Oh, Yes I Can!

Molly at My Three Pennies Worth has a great piece on self-confidence and mothering. Basically, if we belive we were designed to be a mother, to give birth, etc., we will believe that we can do these things, even when they seem hard. She writes:

When I approach childbirth, I have to recondition my mind and make it accept the fact that I was MADE to bring forth life. My body is DESIGNED to do this--it is not something to hard for me to accomplish at all, but something I was destined for from the beginning. If I view birthing as something I doubt I can manage, than that's exactly what happens to me. Pain that is bearable becomes absolutely unendurable, all because I treat it as if it's more than I can handle, rather than a sensation that women have successfully born since time began. More is in the head than anywhere else, and the way my head decides to view things makes a big difference in the outcome (disclaimer: this doesn't apply to difficult childbirth experiences, obviously, etc!).

Men Breastfeeding

My husband says he's tried this in desparation, but couldn't get the little champs to latch on.

And on men actually lactating:

Milkmen: Fathers who Breastfeed

The Nursing Father

I'm not saying I believe it, nor do I necessarily support these websites. But it's quite interesting, don't you think?

Home Birth Study

Norwegian Princess Martha Louise had her second baby at home, and talks about it here.

But the big news is a study just published in the British Medical Journal: "Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America" The study of over 5000 births concludes that:

Planned home birth for low risk women in North America using certified professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that of low risk hospital births in the United States.

What We Think of Home-Birthing

Here's a nice post about homebirth from The House of Degenhart (actually a wife's guest post on her husband's blog). It's quite comprehensive, going into both medical issues and what might be termed the "soft" reasons for homebirthing. They have five children, the first a hospital birth and the next four at home, so they do have a bit of experience.

Sling for the Chic Papa

Well, my husband never had any problem with the blue plaid NoJo sling, but here's one that's a little more fashionable.

A recent British study found that "lack of privacy and uncomfortable surroundings are making birth more difficult for thousands of women." I have also read that some hospitals over there are so dirty, women take there own cleaning supplies with them when they go into labor. Ugh.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

How am I feeling? Let's not go there. Instead, let me just give you a few links and you can infer what you will.

Handling Nausea In Pregnancy from plus-size-pregnancy.org, Kmom's great website full of information for moms of all sizes.

Help HER - Hyperemesis Education Research. Probably *the* organization for HG issues. Check out the community forums section of the website.

Baby Center has an active HG bulletin board. Actually, Baby Center has active forums on just about everything. It's a good place to go if you need instant community.

The Baby Blawg

The Mommy Blawger is pleased to announce the arrival of... The Baby Blawg!

Yes, our little family is growing. The Baby Blawg will serve several purposes. First, it will be my online pregnancy journal, to keep friends and family (and, I'm sure, a few well-wishing strangers) up to date on the goings-on in the Mommy Blawger's uterus. Along the way, I will link to whatever helpful pregnancy and childbirth-related websites and resources I find (I happen to be a person who does a lot of research), and baby-related news items.

Despite it's name (blawg=legal blog), there will be little to no legal content on the Baby Blawg. Most of the baby-related content heretofore posted on The Mommy Blawg will be moved over to The Baby Blawg, unless it is specifically legal, political, or policy-related, and then I may mirror posts or cross-link. Bear with me; I've never had two blogs before (or three kids, for that matter).

What else? ... I plan to blog during labor (the early part, at least), and the birth announcement will go up here right away, probably after we call the grandparents but before we call the aunts and uncles (sorry). And I'll try to avoid graphic descriptions of pregnancy symptoms or bodily functions, at least until labor begins, when it may become necessary to mention my cervix.

Please join me!