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ArtfullMother.comread current & back issues

Creative DirectorSarahKate Butterworth

Technical OperationsRob Butterworth

EditortStacey Malik

Local PrinterCopy Center Boulder

Online PublisherIssuu.com/Artfullmother

Submissions & Advertisingsarahkate@artfullmother.com

SarahKate’s Body Art Models:in order of appearance

Kelly (front cover).Tori (2), MaryRose (6, 32, 33),

Kristin (12), Logan (14), Megan (25), Kerry (29, 31), Liz (28, 36, 37, back cover,)

Jennifer (34, 35, 46, 47), Jacie (38, 39, 45)

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Welcome to the Spring Issue of Artfull Mother Magazine!Thank you for checking in with the Spring

Issue of Artfull Mother Magazine! We have a fantastic magazine this Spring with

plenty of New Mama Art, take the pregnant and breastfeeding mamas adorned with henna from SarahKate Butterworth, there is a new original Birth Mandala - Precious Human Birth by Amy Hadara, and a Spring jewelry gallery from Swoon Jewelry Studios.

Monet Nicole, contributed a birth story and photos; the Quick and Beautiful Birth of Theo, and Kerry Stokes offered “Welcome Home Annabelle Grey,” her own birth story! There is a short touching piece “Acknowledging Loss” about a Denver mama; Logan, dealing with the stillbirth of her baby.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Kristin

Mclean about Family Song Music, her new Children’s CD and Music Classes as well as her appearance in “Katie Wise and the Bhakti Explosion.” Denver’s own Peachie Moms, Amanda & Jen, stopped by with their new book just out: The Peachie Moms Guide to Body Love For Moms, A Beautiful piece on Breastfeeding by our new friend Samantha Jessup, from The Bond Project, we are hoping she will continue as a regular Breastfeeding column.

Some of the most important and useful information in this magazine, is in the ads, The ads represent Denver or Boulder’s best services or products, everyone we advertise - we would use for our own family. Peace, Sarahkate 55

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Table of Contents

Swoon Jewelry - A mama’s Jewlery Artist ......................................... 8

Meet Kristen McLean - Family Song Music ...................................... 9

Acknowledging Loss - Logan’s Story ................................................... 14

The Quick and Beautiful Birth of Theo - Monet Nicole ...................16

Body Love 101 - Denver’s own ~Peachy Moms ............ ...........................26

Welcome Home Annabelle Grey - Kerry Stokes ............................27

Making a big contribution, Samantha Jessup’s The Bond Project ........40

Artfull Mother Magazine Denver Edition Spring - 2016 Volume 2 Issue 1

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I am always impressed by the caliber of women who give so much of themselves and so much experience to the new mama community. My guest today, in addition to being a dedicated and present mother & wife, is an accomplished musician, teacher, and a good friend, Kristin McLean.

The creator of a wonderful music program for families with children 0 - 6 years; Family Song Music, she teaches classes in Boulder, Superior and Denver. Kristin is in the process of releasing her second children’s music CD Family Song Music with Kristin which is one of the things she is here to tell us about.

If I understood correctly, she’s doing a little touring and working on a new CD with “Katie Wise and the Bhakti Explosion,” an innovative band created by Katie Wise (Katie is featured in Artfull Mother- Fall 2015). Kristin contributes with her singing and music. I am excited for her to fill us in on all the details.

SarahKate: Hello Kristin, welcome and thank you for coming! I have to tell you, I had a great time in your class- that was really something special, especially with the

parents and the children all having such a great time. I didn’t get how busy you are until I started doing some research. We have a lot to talk about; I’m excited to get going! Let’s start at the beginning- you have a new kids CD out now, right?

Kristin: Thank you for having me. I am excited to see the pictures of the class; I am sure they will be great, these classes really are a lot of fun for everyone.

My first CD, Magical Music with Kristin was very popular and I enjoyed making it a lot. Lately, I have been writing and singing songs with uplifting messages; songs about community, friendship, healing the earth and multicultural songs too.

I’ve had a vision for this CD for quite a while, I am thrilled to finally record this music for everyone. At a total of 22 songs, many are original songs I’ve written, while I selected other traditional & cultural songs which I arranged (but did not write) to fit into our class and still retain their ‘original cultural flavor’.

Local singer, musican, teacher and Artfull Mother

Meet Kristin McLean

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I included African and Spanish songs, a song from Indonesia and a Native American inspired song which I really enjoy. I am doing this to help promote multicultural music.

While this CD is fun for kids of all ages, it was created to accompany the Family Song Music Classes. Once a family experiences the songs on this CD in the class setting, they can understand and participate in some interesting and fun new ways to learn about music. So, this story really starts with the Family Song Music Classes which help listeners really appreciate the CD, Family Song Music with Kristin McLean.

SarahKate: That’s interesting, your CD and classes are that closely related? I would love to hear more about the classes and how the CD fits in with them.

Kristin: Well, I actually made this CD, Family Song Music with Kristin McLean, to accompany the Family Song Music Classes.

Family Song Music Classes are 9 or 10 week sessions with classes held once a week. When new families sign-up, they receive a Family Song Music with Kristin McLean CD to listen to at home, to bring some of the activities we do in class home. Then when they come into class, they are

familiar with these songs which allows us to do more fun stuff.

Each song on the CD has a “featured instrument” to listen for during the song. Many of the instruments are new and challenging to identify (even for the parents). There’s a ‘gogo bell’ from Brazil, the ‘dumbek’ from the middle east, a ‘djembe’ from Africa, a ‘steel drum’ from Trinidad, as well as more easily recognized instruments like the electric guitar, harmonica, ankle bells and the tambourine.

Each class, the teacher (me) brings in one of the featured instruments from a song on the CD. First, I play the instrument while we all sing the song, then each of the children get a chance to play this new and sometimes strange instrument.

Another example of how the CD and the class go together to teach abstract concepts is Funga Alafia. This is a beautiful welcoming song from Africa used to welcome someone new in your community. On the CD there’s a track, Funga Alafia Rhythm Pattern, After hearing the “rhythm pattern” from the CD at home, in class we’ll use these patterns in call and response games, having fun with the familiar variations from the CD. I’ve been noticing kids responding in the same pitch when I sing to them in the 2nd class, WOW!!!

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A fine example of a mother who has incorporated art [music] into her own and into her family’s [and other families too] day to day life.

Kristin McLean, we are proud to call you an

Artfull Mother

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That’s our goal: Getting people excited about music! Sometimes it’s challenging to teach our children to sing and play music; to be musical, especially when families aren’t musical at home. Family Song Music is a place where families with any degree of musical experience enjoy learning to make music together. Making music at an early age, is great brain exercise. “Neuroscientists are discovering multiple ways that musical training improves the function of brain regions” and actually “increases brain volume.” “Benefits are greatest, in those who start before age 7” says Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD—an expert on music, neuroimaging and brain plasticity from Harvard Medical School.

SarahKate: Well, you sure have me excited! Where are your classes held and how would I sign up?

Kristin: Currently I’m teaching at the mama’hood in Boulder and the mama’hood in Denver, I also teach at Great Play in Superior which is a really great place where moms can come and play with their kids. Each class is 45 minutes and the first class is always FREE. To get your free class, you just go to my website (www.familydanceplanet.com) and sign up for my email newsletter. Parents who want to bring their little ones for a singing good time- sign up and try it out.

(Continued on page 20)

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One of the really neat things about my job is that I have the good fortune to regularly attend baby showers & blessingways for a lot of new mothers, in my role as henna artist. I feel honored to par-ticipate in these rites of passage.

I was invited to adorn Logan’s belly at her Blessingway by her fellow yoga teacher and all around beautiful mama, Kia.

Logan told me about the flow of the ocean and her love of mer-maids; so I adorned her pregnant belly with a henna ‘mer-mama’ and her ‘mer-sons’ surrounded with shells and starfish. As I painted Lo-gan’s belly, the mamas in the circle spoke their blessings for her and passed yarn, wrapping their wrists, symbolically binding the group with the subtle, timeless connection of women supporting one another. At one point Logan voiced her health concerns, fear for her baby, to which her friends rose to reas-sure her, she was held in love.

Later in Logan’s pregnancy, things got much more serious; baby Jack was stillborn.

Logan reached out to her loving circle of friends who helped her deal with this painful loss.

There is so much joy and ex-citement at the prospect of a new baby, until something else happens, and the associated pain with his/her loss can be terrible. The statistics are confusing with this type of loss, but it is more common than one may first think. If you have suffered infant loss, please know: you are not alone! There are many sup-portive groups in the area.

An amazing list of local groups:

nowIlaymedowntosleep.org14

My favorite image of 2015 was this one. by:

Monet Nicole, birth photographer

Logan gave birth to Jack knowing she wouldn’t have much time with him. She wanted to document his birth and his life because she knew that these mo-ments, despite the darkness, could be filled with light. And they were. I sat with Logan, her husband, her midwife and her dear friend as she labored to bring Jack into our world. I watched them laugh and cry. I captured one of their darkest days, but also one of their brightest.

This is why I do birth photography. Because I believe that despite the dark-ness in our world and in our lives, there is still blinding, beautiful light.

Logan embraced her birth, she em-braced her son, and she continues to embrace the beautiful gift that Jack gave the world. Day after day, she re-members him, she honors him, and she finds him in little and small ways.

To many this moment may seem tragic, but to me….this moment is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever been asked to capture. The longing and the love on Logan’s face is palpable. It’s a longing and love that every parent has for their child…a longing and love that only grows more poignant when we realize that despite our great love, we can’t keep them from harm. And yet, we continue to love. We continue to open our hearts to our children with-out restraint. And it’s a beautiful, pain-ful, life-changing journey.

And so this is my image of the year. I hope when we see it, we can breathe deeply and remember Jack, remember our children, remember the love and the pain that so often coexists in our world.”

See Monet’s work on:

www.MonetNicole.com

Logan, mother of Jack: “I feel so honored and I know that Jack is feeling so honored, too! By submitting this photo, you validate and celebrate his en-trance into the world...and the fact that I will always be Jack’s mom.

That he was born, and that he matters! It also validates all the births where mothers do not get to go home with babies. Thank you for choosing this image. I know there were so many gor-geous photos, and you chose one that many people would not be brave enough to share. I love you Monet Nicole Moutrie.”

Read more about Logan on website: www.MiracleMama.me

as well as on Elephant Journal: Living Bravely After Loss

elephantjournal.com/2016/03/living-bravely-after-loss/

photo by Monet Nichole

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For the birth of their first baby, Carly and Tyler chose Mountain Midwifery Center, a beautiful and free-standing birth center in Denver, Colorado. I love when first-time parents decide to hire a birth photographer...so many

don’t make that decision and then end up regretting it (and booking one for subsequent births). Carly wanted the whole experience captured...and wow, it was a beautiful one.

The Quick and Beautiful Birth of TheoPhotos and story by,

Monet Nicole

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Her water had ruptured before labor started which can sometimes make an out-of-hospital birth more challenging. Instead of induction medications which require constant monitoring at a hospital, the midwives follow a structured “wait-and-see” approach. As long

as signs of infection aren’t apparent, active labor must begin within a set time frame or else a transfer to the hospital is necessary.

Carly and Tyler tried a few things at home to encour-age labor...and sure enough, they worked. I got the

Capture the big & small moments of your child’s birthday with Monet Nicole: www.monetnicole.com 1717

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phone call and I could tell that things were urgent. Not only was Carly in labor...but she was going to have this baby quicker than any of us imagined!

She arrived at the birth center already dilated to 10 cen-

timeters and what happened next can be seen [through these images]. What a beautiful birth (and yes, I did steal several of the songs on their labor playlist because they have amazing taste in music). 19

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(Continued from page 13)

Did I mention this new CD, Family Song Music with Kristin is the first in a series? I have 2 more CDs planned. While I didn’t put anything about it being the ‘Winter CD’ because I didn’t think it was necessary with songs like, Snow is Falling and Waddle Penguin - I would say it’s more of a Winter CD. One of the CD’s I’m creating is going to be a Spring + Summer CD together and there’s also a Fall CD.

The idea is for families to stay with these classes through each of the seasons throughout a whole year. They would practice becoming musical citizens of the world and have regular active music making with the class weekly. At the end of the year we will admire how we’ve grown as a family and for being musical world citizens.

SarahKate: Musical citizens of the world, what a great concept! Yay!! I love your vision and your style- it’s wonderfully unique and upbeat!

Hey, I’ll bet most of the readers are curious about your music and would love to hear some. Do you have any musical samples for our readers?

Kristin: Sure! You can listen to the whole CD online at my community Partner page on the Artfull Mother Website here: www.artfullmother.com/21

community-partner/Kristin and you can buy a copy of any of my CDs right from my website: www.familydanceplanet.com

Kristin: Another fun thing about the classes I think is different from other music classes is that each week I sing with my guitar and doumbek drum which allows us to really change things up a lot.

My favorite is when I bring out a huge box with all kinds of ‘world music’ instruments and the parents and kids are encouraged to play along with me as I play on my dumbeck. We will be happily jamming then I’ll suddenly stop, everyone freezes, then I’ll start up again with a different tempo this time, experimenting - playing faster and slower as a ‘Freeze Dance’ and ‘Freeze Jam!’

Often parents are really into it playing rhythms the kids can’t play yet, but their kids are watching every bit; hearing and seeing their families making music together, thinking, ‘This is something we do, I can watch and learn to do!’ This is significant, families modeling creativity and becoming musical citizens of the world.

SarahKate: There are a few young child/parent music classes out there today, in fact you mentioned a couple.

What is it about this class apart from the others?

Kristin: There are a lot of early childhood music programs to choose from. In my opinion, there are some good ones that have some lasting benefit. Often they have the general kid’s songs you may recognize; they’re fun and great for kids.

I think it is important to teach songs with depth that reflect my life and my beliefs. I LOVE to sing songs with meaning on subjects the kids understand and can relate to like community, friends, nature, animals, the earth, healing songs and fun songs- the ones kids love to sing. I know you understand, SarahKate, I got some songs from your song circles. I’ve been collecting positive, uplifting songs for a while now and I am always on the lookout for ‘traditional/cultural/ethnic’ songs and I’m writing as much music as I can as well.

Really, there are a few things that make my class different from other classes: the original, uplifting, multicultural nature of the class & music, that I play the class music on authentic instruments and the kids get to play them as we sing together. Many of the other classes rely on playing their CD for the class music.

SarahKate: “Katie Wise and the Bhakti Explosion” ??? 2222

Kristin: I am so excited about this project SarahKate! Because creating and teaching music to children is a huge part of my life, one which I find rewarding and yet, I wasn’t completely fulfilled... and here comes Katie Wise! When we started out, I was her response singer (she will sing and then I would sing the same line) and the purpose of my singing was to sing with the audience. As the band has grown, I’ve begun to harmonize, write and lead my own songs. It’s been a rewarding experience and now we are in the process of cocreating this musical project. The first step is raising money so we can tour and create a CD. It’s all very exciting!

SarahKate: How wonderful for you, creating balance in your family, work and creative projects. I want to thank you for taking time for this interview, Kristin, you are an Artfull Mother if ever there was one.

Kristin McLean currently lives with her husband, Neville and daughter, Kora in Louisville, CO.

Family Song Music Classes are held at “the mama’hood” in Boulder and “the mama’hood” in Denver and “Great Play” in Superior.

Family Song Music Classes

Seasonal SessionsSpring Session Beginning end of MarchClass locations: Boulder, Superior & Denver

Class Days: Mon., Tues., Wed. and Thursdays

~ First Class is always FREE! ~ CD Included! ~

Check the website for latest details and to sign-up:

http://www.familydanceplanet.com/

Katie Wise and the Bhakti ExplosionThe Kirtan Band that Rocks. Original chants, Mantra Rock mash-ups and pure beauty

Featuring: Katie Wise: vocals, harmonium, guitar Kristin Mclean & Neville Harson Vocals and Guitar

“Holy John” & Andy Skellenger: Rhythm section

Noah Rouse Wilson IV: everything else23

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When it comes to art, most people are familiar with Pablo Picasso. His work is celebrated around the world, cherished by collectors and many of his pieces have sold for millions. Yet, we’re betting it’s been since high school art appreciation that you really looked at Picasso’s paintings. Today, we’re exploring Picasso, mod-ern art, and motherhood. Trust us, it’s going to be good.

Picasso, known as the father of modern art, created abstract and eccentric art. He found beauty in angles and shapes that when com-bined, turned into masterpieces. Each piece is a sum of its parts – it’s often strangely shaped, contorted or oddly shaped parts.

We believe that, like Picasso’s paintings, mothers’ bodies come in a variety of shapes and colors. No two bodies are alike and yet all are masterpieces! Like modern art, our bodies have parts that don’t fit into whatever societal ideal is out there and yet, we believe, when all those beautifully flawed and strangely shaped parts come together, we are beautiful.

We currently exist in a society driven by messages from the media that tell us we’re not good enough. We’re too small or too big. Yet, if you look at some of the most famous pieces of art, you will see women’s bodies in all shapes, sizes and colors. All beautiful.

“Art is a life that makes us realize the truth.” - Pablo Picasso

The truth is that our bodies were never designed to all fit into a mold that we’ve been led to believe is the definition of perfection. Could you imagine if all painters were told they could only ever paint like Picasso if they wanted to be acclaimed art-

ists? That’s ridiculous! So why do we believe the same for ourselves? Why can’t we look in the mirror and see the same beauty that our partner and children see within us?

The truth is, we can. Mothers in this day and age can come to view themselves as artistic masterpieces with visual interest, texture, dimen-sion and complexities that only serve to make them that much more allur-ing and appealing to the sense.

But how do we start to see our-selves in this beautiful way? How do we come to adopt the vision of our bodies to be the way others who love us see our form?

As we share in our book, The Peachie Moms Guide to Body Love for Moms, the first step is just accepting the bodies that we reside in today.

“You may or may not like your body the way it is now. You may feel too big or small or bottom-heavy or soft. Believe it or not, none of that really matters. You see, you don’t necessarily have to like something to accept that it is what it is. The path toward self-love begins with accept-ing who you are in the body you inhabit right this minute. Take a look, cop a feel, and start accepting the space your body takes up.”

Back to Picasso – you wouldn’t dare look at one of his works and start picking apart the things you didn’t like in it, would you? There’s no way we’d look at one of his paintings and critique his choice of color or shape placement. We wouldn’t sug-gest he try to alter it to fit our idea of what is beautiful, would we? We look at a piece of art and we accept it for what it is without any inten-tion of changing it, right? We accept

it as is and then we see what we can appreciate about it. The same is true of our own bodies – our own works of art.

After acceptance of our shape, size and form, the real work begins! While looking at and loving a beautiful painting often takes very little effort, fighting media messages and society’s agenda pushed upon us is challenging. We get that the road to true body love is paved with construction and potholes because we’ve been there and made it through to the other side.

Just like starting to create a piece of art, you can’t make a masterpiece overnight. It takes months, years, and sometimes decades to learn to love the beautiful body you inhabit. It takes patience. It takes rage. It takes the ability to accept mistakes along the way. Sometimes you have to walk away and then look back to real-ize you’ve actually accomplished a great deal. And sometimes, you just keep moving forward – completely unaware of how far you’ve come or where you’re headed next.

We started Peachie Moms to address the lack of body love and mental wellness support for moth-ers. We’ve worked to develop tools to help moms live their sweetest lives from the inside out, and we’re proud to be doing just that. When you’re ready to pick-up the meta-phorical paint brush and design a life that includes self-love, we’ll be here to show you how. You can start by picking up a copy of our book, The Peachie Moms Guide to Body Love for Moms or if you’re local to Colorado, you’re invited to attend our Body Love Retreats just for moms like you. Find more information go to: peachiemoms.com.

Body Love 101 With Peachie Moms

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Amanda is a child & family therapist, certified yoga teacher, writer and public speaker. She has two daughters who are very close in age, and wrote “2 under 2: Pregnancy and Parenthood” - writing the book she had wished was there to read. She met Jen at a Body Love Conference in 2014, where they were both presenters. Jen is a published author and certified childbirth educator who advocates for plus size women. She created Plus Size Birth, working incredidbly hard to build the resources she was searching for when she was pregnant with her son.

“I bought this book today and read the whole thing in one sit-ting It’s an honest (and humor-ous) look at the struggle with self-image that is the norm for women in our society. The au-thors inspire one to overcome the self-criticism that is hard-wired in many of us, and learn to love our bodies just exactly the way we are.

Thank you!”

~ Nedra Hale - 5 stars!

LOCAL AUTHORS: Amanda Edwards & Jen McLellan

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I Love adorning and photographing nursing mothers, showing them their own beauty, at a time when some women have a hard time seeing the ‘goddess within’. I am working on an ALL NEW, hard cover, table top book: A Beautiful Bond: Breastfeeding Body Art, featuring photos of beautiful mamas, adorned with henna as they nurse their precious little one. The mama’s joy is palatable as is the connection with their dear babe. My hope it to encourage and inspire new mama’s on their path. 28 ~ SarahKate Butterworth28

My daughter was born to the song “Welcome Home” by Radical Face. Almost exactly one year later, she took her first steps to the same song. It is a song that I come back to when I am feeling at my lowest. It is a song that reminds of the strength I have as a mother, and as the person that was lucky enough to carry, grow, and love the little girl inside me. It is a song that comes on just when I need it to. It is not the lyrics that ground me, or even speak to me. It is the cellular memory I have from the day I gave birth to the most magical being on this planet. It is the memory of the room, and the inner knowing that she and I were embarking on the rest of our lives together.

It is a song that reminds me to let her go, and to know that she can feel safe in the world outside of the con-fines of my hand. It is a song that makes me feel fearless about her path in this life. She is strong and capable, and I am the luckiest woman in the world to be graced as her mother. There comes a time in labor where many moth-ers say out loud, or to themselves that they don’t know if they can do this. THIS. This thing that is childbirth. This thing that is unlike anything we will ever experience in our lives. This thing that requires us to relinquish our need to control, to fear, and to doubt ourselves. This ex-perience that no childbirth course, class, or book can adequately convey. It is something that is unique to each mother and her child. This thing is called birth, and yet it is so much more than the word itself.

I have heard it said that on the day your child is born,

there are actually two people born that day. One of them is your baby. The other, is the mother. This mother has never before been seen by herself or those around her. She has never spoken to anyone, and has a path that she has never walked before in front of her. She has never stepped out into the world wearing this new identity, and she has never judged herself in a good light or a bad one. She has not had the time yet. The birth of a mother is a profound event. It is not something we talk about, and I am not sure there are adequate words in the English dictionary to describe it anyway. This is the birth story of Annabelle Grey.

It was Saturday morning and I woke up feeling a little different, and sure enough, I saw the start of my mucus plug making its way out. I came downstairs and told Aaron- he said, “Why don’t you take a nap?” I did! It was blissful sleep helping Annabelle and I prepare for our journey later that night. When I woke up, my mom and I took a stroll down main street where we got a little sunshine, some tea, and some time together.

Around 5pm that night, I started contracting. They were mostly irregular, but began to take shape by 6. Aar-on and I took our husky out for a walk in the wind, and when we came home, we could tell things were moving in the right direction. We kind of skipped the 5 minute apart contractions and went straight for the 3 minutes apart. Walking really helped me, so Aaron and I must have walked up and down the hall 300 times before we left for the hospital. I wish I could go back and track the

Welcome Home Annabelle Grey Kerry’s Birth Story by Kerry Stokes

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I adorned Kerry for her first pregnancy from 2012, with an owl in a tree design to honor her “little bird.”

After her birth, I adorned her again with more birds to honor her rite of passage into motherhood and cel-ebrate her baby girl!

~ SarahKate

Butterworth

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miles we walked together. We called Ranelle and had her come over so that we would know our que to head over. She stayed with us for a little bit and then she said we should probably head on over to the hospital. On the way, we called the midwives to let them know to expect us. Kala (our favorite midwife) answered, and the second I knew it would be her receiving us, I instantly felt safe and went into more transition-like contractions. When we got to our room, Kala did a quick exam and informed us we were 9 cm dilated! My water hadn’t broken yet (I had taken so many things to keep it strong so that I wouldn’t have to labor much at the hospital with the iv antibiotics. It worked!)

She checked in with us and asked if we wanted her to break the bag to move into pushing since baby was so far down already. We decided to labor for 3 more hours there without the intervention. I went in the tub, paced a ton more, and even got some good rest in between con-tractions. Pushing came fast, though not very intuitively. I remember looking down at Kala, her telling me it was okay to go there, and it was okay to stay in that place...she said, ‘This is the place that is going to bring Annabelle to your chest.’ We pushed for about 40 minutes, and had our little girl make her entrance into the world at 6:10am.

It was everything I could have ever hoped for. Aaron got to catch her, and I felt so safe with every push that

he was going to be there for her. She was in the perfect position for coming out, and she did such amazing work the whole time. I was in such a primal place of bringing Annabelle down and out that I didn’t have time to be scared of my attachment to her release. She and I were ready to take our first of many journeys together.

From beginning to end, it was the best trip of our lives. Our birth story is something I will always cherish, take with me, and share with Annabelle every chance I get.

I consider myself very lucky to be able to share this story with others because it is a story of empowerment. It is a story about this thing called birth. My story looks different than everyone else’s, as every birth story has a beginning, a middle, and an end…but the end is only the beginning of the real story. Your story.

Kerry Stokes lives in Louisville with her fam-ily. She has been part of the pregnancy - birth community for nearly 10 years.

Kerry is a DONA trained Doula, founded full circle doula cooperative (www.fullcir-cledoulacooperative.com), she is a Childbirth educator, provides placenta encapsulation and she runs a new moms group @ Yoga Junction - check in for timing.

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Prenatal Henna

Feeling AWESOME with Pregnancy & Postpartum HennaI have been using Henna for years to bless, honor and beautify (mostly) women, celebrat-

ing small and large accomplishments. I particularly love adorning mamas, pampering pregnant bellies & postpartum mamas with their sweet new babes. Showing these women a beautiful side of themselves, hearing their stories and sometimes their silence as I pamper their belly, hands & breasts. 3232

Postpartum Henna

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Prenatal Henna, Express your beautiful self34

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Making a big contribution, for little people By Samatha Jessup

Expectations run high when we find out we are growing a miracle. Between the complete lack of knowing what to expect to feeling completely ready, motherhood is a roll-ercoaster of unexpected events. When it comes to nurs-ing, many moms like Kim know it is the route they want to take from the moment the strip turns pink, but that doesn’t mean the actual journey is easy.

After a completely unmedicated birth, a very aware, responsive and also quite analytical little girl was placed on Kim’s chest. Wendy did not want to nurse right away, instead she just cried for a second and then stared into Kim’s soul, as she puts it.

Now Kim had a lot of support from her mother who had breastfed Kim and her siblings, but in the beginning it was a hard bond to work through. She kept being told that breastfeeding should not hurt at all so any time Wendy latched and it hurt, her mom would pop her off and they would start over. Finally after this repeated for what felt like a million times, she simply said, “Why shouldn’t it hurt? I’m not used to this kind of nipple action” and she pushed through.

Finally, Wendy latched and boy did it hurt, toe curling pain. One of her nipples cracked and bled in the hospital so she ended up feeding Wendy off of only one breast and pumping off of the other while in the hospital. After about 3 days, her milk came in and they found their groove.

She soon discovered that she had a tremendous over-supply and that Wendy was a very efficient nurser so she began to block feed naturally fairly early. This is where she would only feed Wendy off of one side at each feeding and pump the other, switching breasts each time so Wendy would still get a good mix of foremilk and hindmilk.

Kim continued to pump about 6 times a day which gave her the opportunity to donate her excess liquid gold to families who needed it. She saw donating as her way of giving back and she loved the idea that she could help give other babies the best start to life and help families who were struggling. Ashley was one of the moms she donated to. Ashley also wanted to breastfeed her son, but he had better ideas. From the very beginning he was always dis-tracted when trying to nurse and would pop off at any little sound. She continued to work to breastfeed and fol-lowed suggestions of Fenugreek, pumping more, oatmeal, drinking lots of oatmeal stouts and hydrating herself, but it all hinged on Escher’s actual desire to nurse. She lovingly explained it was like wrestling an alligator.

All of the issues she started with were only exacerbated about 7 months postpartum when her cycle returned. Her right breast completely dried up and her left supply de-creased severely as well. As she kept trying, she knew he needed more. She soon found Kim and a few other donors to help give Escher the nutrition he needed to grow.

[Ashley] says that, “Being a milk recipient when you 4040

desperately want to nurse really teaches you about being humble. I cried a lot throughout our nursing relationship because it just wasn’t how I envisioned it. I had to learn that it was ok so long as he was still getting breastmilk. It’s a kick in the ego to feel like you’re failing at something or to ask for help sometimes. I had to shift my focus from over-stressing to celebrating every single day he nursed. And celebrating the fact that he still had breastmilk-even if it wasn’t mine.”

Another of Kim’s recipients, Meghan, also knew she wanted to breastfeed her daughter Lydia, who unlike

Escher, was very eager to nurse. No matter how much she nursed, pumped or what else she tried it simply was not enough milk. Not being able to solely breastfeed was absolutely devastating.

She had internal goals and expectations, and honestly thought that this was what breasts were meant for so it would come naturally. It was tough to realize that breast-feeding is not that simple of a process, it takes work. She began to beat herself up, thinking that since she couldn’t make enough milk, she wasn’t a good enough momma. It was hard to change that thought process in her head, but

(Left) Kim her daughter & the 3 children her milk fed. (Above) Kim and her daughter.

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with the help of her husband, Facebook groups, and professionals she was able to change this mindset. She also discovered that breastfeeding is so much more than milk; it is a time to reconnect, comfort, and simple cuddle time. It is not something they are giving up anytime soon.

After combo feeding breastmilk and formula, Meghan and her husband started research the best formula to use for the long term when she stumbled upon a post from Kim in a Facebook group asking if anyone was looking for milk.

[Meghan] was nervous not knowing how to act or really even how to accept such an amazing gift, but that’s the thing about Kim. She is just so nice and so gracious. She is such a positive spirit, exactly what my heart needed after the two or so months of struggling with breastfeeding I had been facing. I walked away with two heavy grocery bags full of milk! It was like hitting the jackpot.”

Kim has now donated almost 82 gallons combined of breastmilk to 10 different families. After being dubbed the dairy cow at work (which she takes as a high compliment) and a beautiful, generous mother from her donatees, she has made lifelong friends with each family.

Kim nursing.

Meghan nursing.

Ashley and her son.

Clearly, an Artfull Mother, Samantha lives with her family in Denver, where she is raising her daughter and pursuing art as she can find it, while she continues with her noble effort,

The Bond Project. “I firmly believe that every single

child brought into this world is a mira-cle. The way our bodies nourish them and grow with the tiny baby....”

Samantha Jessup

The Bond Project is an unflinching, hon-est look at what mothers are going through each day, just to feed their little ones.

The Bond Project provides each of these ladies a voice to tell their story of success and hardship.

Read more and sign-up:

http://www.miraclekisses.com/

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themandalajourney.com

Amy Haderer resides in Denver, CO with her husband and six children. She graduated with a BFA in Illus-tration in 2005 and has since applied herself to many different artistic venues. No matter what her passions are, they frequently mix with her passion for visual art and she loves experimenting with new concepts, mediums and ideas.

The Mandala Journey started as a way to meditate, process emotions, and prepare for the birth of her third daugh-ter Seren. Doing these pieces daily during her pregnancy helped Amy to have the beautiful, peaceful home birth she dreamed of.

She has been very active in the birth community, serving as a birth doula, leading a breastfeeding support group through La Leche League, and managing a prenatal and postpartum support group for the freestanding Mountain Midwifery Birth Center. This activism started after she gave birth to her second child in 2008 at the birth center where she had such a wonderful experience, she wanted to be a part of that world forever. Someday she dreams of becoming an out-of-hospital midwife.

Since Lyric’s birth, Amy’s passion for art and birth have converged into forming the Mandala Journey.

The Mandala Journey

Precious Human Birth

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