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Friday, December 21, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Business Stuff - Part I
Right now there is a lot going on in my business life....way too much for one post!
The first thing has to do with Lamaze.
Earlier this year I had the privilege of attending a Passion for Birth training, which was fantastic! Passion For Birth is one of the steps that I took on the path to becoming a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator. We learned all kinds of interesting and innovative ways to add some life to our childbirth education classes.
I've been teaching private childbirth education classes for almost four years, and I teach a mix of methods - a little from Column A, some from Column B, etc. My thinking is that I want to give my couples all of the tools that I can to help them in their labor - that there isn't one "best" method. So why certify with Lamaze - probably the most well known method of childbirth education?
First of all, I discovered that Lamaze doesn't even CALL itself a "method" anymore! This is NOT your mama's Lamaze at all! They are changing, expanding, and not stuck in the 20th century. You can read more about today's Lamaze here.
And they aren't all about the breathing either! When I used to think of "Lamaze" the first thing I used to think was patterned breathing - hee-hee-hoo-hoo"
Boy was I wrong. Here is what their philosophy of birth is -
their philosophy is in BOLD with my comments in blue italics -
notice there is nothing about breathing at all!!
Birth is normal, natural and healthy. I can certainly get on board with this! Most of the time if you leave birth alone, women's bodies know what to do. Birth is not an illness!
The experience of birth profoundly affects women and their families. Exactly! This is one reason I work as a doula - to help make that experience the best that it can possibly be.
Women's inner wisdom guides them through birth. It amazes me seeing women in labor who have never been in labor before - they KNOW what to do! They don't need anyone teaching them how to breath or reminding them of what positions facilitate birth - they instintively KNOW what the best positions are for them, the best breathing for them.
Women's confidence and ability to give birth is either enhanced or diminished by the care provider and place of birth. This is HUGE! Women who trust and feel comfortable with their care provider and hospital have a much more positive experience - no matter WHAT happens in their labor and birth.
Women have the right to give birth free from routine medical interventions. They are not anti medical interventions - they are saying no ROUTINE interventions. If there is a reason that a particular intervention is needed for your particular birth - great! There is a time and a place for every intervention out there. And this is not anti-epidural either. All it is saying is - don't do things to everyone for no reasion. Don't give EVERY woman in labor an IV . Don't give EVERY woman in labor continuous monitoring, which will limit what she can do to manage her labor. Don't induce EVERY woman when she reaches her due date. Don't cut an episiotomy on EVERY woman. Don't assume that EVERY woman wants an epidural.
Birth can safely take place in homes, birth centers and hospitals. Lamaze is not anti-hospital and they are not hospital-only. They realize that some women feel safer and more comfortable in a hospital, some at home, and some at a birthing center. I only wish that the women of Central NJ had the CHOICE of a birthing center birth - if a Central NJ woman wants a birthing center birth, she needs to either travel to Pennyslvania, New York, or Delaware.
Childbirth education empowers women to make informed choices in health care, to assume responsibility for their health and to trust their inner wisdom. Hey - these are what MY goals are for my pregnant couples! I want them to be able to make informed choices in their labor and birth, to assume responsibility for their health - to ask their doctor questions, get information, etc. I want them to trust themselves and trust their bodies.
And that's their philosophy! I can't find anything on their website about breathing, and there is nothing about HEE-HEE HOO HOO, nothing about watching videos from the 70s.
The more I read about today's Lamaze, the more I felt like, "HEY! That's me! That's what I'm teaching!" And in today's world, I can't expect people to just take my word for it that I know what I'm talking about - it helps to have an outside organization to confirm that.
So I decided to pursue certification, and the Passion for Birth training was a part of that. Then in October I took the Lamaze exam and then three days ago, the results came out and...:::::drumroll::::::I passed!!! YAY!!!!!
So, I am now Lamaze certified, and am proud to be affiliated with Lamaze. I'm looking forward to helping more couples in the Central NJ area to develop more confidence about their choices in childbirth, and to help them to have the confidence, the information, and the tools they need to have a great birth!
The first thing has to do with Lamaze.
Earlier this year I had the privilege of attending a Passion for Birth training, which was fantastic! Passion For Birth is one of the steps that I took on the path to becoming a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator. We learned all kinds of interesting and innovative ways to add some life to our childbirth education classes.
I've been teaching private childbirth education classes for almost four years, and I teach a mix of methods - a little from Column A, some from Column B, etc. My thinking is that I want to give my couples all of the tools that I can to help them in their labor - that there isn't one "best" method. So why certify with Lamaze - probably the most well known method of childbirth education?
First of all, I discovered that Lamaze doesn't even CALL itself a "method" anymore! This is NOT your mama's Lamaze at all! They are changing, expanding, and not stuck in the 20th century. You can read more about today's Lamaze here.
And they aren't all about the breathing either! When I used to think of "Lamaze" the first thing I used to think was patterned breathing - hee-hee-hoo-hoo"
Boy was I wrong. Here is what their philosophy of birth is -
their philosophy is in BOLD with my comments in blue italics -
notice there is nothing about breathing at all!!
Birth is normal, natural and healthy. I can certainly get on board with this! Most of the time if you leave birth alone, women's bodies know what to do. Birth is not an illness!
The experience of birth profoundly affects women and their families. Exactly! This is one reason I work as a doula - to help make that experience the best that it can possibly be.
Women's inner wisdom guides them through birth. It amazes me seeing women in labor who have never been in labor before - they KNOW what to do! They don't need anyone teaching them how to breath or reminding them of what positions facilitate birth - they instintively KNOW what the best positions are for them, the best breathing for them.
Women's confidence and ability to give birth is either enhanced or diminished by the care provider and place of birth. This is HUGE! Women who trust and feel comfortable with their care provider and hospital have a much more positive experience - no matter WHAT happens in their labor and birth.
Women have the right to give birth free from routine medical interventions. They are not anti medical interventions - they are saying no ROUTINE interventions. If there is a reason that a particular intervention is needed for your particular birth - great! There is a time and a place for every intervention out there. And this is not anti-epidural either. All it is saying is - don't do things to everyone for no reasion. Don't give EVERY woman in labor an IV . Don't give EVERY woman in labor continuous monitoring, which will limit what she can do to manage her labor. Don't induce EVERY woman when she reaches her due date. Don't cut an episiotomy on EVERY woman. Don't assume that EVERY woman wants an epidural.
Birth can safely take place in homes, birth centers and hospitals. Lamaze is not anti-hospital and they are not hospital-only. They realize that some women feel safer and more comfortable in a hospital, some at home, and some at a birthing center. I only wish that the women of Central NJ had the CHOICE of a birthing center birth - if a Central NJ woman wants a birthing center birth, she needs to either travel to Pennyslvania, New York, or Delaware.
Childbirth education empowers women to make informed choices in health care, to assume responsibility for their health and to trust their inner wisdom. Hey - these are what MY goals are for my pregnant couples! I want them to be able to make informed choices in their labor and birth, to assume responsibility for their health - to ask their doctor questions, get information, etc. I want them to trust themselves and trust their bodies.
And that's their philosophy! I can't find anything on their website about breathing, and there is nothing about HEE-HEE HOO HOO, nothing about watching videos from the 70s.
The more I read about today's Lamaze, the more I felt like, "HEY! That's me! That's what I'm teaching!" And in today's world, I can't expect people to just take my word for it that I know what I'm talking about - it helps to have an outside organization to confirm that.
So I decided to pursue certification, and the Passion for Birth training was a part of that. Then in October I took the Lamaze exam and then three days ago, the results came out and...:::::drumroll::::::I passed!!! YAY!!!!!
So, I am now Lamaze certified, and am proud to be affiliated with Lamaze. I'm looking forward to helping more couples in the Central NJ area to develop more confidence about their choices in childbirth, and to help them to have the confidence, the information, and the tools they need to have a great birth!
Monday, December 3, 2007
November flew by!
Alright, if I'm doing a blog, I really do need to keep it updated more often than once a month!
I don't know what happened to the month of November. It flew by, and a lot has happened.
First of all - Birth Update.
I had three births in November.
First birth - November 15.
Mom's water released while listening to a Hypnobabies Birth Affirmation CD. No contractions, 12 hrs later she was at the hospital. The midwife suggested trying an enema before going with some more interventive procedures, and it worked! Once things got going, it was an easy labor, quick birth, and both parents are thrilled with how things went.
However, BEFORE things got going, mom, dad, and I were walking up and down Labor Alley. This particular mom liked to hike, and had hiked a good 4 miles the day before. So when I say we walked, we WALKED - quickly and for about 3 hours total that day. My legs were killing me the next day - I think that was God's way of telling me I need to be exercising more often!
Second birth - November 24.
This baby was almost two weeks late. I thought for sure she would be born before our Thanksgiving getaway, but that was not to be.
So I need to take a detour here and talk about our Thanksgiving getaway. First of all, the kids totally thought we were going to Lake George. I had left brochures lying around, websites "accidentally" open, and a friend "accidentally" let it slip to my son that we were going there. The kids were all VERY surprised that we were at the beach!
The beach house was AWESOME. It looks even better than the website!!
The living room is decorated in a fish/beach theme - very appropriate for a beach house. "It looks like a webkinz room!" said my 6 yo. Her favorite part of the house was the fishie pillows on the couch. Big Fishie Pillows. When it was time to leave on Saturday, she sat on the house holding one of the pillows and sobbing as though she was leaving her best friend. I almost expected to have something taken out of our security deposit for the tearstains on the fish pillow.
"ALL I want for Christmas is a FISHIE pillow!!!" she was sobbing. Riiiight. Of course the next day, she was pointing out a beanie baby and saying that she wanted that even MORE than the fishie pillow.
Now I wasn't actually THERE for the Fishie Pillow Drama. Why? Because my November 13th mama was finally in labor!! She needed to be induced, but she handled it so well, and was able to achieve her wish of avoiding pain medication. She had been planning on using a birthing pool, but with being induced and needing to stay on the monitors, that wasn't going to happen. So she lost out on her waterbirth and I lost out on my last day of vacation.
I just got my security deposit back, which means that my family didn't leave the place totally trashed.
So...if you are looking to rent a beach house in the Wildwood area, consider renting from these people - Wildwood Rentals And tell them that you found them through me!! Anything that you rent mid-summer is going to be $$$$, so you might as well spend a little bit extra and be right on the beach. You won't regret it!!!
And now it looks like they only have the 3br unit up on their website - I hope they are still renting out the 5br unit - I would love to go there again. I'd better start saving my pennies.
Third Birth - November 30.
I thought I was done with births for the month - and then last Thursday night my doula business partner Jessica was listening to a Hypnobabies Birth Affirmation CD and her water broke! (Sound familiar?) However, she DID go into labor on her own and was holding her baby eight hours later. My very first homebirth!
So that was my November. Have a great week, everyone!
I don't know what happened to the month of November. It flew by, and a lot has happened.
First of all - Birth Update.
I had three births in November.
First birth - November 15.
Mom's water released while listening to a Hypnobabies Birth Affirmation CD. No contractions, 12 hrs later she was at the hospital. The midwife suggested trying an enema before going with some more interventive procedures, and it worked! Once things got going, it was an easy labor, quick birth, and both parents are thrilled with how things went.
However, BEFORE things got going, mom, dad, and I were walking up and down Labor Alley. This particular mom liked to hike, and had hiked a good 4 miles the day before. So when I say we walked, we WALKED - quickly and for about 3 hours total that day. My legs were killing me the next day - I think that was God's way of telling me I need to be exercising more often!
Second birth - November 24.
This baby was almost two weeks late. I thought for sure she would be born before our Thanksgiving getaway, but that was not to be.
So I need to take a detour here and talk about our Thanksgiving getaway. First of all, the kids totally thought we were going to Lake George. I had left brochures lying around, websites "accidentally" open, and a friend "accidentally" let it slip to my son that we were going there. The kids were all VERY surprised that we were at the beach!
The beach house was AWESOME. It looks even better than the website!!
The living room is decorated in a fish/beach theme - very appropriate for a beach house. "It looks like a webkinz room!" said my 6 yo. Her favorite part of the house was the fishie pillows on the couch. Big Fishie Pillows. When it was time to leave on Saturday, she sat on the house holding one of the pillows and sobbing as though she was leaving her best friend. I almost expected to have something taken out of our security deposit for the tearstains on the fish pillow.
"ALL I want for Christmas is a FISHIE pillow!!!" she was sobbing. Riiiight. Of course the next day, she was pointing out a beanie baby and saying that she wanted that even MORE than the fishie pillow.
Now I wasn't actually THERE for the Fishie Pillow Drama. Why? Because my November 13th mama was finally in labor!! She needed to be induced, but she handled it so well, and was able to achieve her wish of avoiding pain medication. She had been planning on using a birthing pool, but with being induced and needing to stay on the monitors, that wasn't going to happen. So she lost out on her waterbirth and I lost out on my last day of vacation.
I just got my security deposit back, which means that my family didn't leave the place totally trashed.
So...if you are looking to rent a beach house in the Wildwood area, consider renting from these people - Wildwood Rentals And tell them that you found them through me!! Anything that you rent mid-summer is going to be $$$$, so you might as well spend a little bit extra and be right on the beach. You won't regret it!!!
And now it looks like they only have the 3br unit up on their website - I hope they are still renting out the 5br unit - I would love to go there again. I'd better start saving my pennies.
Third Birth - November 30.
I thought I was done with births for the month - and then last Thursday night my doula business partner Jessica was listening to a Hypnobabies Birth Affirmation CD and her water broke! (Sound familiar?) However, she DID go into labor on her own and was holding her baby eight hours later. My very first homebirth!
So that was my November. Have a great week, everyone!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Fashion Show
Tonight my 17yo son informs me that he needs new sneakers. So off to StuffMart we go. The Boy finds what he needs immediately and is ready to check out and go home.
Not so fast there. Now that I've gotten myself to StuffMart..I need Stuff. Or at least need to look at stuff. And it is so relaxing to be in StuffMart without my daughters asking me to buy this or buy that, so I am enjoying this time of leisurely looking at Stuff.
The Boy, on the other hand, is mumbling under his breath something about counting down the days to getting his driver's license, and also mumbling about how DAD would have been in and out of the store with no looking at additional stuff. Well, learn your lesson well, Young Skywalker, and get DAD to take you to the store next time.
When it comes to shopping, my husband is a Hunter. I am a Gatherer. When Rich shops, he knows what he wants. He gets to the store and if he locates the desired item - success! Mission accomplished. I, on the other hand, am a Gatherer. I have to look at many stores, many items, to decide which is best for our needs...and then I gather the best of what I've looked at.
Apparently The Boy is a Hunter as well.
When we get home from StuffMart (where The Boy also found a shirt he wanted while I was gathering) we see that my 6yo daughter, The Divine Miss M, is putting on a Fashion Show.
One thing that Miss M likes to do in her spare time is put on fashion shows, which generally consists of her trying on different outfits and making "fashion poses". She occasionally coerces her sisters to play "Fashion Show" with her as well.
The Boy decides to humor her and tells her he'll change into his new clothes to show her how Fashiony he is. Miss M is QUITE excited - although her sisters will play Fashion Show with her on a semi-regular basis, the last time her brother played Fashion Show was...never.
So The Boy comes out in his new shirt and sneakers and strikes a pose. We cannot stop laughing (and I am wishing I had my camera out) Miss M, however, is studying him with a critical eye...this is Serious Business. Think Clinton and Stacy on What Not To Wear eyeballing a new victim.
"Too much black and white", she tells him. "You look like a cow."
The Princess of Fashion has spoken.
Not so fast there. Now that I've gotten myself to StuffMart..I need Stuff. Or at least need to look at stuff. And it is so relaxing to be in StuffMart without my daughters asking me to buy this or buy that, so I am enjoying this time of leisurely looking at Stuff.
The Boy, on the other hand, is mumbling under his breath something about counting down the days to getting his driver's license, and also mumbling about how DAD would have been in and out of the store with no looking at additional stuff. Well, learn your lesson well, Young Skywalker, and get DAD to take you to the store next time.
When it comes to shopping, my husband is a Hunter. I am a Gatherer. When Rich shops, he knows what he wants. He gets to the store and if he locates the desired item - success! Mission accomplished. I, on the other hand, am a Gatherer. I have to look at many stores, many items, to decide which is best for our needs...and then I gather the best of what I've looked at.
Apparently The Boy is a Hunter as well.
When we get home from StuffMart (where The Boy also found a shirt he wanted while I was gathering) we see that my 6yo daughter, The Divine Miss M, is putting on a Fashion Show.
One thing that Miss M likes to do in her spare time is put on fashion shows, which generally consists of her trying on different outfits and making "fashion poses". She occasionally coerces her sisters to play "Fashion Show" with her as well.
The Boy decides to humor her and tells her he'll change into his new clothes to show her how Fashiony he is. Miss M is QUITE excited - although her sisters will play Fashion Show with her on a semi-regular basis, the last time her brother played Fashion Show was...never.
So The Boy comes out in his new shirt and sneakers and strikes a pose. We cannot stop laughing (and I am wishing I had my camera out) Miss M, however, is studying him with a critical eye...this is Serious Business. Think Clinton and Stacy on What Not To Wear eyeballing a new victim.
"Too much black and white", she tells him. "You look like a cow."
The Princess of Fashion has spoken.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thanksgiving
We are looking into possibly renting a house down the shore (yes, I really do say "down the shore") for a week next summer....and I was also trying to decide what to do for Thanksgiving. My 19yo dd is coming home for Thanksgiving from college, and I was thinking that it would be fun to go away as a family for a few days.
Somehow those two thoughts - beach house & Thanksgiving vacation morphed together. After getting price info, we decided to go for it and are spending Thanksgiving at the beach!
And it solves the problem of - what are we doing for Thanksgiving? Do we see Rich's relatives? My relatives? Rich's other relatives? Do we invite them all here?
Answer: None of the above - we're taking a family vacation!
Doesn't this place look great?
Wildwood Rentals
Very reasonably priced - in November anyway. It's a small fortune in the middle of summer.
So this is the plan....Rich and I and the kids are going to Newark airport to pick up Sarah on that Tuesday night before Thanksgiving and then driving down to Wildwood. The FUN part is....we aren't telling the kids where we are going! We DID tell them that we are going away, and that it will take us three hours or less to get there.
I also am setting up a few red herrings - I went online to websites for Lancaster, PA, the Poconos, Lake George, NY and am having them send me brochures. The kids are the ones that bring in the mail...
This way if I inadvertently mention something about Wildwood, the shore, etc. they won't know if I really slipped up or if it's another trick.
As far as pregnant moms, I have a mom due November 12 and a mom due November 13. I am hoping they both have their babies by November 20. If they don't, it is 90 minutes from Wildwood to the hospital, and much as I wouldn't want to go to a birth during those days, it is a hang-out-and-spend-time together vacation. It's not like I'd be gone at a birth the whole time, so spending 12 hours or so away at a birth wouldn't be a big deal. My kids would probably be too busy playing video games to even notice I'm gone anyway.
And then I have my doula friend Jess, who is pregnant and due December 1st. I will be her doula and I am hoping she doesn't go a week early, but then again, it's not a big deal to drive back for her birth.
Now of course if the kids somehow find this blog, the jig is up. Unless, of course, this blog is a red herring too....you never know!
Somehow those two thoughts - beach house & Thanksgiving vacation morphed together. After getting price info, we decided to go for it and are spending Thanksgiving at the beach!
And it solves the problem of - what are we doing for Thanksgiving? Do we see Rich's relatives? My relatives? Rich's other relatives? Do we invite them all here?
Answer: None of the above - we're taking a family vacation!
Doesn't this place look great?
Wildwood Rentals
Very reasonably priced - in November anyway. It's a small fortune in the middle of summer.
So this is the plan....Rich and I and the kids are going to Newark airport to pick up Sarah on that Tuesday night before Thanksgiving and then driving down to Wildwood. The FUN part is....we aren't telling the kids where we are going! We DID tell them that we are going away, and that it will take us three hours or less to get there.
I also am setting up a few red herrings - I went online to websites for Lancaster, PA, the Poconos, Lake George, NY and am having them send me brochures. The kids are the ones that bring in the mail...
This way if I inadvertently mention something about Wildwood, the shore, etc. they won't know if I really slipped up or if it's another trick.
As far as pregnant moms, I have a mom due November 12 and a mom due November 13. I am hoping they both have their babies by November 20. If they don't, it is 90 minutes from Wildwood to the hospital, and much as I wouldn't want to go to a birth during those days, it is a hang-out-and-spend-time together vacation. It's not like I'd be gone at a birth the whole time, so spending 12 hours or so away at a birth wouldn't be a big deal. My kids would probably be too busy playing video games to even notice I'm gone anyway.
And then I have my doula friend Jess, who is pregnant and due December 1st. I will be her doula and I am hoping she doesn't go a week early, but then again, it's not a big deal to drive back for her birth.
Now of course if the kids somehow find this blog, the jig is up. Unless, of course, this blog is a red herring too....you never know!
Almost a Halloween baby
Well, approximately 12 hours after my last post, my October client went into labor.
It was a loooong one. I was there for 27 hours. Did I mention it was long?
Mom and baby are fine, and although the birth went nothing like the mom imagined it would, she is happy with her choices in her birth.
And I got some nice comments from the nurses and midwife too, so that made me feel good. :)
It was a loooong one. I was there for 27 hours. Did I mention it was long?
Mom and baby are fine, and although the birth went nothing like the mom imagined it would, she is happy with her choices in her birth.
And I got some nice comments from the nurses and midwife too, so that made me feel good. :)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
My Weekend
Right now I have one doula client due...8 days ago. She thinks she will be pregnant forever. At this point, I am thinking she may be right. I was hoping things would get started this weekend with her, but it was not to be.
So today we went to a Healthy Halloween event hosted by the library. Excuse me, I meant to say The Library. East Brunswick takes their Library Very Seriously, and is referred to in all brochures, literature, paperwork as The Library. So let me try that again... We went to a Healthy Halloween event hosted by The Library. (much better) Because when you think of Halloween, the first thing you think of is Healthy, I'm sure. They had a bouncy house, a haunted house, animals, raffles, pumpkin decorating, apples, cheese, smoothies, granola bars. My 6yo wanted to know where the candy was, because to her, Halloween = Candy. She wasn't getting the whole healthy emphasis.
80% of our time was spent waiting in line, listening to my 6yo tell me how booooring it was to wait in line, when you weren't even getting CANDY at the end. I know, honey, I know. That's what you get when you have a Free Community Event at The Library - lots of waiting in line. We were waiting in lines that we had no idea what we were waiting in line for. One of them was to check your blood sugar. The 14yo realized, too late, that this involved a finger stick. I could see what she was thinking, "Thanks a LOT mom for this FUN day of waiting in line and getting my finger stuck!"
In other news, I just took the Lamaze exam on Friday and spent the weekend decompressing from that. I just want to sit and read a junky novel that has nothing to do with childbirth. And I want my pregnant client to go into labor. Although I imagine she wants that a whole lot more than I do....
Have a great week!
So today we went to a Healthy Halloween event hosted by the library. Excuse me, I meant to say The Library. East Brunswick takes their Library Very Seriously, and is referred to in all brochures, literature, paperwork as The Library. So let me try that again... We went to a Healthy Halloween event hosted by The Library. (much better) Because when you think of Halloween, the first thing you think of is Healthy, I'm sure. They had a bouncy house, a haunted house, animals, raffles, pumpkin decorating, apples, cheese, smoothies, granola bars. My 6yo wanted to know where the candy was, because to her, Halloween = Candy. She wasn't getting the whole healthy emphasis.
80% of our time was spent waiting in line, listening to my 6yo tell me how booooring it was to wait in line, when you weren't even getting CANDY at the end. I know, honey, I know. That's what you get when you have a Free Community Event at The Library - lots of waiting in line. We were waiting in lines that we had no idea what we were waiting in line for. One of them was to check your blood sugar. The 14yo realized, too late, that this involved a finger stick. I could see what she was thinking, "Thanks a LOT mom for this FUN day of waiting in line and getting my finger stuck!"
In other news, I just took the Lamaze exam on Friday and spent the weekend decompressing from that. I just want to sit and read a junky novel that has nothing to do with childbirth. And I want my pregnant client to go into labor. Although I imagine she wants that a whole lot more than I do....
Have a great week!
First Entry
Welcome to my blog!
Who am I - I work as a doula and childbirth educator in the Central NJ area. I have five kids, one in college and four at home. I have been married for 23 years to my best friend. Things that I like to do in my spare time: watching tv, reading, vacations (and planning them), spending time with my friends, both IRL and my online friends, playing interesting board games (note: Candyland is NOT an interesting board game) hanging out with my family, eating out, although that does not work well with my never-ending quest to lose weight.
Who am I - I work as a doula and childbirth educator in the Central NJ area. I have five kids, one in college and four at home. I have been married for 23 years to my best friend. Things that I like to do in my spare time: watching tv, reading, vacations (and planning them), spending time with my friends, both IRL and my online friends, playing interesting board games (note: Candyland is NOT an interesting board game) hanging out with my family, eating out, although that does not work well with my never-ending quest to lose weight.
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