We have come to realize in the world of baby-rearing, we are consistently edging towards the land of hippy-dom, as James would put it. I would prefer to consider us more enlightened, but that seems to relegate the rest of parents to unenlightened, which is certainly not what I mean. So instead, let's think of us as offbeat.
Offbeat choice #1
Midwife and Birth Center
"You aren't going to a doctor or a hospital????" (insert shocked gasp here)
No. We aren't. Reasons for this are plenty, but the gist of it is that James and I don't see pregnancy and birth as a medical condition, just as normal and totally natural phases of life. Midwives are fully trained and completely capable of handling the care of woman in a normal pregnancy and birth. Just as a birth center, or your own home, is totally equipped to handle a normal birth. Being our first, I feel most comfortable at the birth center over home simply due to its stone's throw proximity to the hospital should an emergency arise. It is extremely common in other countries for midwives to attend births over doctors unless there is a complication. Those countries also have lower infant and maternal mortality and lower c-section rates.
"But can you get an epidural there?
No. I can't. And I don't want one either. We will be going au'natural for this baby. Again, for lots of reasons, but the biggest one is that I believe that it is better for mom and baby. We have already begun our natural birth classes to start preparing me. Please though, don't try to tell me about how naive I'm being because that doesn't help anyone. I am making an educated and fully informed decision on this one.
Offbeat Choice #2
Cloth Diapers
"You know that you have to wash those, don't you?"
Yea, I'm aware they get washed instead of tossed out. For us, they are the more economical choice as well as the more environmentally conscience. Plus they are so dang cute! I feel bad for moms with ugly white disposable diapers with little cartoon characters. I get tons of colors and patterns to choose from. For those of you who haven't had to pick out diapers in a while, much as changed in the world of cloth diapering in the last however many years. Now-a-days, you can buy diapers that go on and off just like a disposable without pins and then just gets chunked in the wash when you are done. See...
They are pink! How can you resist?!
Babies who are in cloth also have less diaper rash and fewer blowouts since fabric is so much stronger, yet gentler. Less weird pee sucking chemicals coming in contact with my baby's tushie sounds good to me too.
Offbeat Choice #3
Babywearing
What is that crazy contraption anyways?
While more common now than it used to be, wearing your baby to the grocery store instead of bringing her in a car seat does get you some side eyed looks. But, wearing your baby promotes bonding, reduces SIDS, and gives mom 2 free hands. Plus, it’s pretty hard to kidnap a kid strapped to you. We are planning on using 2 different kinds to start with. The first is the Moby wrap.
The Moby is a long piece of stretchy fabric that you wrap around in different ways to hold the baby. It is really good especially for newborns that like feeling all cozied up to mommy or daddy. We already have this one thanks to Uncle Chris.
The second one we are still planning on getting is the Ergo, as in ergonomic.
The Ergo is a soft-structured carrier that is better for baby and wearing than the more popular Bjorn. It distributes weight much more evenly so you don't end up with tired shoulders and it allows the baby the face inwards to avoid overstimulation.
We still might try out some other types of carriers too like slings, but for now, this is what we've got.
