Preparation for childbirth

Well, you probably know I'm a Bradley Method natural childbirth teacher. I like Bradley a lot, but I teach it every week, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week, and I wanted to try something different this time. I ordered the Hypnobabies home study course and have been using the self-hypnosis CDs for a couple of weeks now. I'm just starting to get into it consistently and so far it's really cool. www.hypnobabies.com

I expect this birth to be easier than my first for many reasons. The biggest is that I'll be at home, where I'm most comfortable. It's also my 2nd baby, and those are supposed to be easier. So I won't really be able to compare Hypnobabies and Bradley with any kind of scientific precision. But it will be interesting either way :)

Nursing update, and response to comment

At 22.5 months or so, Maddie's nursing about 3 times a day most days. Yesterday, she didn't nurse at all. I've been working on weaning her slowly (obviously) and it has been trauma-free so far.

There's a comment about nursing in the comments section and I'm sure Chad's cousin Larry isn't the only one thinking that this seems like a long time to nurse, so I wanted to respond.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6-8 months, then nursing for *at least* a year, and as long as is mutually desireable. The World Health Organization recommends nursing for at least 2 years. In other countries, this is considered normal and healthy. In our country, only 14% of babies are nursed for 6 months. The health benefits for babies AND toddlers of nursing are overwhelming. It's no wonder with such miserable breastfeeding rates that our country, though the richest in the world, is one of the sickest in the developed world. Breastfeeding doesn't just benefit babies-it also benefits mothers, with reductions in many types of cancers, diabetes, osteoperosis, etc. The longer a mother breastfeeds, the greater the benefits.

So by American standards I may be odd, but my daughter's extremely healthy. She's never sick, and I have greatly reduced my risk of breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, and osteoperosis later in life. I have reduced her chances of diabetes and all types of cancer. I've provided her with an optimal immune system. I've helped her jaw and facial development, and saved her from all types of stomach upsets.

For more information on the bazillion benefits of breastfeeding, here's a great site:

http://www.promom.org/101/

20-week update

Apparently I'm not the best about updating my blog!

My first prenatal (awhile ago) went well. Prenatals with a homebirth midwife are so different from even hospital-based midwives. it's like another universe from OB appointments. I've had (and will have) no pelvic/vaginal exams, and I haven't had to wear a paper gown ;) My first prenatal was at a mutual friend's house, and very laid back. I've decided not to expose the baby to any ultrasound, and since I was only about 15 weeks, the midwife wasn't able to find the heartbeat with a fetascope yet (usually around 20-22 weeks).

I started feeling a lot more movement in the past couple of weeks. This morning I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time (I bought a fetascope on Ebay). It's very different from the doppler, which is all loud and magnified. It's almost like you feel the heartbeat in your ears, not really HEAR it. It's really cool.

I'm sort of at a loss for names. I was leaning towards John Benjamin for a boy but now it just doesn't feel right. Now out of nowhere I keep thinking about Ethan, a name I never really thought about before. And the girl names are totally eluding us. Oh well!