A Home Birth Plan.

My beautiful friend Laura is 39 weeks along.  Incredibly, she agreed to share parts of her home birthing plan with RNL readers.  I am thrilled for their family and thrilled that she is allowing us "in" to her labor goals.  This will be Laura and husband Jonathan's second experience of labor (their adorable son Tyler is almost two).  Tomorrow, Laura will be revving her system up with the help of a breakfast smoothie made with castor oil, ice cream and fruit nectar; she wants the labor to begin in the near future because her sacrum is terribly locked up (not to mention they're ready to meet their boy).  So here is Laura, in her words, to share what she has planned for the long awaited birth day...
(All photographs by Julia Fregoso) 

"Learning to trust my body and understanding the natural birthing process has been transformative for me.  With the help of Ina May , I have learned about my birthing options and felt encouraged by so many others' insights and personal stories. I'm looking forward to my birth and wish todeliver my son peacefully. Naturally. Gently. Drug free. Intervention free.  Minimal monitoring. At home, in water.   This is our first birth at home and we're looking forward to having a natural birth. We have completed childbirth classes in the Bradley method and have read as much as possible to prepare ourselves. We have decided to have two midwives present to assist us in staying relaxed, comfortable and medically supported. The main areas we feel strongly about are the environment at the birth and some of the procedures. Home Birth Goals: Feel empowered, safe, free, focused, able to ride my labor waves. Give birth in the peace and security of my home. Trust Birth, let my body naturally give birth. Not be overly checked. No chemical pain relief offered. The birth environment is very important to us: privacy, dim lights, candles. I plan on wearing my own clothes, or no clothes, during the birth. I plan to eat in early labor and sip during 2nd stage contractions... Pain Management Goals: We plan to handle pain with relaxation, massage with oils, and warm water in the labor tub. Delivery Goals: I will push at my own pace (Mother-Directed Pushing). No episiotomy. Jonathan would like to be included in the "catching" of our son as he chooses.  After birth, I will nurse my son immediately and any evaluations will be done while I’m holding him. Umbilical Cord: We wish for the cord not be cut until it stops pulsing. (Jonathan does not want to cut the cord.) Can't wait to spend the night in our own bed with our new little one ... hopefully tomorrow night!"                            -LAURA    

Cool girl.

This girl is a cool girl.  I haven't gathered her name, but she has a cool blog called Sea of Shoes where she talks about her outfits.  I don't think she talks about anything else, and it seems like people send her clothes to try on and then someone takes pretty pictures of her wearing different outfits.  I didn't have to click very far to get that girl crush feeling about her look and her attitude and her commitment to fashion.  Here are two pics (of her) that caught my eye, as well as her descriptions of what she has on.

"These Louboutins are some of my favorite shoes, even though they don't get out much in real life because they are both extremely delicate and painful. These ballet pink tights sent to me by Hue inspired me to get these shoes out. Worn with a Jelly Garcia skirt and thrifted men's shirt, and tons of vintage gold jewelry..."

 "80's Moschino leather jacket with lion chain details"

Victory Candlelight.

Yessz. Our stolen car found it's way to a proper parking spot tonight and seems as un mussed as can be expected. I have lit a victory candle so that the house can smell like pink grapefruit & tarragon while I do a victory belly dance.

Friday Love.



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Big Bows.

I love these dupioni silk clutches found on Etsy.  They would be a lovely gift for bridesmaid girlies and a perfect way to incorporate something uniform into the group's ensemble, especially if you're "maiding" for a v cool bride who is allowing you to pick out your own dress and or shoes. So this little bit of matchy ness can be quite cute.  And who doesn't love a big red or yellow bow?  It's so 1986 perf.

Silver Pie Trowel

This is a pie trowel for your dreams and mine.  It's stering silver and costs $395.  If you're in the mood to browse silver, poke around on As You Like It, a silver shop located in New Orleans.  Beautiful stuff.  They also do repair work and help find missing bits to finish your collection.      

Purple Love.



Me wearing a bright purple top.



Joanne's earrings are from World Market.

 


Joanne's purple flats.



My brunette friend Joanne popped into my office this morning wearing the most adorable purple ensemble. On her feet were fun purple velvety flats from Gap (offical word from her is that they're super discounted at your local Gap right now - $5 ish !!) and on her ears hung dangly purple earrings. The flats came in a matching pouch that she is using to keep her makeup in. Her purple love day made me think about my fav purple shirt, as well as dig around for other purple inspiration for your home and mine.  What I noticed, after making my selections for what to share, was that the common denominator with all of this purple, is the color brown.  They're wonderful together. 

I love the brightness of the wall paint paired with the pale brown sofa.

 



 Brown wood shelves frame a plush purple lounging spot.





Love that the cement platform has been painted light lavender. 
Notice the brown & white patterened rug.