Having a child changes you permanently....its like a new part in your brain, body and heart grows...a part that simply could never exist without experiencing children. What has inspired me to write this email...I just sat through Kindergarten Cop, and bawled through most of it....not something I would have done in the past...who the eff bawls during Kindergarten Cop?! This is what I mean by the permanent change...its truly physiological.
I was really not interested in other peoples children before....sure they were kinda cute (some of them)...but mostly an annoyance really. Loud, smelly, annoying (did I already mention that)...the older ones obnoxious...telling stupid jokes that I couldn't even be bothered to muster up a fake laugh for. It also meant my friends who had em rapidly adopted a new circle of friends because they couldn't get a babysitter/were sick/were tired...were parents. I simply preferred drinking wine, eating at awesome restaurants and traveling the world with my husband.
If it weren't for that "ticking clock" syndrome that many of us thirty-something gals have....I could have waited easily another 10-15 years to have kids...but alas my eggs could not. And now...well, I wouldn't change it for the world.
So...in the spirit of being that parent who stays at home every night because we have no babysitter/tired...I decided to watch Kindergarten Cop (aka nothing else on the tube) and because I now have a son who I love more than anything on this planet (except for his father of course) I find anything to do with children fascinating and adorable....okay and I am sure the post-natal hormones had something to do with it too. Plus Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a special spot in our hearts now, because our son Dutch was named after his character in Predator...yes, I am serious. Those darn kids in that movie are totally hilarious and I could just picture our little guy saying some of those silly things that those kids did...if you haven't watched it in a while, I highly recommend it ( I can't believe I just said that) I'm still not super crazy about other peoples kids...but I can certainly appreciate how loved they are by their parents...because I know they have been changed too.
Being a mommy doesn't mean that the wine, restaurants and travel have to stop...it just means 2 glasses vs 2 bottles, Swiss Chalet vs. VJs and trips to Calgary vs. Peru. It is now 9:30pm and I am tired...and I think I will go to bed.
Sweet Dreams and Enjoy
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Co-Sleeping Bliss
It seems almost the moment you get pregnant people start to judge...or provide you with their unsolicited opinions on everything....
Oh you are pregnant...congrats...make sure you walk every day...don't walk too much because you will get exhausted. Don't eat spicy foods because it will irritate the baby.....eat spicy foods so the baby will enjoy a variety of foods. OMG is she drinking a glass of wine while she is pregnant....OMG she isn't even drinking wine while pregnant she is wayy too uptight.....AGGGGGGG...and this is just where it alllll begins. Once the baby arrives its 10x worse!
Our little Dutchman would NOT sleep at all when he was born, unless he was held. We tried everything...I would nurse him to sleep and we would gingerly place him in the bassinet and just as we were closing our eyes...WAAAAAAAA. We tried rocking the bassinet...putting it into the bathroom with the fan on (the white noise thing)..putting the bassinet in another room..playing music...using the blow dryer ...this one actually worked...until you shut it off. So we basically took shifts during the night...Ivan would sit in the rocking chair for 2-3 hrs rocking the little prince while I tried to sleep and then we would switch and we did this for 5 weeks straight. When Grandma was here, she would take a shift as well.
We got advice from everyone..and this time we were asking for it...and we tried everything everyone suggested...the swing..sleeping in the car seat, going for a car ride a walk in the stroller...until one day, I decided to bring him into bed with me..and guess what...he SLEPT...I SLEPT and Daddy SLEPT! It was like we had discovered a miracle....can you blame the little angel...almost 10 months in mamas cozy womb..of course he just wanted to be close. I had not wanted to try the co-sleeping arrangement because so many people spoke negatively about it...but once I started telling people that we had him in the bed with us, the more and more we heard our friends were doing the same thing.
Yes at first we were very nervous that we might roll over on him or pull the covers up too high...but I think its like parents have a sixth sense about this kind of thing. It was a little uncomfortable, because I couldn't roll around..and I was always aware of his presence even in my sleep...but the key is...I was sleeping...which I think made me a better momma the next day because I wasn't a zombie.
People were certainly very very judgemental about this...I got to the point I didn't want to share with others that we were co-sleeping because we would get these shocked looks, and the Oh my, you must stop doing that immediately...or I knew a girl, who's brothers, sisters, mother rolled on their child etc etc...you get the point. You are spoiling the baby....its unhealthy...blah blah blah....I think the one lesson I have learned from the short amount of time I have been a mama is not to judge other parents.
We continued to co-sleep with our little Dutch for 5 months and now he sleeps in his crib....and I miss him terribly. I absolutely LOVED falling asleep beside him...his smell...the little noises he made and when I would drowsily awake during the night and see this perfect little cherub sleeping so peacefully beside me...well my heart couldn't have grown much bigger then at that very moment.
We chose to co-sleep with our baby out of necessity...but looking back...I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was one of the most special times in my life and now it is gone forever...such a brief moment in time and an experience that I will cherish forever.
Whatever works for you and your family is okay with me...just be sure to Enjoy.
Oh you are pregnant...congrats...make sure you walk every day...don't walk too much because you will get exhausted. Don't eat spicy foods because it will irritate the baby.....eat spicy foods so the baby will enjoy a variety of foods. OMG is she drinking a glass of wine while she is pregnant....OMG she isn't even drinking wine while pregnant she is wayy too uptight.....AGGGGGGG...and this is just where it alllll begins. Once the baby arrives its 10x worse!
Our little Dutchman would NOT sleep at all when he was born, unless he was held. We tried everything...I would nurse him to sleep and we would gingerly place him in the bassinet and just as we were closing our eyes...WAAAAAAAA. We tried rocking the bassinet...putting it into the bathroom with the fan on (the white noise thing)..putting the bassinet in another room..playing music...using the blow dryer ...this one actually worked...until you shut it off. So we basically took shifts during the night...Ivan would sit in the rocking chair for 2-3 hrs rocking the little prince while I tried to sleep and then we would switch and we did this for 5 weeks straight. When Grandma was here, she would take a shift as well.
We got advice from everyone..and this time we were asking for it...and we tried everything everyone suggested...the swing..sleeping in the car seat, going for a car ride a walk in the stroller...until one day, I decided to bring him into bed with me..and guess what...he SLEPT...I SLEPT and Daddy SLEPT! It was like we had discovered a miracle....can you blame the little angel...almost 10 months in mamas cozy womb..of course he just wanted to be close. I had not wanted to try the co-sleeping arrangement because so many people spoke negatively about it...but once I started telling people that we had him in the bed with us, the more and more we heard our friends were doing the same thing.
Yes at first we were very nervous that we might roll over on him or pull the covers up too high...but I think its like parents have a sixth sense about this kind of thing. It was a little uncomfortable, because I couldn't roll around..and I was always aware of his presence even in my sleep...but the key is...I was sleeping...which I think made me a better momma the next day because I wasn't a zombie.
People were certainly very very judgemental about this...I got to the point I didn't want to share with others that we were co-sleeping because we would get these shocked looks, and the Oh my, you must stop doing that immediately...or I knew a girl, who's brothers, sisters, mother rolled on their child etc etc...you get the point. You are spoiling the baby....its unhealthy...blah blah blah....I think the one lesson I have learned from the short amount of time I have been a mama is not to judge other parents.
We continued to co-sleep with our little Dutch for 5 months and now he sleeps in his crib....and I miss him terribly. I absolutely LOVED falling asleep beside him...his smell...the little noises he made and when I would drowsily awake during the night and see this perfect little cherub sleeping so peacefully beside me...well my heart couldn't have grown much bigger then at that very moment.
We chose to co-sleep with our baby out of necessity...but looking back...I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was one of the most special times in my life and now it is gone forever...such a brief moment in time and an experience that I will cherish forever.
Whatever works for you and your family is okay with me...just be sure to Enjoy.
Monday, April 16, 2012
The right choice for us
So I found it very interesting after giving birth to Dutch the sequence of comments and events that occurred. First of all there was soooo much controversy about us choosing not to get medically induced to speed up the birth (as you will see from my previous blog entries) and everyone had their opinion. If it had of been any other Doctor I am certain they would have dropped us as patients...so I do have to give a huge kudos to Dr. McLauchlin for honoring our wishes. She was not happy about it at all...but she had no choice....its fascinating that people think its illegal or something to go against what your doctor says...but remember its your body, and sometimes these "rules or recommendations" are put in place because of lack of knowledge or fear of lawsuit...and of course I will not rule out potential risks. But if you think about it logically, no two pregnancies are alike..even if by the same mother...so why in the world would you make a rule of 10 days post due = induction via drugs. Anyway, I wont harp any longer on the matter.....so back to the birth room...some things I found interesting:
1) As soon as Dutch was born my Doctor exclaimed how healthy and great he looked and that he didn't look like 18 days overdue at all (not that she had ever seen a baby 18 days overdue..as she stated...perhaps she thought he would have two heads or something)
2) Doctor said..hmmm maybe we should go back and review those ultra-sound results..maybe the dates were wrong
3) My Doula overheard the Pediatrician and our Doc in discussions afterwards and the Pediatrician was shocked and wanted to know how in the world I was allowed to go 18 days past my due date and was casting an accusatory voice at our Doctor who defended us and had to back pedal by saying we were travelling when I got pregnant and we weren't sure of the dates etc...
All of these factors, plus my perfectly healthy little boy are evidence that we made the right decision to wait for Dutch to arrive when he was good and ready...and it was well worth the wait.
Now the debate on Vaccines...ugggggg this I certainly do not enjoy!
1) As soon as Dutch was born my Doctor exclaimed how healthy and great he looked and that he didn't look like 18 days overdue at all (not that she had ever seen a baby 18 days overdue..as she stated...perhaps she thought he would have two heads or something)
2) Doctor said..hmmm maybe we should go back and review those ultra-sound results..maybe the dates were wrong
3) My Doula overheard the Pediatrician and our Doc in discussions afterwards and the Pediatrician was shocked and wanted to know how in the world I was allowed to go 18 days past my due date and was casting an accusatory voice at our Doctor who defended us and had to back pedal by saying we were travelling when I got pregnant and we weren't sure of the dates etc...
All of these factors, plus my perfectly healthy little boy are evidence that we made the right decision to wait for Dutch to arrive when he was good and ready...and it was well worth the wait.
Now the debate on Vaccines...ugggggg this I certainly do not enjoy!
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