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What kind of carrier are you?
I’m in the middle of a big product search for a baby carrier. And it’s a big confusing world out there. I had no idea.
All I’ve really know about baby carriers I’m sad to say is what I’ve seen in general advertising, and featured on tv/film etc or dare I say it what I’ve seen celebrities photographed wearing.
So the main one I have always been interested in is Baby Bjorn ( I understand they come with quite a good recommendation from health professionals. )
I haven’t made any decisions about which one is for us but I have my priorities.
Posture
- I have a bad back so I require support for my lower back, and the weight to be distributed correctly.
- I don’t want too much preasure through my upper spine either as I’ll have enough strain through my neck and shoulders whilst feeding.
From birth and beyond
- I only want to buy 1. To be easily usuable from birth.
Cost
- Price – of course I’d prefer not to pay a fortune
Design
- Look/Design, I’d prefer something which looks half decent, which my husband and I feel comfortable wearing and not look bulky and ridiculous.
- Unisex design, hopefully the products we come across will be unisex. I’m not a huge fan of floral, and any products I am using, my husband will be using.
……Not essential, but I do quite like the ability to feed on the go discreetly.
So we’ll see what we find, i’ll probably pop off to some stores to get some in store recommendations.
K.
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Excited about Hypnobirthing!
I haven’t even started my course – which we’ll do over 1 full weekend next month in May (so watch this space!!) But the thought that I’ll have this brilliant skill behind me has given me some much needed confidence.
I have seen many videos, read many testimonials and the practice is well and truly a part of mainstream medicine. OB’s are referring patients and of course when I have spoken to my midwives about it to check if they are ok with it (do they need to be educated on it etc) they have told me that they too recommend it.
Terrific!!
Having the right mind set I know is so important. Instead of stressing about labour for months, I’m a ‘little’ excited about it. I am looking forward to using this skill and enable my body to just do what it is made to do. Its one of the most important point I make with my clients. You need to relax, you need to practice relaxing because the more relaxed you are during labour, the better it is all around.
There are of course things that happen that are beyond your control, but even having this skill to deal with a change of plan can only be a bonus.
Very much looking forward to reviewing my experience of Hypnobirthing!
K
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Learning about Cloth Nappies
Last week, my husband and I attended a cloth nappy information evening run by a nearby council. It was a fantastic opportunity to speak with cloth nappy advocates about the option of cloth, the different systems/options available depending on our priorities ie cost, environmental, wash & drying time etc.
In our house hold we have limited space but a drier in our bathroom/ laundry all in one, the ability to dry efficiently is important, and coming into winter we are likely to depend on the drier.
The problem with this is that not all cloth nappies can be dried in a drier as this can create a problem for the integrity of the outer layer – (to my memory) this is the case where the material used is water proof.
The smartest option for us is the all in two (at least the ittie bittie brand), the pocket option or hybrids, but I think we’ll take a look at most of the systems. I guess you never know what is going to work best of the house hold and the baby.
The company who put on this evening was Little Diamond Bums, the ladies were a delight, very informative and helpful without trying to ‘convince’ anyone.
I was lucky enough to win one of the 2 door prizes, and the prize turned out to be exactly the right one for us. Its an all in one but the ‘insert’ portion is partly sewed in. Sewed in on only one end so that the nappy can be laid out and dried efficiently. There are also snaps available on the underside of the insert so boosters can be snapped in if needed. (for night times as an example). The nappy we were lucky enough to win was from Ittie Bittie a very cute nappy for an ittie bittie bottie.
http://www.littlediamondbums.com/
K
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A little bit of exciting news!
I haven’t been on the blog for a while, I have had an extremely tiring time recently but I am excited to say that I am around 4 months pregnant. Its been an exhausting past couple of weeks but I am just so glad so far that I haven’t had any ‘morning sickness’.
Its an amazing experience having studied the process of pregnancy to now be experiencing it myself. I truly have a great appreciation for what my clients have dealt with….. Although we all experience it in slightly different ways.
I am hoping to use this as a platform topics of great interest:
- Maternity clothes to last pre and post natal….and on hopefully!
- Getting creative with thrifty infant clothes
- HypnoBirthing
- Infant massage
- Products, Products, Products!!!
Maternity clothes – my goal is to not spend a heap of money on maternity clothes I’ll never wear again. There are items you just need as straight maternity but if I can get clothes that will change with my changing shape….then I’ll be very happy.
Infant clothes – I really don’t want to spend a whole lot of infant clothes, and hoping that I impart some of my creativity to make some fairly basic all in ones into designer all in ones.
Hypno Birthing – That’s it, we are registered and ready to go to learn the amazing skill of hypnobirthing. Its probably the most exciting part of this whole process for me. I don’t know how things will go, and whether I’ll require a c-section as my mother needed. But it gives me a huge amount of confidence knowing I’ll have this skill for labour no matter what ends up happening. But I think it will be wonderful skill for my husband and I to learn as a relaxation tool.
Infant massage- I really can’t wait to start practicing this on my own little one. To hopefully be able to some relief to wind & gas, help make my little one relaxed during what I can see is tough life transition. Teaching the bub about body awareness, helping with weight gain, sleep, and stimulating the nervous system to assist with learning.
Products – I will be reviewing any products which come our way.
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Mid Week Muse – Relaxation!
Relaxation techniques
I have previously mentioned that I am going sky diving, with that I have found myself thinking about ways or focusing and relaxing in stressful situations. This marries well with my previous mid week muse being hypno birthing.
How fantastic to have skills to deal with stressful situations, that pop up when we least expect them to or when we sign up for huge events and to get the most out of them require a clear mind.
So what is stress?
From life line:
‘Stress is a natural human response to pressure when faced with challenging and sometimes dangerous situations. That pressure is not only about what’s happening around us, but often also about demands we place on ourselves. Experiencing stress is part of being alive and some stress helps increase our alertness and energy to meet challenging situations.If stress lasts a long time or overwhelms our ability to cope, it can have a negative affect on our health, wellbeing, relationships, work and general enjoyment of life.
Stress doesn’t have to control our lives. We can improve our knowledge about stress and increase our resources to become more resilient. ‘
When stress becomes long term and affects more and more of our lives the most sensible thing to do is speak to a qualified therapist. Lifeline is a perfect a example of support for anyone might be overwhelmed by stress, and anxiety or depression.
Here are some techniques I have found for dealing with stressful situations such as sky diving.
Some ideas from Start Sky Diving.comAlmost all the techniques begin with slower, deeper, controlled breathing. Learn to breathe from deep in your lungs, using the muscles of your diaphragm. Practice breathing in slowly until your lungs are full and then emptying your lungs completely when you breathe out.
While you practice controlled breathing, you can use one of several suggested devices to relax your mind and your body:
Visualisation:
Imagine yourself in a familiar, comfortable place, trying to visualize every sensual experience that you can associate with it: sight, sound, odor, taste, and touch. Picture the colors of the background and the details, try to smell the air as it would be, imagine you hear the sounds, and feel the air on your face. Imagine you just took a sip of your favorite drink.Consciously relax each part of your body:
Relax your body part by part, starting with your toes, then your ankles, calves, thighs, hips, abdomen, etc., spending five to ten seconds in each place while continuing your controlled breathing.Concentrate on your breathing:
Count up to ten with each breath and then backward to zero.
There are many other relaxation techniques you can borrow or develop, but choose one and practice it until you perfect it, even when you’re not skydiving. That way, you can relax yourself quickly and effectively whenever the need arises-such as just before a skydive.K,
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Mid Week Muse – ‘Hypnobirthing’
Today’s mid week muse is not a person, but an inspiring technique women are using for labour.
Hypnobirthing is a technique, skill or tool used by women to allow them to move calmly through their labour.
I for one have grown up to associate birth with pain, as an ordeal and at times traumatising. But after discovering hypnobirthing I really see it as a valid option.
Now this is just my personal opinion on a subject I am keen to know more about, but would also like to share this as I think its just a really empowering option
From what I have seen, hypnobirthing does NOT put the women in any kind of ‘trace’ like we see in hypnotism shows. These lucky women appear completely aware of their surroundings, talking, interacting yet completely relaxed and at ease.
In a deep state of relaxation, self guided or assisted by her partner or support person, she has these great skills for dealing with contractions – although some that I have seen on Youtube mention these as ‘pressure waves’.
For me I see it as another valid labour option, it allows women to take control of their birth and take the fear out of a very normal, natural human process.
I for one think that any method of giving birth which the mother chooses or requires medically is just fine, drugs, epidural and c-section etc all have their place. And I believe women really need to keep their minds open as anything can happen during labour. A woman could have all intentions of having a hypnobirth but for reasons beyond her control require a c- section etc.
But in saying this, they can also reap the benefits of hypnobirthing even if they require assistance down the track. It can keep her calm and conserve her energy.
K.
Some links to discover more:
Great video to understand more: http://www.5min.com/Video/Learn-about-HypnoBirthing—Using-Hypnosis-142082044
http://www.birthsenseaustralia.com.au/home?hypnobirthing-birth-baby&gclid=CPjeloeguKwCFWhLpgod6Cv2Fw
http://hypnobirthingrocks.com.au/
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Midweek Muse – Paula Davis
My Mid Week Muse is Paula Davis.
Paula Davis is a counselor who made a trip to Uganda in 2004 to teach at the Uganda University.
During this visit she was confronted by the many women who had been raped due to the war between the country’s government and rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army.
Sadly many women, some as young as 11 had fallen pregnant and don’t’ want their baby and have difficulty bonding.
On returning to Australia, Paula took a course in infant Massage – just by chance from ‘The Infant Massage Information Service’ (yes this is who I trained through!) in order to return to Africa to introduce baby massage.
Paula is to travel to visit women in Africa donating a baby doll (to assist in their practice) and massage oils and will pass on her skills to the mothers
What an amazing gift she is giving to these beautiful people, their community, and a life long gift she is giving to the mother and baby.
An article of Paula Davis was written for the ‘Hills News’, ‘Baulkham Hills mum off to Africa to help mums bond’ by Flora Cauchi, 31st May 2011.http://www.hillsnews.com.au/news/local/news/general/baulkham-hills-mum-off-to-africa-to-help-mums-bond/2179267.aspx
K.
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Midweek Muse – Fred Mack
This is a quick one but a good one.
What’s more inspiring than someone who manages to actually reach 100 years? I think its someone who at 100years does something most of us are too terrified to do in our younger years…. Fred Mack celebrated his 100th birthday this year by going sky diving. Incredible!
This year, Fred jumped (tandem ) at 4,000m in New Jersey USA. If I had a hat on, id surely take my hat off to you Fred.
And why would I bring up a sky diver as my Midweek Muse? Well im about to embark on a sky dive myself and im terrified!! But if he can do it at 100 then I should have nothing to worry about.
We can all do amazing things at any age!!
K.
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Benefits Of Infant Massage – Improved Sleep
Benefits of infant massage – Improved Sleep
Benefits for infants:
- Less disruptive bedtime behaviours,
- Require a shorter period of time to fall asleep
- Improved quality of sleep (deeper sleep).
Benefits for parents: Reduced anxiety about putting the child to sleep.
Sleep is improved due to increased serotonin levels and regulated melatonin secretions.
For more information on how massage can improve sleep for infants and toddlers read the below abstract from the Touch Research Institute –
University of Miami:
Who performed study -Field, T., & Hernandez-Reif, M. Date of study (Received 10 March 2001)
Field, T., & Hernandez-Reif, M., (2001). Sleep problems in infants decrease following massage therapy. Early Child Development and Care, 168, 95-104.
Infants and toddlers with sleep onset problems were given daily massages by their parents for 15 minutes prior to bedtime for one month. Based on parent diaries the massaged versus the control children (who were read bedtime stories) showed fewer sleep delay behaviors and had a shorter latency to sleep onset by the end of the study. Forty-five minute behavior observations by an independent observer also revealed more time awake, alert and active and more positive affect in the massaged children by the end of the study.
http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/InfantMassage.html
For more information on infant massage services check the Two Circles Massage ‘Infant Massage’ tab or ‘Prices & Packages’ tab.
K.
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Midweek Muse – Liz Murray
Before I start this weeks Midweek Muse, I just want to say that not all will be female oriented, there will be a mix of male/female and old/young and also unsung ‘heros’ and those who have had some media attention.
My Midweek Muse is Liz Murray. Her story was featured in a book and film.
Liz grew up in the Bronx in New York City, her parent were two loving, however drug addicted parents who later both contracted AIDS. She began working where should could at age 9 in supermarkets and petrol stations, and became homeless at age 15 after her mother passed away and her father moved to a homeless shelter.
She began attending a high school, and although she started high school a little later than her peers and didn’t have a consistent home she managed to graduate in only two years and was awarded a scholarship allowing her to be accepted into Harvard University, Gradating in 2000.
She returned home to care for her father and continued her education at a local university, before returning to Harvard to earn a doctorate after her father passed away from AIDS.
She is the founder and director of Manifest Living, whose mission it is to ‘empower adults to create the extraordinary things in their lives.’ Check out her website and the work she is doing in the community.
http://manifestliving.com/bio/
A truly inspiring woman, who is clearly driven to want more. Considering the environment she grew up in, its amazing that she had the maturity and strength to care for both her parents who both died due to AIDS, whilst supporting her family and still focus on her studies, excel and be a Harvard Graduate.
Majority of young people in her position could have easily fallen through the cracks and ended up much like her parents. I’m interested to know what or who in her life gave her the drive to excel.
I’ll definitely be following her story.
K.
