The First Post

My name is Amanda, and I am a student midwife.  I am also a wife, mother and birth doula among many other things.  I started this blog in an effort to chronicle my journey, my experiences and my education as I work to complete an apprenticeship and become a licensed midwife.  After I am licensed, I want to go back to school, get my nursing degree and become a Certified Nurse Midwife (and still attend home births.  Always always home births).  Right now I feel a bit like a dry sponge, ready to soak up all the education I can, but also full of holes where I'm afraid I won't be able to hang on to it.I am excited and a little apprehensive about starting this blog, as it has been a looooong time since I've written anything of substance for anyone to read except myself.  I'm nervous about putting my thoughts, ideas and experiences down in an orderly fashion and I'm nervous about finding my "voice": midwifery is a serious business, but it is also a joyous one.  

Here's a bit about me as it relates to birth, babies, motherhood, etc.  I have 5 splendid children, of which the first 3 were born in a hospital and the last 2 at home (in a pool in my kitchen).  I feel that for the vast majority of women and babies, home is the safest place to be born.  I think each woman should do her research, get educated and choose where and how she wants to have her baby.  I believe that a laboring woman should have a doula in her support team to offer guidance and help, no matter where she decides to give birth.  I think that the majority of women are unaware of their options in regard to childbirth, that they go to the hospital simply because it is "just what you do".  I believe herbs and nutrition play a huge role in pregnancy, birth, postpartum and just life in general.  I have faith that women were built to have babies and that they should trust themselves.  I have been a doula since 2006 and I started my apprenticeship with an AMAZING midwife in September of 2011.

I'll end this maiden post with a conversation I had with my 11 year old daughter tonight:
E:  Mom, it smells really good in here, like popcorn.
Me:  Maybe it's me, does it smell like this?  ( I offer her my hand.)
E: (sniffing)  Yeah.
Me:  That's placenta, I've been encapsulating it all day.
E:  (backs out of the room while glaring at me)  Mo-om!!

To the journey!