ok, gotta start with a "serious" post. if you're good, i'll post something more interesting too!
with the help of a doula, rene' from birth help here in baton rouge, i delivered john naturally on june 18, 2010. my husband was extremely supportive, as were the doctors and nurses at the hospital, and i delivered john not in the hospital bed but squatting next to it, without any epidural or pain medication. it was the most challenging and rewarding experience i've probably ever had.
i'm not bragging, by the way. (though i am proud!) rather, i think my natural childbirth reflects my larger tendency - shared by my husband - to do things the "natural" way whenever possible. don't get me wrong: we're incredible lucky to live in the 21st century with all the technology and knowledge available to us. but my default is to let things happen naturally unless interference is necessary.
and why should you care about this? only because many of our early decisions in parenting john have come from this same place. he is currently exclusively breastfed, and we don't plan on introducing solid foods to his diet until approximately a year. (unless, of course, there's a compelling nutritional reason to do so, or if he seems to just really want to try food!)
i don't lean towards a strict schedule for john. of course, we have a schedule. i do, after all, have to get to work on time! but typically, if he's hungry, i let him eat. if he's sleepy, he'll nap. i don't yet try to enforce specific times for those things.
(it will be interesting over the next few months to balance that with the structure i know he's going to start to need. and later to balance it with the discipline i believe a child needs as well! but those are bridges i'll cross when i get there.)
so. that's my diatribe. phew. glad that's over!
p.s. i have to confess i giggled as i labeled this post "parenting philosophy." i have one of those? apparently i do.
with the help of a doula, rene' from birth help here in baton rouge, i delivered john naturally on june 18, 2010. my husband was extremely supportive, as were the doctors and nurses at the hospital, and i delivered john not in the hospital bed but squatting next to it, without any epidural or pain medication. it was the most challenging and rewarding experience i've probably ever had.
i'm not bragging, by the way. (though i am proud!) rather, i think my natural childbirth reflects my larger tendency - shared by my husband - to do things the "natural" way whenever possible. don't get me wrong: we're incredible lucky to live in the 21st century with all the technology and knowledge available to us. but my default is to let things happen naturally unless interference is necessary.
and why should you care about this? only because many of our early decisions in parenting john have come from this same place. he is currently exclusively breastfed, and we don't plan on introducing solid foods to his diet until approximately a year. (unless, of course, there's a compelling nutritional reason to do so, or if he seems to just really want to try food!)
i don't lean towards a strict schedule for john. of course, we have a schedule. i do, after all, have to get to work on time! but typically, if he's hungry, i let him eat. if he's sleepy, he'll nap. i don't yet try to enforce specific times for those things.
(it will be interesting over the next few months to balance that with the structure i know he's going to start to need. and later to balance it with the discipline i believe a child needs as well! but those are bridges i'll cross when i get there.)
so. that's my diatribe. phew. glad that's over!
p.s. i have to confess i giggled as i labeled this post "parenting philosophy." i have one of those? apparently i do.
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