Elimination Communication

Alright friends, open up your minds.  Take a deep breath in, and let it out slowly.  Now read on.

Who?  The Moody's!  (And the rest of the unindustrialized world.)

What? Elimination Communication.  Infant Potty Training.  Natural Infant Hygiene.

Why?  It is all about better communication with your infant.  Just like meeting her needs when she is hungry or tired, her elimination needs need the same kind of attention.  I was first introduced to this idea by Mayim Bialik's book Beyond the Sling Chapter 7 "Baby Needs Potty" (a book I highly recommend by the way).  Chris is very open to all/any new ideas so he was all for trying it so we did!   

When?  Started Cleo at 6 weeks.  And we don't practice this at night right now, though if we did I know Cleo would sleep better.  She wakes up a few times each night really squirmy and I know she has to go, but I feed her instead to get her back to sleep.

Where?  Anywhere and everywhere.  It is most easily done at home, because we can leave Cleo's bum bare and catch 90% of her going, but we do it at church, at my mom's, at The Browning Center during Nutcracker.  It's hard not to do it when she is uncomfortable and I know why!  We have her in a diaper when we're out and about just in case, but if there is a bathroom nearby we try her.

How?  Tri-fold cloth diaper, elastic around the waist, leg warmers and socks.  Fall/Winter doesn't seem like the best time to start, but we did it anyway.  I tried her twice with nothing no results, but third times the charm!!  Once we started there was really no turning back.  And here we are 5 weeks later.

EC Day 1 - Cleo 6 weeks - 10/8/12

 Cleo 8/5 weeks - 10/23/12

One cool thing that we noticed was an immediate change in Cleo's demeanor after starting this.  It is all about having good communication with your child and meeting their needs as quickly as you can, which is why it was a pillar in Malim Bialik's book on Attachment Parenting.  I feel like it was a piece of the puzzle we were missing, and so Cleo would cry often where she didn't seem hungry and she didn't seem tired, but after EC (Elimination Communication) her temperament improved dramatically.  The idea is that infant's never want to be sitting in their own waste, so they instinctively don't like going in a diaper.  We train them to go in a diaper then 2 or 3 or 4 years later we retrain them not to go in the diaper, where if they stay aware of their elimination needs they end up being more comfortable and a bonus is that you end up spending less on diapers in the long run.  I don't feel like I am saving tons of $$ on diaper usage yet, but if she is mostly out of diapers by age 1 instead of 2 or 3 that's a good chunk of money.

We are now on week 5 of this method and it is great.  She still pees in a diaper often, during naps and in the night, but she pretty much hasn't pooped in a diaper since mid-October and based on cleanup duty alone it has been totally worth it.

Of course, there are skeptics and people who think we are crazy but nobody has voiced their opinion too strongly and we've kind of gotten used to some people thinking how we live our lives is incorrect, so we've gotten over it.

Resources:

Boucke, Laurie. (2000) Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primeval Method Adapted to Modern Living

Bauer, Ingrid. (2001) Diaper Free!  The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene

Twinners?

10/31/2009 Dad & Camden

10/31/2012 - Dad & Cleo

Co-Sleeping

Cleo Week 1

Poor Camden wants to play with Cleo all day every day, but she sleeps so dang much it becomes a problem.  Her umbilical stump fell off, hooray!  The little gDiapers are wonderful.  She is becoming more awake when everyone else is going to sleep, not hooray!  Not eating as much as my ducts think she should be, so I already have like 5 bags of breastmilk sitting in the freezer.

Happy Labor Day!

Research

Books I read in preparation for Cleo (in order of helpfulness and good reading)

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin - Actually started this AFTER having Cleo, but I am really loving it.

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block - LOVED!

Journey into Motherhood: Inspirational Stories of Natural Birth by Sheri L. Menelli - Interesting to see which stories I identified with.

Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England and Rob Horowitz

The Birth Partner, Third Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions by Penny Simkin - An extremely comprehensive read.

Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method: A natural approach to a safe, easier, more comfortable birthing by Marie F. Mongan
 
Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley

Choosing Waterbirth: Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth by Lakshmi Bertram, Sandra Amrita McLanahan and Michel Odent

Cleo

Well my friends, we did it. The "Marathon of Labor" is over for a few years.  Here is a little glimpse into how we spent our Sabbath yesterday.

4:13am - Contraction woke me up.

4:20am - Another contraction that woke me up.

4:46am - Chris called our midwife, Heather Johnson, to report.

5:06am - Needed counter pressure through contractions.  Poor Chris was frantically moving furniture out of the living room, trying to set up the birth pool, and be there for me when I needed him.  He was getting a workout for sure.

5:49am - We were hoping Cam would sleep straight through the morning, but the pump for the pool woke him up.  He was wanting attention that we couldn't really focus on him at that moment, so we called my Mom and she came to play with him.

6:00am - Heather arrived and put an IV of antibiotics in me, for Group B Strep.

At some point I got in the birth pool.  It was much needed relief.  Labor is such a mental game.  I was trying to stay on top of it, but towards the end kept asking how much longer it would be.  I was extremely thankful to have pretty good breaks/rests between contractions even right up to the end.  Using voice really helped me with labor, so it was a little cacophonous in our house.

The midwives broke my water upon my request and it was maybe 3 contractions afterwards that I said, "I'm getting her out in one push."  The midwives kind of advised against that, as it would increase my likelihood of tearing, they said if we ask you to slow down you should slow down.  But when the next one came, I pushed, and then I stopped, and it didn't feel better, so OUT SHE CAME!  What an amazing, beautiful, relief to finally have her in our arms.  (I did tear, but that was something I was willing to deal with at the moment.  Later when I was getting stitched up I thought maybe I could have been more patient.)

The midwives stayed, helped, cleaned up, did the newborn exam and everything until after 11:00am.  Cleo nursed, Chris slept, I was in and out of sleep but kept getting woken up by afterbirth pains.  Chris made me oatmeal, cantaloupe, and applesauce.  We watched Return to Me, sobbed and laughed then got up and moved around for a bit.

Camden went to church with my mom and played all day over there.  Actually he slept from 2 - 7pm, he's not used to being up at 5am!

It was nice having some time for Chris and I.  We talked and laughed about Cleo's birth, played Phase 10, and just caught up.  We don't get to talk much with me working days and Chris working nights.

One thing I had wanted when she was born was for it to be in the night/early morning and then all of a sudden we could just announce she was here safe and sound!  And with the exception of my mother knowing and being here, that is what happened!  It was wonderful.  Nobody had to be worrying about how it was going or anything.

She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches long, born at 7:26am.

 

 

Taking care of a newborn again is crazy.  They need you in such a different way than a 3 year old.  She looks so much like Camden, it is like deja vu.  So thankful for loving friends and family who are so supportive and loving.