The Exercise Ball that Saved Everything

Near the end of my pregnancy I bought an exercise ball. It looked something like this:

Ok, so by "near the end of my pregnancy" I probably mean "way sooner than was necessary." Just like packing my hospital bag 3 months before I actually needed to head to the hospital, there is no such thing as "overprepared" in the mind of a first time mom.

My reasons for buying it: 1.) Use in labor at home and 2.) Get some abs after baby comes. Have I used it for either of those things? Nope! Yay intentions! I will say that I got a lot of use out of the one at the hospital though. And that I did do a set of crunches on it. Once, I think. Still, I found that even without my intended usage of it, the exercise ball is probably one of the best baby items I ever bought.

We never got any kind of rocker or glider before Charlotte was born. And I have no idea how we figured this out, but bouncing with Charlotte on the ball was so comforting to her. I can't even tell you how much time we spent on it in those first few weeks and months. Even now, when she rarely ever needs (or wants) comfort in the form of rocking, ect., I will still occasionally get back on that ball with her sitting in my lap and just bounce. And it usually calms her down.

It's funny because we thought it was such a random thing we did with Charlotte, but you wouldn't believe how many people I've heard of doing the same thing.

So pregnant women! People looking for baby gift ideas! Here is one of my top suggestions! It's such a simple thing, yet so versatile. You can use it in the end of your pregnancy (it helped when my back hurt), you can use it in labor, you can use it to rock your baby to sleep, and you can use it to get that pre-baby body back (or so I hear)! And bonus: it's a fun toy! it can be employed as a makeshift baby gate (being a parent makes you creative)! you can even use it to make a giant chandelier! Oh the possibilities.

So there it is: my secret to parenting. Hah not really, my secret to parenting is MUCH deeper then that. But it really was a life saver for us and I just felt like that giant green ball needed to be publically recognized for its service. It will never look good in your living room, but it just might help you get through the tough times.

A definite staple on my recommended buys list!

 

I May Be a Hippie...

Yes, it's true. I know that a lot of the decisions I am making and wanting to make about the birth and raising of our child can come across as "crunchy" or hippie-esque. Although I have wanted to, I haven't talked much about my plans here or elsewhere because I know that they can be touchy subjects that everyone has an opinion about. But here is the thing: I LOVE reading about these subjects on other people's blogs and sites. It really helps me to learn and to make informed decisions when I can get as much information as possible. And hearing peoples' personal stories helps me gain perspective and feel like I'm not alone out there. Plus I better start getting used to the controversy cuz it's only going to crop up more when Charlotte arrives!

So...all that to say that I would like to start talking about my parenting decisions here. You may not agree, that's fine. I'm definitely not here to tell anyone what THEY should do, I'm just here to tell you what I'D like to do. Hopefully this will be a good resource for me to look back on in the future as well as a place for me to flesh out some of my thoughts. I feel like I'm bursting with all this information and no one to talk to it about except Trey (who I'm sure is sick of hearing the same things rehashed over and over again!)

Here are some things I will probably be talking about:

• Breastfeeding
• Babywearing
• Bonding
• Attachment Parenting (and oh, there is so much under this subject alone!)
• Cloth diapering
• Natural Childbirth
• Birth plans

If nothing else I need somewhere to process these thoughts. Of course I will be sure to update about how all of these things go if and when we finally get to do them! Here's to morphing into a mommy blogger!