A Mom's Fresh Start » Baby http://amomsfreshstart.com A Good Way to Start Your Day Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 No Cover-Up For Me http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/09/no-cover-up-for-me/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/09/no-cover-up-for-me/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:59 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=1222 The human body is an amazing piece of work. I am always amazed to discover the many different ways that we are perfectly designed and wonderfully put together. Our bodies were made to endure and conquer amazing feats. The most astonishing thing that I have ever accomplished in my life was growing, protecting and birthing my son. I can’t really even say that I did it all, I was just along for the ride, God had that whole process taken care of.

Now I get to witness another miracle of God great design. Our bodies weren’t designed to just carry a baby and give birth to them, but to also nourish and sustain their life through the production of breast milk. If you stop and think about it, it is truly an awe inspiring privilege for someone to be able to do be able to naturally produce food for another person with lifting a finger or exhausting your resources. It saddens me to know that some women are unfortunate to not be able to participate in this amazing blessing. For those of us that are lucky and have experienced it, we should be thankful and appreciate the time that we have bonding with our little ones.

I have such respect and admiration for this process that I feel to try and hide it or cover it up only dismisses its power. While I do not feel it is appropriate to expose my body to any other man but my husband, I have no problem with feeding my son in public and unashamed of its beauty.While some well meaning friends and family offer a cover or to relocate while I am feeding my almost toddler aged son, I always decline and say I am not concerned about what people think or feel about my feeding my son in public … I AM PROUD!!!

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/09/no-cover-up-for-me/feed/ 0 Stay Here Mama http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/07/stay-here-mama/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/07/stay-here-mama/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:00:33 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=1218 You have had a long day at work. You are coming home and still need to cook dinner and do some light house work. You are excited because you have a new creative meal planned for dinner and for once you are enthused about completing a project around the house that you have been looking at for weeks. You are almost home but first you have to pick up your child from day care.

You get home get your shoes off, maybe have the chance to change your clothes before … it happens.

Screaming down the hall way comes crawling your little one. Somewhere between the the car and the front door your child discovered that they need their mother right now. It has suddenly become unacceptable for you to do anything but hold, play with, talk to or breastfeed your child.

That has been my story every day this week. I hear stories from the childcare workers that he is a perfect little angel, hardly ever crying . However, once he sees mommy it is a totally different story. If I am any where in the room with him and he sees me, all attention must be on him and I am not permitted to do any work.

I feel bad because even when daddy comes home it is still all about mommy. He will play and laugh with his father but I still have to be in the room. Once I try to exit, even to the kitchen where he can still see me, I am in trouble. I have been forced on occasion or two to just allow him to cry for a few minutes while I do what I have to do. I hate it but he must eventually learn that I still love him and I am not neglecting him.

I do hope this stage doesn’t last too long. I so love my time with him and want to make him happy … I don’t have to clean everyday … but there has to be a compromise … Right?

Am I being a mean mother by not constantly holding and playing with him?

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/07/stay-here-mama/feed/ 3 Baby Proofing Time http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/06/baby-proofing-time/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/06/baby-proofing-time/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:00:53 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=1092 We may be just a little late on the planning curve for this but it is time that we being to baby proof our home.

In all fairness prior to now we were still living with my parents and didn’t feel right messing with the structure of their home. Then we finally moved into our own home but our son wasn’t really showing any signs of crawling, in fact it wasn’t until he was six almost seven months that he really began turning over fully enough to move around and be more mobile.

However, now he is eight and a half months old and he is not only a crawling master but is always starting to pull himself up on furniture and walking across the length of the couch or table. It is a very exciting time in our home right now. He is busy exploring and learning and we are having the time of our lives watching him discover the world around him.

On the other hand though we have realized that there are many areas in the home that aren’t so safe for him to explore. In order to protect him for those areas we have had to baby proof the areas that he is allowed to enter. What we have done so far is:

Child proof the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms.

We have put those cabinet stoppers on all the doors except one cabinet, the one in the kitchen were are the unbreakable lunch containers and Rubbermaid containers are. He hasn’t quite figured out how to open cabinets yet but when he does I am sure he will enjoy having that cabinet to play with.

Protect all the plugs.

We primarily use power strips to protect our electronics and conserve electricity so we have several unused and exposed sockets around the home. We simply got the plug fillers to block his access to them. I hear that in a few years he will figure out how to remove them and get to them but we are hoping to educate him on the dangers before them.. (High hopes).

Gated Access

The way our home is laid out we only need one gate to really protect him from the ‘forbidden’ areas. Which really we don’t have that many areas he can’t go to yet. Right now we either keep him in the living room when we are having family time. Or we move over one hallway  block access to the kitchen while I am cooking. The other rooms like the bathrooms we just shut those doors.

Door handle stoppers.

Okay so probably not the technical term but that is the best I could come up with. We only have one door that we could use the handle stopper on, and that is the most important door, the front door. All the other doors inside our home have the long horizontal pull down handle, not the round turning handles. I haven’t seen many child proof handles for those types of doors so if you know of any please help out.

Table Corner Protectors

We have a massively strong  and large wood center table with extremely hard corners. We knew immediately those would need to be covered some how. We were able to find some foam covers that you just tape on and so far they have worked like a charm.

That is all we have done so far. We are still looking for other ways to enhance the protection around our home. If you have any suggestions or see any areas that we have missed please share what we can do to improve his protection.

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/06/baby-proofing-time/feed/ 0 Someone Almost Stole My Son! http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/04/someone-almost-stole-my-son/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/04/someone-almost-stole-my-son/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:00:04 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=1143 So this morning, someone actually attempted to kidnap my son.

Okay so I may be over exaggerating, but then maybe I am not.

Let me share with you how it happened and what went down so you can be the judge. Kidnap attempt or simply another parent playing around.

On my way to work this morning I was actually running a little early and decided I would stop and full up my tank. I was running on E anyways so I know it needed be refilled.

I got to the gas stationed and filled up my tank as usual. After I had finished puttle the nozel back up I went around to start getting in my car when the man at the pump next to me made eye contact with me. Immediately he started smiling and talking to me. The first words out of his mouth was “Ooh so you have a little baby in there?” Pointing at my car.

Smiling back, “I sure do.”

He then approached the passenger side to see him. “Oh it’s a boy, how nice, you must be really blessed. So where is his father” (What in the world kind of question is that?)

“Oh I am blessed, thank you. His father is at work already”

“Here you should have this.” And he proceeds to take a lottery ticket out of his wallet and give me.

“Hmmm, thanks so much. I will have to look out for it.”

He then leaves and I get into my car. Right then and there something inside of my told me to go ahead and lock my doors. They usually automatically lock after I start the car and pull off but I was still putting my credit card back in my wallet and getting my seat belt on.

Just then the man reappears holding a child, a young boy probably between 2 and 3 years old.

He waves, and has the boy wave too (he’s waving his arm) and then goes toward my sons window and taps on the window showing the little boy my baby.

Then it happened … the moment of truth. The moment almost any parent fears.

He tried to open the car door.

In shock … I promptly half smile, wave at him and pull off.

I immediately called my husband and let him know that we are both okay and explained what happened. Of course he freaked and his whole day was recked from then also because he works over an hour and a half away and always fears that something would happen and he wouldn’t be able to respond like the hero he is.

At that moment I was scared but I wanted to believe the best. I want to believe that he was just being an honestly fun loving parent who wanted to share the baby with his son. Maybe he is a single father who is desperately trying to find someone to love and love him back and be a father to the child he had.

Then the other side of my was panicking and think all the what ifs. What if I didn’t lock the doors, how fast could he have gotten my son out? What if he had a gun? What if that little boy really isn’t his and he was a kidnapped child?

Have you ever experienced any thing like this? What did you do? How did you handle the situation? Would you go back to that gas station?

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/04/someone-almost-stole-my-son/feed/ 5 What Do You Need My Son? http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/04/what-do-you-need-my-son/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/04/what-do-you-need-my-son/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:00:00 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=1046

Welcome to the April Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting advice!

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month we’re writing letters to ask our readers for help with a current parenting issue. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

Dear experienced, trained and confident mother,

I love my son more then I could have ever imaged. It has been such an amazing journey bringing him into this world and watching him grow and learn. I am grateful beyond limits at how he is such an amazingly calm, sweet and pleasant baby. Since the day he was born he was never an overly fussy, dramatic baby. He was just laid back, rolled with the punches, charming boy.

Well he turned six months early this April and something happened. I am not sure if he hit his head somewhere or ate something other then my breast milk but something has started to change in him.

He is beginning to have a personality, his own desires, needs and demands. He is no longer content to play with his own toys on his own terms. He must, he insist on having what ever it is that mommy is playing with. My food always seems to entice him and daddy can’t do anything with little mans approval.

I have never seen such a tiny little face turn so many different colors and textures over a remote control. ‘Honey, this isn’t for eating’ … oh how wrong those words truly are. ‘Baby boy, if you roll that way you will fall.’ … really what made me think that would influence his decision. ‘Sweetie, you are rubbing your eyes and can barely hold your head up any more, it’s time for bed.’ … and repeat this same sentence in about an hour or so because he still insist that he doesn’t want to sleep.

And then there are those moments recently when I just have absolutely no clue what is bothering him. He just start screaming crying for what seems to be no reason and all and I can’t seem to sooth him. He isn’t hungry, just fed him. He isn’t tired, just woke up from a long nap. He isn’t wet, just changed him. He can’t be bored, he has like 5 toy’s around him. What is it son, what do you need from me? Let me help you, just give me a sign. I miss the days when he spoke the Dunstan Language and I could understand his needs from his cries. Now he just screams.

Yup, that about sums it up.

How did this happen and how do I make it stop?

I am not ready for so much emotions, character, personality and moods. How do I create a bubble world where he stays four months old forever?

***

Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by the end of the day April 13 with all the carnival links.)

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/04/what-do-you-need-my-son/feed/ 14 Baby-Everywhere: Keeping You Organized and Baby Safe http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/01/baby-everywhere-keeping-you-organized-and-baby-safe/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/01/baby-everywhere-keeping-you-organized-and-baby-safe/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:00:39 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=624 You just spent nine to ten months worrying about the little life that was being formed inside your body. Constantly checking for little movements, always anticipating hearing the little heart beat, double checking that everything that you eat is safe for both you and more importantly the baby. Now the baby is here and you can relax … HA Yeah Right!

Now you worry even 10 times more then you did before. Is the baby breathing? What happens if there is a fire? Is the car seat set up correctly? Is my home baby proofed enough? Is she breathing right? Did I leave all the information that the babysitter needed? Really … this is the 8th time checking if he was still breathing and he’s only been asleep for 30 minutes.

It is amazing sometimes that new moms ever leave their homes with all the dangers, and what if’s roaming around in this big scary world. What would really help is if we had something that could help us be organized, inform us some safety precautions and help us be more baby safe.

Baby-Everywhere has just the right products to help us out. Baby-Everywhere is an easy-to-understand and instantly ready-to-use line of products. It is based on advice from pediatricians, emergency medicine physicians and nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, child safety seat installers, and other experts. It is recommended by the America an Academy of Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Planet.com. The information in all Baby-Everywhere products is translated into Spanish. They are the first of their kind to be offered by Target.com and Amazon.com

I was fortunate enough to  have  received a few of the Baby-Everywhere products to review and give away to my faithful readers. There are two items available.

Safe Baby Organizer: http://babyeverywhere.com/safe-baby-organizer.php

Safe Baby Kit: http://babyeverywhere.com/safe-baby-kit.php

In order to be entered to win please

1. Go to the Baby-Everywhere website and check out their products. Come back and leave a comment letting me know which item is your favorite and in what ways it would help your family. (*be sure to leave which one out of the two products you prefer so I know which one to reserve if you win).

For extra entries you can.

2. Tweet about the contest and leave another comment with your tweet link.

3. Follow both myself (@pchanner) and (@babyeverwhere) Florence Weiner – Owner of Baby Everywhere on twitter.

This contest will end on Friday, January 22 and two winners will be chosen using random.org on Saturday, January 23. Please be sure to leave a valid email address so you can be contacted if you are a winner.

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2010/01/baby-everywhere-keeping-you-organized-and-baby-safe/feed/ 16 Don’t Hurt My Gums! http://amomsfreshstart.com/2009/12/dont-hurt-my-gums/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2009/12/dont-hurt-my-gums/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:00:32 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.com/?p=409 P1010205

So this is a bad picture, the little tooth speck is just behind his gums

This weeks marks the beginning of yet another journey into motherhood. It seems my barely three month old son has decided he wants to start growing his first tooth now. I first started to get suspicious that something was amiss last week. I began to notice the teeth outline clearly just below his gums. I figured though that was still had at least a month to go.

It seems that I was wrong. Yesterday I noticed a small white speck on his gum line. At first glance I tried to convince myself it was just a spot of left over milk from lunch. However, after some careful investigation and a little wipe down it was clear that calcium filled speck was there to stay.

Tomorrow after the hubby gets off of work we are headed to town to invest in some teething toys, baby ora-gel and some Brandy (just in case).

Okay so we are skipping the Brandy but can anyone provide some feedback on how their experience with baby ora-gel went? Was it worth it? Too strong? Not strong enough? I know each baby is different, so the more feedback the batter.

Or better yet, has anyone tried using an Amber teething necklace? I read that these can ban an awesome alternative but do not want to spend the $25 without some realiable reviews.

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2009/12/dont-hurt-my-gums/feed/ 4 Listen to that Heart Beat http://amomsfreshstart.com/2009/08/listen-to-that-heart-beat/ http://amomsfreshstart.com/2009/08/listen-to-that-heart-beat/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:18:59 +0000 pchanner http://amomsfreshstart.wordpress.com/?p=158 heartbeat

My husband and I have two fairly large puppy dogs that are just bundles of joy to play, watch and laugh with … most of the time. The other times they are both just little terrors with their barking, continuously trying to escape, and chewing up everything. The puppies are Shadow and Sandy and they are brother and sister, same parents but from a different litter 9 months apart. When we got Shadow, we knew he would be a handful, but had no clue when we got Sandy how much of a beast she would be also.

Well it was clear from the tone and consistency of the Sandy barks this morning that Shadow was no longer near her and she was calling him from across the yard. Usually during the night (because they are escape artist) they are chained up near the house. I got out side to discover he in deed did escape and was nearing the fence which has a hole near the bottom that he could have squeezed through. Luckily we caught him in time. Sadly though, he was just a little too happy to see me outside this morning. Before I knew it, he had charged at me full speed and had his paws up to reach my waist to say hi. Typically not a bad thing, except he paws went straight for the baby. Not good … and to make it worse, I wasn’t feeling the little one move around anymore.

Once we got him tied back up, I went right back inside and straight to my Graco Bébé Sound Prenatal Heart Listener to make sure my little one was still ticking. I know, I was probably being way too paranoid but to me it felt really hard. It took me a few moments but sure enough there was a super strong and fast heart beat. Whew! I always knew my little one was strong,

That is when I realized how grateful I was to have this heart listener. When my husband and I were registering for our gifts we came across it and thought it would be the best thing in the world to have. Well for the first few months, it didn’t work as expected. And we should have known better because it says it right there on the box, best used during the third trimester. The first few months we heard nothing but the baby’s kicks and movements. I had almost given up on using it and forgot about it until this morning when I needed it. And wow, I had never heard the baby’s heart beat so strong and loud before. If only I could find the cord needed to connect it to the compurter I would record a few seconds so you can hear how clear and smooth you can hear you little one. I totally recommend getting this Prenatal Heart Listener to any expectant mommy out there.

]]> http://amomsfreshstart.com/2009/08/listen-to-that-heart-beat/feed/ 0