Artfull Mother Magazine Winter - 2016Boulder

From the Creative Director: SarahKate I’ve finally found my role in life: I am an artist, in service to women & families who are birthing babies, caring for little ones and those who care for these people, the Birthing Community.

This magazine, Artfull Mother, is something I do which brings me the incredible gift of meeting, listening to and actually hearing so many girls, daughters, mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers. Listening, hearing a woman’s visions, attempting to “feel” her heart, desires and dreams, which I then do my best to translate to the language of art.

Then I begin, using what I have learned and adding a bit of myself, I create. The pungent smell of eucalyptus permeates our conversation, sometimes active and intense, other times sad, sleepy or quiet, mostly this time is full of hope and joy. When the last details are in place, the design complete, a connection is forged. A few days later, we meet again for photos, now her design has gone from the rough black paste to its peak, rich henna color. We dive into my wardrobe, a rainbow of silks and skirts, summoning our femininity. It is especially in these moments, I feel most blessed to behold: a woman, blooming in her femininity. We have a connection... our art, adorning her now.

Wrapped in silk and color, the petals naturally unfold, glowing with creation herself, the women eternal, moving through this rite of passage, the common thread which binds us, one and all.

to share another wonderful issue of Artfull Mother magazine with you, the first of 2017! This issue highlights some special local midwives, revered members of the Birthing Community. I would like to extend some thank yous: to my amazing husband, who works tirelessly behind the scenes on ArtfullMother.com as well as supporting and encouraging me! He & I do a lot of the photography of mine that you see together. I would like to give a special thank you to Stacey Malik, for editing and fixing so much of my writing; I surely would have died from embarrassment by now without her help.

Once again it’s winter and that means... time to get outside to take some snowy pregnancy photos! We have 2 brave models, Sara and Julie, and we got some great photos. These lovely photos with Sara are near frosty Boulder Creek on the morning after a nice snow.

Julie came by my studio for some henna and we stepped out into my freshly snow covered Lafayette, CO backyard for this mama’s snowy photos. She reported back after her birth that her henna belly art, still visible a week later, was a great point of focus and empowerment during labor. Denver mama Jaya, came to my studio with her youngest daughter for some tea and henna. I adorned them both with flowers. Later I heard her amazing birth story where she went into into labor “on her own” after her other 3 births had been induced. There is an interesting This said, I am very pleased interview with Nichole Didelot, a

gifted, well known Longmont midwife. Denver Artfull Mother, Deena Marcum Selko, followed her dreams to become a trapeze artist with the MOTH circus school (www.contemporarycircuscenter.com). Deena talks about being a pregnant athlete.

Another Denver mama I’ve gotten to know through my art, Chelsea Avery, has a popular blog, www. thenewwifestyle.com, and in this issue she shares some of her birth affirmations with us. Gaze upon the gorgeous collaged artwork honoring pregnancy by an amazing Boulder Artfull Mother Jessica Goodson.

And of course, our most talented regulars: Monet Nicole’s stunning work captures and shares a mama’s story. Miracle Kisses photographer - Samantha Jessup (Aurora), shares Karine’s challenging & inspiring nursing journey. In preparation for Baby #2, Denver doula Mclean Confer is arranging to create a better family bed.

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Julie was adorned on December 9th and told me her baby’s gender would be a surprise! She gave birth to a boy 6 days later. During his labor, she ended up in a position that put her eyes on her belly and the henna was a fabulous focal point that really helped during birth. “I believe your henna helped to remind me to be

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an advocate for myself during labor and delivery. My labor was very much self-directed (I pushed when my body told me to push rather than being coached) and it was incredible.� ~ Julie (Denver mama of 2)

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Jaya’s Birth Story

Let me start out by saying, I have never gone into labor on my own. All three of my previous deliveries were induced by means of Pitocin. At the beginning of each pregnancy I have always showed signs of preeclampsia. So, I have never made it to my due date either.

About 10 pm on the night of the 23rd I started having some pelvic pain. I wrote it off as what I call “growing pains.” These pains continued throughout the night coming every 1-3 hours maybe. About 4 am, August 24th, these pains started to be more frequent. I knew then that my “growing pains” were contractions. I got out of bed and rocked the pain through until about 6 am. Then I woke up my husband and told him, “I’m having contractions. I don’t know how to time them so I need you to. I’m going to try and poop because I don’t want to poop during delivery and take a shower.” (No joke, priorities right? lol) So, I do my thing and hop in the shower. I stayed in there until the hot water ran out. It felt so good to have the hot water massaging my back during the peak of my contractions. By this time my con 7

tractions were roughly 6 mins apart and about 1 min long. We called Kaiser and they said, “Oh no, rush. We usually have our patients go in when the contractions are 5 min apart.” (We also got diverted to a different hospital than we registered at due to there not being any rooms available. Crazy! Everyone was having a baby that day.) So, I was thinking cool, we can drop one kiddo at school and the other at childcare. Perfect timing! We waited an hour, hour and a half before leaving. I couldn’t take it anymore. Our poor kiddo, Davin, was dropped off at school super early. (Well, maybe 20 min early.) I felt like we kicked him out on the curb in front of the school. (No, he was not alone, there were maybe 10 other kiddos and the crossing guard.) Then we dropped off our little girl, Trinity. (I feel like the car was still rolling when we dropped her off.) Okay, now we are finally off to the hospital.

way too much pressure. If I would have sat down our sweet baby would have been delivered in that wheelchair. So, I proceed to walk to my room. No stopping at admin or triage. Contractions are maybe a min apart.

We get to the room, and the nurse asks me to put the gown on and try and use the bathroom. So…..I try.

As soon as I bent down I knew. There was too much pressure and I needed to push. Got my pants fully off as I was dragging them around my angles from the bathroom, and climbed in the bed. The nurse checked me and I was complete plus three. I have never seen a group of nurses and doctors come together so quickly in the delivery room. It was crazy! Doc said, “Okay next contraction you can push.” then “Okay I have the head….oh, and one shoulder. OH, WE HAVE A BABY!” said the doctor. My one-push wonder baby, lol. I was told that we got there at 8:30 am and Olivia It’s about 8 am by now and my contractions are Nichole was delivered at 8:35 am! Olivia Nichole was something like 3 mins apart and every bump brings on 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. ( And I pooped anyways! another one. About 10 min before we get to the hospi- UGH! She was worth it though.) tal, I tell my husband they’re coming too close. We get to the hospital, thank God they have a Momma baby Jaya (a Denver mama) wing because we had no idea where we were going; my husband races in for a wheelchair. I tried to sit in the wheelchair and that was not happening. There was

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working together as community midwives for a few years. As we assisted each other at births, we found that we had a common vision of providing midwifery care within a community model. It was clear that we were called to work together to increase access to midwifery care and shared the dream of creating a sustainable model for ourselves too.

As a sweet aside, we have also had the opportunity to midwife one another. Both Lauri and Nichole were by Lo’s side as she birthed her son Atzintli Rio Quetzalli. We feel grateful to be coming around full circle and supporting one another while birthing this project.

Certified Professional Midwife Nichole Didelot knew she wanted to figure out a way to expand midwifery care access to more people and at the same time create a model of care which was sustainable for midwives. She joined together with three other certified professional midwives, Lo Kawulok, Rachel Engel and Lauri Hughes, to form Community Roots Midwife Collective (CRMC). CRMCs midwives have many years of experience working in the out-of-hospital birth setting and are the only collective of homebirth midwives in Boulder county.

SarahKate:: Tell us about your first experiences working with women birthing.

CRMC’s mission is, “...to provide skilled, respectful, midwifery and reproductive health care to all individuals, in or near Boulder County.” The intention of the collective is to create a supportive and nurturing community while promoting wellness for practicing midwives. This allows for the highest quality of care for women throughout their reproductive years and beyond.

SarahKate: What advice do you have for first time moms trying to decide where to birth?

Nichole: One of the two midwives present for my son’s birth, Amy Colo, took me on as her student. The first birth we went to was a family event full of love, trust and smiles. I felt so blessed being afforded the ability to apprentice a midwife with a senior student so I could observe and learn the ways of my teachers.

Nichole: -Ask questions and know your options -Educate yourself, especially regarding the benefits of a physiologic birth -Be your own advocate

SarahKate: Nichole, what is the connection for you with your 3 partners and what inspired you to come together in this way?

-Remember the importance of being well supported

Nichole: Our connections are intricate and beautiful. We have been honored to share birth space while

SarahKate: What are some major misconcep-

-You are strong and you can do it!

tions that you hear about midwives and how do you address them?

well educated regarding the availability and benefits of midwifery care.

Nichole: In general, many people don’t know what midwifery is and in the USA midwives are not well integrated into the healthcare system. People may not understand our education, training, or scope of practice. For these reasons, it’s crucial for us to educate our community about our profession as well as their birthing options. CRMC is really focusing on education; we are present at community events, host informational gatherings, and do community outreach about midwifery.

We are a group of midwives with years of training in out-of-hospital birth settings, and are the only collective of homebirth midwives in Boulder county. We have a vision to create a supportive and nurturing community that promotes longevity and wellness for practicing midwives and holistic health care practitioners, in turn providing the highest quality care to people throughout the reproductive cycle.

Community Roots Midwife Collective (CRMC) offers comprehensive prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care to all people? Women in Boulder County on a sliding payment scale.

http://www.midwifecollective.com/ Phone: 3943)

1-855-6MIDWIFE

(1-855-664-

Our vision is that any individual seeking a midwife has access to one, and that through our outreach, our community is

Nichole (left), with new parents. Photo

by Monet Nicole.

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A Circus Woman (This Fierce Mama Isn’t Clowning Around.)

I am always on the lookout for mothers who are artists too - women who express themselves creatively in motherhood and beyond. I am excited to introduce you to a fine example of an Artfull Mother: welcome Deena Marcum Selko, mother of a 9 year old daughter with a second one well on the way. Deena is a practicing “circus - trapeze artist.” Yep, that’s right; flying through the air with the greatest of ease, kind of trapeze artist and yes, pregnant!

SARAHKATE: Hi Deena, welcome and thank you for taking some time with us today. So I think the first question everyone has right now is: Do you still “fly through the air ...” while you are pregnant?

DEENA: Circus is multi-faceted. On one hand, I’m an athlete, but on the other hand it’s the art that compels me to move forward. Being pregnant is really interesting, it changes the body, so I had to take a step back from the athletic side and in its place, I would say the creativity part becomes stronger! After all, it’s the most creative thing a human can possibly do and it sparks more creativity in me.

SARAHKATE: Talk about your family and children from the perspective of an Artfull Mother - mother and artist.

DEENA: My 9 year old has become a fine singer with amaz ing pitch, something I do not have, though I sang to her constantly.

I am often asked: ”Is she going to be a circus performer?” She’s a performer for sure, but she’s her own artist. The one in my belly, we’ll see, the important part is that my babies do what they love.

Teaching by example is really important, especially in raising daughters. Through circus, I get to show them that being feminine can be fierce! That they’re not really separated and just because you’re soft (pregnant) doesn’t mean that you’re not fierce.

SARAHKATE: Thank you so much for your time, and as far as I can see, you’re setting a great example!

Deena has a daughter (9) and her second is due January ‘17. She lives in Golden with her husband Gabe. Deena is teaching classes at MOTH Contemporary Circus Center as long as she can and she’s collaborating on a new performance. You can find out more about her at her website: www.contemporarycircuscenter.com Photo by Kacey Cole. www.kaceycole.com 13

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i want to share some of the positive pregnancy and birth affirmations i used that i believe helped me have the healthy pregnancy and birth i desired. i wrote these out on notecards and taped them next to my bed. i was sure to look at them every morning i got up and before i went to bed. i have all the tools i need i am a powerful woman! i am capable i am strong my baby is growing exactly as she should be right now i am healthy and developing my baby perfectly i instinctively know and crave the right foods to feed myself and my baby well i will have the birth experience i need to have my body knows exactly what to do my baby knows exactly what to do i deserve a comfortable, easy, uncomplicated birth my body was designed perfectly for pregnancy and birthing i believe in my ability to give birth with ease, comfort and safety i have a choice in what i think, feel and do birth is a natural, normal process i am an active participant in my pregnancy and birth birth is empowering i gain confidence through my birthing experience i trust my body it is up to me to set the tone and mood of my birth i can do hard things i am prepared birth will never get bigger than i can handle both me and my baby are safe i gained confidence through my birthing experience during my birthing time, i see my body as soft, relaxing and open every pressure wave brings me closer to meeting our daughter 14

it is better to keep our sense alive if we are to experience the true wisdom and power that birth has to offer (taken from ‘ina may’s guide to childbirth‘)

Chelsea is a Denver mom shown here pregnant with her first child. Check out her blog: thenewwifestyle.com

I’d love for you to meet local artist & Artfull Mother: Jessica Goodson, who I first met last summer when I celebrated her pregnancy with body art. I loved seeing her mixed media art and had to share it with you!

Jessica: “This is my ongoing visual journal centered around pregnancy and motherhood. I used a vintage book and altered it, adding in ephemera and personal photos. Many elements are in progress and continue to evolve. I have kept journals for some time where I paint, collage, draw, write, and add hand lettering. I started creating books like this in 2008, after an art retreat with a wonderful group of women, and we still send mixed media journals back and forth to each other. Often I make a copy of what I create in their books and will rework it in my own to continue to develop the idea. I tend to work this way, working and reworking

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imagery to process my life and experiences. During my pregnancy I felt creative, feminine...

What I create is very personal, but I believe that this creativity is relatable though pregnancy. I wanted a book that was dedicated to my experience of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Ultimately, I collected much more than I could keep

up with before my son’s birth, and now, I have many ideas I still plan to incorporate.

I have my whole life, and being able to share my work and experiences is something I really enjoy doing!

Jessica Herman Goodson is a full time mama, mixedmedia artist and maker of books living in Boulder, CO. Enamored with all things paper, she spends her time collecting bits of flotsam and jetsam, making pictures with her trusty Diana camera, carving stamps, sewing on paper, and fitting it all into her visual journals. See more of her artwork in the books: Real Life Journals, No Excuses Art Journaling, Map Art Lab, as well as the upcoming A World of Artist Journal Pages. Jessica shares her visual journaling practice on her blog, www.jessiestarling.blogspot.com.

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This 6th time mom planned for a homebirth for her 6th baby, but needed to transfer to Denver Health at 42 weeks. She labored peacefully and with much strength.

Her husband and her midwife never left her side. After

a morning of labor, she finally felt the urge to push... and gave birth to her beautiful (almost 11 pound) baby boy. He was born with a veil (remnants of the amniotic sac) covering his face.

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Karine and her baby, photographed by Samantha

Karine’s Story: Totally Committed I promised myself that I would breastfeed this time around. She is my second baby, and I didn’t get the chance to breastfeed my first – so this time, I was committed! Originally, I was looking for that early bond that I didn’t get to enjoy with my first daughter, as well as the obvious health benefits that come with breastfeeding.

I think it all started with me saying “I will try to breastfeed.” I think that’s the most common thing that new moms say. But deep inside I was really committed and wanted to make it work this time around. I gave myself 6 weeks to see how this would go. In order to help facilitate this, I did decide to take 3 months off from work.

We had a rough beginning. She had low blood sugar when she was born, so she received donor milk within a few hours of being born. That broke my heart, but there wasn’t really anything that I could do at that point.

Then we had some latching issues. For some unknown reason, she wouldn’t latch on my left side.

The lactation consultant in the hospital did come to help, but it didn’t seem to help. It was simply difficult to get her to latch on that side.

Challenges just kept on coming. First, she had trouble latching, then she lost quite a bit of weight – we had to supplement. We had 3, one-on-one appointments with a lactation consultant at the hospital.

And every time it was the same. Her latch was

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not very good. She would suck and bite at the same time. And she wasn’t transferring much. So we would keep on supplementing until she got back to her birth weight.

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Every 2 to 3 hours. That was a nightmare.

Last but not least, I did some CST sessions as well as Chiropractic sessions for my daughter. CST is CranioSacral Therapy, “a gentle form of hands-on bodyOut of the 3 appointments that I had at work that directly works with the memthe hospital, I would say that the 3rd one branes of the Central Nervous System is what really helped me. I met Katie. She and its related structures (the brain, spimentioned that she was running a breast- nal cord, sacrum).” feeding support group at the hospital. So I truly believe that helped. The delivI started going - every week. We would ery was really difficult on me, and on her do a weighted feeding, and adjust the too. She was a big baby after all. After a supplementation as needed depending few sessions both she and I were more reon her transfer and the weight gain from laxed. the week before. It really helped ease my When it came to nursing in public, at mind because I could keep a close eye on her weight gain. Plus, I would get to first I bought a nursing cover because I was scared. But I think I used it twice. I know how much she was really getting. am pretty comfortable breastfeeding in I was also doing triple feedings. I don’t public now, but it wasn’t that easy at the think there’s anything more exhausting beginning. Probably partially due to the than that. Triple feeding is when you fact that I was not comfortable with her breastfeed, give a bottle, then pump... weight gain and other issues we had in

the beginning. It wasn’t that I minded eryday questions that come up. nursing in public, it is just easier said My husband was also very supportthan done. ive. Maybe not at first, but now he defiSupport was definitely crucial for nitely is. Seeing me more comfortable I our success. Going to the support group think made him be more comfortable as at the hospital was huge. First the fact well. that I could keep an eye on her weight, Thankfully, my work has been very and adjust the plan on a weekly basis. A accommodating when it comes to lot of it was having the reassurance that pumping. But it is still difficult to pump I wasn’t starving my baby. Learning the at work. It’s hard because you have to fact that she was fussy and itwas not try to stay on baby’s schedule for pumpnecessarily due to my supply. The other ing as much as possible while working main reason is because it made me see around meetings and deadlines. I ended that I wasn’t alone. Alone in the strug- up blocking some time in my calendar gle, alone in trying to make it work. every day just to make sure that people There is also a Facebook group where wouldn’t be scheduling meetings when breastfeeding moms connect. That’s I was supa great support, plus ideas are shared within the mom community. It helps moms who are scared or running into some challenges with family members on nursing around them and even ev-

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posed to go pump.

Last week as an example, I was in a last minute meeting called by management. After waiting for 30 minutes past my time to pump, I ended up walking out of the meeting. Not sure how the big boss felt about that, but I had to do it.

My current goal is to continue to breastfeed and pump at work for another four months – until my daughter turns one. This goal has changed as time has gone from 3 months to 6 months now to a year.

I believe we can do it, together.

Miracle Kisses

Motherhood is a journey we never want to forget. My passion is documenting all the tiny, precious details and special moments in your little ones’ first year of life and beyond.

Breastfeeding Group Photo. February 11th or 12th $35 to participate. Group photos, small mini session with one digital file included.

Option to purchase longer session and additional products.

Samantha Jessup 720.541.0775 www.miraclekisses.com

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Expanding the Family Bed to Fit One More When I was pregnant with my first I didn’t put a lot of thought into where our baby would sleep. We were gifted a crib and set it up in our room, our tiny home not allowing for baby to have a room of her own. Like many parents, our research hadn’t expanded much further than birth and basic baby care. I had read bits about a family bed in Dr. Sears’s The Baby Book and didn’t think much of it. As time went by, that crib just collected dust and laundry, my baby slept in it for maybe 2 naps. When we played with the idea of converting it to a toddler bed the manufacturer told me that they didn’t have the parts and it would be months before they would be able to send me what I needed. So we packed it up and put it in storage.

All the while my kiddo was sleeping quite happily in the middle of our bed, where he had done so since the day he was born. My research had expanded quite a bit as my journey to becoming a doula was also in full swing and my love for Dr. Mckenna and his research on mother-baby sleep began. Knowing that we had created a safe sleeping environment for our child that also supported our breastfeeding journey and everyone was sleeping well was wonderful and our family has remained in the same sleeping arrangement ever since.

Jump forward to now... Something needed to shift as my belly started to grow. Our queen size bed and our preschoolers refusal to sleep anywhere but next to me was not quite conducive to our space. He had a toddler bed, but much like the crib it was just for show. I really wanted to do something that would serve the whole family and we clearly need more space to sleep, not just for my belly, but for the baby that will be here sooner than later. Since we are still in our tiny home with our one bedroom, I got creative. I did some research and found the best way to sidecar our crib. After four and a half years, our crib finally has a purpose! We did rearrange the bedroom pretty early into the pregnancy to help ease the distress of the big change on our kiddo and to help us all get used to the new sleeping arrangements before baby arrives. The actual process of getting the crib into a side position was simple and only took one trip to our local Lowes for flat bungee cords.

I have set it up to have the preschooler sleep there, not the baby, so it does have a pillow, blankets, and a rotating supply of stuffed animals and books. Plus, my pregnancy pillow now fits in the bed (more on the pillow itself in an upcoming blog!) When the baby is born we will make the 30 proper changes to make our bed a safe place for the baby

to join our family bed (we follow Dr. McKenna’s safe sleeping guidelines. Click here to see those guidelines). In the time being we are still adjusting to the change, loving the extra space at the foot of the bed, and the kiddo is slowly but surely coming around to giving his pregnant mama a little more room to sleep!

By Mclean Confer Mclean’s passion for birth started with her own journey through pregnancy and blossomed into a desire to nurture other parentsto-be in all types of birth settings. She is a certified birth doula and postpartum doula in Denver. http://www.lovingmamadoula.com/