Book Review:: How to Love Your Labour: One Woman’s Journey from Freaking Out to Fearless Birth

When I was asked to review a book about birth, I quickly jumped at the chance! A bit of a birth junkie myself; I’m intrigued by the birth process and the stories of those that experience natural childbirth. In her book, Tracey Rose details her journey from being fearful about birth, to her completely painless natural childbirth using hypnosis.

While I haven’t experienced a painless birth, or used hypnosis, I’ve read quite a bit about the subject and completely believe it’s possible. Rose talks a lot about her education process and how she learned the risks of cesarean sections, induction and medicated birth. I too went down this path of self-education. Unfortunately, my own journey came after an unnecessary c-section.

The results were somewhat similar though. Like Rose, I came to realize I wanted the most healthy and best birth experience possible for not only me, but my baby. I share Rose’s opinion that the best is the most natural. She lists the many side effects and risks associated with surgical and medicated birth. This is great because many moms, especially first-time moms aren’t aware of the potential complications.

Rose admits in her book that medical intervention is sometimes necessary, and she’s grateful that it’s available when needed. I share those sentiments. However, birth is a natural, physiological process that a woman’s body is designed for. One of my favorite quotes that Rose uses in the book is:

“I think one of the best things we could do would be to help women/parents/families discover their own birth power, from within themselves. And to let them know it's always been there, they just needed to tap into it.”

John H. Kennell, MD

In the book, Rose details her experience with childbirth education classes and how she was able to prepare mentally and physically for the labor and births. She acknowledges the strong role that emotion and fear play and the process of eliminating these fears and fully embracing the emotion.

For example, when using hypnosis for birth, different words are used. Contractions become surges and pushing becomes breathing the baby down. The different word choices help the mother envision a peaceful experience rather than one filled with pain.

Rose gave birth in Australia, so I think there are some minimal differences between the hospitals and medical systems here in the US. Rose depicts her story extremely well. The possibility of a painless birth excites me. Although I don’t expect to have any more children, the book has definitely inspired me to further research hypnosis if I did. If you don’t believe that a painless childbirth is possible, I encourage you to get Rose’s book and learn about the method first-hand. You won’t regret it. Knowledge is power!

The book will be released next week, {you can purchase it here} but I do have one free copy to giveaway! If you’d like to win it, comment here with tell me why! To earn extra entries, like Market Mommy on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, like Natural Childbirth World on Facebook or follow TraceyRoseLive on Twitter. Please leave a comment {including contact information} for each completed task. The giveaway will end on Thursday, May 10 at 11:59 p.m. EST and we’ll draw a winner via random.org.

Lovable Labels Review & Giveaway!

I was contacted earlier this spring to review an awesome Camp Pack from Lovable Labels. The pack included:

• 15 Sticker Labels
• 40 Slimline Labels
• 12 Shoe Labels
• 72 Press n' Stick Clothing DOTS™
• 2 Mini-Metal Tags {two 4” silver ball chains incld}
• 12 Square Labels

And, I was able to choose which design I thought my daughter would most enjoy. I was very impressed when the pack arrived. It seemed like A LOT of stuff! Between school, the babysitter’s house, gymnastics, swim class, tee-ball, my kids are in a lot of activities and take a lot of stuff a lot of places. So, this was perfect!

Now, I can label all of my daughter’s belongings, with cute tags! I am especially excited about the clothing dots and shoe labels. She really loved the mini-metal tags, which are perfect for her backpack. The labels are all high-quality and really stay put.

This product is valued at $44.95 before taxes and shipping and seems to be worth every penny, to me. My daughter is already asking to label all of her kindergarten supplies for next fall!

In addition to providing me with a pack to review, Lovable Labels has graciously allowed me to giveaway a Camp Pack to one lucky Market Mommy winner!

Good luck, here are the official rules::

There will be 1 {one} winner of this giveaway. The giveaway will officially end on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST, just in time for camp season! The winner will be chosen by random.org and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

To enter, go to the Lovable Labels website and leave us a comment here telling us which of their amazing products is your favorite! After you comment here, you can earn extra entries! {Please leave a separate comment for each, including contact information!}

1. Like Market Mommy on Facebook
2. Like Loveable Labels on Facebook
3. Follow Market Mommy on Twitter
4. Follow Loveable Labels on Twitter
5. Tweet this for daily extra entries: WIN a Camp Pack from @mylovablelabels and @marketmommy The #giveaway is here http://tinyurl.com/7j5p7pe
    Sign up for the Market Mommy rss feed
6.  Sign up for the Market Mommy free e-newsletter

  * I did receive a free camp pack from Lovable Labels in order to write this review. However all opinions contained in this post are my own.

Mother's Day Tribute & Giveaway

With Mother's Day just around the corner, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to highlight some awesome mom entrepreneurs! Check out these fabulous women and their great businesses, then be sure to enter our giveaway below! We'll be giving one lucky momma a $100 Amazon card! AND, Mimi and Moi has graciously donated a beautiful 3-photo charm bracelet, valued at $115! Two awesome prizes and plenty of ways to enter!

Moms must have great tools and techniques to effectively manage a household and, as a Clever Container Consultant, Lisa Taylor is making it happen! Lisa dons scrubs by day and loads up Clever Containers by night, all while keeping her faith, her kids, and her husband her top priorities.

Home is where the heart is! If you must work, work from home.
Work with a Team of Moms. No Selling, No Inventory, No Parties, NO RISK!
Safe, Simple, and Solid Home Business. Have more time freedom and create financial security.

You can have the best of both worlds!

A gift that will keep on giving Mother's Day and beyond!  Photo charm jewelry is very special due to the personalizing process. I get to know my customers a bit more, and the recipient forever has a cherished keepsake designed especially for her.

Good Luck!

The giveaway will end at midnight on May 14 and the winner will be chosen via random.org.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And the Winner Is ..........

Jessica Ann WelschWe are SO excited to announce the winner of our S.T.A.R. {successful, tenacious, accomplished, remarkable} Mom Entrepreneur Award! Market Mommy wanted to honor an awesome mom for her continued dedication to her business and her family! Our judges did not have an easy task; we had a ton of exceptional nominees!

Our goal was to honor a leader; someone who is balancing her business and family in a creative way. We asked moms to tell us what sets them apart from the thousands of other mom entrepreneurs, why they are determined to succeed, how they're helping others and what they've done to show the world that they’re confident, remarkable and steadfast!

Here is a snippet from the winner's nomination form::

Jessica Welsch is a proud hockey mom, volunteer, artist and passionate entrepreneur. She’s driven to excel and make a positive impact in the world. Jessica’s a leader in her children’s school serving on the board and chairing school events. When asked why she’s so happy and successful she’ll give an answer you might not expect, “I wouldn’t be where I am today without my 7+ years of sobriety. I would not be the mother, business partner, friend or colleague I am today without it. I am truly grateful for all the blessings in my life!”

We are overjoyed to announce that Jessica Ann Welsch of The HopeFULL Company is the first-ever Market Mommy S.T.A.R. Mom Entrepreneur! Visit her at the following channels and see why we think she's such a strong example of entrepreneurship.

The HopeFULL Company

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

And, here's a little more about her company from the nomination process::

The HopeFULL Company offers kits used to make nutritious and delicious frozen whole food pops at home. Our award winning recipes and products have been developed to help children and adults who are having trouble eating, particularly due to illness, cancer and sensory issues. Our kits come with our patented silicone mold, 20 unique nutritious recipes, 100 birch wood spoon sticks as well as a cooler tote or chef’s hat for little kiddos.

As the winner of the S.T.A.R. Mom Entrepreneur Award, Welsch recieves all of the wonderful prizes supplied by our sponsors listed here.

Honorable Mentions

We had a feeling that there would be a large number of excellent nominees and we were right. So, we are glad that we reserved the right to name up to 5 Honorable Mentions. Our judges have chosen::

Tiffany Krumins:: Elephant Lady LLC 

Desiree Vargas Wrigley:: Give Forward  

Kris Wegener:: Business Observations 

Chrissy Freeman:: Consignment Mommies 

Amanda Lassiter:: Sweet Bella Bakery

We do want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their nominations and offer a sincere congratulations to every nominee. You all are amazing women and doing amazing things in this world! Kudos to you! {You can view all the nominees on our Facebook page}

The Ultimate Party Post:: 2012

*This giveaway is now closed. The winning comments were: #10 - Market Mommy advertising, #21 Kidzies gift certificate and #3 LaBarrie Littles shirt.

Hello! A big, warm welcome to everyone who is joining us from the awesome 2012 UBP at 5 Minutes for Mom!! We're SO glad you're here!

First, if you haven't yet, register for the humungous prize pool! There are thousands of dollars worth of prizes up for grabs! And, we're happy to be offering a great ad package valued at $370! Don't miss your chance to win! And, be sure to read the rest of this post because we have more prizes to give away!

Please bear with me, this post may get a little long ..... but I want to tell you as much as I can about Market Mommy while you're here .... and give you the chance to win some great party swag :}

Here's a little about our site and what we have to offer mom business owners::

Founded in June of 2009, Market Mommy® is an online marketing resource for mom business owners that shows them how and where to market their businesses.  Market Mommy® offers a variety of low-cost {and free!} services to help moms on a budget.

Market Mommy® provides links to great advertising opportunities, offers free marketing advice and tips via this blog and the e-newsletter, advertises mom-owned businesses for free on the blog and in their directory and much more.

This is me, Dawn, and my beautiful daughter!Some of the site’s servicesinclude marketing consultation, copywriting, graphic design, printing of marketing materials and much more. They also offer affordable advertising opportunities, which start as low as $5 per month. Everything that we provide to our customers is low-cost and practical.

There is also a free business directory and interactive forum where mom business owners can advertise for free.  Market Mommy® can be found online asand on well as on Facebook and Twitter!

That's us in a nutshell ;) Be sure to visit our current specials page. We have some great deals on custom Facebook Timeline images going on and we're looking for a few great moms to help us expand and grow Market Mommy. More info here.

Now, on to the party :}

This post and the giveaways we've provided are made possible by these awesome mom business owner sponsors. Please visit them, show them some love, and tell them that we sent you!

LaBarrie Littles: Personalized embroidery & applique tees!

Kidzies:: Chic, Clever & Affordable!

It Works! Cecilia Fleischer Independent Distributor

Beads-N-Style:: Save 15% on anything in the store with code BLOGHOP15 until May 15!

Mama Mahoney Creations:: Simple Beautiful You!

            Rock Paper Scissors:: Personalized Paper & Gifts!

And, what you're all here for, some free stuff!

We're providing 3 {three} prizes during the UBP that ends on the 20th. These prizes are different than those listed on 5 Minutes for Mom. To register for these, simply follow the rules below!

1. Winner's choice of one onesie or shirt from LaBarrie Littles {Value:: $22-$28}

2. A $25 Gift Certificate from Kidzies

3. One month web button ad {125x125 pixel} on ALL pages of MarketMommy.com {Value:: $50}

Good luck, here are the official rules::

There will be 3 {three} winners of this giveaway, one for each prize. The giveaway will officially end on Friday, April 20, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST. The winner will be chosen by random.org.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post and tell us a couple of things! First, tell us which prize{s} you'd like to win and why. And then introduce yourself! Tell us about your blog, business, family, whatever! After you comment here, you can earn extra entries! {Please leave a separate comment for each, including contact information!}

1. Like Market Mommy on Facebook

2. Follow Market Mommy on Twitter

3. Sign up for the Market Mommy rss feed

4. Sign up for the Market Mommy free e-newsletter

5. Tweet about the giveaway & be sure to tag @MarketMommy and use #UBP12

Good luck & nice to meet you! I hope you stick around!