Birth and Babies

Your breastmilk can be expressed by hand or pump, and saved for future use. 

Using bags made for breastmilk(found in the baby aisle of grocery stores, etc.) or other containers made to store breastmilk,  pour your expressed breastmilk and seal.  mark the date and the amount being frozen. 

Always chill breastmik after it has been pumped if you intend to freeze, or if you will be adding it to refrigerated or frozen breastmilk.

Store your breastmilk in your fridge for 5-7 days in the coldest part of your fridge.  Do not store in the door.  You can store it in your freezer for 3-4 months in the back, or up to 6 months in deep freeze. Keep the container in the back of the freezer and not near the top/front or in the door.

Thawed breastmilk that is unopened or unused is fine in the fridge for 24 hours.  DON’T re-freeze thawed milk. 

Never microwave breastmilk to thaw.  This will not only create “hot spots” but will destroy antibody composition of the milk. You may place an unopened container under warm tap water.  You can also put the container of frozen milk in a bowl of warm water and let warm water continually run into the bowl.  Upon thawing, the milk may seperate - this is normal.  Upon pouring into a bottle and rolling the bottle between your hands, it will be redistributed.

When you time your contractions you will want to time the Frequency and Duration.  The FREQUENCY is the time from the start of one contraction to the start of the next.  The DURATION, or how long the contraction lasts, is timed from the start of one contraction to the end of the same contraction.

There are a few tell-tale signs that you are in labor.  Before labor begins there are typical signs to let you know labor is near - you might start to loose (or completely loose) your mucous plug.  You might have blood-tinged mucous.  Your baby may “drop” into your pelvis.  However labor has not yet started.

It’s safe to assume you are in labor when your contractions continue growing in strenth, frequency, and duration.  These contractions don’t weaken or go away when you shower, take a bath (assuming your membranes have not yet broken), put your feet up, drink water, eat a healthy snack,  walk around, or lay down (in fact you may notice some of these activities increase your contractions!).  You’ll notice your contractions start picking up a regular pattern.  Typically, when your contractions are about 5 minutes apart you will want to head to the hospital or birthing center if planning an out of home birth.  Your ob/midwife will let you know for sure, as certain conditions may require you to be at the hospital sooner.

If your membranes have broken, be sure to note the amount of fluid (estimate, of course), color of fluid, odor of fluid and time the rupture occured. These are all questions your care provider will ask, as amniotic fluid can be a good indicator of the baby’s wellbeing while still in the womb! 

Call your provider immediatly if you notice heavy bleeding (with or without ruptured membranes) or brown/green colored amniotic fluid. 

Dilation is the opening of the cervix during labor, referred to in centimeters.

Effacement is the thinning of the cervix, referred to in percentages.

An easy way to picture how this happens when you are in labor is to visualize the neck of a turtleneck sweater as it is pushed over a head.  As the head comes through the long neck, the opening becomes wider and the turtleneck becomes shorter.

Did you know… 10 centimeters is considered “complete” and is the time when most women are instructed to start pushing.  In some women depending upon a few factors, they may never reach 10 centimeters before they safely begin pushing.  Your body knows when it is time to push your baby out, and your baby can be born without any pushing effort from you. The best way to push is by your own instinct - not that of a certain timeframe or just because you’re “complete.”  In fact, many women reach 10 centimeters and don’t feel the urge to push for a while - that’s OK and as long as you and baby are doing well, wait for the urge to push and try to enjoy the usually calm time before the birth.

Aside from the very small selections inside stores like Target and Meijer, does Monroe have any clothing stores for maternity clothing?  I’d love to support small local businesses and am just wondering if there are any…?

While I’m at it, I’d like to introduce to you a free resource online for cloth diapering called www.clothdiapering101.info It is new and undergoing lots of change - but you will find tons of articles from many different sources linked from this site.  Great resource!  bookmark it and check back often!

In a recent cloth diapering demonstration, a mom asked me how much money we spend on energy to dry cloth diapers.  I didn’t have an answer for her - I honestly have no idea.  I know we do use more energy drying diapers than before we had children (although the extra cost still doesn’t come close to what we would be spending in disposable diapers - I do know that much!).

 She got me thinking though… I cloth diaper because it’s a money saver, it’s better for my babies skin, and it helps preserve our environment.  Drying diapers in my dryer is easy and fast, but there are other ways I can go about it.  I’m ok with going out of my way if it means saving money or helping our environment. That’s why I recycle, compost, breastfeed, etc. and live a natural lifestyle to the best of my ability.  So I can improve my diaper drying!

Hanging diapers outside to dry isn’t exactly an option right now, but hanging them in my bathroom is.  I collected all of the hangers in our home that are for hanging pants - with the clips on the end - and a few regular plastic hangers.  I clipped a diaper to each of the diaper clips, and velcro’d or snapped my remaining diapers/covers on the regular hangers.

They may dry stiff because I didn’t add vinegar to the wash cycle (it acts as fabric softener).  So I may put them in the dryer for a few minutes to fluff.  This has motivated me to do the same thing with our regular clothing… Why didn’t I think of this sooner?  We use an environmentally friendly detergent, have done away with fabric softener and dryer sheets (Though I hear Shaklee has a nontoxic and biodegradable option I’m dying to try!) and now we’ll save some energy by hanging most items to dry.

I would like to offer one word of caution: if you have a very thick diaper, it may be helpful to dry it so it does dry completely and not develop mold within the inner layers if it stays moist.

If you use cloth (or heck, avoid using your dryer for everyday clothes), I’d love to hear your ‘alternative’ drying ideas!

Getting through the first 6-8 weeks after you have your baby can be a challenege both physically, mentally and emotionally.  Being a new mom (either first time or just being a new mom “again”) has many challenges.

What were you unprepared for?  What do you wish someone had told you before you gave birth, so you could be better prepared?  What did you find to be the most helpful for you?

When babies are born, their whole world changes.  They go from a warm, dark, somewhat noisy but comforting, wet and tight environment to a bright, cold, loud and open environment… It can take some getting used to!  It’s no wonder babies cry when put down, become over stimulated so easily (and thus can become super cranky), or just want to be near a human when they’re that young.

As newborns, they crave soothing, warm and tight environments.  Swaddling your baby helps comfort your baby.  So does holding your baby.

Don’t be afraid to hold your baby close - even if for all day.  Your baby will appreciate being near you, feeling your warmth, hearing your heartbeat and listening to your voice.  Your baby will know your voice when he or she is born - she’s been listening to it for quite some time from within!  Your heartbeat is also very comforting.  Lay with your baby skin to skin with a blanket covering you… You’re the best heater you’ll ever find and it makes listening to your heartbeat all the more easier for your baby.

Some babies are “high needs” and seem to need to be held all the time.  This passes.  You can not spoil an infant, and I never, ever recommend letting an infant “cry it out.”  Hold that baby and build the bond that will last a lifetime. 

Look into a sling for your newborn, which is MUCH more versatile than front carriers from the store. In most cases you’ll have to buy your sling online, or you can make them.  Either way, you can keep your baby close to you in the sling, even if you have things to do.  You can even nurse in a sling “hands free” although I do recommend you hold your baby for proper positioning, comfort and bonding.

And of course, breastfeeding is also very comforting for your newborn and comes highly recommended!

That birthing in a squat is one of the most beneficial positions you can be in?  not only are you cooperating with gravity, but the squat opens your pelvis up more so than any other position and helps your body position to move that baby down and out.  The squat is often recommended (doesn’t seem so much in hospitals, but it is popular at birthing centers or homebirths) for breech babies, big babies, babies who aren’t positioned quite so well, and “every day” babies.  You can squat against a wall or chair, have someone support you from behind, or squat on a bed or other place with two support persons on either side that you can drape you arms around and use their support.  Many women find this position to be great when they want to birth their own babies, too. 

My first birth with my daughter was a typical “on your back” position, my son was born as I leaned over the seat of my couch on my knees, and this next baby due in August I plan to birth in the squat.  Providing everything goes smoothly I would love to birth my own baby with my husbands help - he delivered my son (we had a midwife attended homebirth and plan for the same, with the same wonderful midwives, this time around). 

What position did you choose to birth in?  Did you have a choice?