A Spring in Our Step

Ahh Springtime.  I sit here writing this in a sundress, hot tea on my desk, and a smile on my face.  You can't help but feel a little lighter. The tulips are blooming, the kids can play outside without freezing, and we are getting ready to welcome lots of babies.

A Joyful Journey is growing and changing just like the seasons.  We have so many things to share, where to begin?

I'll start with my fabulous partner, Andrea.  Andrea is taking a huge leap into college classes to become an IBCLC.   She has been a CLS for a couple years now and graciously volunteers her time, leading a breastfeeding support group at two different locations.  IBCLC's need numerous college courses and 1000 hours of breastfeeding hours to obtain this prestigious certification.  She is working tirelessly to make A Joyful Journey bigger and better!

On to me.  I am ecstatic to announce that I have been accepted to midwifery school!  I will be attending Midwives College of Utah ,full time for 4 years.  Nerves and jitters are plentiful.  Can you see why this post has the title A Spring in Our Step?  So much is changing we thought we would add a couple more delightful changes...

We are welcoming 2 fabulous doulas to our team!  Yes that's right.  Andrea and I will both still be "your doulas" but in addition, you have more amazing options.  Caley and Marissa are so excited to be added to the team.

Caley Engnell has two girls of her own and had drastically different experiences with each birth and postpartum experience. She realized from her own personal experiences how vital it is to be surrounded with the best support possible. Through dealing with infertility, loss, VBAC and breastfeeding struggles she found a passion and drive to give mothers the quality support and knowledge that was given to her in her positive birth and to make choices she truly felt were her own. She then trained with DONA international to pursue becoming a birth doula. She believes strongly in the healing power of placenta during the postpartum days and trained to become a placenta encapsulation specialist through PBI as well. She is now eager to provide you with 100% non-judgmental support and empowerment for your birth and assist you in any way she can to make your transition into motherhood as smooth as possible.

Marissa Lukas is a born educator and nurturer.  She began her career as an elementary school teacher after graduating from The University of St. Francis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2001.  After becoming a mother, life led her on a somewhat different path.  Marissa and her husband welcomed each of their four children into the world using The Bradley Method® of Natural Childbirth.  Two babies were born in the hospital, two were born at home, and one of her homebirths was a waterbirth.  Educating others about how to have a healthy, safe, and low-risk pregnancy, labor, and birth is Marissa's passion. She is privileged to provide support and empower parents to achieve the birth they desire as a Bradley® Certified Childbirth Educator and Doula since 2009. She has experience in providing doula support for unmedicated, medicated, VBAC, and cesarean births.  She would be honored to walk along side you on your birth journey.    

So now that you've heard some of our amazing news, please take a moment to share this exciting news and leave a kind comment to welcome the newest members of our team.  It is sure to be an exciting, wonderful season at   A Joyful Journey.

I OXYTOCIN YOU!

In honor of every doulas favorite holiday, today's blog is going to be about oxytocin (the LOVE hormone)!

Oxytocin plays an important role in many aspects of our lives, from social bonding, to bonding with your mate, to aiding in reproduction & nurturing our babies... these things would all be difficult to accomplish without this amazing hormone.

Have you ever seen a couple that is newly in love?  They seem to have trouble keeping their eyes (and their hands) off of each other.  That is because when we hold hands, hug, kiss, cuddle and make love, we are being rewarded with huge doses of oxytocin.  Oxytocin evokes feelings of contentment, reductions in anxiety, and feelings of calmness and security when in the company of your mate. When making love, and especially following an orgasm, our bodies release high levels of oxytocin, which help us to feel connected to our mate.  It's no wonder that when a couple is separated for a long period of time, anxiety can increase due to lack of physical affection.

A recent study showed that oxtocin may even promote fidelity within a monogamous relationship.  In this study, men were given a dose of synthetic oxytocin, and were shown a picture of their significant other, and a picture of another woman.  When they saw the picture of their significant other, the two areas of the brain responsible for feelings of reward and pleasure lit up!  However, the sight of other women had the opposite effect, suppressing feelings of pleasure.  In this same study, oxytocin caused men in a monogamous relationship, but not single men, to increase the distance between themselves and an attractive woman by 10-15 centimeters during a first encounter.

During labor, oxytocin causes uterine contractions, communicates with the woman's brain to release endorphins, and helps to shrink the uterus back down after delivery.  When breastfeeding, the infants suckling stimulates the nipples and causes the release of oxytocin, which not only causes the body to have a let down of milk for the baby, but also causes uterine contractions to support the shrinking of the uterus and lessen postpartum bleeding.  This may also be why breastfeeding mothers are 50% less likely to experience postpartum depression than their non-breastfeeding peers. 

Oxytocin also promotes mother-child bonding.  Studies show that female rats that are virgins find pups to be aversive.  However, once they've given birth, the brain is transformed, so they find the pups irresistible!  This is very similar with humans women!

Other fun facts that I learned while writing this blog:

Wound healing- Oxtocin is thought to modulate inflammation by decreasing certain cytokines.  Thus, the increased release in oxtocin following positive social interactions has the potential to improve wound healing.

Oxytocin & singing- When we sing, we release oxytocin and endorphins!  When we sing with others, it promotes bonding.  I knew there had to be a reason why I love to sing, all the time!

I hope you all enjoy my blog!  Don't forget to release oxytocin today!

Lots of Love,

Andrea

Pretty, Proud, and Professional

It's been a wonderful journey in the 2 years that Andrea and I decided to become more professional and partner up together.  It seems like yesterday that we were at our first vendor event together for Birth Without Fear.  We felt like newbies in the doula world and were still getting to know each other.  I was 5 months pregnant and Andrea had a 4 month old.

Fast forward 2 years and we are strong professionals, continuing to challenge each other to grow.  In two years we have attended 4 vendor events, organized an amazingly successful fundraiser, had weekly meetings, revised our website, and added placenta, bellybinding, and bereavement doula support.

We are kicking off this year by proudly announcing that we are officially incorporated!  A Joyful Journey, LLC is raising the bar again this year.  All of our contracts have been reviewed and updated to better serve our amazing clients.  In addition to being promoted by a fabulous midwife and yoga studio in the area, we are also collaborating with New Horizons Family Chiropractic .

We are so excited to continue to grow professionally and to make sure that our clients receive the best care.  Keep checking back for more exciting news.  If you know someone or are looking for a certified, insured, empathic doula to enhance your birth experience please contact A Joyful Journey, LLC today!

Breastfeeding & Postpartum Support In Our Community

About 3 1/2 years ago I met a woman and her two sons at a Will County breastfeeding event.  We began chatting and realized that our youngest babies were the same age.  She invited me to a breastfeeding group at our local hospital.  Little did I know that she would become a good friend and this group would become a big part of my life.

When I first began attending this group, it was just the Lactation Consultant Kathy, my friend Karin & myself.  The group soon began to grow.  Karin & I have both become breastfeeding peer counselors at this hospital and are there every Wednesday to support new mothers as well as mothers who have been with us for months.  We have noticed a pattern though.  We will have a wave of 4 or 5 new moms coming every week for the first few months postpartum, then they all head back to work, with a schedule that doesn't allow them to attend the group anymore.

Just this month, I began offering a Breastfeeding & Postpartum Support Group at Nurture The Journey Wellness Studio on the 1st & 3rd Sundays of each month.  I'm hoping that this will be a great source of support for mothers in our community and especially for the moms facing new challenges as they go back to work.  I feel that having a community of mothers supporting each other is not only crucial for the success of breastfeeding, but it's also so important to have this support for ALL mothers during the postpartum period.  Mothers in the U.S. tend to feel isolated and often don't reach out for help, which can and does often lead to baby blues or postpartum depression.

Now, I'm gonna brag a little bit about this amazing group of mothers that are a part of this breastfeeding group.  We don't just see each other for a few hours every Wednesday.  We keep in touch on Facebook.  We have a walking group together, that meets twice a week to go walking.  We have baking parties & play dates together.  These mothers are a great source of support to each other and I'm so proud to be a part of this community of strong women!  I hope you can join us at one of our groups & become part of this amazing community! 

For more information on how we serve our community, please visit us at A Joyful Journey Doula Services.

Lots of Love,
Andrea

Cloth Diaper Swap & Sell

Have you ever wanted to learn more about cloth diapering from experienced Moms?  Come join us on Sunday, January 24 from 10am-2pm at Nurture the Journey in Minooka, IL. The event will be hosted by your fabulous doulas from A Joyful Journey.  www.nurturethejourney.com has all the details about our Swap & Sell.  Admission is free but if you'd like to sell your lovingly used diapers, then have $5 and a table at the door.

There will be an array of cloth diapers for sale.  From all in ones, to prefolds and snappies this is a great event if you're looking to try out cloth diapers or learn more about them without spending a fortune.

Snow or shine we will be there.  Kiddos are welcome!

Check out our website for more information on this and future events and services.
www.ajoyfuljourney.org

Are your children safe in the car? It depends...

It depends on a number of things....

Today I sat down with my friend Danielle Meintanis from Mighty Mama Birth Services to discuss carseat safety.  Like myself, Danielle has been a car seat safety advocate since her oldest child was a baby, but this past summer she decided to become a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.  I thought it would be great to hear from a professional, so I asked her some questions.

Q: Why did you decide to become a Child Passenger Safety Tech.?

A: I saw a lot of mistakes that parents or caregivers were making and I didn't want to offer advice without being professionally trained to help them.

Q: Although I'm a car seat safety advocate, I'm not professionally trained and I'm aware that I could be missing something important.  During your training, what did you learn that you didn't know before your training?

A:  We were told at the beginning of the class that everyone will go home and redo our car seats and that was true.  Everyone learned something new.

Q:  When you're doing car seat safety checks, what all is entailed in this process?  Do you teach the parents how to install and safely buckle their children into their seats?

The first thing we do is take all the car seats and boosters out of the car to check for recalls, damage, etc.

Then we make sure the child fits in the seat correctly and the straps are where they should be.

Next, we figure out where the best place is for each seat and make sure that the seats can be installed correctly into the vehicle.

Lastly, we uninstall the car seats and have the parents install them, then we check to make sure that they've got the seats installed correctly.

Q: What are the top most common mistakes that you see parents/caregivers making in regards to car seat safety?

A: 1. Using the LATCH & seat belt together.

-Many people feel that if they're safe on their own, it must be better when using both together, but this method can actually put too much strain on the car seat.

2. The straps are too loose.

-Many people think that if children are buckled, they will be safe, but if the straps are too loose on your child, it can be very dangerous in the event of a car accident, which brings us to our next point.

3. Wearing coats in car seats.

-Coats in car seats are a bad idea because they add bulk to your child, which means you have to loosen the straps.  In the event of a crash, the coat will compress and your child could be ejected from the car seat.

4. The chest clip in the wrong place.

-Often times, people will buckle the chest clip but won't make sure that the chest clip is on the child's chest.  It's often left too low (on the child's stomach) or too high up (near their throat).  The chest clip should actually be aligned with the child's armpit, right across their chest.

5. After market products in car seats.

-People believe that just because it's sold in stores, it's safe to use.  The truth is that many individual items that you buy to add to the car seat are not approved to safely use by the car seats manufacturer.  Please call your car seats manufacturer before using anything in the car seat that did not come with that seat.  Even if the item is mad by the same company, it may not be approved for the carseat model that you have.

6. Car seat location.

- Everyone hears that the middle seat is the safest, however, that's not always the case.  It depends on the seat, the vehicle and the child.  If you are using a middle seat and want to use the latch system, but the tethers are for the two side seats, it might be best to use the seat belt or move the car seat to another location in order to use the latch system safely.  

The best thing to do is bring your vehicle, car seats & children to a professional to ensure that your family is as safe as possible.  You can schedule an appointment with Danielle by visiting www.mightymamabirthservices.com or find a place near you to set up an appointment by going to safekids.org  If you would like your car seats checked out this weekend, there is a car seat safety check coming up on November 14th 10a.-1p. Target Garage 1101 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL.

A First of Many!!!

Last Saturday, October 17th 2015, something amazing happened at New Life Church in New Lenox, IL.  

Something that Cathy & I had been working tirelessly to organize and promote for the past 6 months.  Last Saturday, our very first fundraiser took place!  The fundraiser was for our local domestic violence program called Groundwork!

Even though we raised a decent amount  of money ($656.55 after expenses), so much more was raised besides funds that day!

You see, my mom was a victim of domestic violence...

my dad was her abuser...

and myself and my siblings were raised in a violent upbringing.

Last Saturday, we got to raise awareness and raise our voices.  

We know that silence hides violence, so we stood together and spoke out against domestic violence!

Our speakers consisted of myself, my brother Jake, the Groundwork Program Director Amirrah, Groundwork client Sarah and my friend Angelica.  We each had different stories to tell...

...I was able to tell the story of my traumatic birth, which my mom and I both nearly lost our lives, as a result of that day....

...My brother Jake talked about what it was like for him as a little boy, growing up seeing our dad beat our mom... and fearing for our lives.  He spoke about the struggles that he still faces today... and the importance of good male role models in our children's lives...

...Amirrah shared with us the importance of the Groundwork program in our community and her hopes that one day there won't be a need for such a program...

Sarah spoke about her experience with a boyfriend (who hit her for the first time by back handing her as he drove them someplace)... she said she was so stunned that she apologized to him and kept telling herself that they would be okay... however, the abuse continued and escalated for years before she finally left him for good.... and it seems like a miracle to me that she survived the things that he put her through...

... Angelica talked about a relationship that she got into when she was 15 or 16.  Her boyfriend was mean and controlling... but had never hit her... until he did.  Only, the first time that he hit her wasn't just a slap (whatever that means)... He brutally beat her... to the point where she was covered in blood and had to be hospitalized at 16 years old....

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE knows no class, race, age, etc.  

It can happen and it does happen everyday.

I felt so honored to have been in the presence of so many survivors of domestic violence..

knowing that there were so many more who haven't survived.

Aside from speakers, we made sure to have something to entertain the whole family!  It was a vendor fair, so we had shopping!  

We also had raffle prizes, a jumpy house for the kids, face painting & delicious brunch catered by my sister Jen.  

Everyone had a great time!  

Cathy & I can't wait to do it again (BIGGER & BETTER) next year!

Lots of Love,

Andrea