Helpful stuff: labor & beyond

How's that for an exciting title? But really, it is. Here are a bunch of handy tips and products I've found.

Water birth

Our hospital made us attend a waterbirth class (which I was annoyed about beforehand because I thought it would suck & it cost $40). But it turned out to be really informative, and my husband & I both wanted to ask the nurse who taught it for her beeper number so she could be our L&D nurse. We chickened out, though. Anyway, she recommended bringing some tiny floats for the tub so mama has somewhere to rest her head. Brilliant! I found a package of two little inner tubes at Big Lots for $3, and we bought a Spongebob Squarepants kickboard at Target for $5. (Don't buy the inner tubes at Target -- we made that mistake, and they're way too big to fit into the pool our hospital uses.) She also recommended bringing a fish tank scooper for any, ummm, detritus in the water.

Post-natal

Organic, chlorine- and plastic-free maternity pads for new mamas! I bought these at Whole Foods for $10, and they're available for about the same price (including shipping) on Amazon.

Breastfeeding

I just finished reading this post on breast-feeding and found it ridiculously full of helpful information. I love Peaceful Parenting in general, but this article cemented it as a daily go-to. Yay! And while we're on the subject of breasfeeding, I've read Dr. Sears's book and The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. The latter was better and much more thorough, though both cover the basics of latching on and all that good stuff. I haven't checked out Ina May Gaskin's new book on BF, however, and would love to hear from anyone who has.

(On a side note, has anyone noticed how incredibly repetitive all the pregnancy and childbirth books are? I feel like one good book on each subject would have been enough, but of course I went overboard [as those savvy book publishers knew I would] and now I pretty much own a small library on the subjects. Ah, well, they will be passed along to a lucky friend or relative one day.)

American Pregnancy Association: Induction "at the doctor's discretion"??

Here's what my most recent pregnancy newsletter from the American Pregnancy Association had to say under the heading "What should you plan for this week?":

Your healthcare provider will discuss the following possibilities:
The possibility of going past your due date
Induction (at the doctor's discretion)
Cesarean Birth

Ick. Here's what I wrote back to the APA (though I think my email is hanging out somewhere in cyberspace—anybody know a valid email for the APA?):

Hello, Your newsletter contains misinformation. Induction is not "at the doctor's discretion." Induction, like all medical decisions, is the decision of the patient, who gives or does not give her consent to all procedures after being adequately informed by her medical care-giver. This is informed consent, and it is the law. You should correct this information in your future mailings.

The language surrounding childbirth continues to exhaust me. A coworker asked me a couple months ago, "When will your doctor make you induce?" Ummm. What? No one makes me do anything. I am an adult, and I make all of my own decisions, and that certainly includes decisions about my health care. I continue to get inundated with the I word, the further past my (estimated, guesstimate) due date we go.

Personally, I consider even "natural" induction methods a form of intervention, and I'm not interested. (I just happened upon this great article on the subject—I love the peaceful parenting blog!) The baby will be born when he's physically ready to be born—that is how it has worked for, oh, eternity after all. So no, I don't want to push on my ankles or drink castor oil or whatever else supposedly gets labor going, thank you very much.

Grow, baby, and don't come out till you're big & strong. You are lucky to have patient parents, and we're ready whenever you are. :)

Dear Ina May,

I love you. If all I had done to get ready for childbirth was read your amazing book on the subject, I would have been the most prepared, positive, calm future mama the world has ever known. Instead, I made the mistake of talking to people, taking a childbirth class, and reading other books. Not that those were bad, but they have tended to feature a bit too much Cesearan/episiotomy/pain talk and nowhere near enough discussion of orgasmic birth. Your book, in contrast, gives all these wonderful firsthand stories of positive (even if not 100% positive), realistic experiences from women who trust their bodies and the process. It was inspiring and confidence-building, and I've read it twice so far. Thank you.