Baby Research

(these are just pretty fall pics...eye candy...nothing to do with the topic.)
When I got pregnant the first time, before the miscarriage, I couldn't figure out how to pick a doctor, and so I started to do research (I completely get this habit of researching things from my father. I think it's genetic, lol.) to try and figure out my best options. About that same time I ran across this blog post, which gave me lots of food for thought, though I still disagree with some of it. And that led to more research and renting this documentary on NetFlix which I HIGHLY recommend it to ANYONE who is pregnant and making plans in this direction. After all of this, I became fairly sure that I didn't want a typical hospital birth, but rather a midwife, birth clinic, or home birth option (home birth is out since we don't have a home, and I'm a first time mom with twins). I'm really glad I was able to make an informed decision about what sort of birthing care I wanted and what was best for me and the babies, instead of just doing what other people do. Oh and btw just in case you care all of this does not mean I won't transfer to the hospital care if it's need, but only if it's needed.

I said I would share some of the things I have been reading in all this research. I've tried to be REALLY picky about what books I read because I know there are only so many things you can learn from a book and if you read too much then you just end up freaked out and overwhelmed. So I did lots of research and took recommendations on books before actually spending the time to read anything. Here is the list I have gathered so far:

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth- This books was incredibly help full to me. I learned so much about how your body handles birth. The first half of the book is all first person birth stories, but not the scary screaming it was so awful kind, though they don't pull in punches either, just a nice balanced look at how a health birth goes. Until this book I was pretty afraid of giving birth, but now I'm not.
The Christian Childbirth Handbook- I've only read though part of this book so far. Of all the information I've gleaned out of it so far (which isn't much, because I haven't read far) I think I like the idea of memorizing scriptures for the birth the best. I mean when would you need the power of God more that giving birth?
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer- This one was recommended to me, or else I probably never would have picked it up, with a goofy title like that. But I wanted to find something about get your baby on a schedule, and this book fit the bill just perfectly. One other thing I really liked about it is that it talks about the different types of babies, personality styles if you will, and how to "read" your baby.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding- A classic from the La Leche League. The idea of breastfeeding was a little intimidating, and the idea of doing it for twins is much more so. But it seems like one of those things that you mainly need to do and not read about so much. We'll see. My best friend loved this book, but I've been kind of struggling to get there. So much of the info on breastfeeding is mixed up with the info on parenting, because the two issues are closely related. But I don't want to practice some of their parenting advice, like co-sleeping for exsample. So it feels a little labor intensive to read through.
To Train Up a Child- This book was given to us by my in-laws when we married, and it's very good. Some of it is a little too hard core for me, but generally speaking I really like it. The main idea is that you take the time to train your child in private and not just wait till things go wrong in public and then try to hold it all together (something I know I would be VERY bad at) and train and discipline all at the same time. There stance is that there is a difference between training and discipline and if you train right you need to discipline very little in the longer run (and they have the kids and grandkids to prove that it works) . I've read though it once, not long after we married, I hope to read through it a few more times before the babies come, so my life won't look like this, lol. This book has given me so much hope and encouragement for parenting.
I hope to find a good book on baby sign language and to do some more reading on elimination communication or EC. You can read more about that here if you care to.
Blessings!c