by Liz | All Things Kids, Chaos Hacks
At some point during their pregnancy, every first time mom considers the question of meds vs. no meds. For some, this is a very simple decision. For others (like me!), it can be a long drawn-out brawl and it’s never clear who the victor might be. I’ve been fortunate with my pregnancy thus far and have had no indications of possible complications. Until I hear otherwise, I’m going with the assumption that I will have a vaginal birth rather than a c-section. Obviously this can change up to the last minute, but the more prepared I can be for the marathon of labor the better off I’ll be (at least in my own head).
For my own reference, I’ve used various methods to become better informed and I’m sure I still have a long way to go.
- Talk to friends and relatives: Everyone’s experience is different and everyone’s threshold for pain can vary widely. I found it was really encouraging (for both sides of the debate) to hash it out with friends and relatives about their own birth stories. The thing to remember is, there’s no right or wrong answer. You have to do what you are comfortable with and what is best for you and your baby.
- Read up on the risks and benefits: There are tons of books and websites out there chock full of useful information. Remember though, take everything with a grain of salt. Those who are dedicated to their belief system can be almost fanatical in their opinions. While your source may contain lots of great information, there are bound to be some misleading facts and/or comments thrown in as well.
- Write out a birth plan: This may sound a little silly at first, but it may just force you to consider some of the things you’ve been avoiding. Even if it’s just for your own reference, having all these details in one place can be reassuring and may even help you make some decisions you’ve been putting off.
- Attend the nerdy birth classes: Most hospitals offer these and some are more up to date than others. We attended a breastfeeding class along with LaMaze and are signed up for baby CPR. The LaMaze class, while a bit outdated in some respects, was definitely helpful in informing my husband and reinforcing much of the information I’ve learned over the past few months. We’re going to need all the help we can get, so having a few other tactics available to us definitely made the class worthwhile. It may be a bit of a drag at the time, but what’s 8 hours when you consider the new life that will soon be in your hands?
Regardless of your decision, I firmly believe it’s worth reading up on a natural birth. As women, our lives have been completely overrun with information on how NOT to get pregnant. Now, wonder of all wonders, we’ve managed to accomplish the impossible and are patiently awaiting the newest addition to our family. Due to the wealth of information available, this is both a happy and terrifying experience. You are completely inundated with advice and information that is usually well-meaning, but not always well-researched. As a mother-to-be, it’s now our job to sift through the facts, rumors and outright untruths until we manage to eek out a semblance of understanding about this incredible process.
Use the resources available to you and definitely consult your doctors and midwives. Even among medical professionals, there are many schools of thought and finding the right balance for you is important.
Here are a few resources I found useful:
birthingnaturally.net
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
Dona International
Google search “epidural vs. natural” for pure opinion based info
by Liz | All Things Kids
My family and friends threw an absolutely amazing baby shower this weekend! We are completely overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and well wishes for our much-anticipated new arrival. Times like this remind me of the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.”. I believe this whole-heartedly! We would never be where we are today without the support and generosity of our families, friends and the many other amazing people we encounter along the way. A million thanks to everyone who has touched our lives in so many ways!!
by Liz | All Things Kids, Chaos Hacks
One of the many challenges with our small cottage is…what gear to buy and what gear to forgo. Fortunately, we have some friends who had their first child while in New York city so had some great advise. Here are a few things we’re contemplating for the near future:
- Forget the highchair! We really don’t have a dining room table or any place to store, let alone utilize a highchair. For the first few months, we obviously won’t need one. For now, we’re likely going to skip the highchair and as a workaround, rely on a bumbo baby seat with tray, or a portable highchair. If we can contain the mess, we might stand a chance with one or both of these!
- Xtreme organization: As I’ve mentioned a few dozen times, we have tiny closets. Before baby arrives, we invested in a few (relatively inexpensive) closet organizers. Having a few extra shelves can make a world of difference. Someone also suggested size tags for baby clothes to help you stay up to date on which size to pull out next and which outfits can be packed away. We’ll be using our attic space and plastic bins to cycle through the various stages of baby-gear so we don’t have too much clutter at one time, especially with items we won’t need right away.
- Consult the experts: There are lots of books and sites out there to help you make informed decisions about baby products. This is one book someone mentioned to me that I found particularly helpful: Baby Bargains. Definitely get the most up to date version for the best info, but regardless…there are some great tips in here for finding the right product for you.
- Portable, portable, portable: Many types of gear come in portable or travel-type options. These are great for people with small space as they can be compressed or folded and stuck under a bed/crib or in the back of a closet for when they’re needed. There’s no need for the full-sized version if you can make-do with the portable version. A few ideas are: snap & go strollers to give you some ease of use with the infant car seat. This is helpful and economical until you need a full-sized stroller. There are also portable highchairs as mentioned above, portable cribs/pack n’ play options, bassinets and co-sleepers and much much more.
- Borrow what you can: We are fortunate in that many of our friends have had babies recently so they have some of the gear we’ve been looking at. Rather than purchase our own, we plan to borrow whatever is up for grabs. This saves us on storage space before we need the items, and lets us give the items back when we’ve outgrown them!
by Liz | All Things Kids, Chaos Hacks
Our nursery is rather short on space, as is the rest of our little cottage. It’s approximately 9 feet by 9 feet, but one wall is almost entirely taken up by a closet and our stacked washer/dryer. Another wall has a door in one corner, so cramming the needed furniture and trappings has been difficult to say the least.
Last weekend I reorganized the closet so we could at least accommodate our laundry hamper, vacuum, linen closet, my non-maternity clothes AND…a teeny bit of space for our baby’s needs. Oh and the same closet also houses our water heater…did I mention we’re low on space?
Once we managed to remove the remains of our guest room furniture from the space, we could finally get a sense of how the nursery will be set up. Here are a few snapshots of what we have so far, though they have yet to find their proper places. We’re going to live with the current arrangement a while to be sure we’re content with it.
The crib and dresser came from a local store that was having a big sale (40% off!) a few months ago. This allowed us to get higher quality pieces but at more reasonable prices. Needless to say, we were very excited about this! We went with a white/antique finish so it’ll complement any color we end up with. The crib also converts to a toddler bed and later to a full-sized bed. If we eventually move to a larger house, this will be ideal for either child or guest room.
We found the rug at a Pottery Barn outlet. For some reason that is completely imperceptible to us, this rug was deemed a “second” and thus relegated to the outlet shelves. We were fortunate enough to find it (actually, my husband spotted it first) so we snatched it up. The one complication is…we have to paint the room. Even though we’re having a girl, we were happy to leave the room the dusky shade of blue it currently is. Once we brought the rug home, my husband took one look and said…”I’m painting it.” As he chose the rug, who am I to argue!?
Our last find was the glider. We don’t have room for one of the larger and more padded models, so if we even purchased a glider…we knew it had to be compact. We finally found a smaller, sleeker model on a discount site and were thrilled when we got it. It’s just the right size and still incredibly comfortable. The only disappointment was the color. It’s a bit dark for our color choices. For now, I threw a blanket over it and in time I can always recover it (when I find the time…and energy, of course).
Now the search is on for bedding and other necessary bits of organization that will complete the room. More to come on those as time goes on!
