So many things to think about...
As expecting parents we have so many decisions to make. Who do we let watch him while we are working? Which Douala should we hire? Do we have him circumcised? What products do we purchase? Who will be his pediatrician? Should we have him immunized? These are topics we are talking about currently. Thankfully, we have our instructor and midwives who are on the same page as us and can give advice and things to think about. We are doing things a little nontraditional so to some we may seem strange. However, it is odd that the natural way is considered nontraditional when you would think it would be the other way around.
Our second HypnoBirthing class was Monday evening in our home. Our relationship with the instructor is warmer the more time we spend together. We watched a short movie about the importance of bonding with your child when they are born by allowing them that skin-to-skin contact for at least the first hour of their life before the cord is clipped and they are whisked away to be poked and weighed. As a matter of fact, we were advised to ask if all that could be done in the room. I was asked to tell how I envision Lincoln's birth as if it had already happened because how you imagine it is how it will happen. That part was hard for me as I am not too familiar with the stages of labor and such. We also did a relaxation exercise where we visualized our favorite place (Deep Creek, NC). Joe had to read a script to me for a deeper relaxation exercise. He did really well on it and it worked! We are considering having our instructor also be our Douala. How convenient would that be to have the person that trained you on HypnoBirthing also be the person with you during the birth? Joe would feel more confident having her there to guide him through his responsibilities. It will probably be about $500 for her services.
We have visited 3 daycares so far. There is so much to consider at each one- cost, location, certified staff, procedures, security, etc. We went to Champions for Children, Georgia Academy for Early Learning, and Cornerstone Church of God. Our favorite was Georgia Academy. The most expensive and the furtherest away from my school. We were not pleased with Cornerstone at all so that isn't even an option. There were so many things not up to par with the other two state agency centers we toured before going to that one. It is the cheapest and closest to my work place, but not worth it. No security code to enter the building, 1 to 6 ratio, and they wouldn't use cloth diapers at their faculity were just a few things that turned us off immediately. We didn't even ask all the questions that we normally ask. Champions for Children and Georgia Academy were comparable. A lot of the same procedures, a $5 difference in cost each week, both had security keypads to enter the building. My pregnancy planner had several pages of questions to ask at each place we visit:
licensed facility?
age ranges?
space availability?
hours?
holiday closings?
fees?
credentials of staff members?
staff-to-baby ratio?
standby employees?
daily routine?
certain bottles required?
half-day or every-other-day arrangements?
penalities for being late?
refrigerator available for breastmilk?
cloth diapers?
sick children?
bad weather?
administer prescribed medications?
sanitizing changing tables and toys?
sheets washed daily?
procedures for dirty diapers?
webcams?
medical records?
security measures for unauthorized people?
toilet training?
outside time?
So many things to think about, huh?
Our second HypnoBirthing class was Monday evening in our home. Our relationship with the instructor is warmer the more time we spend together. We watched a short movie about the importance of bonding with your child when they are born by allowing them that skin-to-skin contact for at least the first hour of their life before the cord is clipped and they are whisked away to be poked and weighed. As a matter of fact, we were advised to ask if all that could be done in the room. I was asked to tell how I envision Lincoln's birth as if it had already happened because how you imagine it is how it will happen. That part was hard for me as I am not too familiar with the stages of labor and such. We also did a relaxation exercise where we visualized our favorite place (Deep Creek, NC). Joe had to read a script to me for a deeper relaxation exercise. He did really well on it and it worked! We are considering having our instructor also be our Douala. How convenient would that be to have the person that trained you on HypnoBirthing also be the person with you during the birth? Joe would feel more confident having her there to guide him through his responsibilities. It will probably be about $500 for her services.
We have visited 3 daycares so far. There is so much to consider at each one- cost, location, certified staff, procedures, security, etc. We went to Champions for Children, Georgia Academy for Early Learning, and Cornerstone Church of God. Our favorite was Georgia Academy. The most expensive and the furtherest away from my school. We were not pleased with Cornerstone at all so that isn't even an option. There were so many things not up to par with the other two state agency centers we toured before going to that one. It is the cheapest and closest to my work place, but not worth it. No security code to enter the building, 1 to 6 ratio, and they wouldn't use cloth diapers at their faculity were just a few things that turned us off immediately. We didn't even ask all the questions that we normally ask. Champions for Children and Georgia Academy were comparable. A lot of the same procedures, a $5 difference in cost each week, both had security keypads to enter the building. My pregnancy planner had several pages of questions to ask at each place we visit:
licensed facility?
age ranges?
space availability?
hours?
holiday closings?
fees?
credentials of staff members?
staff-to-baby ratio?
standby employees?
daily routine?
certain bottles required?
half-day or every-other-day arrangements?
penalities for being late?
refrigerator available for breastmilk?
cloth diapers?
sick children?
bad weather?
administer prescribed medications?
sanitizing changing tables and toys?
sheets washed daily?
procedures for dirty diapers?
webcams?
medical records?
security measures for unauthorized people?
toilet training?
outside time?
So many things to think about, huh?
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