Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 9

Last but not least, the lovely Lena Wood's piece to wrap-up the 9 piece mural. The next post will have a picture of the completed mural.

Lena Wood is a labor and postpartum doula, and soon to be a infant massage instructor. Lena is also soon off on an adventure to finish her Master's degree in Montessori Elementary Education. Go Lena!

When I am not working with clients, I can be found at home with my husband, working in the vegetable garden, delighting in new recipes in the kitchen, or hiking around our NE neighborhood. I also train in an Indonesian martial art form, Poekoelan Tjimindi Tulen, and have served as an assistant instructor in the after school and summer youth programs at One With Heart Tulen Center in SE Portland.

(as you will soon see, this picture is not upside down!)

Stay tuned for the unveiling of the complete mural...

Give the Gift of a Doula

Cross-posted at: http://cascadiabirth.com/2010/12/01/holiday-special-2010/

Cascadia Birth Services is pleased to offer a special holiday gift certificate for new or soon-to-be new mamas. While new baby clothes, diapers, and wraps are all lovely, sometimes the best gift is simply another compassionate, competent person to lend a hand and offer encouraging support. At Cascadia Birth Services we offer the best in postpartum care: lactation support, newborn and sibling care, meal preparation, and light housekeeping, all delivered with compassion and non-judgmental support.

For the month of December, we are offering gift certificates for a three-hour postpartum session, for only $40. Certificates can be printed at home, or we can print and mail them to the special mama in your life for no extra charge. Certificates have no expiration date, so they can be saved as long as you like! The certificates may also be applied towards an 8-hour overnight session.

If you would like to purchase a certificate for a friend, please contact us [www.cascadiabirth.com/contact] and we will email you directions on how to make a payment.

Nurture welcomes Lena Wood

We would like to warmly welcome Lena Wood to Nurture. Lena is a doula with Cascadia Birth Services, and she has a special interest in supporting families who are adopting. Lena is also involved in many other projects and organizations; read more about all of her activities below! Welcome, Lena!

Cascadia Birth Services, LLC

lena@cascadiabirth.com
503.307.8614

Welcome!

I am thrilled to be a part of the Nurture community. As a doula and Montessori-trained educator, I love collaborating with families to support the full potential of human development.

I offer labor and postpartum doula services, with a specialization in adoption support. I am available to attend births for women who are considering or planning on placing for adoption, and for adult adoptees who may be processing emotions around the experience of pregnancy and birth. I also provide post-placement support for adoptive families in both domestic and international adoption. As a trans-national adoptee, I believe strongly that all members of the adoption constellation benefit from compassionate, non-judgmental support as they move through their experiences around adoption.

I came to doula work through several close friends who are midwives. Their excitement and passion for serving women’s birth needs resonated deeply for me. The more I learned about their work, the more I considered how I might be able to use my skills and experience as a Montessori teacher to give individualized support to new families. I completed my postpartum doula training with CAPPA, and my labor doula training at Birthingway College of Midwifery, in Portland, OR. I am also completing the Certified Lactation Educator program through CAPPA, to better serve the needs of my breastfeeding postpartum clients. It is an honor and privilege for me to be able to provide support to women and their families during such an intense and intimate transition of their lives.

Aside from my own practice, I am the Portland coordinator for Full Spectrum Doulas, which will provide abortion doula services based on the model of the Doula Project, in NYC. Currently I am collaborating with Adoption Mosaic to develop training opportunities for doulas interested in working with birthparents and adoptive families. I also volunteer as an advocate for Backline, a locally-based nation-wide pregnancy options counseling phone line.

When I am not doing doula work, I train in an Indonesian martial art form, Poekoelan Tjimindi Tulen, and instruct in the transported after-school and summer youth programs at One With Heart Tulen Center in SE Portland.

For more information, visit my website [www.cascadiabirth.com], or email me at lena@cascadiabirth.com

Are you searching for a doula?

Join us for a late afternoon mixer and meet several pregnancy, birth, and postpartum doulas all in one place.

We will have a screening of The Birth of Sabine,

a henna artist to adorn bellies or hands,

and delicious refreshments.

December 5, 2009
4:00-6:00pm
1614 NE Alberta St.
in the large red house
Hosted by Nurture: Center for Growing Families

Are you considering hiring a doula?

Are you overwhelmed by the number of doula options in Portland?

Would you like an opportunity to meet several doulas, face-to-face, to get a sense of compatibility, but don’t have the time to attend several meet and greet appointments?

Highlights:
Meet local pregnancy, birth, and postpartum doulas

Film screening: The Birth of Sabine

Henna adornment
Connect with other expecting parents
Learn more about our services
Enjoy light refreshments

(Plus, doulas are just some of the nicest people to be around!)

Film Screening hosted by: Jennifer Murdock

Doulas attending the event:

Baby My Sweet Baby http://www.babymysweetbaby.com/
Sacred Arrivals: http://www.sacredarrivals.com/
Sacred Pathways Doula Services: http://www.sacredpathwaysdoula.com/
MotherTree: http://www.mothertreebirth.com/
Renaissance Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals: http://www.renchildbirth.com/
Birth Journeys Doula Collective http://www.birthjourneys.com/
Nurture: http://www.nurturepdx.com/
Mama Bear Healing Care

Meet a Doula: Nurture hosts a community Doula Meet and Greet in December

Are you considering hiring a doula?

Are you overwhelmed by the number of doula options in Portland?

Would you like an opportunity to meet several doulas, face-to-face, to get a sense of compatibility, but don’t have the time to attend several meet and greet appointments?

Join us for a late afternoon mixer and meet several pregnancy, birth, and postpartum doulas all in one place.

December 5, 2009
4:00-6:00pm
1614 NE Alberta St.
in the large red house
Hosted by Nurture: Center for Growing Families

Highlights:
Meet local pregnancy, birth, and postpartum doulas
Connect with other expecting parents
Learn more about our services
Enjoy light refreshments

Doulas attending the event:

Baby My Sweet Baby http://www.babymysweetbaby.com/
Welcome With Love Family Care: http://www.welcomewithlovefamilycare.com/
Sacred Arrivals: http://www.sacredarrivals.com/
Sacred Pathways Doula Services: http://www.sacredpathwaysdoula.com/
MotherTree: http://www.mothertreebirth.com/
Renaissance Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals: http://www.renchildbirth.com/
Birth Journeys Doula Collective http://www.birthjourneys.com/
Nurture: http://www.nurturepdx.com/
Mama Bear Healing Care

Getting Sleep Postpartum

How to Get Enough Sleep in the First Weeks After Birth
Adapted and edited from a handout by Penny Simkin

To get enough sleep, you must take your need for sleep seriously, which is hard to do. They wind up sleep deprived and after several days or a week and fall apart. Baby care and everyday tasks become much more difficult than they should be. The following approach will help you get as much (or almost as much) sleep as you need. (It does not work as well if you have other children, unless you have help with them.)

• Calculate how many hours of sleep you used to need regularly before pregnancy in order to function well. Six hours? Eight hours? That is the amount of sleep you now owe yourself everyday
• Since you cannot get this amount of sleep in one stretch because of interruptions for feedings and baby care, you will require more hours in bed to get your allotted amount of sleep.
• Plan to stay in bed or keep going back to bed until you have slept your allotted number of hours. This means that with the exception of meals and trips to the bathroom, you do not get up. You do not brush your teeth, shower of dress in the early morning. Make a mental note of approximately how many hours you have slept since you went to bed (but try not to obsess about it). You may have to stay in bed from 10PM until noon the next day to get eight hours of sleep! If that’s what it takes, do it. Then brush your teeth, take a shower, dress, and greet the day.
• Many parents find it easier to follow this regime if their baby sleeps with them or nearby.
• As your baby grows and begins to sleep for longer stretches, it will take you less time to get enough sleep.
• Hiring a postpartum doula is also a great way to ensure you get enough sleep while baby is taken care of and the house isn’t falling apart while you’re snoozing.

Take your need for sleep seriously in order to prevent sleep deprivation. Sweet Dreams.