World Doula Week 2017

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More than once, I've been meeting with a potential birth photography client over a cup of coffee only to have them admit they feel like they can afford only one of the two: a doula or a birth photographer.  

Every single time, I've told them to hire the doula.  

Why on earth would I discourage someone from hiring me, you ask?  Because that's just how strongly I feel about the role of a doula in our childbirth culture today.  

Doulas may get a bit of a bad rap in the mainstream; I think they're framed as a sort of a luxury, or as if they're providing a service that really, you could be covering yourself (extra support during labor?  just pull up your bootstraps.  …Insert rolling-eyes emoji here).  Ali Wong, a stand-up comedian whom I might otherwise find to be a very funny lady, went on NPR and referred to doulas and lactation consultants as "white hippie witches," which I will freely admit I find offensive enough that I will never watch her Netflix special.  

I'm on the other side of the fence: I all but consider doulas to be indispensable, for first-time moms in particular.  In this day and age, it’s pretty rare to have attended a birth before having your own first child.  The value of having someone who is intimately familiar with birth by your side is, for me, unspeakable.  A doula is in your corner.  A doula is a gentle voice by your ear always able to reassure you that what’s happening is normal, or not.  A doula is pro-active support: trained to help manage labor, a doula suggests and supports positions and movements that are indicated by the unique position of your baby and how you’re experiencing labor.  A doula is an advocate and a confidant.  A doula is a cheerleader and a voice of reason.  A doula is there to take care of your whole family and to maintain your birth space so that you can be wholly focused within.  

I’ve been present to see so many beautiful moments between doulas and families, and I’ve heard new moms utter, “I couldn’t have done it without her” more times than I can count.  I’ve also seen many moments where I fervently wish there had been a doula there.  Like the time a Fresh 48 client needed to have their session at one week instead of 2 days, because after a 40 labor, dad - who had been so engrossed in mom’s needs that he also had not been drinking or eating over those 40 hours - passed out minutes after his daughter was born, hit his head on a table, and had to be admitted to the hospital for two days.  Or, in my own life.  I completely admit I didn’t have a good understanding of what a doula was when I was expecting my first child, or why hiring one would be a good idea.  My husband and I kind of shrugged and figured we’d be there supporting each other, and that would be all we would need, really.  What I failed to take into account was that neither of us actually knew what to expect from labor.  Neither of us knew how to pro-actively manage labor or how to remain calm and maintain resolve through what turned out to be days of back labor with a posterior baby.  A loving partner stroking your back while looking vaguely terrified about the amount of pain you’re in only goes so far, it turns out.  I often wonder how our birth story might have been different if we had hired a consummate birth professional to be with us.  There’s no going back in time, but I’ll tell you one thing: I hired not one but two doulas for my second child's birth, and then hired a doula again for my third child’s birth.  

I could write on and on about this - I have many soapboxes, and the care and support of women during the childbearing year (and in particular during and immediately following birth) is a large one on my podium.  So you might hear more from me on this topic at a later date, but in the meantime, I'm thrilled to share these recent images of doulas at work. 

Hug your doula, everyone.  They deserve it.  

 

Doulas pictured: Kyla Wilkinson of Boreal Beginnings; Kassandra Ryan of Confident Beginnings Birth; Jessica Christenson of Parvati Birth & Wellness; and Dawn Tozier of Joy Unspeakable Birth Services.  For a complete list of Fairbanks area doulas, please check out my page on Birth & Postpartum Resources in Fairbanks.

An Alaskan Haggis - Featured in Edible Alaska's Spring 2017 Issue {collaboration with Jennifer Nu}

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A few months ago I was introduced to Jennifer Nu when she needed someone to photograph her haggis for an Edible Alaska article.  (I'm aware of how wonderfully absurd that sounds.  I love Fairbanks ... you can't make this stuff up, people.)  Initially, I was a little puzzled about what appeared to be the Scottish vibe of her dish, but I almost immediately understood that her pursuit of haggis had almost nothing to do with international cuisine and everything to do with a grounded passion for a truly farm-to-table plate.  I soon realized that her Alaskan haggis (haggieses?  Is there plural form, or is it like "moose"?...) were elevating the noble pursuit of knowing where your food comes from (and using every part of an animal possible) to a whole new level.  

Jennifer's thoughts on Alaskan haggis - and her recipe - are featured in the current Spring 2017 issue of Edible Alaska, and there's even more on the Edible website here.  I highly recommend you grab a copy - it's a publication absolutely filled to the brim with wonderful stuff.  

As a continuation of our collaboration, Jennifer and I wanted to put something up on my little blog here, as well!  Here are a few more of my favorite images, along with some more thoughts by Jennifer.  All non-italicized text that follows is authored by Jennifer Nu.  You can contact Jennifer at jennu.jnu@gmail.com.  

-sarah

_______

When I first moved to Fairbanks, I quickly found myself blessed with many opportunities to purchase food directly from the people who dedicated their time and energy in producing it. As a home chef, it was a delight to engage in an endless exploration and experimentation with processing, preserving, and cooking local foods in old and new ways. While gardening, foraging, and cooking vegetables are all familiar, the nitty-gritty of harvesting and processing meat was a totally new adventure. I was excited at the prospect of access to wild game such as moose and caribou, and also locally-raised farm animals, like lambs and chickens.  

With so many options, I quickly realized how little I knew. I had so many questions: How was the animal raised? What did it eat? Did it have a good life? How does it taste?

Once these questions were answered satisfactorily, the questions became more practical: What parts of the animal are edible? What can be used? How does one be respectful to an animal that gives up its life?

My first winter, I eagerly purchased a whole lamb from Frigid Farm, a wonderful family farm run by Megan and Andrew Hamelin, a talented, super-hardworking couple in Two Rivers.  After purchasing the live lamb, I took it to my friends who helped me butcher it. At first I was just interested in the meat, but because I had purchased the whole animal who had given up its life, I really wanted to make an effort to honor its sacrifice by using as much of it as possible.

When my friend took out the stomach and organs, it occurred to me that there was a traditional Scottish dish that could be made with these valuable pieces: haggis.

It’s one thing hearing about an exotic dish and wanting to make it. It’s another to actually go out and make it. Figuring out how to make haggis has been a scavenger hunt of sorts. A gastronomic adventure that began with a series of questions, followed by a flurry of research using books from the local library and whatever information I could find in blog posts, recipes, videos, and conversations. One question soon led to another. How do I prep the stomach? Do I include kidneys? Why doesn’t that guy include the kidneys? Do I use the whole liver? or just half the liver? What kind of spices? Are spices like pepper even traditional to Scottish dishes? Garlic or no garlic? Do I add spices when boiling the pluck or not? How many times should I change the saltwater vinegar brine solution for the stomach?  Do I even have salt? Oh no, I need to go and get salt.

This experience has inspired me to learn more about eating those odd bits, the unspeakable parts, the just-as-essential pieces of the animal. Ultimately, this means getting to know it from the beginning to the end, and from the inside out. In the process, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for people all over the world who have perfected this art over the generations, and I look forward to continuing old traditions while at the same time creating new ones.
 

 

Jennifer also shared just a few of the things she's learned about offal:

  • All together, the lungs, kidneys, heart, and liver of a lamb weighed just over 2 pounds, plus throw in the rich flavors of the lacy fat that surrounds and protects the stomach, you’re looking at a whopping 700 grams, or 3 pounds of food!  

  • The liver is rich in iron and vitamin A, and D, as well as other easily absorbed  minerals and vitamins.

  • The kidneys are rich in vitamin B12, selenium, iron, copper, phosphorous and zinc.

  • Lamb organs are gorgeous packets of nutritional goodness packed with minerals such as iron, copper, vitamins A, B complex, folic acid, CoQ10, and much much more.

Nontraditional Family Portraits - Fairbanks Lifestyle Photographer

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I was recently inspired to share a weeklong series of nontraditional family portraits over on my Facebook page, and I realized I should put them together here, too! 

These images are a scant few of my favorites - everyone in the frame, full of movement and connection.  I love to craft and capture moments that, when snapped, belie much more than the sum of its parts; images that capture more than your face.  They break the cookie-cutter mold in all the best ways imaginable.   

These might not be the images you would choose to put on your annual holiday card.  You can't always see everyone's face; they're quirky and intimate.  But each of these are images I would print on a canvas to hang on my wall.

Danielle's Winter Maternity Session - Fairbanks Pregnancy Photographer

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I'll be completely honest.  I keep finding myself paging over to sunny summer sessions, thinking, "oh, it's about time these got on the blog..." - when really, they're just feeding my seasonal ennui (it's about that time of year when I decide I'm kind of over winter...too bad for me there are several months of it left).  In an effort to get my head in the right place and to be more seasonally appropriate, I bring you this sun-drenched winter maternity session, taken on the ice almost exactly a year ago.  

It's given me a whole new appreciation of winter.  

I hope to bring you more from this beautiful family's story soon.  Stay tuned.