I hope that June finds you all welcoming the warm season, and perhaps the arrival of a summer break from some of your usual commitments. The arrival of a new season or a new stage in your family life can open the opportunity to evaluate where you are and where you would like to be. I encourage you to seize the opportunity to make changes, small or large, that will nourish you as a person and fill that well that our children seem to think is an endless source of patience and care and support for them.
I have never really felt comfortable in most of my nursing clothes, they didn’t fit quite right, or the access point was not quite in the right place for the way my children nurse, etc. Six years in to being constantly pregnant and/or nursing, it has finally occurred to me that I do actually own a sewing machine and I could take a break from making and remaking clothes for my kids and remake some clothes for me that feel comfortable and open the way I need them to for nursing without totally looking like this lady is obviously still wearing maternity clothes. So June is make all the nursing tunics month at my house!
What is your desire? What do you need? Call a friend. Make time for yourself. Give yourself permission to make something, do something, buy something that would help you feel good to be you! Gear up to do that project, write that will, have that hard conversation that is no fun but will bring such relief to be able to check it off and move on. Make an appointment with a counselor, friend, or pastor to talk through something that has been burdening you. Purge the things from your life that way you down with clutter (and donate those relating to maternity/nursing/kids to us for our annual yard sale!)
Ariel Carver
Executive Director, The Birth Circle
director@athensbirthcircle.com
740-652-6262
Yard sale Donations!
We need your help!
The Birth Circle 15th Yard Sale donation drop-off.
Saturday, June 1st from 10am-noon.
Saturday, June 15th, 10am – noon
Saturday, June 29th, 10am – noon
Donate your maternity, baby, and child-related items that are gently used and in good working order.
Drop them off at 100A Columbus Rd. #845 Athens, OH.
Please share! There will be further drop-off days scheduled throughout the summer. The Birth Circle 15th Yard Sale will be August 17th from 8 am – 4 pm at Athens Community Center.
Play Group
Tuesday, June 4th, 3 pm – 5 pm
Athens Public Library 30 Home St. Athens
Join Birth Circle member Maira and her children for an informal free play and socializing in the children’s section of the Athens Library every first Tuesday of the month, 3-5 pm.
Loss Support Group
Thursday, June 6th, 6:30 pm
Central Avenue Church, 73 Central Ave., Athens
If you are in need of support because of a pregnancy loss or the loss of your child, you are welcome to join us every first Thursday of the month for this support group. These meetings are free and facilitated by a professional social worker. All family members, such as grandparents, siblings, aunts, and uncles, as well as friends, are welcome. Childcare is provided.
Postpartum Support Group
Friday, June 7th from 2:30- 4:00 pm
Athens Public Library, 30 Home St. Athens
There will be a Postpartum Support Group for Moms that are battling the blues, blah’s, and the super hard stuff. Those who wish to will have the opportunity to share their postpartum story and create a circle of mutual support with other Mamas who are struggling during this intense time. A representative from Hopewell Health will be available at the meeting in addition to mom – to – mom support. Please feel free to share this!
Mama Walks
Wednesday, June 12th
Meet outside the Athens library for a walk on the bike path 6pm-7 pm
Join Birth Circle board member Leanne and her baby for a casual stroller walk on the bike path. A great chance to meet new moms, socialize, and get a little fresh air!
Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, June 26th, 7pm
Eileen Sirois, CNM, CFCP, CFCMC
Freedom Fertility Care Services
“Freedom FertilityCare is a service program for monitoring, maintaining and evaluating a women’s procreative and gynecological health. The program works cooperatively and naturally with the woman’s body. It is an affiliate of FertilityCare Centers of America. The system is taught in a client instruction organization of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. In the Creighton model, an allied health professional will meet one on one with a client to tailor make the system specifically for the client. Creighton Model FertilityCare provides the couple with the means to be able to freely express their reproductive potential. It will assist those couples of normal fertility to accurately achieve and avoid pregnancy. It also specializes in a new reproductive science called NaPro Technology to aid in infertility and health considerations such as ovarian cysts, hormone disorders, miscarriages, and many others. It can be used for a woman’s entire procreative life, from menarche to menopause. It works with any situation – regular, irregular cycles, breastfeeding or premenopausal.
Prepared Mommy Camp
June 8th, 10 am – 2 pm
Athens Friends Meeting House, 22 Birge Dr, Chauncey, OH 45719.
This Camp is geared toward providing birth and parenting education and community building with young Mamas age 23 and under, though when we do have extra space and are glad to include others as well. We are halfway through our spring session and enjoying this new group of participants and all they have to share. Many thanks to Kaiser’s and Brennan’s for donating lunch for our first two meetings! More information, as well as a video and the registration form, can be found on our website. We deeply appreciate your support!
www.athensbirthcircle.org/prepared-mommy-camp
Meals for Families
Let The Birth Circle community cook for you! If you’ve just had a baby, if you are going through another type of transition in your family, or have experienced a loss, The Birth Circle is more than happy to organize a meal calendar to help support you. If you are interested in receiving meals, providing meals or both, please contact our Meals For Families Coordinator, Ariel Carver at arielrose.carver@gmail.com for more information.