Bradley Classes

I am starting a new series for Bradley classes!!! They will begin mid August either Thursday or Friday evenings from 7-9pm! Still working on nailing down which day! If you are interested email me at rlnaturalbirth1@gmail.com! Classes are taught in Clermont FL!

The classes are great and the time will fly!!!

Spanking: Good or Bad?

Before I start I would love feedback on your views regarding the subject!

One thing I love about Kevin and I's relationship is that we are so often on the same page before we even discuss the topic. Soon after Ayda was born I mentioned discipline. I was curious how he thought he would discipline our children. We immediately realized we were thinking the same thing...we would not spank our children. The only thing with that was, how would we discipline? I was spanked, he was spanked, pretty much everyone we know spank their kids. So what would we do in order to not have a disrespectful, disobeying child? Our convictions, though, were that we felt spanking typically happens while the parent is angry with the child. I did not want to react that way in anger. Also I struggled with spanking my child for hitting, kicking, biting, etc. I felt I was disciplining a wrong with a wrong.

Now jump forward 18 months. We still stand strong on our way of disciplining. We have not had to spank Ayda once. Don't get me wrong, she has certainly made me mad plenty of times. But because I am not going to spank her I have to take a second, cool down, and talk to her. She does go into time out as well. I feel like that also gives me the chance to take a deep breath and decide what my next action should be. She sits in time out, sometimes cries, and looks at me. I then have the chance to talk to her and teach about apologies/forgiveness or figure out what is wrong and where we need to go from there. Kevin has taught me SO much about patience. He feels like we need to see the whole picture when it comes to her side of things. She cannot vocalize to me or him what she is truly feeling. If she is pitching a fit because I took something away from her (perhaps because it was dangerous), I need to see past the temper tantrum and see that she is mad something was taken away. She does not know it is dangerous. I need to teach that. I would be mad if someone grabbed something from me without explanation. So Kevin brings that type of thing to my attention so often. I also accept the fact that she is going to get mad, she will likely try to hit me, or scream. If I react in anger and raise my voice back I am teaching nothing. Instead I have found that if I lower my voice, come down to her level, acknowledge her feelings, and explain my reasons she actually calms right down and is ok. We then find something she can play with and have fun again.

Anyway, I am pleased to know that spanking is not the only way to discipline. Ayda is very well behaved, listens very well, and it is very rare that we have melt downs throughout our day. I also have figured out she is very likely to get more upset if she is tired or hungry, just like pretty much anyone! So you will always find Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers or some sort of easy snack in my car/diaper bag and I make sure she has plenty of time to get her sleep!

Again, I would love to know your thoughts on this!

Feeling Empowered

I have natural childbirth on my brain today. Just reflecting on ours and the stories of others. I want every baby to be born this way. Of course I know there are reasons for needing medical intervention. But if at all possible I wish this was the norm. I am loving teaching my Bradley classes. The group this series is so much fun! I will be attending one of the couple's births and can't wait.
I see how healthy Ayda is and contribute it to her drug free life and her Upper Cervical care. I can't stand when she is sick and I am thankful she has only been sick 3 times.
Back to Natural childbirth...women can do it. Yes there is pain and it is a lot of work. But you can do it! It's a shame society, or should I say drug companies, have convinced women that childbirth is unbarable. Our bodies know better than drug companies how to have babies. I cannot fully explain the joy I have knowing each sensation and piece of my labor. Feeling Ayda have the hiccups one more time before being born, her kicks as she made her way through the birth canal. Feeling in tune with her just minutes before we met her. I had tears in my eyes throughout my labor but not because of the pain. It was because I knew these were the last few times I would feel her inside me. Labor was a joy! And it can be for you too!

The Fight

Before even starting this post let me begin by saying I know there are times that some intervention is needed and medical professionals are needed. I worked with some of the best Doctors and Nurses in the NICU. And this is in no way medical advice, it is simply my opinion.

Kevin does not like for me to say I am sick or Ayda is sick. He says we are fighting illness or disease and it is a good thing. It helps build our immune system. It makes us stronger in the end. So when Ayda started her fight against what I thought was just a minor cold two weeks ago I was confident she would beat it. However, I started to wonder when after a whole week she was not getting better, in fact, she was showing signs of getting worse. Her cough was deeper, her nose more stuffed up, her energy zapped. I even prayed Monday night that she would just get enough of a fever that it would kill whatever she had. I found myself wondering what mother prays for their child to have a fever? Well the mother that knows medicine will not be given and she wants her baby to feel better sooner. And sure enough, at ten that night, Ayda woke with a 101F fever. She wouldn't go back to bed so I just went with it. She came out in the living room and started watching the Olympics with us. Before long she was turning in circles copying the figure skaters. I could tell the fever didn't have her completely down yet. After about an hour she went back to bed and slept fine till morning. The fever was 100.6 in the morning. We took it easy. Then the fever popped up to 102.5, her heart rate had increase and she was breathing faster than I liked. As a nurse I did a quick assessment on her. She just laid in my lap and watched tv for awhile. Kevin reminded me that her fever was fine and she was fighting the virus/bacteria. We remained confident that her body knew what it was doing. Before long she got up and played some. Then took another nap and woke up feeling better and had a temp of 100.5 again. Long story short, her fever broke through the night (only lasted about 24 hours) and each day since she has been even better. Today she was 100% Ayda again...loads of personality, energy, spunk.

So why do so many people fear a fever? Illness? I know the doctors put so much fear in parent's minds. They say there will be brain damage if the fever is untreated or gets too high. Yes, that is true, if the fever reaches 107 or higher. So why do we start pushing the Tylenol at 100.4 or higher? I had Mastitis when Ayda was 3 weeks old and my temp reached 104.5 at one point. I was miserable, but fully coherent. I was told that if I didn't take antibiotics I could get an absess. I was also told that it could get so bad that my nipple would have to be removed. So much fear. My midwife and Chiropractor stood by me though and I didn't take antibiotics for the Mastitis and within 48 hours of spiking the fever, it broke and about 3 days after that we were smooth sailing with breastfeeding again. Why do we put so much trust in Medicine and not in our bodies? Ayda has been sick three times now, twice with a fever. None of those times did we even take her to see the doctor. I'm a nurse, I know what he would say. I assess her myself to make sure she is not in danger and that she stays hydrated and then we ride out whatever it is. I'm thankful she has only been sick three times and I feel that with each new fight she is stronger to fight the next thing that comes her way. God created us to be good. Trust your body.

Some natural things we did:

Let her fever run, but she got LOTS of extra love and attention since she felt yucky.

Pushed lots of water. She drinks water pretty good on a normal day but we kept sippy cups all over the house so she could just grab it no matter where she was.

Rest. If she was even slightly tired I put her to bed. We definitely threw out any routine we once had.

I am still breastfeeding her twice a day so I loaded myself up on Vit C so she would get some through the breastmilk.

Completely eliminated Dairy (cow's milk) products from her diet. No cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese (her favorite). Eating these products can increase mucous production which we did not need more of.

Ayda does not eat many things with sugar but I significantly decreased her sugar (even natural sugars) from her diet as well. She was on a very bland diet to say the least. Sugar can feed bacteria.

Baby Food Making

I will admit I was a little intimidated when I decided to make Ayda's baby food. I bought a couple books and started trying to figure out where to start and what to do. I am completely lost in the kitchen on a good day. How was I going to make baby food? Well lucky for me it turned out to be SUPER easy! And lucky for me, my best friend was making her son's baby food too. He is exactly 2 months older than Ayda so she had a good head start on me and could lend me some much needed pointers.

Kevin bought me a Beaba babycooker. It is WONDERFUL...and pricey. It steams the food and then you take it out of the steam container and put it in the main compartment to be pureed. It was all in one which made clean up insanely easy. You can also just use a regular steamer and food processor and it does the same thing. Having the Beaba was a luxury, not a necessity. I will say I still use it everyday even though Ayda does not need baby food anymore. I use it to steam just the right amount of veggies at dinner and clean up is easier than using the big steamer.

To get the food to the right consistency for her age I used water that had run off the fruits and veggies or breastmilk. Either worked great to thin out the food a little. Also whenever I was making apples, I bought organic apples and then would let Ayda drink the water from the steam. It had a hint of apple flavor and she absolutely loved it since I didn't let her have juices. It was a special treat!!

Once the food was steamed and pureed it was time to put it all in ice cube trays to be frozen. Easy as that! I froze the food overnight and then transferred it into ziploc bags or ziploc travel containers. Then when it was time to eat, all I had to do was grab a cube or two of the veggie or fruit that was on the menu and thaw them out. We put the food in little containers and put that into the warm water to thaw them out. It didn't take long, but it takes a little more planning than grabbing a jar of ready made food. I had to remember to thaw the food before she was even hungry.

Overall it is super easy and cheaper. I also liked knowing exactly what she was eating. Even the organic jarred baby food made Kevin and I wonder what was in it since it could sit on a shelf for several months at room temperature. I am glad that I dove into the task and I actually had fun when it was baby food making day!

Baby Wearing

Baby wearing is such a benefit for the baby and the mom/dad. I spent 2 months in Africa when I was in college and decided then that I would carry my babies from the start. I saw those moms strap on the tiny babies or active toddlers and get where they needed to. The kids were content to hang out on mom and the moms never seemed to mind having them strapped on. It was a neat bond and I wanted to follow in those foot steps. America has made a killing on the travel systems that sell for a couple hundred dollars. It makes it super easy to strap the baby into the carseat and just move the carseat from home to car, to stroller, back to car, back to home. Never having to take the munchkin out during the outing. Baby can stay asleep if he/she falls asleep in the carrier. I'm in no way judging that method of transportation. I do have a problem though when I see parents out to eat and the baby is screaming in the carseat. They sit there and rock the baby, stick a pacifier in the mouth, and get frustrated when the baby will not shush. I want to go over and pick up the baby and rock him back to a calm state. So back to baby wearing...I decided long ago that I would not even buy the infant carseats. Avoid any temptation all together. Kevin was %100 behind me. We bought a convertible carseat that Ayda will use till she is a few years old. We also bought a sling and Baby Bjorn before Ayda was born. Both were great when she was tiny but since then I have invested in other types of carriers. Pretty much it comes down to preference. Different ones offer different support. We found the Bjorn to be uncomfortable on our backs once she hit about 15 pounds. The weight is not dispersed as well as some others. The sling was good but my right arm was limited when she was on my hip. I didn't like that. The Ergo and Moby are my favorite. I still carry her in those all the time! Going on 14 months and probably 25 pounds, those are the most comfy!

Kevin and Ayda (3 weeks)! Baby wearing dads are awesome!!!

Hanging out in the Ergo on a chilly night!

A homemade sling I made from a bed sheet. You can spend as much or as little as you want on carriers! The prices range from free-120ish dollars.

My homemade Moby wrap ($5). I bought fabric on clearance at Walmart and it works the same as a Moby. I love having this to strap her on my back. The front hold is great as well and will be great when we have another baby.

Just hanging out eating a snack!

Benefits: Ayda has always preferred to be carried by me. I always used the carriers when she was tiny to go the store, church, errands, etc. When she was able to sit up I thought she might like to sit in the front of the cart at the store. I noticed really quickly her patience in the cart was much less. She got fussy a lot faster and my time at the grocery store was limited. I usually ended up taking her out of the cart and holding her while now steering the cart with one hand. Back to the carrier she went, and she was happy! I believe babies need that human touch as much as possible, especially from the parents. She used to get situated in her carrier and go straight to sleep. She was secure, comfy, protected.

Also I have found it is so much easier to get through a crowd if she is on me. I despise trying to get through a crowded space with a stroller. It's sometimes nearly impossible.

I know there are plenty of times a mom (or dad) is unable to wear their baby. These are just suggestions and benefits we have found by wearing Ayda. Different products satisfy different people too. Of the two carriers I like best, one I spent $5 on and the other was $115. It just goes to show the range is vast!

Happy baby wearing!

Cloth Diapers!

Ok so it has taken me several days to be able to actually sit down and write another post! And my topic for tonight...Cloth Diapers! Kevin and I decided to switch over to cloth for many reasons. I would love to say the biggest reason was to be more green, but in all honesty it was financial reasons. I was so tired of spending at least 50 dollars a month on diapers that were only going to be thrown away and then sit in the landfill for years and years. I started adding up the numbers and realized the cloth diapers would pay for themselves in about 6 months. And since Ayda was only 6 months old when we started I realized we would most certainly get our money's worth! So began lots of research.

What brand is best? How do I care for them? How many do I need? And the list of questions continued on! A friend of mine was so wonderful to send me an email with TONS of information that she had collected after putting her sweet little girl in cloth diapers as well. Her information is what helped me take that step to just commit and switch!

Reasons for Cloth Diapers?

Financially it has been great to cut the cost of diapers down dramatically. However, through the journey I have realized so many more benefits to them. I feel like I am helping to decrease the diapers sitting in landfills. Also they seem much more comfortable for Ayda. To feel the difference in the material sitting on her skin is huge. I also don't trust disposable diapers (even the "organic" ones) to truly be dye, chlorine, and other chemical free. Companies have quickly picked up on the "go green" movement and anything and everything pretty much claims to be "natural". With the cloth diapers I know there is nothing in them but the cotton. I wash and dry them myself.

What brand is best?

We chose to go with Bum Genius brand and absolute love them. It is the All In One. There is an insert that we stuff in the shell of the diaper. After doing the wash and letting them dry it takes maybe 10 minutes to stuff and fold all of them. Kevin and I usually do them at night while we are watching tv so it is not any extra time spent on them. There are tons of different brands that different people have a preference for too. I am realizing each brand is great. It just depends on the preference of the buyer. Ours is one size fits all as well so we can use them from birth to potty trained! And they really are not all that bulky. Yes, they are bigger than a disposable diaper, but with her clothes on it is hard to tell a difference. I will say her pants tend to run a size bigger than they normally would be but she grows so fast it's not hard to keep ahead in sizes.

Is it hard to care for them?

Not at all once you find your routine. I wash the diapers every other night, sometimes every two nights. I wash them in a cold cycle with the special/approved detergent, then a hot cycle, and last a cold rinse. Nine times out of ten that is enough to get them clean and get the odors out. I then put them on a folding drying rack to dry in the sun. The sun works great to naturally bleach the stains and kill the odor further. Then, like I said previously, we fold them while watching t.v. At first it was a little overwhelming but once I figured out each step and did it a few times it became super easy. It really takes no more time than it would to drive to the store and buy diapers.

Occasionally, they have started to smell so I use Dawn (the blue kind) dishwasher soap in the cold cycle and it helps tremendously. Also vinegar and baking soda is known to work. I typically don't use those because a little dawn does the trick if the regular wash cycles and sun do not work.

How many should I have?

We started Ayda in them when she was 6 months old. I so wish now that she had been wearing them from the beginning. But since we started a little later we have gotten away with only having 15 because she was requiring fewer diaper changes in a day by that point. I will probably purchase 9 more to give us 2 dozen when we have a second baby. You do have to change them a little more frequently than a disposable to keep them from leaking. Disposable diapers have a gel in them to wick moisture away from the baby and it solidifies the urine. Cloth diapers do not have that and therefore can reach it's max absorbency a little faster. It might be one or two extra diapers a day though. Nothing too big.

In conclusion, I feel like going cloth was such a great decision for Ayda. I'm interested to see if she potty trains sooner as well. Since the moisture is not wicked away like disposables the infant typically potty trains sooner because they actually feel when they are wet. We shall see!

If you have questions feel free to comment and I will surely answer them! Happy cloth diapering!