Category Archives: Parenting

Posted by Jenni on May 3, 2012 in Birth, Before and After, Parenting

Who’s the Swaddle Expert at Your Home?

Earlier this week, FitPregnancy posted a story about the right way to swaddle. When I shared it on the Mamahhh facebook page, moms weighed in right away! No surprise there: Moms and babies both seem to have strong opinions about being snuggled up this way:

• “My first HATED being swaddled. He had to have his arms FREE and would fight until they were … the nurses thought it was so odd.  My second loved it!” ~ Kasondra from Texas
• “It was the only thing that soothed him!” ~ Katie from Ohio
• “It was a miracle worker for our baby! My husband became a professional baby-swaddler haha” ~ Rachel, world traveler
• “Mine would kick and wiggle his way out eventually, he didn’t hate it but it didn’t seem to calm him either.” ~ Lisa from Georgia
• “Worked beautifully for us and allowed for more sleep… About 3.5 months is when she decided she was too big for them.” ~ Alexis from Minnesota
• “My girl loved to be swaddled. We used the sleep sack with the swaddle wrap. ” ~ Stephanie in Georgia

My husband was the swaddle expert in our house, and he did a fine job wrapping up our babies! ♥ Our first-born enjoyed being swaddled more than our second. Then again, our second didn’t like sleeping much anyway!

Moms-to-be, encourage your partner to become the swaddling expert. (Check this video, too.) Of course, you’ll want to know how to swaddle as well, but cheering on your partner to become the swaddle-and-sleep expert has some very nice benefits. Most importantly: It’s a huge relief to know you both have skills to cope with baby’s middle-of-the-night wakings!

Posted by Jenni on May 1, 2012 in Birth, Birth, Before and After, Parenting

The Day You Were Born

Happy birthday to me! It’s the anniversary of the day my mother birthed me. I hope you’ll indulge me this little shout-out for me—and for my mom, especially!

I’m sharing this not for the sake of more birthday wishes (although I’ll gladly accept them!), but because I want to ask you this:

Do you know the story of your own birth?

At a recent Blooma Prenatal Yoga teacher training I attended, we began our session by sharing the stories of our births. The stories were amazing: We spoke of mothers in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s who were courageous in advocating for their birth choices. Mothers who had no control at all over their births. Mothers who breastfed, and mothers who didn’t. Mothers who were terrified in birth, and mothers who came from long lines of homebirthing women.

Those were our mothers.

Illuminated in soft candlelight, circled in sacred space, we honored them. We shared their pictures, told their birth stories—the first story of our lives.

“Welcome to the spinning world,’ the people sang, /
as they washed your new, tiny hands…. / And as they held you close /
they whispered into your open, curving ear, / ‘We are so glad you’ve come!”
~ “On the Day You Were Born” by Debra Frasier

What really fascinated me was how we all had a story about how we learned of the story of our birth. Some of us grew up knowing our stories. Others, like me, felt nervous asking our mothers to reveal the intimate details—or even the broad brush strokes—of the day. At least one woman found healing in inviting her mother into such a profound conversation, and another learned she’d had a sibling she’d never known about.

Can you imagine? Or maybe you already know the sacred beginning of your story.

As we traded tales of these births from 25, 30, 40, 50 years ago, our tears flowed, joyful and sorrowful, all profound.

It wasn’t lost on a single one of us how these stories have such an indelible nature. The day our mothers birthed us. The day we began.

And so I wonder: Beloved mother, do you know the story of the day you were born? Does that change how you think about the importance of the story of your child’s birth? Have you voiced your baby’s birth story? When might you?

xoxox
jenni

If you’d like to share either story—the day you were born, or the day your babe was born—I’d love to hear it, and to share it here on Mamahhh.com. Contact me!

Posted by Jenni on April 23, 2012 in Birth, Before and After, Bodymind Bliss, Motherhood, Parenting

Better Brain for Baby? Try the Mommy Mind Meld!

In “Parenting for Peace,” early childhood development specialist Dr. Marcy Axness asks: What would it take to raise a generation of peacemakers?

Posted by Jenni on April 19, 2012 in Birth, Before and After, Bodymind Bliss, Parenting, Self-care

Marcy Axness: Parenting for Peace

At the Trust Birth conference, Parenting for Peace author Marcy Axness shared how we can create more peaceful connections with our babies–and the science behind that.

Posted by Jenni on April 3, 2012 in Motherhood, Parenting, Uncategorized

The Cake that Love Baked

We are out of our usual rhythm here in SpringBreakland, and we have the broken cake to prove it.