[571] Survey

Upcoming:

May 8 – Pediatrician appointment
May 16 – 6 week PP check-up

Pregnancy Precautions: Not nearly as many as I’d have liked. 🙁 I was on medications on and off for various illnesses. After not drinking caffine for months, I started again when I started working at Sheetz. I didn’t drink a lot of water up until the last 2 months or so, when I couldn’t drink ENOUGH water. I should’ve eaten a lot more protein so that I wouldn’t have had pre-eclampsia. Thank the gods that Xander turned out fine in spite of it all.

Medicated vs Natural Birth: Absolutely 100% natural. 🙂 I used the birth ball, a pillow from home, the Bradley method, and lots of pressure on my lower back from my hubby. Managed to have a nearly painless labor that went a whole lot faster than I’d expected. I did, however, have to have pitocin and magnesium sulfate because my blood pressure was in stroke range.

Home birth vs Hospital birth: I’m still quite upset that I was unable to have Xander at home. I had everything planned out so perfectly. I feel like the spirituality of the expirence was robbed from me. That being said, my birth in the hospital was quite a bit better than I had expected it to be.

Non-Medically Necessary C-Sections: Ha. Yeah right.

Circumcision: Absolutely not. Xander is not cir’ced, and I wouldn’t do it to any other sons, either. It is a non-medically necessary procdure that does nothing but put my son in pain. It’s a barbaric custom, started in the US as a method to stop boys from masturbating. Plus, I feel that that is a decision that I do not have the right to make. If Xander gets older and decides he wants it off, he can do so. But he cannot get it back if I’ve made that decision for him.

Infant Ear Piercing: Kinda the same principle as circumcision. It’s not my decision, and it causes pain. So no.

Breastfeeding: I am trying so incredibly hard. Every day I feel a little closer to giving up. I really do want it to be all or nothing, but that’s selfish of me. It just takes SOOO much time to nurse him, then give him a bottle, then pump. It’d be so much easier to just say ok, I don’t have enough milk, and just give him bottles all the time. But I realize that every little bit of breast milk that he gets is a bit of formula that he doesn’t. I’m giving him the best start I possibly can, and although it’s not as good a start as I’d like, and it sure as hell isn’t easy, I’m doing what’s best for him.

Co-Sleeping: Yup. I like a quote from someone on my UC board to answer this: "After I got married I discovered I much preferred not to sleep alone, I was warmer, I felt loved and I felt safer falling asleep at night. I don’t want my baby to have to wait to be married to know what it feels like to be warm safe and loved as he/she falls asleep at night." I cannot sleep alone. Period. And I cannot imagine asking my newborn son, who has no method of comforting himself, to do so.

Discipline/Spanking: Spanking does nothing but makes your child afraid of you, or in my case, makes them learn how to not get caught. There are much better methods of disciplining your child.

TV/Video Games: There are very few things I will allow Xander to watch. I would much rather he play outside, or in his room, or listen to music. I believe, with a few exceptions, television has no place in a child under 3’s life. Basically the same goes for video games. Educational games may be okay here and there, but I will not allow him to play, nor allow him to be in the room when Wes is playing, any sort of video game that involves violence (which is about 99.9% of video games in some way, shape, or form).

Stay at home moms vs Working moms: I honestly believe children are best suited when a parent stays at home (this is an option for dads, as well). Personally, I do not like the idea of giving my child to someone else to take care of for a good majority of the day. Being a wife and a SAHM is all I’ve ever wanted to be. But I know there are women out there who would rather be career women, and that’s fine for them. I’m just not sure how that affects their decisions to have children.

Religion: Our children will be raised Pagan. I think there are too many parents out there that are afraid to pass down traditions simply because, when they were a child, religion was shoved down their throat. BUT when I do go to church (which I plan on doing more often once Xander gets older), I go to a Unitarian church. There he will be exposed to all manors of beliefs. When he is old enough, he can choose his own path. But he cannot do so if Wes and I do not take the appropriate measures to teach him. Those who shy away from religion simply because they do not wish to force something on their children are doing their children a disservice. If you want to allow them to make their own decisions, then you must teach them about the choices. Do not simply teach them nothing.