Why I read parenting books….

I haven’t been blogging much lately because I have been devouring parenting books (and, I admit it, The Hunger Games trilogy). As with everything parenting, there are a TON of different ideas out there about what even makes a good parenting book (or blog) much less the different advice that’s to be found. Some people are even firmly against parenting books, or only ascribe to one and that is their parenting bible. That’s fine, if that works for them. But, I think you learn a lot more if you take a variety of books and blogs and pick and choose different ideas from them. You don’t even have to read through the entire book or blog, I certainly don’t… skim, flip through the index, grab a chapter here and there, and replace it until I start saying things like “Is that normal?”…”Ugh, how am I supposed to handle that?!” and my intuition just isn’t cutting it.

This one goes out to all the Grandparents-to-be…

Grandparents-to-be, so hopeful and excited (hopefully) about their grandbabies. So ready to hold the sweet baby all snuggled in your arms, warm and cooing. It brings back memories of your own babies, it gives you joy for the future, it gives you the peace of mind knowing that you won’t be the one getting up at all hours to feed and change poopy diapers LOL. But, how can you be an awesome grandparent? How can you be supportive and a great resource for your children, the new parents, while still getting to do all that fun grandparent stuff (like spoil the grandkids with treats that mom and dad may not want them having)?

She got the job even after she told them she was pregnant

If  you didn’t know (I didn’t until today), Yahoo has hired a new CEO: Marissa Mayer. Ms. Mayer is, interestingly, pregnant and disclosed this fact at her hiring. I personally think it’s pretty awesome that Yahoo chose to look past the fact that Ms. Mayers will be out of work for a few weeks and go off of her ability as a CEO instead. She has tons of experience as a technology industry bigshot, but a lot of people seem caught up on her being pregnant. According to the article Forbes wrote about the subject, the fact that she’s pregnant could make the new CEO more powerful. She has tons of experience as a technology industry bigshot, but a lot of people seem caught up on her being pregnant.

What?

The Breastfeeding Short List: 7 Things to get you started

The other day I taught my last class in a 6 class childbirth series. It was, of course, bitter sweet because I get kinda attached to the students I’ve seen over those 6 weeks. I’ve watched their bellies grow with their babies and seen their knowledge and confidence grow with each class. The last class that I teach is all about newborn care and in that class I do a far too brief lesson on breastfeeding. I realized, as I was about 45 minutes into the 20 minute lesson (ooops!) that I need to come up with a short list of must-knows for the breastfeeder-to-be and her (hopefully) supportive partner.

Please feel free to make suggestions and additions to my attempt at a Breastfeeding Short List!

Musings about an Early Pregnancy Class

A lot has been going on in the world of Mommy Baby Spot. I know, I know…I have been pretty off the grid so you probably figured I was off on some fantastic beach being fanned by a cute cabana boy. Alas, this is not true (and I wouldn’t trade my SO for ANY cute cabana boy fyi). I have been rather busy with my Courage to Birth Childbirth Classes — which are going wonderfully, thanks for asking — I have attended a birth that I had not expected to attend because their Doula ended up being on vacation (not her fault, baby came 3 weeks early), and I am forming a new class that will cover early pregnancy.

So, I ask you: What did you want to know / wish you had known when you first got pregnant?

I was interviewed!

Bethany Learn, founder of Fit 2 B Studio, and I have been chatting quit a bit since I found her and became an avid supporter of this movement to get rid of crunches and practice healthy abdominal exercises to heal diastasis. She thinks I’m doing some pretty awesome stuff incorporating appropriate maternal fitness into my natural childbirth classes, so she asked to interview me. I was flattered (I’ve never been interviewed before), and happily agreed.

Stay tuned in because she has also invited me to one of her Saturday morning live web shows (not sure when, I’ll keep you posted).

To read the interview, and find out more (and check out her free tummy safe workout!) go to her website: fit2b.us.

Thanks and Happy Parenting!

So I took a toddler and a 6 month old on a 14 hour drive…

That kinda sounds like the beginning of a bad joke (there was a rabbi, a priest and a butcher…) but it’s not. My wonderful boyfriend (Don) and I REALLY did pack up the van and take Avery (3 years old) and Ranger (6 months old) on a 14 hour drive from Maryland to Florida on our first family vacation. Now, when I say 14 hours, I mean that’s what Google Maps says…it took us about 18 hours which included a 2 hour stop in St. Augustine, Florida and about an hour stop for breakfast and a few random rest stops that averaged to about an hour total. Yeah, you did the math right…we did it in 14 hours (and no, we didn’t deserve any speeding tickets)!

Here’s how we managed to pull this off:

One Mom’s Story of Discovering Happiness

“Breast is Best” (for some mothers and babies), but what about the ones where breastfeeding isn’t best? Yes, nutritionally it is superior to formula, but what about the emotional toll it can take? What about when there is a problem and baby just cannot get the milk they need to thrive? What about all of the PRESSURE some moms feel when breastfeeding isn’t going well…in fact it may be going horribly? Nutrition is not the bottom line. If you can’t get the milk into the baby, your body simply can’t produce the milk, breastfeeding is causing anxiety and emotional suffering, that is certainly not “best.” At that point, formula is what is best for that mom and baby.

I have been lucky and had very few, very minor bumps in my journey of breastfeeding both of my boys. But some moms aren’t so lucky and, despite their best efforts, cannot breastfeed their babies. This is what happened to The Orange Rhino, a woman with a lot of determination to do what is best for her children. She fought through a difficult time with her first baby, stressed and upset about their inability to breastfeed, and missing out on some of the most precious parts of being a new mom.

In the interest of helping all mothers and families, I want to try to break away from my own comfort zone of just talking about breastfeeding and reach out to those moms who formula feed their babies and give them helpful information. I will be honest, it’s hard not to jump to conclusions when I see moms giving their babies formula, but I think we all need to be a little kinder to each other and realize that we don’t know what’s best for other families.

The Orange Rhino has been kind enough to share her story of finding happiness with her baby. Please be kind to her in turn.

Happy Mom, Happy Baby.

*Please note that I am not for or against breast feeding. I am not for or against formula. I am FOR a Happy, relaxed, Mom.

When I was pregnant with my first child I did a lot of the things I assumed I would do. I registered for receiving blankets and onesies, I picked out cute bedding for the crib, I took the childbirth class and I endlessly looked through baby name books looking for the perfect name. But I didn’t take a breastfeeding class because I figured, well, breastfeeding is natural. The milk comes from my body, everyone does it, how hard can it be? Clearly, I didn’t have a clue. Breastfeeding as natural and easy as it seems was anything BUT natural and easy for me. In fact, sadly, I would even say it sucked a lot of the joy of having my first child right out of me. As soon as #1 was born, the nurse tried to latch him onto my breast. It took A LONG time. When he finally did, it seemed to kind of work but not really. After 30 minutes of sucking, I took a break. 5 minutes later he started screaming. This is how the first two days of our lives together were spent. Him “sucking” and then screaming for more.

Can you go all day without yelling?

The Orange Rhino has officially declared Thursday, May 17th as Orange Rhino Day. Can you take the challenge and not yell for an entire day? What about 365 days like The Orange Rhino is trying to do? Orange Rhino Day is to celebrate her 100th day not yelling at her kids as well as learning how to be patient and love your kids more. (Be sure to check out the rules)

To make it even better, The Orange Rhino is donatating $1.00 to Habitat for Humanity for each person who takes the challenge!

Are you taking the challenge? Sign up on her page and then come back here and tell me how it went.

Next week, while I’m on vacation, The Orange Rhino herself will be doing a guest post for me. It’s going to be fantastic, so make sure you come back and check it out.

Thanks and Happy (peaceful) parenting!

Interview with Bethany Learn, Founder of Fit2B Studio

Lately, thanks to a guest blog post on Mama Birth, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Bethany Learn, founder of Fit2B Studio. What she’s created is pretty neat. Basically, you go onto her website and it’s a portal to all of these great workout videos. Granted, that by itself isn’t over-the-top awesome, but what she’s doing is. She has diastasis concsious workouts which means her workouts are actually going to teach you HOW to heal your mommy tummy by getting your abs back where they should be (Hot Tip: STOP doing crunches!).  She also has kid-friendly workouts that your toddler will be asking you to do again (and again…and again).

Aside from her workouts, I’ve learned that Bethany is really interested in spreading the word about this problem a lot of women have. She’s very passionate and excited about helping women heal their bodies. So, I asked her if she would mind doing a guest spot on my blog to help get the word out. She readily agreed because she is dedicated to getting people informed, and she’s just nice like that.