iMurphy

I’ve been trying to prepare for life after the baby is born. I’ve spent so much time learning about pregnancy, but that only lasts nine months! So, I’ve been attending La Leche League meetings to get the scoop on nursing, and I’ve met a lot of great ladies in the process. I’ve heard so many horror stories about nursing, so it’s been good to talk to women who are actually in the midst of it.

One of the women I met has also sold me on these great all-in-two cloth diapers from My Precious Baby by April. They’re kind of expensive, but extremely well-made. I ordered a couple to try them out. If they work well, I think they’ll be well worth the initial investment. And they’re so much more fun to look at! I’ve also been checking out an online forum on cloth diapering. I’ve found some helpful tips there, but sometimes it seems like they’re making it far more complicated than it needs to be!

I’m also attempting to make my own Maya Wrap baby sling in order to lug our little bundle around. They actually give you the pattern and sewing instructions on their site, as well as free access to their instructional video! That’s a great company, if you ask me!

I’ve been reading a bunch of books, too, while I’ve got the chance. I read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, written by La Leche League. It had a lot of good, basic information on breastfeeding - sort of the Breastfeeding for Dummies - but there were definitely some aspects of their philosophy that I did not agree with, particularly their view of disciplining children (I still don’t understand what that has to do with breastfeeding anyway!). I’m also reading Your Baby’s First Year: Week by Week and The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Pregnancy and Baby Care. I think these will be much more useful as references once our little test subject has arrived. Robert is reading Becoming A Father. He also gets to hear all of the highlights from my books!

We both intend to read The Happiest Baby on the Block since we saw the video in our childbirth class. The author also has a website. Anyway, the gist of the book/video is that the first three months of a baby’s life are really like the fourth trimester in that they really miss the womb. So, this Dr. Karp has outlined five different steps for calming the baby by simulating aspects of the environment of the womb. Really, it’s not as messy as it sounds! These five things are swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking. The great thing about these steps is that they’re all actions that the father can do just as well as the mother, so Robert is really excited about trying them out.