Midwifery Students Tribe 2009 - Page 3

[courtenay_e]

No, they have been very consistent with cashing the checks at the same time, all the time. Nothing funny or off.

[klocke]

Hello ladies. I posted a few times before but I'll go ahead and reintroduce myself. I'm the mom to 3 great kiddos, 3 year old son, 2 year old daughter and a 7 month old son. All were born vaginal but my last was my first home birth and it got me started down this path. I'm taking it slowly since I have 3 small kids. I'm really excited to be starting my first study group here in Eugene (if anyones interested we can always use more ladies!) tomorrow night. Well excited doesn't even come close:. That's me in a nutshell.

[cristeen]

Hello ladies!

Just popping in real quick so I can find the thread again later.

Quick intro... I'm Cris, AAMI student in CA. Married with no living children, and approaching 3 years of fertility treatments at this point.

I'm not around much lately, since I'm trying to buckle down and apply myself to my schoolwork, which the internet is very good at distracting me from.

[mandib50]

i think i introduced myself on the old thread but it was so long that i'm glad i can get in on this thread where i can hopefully keep up : i am in my 2nd year of likely a 6 year program for my masters degree with MCU (i'm slow!).

i am going to sit in on my first set of prenatals this month with my own midwife who attended my 3 homebirths - i am so excited. the only drawback is that it is a 2 hour drive one way but i see that michelle also travelled, so i'm not alone. anyway i hope that this will turn into an opportunity for me to sit in on further prenatals and attend births.

[BellaLuna Rayne]

I am so excited and nervous. Hopefully I have an extra envelope big enough to send all this stuff into AAMI.

How hard was it for you gals to find an apprenticeship?

[Peppamint]

Originally Posted by mandib50

the only drawback is that it is a 2 hour drive one way but i see that michelle also travelled, so i'm not alone. anyway i hope that this will turn into an opportunity for me to sit in on further prenatals and attend births.

It's doable! I am just seriously hoping gas stays under $2/gallon!!!!

Originally Posted by BellaLuna Rayne

How hard was it for you gals to find an apprenticeship?

It took me 2 years. If I could have relocated, I could have started an apprenticeship when I first started looking but it just isn't an option at this time for several reasons. I've seen some students who just seemed to fall right into one so it's hard to say. Good luck!

[rnchrista]

Originally Posted by busybusymomma

It took me 2 years. If I could have relocated, I could have started an apprenticeship when I first started looking but it just isn't an option at this time for several reasons. I've seen some students who just seemed to fall right into one so it's hard to say. Good luck!

I think a lot depends on who you know and how well connected you are in the birth community. I hear of people that have a difficult time but both of mine were pretty much dropped in my lap.

[rebirth]

it was really easy for me to find my apprenticeship, but I was already working with this midwife as a doula. I'm excited to start it! (probably next fall)

[sugarmoon]

I don't know if I ever intro'ed on the last thread, I mostly lurked.

But my plan is to get serious about my midwifery studies starting NOW, so here goes!

I'm Elsa, newly single sah (for now?) mom to 4 little ones (6.5, 4.5, 4.5, and 15 months). My 3 biological children were all born at home with cpm and lm in attendance, and my last two were fast and furious births, almost missed by the midwives. My adopted daughter was born in a big old medical hospital .

I enrolled in AAMI this fall (thanks to an awesome scholarship gifted to me by scarlettbegonias!), and just yesterday sent in my enrollment verification and got the first pdfs to print out.

I'm not sure what the year will bring for me, I may need a "real" job, in order to feel financially secure on my own with my kiddos, so my midwifery work may be slow, but I am determined to do enough work on it that I can call myself a midwifery student and not feel like a fakey-pants. I don't know how I'll arrange to attend births as a single mama, but I'm going to trust that it will work out. This has been my dream for so long, and I really need to be purusing (and acheiving!!) my dreams right now.

[MidwifeErika]

Originally Posted by BellaLuna Rayne

How hard was it for you gals to find an apprenticeship?

Mine was a situation of right place and right time and right connection. I called one midwife and asked her about apprenticeship, she didn't need one, talked to her about birth center training, etc. She gave me the name of a midwife about an hour away who didn't have an apprentice, I gave her a call, she and her partner met with me a week later and then I started with them. It has worked out very well and this apprenticeship is going on 2 years now. I feel fortunate

All you can do is make those connections in the midwifery community and wait for someone to have an opening and be willing to take you. It might take years or it might happen immediately.

[MidwifeErika]

Originally Posted by BellaLuna Rayne

It does, my DH is just worried that they might try to cash it before then. Being in the sandbox makes him a little more paranoid about finances than usual.

It is a good question you asked as it is hard to know how places operate without asking. I have also been on the payment plan with AAMI (just finished my payments in September!) and never had a single issue. I could put money on the fact they would cash the checks on the 1st, the check would clear my bank on the 3rd. It was like clockwork each and every month. My only issue was making sure that *I* made sure my money was in that account on time so I wouldn't get an overdraft fee

[BellaLuna Rayne]

Originally Posted by hotwings640

Mine was a situation of right place and right time and right connection. I called one midwife and asked her about apprenticeship, she didn't need one, talked to her about birth center training, etc. She gave me the name of a midwife about an hour away who didn't have an apprentice, I gave her a call, she and her partner met with me a week later and then I started with them. It has worked out very well and this apprenticeship is going on 2 years now. I feel fortunate

All you can do is make those connections in the midwifery community and wait for someone to have an opening and be willing to take you. It might take years or it might happen immediately.

I am thinking about emailing a couple of the local midwives first, I just have no idea what to say and not sound like a moron. I have been taking a bit of a sanity break from the birth community because of my DH's deployment. I had to get used to that again before I could concentrate on getting back into the community. I am still waiting on an ALACE workshop to complete my doula training but, that is a whole other story.

Originally Posted by hotwings640

It is a good question you asked as it is hard to know how places operate without asking. I have also been on the payment plan with AAMI (just finished my payments in September!) and never had a single issue. I could put money on the fact they would cash the checks on the 1st, the check would clear my bank on the 3rd. It was like clockwork each and every month. My only issue was making sure that *I* made sure my money was in that account on time so I wouldn't get an overdraft fee

I am so happy to hear that people have had such good experiences! It seemed unusual to the friends I talked to and one of them was really trying to freak me out for some reason. I figured I would ask here for reassurance from people who actually know.

[Surfacing]

Hello Mamas, I've been on the phone with the midwifery program at the local school here. Looks like part-time classes are during the day, not in the evening, so that would rule me out of PT. I need to work FT for the time being, we need my salary.

If I studied FT for 4 yrs we would have to take on loans. My dh says this whole thing stresses him out so much. We have had a rough few years with time, energy and money (two little kids, yk) and he wants to "just coast" for awhile. If I was studying and on-call we would not be coasting.

But I really want to do this. I want to. I have to.

Why, oh why does this have to be so difficult?

I have faith in our problem solving abilities and resourcefulness to figure something out. Anybody else turn a reluctant husband? Mine will only turn with the right solutions, I think. Fair enough.

[636Jen]

Can you do a self study program? Or do you "have" to be in a certain program. I've found that self study is the right choice for me. I also homeschool my kids and apprentice. It's a busy life but I like it this way.

Child care used to be a big issue for me but now that the economy is so poor, people are asking ME if they can babysit. I posted to your other thread but I'll add that your partner absolutely has to be on board for it to work. (IMO) Hubby and I had a couple rough patches but we worked things out. However, after one really long and difficult birth, I questioned if midwifery was what I really wanted to do. I complained about how the child care at the time was a pain in the butt and how driving everywhere was thinning out my wallet. He was actually the one who told me that THIS is what I've dreamed of doing and that I should continue. He was surprisingly empathetic and now even asks how my clients are doing and how their births went!

My preceptor told me that car salesmen and midwifery have the highest divorce rates. With those odds (my husband sells GM), we are doomed! It's a good thing that we have a good solid base.....when the kids were little (1,2 and 3 years old) that wasn't the case. I'm glad I waited until my youngest was 5 to persue midwifery. I think it's a lot easier now than it would have been then. Of course, everyone is different.

Good luck! Please keep us posted and let us know how things are going for you!

[Sage.Naissance]

I am happy to announce that I can now officially join this tribe!
Today I was accepted to Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland, Oregon. I start march 31st! Hooray.

I am a single and childless doula. I was living in Montreal, but I am now in Portland oregon, in the process of forming the Portland Birth Collective, and now a Birthingway midwifery student! Woo!

[MamaRabbit]

Originally Posted by BellaLuna Rayne

I am thinking about emailing a couple of the local midwives first, I just have no idea what to say and not sound like a moron.

I suggest you do a lot of looking on the Birth Professionals forum and search and read up a bit on how to ask for apprenticeship. Some of the midwives here have given great ideas about how they want to be approached, and lots of "i hate it when..." info as well!

Originally Posted by Sage.Naissance

I am happy to announce that I can now officially join this tribe!
Today I was accepted to Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland, Oregon. I start march 31st! Hooray.

Congrats that's exciting!

[AugustLia23]

I agree with the PP's. Apprenticeships are out there is you are available and flexible.My two other apprenticeships were with midwives who I knew because they were present for my labors and/or births. I also got to know my midwifery community really well. It's probably a good idea to get to know the midwives in your community anyways. After a time, I realized that I was looking for a higher volume scenario than any homebirth midwife in my area was taking on at the time I was looking for it. I have a young family, and since I'm not willing to apprentice for years and years, I want a situation where I can devote more time for a shorter period of time and then move on.

So I started looking into birth centers. I actually found an ad on HERE for an apprenticeship at a birth center. It requires me to move literally across the country, which I'll be doing tomorrow, but we had to move out of our house anyways. I haven't begun yet, but everything else about the apprenticeship has worked out so well, and I feel very good about my learning opportunity with the midwives I will be working with.

Sage, congrats on getting in to Birthingway! I'm moving to the Salem area, and I'd love to chat with you or meet up or something. I don't know anybody in Oregon. I am going a different route for my midwifery training, but I know we can all learn loads from eachother.

[Sage.Naissance]

AugustLia, I would love to meet up. I am new to Portland too so I can always use new friends, espcially in the midwifery world! Salem is pretty close!
Thanks for the congrats. cheers!

[BellaLuna Rayne]

I know who the local midwives are and my ND is also a midwife. I met two other midwives when I was going to them for TTC help before DH deployed but, they work strictly with Seattle Midwifery School.

Once the flooding stops I will start looking into getting involved with the birth community again. I will admit I feel a bit silly going to meetings when I do not have children of my own yet.

[majikfaerie]

I did a load of work on getting my birth kit really nicely stocked and organised, and I'm really happy with the result.
the acid test will be at my next birth, which is due in 2 weeks or so (edd on the 16th).
I came up with this great idea of storing all my homeopathics in egg cartons - i blogged about it if anyone's curious http://majikfaerie.blogspot.com

and yeah, i just moved house, and I have a birth coming up. funnily enough, the birthing mama lives exactly at the midway point between my old and new house
so now that i'm settled in my new house and i have loads of space and even... shock! a desk to work at, i'll be getting stuck into aami :