A couple of weeks ago I allowed myself to go visit a baby store. Funnily enough, despite my desire to be a mum I have never visited one of these interesting stores. Perhaps I was just holding back until it became a little more real.
Anyhow, off I went to see what things there were to buy for our baby and wow! there is so much stuff available. I was dazzled to find that there are multitudes of different types of nappies (not just cloth or disposable but many variations on both and tonnes of ecologically sound options too). I've had a girlfriend of mine (who has three boys under 3) telling me that I should be thinking about what type of nappies we'll be using therefore I was fascinated to discover we have so many different choices.
She also recommended we think about our choices with:
I might be jumping ahead here but we've already decided that we'll start reading to our child as soon as they come home (storybooks not encyclopedias!), take regular bushwalks with the baby in a carrying sling to familiarize them with the area we live in and give them lots of fresh air, make our own baby food, home-school them (when they get to school age) and breastfeed.
Yes, adoptive mums can breastfeed so the research tells me. I've been discussing this one with my girlfriends recently - most of whom are breastfeeding themselves right now. At first, I was a bit weirded-out about the whole adoptive breastfeeding scenario until I started researching the practicalities of it. Did you know that western cultures are the only cultures that don't widely practice breastfeeding of a child that is not biologically your own? Well, you might have known that but I sure didn't. Anyhow, in Tasmanian we have a very experienced and well-known lactation consultant living right here in our very own state. One of my girlfriends has received assistance from this particular lady herself and sings her praises so I will shortly be going along to the consultant for some advice.
I was surprised to hear that all of my girlfriends, my mum and my husband are very supportive of adoptive breastfeeding. I honestly thought it would just weird people out. I was (happily) wrong!
To try and get a grasp on the reality of being a parent, I sometimes look around at babies and toddlers that I come into contact with and imagine how it will feel to have someone of that size and needs level to care for 24/7. It's a tough one to actually know though. Right now, it's intrinsically a part of us that we only have to look out for each other, we can drop everything and go do whatever comes to mind, no schedules to keep (apart from work) and we can reason with each other using adult logic therefore have no need for negotiating the workings of little minds who just want what they want and now! Except for our dog who is somewhat of a perpetual child himself of course. There's just no reasoning with a dog.
Anyhow, off I went to see what things there were to buy for our baby and wow! there is so much stuff available. I was dazzled to find that there are multitudes of different types of nappies (not just cloth or disposable but many variations on both and tonnes of ecologically sound options too). I've had a girlfriend of mine (who has three boys under 3) telling me that I should be thinking about what type of nappies we'll be using therefore I was fascinated to discover we have so many different choices.
She also recommended we think about our choices with:
- whether to offer a dummy (aka pacifier to Americans)
- front sling or backpack for carrying the babe
- use a bassinet, cot or co-sleep
- nappy change table or change mat
- vegetarian baby or meat-eater (we are vegetarian)
I might be jumping ahead here but we've already decided that we'll start reading to our child as soon as they come home (storybooks not encyclopedias!), take regular bushwalks with the baby in a carrying sling to familiarize them with the area we live in and give them lots of fresh air, make our own baby food, home-school them (when they get to school age) and breastfeed.
Yes, adoptive mums can breastfeed so the research tells me. I've been discussing this one with my girlfriends recently - most of whom are breastfeeding themselves right now. At first, I was a bit weirded-out about the whole adoptive breastfeeding scenario until I started researching the practicalities of it. Did you know that western cultures are the only cultures that don't widely practice breastfeeding of a child that is not biologically your own? Well, you might have known that but I sure didn't. Anyhow, in Tasmanian we have a very experienced and well-known lactation consultant living right here in our very own state. One of my girlfriends has received assistance from this particular lady herself and sings her praises so I will shortly be going along to the consultant for some advice.
I was surprised to hear that all of my girlfriends, my mum and my husband are very supportive of adoptive breastfeeding. I honestly thought it would just weird people out. I was (happily) wrong!
To try and get a grasp on the reality of being a parent, I sometimes look around at babies and toddlers that I come into contact with and imagine how it will feel to have someone of that size and needs level to care for 24/7. It's a tough one to actually know though. Right now, it's intrinsically a part of us that we only have to look out for each other, we can drop everything and go do whatever comes to mind, no schedules to keep (apart from work) and we can reason with each other using adult logic therefore have no need for negotiating the workings of little minds who just want what they want and now! Except for our dog who is somewhat of a perpetual child himself of course. There's just no reasoning with a dog.
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