Midwifery Journey

After the birth of our fourth baby in June of 2013, my husband lovingly joked that we were going to have to find some way for me to be involved with the birth process without birthing 100 babies. I took that encouragement and ran with it! 

In February 2014, when that sweet baby was 7 months old, she joined me for the hands-on, 3-day workshop required for DONA International Birth Doula Certification. Three months after the workshop - in May, I had fulfilled all of the requirements and submitted my certification packet for evaluation, and in October of 2014, I received confirmation that I was a DONA Certified Birth Doula. I have absolutely loved every wonderfully exhausting, mentally and physically challenging, and extremely gratifying minute of being a doula! It is such a privilege to walk with families through pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the postpartum months. 

Throughout the 3 years I spent as a doula in Mississippi, I was able to attend births both at home and in nine different hospitals around the state. I worked with an amazing IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant)/Doula, and together we were able to encourage changes in hospital policies regarding VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), we hosted MomFest - an incredible Mother/Baby/Child Expo & Festival, and we helped educated local families and healthcare providers on healthy birth and breastfeeding practices. Mississippi will always feel like home to me, and I feel so grateful for the opportunity to help improve birth for Mississippi families.

In November 2016, my family moved from Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Although it was super hard to leave our family and friends in Mississippi, we felt very strongly that God was calling our family to Colorado. I began taking Colorado doula clients in March 2017 and attended hospital births that spring. In July of 2017, I had the opportunity to assist a local Certified Professional Midwife at home births, and instantly, I was hooked. The difference in the Midwifery Model of Care vs. the Medical Model of Care are incredible!  I'll have to save that for a different blog post. To see the respectful way women and their babies are cared for by Midwives rocked me to my core, and I could tell that God was nudging me to start the process of becoming a Certified Professional Midwife, CPM.

The certification process is pretty involved, but I'm going to attempt to spell it out for those who are interested. I am currently working through the Portfolio Evaluation Process (PEP) for the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). This process consists of Academics, Clinical Experience, and an Exam. The academics can be completed through a variety of avenues, depending on your state's midwifery regulations. Some require an accredited university and some - like Mississippi-  have zero regulations surrounding midwifery. 

Regardless of how you decide to complete the academic portion of your certification, all CPM Candidates sit for the same Exam through NARM. I have chosen Midwife to Be for the academic side of my education for various reasons : it's self- paced- which is ideal for this season of my life, it's affordable, it's founded by a Christian Midwife who has been attending births for 30+ years, and it's thorough. The Clinical Portion of NARM's PEP is broken up into four phases and must be completed in an apprenticeship with a Registered Preceptor (a Senior Midwife) - Phase 1 is Observation, Phase 2 is Assistant Under Supervision, Phase 3 is Primary Under Supervision, and Phase 4 is Additional Births as Primary Under Supervision. NARM provides a packet of forms that have to be signed off by your preceptor as you've mastered skills, both at births and in prenatal and postpartum visits. Thankfully, I have had the privilege of apprenticing with a few amazing preceptors. Their knowledge on all things pregnancy, birth, and baby is completely humbling and it's an honor to learn from these amazing midwives!

NARM recommends 4-6 years for the entire certification process. Paper work can not be turned in before 2 years from starting and must be turned in within 10 years of starting the certification process. 

My kids are little and my family is a priority to me at this point in my life, so I am okay with taking my time in this journey to becoming a Certified Professional Midwife. I'm one year into the process, and I feel like it will take me at least five years to complete. I also feel very strongly about not moving in to skills until I feel fully capable to handle any variation. Birth is a very natural thing, but complications can arise quickly and must be handled with knowledge, intuition, and skill.  Midwifery is something that I am certain that Jesus has called me to, and I know that He is faithful and He will provide everything I need to finish certification in His perfect timing.  

Birth work would not be possible for me without my incredible support system. Thank you to my preceptors for instilling your knowledge, skill, experience, and love for the art of midwifery in me. Thank you to my kids for sharing their mama with other mamas. Thank you to my incredible mama who fills in all the gaps (plus some) when I'm away. And thank you to my Jason for motivating me to pursue this calling and for encouraging me along the way. 

Smith Academy 2018-2018

Over the past several years, I've been using Facebook and Instagram as sort of virtual scrapbooks to document our homeschooling journey. As a result, I get questions weekly about what were doing, general homeschooling advice, and organizational tips for teaching multiple kids. I am still learning all of these things myself, but I'm more than willing to share what I've learned over the past 7+ years!

Our Daily Routine

Morning Meeting 

Bible

Language Arts

My Father's World

Snack/Book Basket

Art/Music/Science

Math

Lunch

What's "Morning Meeting?"

I love Morning Meeting because it's a beautiful way to gather together and start our day with things that are lovely. We start each morning with Prayer, and then we read from Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones and/or Daily in His Presence by Andrew Murray. We also do poetry study from Classic Poetry an Illustrated Collection selected by Michael Rosen, and each week we choose one hymn to study from Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan. Then we practice calendar skills using this calendar, and sing our days of the week and months of the year songs. We wrap up our Morning Meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag. I'll let you read more about the ins & outs of Morning Meetings from the wise homeschooling mamas that have gone before me. I

What curriculum are you using this year?

We tried multiple different curriculum options in the early years, but I have always come back to My Father's World. I absolutely love it. Here's why:

• MFW is a Christian curriculum, so everything is taught through a Biblical Worldview. 
• MFW is Charlotte Mason-based. It implements many of her philosophies and methods - dictation, narration, nature study, and most of all.... living books. It's delightful.
• MFW is designed to teach multiple children, so as more and more of my kids have started school it's become easier and easier to teach them all.
• MFW also has Unit Study and Classical elements, and I like that it exposes the kids to many different methods of eduction.

This year we are in the second year of the MFW Family Cycle, and we're studying Rome to the Reformation. All of our Bible, Latin Vocabulary, History, Read Aloud books, Science, Music, Art, and Nature Study are done as a group, around our dining room table.

For Math:

• the 2 older girls are using Teaching Textbooks for 7th and 5th grade math
• the younger 2 are using Horizons

For Language Arts:

• 7th grade- Applications of Grammar and Writing With Skill
• 5th grade - Language Lessons for Today, Spelling, and extra cursive practice
• 2nd grade- Language Lessons for Today, Spelling by Sound and Structure, and Handwriting Without Tears

My Father's World's Kindergarten program is wonderful and all inclusive. We are supplementing the Math they provide with Horizons K Math to give my Kindergartener a little challenge. I'm SUPER excited and thankful that my sweet mama is helping with our two youngest this year, taking the lead on Jolie's Kindergarten and helping me make sure our toddler doesn't burn down the house during school hours.

Are you doing a co-op or enrichment program this year?

Yes! We're so excited about participating in the ACTS Co-op this fall! We will meet Friday mornings with other homeschoolers at a local church, and the moms all volunteer in some capacity- either teaching or assisting. After a few years in our public school's enrichment program, we're all really looking forward to meeting together with other Christian homeschooling families this year.

What extracurriculars will the kids be involved in?

Music lessons:

• Piano for the oldest and third
• Violin for the second

Sports:

• The older two will also be playing soccer this fall 
• the youngest two will be dancing at co-op 

Wednesday nights: 

• the second, third, and fourth will be participating in Awana again
• Jason and Layla do Wednesday nights with our Youth Group at Church
• Miller will hang out in the nursery
• Mama will be studying  

Whew!

I'm getting a little overwhelmed just looking at all of that. Homeschooling is no easy feat, but I know that "He who calls me is faithful," (1 Thessalonians 5:24) and that His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). I hope that you've found this little glimpse in to Smith Academy helpful! I'll be glad to answer any questions if you have them.