When I was pregnant I loathed hearing "horror" stories from women about labor, childbirth, child rearing, etc. Medicated, unmedicated, induction, midwife, doctor, birth center, hospital, formula, breastmilk, blah blah blah. It was so profoundly annoying. Clearly their situations were different from mine, so why should I heed their advice or even consider the thoughts they offered me? After all, I have a computer, I've done my research - I know more than they do about xyz. I found myself thinking "I will never do that after I get this kid out, nope, not me." I still hate hearing "oh just you wait..." regarding the years we still have yet to face as first time parents. It really grinds my gears.
When Little Gal was about 11 months old (um...last week) I attended a baby shower for a long time friend of mine. I found myself spouting off at the mouth everything I swore I would not say. "This really helped me; be sure to do this; this saved our sanity; don't bother with that" It just kept coming. I couldn't help myself. The words were pouring out of me as though my filter had completely dissolved. Now I realize that all of the advice I had received during pregnancy was really all done in good will. As parents, we learn what works, what doesn't, and tricks of the trade, if you will. I now understand that passing along the bounty of this information to a soon-to-be mom is just our attempt to save them time (and sanity?) when they are awake at 2am with a screaming newborn. What may have taken us months to figure is bottled and then passed along in an attempt to spare someone else the misery of wondering how poop got up to their infant's hair line as well as the wall. Does this mean they will listen? Maybe. It will likely be filed away in a storage part of the brain, while she rolls her eyes and can't wait for the "advice" to cease; but later down the line when desperation sets in, perhaps she will go back to that conversation to get some relief.
I know I've doled out unsolicited advice, but I've also received questions from friends, some pregnant, some not, some first time moms, some "seasoned" pros. Mainly questions about cloth diapering (I'm not shy and will talk your ear off about how much I love it if given the opportunity) but also about baby led weaning (skipping purees), baby "wearing", and how it is that Little Gal started sleeping through the night at 3 months old. I've decided to start this blog in order to put all of my thoughts in a more organized package, one that can be added to as I learn new things as a first time Mama. You can expect how-to's, tutorials, reviews, slightly biased research, useful links, and random commentary. I hope you find this a helpful resource and would love feedback about things you would like to see or questions you want answered.
I realize I have a lot to learn, and that every baby is different (Little Gal has been a fantastically easy baby) but I can offer the tidbits of knowledge I have at this point in time and if it helps another Mama get a little more sleep or have more peace of mind, then I will consider this effort a success.
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