End of Days Playlist

Someone was asking me recently about music and labor. I found music so therapeutic at the end of my pregnancy and during the difficult parts of my labor. Music can be so healing. It can be very spiritual. It can help you find strength. It can help set your frame of mind. It can help set a mood. Music did all of these things just when I needed it.

I thought I would share my playlist with you.

Imogen Heap- The fire, Sleep,
Zoe Keating- Fern, We insist, Legions, Frozen angels
The Innocence Mission- Happy bday, It is well, A wave is holding
Iron and Wine-Great heights, Love and some verses
Rising Appalachia- Across blue ridge mntns
Besides Daniel- Buckets
The Brilliance- Breath, Shephard strong
The Album Leaf- The light, Tied knots
Neko Case- Hold on
Noise Ratchet- A way to the heart
Sufjan Stevens- Transfiguration, To be alone with you, Happy bday
Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah
Feist- Intuition
Of Monsters and Men- Slow and steady, Love love love
Explosions in the Sky- Its natural to be afraid, Your hand in mine
Bon Iver-Perth
Little Dragon-Twice
St. Peter St. Paul Cathedral Choir
Molly Parden- Song for my mother
Tyler Lyle- For love to come, She dreams in colour, Love story,
Azure Ray- Safe and sound
Marissa Nadler- Love again
Rosie Thomas- Paper airplane
Coldplay- Now my feet won't touch the ground, God put a smile on your face
Sigar Ros
Angus and Julia Stone- Hold on
Ingred Michaelson-  Keep breathing

Preparing for Birth

So, I'm 20 weeks pregnant with my 4th baby. I can't believe it. I never thought I'd have 4 kids! I've been working on a few things, preparing for the baby's arrival: mending broken baby things, making new baby things, cleaning house, etc. One of my biggest projects is preparing for the actual birth itself. It has been my dream the past couple of years to have a home birth. I have avoided thinking about it too often, well, because most  insurance does not cover midwifery attended home birth in Ga, and we do not have extra expense. I put the word out there anyhow that I had this desire. I have prayed this desire often to God as well. Through the grapevine, some midwives that I have worked with and love heard that I wanted a home birth but could not afford one. So they passed the word that they wanted me to contact them. After speaking to one of the midwives, I learned that home birth is a possibility for me. She is willing to attend my baby's birth knowing that I may or may not be able to pay her. This is one of the reasons among many why midwifery is so amazing.

 I am stubborn, and because I work in the birth world, I know there is no such thing as a free birth. There are always expenses. She lives pretty far away, she will have to pay her assistant for attending to me, she will use supplies, she will probably pay more than usual for her food while on the road, and I will also have to buy a home birth kit. So I don't want to leave her empty handed.

I put out word to a select few facebook friends to try and get ideas on how to raise money to compensate these midwives for their generosity. I had an overwhelming response of messages in my inbox of people who wanted to donate to the midwives in order to help me. This brought me to tears. I have actually been a bit paralyzed by the thought of it and I hadn't done anything about it till now. So, I have created this blog, per request of some of my supporters, in efforts to keep you up to date on my pregnancy, family, and such. I'll add a paypal button for those of you who want to donate to my midwives for their awesomeness. Until then, if anyone wants to donate, you can send a payment through paypal to que.brown@gmail.com.

If anyone has questions or concerns about home birth, I hope I can answer many of them through my blogging and my journey, but you can also email me privately at that same email address. I know it's not a popular concept, but it's what I feel is best for me this time.

Looking forward to sharing with you all. Sorry I'm so late getting started! I will do my best to keep updates as regular as possible!

****Edited to add: I posted a "Donate" button in the top right hand of the blog to make donations easier. You do not have to have a Paypal account to donate, just a credit card, debit card, or something like that. Thanks in advance for your help!!!!