Happy Valentines Day - Update on Foster Care

Yesterday we spent our Valentines Day away from home all day. We were with each other but we were completing PRIDE classes #3 and #4.  These classes focused on abuse, attachment and loss.  Not very "loving" things to talk about on such a love filled holiday.  I'm glad that we were able to spend it together anyway.  And we are that much closer to completing what is needed for fostercare. 

We completed class #1 and #2 last week and #3 and #4 yesterday.  So we have done 12 hours. We have 15 hours left and 2.5 more Saturdays.  So we are almost there!  And most of our paperwork has been filled out.  We have a couple more home studies to complete in the next couple of weeks as well.  Then everything we will be sent off to be approved by the state. 

We are also officially "Safe Family" approved.  So we could potentially receive a call for that. 

Birth of my Doula business!

Finally it's done...my new name...my new webite...the "birth" of my new doula business!  I know it has taken awhile but I was truly waiting on God and His perfect (but usually slow and teaching-me-something) timing!  This summer, I have been learning how to listen to my spirtual gut.  This time, it was telling me to sit and wait for Him.  I wasn't sure why.  I was thinking I was waiting on a potential business partner but then it finally happened.  He had the perfect name picked out for me and I had to attend my summer bible study to discover it.  The name and new doula business will be called (drum roll please)....

Advent Birth ~ Doula Services

What?  That wasn't on the facebook name contest...where did you come up with it?  I see you weren't reading the above paragraph and you just wanted to find out what the name was!  It's sort of a long story but God revealed it to me during my bible study this summer called "Faithful, Abundant, True" with Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore (duh, she's my fave).  Here's the sort of the story behind the name (this is also a copy of my first post from my new business blog @ http://www.adventbirth.blogspot.com/):  The blog isn't completely done.  I am waiting on a couple more testimonies and a neat logo.  Is anyone up for the challenge on helping me create logo?  Blogs are so boring - I am not coming up with anything but plain fonts, titles, etc.  I need help!

Advent means an arrival or coming, especially one which is awaited. We all know that a birth of a baby is a much awaited arrival!


Advent also represents Christ coming into the world. The first advent was Christ's birth. The second advent will be Christ's return, in which I am anxiously awaiting. We are currently living in the in between time (in between the two advents) in which we are feeling all the birth pains leading up to his second coming. These "birth pains" are documented in the bible. Matthew 24 explains the circumstantial "birth pains" we will go through while 2 Timothy 3 prepares us for relational "birth pains". As time goes on and the birth pains get closer together, we are getting futher along on that kingdom calendar between the two advents. We're getting closer to the second coming of Christ than the first coming of Christ. As we grow closer and closer to the day of all days, we will experience more pain (Beth Moore). But just as in the birthing process, joy is just around the corner. John 16:21-22 says "It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice and no one can rob you of that joy.."

I believe that there is a God. He is the God who created birth. Who can deny that something so marvelous was created by God? He created a painful birth as a result to the first sin in the garden of Eden committed by Eve - the very first woman. He's the same God who provides away out of sin and pain- the cross by which His son Jesus died for all of us to be saved. He said birth would be painful but he didn't say He wouldn't provide a way out. A doula is a helpful way out of the painful birth exerience. See my post on "What is a doula?" here to find out more!

Please like my face book page also at Advent Birth Doula Services!

Midwives/Doulas seminar at ISU March 29th

See article here or read below.  If anyone is interested in attending with me, let me know.  There are a couple of us planning to go out to lunch around 11:30 and then head to the seminar at 1.

Midwives and doulas will be the subject of the McDowell Stafford Lectureship Series in Child and Family Health presented by Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University on Tuesday, March 29.


Birthing Options in the 21st Century – Midwives and Doulas will be the topic of a presentation by certified doula, Janet Tolley, and certified nurse midwives, Jolene Hamann and Laura Lawson, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Bone Student Center Old Main Room. This presentation will examine the labor process when facilitated by a doula and/or midwife, and recognize alternative birthing options available and the impact this can have on the nurse’s role in labor.

At 7 p.m., What Do Doulas and Midwives Bring to the Birthing Experience will be presented by Tolley, Hamann, Lawson and Dionne Otto in the Bone Student Center, Old Main Room. Participants will learn about various birthing options available, especially involving certified doulas and certified nurse midwives and their scope of practice in labor and delivery. A reception will follow this lecture.

Both programs are free, however advance registration is requested due to limited space. For more information or to register contact Amy Irving at (309) 438-7418, or visit www.IllinoisState.edu/nursing.

Tolley is a registered nurse certified as a labor and postpartum doula through the Doulas of North America (DONA). She is also an International Board Certified lactation counselor. She is the Lactation and Doula Programs facilitator at the Birth Center at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, and is a labor and postpartum doula for Gentle Touch Doulas.

Hamann began her nursing career in the Air Force. After working as an RN in labor and delivery at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria and becoming a certified doula, Hamann began the Midwifery and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner program at University of Illinois at Chicago. She went on to practice at Broome OB/GYN, a private practice in Binghamton, N. Y. In 2009 Hamann returned to Bloomington–Normal, joining Obstetrics and Gynecology II, Ltd, delivering at Advocate Bromenn Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Medical Center.

Lawson received her M.S.N. from the University of Illinois-Chicago, specializing in midwifery and women’s health. She is a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner with Dr. Nona Fulk in Normal. She is a member of American Certified Nurse Midwife Organization and Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

Otto received a bachelor’s degree in child development and family relationships from Illinois State University. She began exploring options for helping women during the childbearing years and went to a DONA-approved training. She is also a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, Certified Lactation Consultant, and Certified Happiest Baby on the Block Educator. She co-operates Wise Women Birth Services in McLean County, which provides doula services to women who are pregnant through the postpartum period. She also offers education on lactation and parenting to women in the early childbearing years.

These events are funded in part by grants from the Alice and Fannie Fell Trust and the Marion McDowell Stafford Charitable Trust Grant Program.