Bradley Method Class Reunion...sort of!

Before O was born, J and I talked about the possibilities related to prenatal classes in and around Saskatoon. The only option that we knew about at the time was the class in the Saskatoon Health Region, which makes room for several pregnant couples, to talk about pregnancy and child birth, or should I say, the medicalization of child birth. Yea, needless to say, J and I were not interested at all. Upon talking with our midwife, we were presented with a couple other options: hypnobirthing and the bradley method. In short, hypnobirthing is a sort of self-induced hypnosis method for the women, while the Bradley Method is all about Natural Childbirth, but has a huge, "coach" component to it. The latter interested me because I always knew I would be invested in fatherhood from the very moment the stick had the plus sign on it. Being the geek that I am, I delved into the research, and even read the book "Husband-Coached Childbirth", by Robert Bradley, from cover-to-cover. The book does a great job of explaining the method, but what was the most amazing experience I have had, next to the birth of my son, was taking part in the classes in Saskatoon. Our instructor, and our other classmates, became our friends, and we are forever greatful to CS for taking the time each week, for ten weeks, to prepare us for the final part of our journey.

On that note, last night J and I opened our house up to these friends we've made for a bit of a refresher on Dr. Bradley's methods. In our class in 2010, there were 9 couples, of those 5 of us are expecting children again, 3 in December, 1 in January and 1 in March! CS told us that in all her years, she has never had this many from the same class, expecting again, so close in age, again. We shared food, experiences and got to see all our children play together last night. CS gave us the refresher she thought we needed, and most of us think that we are ready to take on birth number two! If you ever get the opportunity, take some time to learn about natural childbirth, and research some alternatives to traditional, hospital prenatal classes. I am confident that if you take part in a Bradley Method class, you will have a new appreciation for yourself, your partner, and your child.

Trust birth,
B

Getting Close

Things are truly getting close for J and I, as we approach thefinal weeks of our pregnancy. The single digit countdown for J to be finished work started a few weeks ago. Finally, she has only 3 shifts left this weekend. Then, the nesting will begin. I am happy to say that the nursery is ready to go, diapers are stocked, and all things getting ready for newborn seem to be a-go.

Having a newborn in the winter will definitely be a new experience for J and I. O was born at the end of April, with some slushy, wet snow on his birth day. But then the warm weather began. This time around, we'll be right in the wrath of Old Man Winter when baby girl arrives. We are also, right in the middle of getting things ready for Christmas. Gifts for O and baby girl are bought, and J and I are making lists for eachother, of which we'll buy one item for eachother from. We've decided to stay at home this year for Christmas, no matter when Baby Girl decides to make her grand entrance. We'll definitely have to not only get used to a newborn again, but O can be a bit of a fun handful when we go somewhere.

All in all, things since I last chatted with you all are pretty good. O is crazy fun as ever, and J is glowing in the last few weeks of her pregnancy. Fatherhood is truly an amazing journey, one that I am forever greatful to be experiencing.

Until next time everyone, trust birth!

B

It’s been a while…

Wow, I truly did not realize how long it has been since I have written! Laying in bed the other night, my always lovely, very pregnant wife asked me when my last post was. My reply. I don’t know. So, I thought I’d log in and check it out. Yowzer! August 22^nd, 2011! I truly could not ask for more in my life these days, and am ever ecstatic that in a few short weeks we are about to welcome our newest addition, a baby girl. Yep, the EDD is creeping ever close! With O, we were two weeks early, and the labour was about 6 hours (of long, hard labour for J). At our midwife appointment (we visit every two weeks now, and in two weeks it’s every week!!), she said that usually 2^nd time moms deliver early, and the labour is 50% quicker!! Holy smokes I thought! She could see the expression on my face, and told me to just call her as soon as we think we’re in labour, and the games will begin.

Lately, things for J and I have been crazy! Raising a toddler, working full-time and getting ready for winter and a new baby are no easy task. When we get home after work, our 2^nd and favorite job kicks in, playing with and raising our little boy. He’s been a little terrorizer lately, like all 18.5 month old little boys should be; running around the house, eating every hour, messing toys, opening cupboards, throwing diapers in the toilet, tormenting the dogs, etc. Lately, his favorite thing to do is play “rosy” (aka ring-around-the-rosy) with me, and when “we all fall down” he likes to keep me down, grab a blankey and cuddle up with me (ni-ni daddy J ). He’s an all around fun little boy already, and I look forward to each new adventure he takes me on everyday.

About 3 weeks ago, he started waking up in the middle of the night for really no apparent reason. This has been completely unheard of in our house for at least the past four months. O usually sleeps right through the night, and J and I had gotten used to it. 3 weeks ago though, baby girl decided it was time to get her big brother to retrain J and I on not sleeping through the night. I admit, it is something we definitely need to get used to, but O was really giving us a great time with his sleeping through the night. But alas, we realize that shortly we will once again see all of the hours that exist in the middle of the night, when our baby girl joins us, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

J and I decided to get some holiday shopping done early, and managed to pretty well strike off the things on O’s list that we made! He is pretty well done, and we just have one more thing to send to Santa’s shop! Of course, with baby girl coming sometime in December, we really need to get a move on it and get things ready for the holidays. I put our lights up last night, and we will likely start organizing the decorations so that it isn’t a mad dash to get things up and our house doesn’t look like the Grinch’s during the holiday season. We’ve also tackled the nursery for baby girl, and are really excited for her to make use of the room. J and I had some leftover paint from when we did O’s nursery in our old house, and so we decided to do the same kind of theme (Winnie the Pooh), but a different painting style. Setting up the nursery furniture was way easier this time, and we are slowly but surely getting things ready for our baby girl to move into when she is ready.

All in all, we are ready for the new challenge that will come with having an infant and a toddler. I look forward to holding my daughter for the first time, and seeing O with his own baby sister. J is ready too, and is into the single digit countdown at work!! Getting more pregnant and always beautiful everyday, she looks forward to holding her baby too and growing our family by one. As for the dogs, I know they will be just fine. O and I will be slightly more outnumbered, but will have a blast in a house full of women and estrogen. Love to my family!!

Sorry for the long post. We’ve been busy, and I wanted to let my readers know how things are going as we get so close to a new chapter in our lives.  By the way, I read this online the other day, about Johnson & Johnson products, which we use on O, what do you think? (http://www.forbes.com/sites/amywestervelt/2011/11/01/as-report-reveals-toxic-ingredients-in-baby-shampoo-johnson-johnson-goes-public-with-plans-to-clean-up-products/)

Trust birth,

Blair

And the ultrasound says...

Well, we had our ultrasound Friday past, and it says it's a girl! I'm super excited to not only add to my family, but to get ready to welcome "daddy's girl". Seeing the bond my wife has with her dad, makes me that much more excited to build this relationship with my own daughter. Sure, there will be several challenges, but what would parenthood be without them?

The ultrasound itself was great! We decided to bring the O-man with us to see his baby sister on the screen, and, well, it wasn't The Wiggles, so he was less then entertained. He was very fussy in the room, playing with the chair, tapping J's belly (which made for an interesting view on the monitor) and pulling the sticky gelly messed towels out of the laundry hamper. He did stop and look when he heard baby-girls heartbeat, as he usually does at our Midwife appointments! But, that's as entertained as he was. This ultrasound makes the pregnancy, and the upcoming arrival of our daughter even more exciting and real. J and I cannot wait to add a little girl to our family.

Just thought I'd share with you all our ultrasound update. I know this post is none too exciting, but I had a few minutes downtime at work, so I thought I'd throw up an update. Tomorrow, we are off to the midwife, so I'll be sure to give you all a head's up about how that went, and share a bit with you of how our date night went on Friday.

Until then, trust birth,
B

P.S. Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Jack Layton, and all of Canada. Today, we lost a truly inspirational and caring politician. RIP Jack.

Out Comes the Snake!

Get your head outta your you know what ;)

There is a time in every man's life during his wife's pregnancy that he will learn about the dreaded "snake pillow". This curvy, apparently comfy, pillow helps offer J and her beautiful glowing belly get the rest they need to help baby grow and develop and prepare for his or her entry into the world.

This pillow will suddenly become your worst nightmare. Taking up the whole of the bed, and cuddling with YOUR wife. But alas, I know I will soon have her back, and will not only get to be in bed with J every night, but will be able to have newborn baby cuddles, and toddler O-man cuddles. Take that snake pillow! In a few short months, you will be back in storage, in the crevices of the storage room in the basement. You grin now, but you just wait :)

Now, back to you, my readers. The pillow really seems to be a great thing, and helps J get some rest at night. She is beautiful as ever these days. A beautiful woman, with a beautiful glow. The mother of my children, growing a beautiful baby to add to our family.

I'm really starting to enjoy blogging and writing (although you wouldn't guess it by my lack of posting lately). Things have been really busy at home. We bought a new house in May and with it came the mounds of work that need to be done: driveway poured, landscaping started, basement finished! It is really starting to take shape and we are happy as ever in our dream home. Room for the kids and dogs to play, and for J and I to enjoy some R&R (albeit infrequently!).

I see letting you all in on my life as a way to share the wonderful gift of fatherhood that I have been given. It's a way for me to share the joys in my life, and lets me get time to myself, to really digest and put into words what I am feeling about certain things.

Next week Friday, we go for the ultrasound. This time around, J and I have decided we'd like to find out the gender of our baby. I feel that it'll help me connect better with my unborn child, and it'll also help us prepare a bit more for his or her arrival. I'll be sure to share with you everything about this first ultrasound, from the procedure, to O-man's reaction to seeing a "baby" on the screen!

Until next time everyone!

Trust birth,
B

P.S. We had another midwife appointment at the end of July! All is going great, the hearbeat was at 140 bpm and baby is growing quite nicely. We talked about homebirth options with Jessica, and hopefully this baby will want to be born in the pool like we had planned with the O-man!

Midwife Appointment - 5 July 2011

8:00 a.m. and we were off to another Midwife appointment. J and I opt for the early appointments, so that I don't lose too much time at work, and can still make it to all of the appointments. And besides, O-man is up with the birds everyday anyway, so why wait!

This appointment we talked with Jessica about our upcoming ultrasound. She reminded us of the processes, and said to tell the technician we would like to find out the sex of our little one. This is something J and I really want to do. We didn't find out with O-man, but this time around, we feel we can be more prepared if we know what our baby is. I think it'll allow us to begin even earlier the bond with our baby, telling him/her his/her name, and just getting to develop that infant bond way early.

Although J is a little sicker with this pregnancy, all is going well. Jessica did J's checkup, made sure everything was as it should be, and then, much to my delight, checked the baby's heartbeat, a healthy 150 bpm. I look forward to this every appointment, as I'm sure all fathers do, as it is one of the real ways (except for the beautiful growing belly), that we know there is a baby on the way. O-man loved it too, and when he heard the quick lil' beat, said "whoa-eee", and looked at me.

After the check up, we chatted a bit more with Jessica, and bid her adieu until next time.

Today is quite a busy one at work, and the weekend is sure to be busy too with J's cousin getting married. We're all looking forward to seeing her family again, and I look forward to writing to you all sometime next week!

Have a great weekend! And as always,

Trust birth,
B

Preview

Tatoo Close to my heart.

This is the Japanese Kanji symbol for Father. I am thinking about getting this tatooed on my left chest, with Otys Paul's (my son) name around the symbol. I'll do this for the new baby too, when he/she arrives. What do you think? Leave your comments here.

Fatherhood Top Five - Best things about bein' a dad!

Yesterday was my second father's day, of many to come. This is the one day of the year, where we remember to stop and thank dad for all that he does, and where life slows down just a tad, to spend time with him. I love these special days, because they are special in their own little ways, but I appreciate my dad all the time, for the things that he does.

This father's day, I woke up to my little boy leaning over me, with his big, 8 tooth grin, saying "da-da". What a thing to wake up to on a Sunday morning! Oh, and did I metion, he let J and I sleep in until 7:30 a.m. the whole weekend?! Thanks O-man!

Here are the top five things about fatherhood, in my opinion:

5. Not worrying what your shirt looks like in the morning after a bit of snot, spit up or milk gets wiped on it. Enjoy it while it lasts fellas!

4. Waking up with the birds. I truly mean this, although I complain about it sometimes! Once you have children, you realize just how much daylight you've actually missed while you lay in bed on those lazy weekends! No alarm is necessary in our house, Little-O is up by 6 a.m. like clock work.

3. Living each day anew. Until you are a father, every day seems the same. Go to bed, wake up, go to work, come home, eat, go to bed.... When you have children, you learn to live through their eyes! Every day I spend with O, I learn something completely new. New ways to pronounce words, new ways to mark up the walls, just how amazing it is to be outside and look at the sky, or the intricate details of a rock or sand. A-ma-zing!

2. Da-da. I've been called a lot of things in my life, but I get a crazy chill every time O calls me Da-da or daddy or dad! His enunciation of daddy and mommy is amazing. I can feel his love every time he calls me, and like all you dad's know, it is one amazing feeling.

1. Coming Home after work. The best part of my day is walking through the door after work. I mean, I was always greeted happily by the dogs and J, but when I walk through the door and O sees me, his eyes absolutely light up. He goes right to the railing, and reaches through, trying to touch me, making sure I'm actually home. Then the fun begins! We play, we talk, watch his movie, have supper, go for a walk. We just enjoy being together, me and the O-man.

Take care Dad's (and moms who read this) and happy belated Father's day! Enjoy this gift, every day.

B

Happy Father's Day

Hi everyone -

Today is a day where we are recognized for being a father! The amazing gift of fatherhood was given to me a little over a year ago, and I wouldn't change anything for it. My dad taught me a lot about being a father, and I hope to share that same knowledge with my own son one day.

Enjoy today, like you do every waking moment as a father. Take a look in those little eyes that glow when they see you, and know that even though this is probably the most exhausting gig in the world, there is no other way to live.

Happy Father's Day Dad's!

Trust birth,
Blair

Today's Parent Link

Hello again. Normally I wouldn't do two posts in one day, but I was sent this article, and thought I would share it with all of you dads and soon-to-be dads. Enjoy!

http://www.todaysparent.com/lifeasparent/fatherhood/article.jsp?content=20080421_115436_10752&page=1#01

Copy and paste it into your browser and as always, trust birth.
B

Midwife Appointment - 8 June 2011

Hi folks. A lot of fathers don't really feel connected to their unborn child until they actually meet them on their birth-day. With O, I can say this was true. That is, until I heard his little heart beating for the first time, at the end of the first trimester. This instantly triggered something in me that said "you're going to be a father, make ways to get connected with your baby and your wife." So I did, and I swear that a lot of the things that I did, while J was pregnant with O, and the way he came into this world, gave me the relationship I have with my son today.

June 8, 2011, 6 months before we meet our 2nd baby, is the day I heard my baby's heartbeat at our midwife appointment. I think any father can attest, that hearing the little, speedy heartbeat is a day they'll never forget. It is one of the most amazing experiences, next to childbirth, that a father can have. Hearing the little ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta on the doppler, can be summed in one word. AMAZING. After the heartbeat, the appointment went on as usual, and we headed home, on an amazing June day.

I'll give you a small glimpse of how midwifery care works in Saskatoon. All couples are assigned a primary Midwife, and an on-call midwife. The primary is the lovely midwife we will get to spend the most of our time with, with occassional visits with the on-call, near the end of the pregnancy so we are all comfortable with eachother. After the birth, the primary midwife continues care of mom and newborn, at home. We are fortunate enough to have the same primary Midwife we had with O, Jessica. She is, like all of the midwives, an amazing woman, who truly has a passion for what she does. She also has developed a great relationship with J, and is someone we can truly confide in and trust to guide us towards the birth of our second child. We are also thrilled that Roz is our on-call midwife. She provided amazing care to O at his birth, and will likely be doing the same for the birth of our second child.

Any of you parents out there who are curious for a dad's perspective on homebirth, midwifery care, or alternative child birth and child rearing methods, let me know.

Until next time everyone, trust birth.
B

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! With this blog, I hope to share with you my journey towards fatherhood for the second time, as my wife and I prepare for the arrival of our second child, to be born at home.

As it is, one could say that home birth is somewhat of an alternative lifestyle, that many frown on. In my opinion, having a baby at home, makes an already lifechanging experience, that much more amazing! My first son, O-man, was born at home on April of 2010. He is the light of my life, and a perfect example of the benefits of a home birth.

From time to time on this blog, I'll update you on how the pregnancy is going, and discuss home birth, and why it is viewed the way it is. Being the nerd that I am, I'll probably spend hours finding articles with research that supports my thoughts and opinions. I also look forward to talking to other fathers or fathers-to-be, who will be experiencing this for the first time.

Whether your stopping by just for fun, or you are curious about alternative child-bearing and rearing methods, I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.

Trust birth,
B