Natural Birth Stories by Shannon Brown - Book Review & Giveaway

nat·u·ral

based on the state of things in nature; constituted by nature
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When I first began reading Shannon Brown's book, Natural Birth Stories: The Real Mom's Guide to an Empowering Natural Birth, my first thoughts were, "Yes! Exactly!" and "I could have written this!" And I don't mean that last exclamation as in, "This is lame, I could have written this," I meant it as "This is exactly how I feel about birth!" This book shares 32 stories of natural birth varying from hospital, to home, to water births. It is FULL of factual information surrounding today's medical interventions and their typical over-use. Most importantly, and why I highly recommend it, is that it educates women about their options when it comes to child birth and empowers them to take control of their bodies and their babies.

My journey to a natural birth started out in a very similar way to Shannon's description in her book. I just called an OB/GYN because I thought that's what you did. I thought midwives only attended home births and I wasn't ready for that (though that's what I am hoping for when we have #2!). Then my husband and I watched The Business of Being Born and were enlightened. And as you can read here, we switched providers and got on the road to natural birth. I read several books, all great, about natural birth but I must say I could have saved some time and money because this book sums up everything I read across several books and puts it in a very easy-to-read format with so many empowering and beautiful birth stories along the way. I can't get enough of birth stories. Love them.

Click HERE to read more about Shannon & her book!

Whether you believe in creation or evolution, women's bodies are made to give birth. Yes, sometimes medical interventions are necessary and can save lives. If this is/was you, do not feel you are being attacked. As you can read in my own birth story, I ended up needing a bit of intervention myself. Perhaps you weren't happy with those interventions. Perhaps you are perfectly fine with them but want to explore other options for your next birth. Maybe you're a midwife or doula. Or maybe you just love reading about birth. Shannon describes this book's purpose perfectly:

"My dream is for women to know all their options before ever giving birth, so they don't have to struggle with the emotional and physical recovery of a negative experience." - Shannon Brown

Another great aspect of this book that I would have loved to have during my pregnancy is the comprehensive list of questions you may want to ask when you are interviewing care providers. She also covers the most popular birth classes and stresses the importance of a trusted birth team.

Upon reading this book, I was a few months post-partum and really not thinking about my next birth. I know it is a couple of years away (although things can't always be planned now can they?) and I am too obsessed with our little man to think about another baby. However, I do know that I would love a home birth next time around and this book has a lot to do with that. While it has plenty of natural hospital birth stories, and I did enjoy the help from our nurses, the home birth stories really spoke to me. Now it is your turn to get a copy and decide what speaks to you!

You can purchase a copy either in paperback or Kindle HERE 

*Use discount code DUDABIRTH for 20% off between now and 1/28/14!*

You can also try your hand at the giveaway below! 

(And then go back and purchase if you aren't our lucky winner of course)

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My Miracle Belly Cream

Get ready folks...this stuff is amazing and super easy. First, go to the store (Woodman's, Jewel, Trader Joe's. etc.) and buy some organic coconut oil. Why organic? Because it's much better than potentially rubbing chemicals into your body. It'll cost around $10-15 for a 16oz jar...but a little goes a LONG way.

So once you get that coconut oil home, open the jar...use your fingers to take out a chunk the size of a marble. Rub it in your hands to melt it (it is a soft solid) and slather it on your belly. INSTANT relief I tell you. I've been having some serious stretching pains and this felt so good. I still have the pains now and then, but they are much more soothed now. I'm applying it three times a day, morning, when I get home from work, and again before bed.

Magical Lotion

My mother didn't have any stretch marks and they say it's genetic, but I will attest to this for helping with stretch marks this summer. They say that nothing prevents stretch marks, but I have to believe that staying nice and moisturized doesn't hurt either. It at least helps the itching/burning that can come with your belly stretching to hold a watermelon.

Could you add vitamin E oil and make it extra fancy? Of course you could. But we're pregnant and busy and this is so much easier. Even if you are not currently preggers, this stuff is amazing on dry patches and an esthetician friend told me that she puts it on her face every night. I am probably going to try this as well, at least on my forehead. Darn winter.

Disclaimer: Obviously, don't use this if you have any type of allergy or intolerance to coconut. I'd also recommend trying it on a small area first. It is about as pure as it gets and I haven't read anything about reactions so far.

Pregnancy Dreams : Issue 1

I decided my pregnancy induced, crazy vivid dreams were entertaining enough (at least to me) to start writing down. Before pregnancy, I would dream but they'd usually fade right away and I wouldn't remember them. Now, I remember every detail in the morning and they have gotten down right weird at times. Watching Revolution and Supernatural shortly before bed probably doesn't help.

12.3.12
Since I decided to write this down later in the day, I have forgotten all of the tiny details, but it was weird nonetheless.

Dream number one:
I was sitting on our couch watching TV and had a glass in my hand that was full of Bailey's, but I'd drank half of it. Then Nick walks in the room and seeing him flashed me back to reality and I flipped out. "Oh my God! What am I doing? I'm pregnant!" and so on. I believe it also involved me immediately getting online to research what half a glass of Bailey's would do. I woke up stressed out and very thankful that it was a dream! As I do with just about all of them.

Dream number two: This one is really fuzzy, but was so stressful and weird. We were somewhere (which looked somewhat like the Sons of Anarchy clubhouse) and were being held hostage.

12.12.12
Dream number one: 
We were at a town home for a party of some kind. And it was one of those dreams where no one looked like themselves. Like I was me, but didn't look like me. Nick was Nick, but looked nothing like him. Strange. And there was a neighbor that was out in his back yard dancing and was either actually a monster or just dressed like one. He sort of looked like the Maenad from True Blood. Then all of a sudden, one of the guys at the party got mad at him and ran towards him, leading to a tackle. Took him out right at the knees. Then of course the crazy neighbor started fighting back. It ended up in the garage of the town house (may have been ours in the dream) and I ended up calling 911 because I thought they were going to kill each other. The dispatcher sounded very uninterested and couldn't understand what I was saying. Eventually they just stopped and the Maenad dude ran back home....sooo weird.

Dream number two:
There was a woman who I apparently knew and she was very pregnant. I guess I'd signed up to be her midwife and deliver her baby at home. Through the whole dream I knew what I was doing and she was happy with me. Then when she went into labor, I suddenly knew nothing and the woman didn't want me around and called in another midwife at the last second who delivered her baby while she was on the floor of her bedroom. All I heard was one "push" from the midwife, a fairly quiet scream grouped with a sigh of relief from the mom, and then the baby cried. Suddenly Nick was there and we were just standing out in the hallway waiting. Again, strange. I don't remember ever seeing either of these women before.

Pregnancy Brain

I would consider myself to be someone who has quite a bit of common sense. I'm a regular ol' MacGyver. I'd heard of "pregnancy brain" before and thought it had more to do with being overwhelmed. Overwhelmed = forgetting things. It happens to the best of us, pregnant or not. But boy was I wrong...hormones it is! Not to mention the clumsiness of being a little off kilter once you start showing (due to your center of gravity changing). Most days I find it entertaining and think everyone should feel the freedom to laugh at themselves. Occasionally though, you just feel like an idiot who's completely lost her mind and you break down. Also hormones, balled up with some frustration. And then I eat something sweet, take a nap, and all is well again!

So here's a running list of my pregnancy brain moments (encouraged by my friend, Diana over at The Wolf Den). This list (and whole blog) is a way for us to look back at all of these great memories and smile. It's also a way to entertain you and make all of the pregnant ladies who are losing their minds feel a bit better.

• There have been several cases of me thinking things have happened when they didn't. For example, I could have sworn that the hubs set up an appointment with a daycare for a tour so I added it to the calendar. This was followed by him asking me if I'd talked to them to set the appointment. I could have sworn he did! Being the awesome husband that he is, he set an appointment right away so we could get it on the calendar for real. Maybe I'm not losing my mind...maybe I am just improving my ESP. Mom's need that right?
• Nick came home to me getting dinner ready and asked what was burning. Confidently, I say "Oh it must just be the crumbs in the bottom of the toaster oven" and I go about my business. Then I turn around to see the pan of cut up potatoes that I thought were in the oven. So the burning smell was a result of those crumbs being the only things cooking. Oy!
• We showed up to a doctor appointment a day early (this one triggered and "I can't stand feeling like an idiot" breakdown). 
• I could have sworn my evaluation at work was a day earlier than it was originally scheduled for. Better early than late though! 
• Sticky notes are my new best friend. My students ask me for something that I say I will get for them the next day (usually some type of tutorial or photo that needs printing) and then the next day it takes me awhile to remember what they heck they were talking about. Poor things. Sticky notes have fixed that problem! 
• I run into door jams and trip over my own feet all of the time! This has gotten better as I'm adjusting, but at first (around 12-14 weeks) I was a total klutz. 

I'll add more as they happen. It may not seem that bad, but I am not used to being an airhead. More has happened I'm sure, but these are the ones that stick out at the moment. I am going to keep better track if for nothing else than my own amusement.