Wearing Baby

So any new Mom to be knows that the baby market is filled with tons of interesting, gotta have it items. From baby spa baths to little trinkets that really have no use, a Mom can get overwhelmed really quickly. I was no different. I had spent countless hours reading reviews, researching products and bombarding more experienced Moms with questions of what they recommend before ever purchasing or adding items to our registry. There was however, one item that I knew that I had to have for our little one and that was a baby sling. I am not sure when I fell in love with the idea of "baby wearing", I just knew that it was something I wanted to do with our child as well, and after lots of research on the topic, I decided that it was the best choice for our family to make. 

Before I get into the benefits of why I choose a baby sling, I want to share with you my choice of sling. From research, there are many kinds of slings on the market. From cloth ones that require little work, cloth ones that require some skill, to the regular carriers that you normally see everywhere. I decided that I wanted a cloth sling, but I am not skilled as yet into actually tying a sling on my own, so a cloth sling that requires little skill was the best option for me. For this reason, I chose the Baby K'tan slings (pictured above). After looking at the product, the videos, reviews and hearing some Moms talk about it, I was sold. Even though baby is not here as yet, it's one of the items in my possession that I am most excited to use (I even tried it on one of my stuffed animals just to see..lol). I figured until I get skilled at tying cloth into a sling, I can use this knowing baby is safe. 

So here are the top reasons I wanted a sling:

1. It improves attachment: Sure, as a mother, the one carrying the baby for 9 months you have a bond and attachment already there. So what's a little more attachment! Think of it as an outside womb where baby can feel your warmth and hear your heart beat!Studies show that this physical attachment with your baby improves bonds between mother/father and child through adulthood and who does not want that! I think its also a good way for Dads to get in on carrying baby and creating that bond too. Ladies you probably don't want to get a pink sling if you intend to share with your husband :)

2. Fosters communication between Mom and Baby: Wearing your baby helps the mother become more attuned to the gestures and facial expressions more easily. Mothers learn very quickly what each expression/gesture means. Because of this, we are able to attend to the needs of baby sooner, and in some cases, women report, without baby even crying! The more we can attend to the needs of the child as a mother without them becoming too fussy, the more their trust in us increases. However the benefit does not stop there, in addition to possibly less crying, mothers get to build confidence in knowing that they can attend to their baby's needs without too much guess work. 

3. Breastfeeding!: Some say that breastfeeding and baby wearing go hand in hand, and I have to agree. Baby wearing will place baby always near to his source of food! Making it not only convenient for baby, but for Mom too. This was one of the main reasons I wanted a sling as well (other than wanting to be close to baby for attachment purposes)

4. Convenience: Yes, this is a good reason to consider doing something as well! When I think about how busy my day gets, I think that this is a great way to have baby with me always. After all, at the moment, baby is with me all the time. When I am hustling around the kitchen, or on catering gigs, he is with me...on the inside sure, but he is very used to all my motion and movement. When he is a little older, with the ways that I can use a sling, I can wear him in the kitchen and around the house for certain simple tasks. I will be able to have two free hands and baby will be developing his vestibular system which controls his balance.

5. Ok, ok, I think its cute!: Yes, I think its adorable to see parents wearing their babies in a sling. What's wrong with that?! I also think its very natural to wear your baby. 

So for all the reasons and more (you can read about benefits of wearing baby HERE), do you think wearing your baby is something you'd do? And if so, what product will you use?

How I Chickened Out!

                         Long before becoming pregnant, I fell in love with the idea of water births. I remember exactly how this love began! I was sitting in the middle of a Psychology class and one of my favorite professors, Dr. King was showing us a video on the topic. I believe the class was all about Child Development, and as a Psychology major I bought into everything the video said. It listed the benefits of birthing in water, as well as highlighted some things that did not necessarily happen in a regular hospital setting that was also beneficial for baby. At that time, I was in my early 20's.
                           When my husband and I got married (I was almost 30), I shared that having a  water birth was important to me. I shared the benefits, showed him a video and we decided that we'd plan to go to a birthing center when we got pregnant. Our initial plan was to plan our kids for three years after we were married, but we ended up pushing it back to our fourth year going into fifth, which is where we are now. Having said that, when we conceived, I furiously started looking into places I can have a water birth.
                           So picture this. We had just relocated to Tennessee in October after my husband finished his schooling, and we were pregnant in December! Where I envisioned us having our kids was now many, many miles away in Florida, so my plan to go to a specific birthing center was crushed. However, I discovered in Tennessee that home births seemed to be a really thriving option and whats more, having a water birth at home was also an option. Score....what can be sweeter than that! (Plus, I thought it would be great paying homage to an almost forgotten type of care in respects to my grandmother who is a retired midwife herself and delivered hundreds of babies as well!). So I found some midwives available for me to speak to, and figured my mind was made up. I was going to have my first born child, in the comfort of my home, in a tub in the living room, with my husband being able to catch the baby as he came out, complete with  dim lights, candles and music. Sounds romantic right?
                            Then somewhere in my research of midwives, reality set in, and all of a sudden I became terrified. What if something happened to this child during this process of me wanting to go completely out of the box? What if they could not get me to a hospital in time? What if they missed something during a check up? All the what-ifs started to bombard me and the more the questions came up, the further and further away I saw myself from my ideal birth dream. I did not even make official appointments with any of the midwives to discuss my fears. All of a sudden, this Mom to be who tries to avoid hospitals AT ALL COSTS was quickly on her way to making sure I was booked at a local hospital for our son's birth. How did I get here?
                             Shortly after my decision, over Sabbath potluck, I learned of a first time young mother who decided to follow through on her plan and gave birth at home. I could have kicked myself, and sometimes I wonder if I have made the right decision in choosing to birth in a hospital and not at home, or at least a birthing center. Even now, I have thoughts of dropping my OB and heading to the nearest midwife, especially when I start seeing those bills coming in! However, for now, I still don't think I have the guts to go through with a home birth even though it would give me my dream option of having a water birth. I have spoken to my OB in depth about certain things that I would like to be facilitated, and only time will tell if these things actually do happen. I think though that once I get through my first birthing experience, I would be more confident to be able to choose my dream option for the second baby. So to all the Moms, both past and present, who have had their baby at home, I salute you. I consider you the most brave and confident women because you have trusted that our bodies were made to go through this process naturally!

                                If you would like to learn more about the benefits for both Mom and baby by having a water birth, you can read HERE. In another post I would shed some light on some key things I wish for in my birthing plan (should it be able to be followed) for a hospital birth, including my doctor agreeing to let my husband cut the umbilical cord. 

Eww...You're Doing What???

                              This is the response I tend to get when I tell people that we are choosing to cloth diaper our little bundle of joy. I also get "Are you crazy?", "Why would you do that?", "Are you guys poor?", "Do you need me to buy you some diapers?" and my favorite "You're going to have to be scrubbing and touch poo...ewwww".
                              Truthfully, if you told me that I would be going the option of cloth diapering a couple years ago, I would have said "Me, NEVER", but like all things, perspective changes with time. So what would make a girl who is grossed out by puke and many other bodily functions, choose to undertake cloth diapering? Well here are some of my reasons (not listed in any particular order).

1. Cost Effective. Before even becoming pregnant I was aware of the cost of diapers. Every parent, at some time in their child's first years chime in unison that diapers are expensive. According to my research one child will use approximately 8,000 diapers by the time they potty train. Add in disposable wipes and parents will probably spend between $800.00 to $1000.00 a year in disposables. Cloth diapers on the other hand run you a start up for as little as $300 to as much as $1000.00 (sometimes even more)  if you choose  the high end of cloth diapering. So where is the savings? Well the savings is in buying all you need upfront, usually 24 to 30 diapers depending on how often you wish to do laundry. (And you don't use as much water or electricity if you have washers and dryers that are energy efficient)  I know some women who only have 14 diapers and wash more often than someone who has 24. The genius is in never having to buy another diaper for your child until he/she potty trains, mostly because the newer diapers are mostly one sized, which means they grow with your baby! I really liked this feature, and this was one of the reasons we choose to cloth diaper. Not only that, but we would like to have another child and we can pass down the diapers we already bought to him/her, thus eliminating to buy diapers at all! Lastly, we believe that this is a good way we can strive to be good stewards of the resources the Lord has blessed us with.

2. The Environment: About a year ago, there was a Sabbath school lesson about being stewards of God's creation and the earth. It really made me more aware of how much we should not be adding to the ruin of our planet, but caring after what we can. As a vegetarian family, we could not reconcile trying to be natural with our foods and then turning around and dumping so much unnecessary waste into a landfill. Waste that would take years to decompose, and if and when it does, could seep into the water supply for plants and animals. It just made no sense that we try to live such a healthy conscience life and neglect something so big as this. My husband and I don't believe that we will make the earth a better place, or help restore Eden, we just believe that we can do our part not to contribute to the waste that's already there. Just imagine that one baby in disposable diapers produces over a ton of waste in the first few years of life!

There are other reasons why people choose to cloth diaper, but practicing stewardship and not convenience is the main reason that we have chosen this method. Oh, wait, they are adorably cute too. The other reasons I would be able to comment about as we journey into CD'ing (Cloth Diapering) when the baby comes, but just to give you an idea, here are some reasons people site for using cloth diapers.

• Babies using cloth diapers generally potty train sooner than other kids
• Using cloth decreases diaper rashes. Some Mom's even report babies never having diaper rashes.
• Temperatures in disposables can cause boys to experience infertility later on in life.
• Comfort: Your baby's bum is in lovely cotton!
• OH, AND DID I MENTION THEY ARE CUTE!

What are some reasons why you use cloth diapering? What are some reasons why you will never use cloth diapering?

Crunchy??

                                When we decided to cloth diaper our son ( due in September 2013), I started doing a lot of research on the topic. During my research, I came across the word "crunchy mama" as a word that a blogger used to describe herself. At first I did not pay attention to it, but as I kept coming across it, I figured I would Google it and see what it means. According to the Urban Dictionary, Crunchy, or specifically, a Crunchy Mama is a "Mother who supports home birth, breastfeeding, baby wearing cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods."  

                             While I may not match up to this definition completely, I did not realize there was a word for the person I have become. While there are some things I disagree on, e.g gentle discipline, co-sleeping, many of the other words describe me exactly. So I guess I am almost crunchy?? Or at least not quite crunchy. Either way, I am liking the term!

                           Even though we may  go about doing things a little unorthodox, above all we pray and strive to be Godly parents to our little son, because in the end, that's all that is important. So follow me as I blog about this new journey into parenthood,the decisions we made, the books we are reading and all we are doing to prepare! Hopefully, I would be able to keep this blog up even after baby arrives so you can share in our journey with us.