Cloth vs. Disposable
When Queen Victoria, in 1850something, chose to use ether during the birth of her EIGTH child, the nation was thrown into chaos and pandemonium. The House of Lords entered into the public discourse as to whether or not it was acceptable spiritually or medically for a woman to recieve medication for the alleviation of pain during childbirth.
The House of Lords was apparently onto something, not that it was any of their business, because the debate is still raging. Hospital vs. home, natural vs. drugged, breast vs. bottle, attachment vs. spock, family bed vs. crib, work vs. stay at home, baby yoga vs. baby pilates, shake vs. never never never shake...
All of these bloody and vicious battles have been going on for decades, and in some cases, centuries, happily unbeknownst to me. Now suddenly I'm supposed to have a fully thought out opinion, ready to be interrogated by friends, neighbors, the cashier at the grocery store. I'll have to be able to defend my position at a moments notice. And in the meantime, I'm boring poor Lazlo to death, because he wants to talk about other things besides the pros and cons of Midwifery.
Judging from the books, book reviews, and websites I've read recently, not to mention the people I've talked to, having a baby makes you, and the people around you, into fanatical zealots. Maybe it's just the people who were always going to be vocal anyway, or maybe there will come a day when Lazlo and I will accost innocent partygoers at social events and talk to them about the evils of medical establishment childbirth: "Don't you know? The baby loses up to one IQ POINT with the use of drugs!"
I agree- Milagro needs all the spare IQ he can lay his partially formed fingers nubs on- but right then I really just wanted to finish my cheesecake in peace.
I don't know where I'm going with this. It's just overwhelming to be suddenly swamped, not only by the -fact- of being pregnant and the inevitability of giving birth, but also this huge seething subculture of -really- opinionated people. People who have devoted blood, sweat and tears to the cloth vs. disposable diapers fight. How bizarre.
What do you folks think about all this?
Great, now everybody who's looking for information about the jam band "Attachment vs. Spock" is going to be reading this website.
It has only just begun. Welcome to the rest of your life. All of these questions are just ways of benchmarking. Is she a better mother than I am? Is she one of those earthy hard-core, no-drug freaks? Is she one of those crazy gimmee-more-drugs mothers who will probably end up beating her children? I just finally went with responding with "I haven't decided" when asked about my childbirth philosophy which really set people off once I was obviously due any second.
I think it just boils down to the fact that every parent is uncertain and terrified. We are all still trying to figure out how not to break the baby. Don't worry. You will be fine!! We haven't broken ours yet and they have each been dropped on the floor at least once.
since you asked my opinion:
hospital, drugged, breast, spock, crib, stay, baby yoda, breast milk shake
my opinion as an up and coming midwife and as someone who cares very much about you, lazlo, and milagro has been expressed via telephone. and it will be expressed again when your new midwife lets me deliver your child as one of my 100 required attended births before i get my license.
You should know that I'll be reading this regularly now that you're pregnant. Also that I'm tremendously excited for you.
I only have one firm opinion...baby pilates. Oh, and the Jenny McCarthy book Belly Laughs. The excerpts I've read are hilarious, but I'm waiting until I can get pregnant--in a million years--before I read the whole thing.
And I'm pretty excited by the baby yoda suggested by paperhat. will it be old school animatronic yoda or computer generated?