Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Preparing for Baby!

I am excitedly awaiting the birth of our first child. Meanwhile what have I been doing to occupy my time? Research! That's right it's not just for school it has real-life applications FOREVER! It is imperative that you know how to do it correctly, because when it comes to something important in your life you don't want to be making rookie mistakes.

What exactly have I been researching you may ask? Well it all started off with pregnancy. What can you expect, what steps do you want to take to ensure the best possible health of you and your baby. I did a huge amount of research in this area both online, and through library books (that I found online to be the highest recommended), and some purchased books. When I was researching online I didn't just follow any old chat room advice, I looked for sites that were backed by medical facilities/governments, because sometimes people are just trying to sell you something, and I want what's best, not what you are selling. Often I enjoyed blogs, but usually I tried to find the information in more then one place. (http://weelicious.com/, http://binspiredmama.blogspot.ca, http://theehingers.blogspot.ca, http://www.mamajennblogs.com/) Blogs can be incredibly useful because the offer a real life perspective and often have comments from other people who have tried the suggestions. I follow blogs for cooking, baking, photographing, teaching, parenting tips, baby tips, DIY (do it yourself), money saving tips, and some that are just about themselves, and I find all of them very interesting a useful!
Which brings me to my next important point, back up your facts! You may find something that seems to be supported by a reputable website, but is that the only place you can find that information? For me to trust information I have to find it in several places (back it up!).
Books I loved: Brain Rules for Baby: John Medina, and What to Expect When You're Expecting

(0-5) Brain Rules for Baby offers parents facts in an engaging, practical way. Pregnancy apply the Goldilocks principal to weight, nutrition, stress and exercise. He emphasized the importance of EMPATHY in your interactions. Important for safe environment and to develop emotional intelligence. Smart Baby: praise effort, breast-feed, talk a lot Moral rules: Clarity, Accepting (environment), Praise (when followed) Very easy and entertaining to read!

Most interesting video: http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/programmed-to-be-fat.html
Can being exposed to obesogens really program people, especially in utero, to be fat? Must research more, and I did. It is a relatively new area of research where they are realizing chemicals like BPA, can act like hormones in to body changing how we store weight. I found a lot of ways to avoid obesogens, and this lead me directly into my next area of research.
Getting ready for the baby. What do I need? What has the best reviews? What is the safest? What is the healthiest? What can be made at home? What is the best price? What is the cutest (it has to be fun too)? What do we bring to the hospital? What can I expect when breastfeeding? What is the safest and easiest way to give birth?
Current area of practice and research includes Hypnobirthing. A way of using the power of your mind and absolving fears around birth to have a relaxed, quiet and natural birth. If it works, wow how awesome is that! I'll let you know how it goes.

As you can see there is pretty much a endless stream of questions that just lead to more questions. Where does it get me? I feel more prepared and like I am doing the best that I can for my baby. Knowledge is power, and I want to have as much background knowledge as possible heading into this wonderful journey of parenthood. Wish me luck!

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