Okay so! The challenge for you today is to come up with a funny caption for this photo from Look At Me (a collection of found photos). Have fun....

Roses, throats and the cervix

I've been thinking a little about this picture I came across on Navelgazing Midwife. The power our thoughts and imaginings have over our physical bodies is extraordinary. Often I read about women who visualize their cervix opening during birth like a flower, and with each rush of a contraction they imagine themselves opening up little bit by little bit and then in second stage transferring that picture to their vagina allowing it to stretch. There's something about visualizing or perceiving something in our minds eye which gives extra strength. As a mind imagines so a body can follow.

I've been with a few women in labour now and the one women who didn't tear during birth was without any drugs for pain (I firmly believe this helped her keep in touch with what her body was doing and allowed her to follow). She was deeply in her own space, almost trance like she was so deeply internal, and as she pushed and breathed her baby out of her body she said, 'No pain, open, open, no pain, no pain.' It was beautiful and the first time I'd seen anyone birth without drugs of some sort.

I love small things that can make a difference to labour. One thing that fascinates me is the relationship between a relaxed throat and a relaxed and dilating cervix. Asking women to relax their mouths from being clenched or tight from high throat noises, and getting them to soften their mouth and make lower deeper noise as they labour actually helps dilation. Lower deeper noises while also relaxing the throat and cervix are often more calming in the woman's own ears too which eases fear and stops the bodies fear and stress response from kicking in and slowing labour down. One simple way to relax a woman's throat is to encourage a woman's husband to do what he normally would do if his wife was in pain - be near her physically and kiss her. (But then some women don't want to be touched in labour so that rules that option out). Saying the words words "I love you" relax the throat too - women tell their husbands they love them, they tell their unborn baby that they love them.

Some times when I see husbands and wives working so closely together as a woman's labouring it makes me feel like I'm stumbling across something private and sacred, it reminds me of the sexual nature of birth - which makes perfect sense to me as that's how a child is created in the first place.

The Youth Monster

Last night at small group I took the plunge and told Geoff (who's involved with leading Youth at church) that I was interested in helping out with Junior Youth, much to his rejoicing mind you. To my surprise I was told I'd been on his and Pete's (our pastor who's soon moving on to plant a new church) list of possible newbie additions to the youth leadership team - yikes how's that for coincidence! I'd been thinking about what to be involved in at church for a while and youth kept on popping into mind most times I prayed about it. I have to admit I tried to over look it as two of my little sises are in youth group BUT as Geoff reminded me they are both in senior youth NOT junior youth

....so yes we'll see how things play out from now....I have to admit teenagers in year 7-9 are a little bit scary come to think of it.

Brave face Laura, brave face!

The V word

I'm a student midwife. I'm not sure exactly who reads my blog, I know some of you who do but I'm not sure who else reads what I write.

I just want to say that I will write about birth, giving birth, midwifery politics, homebirth, natural birth, gentle birthing, breastfeeding, the over medicalization of childbirth and the like in this blog. That was my first intention for this blog (hence the blog title) and while it has become more than that there will be the midwifery stuff thrown in especially now I'm coming up to my 4 week placement. (In two weeks time expect some stories!)

Pregnancy and birth are amazing things and at the same time such a normal life event. I do not deal with patients or clients. In learning to be a midwife I am simply with women, respecting them, seeking the best for them and their babies wellbeing.

I will not tip toe around issues. I will not be shy talking about anything birth related so expect to read the word vagina and perineum in this blog. There you go now you won't go red the first time you hear the V word.

p.s there might be the occasional birth photo too.

A message

I read a few blogs regularly, here's a post that I couldn't let slip by me without sharing .... have a look at Calvin's Letter. Oh for the day when "the wars stop".

Psalm 38

I've been thinking about grace, thinking about how often I use God as safety net, a backup, a way out when I stuff up or willfully chose to sin; thinking about the fact that sinning in light of God's grace is almost too awful to describe. Thinking how I cheapen sin and in turn cheapen grace.

I read Psalm 38 late last night and a few verses really stuck out at me, "1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have pierced me and your hand has come down upon me...9 All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you...17 For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin."

I am troubled by my sin.

I've become too complacent, my sin doesn't sear or pierce me. I truly desire to say, to come before God and say, "I am troubled by my sin!"

One of my most favourite hymns was playing before - O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
'Tis an ocean full of blessing, 'tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, 'tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!


I want to honour that love more.

Yes we are closed...we closed at 5:00 it's now 5:27!

To celebrate winter at work today we had "Winterfest". In other words we had 40 tonnes of snow in the carpark with all sorts of crazy things happening in and around the store. Yay! Surprisingly 40 tonnes of snow doesn't look all that much when you see it in one spot - I was a little surprised at how small an area it covered. The snow turned pretty icy by the end of the day but all the kids who came loved that's for sure.

Thankfully I got out of the work "fashion show". I would rather have eaten bugs or something than get in ski gear and parade around the 60 cm high T shaped platform in front of all the customers, to doof doof music (the words of which I thought were totally inappropriate to have in a "family" store). After the show I had this little red haired kid come up to me and follow me around while I was working asking me all sorts of questions - "Who does the shows?" "Are girls allowed in the shows?" (he could only see the guys standing around the stage at the time) "What's that?" "What do you do?" "Will they have another show?"....Amusing

But besides all the fun....can someone please explain why it is that customers think that they are the only ones who have lives outside of the place they are shopping in? I think I'd prefer getting out on time then getting extra pay for staying over time personally! Grrrr - she knew full well we were closed. I told her more than once in no uncertain terms that the tills would be removed and that she would not be able to pay for her purchases if she took any more time than she already had. I was serving her and couldn't quite well boot her out as she had over $1000 worth of sales - management says it's better to get a big sale than send people out the door at closing time. So at 1727 I called one of the management staff to put the sale through the register so I could get out to my dear Mother who had been waiting 27 minutes for me in the car, who was now going to be late to the trivia night she was involved with organizing. I had hot angry tears over that once I got outside of work.

Perhaps I sound too whiny in this post....I certainly don't mean to be, but people who are buying things just are the oddest bunch I have ever come across!

A little bit of me

I love doing personality surveys, quizes, and tests. Bec always mangages to find good ones so I had a go at the RHETI Enneagram Sampler Test. These are my top scoring types below. I got 8 points for Type 4, and six points each for Types 2 and 6. Click on the pictures for more info about each type.


free enneagram test





Amuse me by telling who you are...

So he married Gomer

This song adequatley sums up the past two days.

Song of Gomer (Hosea 1-3) by Michael Card

Don't know what He sees in me
He is spirit, he is free
And I, the wife of adultery
Gomer is my name
Simply more than I can see
How he keeps on forgiving me
How he keeps his sanity
Hosea, you're a fool

A fool to love someone like me
A fool to suffer silently
But sometimes through your eyes I see
I'd rather be a fool

The fondness of a father
The passion of a child
The tenderness of a loving friend
An understanding smile
All of this and so much more
You've lavished on this faithless whore
I've never known love like this before
Hosea, you're a fool

A fool to love somone like me
A fool to suffer silently
But some times through your eyes I see
I'd rather be a fool

This God of yours would not have told
To lift a love that you couldn't hold
And though time and time again I flee
I'm always glad to see you coming after me

Simply more than I can see
How he keeps on forgiving me
The wife of adultery
And Gomer is my name