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Last week was particularly difficult. My beloved godmother and close friend passed away at a young age (only early 60’s!) from cancer. In lesser and hardly comparable news, I’m not sleeping hardly at all; J has erupted into regular night wakings again; and the in-laws were in town this past weekend. Needless to say, I think stress propelled me into “false” labor on Friday night. I put the term false in quotation marks because “false” labor does not mean you are not really having contractions at regular intervals, it means they don’t progress toward the end goal of effacement and dilation. It also means you’d better have your hospital bag packed and a car seat ready because when you’re almost 37 weeks pregnant and your baby has “dropped,” you know neither the day nor the hour, to quote the Good Book. 1) Signs of pre-labor. There’s the usual gambit. Discuss what the signs are with your healthcare provider. Think things like: mucus plug loss, feeling your baby “drop” or “lighten,” regular contractions that increase in length, intensity, and interval. Even these don’t necessarily mean that you are in a labor state that will progress. If you experience any of these, contact your doula and midwife/doctor. They will probably tell you to take a bath, drink water, lay down, and keep them posted. Check out this comprehensive article on pre-labor signs and the last month of pregnancy, here. I had about five hours of regular 5 minute interval contractions, but they…
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This is part 10 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, and part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here. My sister, Molly W, chose to plan for an unmedicated birth in a metropolitan area where everything about birth was very medicated. She, her husband, and her doula worked hard to make her birth experience the best it could be–and as medicine-free as possible. Talk about determination! The ending is a cliff-hanger, but I promise to give you the rest of the story next week. How Little V Came into This World My pregnancy made its grand finale in the sweltering months of August in New York City. I had ceased taking the train to work at that point, indulging in the luxury of the local Mexican car service. At two weeks to go, I left work a little early on a Friday, feeling out of sorts. I had been having lots of benign contractions in the weeks leading up and I could not stand sitting at a desk another minute. Of course,…
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So some children never use a pacifier, and some parents are vehemently opposed to its use, but some of us have a middle ground approach to it. SuperBoy has used one off and on since he was probably 2 months old. At this stage, 21 months, he only is allowed to use it for naps. There was a day when he forgot about and I rejoiced! But then he remembered it the next day when he saw one on the counter. Why didn’t I have the good sense to have eliminated all of them? When is too old to use one (subjective question, probably) and if you want to cease its use, how do you go about doing that? 1) Age limit for pacifiers? My reading & polling of fellow parents provide a myriad of answers to the question for age limit for pacifier use. Mostly everyone seems to agree that around 12 months, both for medical and psychological reasons, pacifier use should be limited or eliminated. Hm. We’ve blown past that, but maybe our limited use doesn’t make us totally terrible parents. See Baby Center’s article here, Mayo Clinic’s assessment on pacifiers in general here, Mamapedia has this to say about pacifier use here, and one of my favorite resources, Berkeley Parents Network says this on babies here and toddlers here. 2) Weaning it away. Dr. Sears answers parents’ questions on how to wean from a pacifier at 17 months here and at 3 years old here. He’s not a…
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This is part 9 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, and part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here. This first-time mama went through more medical interventions than she had planned, but she stuck with her desire to use as little medical aid as possible and endured terrific and tough pushing to meet her baby girl! Talk about strong. Even with her daughter needing a little extra help to get her breath going, our author has faith in birth process and her daughter’s determination. I wonder where the little sweetie gets that from? A beautiful story to be shared by a sensitive and attuned mother. Before I give my story, I would like to say that a woman’s body is amazing and strong. Everyone is unique and has an amazing birth story. Whether a woman has a c-section, water birth, home birth or some other process, she produces a miracle and accomplishes something extraordinary. I had two goals, besides the most important one of having a healthy baby, for delivery. I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth and a vaginal delivery. Unfortunately, when…
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Who hasn’t forgotten the essentials when you’ve left the house with your child & diaper bag? It’s normal. You’re not alone! Here’s my quick mental checklist for packing a diaper bag for errands and outings. I’ve written on packing for travel (requires much more, duh!), travel with a toddler, and travel with an infant. Do I always bring all these things? Nope. Do I wish I had oftentimes? Yup. Diapers Cover Wipes Changing pad Hand sanitizer Wet bag or whatever you use for your disposables New pants (must must must) New shirt (you never know) New socks (ditto) Small toy that can be lost and forgotten (usually a matchbox car for us) (for a younger baby, a teether or rattle) Happy snack (usually a teething biscuit) Sippy cup for water or other beverage device Two books (to read in the car or to chew on, or whatnot) Allergy meds if you’re child has an allergy (epi pen & benedryl for us) Perhaps a change of tops for you if your child is young and nursing (you never know) For the younger baby, BURP CLOTHS We keep a blanket, emergency first aid kit, bottled water, canned baby food, Luna bars, and car-emergency-stuff in the back of the car as well. You never know!
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As we approach having two children, I contemplate how SuperBoy’s natural inclination toward independence will play out. He will be almost 2 years old by the time his sister arrives. And although he loves to do things on his own, and we encourage him, on the whole, he is accustomed to having assistance with most things. Slowly but surely AA and I have been working on independence in particular areas: feeding himself, picking out his clothing, getting things ready for a diaper change (and putting them away), brushing his teeth, and self-selected play. 1) Feeding himself. He sometimes spends breakfast on my lap, eating his oatmeal & yogurt & fruit combo while we read the paper or a magazine together. Yes, his favorite subscription is Hockey Quarterly (or whatever it’s called that my dad brings over)–he likes to point out all the hockey gear. But he’s just as happy to sit on one of our chairs at the table as well. Occasionally he still eats in his high chair, but that’s more so I can maneuver laundry, chores, and the dogs without him sharing his entree with them (yes, he likes to do this too . . . mostly on their heads). We’ve tried a little person sized table and chair, but one issue I’ve encountered is that some of his plates and bowls don’t have no-skid bottoms so food ends up eluding him. Forks, spoons, cups without tops, finger food, you name it and he likes to explore it.…
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