Side Benefits of Kindermusik

My friend, Anne, told me to enroll in Music Together. As I have loved each and every one of her suggestions in the past, I searched for a program in the area. Unfortunately, the closest one is in Jamestown, NY, though the Montessori in the Woods is considering starting a program for older toddlers. While searching for Music Together, I found 4 local Kindermusik teachers including one on my side of town. We tried it out and loved it. It is very well-structured and paced. Sure, the singing on the cds sounds like those flimsy records I used to get in vacation bible school as a child with either unearned vibrato and/or breathiness due to singing higher than one's ability, but when you sing over it, it isn't that bad.

However, the best thing about the class is that the kids take out and put away all materials throughout the class and Ian will now put things away at home! It is great because he is into everything. Being able to tell him to put something away makes life easier, especially when trying to get out of the house. Of course, he is only 13 months old, so he still makes a much bigger mess than he cleans up, but this gives me hope.

Language Explosion!

I think we may finally have a break through on the baby sign language front. He has been doing "more" and "eat" and today he did "apple" in addition to "milk". He uses "milk" and "up" all the time and has for months, but was refusing to do other signs.

Also, he is watching my mouth when I speak and moving his mouth. He says,"Uh!" when he signs for "up". "Ba!" when we go to take a bath. "Ha!" or "Haai" when he talks on the phone (or a phone like object). "Do!" when referring to a door. "Dah" or "Dog" near the dog and best of all, "Mema" and "Mama" to refer to me. The explanation point is because he really pushes the sounds out in a staccato fashion.

We've been so busy with playgroups and things that we haven't been working with the Signing Time dvds. need to start that up again so I can learn more signs.

Eriehipmamas.com is Up and Running!

I've been in Erie since July and have been woorking hard to find baby resources/activites. I started a playgroup with a few other moms from a childbirth education reunion party and breastfeeding support group and it has grown from there. As I, or another member, finds things, I send e-mails out to the list. I mentioned awhile ago that it would be great if there was a site that had the Erie baby resources listed in one, easy-to-find place. Colleen and her husband Mike created Erie Hip Mamas. It is a free site, but requires registration. It has a calendar feature and a resource reviews feature that will allow us to get together and build the resource list. It just launched, so there is very little content, but by Christmas, I hope we will have fleshed it out. There is a good framework and it has so many more features than I imagined when we talked about it months ago. Great job Mike and Colleen!

Ian "Wiggles" Through His First Concert

Ian and I went to his first big concert tonight, The Wiggles. I had heard of them before the concert but never watched their show oor listened to their music. A friend of mine wanted to take her son so we went along. Ian watched and ate crackers through the first half, but the second half he was a squirmy worm. We had to go down to the floor and walk around. The Wiggles put on a good show complete with confetti cannons at the end. They also read the signs that the kids brought and mentioned "Erie, PA" a lot which really personalized it. I'm glad we went, but I don;t feel the need to do this again anytime soon, maybe when he is three and knows the Wiggles.

International Cesarean Awareness Network

Last Wednesday, we went to the first International Cesarean Awareness Meeting (ICAN). It is the first chapter in Pennsylvania. Erie is rarely first, so this was neat. My friends were speaking about their experience so I went to support them. They were told the baby was over 9 lbs and "too big to wait until 40 weeks", so they underwent an induction. As the doctor was inducing she said,"The baby is still very high up", but she kept going. My friend ended up with a cesarean. Both my friend and her husband felt very badly about the cesarean because they had wanted a natural childbirth and feel that if they had let labor start naturally, they would have had a natural birth, or at least they would feel like they did all they could to achieve one. Oh, and by the way, the baby was 7lbs, 11 oz. Even if the baby had been big, they would feel better. Though, even a small woman can birth a large baby. Yet, doctors continue to perpetuate the myth that small women can't have large babies. Not to say that there is never a situation, but it is a lot more rare than we are lead to believe.

I was lucky with my cesarean because I knew he would be delivered by cesarean becausse he was breech. I did everything I could to turn him, inclluding Webster Technique, but he would not budge. I had to coordinate my husband coming in from overseas and had a history of placental hematoma earlier in the pregnancy, so I just decided to schedule a cesarean. I was able to go through my feelings about it before I had the cesarean, including failure, guilt, etc. I made them wait to take him until the early range of his due date (early gestational age set the due date about a week after the initial doctors calculation iso he was at least 39 weeks, maybe 40 weeks), though one doctor in the practice wanted to take him earlier. I spent the day before doing yoga, meeting with friends and going to dinner with my husband. The next day, we checked into the hospital. We were the first surgery of the day and though the anesthesia made me sweat and nauseated, it wasn't bad. I had a great recovery and hospital stay. Ian was born with his eyes open and was very alert. I had such a good experience, I'm wondering if I should just schedule a repeat cesarean or try for a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). I am a breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping mother who is thinking about a scheduled repeat c-section. I wouldn't have expected this of myself. I feel a little guilty about it, but this is the state of the culture and I am a product of it.

The next ICAN meeting is about Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). I plan to attend to hear the success stories and get more information. I think a lot of it depends on where I am in the world when I have my next child. If I am somewhere that I know I have midwives or doctors who are committed to VBAC, I will be more likely to do it. Many doctors will let you try, but then if they are committed, they will rush you and you will end up with a cesarean anyway. I don't want a long failed labor and then a cesarean. I'd rather have a scheduled cesarean. I think I am also afraid of failure. I don;t want to try because I don't want to fail. Even though I didn't really fail, the last time because he was breech with no major movements for months, it still seems easier to do a scheduled cesarean. I'l report back next month to see if my feelings are changed.

13 Months Old!

Ian is 13 months old today! He has spent the past month climbing on everything in site, going to Kindermusik, Swim & Gym at the Y and lots of playdates. My dad calls him Dr. Destructo and that is certainly an appropriate name for him at this stage. He is into everything and interested in everything.