How do you choose a birthing technique?
I am currently five months pregnant, and people keep asking me which birthing technique I’ll be using. One friend used mindfulness, another swears by Hypnobirthing, another by Bradley, and then there’s the classic Lamaze. I’m sure there are even more, but I already feel overwhelmed by these few. How are you supposed to know which one will work for you when you’ve never been through labor or birth before? How did you choose which technique you would use?
Doulas are great for any birth, even if there are epidurals and medication involved
I’m not planning to give birth naturally. If I’m managing the pain well and it happens that way, great, but I’m totally pro-epidural. My draw toward a doula is more for emotional support backup in case the hubby poops out. But is it even worth it to have a doula if you don’t really need them for natural-birth advocacy? That’s all I ever really hear about them doing.
A Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party you can totally pull off
Oooh how I love the birthday party that Elle recently threw for her now one-year-old daughter, Penelope. The decor, food, and attire were inspired by Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and unlike a lot of birthdays you’ll see, this one is TOTALLY pull-offable. You basically need cardboard, yarn, paper streamers, and some fruit and you have a insta-caterpillar birthday success.
Six tips for creating awesome care-packages for children away from home
While I was growing up, I spent a lot of time away from home. I can tell you now, whether I was away for school, camp, high school summer jobs or even when I moved on to university, nothing helped my homesickness and general well-being better than when I received a care package from home. I was recently helping a friend put together a package for her high school aged child studying abroad when I realized that not everyone was in situations growing up where they were receiving care-packages.
Adventures of a pregnant belly (and the woman carrying it)
I am sort of in love with this belly series from Flickr user out_loud. She dropped a few photos into our Flickr pool, and when I discovered her original set has 101 shots of her belly and its adventures I knew I needed to share.
How did you tell your partner that you’re ready to start a family?
But lately, I’ve realised that I really want a baby. Like now. And I don’t know how to bring it up gently. I’ve tried talking a lot about our friend’s pregnancy, which he does get excited about, but unfortunately it doesn’t transition into talking about us. I don’t want to bring it up head-on in case it scares him off (because to him it’s probably coming out of nowhere) but more ease into it gently if possible.
The Arizona book ban matters: to my kids, your kids, and kids all over the world
The ban on ethnic studies and ethnic literature in Tuscon, Arizona matters to your children. It matters even if they are not growing up in the Southwest, like my children, with names like Joaquin, Rodrigues, Donaciano, and Aragon. It matters even if they aren’t in the spectrum of browns redacted from history books. It matters even if they would never have read the authors and titles spirited off library shelves in Tucson.
How did you find a baby-sitter you can trust?
I have been working more lately and as a result we have had to call on friends and family to help with the kids. Luckily we have a very tight support group around us and usually getting help isn’t too hard. It’s usually more reasonable to send the children to their grandparents’ and let them pass the kids between the two houses.