Amy Rose

Natural Baby Blog, Part 4 - Adventures in Breastfeeding

Warning - Serious But Helpful Breastfeeding Tips

This blog entry is intended to be practical breastfeeding advice, so it’s a little more serious than many of my posts will be.  I tend to be lighthearted, but breastfeeding is a passion that I REALLY struggled with and feel that there is very little real life, practical advice out there. I wanted to offer that to others who may be preparing to have a little one, are currently struggling with breastfeeding or have in the past and plan to have more babies in the future.

Words of Warning - Breastfeeding Can Hurt

I don’t know if anyone warned me that breastfeeding would be hard.  If they did, I don’t remember hearing it.  I knew it wasn’t EASY because it was taxing on the mother.  I babysat for a family friend after her son was born and watched her struggle to keep up with work, pumping and feeding.  However, I didn’t realize the pain involved.  Sure, I had read about cracked nipples, and I had read sections of books and even one entire book on breastfeeding.  I’d be fine, right?  Wrong! ...  read more »

Natural Baby Blog, Part 3 - Welcoming Our Baby to the “Sterile Plain”

Constructing the “Sterile Plain”

So, this doctor comes in and takes his time building his “sterile plain” while I’m told not to push.  When your baby is pretty much crowning, I don’t care how much epidural you have, the pressure is SOOO intense and not pushing is nearly impossible.  I already didn’t like this doctor and now I am about ready to kick the crap out of him!  He better be glad I didn’t have the use of my legs due to that darn epidural!...  read more »

Natural Baby Blog, Part 2 - The Labor

In February of 2003, I became a mom.  My birth experience wasn’t what I expected.  Then again, I didn’t really have huge expectations.  However, I felt to my core that THIS was not how it was supposed to go!

How to Induce Labor

Contractions started around 10:00 pm two days before my estimated due date.  I had been to the doctor the Friday before (this was on Monday) and was 0 cm dilated and about 50% effaced (how thin my cervix was).  For anyone who doesn’t know - that sucks.  It pretty much means...  read more »

Meet Amy - Our Natural Parenting Blogger

Meet Amy. Mother of four boys and the wife of a minister in Georgia. Read, blog post by blog post, how she has learned, changed and grown during the many trials and tribulations of learning to raise a family of her own. Through smiles, tears and lots of laughter, she has learned that the path to successful child rearing is often the one that comes instinctively. And often the things derived from Mother Earth truly are best. The world is full of medical "miracles" but over time and lots of experience, this mom has discovered that raising a natural baby creates the most wonderful bonds and lessons for her children.

Start reading her Natural Baby story now...  read more »

Critically Endangered Tamarin

The Golden Lion Tamarin is native to the Amazon Rainforests of Brazil. Humans have threatened their habitats by illegal logging, poaching, mining and urbanization of the rainforests in the region. They were placed on the endangered list in 1992 and were bumped up to critically endangered shortly thereafter; however, due to extensive efforts to increase their numbers, they have begun to make a comeback in recent years....  read more »