it snowed a lot. and now it's snowing again. kids off school. we're hanging in there. they better not close the schools on thursday or so help me. SO HELP ME.
i use a lot of doula-skills in my parenting. patience. compassion. creativity. strength. the ability to stay awake for insane periods of time. sense of humor.
but we haven't left the house except for a few brief trips to play in the snow (the hubbie did take the big kids out a few times -- it's too hard for me to take the three of them out solo) since 3:30pm on friday, just as the snow started. so we're on hour 101 of each other. and i'm not that good.
"Get Me Out" -- sounds like an interesting read!
This sounds like one for the library list:
Lessons from the History of Childbirth
A Q&A with Randi Hutter Epstein, MD, author of “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank.’’
I find the history of childbirth so fascinating -- the similarities and differences to how we do things today!
Lessons from the History of Childbirth
A Q&A with Randi Hutter Epstein, MD, author of “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank.’’
I find the history of childbirth so fascinating -- the similarities and differences to how we do things today!
Dads and Breastfeeding
Now here is a helpful list of ways Dads can bond with a breastfed baby:
Breastfeeding Tips for Dads
And I love that feeding a bottle of expressed breastmilk was only #4 on the list. Being a cheerleader for mom, bathing the baby, and skin-to-skin cuddles are fantastic ways to be a present father. From my own experience, my husband brought the infant Chim to and from bed for me to nurse -- and that probably saved me, frankly.
Hooray for dads!!!
Breastfeeding Tips for Dads
And I love that feeding a bottle of expressed breastmilk was only #4 on the list. Being a cheerleader for mom, bathing the baby, and skin-to-skin cuddles are fantastic ways to be a present father. From my own experience, my husband brought the infant Chim to and from bed for me to nurse -- and that probably saved me, frankly.
Hooray for dads!!!
Back to Sleep!
I think it's every parent's nightmare -- SIDS.
Researchers have found a new clue -- a serotonin imbalance, when coupled with external factors such as belly sleeping, can decrease a baby's ability to wake and move when oxygen supply is inadequate.
It's so chilling to think about it. I still check Chim and Badger every night before bed and Charlie, many many times per night. Of course that little stinker is waking up 5x a night so that's reassuring :)
Researchers have found a new clue -- a serotonin imbalance, when coupled with external factors such as belly sleeping, can decrease a baby's ability to wake and move when oxygen supply is inadequate.
It's so chilling to think about it. I still check Chim and Badger every night before bed and Charlie, many many times per night. Of course that little stinker is waking up 5x a night so that's reassuring :)
Gisele Bundchen's home birth
She had the baby in the bathtub... on purpose!
http://www.star-magazine.co.uk/breakingnews/view/17591/Gisele-Bundchen-Giving-birth-was-pain-free-/
and she didn't wear maternity clothes!
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/02/02/2010-02-02_model_gisele_bundchen_didnt_need_to_wear_maternity_clothes_while_pregnant_with_s.html
OK, the only thing I really have known about her is that she's with Tom Brady, who, as a resident of the City of Pittsburgh, I am contractually obligated to loathe from the base of my soul (read your tax forms, people, it's in there!).
But that's pretty rad. I love the normalization of pregnancy, natural birth, and mothering.
http://www.star-magazine.co.uk/breakingnews/view/17591/Gisele-Bundchen-Giving-birth-was-pain-free-/
and she didn't wear maternity clothes!
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/02/02/2010-02-02_model_gisele_bundchen_didnt_need_to_wear_maternity_clothes_while_pregnant_with_s.html
OK, the only thing I really have known about her is that she's with Tom Brady, who, as a resident of the City of Pittsburgh, I am contractually obligated to loathe from the base of my soul (read your tax forms, people, it's in there!).
But that's pretty rad. I love the normalization of pregnancy, natural birth, and mothering.
State Bill Would Ban Shackling Female Prisoners Giving Birth
State Bill Would Ban Shackling Female Prisoners Giving Birth
Yeah. That's big of them! There have been times during my hospital births when I have felt like a prisoner -- that gown is a big factor (and why I wore my own clothes for Charlie's birth) -- but can you IMAGINE being actually shackled? Where the hell do they think moms are going to GO? And how quickly do they think they'd be able to run?!
Legislation has been proposed to ban state prisons and county jails in Pennsylvania from shackling pregnant female prisoners to gurneys or beds in prison hospitals at the time they go into labor and give birth.
Yeah. That's big of them! There have been times during my hospital births when I have felt like a prisoner -- that gown is a big factor (and why I wore my own clothes for Charlie's birth) -- but can you IMAGINE being actually shackled? Where the hell do they think moms are going to GO? And how quickly do they think they'd be able to run?!
Cosleeping. With the Co- or the -sleeping.
Charlie is in a cosleeper. He sleeps well in the cosleeper from about 7-8pm until maybe 1am on a good night. I generally end up feeding him and falling asleep with him in bed. If I put him back in the cosleeper for the second half of the night -- well, he doesn't go to sleep. So it takes the "sleeper" out of cosleeper.
So I'm generally fine with having him in bed, cosleeping for realsies. Except for nights like last night when he was ready to greet the day at 4am. That was not OK. No co-. No -sleeping. I brought him downstairs, took the Circle of Neglect (haha, I just love Gretchen's term for the Exersaucer) into the bathroom and took a hot shower. I wasn't handling being woken up early very well and I didn't have the capacity for kind words or loving touch. A shower was just what I needed.
By 5am, I was relaxed and scrubbed clean of most of the bitterness of being up well before the sun. I had a cup of coffee in hand and I was ready to face the day. Of course Charlie wanted a nap by then. We nursed and snuggled on the sofa, and listened to my husband saw wood over the baby monitor. I dozed off myself, but not comfortably since I wasn't correctly positioned or covered (remember, it is January in Pittsburgh!), and if I'm going to share sleep space, I want to do it safely and on the sofa is NOT safely.
I think we need to put the crib together. I think it's time to at least start to ease our way into it. Charlie will hopefully be rolling over and I don't think the cosleeper is safe at that point. And I think it's possible that if I'm not there next to him, I will be able to put him back down and if he stirs, he will be able to settle himself as he does in the first half of the night.
On the other hand... it feels wrong to think about not having him with us.
So I'm generally fine with having him in bed, cosleeping for realsies. Except for nights like last night when he was ready to greet the day at 4am. That was not OK. No co-. No -sleeping. I brought him downstairs, took the Circle of Neglect (haha, I just love Gretchen's term for the Exersaucer) into the bathroom and took a hot shower. I wasn't handling being woken up early very well and I didn't have the capacity for kind words or loving touch. A shower was just what I needed.
By 5am, I was relaxed and scrubbed clean of most of the bitterness of being up well before the sun. I had a cup of coffee in hand and I was ready to face the day. Of course Charlie wanted a nap by then. We nursed and snuggled on the sofa, and listened to my husband saw wood over the baby monitor. I dozed off myself, but not comfortably since I wasn't correctly positioned or covered (remember, it is January in Pittsburgh!), and if I'm going to share sleep space, I want to do it safely and on the sofa is NOT safely.
I think we need to put the crib together. I think it's time to at least start to ease our way into it. Charlie will hopefully be rolling over and I don't think the cosleeper is safe at that point. And I think it's possible that if I'm not there next to him, I will be able to put him back down and if he stirs, he will be able to settle himself as he does in the first half of the night.
On the other hand... it feels wrong to think about not having him with us.
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