MC Peninsula Birth Support - August....

This months meet has been the best so far, with guest speaker Steven Booth of Seven Star Shiatsu, who is partner in crime and love of the wonderful Sheree, leader of Women's Circle.

He happily demonstrated many of his talents....firstly with some much welcome shiatsu on Vicky, our almost ripe muma ;)  Showing us how working on pressure points in the shoulders can help to relieve and relax the whole body, which can help the body prepare for birth.

It wasn't until Jenni stepped up as his next guinea pig that I thought to grab my camera out though.

Jenni had some cupping performed on her shoulders. 

Steven did this with glass cups that looked like mini fish bowls, creating heat inside them by soaking some cloth in metho, lighting it on  fire, and swirling it around inside the cup and then immediately placing the opening of the cup onto the skin.  As soon as the cups created a seal on Jenni, the heat drew her skin into the cup, like a bubble.

A cup was placed onto each shoulder

You can see in the pic above, it sucked Jenni's flesh right up into the cup!

This treatment is said to remove toxins from the body.

The mark left behind on Jenni's shoulder, after the cup was removed

Next, Steven talked about acupuncture, and handed around disposable needles for us all to look at and try.  I was so keen to rip mine out of the packet(lol, evil dental nurse who loves playing with sharpies! mahahaha), I didn't get a pic of it in it's package or the application guide.

We were shown how they are inserted into the skin tissue, and invited to try inserting our own!

It actually comes inside a plastic tube, that's like a position guide, placing the tube vertically on the acupressure point and then a quick push of the head of the needle inserts it into the skin....relatively painless(coming from a touch sensitive here!), less then a mozzy bite ;)

The wrist point Steven chose to show us, he said worked on(amongst other things) infertility, so when he offered the sharps box around to discard our points I begged him to leave mine in for longer!! lol

This little statue man is marked with all the acupressure points.

(as I loaded this front view onto my lapi, JackJack pointed at him and said "pesin!" lol, which is his way of saying "penis")

The back view of acupressure man.

Interestingly, Steven said that while there is even an equine acupressure statue available, there is not a female version, let alone pregnant female version(oh my, wouldn't the feminists have a field day with that one!)

After I said I wanted my wrist acupuncture needle left in for longer for fertility help, Steven asked me to take off my shoe and he inserted another needle in my foot to also aid the fertility......work my pretties, work!!!!

As Steven first explained the way spirituality works in with shiatsu and acupuncture, I asked him if the person needed to have a belief in the treatment in order for it to work, he said no.

I don't think I'm a non believer, but have been bordering on sceptic in my curiosity about it's effectiveness in the past.  As I pulled out my two needles at the end of the session, I honestly felt like I had been feeling an inner shift, a calmness as they had been sitting in my flesh.

Vicky showing off the traces of the henna from her blessingway, looking rather like spiderweb style stretchmarks! lol

Oh, and the white stick in her hand is a packaged acupuncture needle, not a smoke!! haha

This stuff in the cigar shape above, which name escapes me, is something you light up and hover over a body part....Steven showed us to do it on our ankle....and it circulates energies and rids of toxins.

He also showed us some Chinese herbal tablets, that I didn't actually photograph, that can be used to aid the afterbirth process.  A tablet can be swallowed to help decrease bleeding, or the capsule can be opened up and powder applied to grazing to help stop bleeding and promote healing.  He passed the powder around to smell, and taste if we wanted....I was the first game and it was bitter and had a bit of a bite, and left an effect on my tongue like minty toothpaste does, that when you breath in the air feels cold.  Loz had a try after me and thought it tasted like dirt, yuk.

Posters of the acupuncture points

And the ripening belly babes get together again as their lovely muma's chat and compare bumps and aches and pains....not long now gorgeous women!!

Gorgeous bargain blanky....

This picture of a gorgeous blanket popped up last week on a groups face book sale. 

The caption said that the pic didn't do it justice, but it looked pretty spesh to me! 

I didn't, as usual, pay attention to it's measurements, so when it's price popped up I held my breath and thought about it before I entered "sold" underneath, wondering whether $22 was worth it for a second hand blanket.....

Well, I'm sure glad I did!!

Look below at how huge it is!!!!

I was picturing a baby blanket, smallish, but this is massive....imagine all the work gone into making this....

JackJack loves it just as much as I do, in the pic above he's actually crawling underneath it.  We use it to warm ourselves before resorting to the heater in the lounge now, it's so cozy

Gorgeous detail and eclectic colouring....

Voting at the ole highschool...

Yesterday was Federal Election 2010, the nation voted on account of the Prime Minister changing hands within the government party recently, with no input of the people.

The change over was from Kevin Rudd, a man who always seemed slimy to me, so I personally was glad to see him go......to his deputy, Julia Gillard, seeing our countries first ever female prime minister , which would have been exciting stuff had she been elected by the people!  Julia is not only female, but also unmarried and non-religious....all firsts for the leader of our nation.

We started our day with a visit to a local children's market, where we found some good bargains, including a groovy tie for JackJack to wear to his aunty's upcoming wedding.

\

The weather was gorgeous and the boys enjoyed a romp around the footy oval...

Playing chasy....

JackJack was all decked out in his Saints gear, it was game day ;)

We got to go to my old high school to vote, as they were hosting a polling station, I was excited to see it, 11yrs down the track.....

I took great joy in saying "no thanks" to the Liberal and Labor party papers, but Tyler took them, and as you can see above, he's one of these voters that takes it all very seriously, not!

Making Tony Abbott(Liberal leader) and Julia Gillard(Labor leader) kiss, lol

Then, reading over the Liberal candidates policies, Tyler contemplates whether no.2 means he'd put all the chicks in our low socio-economic estate on the pill!

I asked him who he was voting for and he said he was going to hold the paper up and see who Jack points too...hmm and that is why you, dear hubby, have lost your right to complain about the results!!

Just as we were saying how long the line looked and wondered about a wait, looky who walked up to join the line..... My parents!! So, we let the one dude behind us go in front and joined them and chatted the wait away ;)

Us waiting in line....we had about a half hour wait, easily.

The volunteer line keeper actually passed Dad a note to hand to the name checkers, looking like it was to mark time of how long it took him to get to the front.  They only had 2 name checkers, so although there were 8 booths, only 2 people at a time managed to vote...some people passing us on their way out said they'd waited over an hour

The polling was set up in our old VCE Centre.  I was telling Tyler and my parents that many a memory was flooding back of lunch times and recess spent sitting on those brick garden beds with school friends, including a time that 2 particularly giggly girls confessed that they'd scored themselves a joint and were gonna smoke it....I got the pleasure of their hilariously funny stoned phone call that night! Agh, the memories ;)

The Greens didn't actually have anyone handing their papers out, which Tyler reckoned it's coz they're shit, but I reasoned it's their way of saving paper....if you wanted it you take it, not just automatically handed to you ;)

As the line shortened and we entered the building, I wondered if it was in fact a common room for the seniors at all anymore.  The top half that used to be partitioned into 2 offices and a classroom, divided by a hallway, was now only one office and the rest of it open.

Science lab tables are now installed down the side of the large room.

Another view of the building.... As you can see, a classroom worth of tables and chairs are stacked up, maybe it's back to being a class room?  Before it was a vce common room, it was the drama room, earlier in my high school years.

Finally, time to vote!!

My first time giving my vote to who I always wanted to vote for, believing in the past what others say about it being a waisted vote.

 I used to vote for Bruce Billson, but with his idiot leader having a dot point party policy of "Stop the boats", I didn't want to be a part of such stupid racism

Looky here Mum....another moment in your life your daughter has captured on camera for ya! lol  Add that to your police breathalyzer shot ;)

Back of the school looks much the same.....

Thought my sister would be interested to see this, it's out on the lawn next to what was the main entrance of the vce centre.  This is a girl from my sisters school year, who lost her life to meningococcal when it first broke out here.

The office entrance....gained a stage looking step and a different colour(?) since our day

And of course, I had to get a pic of my own car in the school car park!!

I was 17yo in yr12, so never got to drive to school.

Parked at the end of A wing, and it's had a mural make-over

The mural looks like it's about literature, which always was the classes taken in there

So, after many boring hours of telly last night, it seems as it stands that we have a hung parliament.  This means there is not yet a clear party winner.  Every last vote needs to be checked and negotiations between the main party leaders and the independents elected, to come to an agreement of who will run the country.

Agh, all you damn donkey voters and blind voters......

On a positive.... Greens won a seat in Melbourne!!

The latest news for our electorate of Dunkley, as at today at 15.45.....

Primary Count

ALP 38.7%

Greens 11.6%

Lib 47.1%

Progressive Count After Preferences

Lib 50.7%

ALP 49.3%

I think that that is a great result for the Greens, it may appear small, but then compare it to when our nation got the GST....that's 10%, it seemed small, but it bites at the check-out ;)

And finally, a nice little factoid I found on the Dunkley page.....

"Dunkley was first created when the Parliament was expanded in 1984 and is named after Louisa Dunkley, an early campaigner for equal pay for women and a founder of the Victorian Women's Post and Telegraph Association."

Vicky's Blessingway...

Yesterday, Loz and I went to the gorgeous Vicky's blessingway, who we met through our meetings held through the Maternity Coalition.

She herself is a midwife, and while we haven't seen her work first hand, I imagine her to be a calm and wonderful support to have at such a moment that is as important as the birth of your child ;)

We began by offering Vicky a candle, to burn within her labour time in her birth space.

Everyone of these had beautiful meanings behind them, and I particularly loved the candle that is painted with the butterfly and "Embrace change", who her midwife Janey did.

Mine is the one to the left of the vessel...more pics of it are following...

Aerial shot of all the candles and vessel full of gorgeous beads

This is my candle, which I carved myself!

I'm a bit chuffed with the result, never having done it before.

I forgot to take a pre-carve shot, but it was a simple plain white candle.

I chose white as Vicky had chosen white for the candle she gave to Sarah at her blessingway, saying she was drawn to the purity if it.  As you can see, many of us chose a white candle to give to Vicky ;)

Into the top of the candle, I carved a flower sort of shape, seen above ^^^

Then on one side, I carved a preggy muma holding her rounded belly

And the other side, a muma breastfeeding her babe

Underneath, a little message xx

The gorgeously eclectic range of beads offered to Vicky to make up her birthing necklace

Mine is the rainbow bead near the top...chosen because I like all things rainbow, and rainbows to me symbolise unity....something you need to have within you for birthing power ;)

Isn't this devine?!!

Vicky's own artwork, her own little tree of life

Here's the glowing muma!!

Last bare belly shot before the henna

Leah, first penning the design onto Vicky's belly, as Teagan and Coopa do some drawing at the table

An awesome part of blessingways, is all the delicious foods to munch on!!

I did the sausage rolls in the bowl at the left, which Loz made me promise to bring to her blessingway, what a compliment!!

See the truffles at the bottom right there?  Vicky's hubby Wayne made those, oooh he's a keeper!! lol

Vicky asked us to design our own apples on a piece of calico, that she will attach to a tree she is going to paint onto a bigger piece of fabric....she has very much been drawn to trees.

We set to work using paints and texta's

I made a very rainbowy apple....all the better to munch! lol

The beginning of the henna

Finished master piece!

Great job done by Leah, following a design that Vicky herself had sketched.

The middle is supposed to be an "evil eye" which is symbolic for warding off evil

Fabulous belly art

One very happy muma!

After the paint dried on my rainbow apple, I wrote on some words of encouragement

Loz starting off the binding of the circle of women

Binding the circle....symbolically joining all these women together to unite in sending all their positive vibes to Vicky for her home birth

My turn to be entwined into the circle of women

Completing the circle

And now, before the unity is cut, we all took our turn in saying what we wished for Vicky's home birth.

By the time it got around to me, many a beautiful word had been spoken and I thought I would struggle to not repeat what had already been covered, words that brought tears to Vicky's eyes of new love between her and her hubby found, embracing the moment, focus to deal with the pain....but then something came to me that I experienced during my birth.....that if you don't already, you will fall in love with yourself. I had a life time of body image issues prior to pregnancy, having that baby in my belly was the first time in my life it was ok to have a tummy, but then the moment everything inside just kicked into action and my body just knew what to do to get my baby out...I've never been so in awe in my life!!  All those years of hating my body just melted away, seeing what your body is capable of is truly amazing!!  I hope that Vicky feels that too ;)

This is now my 3rd Blessingway!!

The green string could have been cut off two days ago, as that baby is now Earthside, but I chose to keep it on til after this one, just to see them all on! lol

Vicky didn't have a bead to add to our strings, and thought it too thick, but as we cut them all she said it was coming apart easily so I scrounged around in my bag and found some special beads to offer......my good friend Jenni found these rainbow beads when looking for beads for Ebz blessingway, she said she thought of me when she saw them so bought them for me as a present, aww!  Little did I know, that when I found them in my bag before I left to pick up Loz, there was a reason why I decided they could stay in there ;)

Now we all have a bead on Vicky's string that comes from a muma who has home birthed four babies, how perfect!!!

The completed apples.

Well, some of them, just realised Janey's isn't in this pic, whoops.

And Leah took fabric home to do hers as she spent her time doing the henna belly ;)

Close up of two of the apples

And another two apples

We called Vicky's hubby Wayne into the room to have some shots with her while the henna was fresh.  And their gorgeous little pup Charlie ;)

See the string bits on the table there...these are our offcuts, after we tied our wrists, and Vicky is keeping them to decorate her fabric apple tree

Muma and Daddy xxx

Half the women there were pregnant, can you believe that ratio?!!

Oh and Janey, the midwife, is muma to seven children, woah!!

Hope some of the buby vibes floated in my direction ;)