of smell.)

I started by getting out another half pint jar. I’ve found it easier to strain into a similar jar and then rebottle into a dark bottle than it is for me to strain into the dark bottle with dropper. This way I can use a large mouth funnel with my wire strainer, which works well for herbs of this size. I strain slowly, allowing the tincture to drip out, and I sometimes coax a little more by pressing lightly with a spoon. This is not a time to be rough and forceful, but to allow the tincture to come out on its own.

In the end, I was left with this much: 

A much better amount than the first attempt.

Unfortunately, Valerian is a very bitter, strong herb. It truly does smell like dirty gym socks. I hate to say that I haven’t used it, but based on those pugent odors I have not. I feel I would need to add some things to it and use less Valerian to be able to get a treatment I could take.

Update on Life

Yes I know, the blog has been quite quiet. And I’m sorry about that.

And I’m not sure it’ll get better any time soon.

Today I go for my second nursing orientation, and I start classes August 22. The program is a 2-year RN, so needless to say, I’ll be very busy with school for awhile. Each semester has three nursing classes, five weeks a piece, one right after another. Each semester except the last I’ll have a couple of additional classes: Anatomy, Physiology, etc. that will keep me busy. I’ll also be tutoring this year and am considering a nursing externship for later seniority in the local system. Last spring I took Nutrition, Math Reasoning, and Life Span Development. Over the summer I crammed and took Microbiology and Chemistry. I’m thankful I did so, as it’ll certainly help me coming workload.

So, where does this leave Healthy Mama Childbirth?

I’m still here, but I will probably not be taking any doula clients for the time being. I’ve found that as I look at EDD and on-call times, I don’t feel that I’d be able to provide the support necessary to be a good doula. I’m saddened as I turn down clients, but I know that it is best so they can get the support needed in this area.

I am still taking childbirth education clients and will be offering another Prepared Childbirth Series in the fall. I also still take private clients for flexible scheduling and course offerings.

I plan this year to begin lactation-related education online in preparation for the Pathway 1 IBCLC exam requirements. I had considered IBCLC previously, but thought it out of my reach since I wasn’t in the healthcare field. However, now as I find myself in nursing school, it’s back on the table for consideration. I’m also hoping in the near future to go through doula certification, though it’s certainly on hold until I can take clients. I’ll still be available to local doulas as a backup and hope to continue to be active in the local birth community.

I’m also honored to be the chapter leader of our local ICAN – ICAN of Greater Charleston WV. Please visit http://ICANGreaterCharlestonWV.weebly.com for more information about meetings.

As for the blog, I’m leaving it open, but please understand that I have little time at the moment to really devote to entries. I’ll do entries as the mood takes me (I hope), but regular updates – which were not often as it was – cannot be expected.

:-D Much love and happy birthing!

Co-sleeping, a failed account? Part Two

Our night-time sleeping was very different from our naps. While he would refuse to nap longer than twenty minutes in a place other than mommy’s arms, he refused to sleep there at night.

Well, let me back up…

Like I said before, at about a month old he started having trouble sleeping at night. Cutting dairy really helped, but the biggest fix at that point was to co-sleep. We have a king-size bed (best investment ever), so instead of him sleeping in the Arm’s Reach, I just had him snuggle. Most of the time, I slept on my right side, with little man snuggling there between me and the co-sleeper. Sometimes, he slept between my husband and me, but with my husband’s sleep apnea, I was more comfortable with the other set-up.

While little man co-slept with us, I was amazed at how our sleeping patterns worked together. Even just having him in the room accomplished this. Babies have shorter sleep/wake cycles than adults, allowing them to wake, eat, and keep getting the calories necessary for growth. Short sleep/wake cycles may also have a protective effect in regards to oxygen levels and adjusting to life outside the womb.

The difference in sleep/wake cycles is what makes parents so tired with new babies, but here mothers have an advantage. Having baby in the room allows these sleep cycles to be synced: beneficial for both mama and baby. Some research suggests this may be protective against SIDS. And for the mother, the added benefit is waking more easily rather than from a deep sleep.

For us, here’s how it worked. Little man would feed and drift off to sleep snuggled in my arms. I’d drift off around the same time. A couple hours later, I would wake. My deep sleep cycle was shorter in response to his, so most of the time I felt pretty good. I would look down at little man, who was still asleep but begging to root around and stir. This gave me time to get ready for feeding. He would then feed and re-settle, much of the time never fully awakening. I would then drift back off as well. This synchronization may be part of the reason breastfeeding mothers get more sleep than formula feeding mothers.We had this great set-up until little man was about three and a half months old. He started by feeding. Then he would arch his back and squirm. He would touch and explore my face. He’d coo and squeal, discovering his own voice. As cute as it was, he was starting to go from tired at the beginning of the night feed to wound up by the end. Eventually he would drift off, but he was fussing more during the drift off period. Sometimes we would have to give up for a bit and try again later, as late as 11pm.

One night, probably a week or so after this change, I cleared out the Arm’s Reach. After he fed, I scooted him over into it. At first he fussed, but after a few nights, it was getting better. If the fussing seemed to be “sleepy-time fuss,” I let him be. If it was “I need mommy, I’m scared!” fusses, I’d pull him back over and snuggle. For awhile our sleep routine came to be starting out in bed, then the Arm’s Reach for part of the night, back in bed for the rest. I tried my best to read his cues and let him sleep where he seemed to settle the easiest. After a few weeks I noticed he was spending less and less time snuggling with me in bed and more and more time sleeping contentedly by himself in the Arm’s Reach. Along the way he had realized he was definitely falling asleep snuggled with a warm mommy, but he could coo and be cute and “fight it” a little longer by himself.

Knowing the independent part of his personality, this all doesn’t surprise me too much now how easily he self-weaned from co-sleeping. At the time I was surprised and even a little embarrassed. Co-sleeping was an important part of my nurturing parenting philosophy, and I felt I must not have done it right for him to have weaned so early.

But for us, this was exactly right. He was ready and let me know in his own way. Around six months he settled into sleeping in the crib at night since he was able to crawl out of the co-sleeper. I attribute his good sleeping habits now to the security he had sleeping then. Falling asleep at a young wasn’t scary; he wasn’t hungry, cold, or wet; and he knew mommy would be right there if needed.

Recently, we got to co-sleep again. We went to the Columbus Zoo, and little man was having trouble sleeping in the hotel room. My husband suggested we have him in bed with us, so we decided to try. He took his sippy, coo’d, explored my face, and drifted off with me sleeping on my right side again. It was uncomfortable, as a sleeping toddler is much more mobile than a sleeping two month old. But it was beautiful and I loved it. I miss our nightly snuggles, but I’m glad I listened to what he was ready for.

Co-sleeping, a failed account?

 I was so fortunate that prior to pregnancy I had learned about many safe sleeping practices, one of which was co-sleeping. In the end, we just decided we would “go with the flow,” and that crying out wasn’t an option.

I highly recommend that approach.

However, I really expected our co-sleeping story to be different than how it actually played out. I’ll go through our story and talk a little about why I think it worked for us.

Around the time my son was born, we were staying with our pastor and his wife (fun stuff like our new home not being ready on time necessitated that). At the same time, my husband’s mother and grandmother were in from Mexico.

It was a hard way to start out with a new baby. I was in an unfamiliar environment, with a slight pressure to perform. (Side note: I love my husband’s family, and the pressure didn’t come from them but from my own self-consciousness). My husband and I were sleeping is separate twin beds so I could recover from surgery and little man slept in a Pack N Play at my feet.

Not my ideal set-up to be sure, but necessary at the time.

Little man was swaddled for the first week, but after that we simply had light blankets covering him. We stopped swaddling because he started to hate it, probably as his startle reflex was calming down. He slept at naps and at night, which was unexpected.

By the end of his birth month, we had moved home. My husband’s family was still to be with us a few more days as we settled in. We put up our Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper with our King-sized bed.

Elias was still doing fine with our set-up of alone naps and nights until right before my husband’s family. He was starting to be more restless at night a bit irritable during the day. Where he had previously been a greater napper, sleeping three hours at a time, he was now cat-napping twenty minute sessions.

Finally, one night he literally refused to sleep. At 2am we had him in the car, trying to lull him done. He gave in but was up as soon as we were in the house. That night we pulled the swing into our room and let the rocking work its magic.

The next day I starting cutting dairy from my diet. I also held him for naps. He would nap without me holding him, but he napped much longer in my arms. At night, I started cuddling with him in our king size, using the Arm’s Reach as a table.

Later, I discovered Elizabeth Pantley’s No Cry Sleep Solution. I had heard of it, but at this point I finally bought it. I was desperate for something to help him sleep without me, but refused to try “crying it out.” We had seen a crying fit from him on the six hour drive from Washington D.C., and the pain and terror he was in was not going to “work.”

Pantley simply confirmed to me that all was actually ok with our sleeping situation. When he cat-napped, he wasn’t getting adequate sleep, making night times more difficult. I charted his sleeping habits and made my decision.

We’d keep going with the flow.

I started keeping track of his eating and naps (I kept a note pad on the armrest of the recliner) and continued to hold him for every nap, for the entire nap, until he was five and half months.

People thought I was crazy. I got nothing done during his naps.

Around five and a half months, we started trying the crib for naps only. I would rock him while he ate and then laid him down when he was fully asleep. At that point, being fully asleep was key; generally about ten minutes after he appeared to be “asleep,” he was ready to go down.

It worked. Within a few days, he was comfortable sleeping in the crib for naps. Night time was another story…

Should We Have ONE Certification Organization for Doulas?

There’s been some talk lately (nothing new really) about having one national organization for certifying doulas. While it seems like it could be a nice idea, I have some concerns.

First, the good…

In terms of recognition, one doula organization could do some great things. Marketing and awareness for the consumer could be broadened. Recognition in media outlets may increase. We may gain respect as an industry – think of the recognition achieved by being an IBCLC as opposed to a lactation educator, etc.

Recognition for the consumer would be wonderful. With more women aware of doula care, it’s certainly possible many more women would be interested in exploring this in their own birth. If I fully embrace my idealist side, I’d even go so far as to say birthing practices would change en masse and we may see a turnaround in our cultural birth practices.

However, I think have one organization would certainly have some negatives. These negatives have the potential of out-weighing the positives.

Personally, I’m hoping to begin doula certification within the year. I’ve gone back and forth about doula organizations to certify with throughout my pursuit of this career. There is the possibility of doing a DONA training in our area in the fall; otherwise, I’m generally looking at doing distance learning or traveling three hours or more.

However, I’ve never been totally comfortable with certifying through DONA. I’ve had it recommended to me many times before (I’ve even blogged about deciding to certify with them). But it seems to be such an impersonal organization. I don’t want to join an organization simply because it is “premier,” (which is very true of DONA, and I certainly respect that), but there needs to be something more. Maybe I’m missing something, and more consideration will certainly follow before I make any decisions.

That little tangent discussion of DONA will be relevant later; I’ll come back.

I think for some, the biggest issue with having one certifying organization would be in the possible restrictions placed on its members. Most commonly, the restriction doulas complain about is involving “free birth” or unassisted birth. For me personally, I’m not sure I agree with having a doula (a trained support professional) at an unassisted birth, and I’m not sure I would take a client planning unassisted birth. However, there are doulas who would like to serve women and families in such capacity (I can think of one I know personally who is skilled in this area). And I think they should be allowed to do so (and encouraged! If you have such expertise and feel called to serve in such a way: do it!!)

I’m a little concerned that having one doula certifying organization would in some way “medicalize” the profession. Doulas are non-medical professionals, and I feel they should remain so. Doulas who are student midwives/midwives’ assistants walk a fine balance, and I don’t know how they juggle the two. But for the majority of doulas who are not in that situation, medicalization would harm the profession. I’d be afraid of “protocols” and “standard practice” and other such generalized guidelines that might interfere with the personalized care doulas are “famous” for. Doulas are uniquely available to hands-on at all times, without having to stop and chart or do a particular procedure. While many doulas do chart their notes, they typically wait until the birth is finished and the family is settled before hurriedly scribbling.

I’m not saying that I am afraid a certifying organization would begin to require doulas to do medical tasks. However, I do think that unfortunately some families already feel that doulas are part of the medical team, particularly in assisting the midwife. This assumption may cause them to not look further into the possibility of doula care. So many believe that doulas are only for homebirth, possibly stemming from that assumption of assisting the midwife.

So what should be done?

I honestly don’t know.

Back to my concern about DONA, one of the great benefits of the current situation in having multiple organizations is that there are many different philosophies. A common piece of advice for new doulas trying to pick a certifying organization is to “see which philosophy fits you best.” Losing this could be detrimental to the profession.

It also allows some to study and become experts in doula care and choose not to certify. There are a number who go this route, and they should be allowed to continue to do so. I think that families are able to interview doulas and decide for themselves who best to serve them, whether or not they are certified. I would be concerned that simply one organization would attempt to push out “rouge” and “uncertified” doulas.

Me, I’m choosing to certify. I do think that for me, especially among nursing professionals, having certification will be one step in showing my skills. But for all the other doulas out there, I don’t know that any one person/organization should be making that same call.

How do you feel?

Common Sense Labor Practices - the Walsh argument

It looks like I’ll be finished reading Denis Walsh’s Evidence-based Care in Normal Labour and Birthing soon. I’ve really enjoyed it.

One thing I really like about this book is the underlying theme of using common sense to return to normal labor and birth. The author seems to come back to this idea at least once in each chapter, but I think it is best displayed in the argument surrounding the following topic: Movement in Labor and Birth.

Why is it that we seem to need randomized clinical trials to show us that moving and using gravity in upright positions would be good for birthing?

I was really struck when I was reading about this concept. Well, duh. Of course, even those promoting natural birth do forget about this. We try and try to prove that this works, but why is that we must prove something so common sense? Are we that far away from good birthing practices?

Quite simply: Yes. [insert a number of choice words]

As a culture, we have truly become a nation that absolutely relies on medical intervention. It’s pervasive. We go to the doctor with flu symptoms and find ourselves getting chest x-rays, bloodwork, and antibiotics (Let’s not forget that the flu is a virus. Antibiotics are for bacterial infections, not viruses). Our child gets a bad bump on the soccer field, and he’s in the ER for a CT scan (see this article).

Recently, we took my son to the doctor (not our pediatrician), for a suspected ear infection. Fortunately, he didn’t have one, but the doctor offered us a prescription for something just in case. When I declined, he replied that was fine, and that he offered because some people feel unsatisfied if they come to the doctor and don’t get something, even if nothing is wrong.

Novel idea, I know, but if you’re not sick, you don’t need something.

And this is much of what Walsh is arguing. If not sick, which pregnancy and labor should never be considered pathologies, then why are we doing randomized clinical trials to prove that natural labor needs natural things? (The same argument can then made against IVs, routine AROM, monitoring…)

I’m not making a new argument of course. I’m simply reiterating what many are already saying.

Pregnancy, labor and birth are normal the vast majority of the time. They require normal, common sense things. If they cease being so, then we’ll call for something else. Don’t do anything just to say that you’ve done something.