Benefits of co-sleeping in bulleted format:

• Babies sleep better. (Ahem, see above.)
• Mothers sleep better. (My pediatrician tried to convince me this wasn’t true. I allowed my eyes to glaze over at that point. He probably mistook that for sleep-deprivation.)
• Breastfeeding is easier. (And how! I did the get-out-of-bed-to-nurse with Olivia. Never again. Why wake up entirely when you can simply roll over to switch sides?)
• Mother and child become more connected.
• Babies thrive better. (Physically, emotionally, intellectually. I’ve read this from Dr. Sears and so far can’t argue…)
• Reduces the risk of SIDS (I can hear you all gasping now. Read on for more.)

I believe that the SIDS risks associated with co-sleeping do not apply to the majority of the population. Over-weight, sleep-aid-using, alcohol-abusing, smoking parents should not co-sleep. Waterbeds are a no-no. The firmer the mattress the better. Eliminate extra bedding and pillows. Find a sleeping position that works for you and keeps baby safe. I sleep on my side with my arm under the pillow, supporting my head. The arm on top is curved around behind my back and tucked under my lower back. It took a couple years, but I’ve found this position keeps me at the right angle comfortably so I can completely relax while nursing and co-sleeping. I have co-slept with two children for one year each (and counting) and I have yet to roll over on my baby.

(I have had a baby roll off the bed a couple times, so I would recommend a railing for the side of the bed, or push the crib up next to the bed with the side removed.)

Even more astounding were the studies done in countries where co-sleeping is the norm. In Japan, for example, the rate of SIDS is 1/10 of what the rate is in the U.S. Research shows that babies who sleep in cribs are twice as likely to suffer from sleep-related deaths than those who sleep with their parents. (More on debunking the supposed SIDS risks here.)

That being said, I believe that co-sleeping only works as long as all involved are in favor of it. As soon as one parent is at odds with the other, or one (or both) parent(s) are at odds with the child, something needs to be done to fix the estranged relationships. As soon as the child stops sleeping as well, or turns sideways and starts kicking Daddy in the teeth, something should change.

That “something” doesn’t have to be “put baby in crib.” Maybe one of the parents needs to read more about the benefits of co-sleeping to be convinced. Maybe the baby needs more room in a co-sleeper. Maybe something can be done during the day to help baby sleep better at night. Or, maybe baby needs his own space entirely.

Now for the hard part: How to get the baby out of your bed.

When we moved Olivia to her crib, she was one year old. She was waking every other hour in our bed and spinning around in circles, keeping everyone awake. When the time came, we put her in her crib and left for five minute intervals, always coming back when our timer went off to reassure her of our love, and then leave again. She was not happy, but within an hour, she was asleep.

Does this mesh with my attachment parenting style? Am I comfortable with how I dealt with this situation? Is this a method I would recommend to other co-sleeping parents?

I want to plead the fifth. I liked the result. We all slept better. So here I go pounding out my Cry-It-Out beliefs:

I believe that a baby should not have to cry it out. I believe that a newborn has needs that are imperative to his health and since he cannot speak them clearly to us, he can only communicate these needs by crying. And so his parents should respond to his crying. As the parent-child relationship grows, parents will learn to differentiate between the different types of cries their child has.

As their child grows from baby to toddler, parents will learn the “hungry” cry from the “hurt” cry from the “mad” cry and should respond appropriately. Anger is not as important as hunger. And hunger is not as important as hurt. A mad cry might be able to wait 5 or so minutes. A hungry cry waiting time depends on the age of the child. A hurt cry should be attended to at once, of course.

So, no, a baby should not be left to cry it out, I believe. But a toddler (which is such a relative term, by the way, so enjoy making the ambiguity work for you), whose cries are correctly translated, does not have to be attended to immediately any longer. So perhaps, when being put in a crib, a toddler should be able to cry a mad cry for 5 or so minutes before being comforted.

We used this theory when we moved Olivia to her crib. She cried a mad cry and we never let more than five minutes go by without reassuring her that a) we still existed and b) we still loved her but c) it is time to go to sleep in the crib now. As mentioned earlier, within an hour, she was able to fall asleep.

(Sidenote: We also made sure Olivia was developmentally ready to sleep on her own. She was old enough to not need the night nursings for nourishment. She appeared to be sleeping fitfully due to lack of sufficient sleeping space. We then came to the conclusion that the best answer for all involved was to try to move her to her own sleeping space.)

If a child is NOT ready to move to her own bed, the following day will be an indicator to you. If your child is more clingy than normal or overly withdrawn then she is suffering from some emotional issues most likely related to the new sleeping arrangement and you might want to rethink the change. In our case, Olivia acted completely normal. And when naptime rolled around, she fussed for less than five minutes before falling asleep. That was our cue that we had done the right thing at the right time.

Benjamin is one year old and still sleeping in our bed. Recently, we have tried encourage him to fall asleep in the crib on his own for naptime, as we did for his sister at the same age. We explained it was time to go “night night” and laid him down. We told him we loved him and then left. Every five minutes I went back to reassure and comfort him. After an hour, he was still awake and still just as upset as he was at the beginning. We made the decision to end Session #1 of Crib Sleeping.

The rest of that day, Benjamin was extraordinarily clingy. He would fall asleep in my arms while nursing, but never let himself get into a deep sleep. He always kept himself conscious enough to sense when he was being put down and he would grab the collar to my shirt as soon as I moved. That night, he slept fitfully. He nursed every other hour if not more. It seemed if he woke up and wasn’t touching me he would wake with a start and search for me frightfully.

That was our cue that we had done the right thing… at the wrong time. For the wrong child. Or the wrong thing for the right child at the wrong time. Whichever.

We took a break for a week and tried again. Remembering the side effects of last time, I could only leave him in for 30 minutes, going in every 5-10 minutes to reassure him. His cry was still very mad and I retrieved him after 30 minutes, not wanting to repeat the previous emotional trauma. He was unaffected the rest of the day. We tried again the next day. He cried again, very angrily, and refused to go to sleep.

Apparently, what works for one child does not work for another. I knew that. But it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. (I know: appreciate the differences…)

So if you label the above method “Cry It Out,” then I believe that if you are astute to your child’s temperament, needs, and cries, you may be able to use that method to get your child to sleep in her own crib. If her personality permits it.

If not? I wish I could give you answers. Here are some sites and books that I am looking into for my own answers:

NIGHT WEANING: 12 ALTERNATIVES FOR THE ALL-NIGHT NURSER
The No-Cry Sleep Solution
31 WAYS TO GET YOUR BABY TO GO TO SLEEP AND STAY ASLEEP EASIER
Engage In Nighttime Parenting

Feel free to tell me your own advice and experiences. I am just soaking up all advice right now. What works for you?

Speaking of what works for you… did you write a What I Believe post, as well? If so, add your permalink and brief description to Mr. Linky below. Make sure to link to your post and NOT your homepage or your WIB post will be lost in the archives in days and weeks to come.

I believe that circumcision is unnecessary.

When I was pregnant with Olivia, I did not dedicate a single thought to the topic of circumcision. If you would have asked me, I would have said, “Why of course we would circumcise our boy! It’s just not healthy not to. And besides, it might hurt his self-esteem to look different from the rest of the boys.” But, like I said, I did not have to make that decision. Yet.

Two years later, I did.

When I found out I was pregnant with a boy, I was still assuming that I would have to endure the ancient process of circumcision. I was not happy about it. I knew by then what the sound of a screaming baby does to a mother’s heart. I was not looking forward to my baby boy being hurt. But what could I do? It was for health purposes, after all.

Then a friend emailed me and asked me if we were planning to circumcise. When we told her we were, she wrote back telling me to “just look into it” and gave some informational sites: www.mothering.com, www.cirp.org, www.nocirc.org, and www.aap.org.

But, I have to admit, the first site I went to was Dr. Sears’. He is pretty much my “go-to guy” concerning anything child-related. He was the one who taught me about co-sleeping and breastfeeding. He was the one who taught me how to handle my “fussy child.” I have a lot of respect for Dr. Sears. You’ll hear me mention him a lot when it comes to What I Believe.

On his site, Dr. Sears addresses each medical reason used for circumcision. And he refutes each and every one of them. For integrity purposes, I found another reliable source by the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) that admits circumcision is not medically necessary any longer (if it ever really was).

Below are the reasons used for circumcision and the arguments I found that disproved them:

1. Cleanliness. One of the most common reasons for circumcision is because a circumcised penis is easier to clean than an intact one. And your mouth would be easier to clean without teeth. Should we remove them too? (Here, you might argue that teeth have a specific purpose and wonder what purpose a foreskin would serve. I will get to that later.)
2. Decreased risk of STDs. The American Association of Pediatrics disagrees: “…behavioral factors appear to be far more important risk factors in the acquisition of HIV infection than circumcision status.”
3. Decreased risk of penile cancer. A report by the AAP claims that worldwide, the rate of penile cancer is 9 to 10 cases per 1 million men. And while they admit that the risk among uncircumcised men might be as much as three times higher, they also say that good hygiene may be the only preventative measure needed. They end with this conclusion: “Nevertheless, in a developed country such as the United States, penile cancer is a rare disease and the risk of penile cancer developing in an uncircumcised man, although increased compared with a circumcised man, is low.”
4. Avoiding infections in the foreskin. Dr. Sears takes care to differentiate between infections and irritations for this section. He states that, yes, an irritation may occur, but it can be cured with a simple washing (and most likely prevented with a simple washing). Infections, on the other hand, are rare. And they are easily cleared up with antibiotics. And, by the way, did you know that infection is also a side-effect of circumcision? But we’ll talk about that later.
5. Avoiding the need to do it later on. Very rarely, infections in the foreskin require circumcision later in life. And this would require general anesthesia. But it is so rare, it is not a valid reason for neonatal circumcision. In fact, again, circumcision itself can go wrong, heal poorly, and require a second time under the knife.
6. Avoiding bladder infections. It used to be thought that circumcising would reduce the risk of bladder infections. However, Dr. Sears refers to the AAP when he claims the risk is too small to worry about and occurs only in the first few years of life.
7. Want him to look like Dad. If a young uncircumcised boy is comparing himself to his circumcised father, Dr. Sears raises a good point in that he is likely to notice other things before he notices any extra foreskin – let’s just leave it at that.
8. Don’t want him to be teased. In this site, Dr. Sears claims the rate of uncircumcised infant males in the United States to be as high as 50%. And his odds of being different are decreasing every year.
9. An intact penis requires too much care. The truth is, a circumcised penis requires more care than an intact one. Until the foreskin retracts on its own (anywhere between three years old and adolescence) no extra care is required. After that point, cleansing is very simple. A circumcised penis must have a protective lubricant applied at every diaper change. And it becomes more difficult if an infection occurs.

Now, the reasons to keep your baby boy intact:

1. God put that foreskin there for a reason. Yes, in His covenant with Abraham, He told His Chosen People to remove it. He did not explain why. It could have been for hygienic reasons, as there were no showers back then. Or it could have simply been a way to set them apart.

   As a gentile family, our covenant with God is not through Abraham, but through Jesus, who does not require circumcision. In fact, Romans and 1 Corinthians both state that circumcision is not as important as following the law. Galatians declares faith more important than circumcision. Paul goes as far as to say that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. But the point in those verses is merely that our hope and salvation is no longer dependent upon circumcision.So now that we have established that the foreskin was never meant to be removed on gentiles, we can assume that it has a purpose and there is no reason to remove it.

2. The foreskin is filled with nerves. These nerves are rather useful… later in life. That is all we will say about that.
3. The foreskin is protective. Rubbing and chafing against clothing can desensitize a man over the years. The foreskin, when left on, can protect against this.
4. Ethical issues. A popular reason not to remove an infant’s foreskin is the simple fact that he has no say in the matter; it is decided for him. If he decides later in life that he would prefer this cosmetic procedure, then it can be done. But the ethical thing to do until then would be to keep him intact.
5. The pain. The pain of circumcision can put a baby boy into shock, affecting his ability to nurse in those first crucial days. Yes, topical anesthetics are applied, but they cannot possibly last as long as the pain does. And look further into this site to see how circumcision is performed if you want a better idea of the true ordeal that it is.
6. The complications. I have a friend who had to have her little boy re-circumcised because it healed poorly. And this had to be done when he was over a year old, with general anesthesia. This site lists more complications that I will not get into. Suffice it to say that whenever a knife is involved, mistakes can be made.

So, no. Benjamin is not circumcised. I am sure, when he is older, he will love the fact that I told the Internet that. But my point is not to embarrass him, but to inform you. I believe circumcision is unnecessary, and more harmful that leaving your baby boy as he was created to be.

What do you believe?  Remember to link back to this site in your WIB posts. Thanks for playing!

This should be a popular topic, based on some inquiries I received in the comments of my last WIB post.

Oh, and I suppose I have to get Mr. Linky up and running this time, don’t I? Honestly…

Please play along! It makes my heart happy to see you guys researching and explaining that which is near and dear to you. It broadens my horizons. For ideas and my past WIB posts, click here.
On to the rules: so far, I just have this one:

1. Family friendly. That includes language.

So here’s what you do:

1. You write your post.
2. You leave a comment on my What I Believe (WIB) post this Thursday (not just any WIB post). You leave a link to your WIB post (not your blog in general. Right-clicking on either the time-stamp or the title of the post and selecting “copy link location” will give you the link) on your comment.
3. Also leave a nice little blurb about what your WIB post is about.
4. You link back to me in your WIB post so that your readers can enjoy the plethera of responses I’m bound to receive.
5. Oh, and go ahead and use my brilliantly designed scrolly icon on your post as well. It will make it seem so much more official. Right click on it, select “copy image location”, go to your post, insert image by URL, and paste that URL right then and there.

I apologize for the lateness of this post! My baby Benjamin is sickly and has needed my undivided attention these past few days. Thank you for your patience!
~~~

I believe that the school-age children in America are over-medicated. It is not that I believe that their problems do not exist. On the contrary, I believe they have more reason than any other generation to be distracted, depressed, hyper-active, and moody. But I believe that, for the most part, pills are not the answer.

This was not one of the original What I Believe subjects I brainstormed when I created this series. Cloth diapering, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, anti-circumcising were all on the list.

Medicating children was not on the list until one day, I was perusing the local Kroger’s “Back to School Savings” ad a couple weeks ago and saw this:

Here’s a close up:

Generic ADHD medications – 20% off. And in a nice red attention-grabbing star you see that they’ll even give you an extra medication vial for school.

What a steal!

Is generic Ritalin is now part of the supply list? Are there that many children taking these drugs that the stores benefit from advertising them along with folders and crayons?

When I was in school this was almost unheard of. Are there more diagnoses because there are more cases? Or because the screening process has become less rigid? If there really is a rise of ADHD, is it to be blamed on genetics? Television? Daycares? Divorces? High-fructose corn syrup? Or an overall lowering of standards for our children?

This resonates particularly strongly within me. When I was in grade school, I was one of the “unheard of” children who took Ritalin. I did not put effort into my work. I did not DO homework. I did not concentrate on lessons. So I was medicated.

My childhood was one big garbled mess. There could have been several factors that led to my short attention span. It could have been because of the divorces, the moving, the rejection from my father, the friction between my mother and myself. It could have been a “chemical disorder”. It could have been genetic. Or it could have just been that “hard work” was not on my list of fun things to do with my free time. I just wasn’t motivated.

I was on Ritalin until high school, when, in honor of the all-consuming desire of teenagers everywhere to “fit in,” I quit the drugs. Oh, and there was this side effect that I wasn’t very proud of: stunted growth. I was the short, chubby girl. My sophomore year, I grew four inches. At least.

I also failed English. Twice.

Coincidence? Should I have gone back on the medication? I didn’t.

My junior year came with more adolescent drama and I ended up moving to live with my dad and attending a different school. I met and fell in love with my now-husband. And was he ever my opposite! He had dreams, goals, and the will to work towards them with a force I had never seen before. He was applying to *gasp* colleges!

Hmm. Maybe, if I want to end up with this guy, I better pass my sophomore English class.

Long story only slightly shorter, I ended up not only graduating high school, but attending a Christian college and graduating Magna Cum Laude. With tassels and everything.

As a result of these experiences, I have developed some strong beliefs about medicating children. I believe that, yes, you can alter the behavior of the child with medication. But what are you teaching them? When they hit high school, they will shy away from the medication, just like I did. Only, at that age, it will be much more difficult to change their behavioral habits. What will they be left with? The inability to concentrate.I believe that concentration is a skill that must be taught. It must be expected from a young age. It must be modeled to them throughout their life. The expectations and modeling must be consistent.

I believe that television shortens the attention span and wastes away at the muscles of concentration and imagination. I believe that high-fructose corn syrup (along with a host of other unhealthy ingredients) can be blamed for hyper-activity, followed by exhausted sluggishness – neither of which is conducive for concentrating. I believe that every child is different and must be trained according to their bend (in the way they should go); some children are naturally more active, and there are ways to teach them just the way they are. I believe that a child raised in a daycare situation does not receive the training and modeling in routine and concentration that a child who stays at home with her parent (potentially) does. I believe that divorce and rejection rob children of the ability to concentrate on anything other than their current throbbing pains.

I believe that the reasons children need medication are avoidable, yet will continue to occur until the Kingdom comes. I believe that instead of medicating the wounded soul of a child suffering from rejection, the healing salve of the love of our Lord should be applied. I believe that the aimless mind-wanderings of a child can be focused once they realize they have a purpose in life. I believe that the desire to fulfill that purpose will strengthen as they realize how much they are loved by their Abba-father.

~~~

For more reading on treating ADHD without medication:

http://www.healthcentral.com/PrinterFriendly_hc/drdean/408/60935.html

~~~

Post a link to your What I Believe post in the comments below along with a brief summary. Rule are here. And remember, if I get more than five contributions, I’ll fork out the $5 for a subscription to Mr. Linky!

Play along! You still have time to concoct a post detailing the reasons behind what you strongly believe in.

Directions are here.

And if I get five or more contributions tomorrow, I will go ahead and purchase a subscription to Mr. Linky (as seen on Works For Me Wednesday and Frugal Friday).

Motivation!

Having said that, I want to state that we do have a walker (same basic concept as an exersaucer) and we do use it for Benjamin. There are times (i.e., dinner) when babywearing is not the best option. I have pictures of a burnt baby finger from an unfortunate dinner experience where he grabbed some hot cheese. I’d rather keep him far from hot food for the time being.

The benefits of babywearing are so astounding that they honestly make me feel a little guilty that I don’t wear my baby more often.

1. Increased progesterone in the mother
   The more contact a mother has with her baby, the more progesterone her body produces. This hormone is responsible for more intimate maternal bonding. It also helps regulate a mother’s milk, leading to easier breastfeeding. It has even been found to reduce chances of postpartum depression.
2. Baby cries less.
   A study quoted on Dr. Sear’s site stated crying was reduced by 43% when the babies were worn three extra hours every day. Also on his site, he mentions the difference between the expectations of babies in our culture compared to other cultures:

   We have been led to believe that it is “normal” for babies to cry a lot, but in other cultures this is not accepted as the norm. In these cultures, babies are normally “up” in arms and are put down only to sleep – next to the mother. When the parent must attend to her own needs, the baby is in someone else’s arms.

   There is so much I appreciate about this paragraph. It not only supports co-sleeping (another What I Believe post yet to come), it also supports close-knit family support, which is sorely lacking in this culture where jobs tear families apart and leave mothers to raise their children alone. I firmly believe God’s intention for the family was for the grandmother to play the vital role as an “extra pair of arms” when the mother needs a break! Instead of a television, a mechanical swing, or some light-up musical toy, the child would have a loving Grandma-embrace. *Sigh*

3. Baby learns more.
   Instead of wasting valuable time and energy crying out for attention, baby is comfortable and safe in the arms of a loved one, wide-eyed and curious about his new surroundings. Instead of playing with the same toy on the ground, a baby in a sling has a constantly changing environment. Instead of watching mindless entertainment on the television, the baby is with his mother or father learning how to do various routines such as laundry, baking (just not while handling sharp and hot objects!!), cleaning, and playing with older children.Also, being held in a sling can enhance baby’s language development. He is at eye and voice level and therefore is involved in his mother’s or father’s conversations. He learns the all-important skill of listening intently (a long lost skill in so many children) at a young age.
4. Baby is more organized.
   No, the baby will not clean the clutter off your desk.A newborn baby is in search of patterns, normalcy, and regulation. Consider the shock a baby goes through in changing environments from the warm, comfortable, safe womb to the wide open, often cold and scary world. The missing movement of his mother walking and the missing sound of her heart beating leads to a stressful adjustment. The mother can make the transition easier by wearing her baby. He is still outside the womb, but he gets to hear her heart beating as he lays his head against her chest. He gets to fall asleep to the gentle swaying as she walks. From Dr. Sears again:

   While there is a variety of child-rearing theories, attachment researchers all agree on one thing: In order for a baby’s emotional, intellectual, and physiological systems to function optimally, the continued presence of the mother, as during babywearing, is a necessary regulatory influence.

5. The parent is free to do other chores and spend time with older children.
   When you have a fussy infant, you most likely find yourself neglecting household chores or even older siblings. With a sling or wrap, a mother can be productive and play with her other children, all while keeping her baby content and quiet.
6. The mother can discreetly nurse.
   While in the sling, baby has easy access to all he needs – warmth, security, and food. I once nursed Olivia in the sling while picking out a pumpkin at a pumpkin patch! No one was the wiser… And having such easy access to breastfeeding encourages feeding on demand, which benefits a mother’s milk supply, which in turn benefits baby’s growth and development and overall happiness!
   

Babywearing is even being used by 82% of the neonatal intensive care units in the United States. It is called Kangaroo Care and it is replacing incubators and formula and decreasing preemie morbidity rates around the world. Instead of separating premature babies from their mothers, more doctors are using Kangaroo Care, which promotes skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby and exclusive breastfeeding. Kangaroo Care helps to regulate the baby’s temperature, breathing, and heart rate. Infants who experience Kangaroo Care also have longer periods of sleep, better weight gain, less crying, and earlier hospital discharges. Mothers who use this method notice improved breastfeeding efforts. So my benefit #7 would be: It saves premature babies’ lives.

So suffice it to say, I am in love with my sling. I heart my moby wrap.

I wore my firstborn for most of her first year of life – because she demanded it. She was (is) a high-need baby. She would not settle for tummy-time. She hated the bouncer and detested the swing. The only time she was happy was when she was nursing or being held. The only way The Daddy could put her to sleep was if he was wearing the sling and dancing to Jack Johnson. The sling was an invaluable tool for us. We didn’t so much do it for her increased I.Q. or “organization.” We did it for our own sanity.

Benjamin (our 5 month old) is in the sling whenever we go grocery shopping. Have you tried grocery shopping with a 2 year old and an infant? Where do you put the toddler? In the cart with the groceries? Where do you put the infant? In the carseat on the front of the cart? That is dangerous. I have had the carseat almost tip completely out of the cart. I don’t do that anymore. The toddler is buckled into the seat and the baby is in the sling. He watches as much as he can before sleep overcomes him. But he has never once cried in the grocery store. (The toddler is another story).

Are there any drawbacks to babywearing? Sure.

If you are wearing your sling or wrap improperly, you will get a sore back and/or shoulder. To prevent soreness, I suggest the moby wrap for longer usage and the maya wrap sling for a quick solution to a cranky baby when you’re out and about. The moby wrap goes over both shoulders and is much more comfortable, however, it takes up more room in the diaper bag and is more complicated to put on. The sling is very easy to use (once you’re used to it), takes very little room in the diaper bag, but doesn’t distribute the weight quite as evenly. I find that it is good for up to an hour or so before I need to take it off (or make The Daddy wear it). I have never tried the pouch, but it is the same basic concept as the sling except it is a continuous loop of fabric, making it the easiest to put on and operate, but less flexible in that it is not one-size-fits-all and it limits the different positions your baby can be in.

There are some things that you just tend to avoid doing while wearing your baby. I avoid anything that involves bending over such as loading and unloading the dishwasher, and picking toys up off the floor. Babywearing is better for activities like vacuuming, hanging laundry, and and taking siblings to the park. On the other hand, if you do need to get something off the floor while wearing your baby, it is best to bend at the knees – which is a great thigh work out. Unfortunately, I have perfected the ability to pick just about everything up off the floor with my toes. My thighs are woefully neglected.

*And now for the Giveaway*: Head on over to Joanna’s at Keeping Feet and leave a comment on this post for your chance to win your very own pouch from Slinglings.com!

—

What do you believe?

If you have created your own What I Believe post, please leave a link for it in the comment section along with a brief summary. Feel free to use my scrolly icon. Make sure you link back to me so your readers can enjoy the wide spectrum of What I Believe posts sure to magically appear over the next 24 hours. And if you want to participate but don’t have anything prepared yet, don’t worry. There will be many more What I Believe posts. And I always give several days notice before I post them. So just be watching!

Part two in a who-knows-how-many-parts series. Specifically in the area (nay, the art) of babywearing. Slings. Pouches. Maya wraps. Moby wraps. Benefits. Drawbacks. You name it.

And to commemorate this honorable occasion, Joanna over at Keeping Feet is giving away one adorably stylish baby sling made by Slinglings.com. All you have to do is head over there and leave a comment on this post. The giveaway ends next Monday.

AND, I am putting up this fair warning with plenty of time for you to write your own What I Believe post with my on Friday. Delve down deep. You know the parts of your life, personality, home that have always just been that way? Why are they that way? Why do you go to church? Why don’t you? How do you raise your children? Why? Do you spank? Why not? Are you Republican? Why? Do you want a woman for president? (Doesn’t have to be Hilary). Why or why not?

I’m making the rules up as I go here, and so far, I just have this one:

1. Family friendly. That includes language.

So here’s what you do:

1. You write your post.
2. You leave a comment on my What I Believe (WIB) post this Friday (not just any WIB post). You leave a link to your WIB post (not your blog in general. Right-clicking on either the time-stamp or the title of the post and selecting “copy link location” will give you the link) on your comment.
3. Also leave a nice little blurb about what your WIB post is about.
4. You link back to me in your WIB post so that your readers can enjoy the plethera of responses I’m bound to receive.
5. Oh, and go ahead and use my brilliantly designed scrolly icon on your post as well.  It will make it seem so much more official.  Right click on it, select “copy image location”, go to your post, insert image by URL, and paste that URL right then and there.

We’ll have a fun weekend of expanding our horizons. Well, you will. I’m going to Illinois to do a Pampered Chef bridal shower. I’ll expand my horizons on Monday. Well, no. Monday I go grocery shopping. Tuesday? Yes, Tuesday. After we come back from the library. I will expand my horizons. Sounds like a plan.

However, all of creation was affected by the fall of [wo]man – the first sin, which separated us from the perfect existence God had dreamed for us. Now there are miscarriages. There are stillbirths. There are breech babies. There are labors that stall or stop for various reasons. There are maternal deaths. There is pain.

So man has created ways to avoid these horrific experiences. We have ultrasounds to be able to view the baby and any potential health problems. We have cesarean sections, which have saved countless lives (both mother and child). We have pitocin, which can kick-start a stalled labor. We have epidurals, which numb the mother to the pain of childbirth.

It sounds like we have created the perfect labor – painless and safe. But it is not as risk-free as the doctors would have you believe. These interventions may be the best options when facing health issues for mother and/or child, but when they are used to accommodate schedules and personal preferences, they are putting health and lives at risk needlessly.

Inducing labor has gone from only being used when absolutely necessary to becoming the most popular option when a woman goes over her due date. In a time when science can tell us so much about the world around us and our own bodies, we come to think of “due dates” rather too concretely. Your due date could be two weeks before the doctor’s prediction, or two weeks after. If you induce labor because your baby wasn’t born by a specific day, you could be delivering your child two weeks early. And along with the health concerns that prematurity can cause, induction itself has dangerous side effects.

Induction causes more painful and intense contractions without the three to ten minute breaks that God intended our bodies to have during this exhausting process. Those unnaturally hard contractions have been known to cause uterine rupture and placental abruption (either your uterus or the placenta ruptures or tears). Induction can also cause limited blood flow and oxygen supply to the baby which can cause cerebral palsy among other things, and can lead to a drop in the baby’s heart rate. Because of these risks, induction also increases the chance of a cesarean section. And on top of that, inductions require constant monitoring, which limits the movements of the laboring mommy. Induced labors are also longer than natural ones. Still sound like the perfect labor?

Due to the intense contractions and decreased mobility, induced mommies often turn to the epidural for relief. I know I did when I was laboring with my first (which was also induced – I was blindly following professional advice – skip to the end for my opinion on that matter). Epidural risks are not explained by medical professionals. This is probably what frustrates me the most about nurses in the delivery room. Instead of coaching the laboring mother through the pain with helpful massages and encouraging words, they immediately go for the epidural permission form. But there are risks! They can range from week-long headaches to year-long backaches. When you think about the pain of labor and delivery, consider the relative speed with which that passes. Then compare it to living with a chronic backache AND a newborn. If you had to choose, which would you? Also, a laboring mommy with an epidural would not be mobile, and the absence of movement could cause labor to slow or stop, leading to a cesarean. Epidurals also could cause a drop in maternal blood pressure, which would, again, lead to an emergency cesarean. And then there is the ever-present risk of the needle which is inserted into your spine.

Cesarean sections are a serious abdominal surgery in and of themselves and are full of risk as well. The World Health Organization estimates that the rate of C-section should be between 5 and 15% of all births. Yet they found in sample hospitals that the average rate for a C-section was 27.3%! And part of the blame for the rise of that statistic is on uninformed women who are actually choosing C-sections over natural births because doctors tell them it is safer. However, these women are increasing their risk of maternal death, hysterectomy, hemorrhage, surgical injury to other organs, infection, blood clots, and rehospitalization for complications.

The following statistics from WebMD seem slim – until you know personally know someone in the 2.13%.

The most commonly seen complication with repeat C-sections in the newly reported study was attachment of the placenta too deeply into the uterine wall, a potentially life-threatening condition called placenta accreta.

Scar tissue that forms following a first surgical delivery increases the risk for placenta accreta with subsequent pregnancies.

Just 0.31% of the women in the study delivering by C-section for the second time developed the condition, compared with 2.13% of women who had a fourth surgical birth and 6.74% of women who had six or more cesarean deliveries.

A good friend of mine was having her third child. She wanted a natural birth, but due to complications, she delivered her angel girl via her third C-section. Afterward, the doctor explained that during the operation, he opened her abdomen to find the “most beautiful blue eye staring up” at him through a quarter-sized hole in her uterus. The doctor who had stitched up her previous two C-sections had left her womb resembling “Frankenstein’s monster” – a quote from the doctor himself. The doctor then explained that if her water would have broken – if she would have gone into labor naturally – due to her poorly stitched uterus, she and her baby would have died.

One of the most amazing facts I have learned on this journey is the benefit to the baby to be born naturally. It is normally assumed that childbirth is a traumatic experience for the baby, and the connection then is often made that a C-section would be better for the baby, even if it may be worse for the mother. However, most babies born through C-sections have to receive breathing treatments and are more likely to have asthma later in life. Why? Because before birth, the baby’s lungs are filled with fluid – as they have no need for them in the womb. During natural childbirth, this fluid is squeezed out. During a C-section, however, this does not take place, making it more likely that the lungs will not inflate properly, which leads to the newborn laying in the incubation unit with tubes coming out of her nose. And more studies have shown that when babies are born this way, it effects their breathing for years to come.

And yet doctors continue to perform C-sections. They continue to recommend induction – which increases odds for C-sections. They continue to recommend epidurals – which increase odds for C-sections. They continue to perform episiotomies (I’ll let you research that one on your own) after research calls them all but an unnecessary evil. They get irritated (at the least and irate at the most) when you refuse to lay on your back during labor (my nurse actually told me the doctor would not deliver my baby unless I was in bed) – which increases your odds for needing an episiotomy and an induction, and with that, the risk of a C-section.

Henci Goer, award-winning medical writer, writes in this article:

How can obstetricians hold beliefs so contrary to the facts? Primarily because “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Despite rhetoric about being “women’s health physicians,” obstetricians are surgical specialists in the pathology of women’s reproductive organs. The belief that birth is difficult, dangerous, and damaging and that major surgery is preferable validates and reinforces their sense of professional worth.

I appreciate doctors. In this fallen world, we need them. For unhealthy pregnancies, for breech babies that will not turn, for emergencies that would otherwise turn deadly – we need doctors.

However, they tend to lean towards a very unnatural laboring and birthing experience for mothers. And I Believe that, unless your specific situation prohibits it, childbirth should be left to progress as God intended: naturally.

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For those special mothers who have endured cesarean sections for their babies, I dearly hope that you do not consider yourselves less in any way. You have endured more pain and more risk for the safety and health of your child and I salute you for it.

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What do you believe?

And besides, this gives you more time to come up with your own What I Believe post.  It does not have to be about parenting!  I want to know what you believe about the environment.  Do you believe that global warming will kill us before Jesus comes back?  Or do you follow the argument that the temperature of the earth fluctuates and that this, too, shall pass?

What do you believe about sharing your faith in the workplace?  Should you be outright?  Should you wait until you’ve formed personal relationships?  Should you wait until those personal relationships are being entertained outside your place of employment?  Would you share your faith even if you know you would lose your job over it?

What do you believe about love?  Is there only one person out there for everyone?  Should I be worried that I married the wrong one?  Do you wish you could write Walt Disney a letter about his perception on love?  Would you commend him or admonish him?

So get out your soapbox (with love, of course).  You have until Monday.  Then come back here and leave the link to your What I believe post in my comments with a brief summary.  And don’t forget to leave a link in your post that takes your readers back to my What I Believe post so that your readers can enjoy thinking outside their boxes, too.

What I have to say is not necessarily best for everyone. It’s just what I have found to be best for me. It is What I Believe. Go ahead and argue with me. Show me what research you have done that proves your way better. Even if you can’t change my mind, you will have earned my respect for the effort you have gone through to discover what you believe.

Please play along! It makes my heart happy to see you guys researching and explaining that which is near and dear to you. It broadens my horizons. For ideas and my past WIB posts, click here.
On to the rules: so far, I just have this one:

1. Family friendly. That includes language.

So here’s what you do:

1. You write your post.
2. You leave a comment on my What I Believe (WIB) post this Thursday (not just any WIB post). You leave a link to your WIB post (not your blog in general. Right-clicking on either the time-stamp or the title of the post and selecting “copy link location” will give you the link) on your comment.
3. Also leave a nice little blurb about what your WIB post is about.
4. You link back to me in your WIB post so that your readers can enjoy the plethera of responses I’m bound to receive.
5. Oh, and go ahead and use my brilliantly designed scrolly icon on your post as well. It will make it seem so much more official. Right click on it, select “copy image location”, go to your post, insert image by URL, and paste that URL right then and there.

And as much as I wish I could tell you when these posts will appear – I’m just not that organized. I don’t want to have to post a half-finished piece or skimp on the research just to meet a deadline. Because we all know how reliable life is with small children. So just keep an eye out and pass the word along.