The first post of a blog is always interesting. There are a ba-zillion things I'd love to write, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. I've become a fan of a few blogs lately. (I'll post links once I figure out how.) I've admired these women and gained an incredible amount of insight because of them. As I read their experinces, I've thought "I'd love to write like that about such-and-such." I don't expect to gain a vast readership. That's not my intent with this blog. I want to chronical life in my little corner of the world. I want to get my thoughts and experiences down. I'm terrible at keeping up with my journal. Maybe this will be different.
I guess the standard thing to do would be to introduce myself, my family and my blog. I'm Elizabeth. I'm 22 and studying Elementary Education. My hubby and I have been married for almost 2 years. We welcomed our son this past January. I'd love to show him off to the world, but there are too many sick people in the world, so it just isn't going to happen. It's a shame because he's dang cute. He's my angel and the inspiration for this blog.
When I got pregnant, I "knew" there were two types of parents: "Crunchy" hippie- types that did wierd things like use cloth diapers and give birth at home with a doula. What? Pay a stranger to be there when I give birth? Psh. And of course, all crunchy-granola parents are hard-core liberals. My husband and I are definately NOT liberals. I won't get into a huge thing about politics, but just take my word for it. We are not liberals. Therefor, we must be the other type of parents. Mom gives birth in a hospital with an epidural the second she gets there with some Nubane for the heck of it, has no desire to breastfeed, spanks constantly, lets baby "cry it out," ect. (Disclaimer: I'm not saying either way is evil, just not my bag.)
But... I didn't want pain meds during birth and I'm a breastfeeding advocate. Psychologists call this cognitive disconance. (This is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.) The more research I did, the more I began to realize that I lean towards the "crunchy" side. What they said made sense and they have science backing it up to boot! But, but... I'm a conservative.
The discussion went around and around inside me for a trimester or two. Now here I am. A conservative with a 10 week old son who wears cloth diapers, breastfeeds (at least as much as I can... supply issues, but that's another post), uses glass bottles, co-sleeps, is planning a VBAC with a midwife and a doula (next time... it's a while off) and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES babywearing. At the same time, we own a stroller, use sposies (disposible diapers) at night and when we're going out for the day, supplement with formula, vaccinate (and will do so with any future children) and I had the most invasive birth possible: a c-section.
So here I stand, just to the right (wing) of crunchy.
