My Rant about Natural Birth Documentaries

Sooooooooooo, I was so angry about the last documentary I watched about the "terror" of giving birth in a hospital in the United States of America that I had to at least mention some of my beef. I'm obsessed with babies, always have been, hence the phD in developmental psychology, so it makes sense that during my pregnancy, I could not resist watching any video or documentary I could find that had anything to do with pregnancy or labor and delivery. Thus, I watched several documentaries sensationalizing the birth process in modern USA.

One, hosted and produced by Ricki Lake, seeks out to make every women scared to death of letting their baby be birthed by a doctor in a hospital by showing creepy footage of what it was like to have a baby back in the early 1900's when the entire medical profession was still kooky and ignorant compared to today's standards. They also make doctors out to be purely in it for the money and thus that is what is driving your care and treatment, and that of your baby's, if you choose the doctor/hospital route. Instead of choosing "evil" medical professionals, everyone should choose "good over evil" by having their baby at home with a midwife. Interestingly, the woman followed in the film, a co-producer, ends up having her baby at the hospital due to complications. Unfortunately, since I watched this movie during my highly hormonal first trimester, it did freak me out a bit due to some graphic images but not to the point that I wanted to have my baby anywhere but the hospital with all the modern advancements and amenities that includes.

The second documentary pointing out the evils of modern medical practices for childbirth did not freak me out; it just made burn with anger. This one is hosted by a guy whose wife is pregnant with their first child. His slant is that he wants to "protect" his wife and unborn child from the evils of the hospital system in America. To do this, he drags his pregnant wife all over the world to interview various professionals and lay people about their birth experiences. Then, at some point in her pregnancy, his wife talks to the camera (her husband), with tears, that she's so many weeks out from their due date but still feels unprepared for the birth of their child. Does that sound like her being cared for and protected?

He even goes so far, toward the beginning of the film when his wife is very early in her pregnancy, as to convince her through interviews and some sort of hokey "research" that she (and all women) don't actually have to experience pain during labor and delivery, that's just a symptom of what the American medical profession has been tricking women into thinking. In fact, instead of pain, women can actually have orgasms during delivery...yes, you read that correctly. According to this guy's documentary, women can experience orgasms when they deliver a baby, rather than experiencing pain, and what is sad is that he convinces his pregnant wife that this can be true for her. Well, when the big day arrives, his wife is in a lot of pain during contractions...big surprise. Unfortunately, it actually is a big surprise to him, so he calls the midwife and tells her in worried, urgent tones that his wife is experiencing a lot of pain and could she come over right away to do something to help with that. If this guy had been any bit prepared by going to any kind of birth class, he would have known how to help his wife do breathing exercises or something to help her manage contractions, I mean, come on! I thought he was all about protecting and caring for his family - what a show! Well, after the baby is born, there are some concerns, so they decide to go to the...hospital! He, of course, feels so conflicted about going to the evil hospital and even rags on the hospital for not giving their baby a diagnosis even though they are asked to stay several days for monitoring. He even questions their decision to go to the hospital, in hindsight. Whatever, dude. He was a major drama queen about it. I just can't help but think it's funny that both documentaries that are so adamently anti-hospital end in hospitals, allowing both babies and moms to thrive.

Now that I've given birth in a hospital and also returned with a newborn, I can attest to the excellent care we received in the maternity and pediatric floor. The doctor who delivered my baby was amazing and made decisions that definitely caused her, the doctor on call, to have to spend many extra hours up at the hospital, at all hours of the night. Her decisions were clearly not based on money but rather on the patient's needs and desires, giving the best possible care. Furthermore, the nursing staff was absolutely phenomenal. They double-checked my infant's health and records, they went the extra mile on delivery strategies and newborn care. They helped every step of the way with kindness and expertise and cooperation among themselves. I felt completely pampered and fully confident in my infant's health and safety. I am so glad to be an American.

Birth Day

Though I might not have admitted it beforehand, I do not think I have ever had as many preconceived notions and expectations about an event as for my little baby's birth day. Now, it's been 2 months since the big day, and I am wondering where the time has gone! Wow. Nothing can describe the magic and the craziness of those first few weeks after our little girl came out into the world, but that won't stop me from trying to memorialize those first few hours and days.

Well, pregnant women are always being told to keep an open mind about the big day of arrival, not to get their heart set on a certain type of birth experience because no one can predict the hour of arrival, you never know what complications might arise, and the important thing to remember is that the ultimate outcome is what's important: a bouncing, new baby and healthy mom. Okay, sure, we all have to agree to that mentality on the surface, but let's be real. If I'm preparing for a "watermelon" to come out of my "lady spot" and for the arrival of my first child, the baby I've been dreaming of since I could say the word "baby," I'm going to have some expectations and hopes for the grand entrance. Who wouldn't? Of course, in my heart of hearts, I want a healthy baby more than a vaginal delivery, but I also dream of a smooth, painless, vaginal delivery that comes naturally and quickly...know what I mean? Furthermore, pregnant women are also subject to everyone else's pregnancy and birth experiences, adding to the expectations and madness.

To set my stage, I was expecting my baby to come late, most likely having to be induced, due to family history and since this was my first child. I was also expecting my epidural to allow me to "party through labor and delivery," due to experiences of family and the lady at the local coffee shop. I also expected my baby to be in just the right position for delivery, based on what I thought I'd heard at the birth class we had attended. My first nurse at the hospital also told me that, based on my cervix and position of my baby, once things got going, that baby was gonna come FAST...Well, my baby came on her own terms and I love her for it and despite it. (1) I started having contractions the moment I woke up on my Due Date! I had been saying that if my baby decided to come of her own accord (instead of being smoked out via induction), it would be a Christmas miracle. So, of course, it took several hours of contractions that increased in frequency and duration to actually believe this was the real deal. (2 & 3) I actually did feel like I was having an epidural party for the first few hours after I got it, but that slowly but steadily ended, and the last chunk of my 20 hours of labor/delivery was definitely not a party. However, once she made her big debut, the party immediately started up at 3:47AM the "morning" after her due date. (4) As it turned out, she slowed things down considerably by being "sunny side-up" or with her face looking up instead of down, however we powered through and got to have a vaginal delivery instead of a c-section. Thanks to God's answer to the many prayers over that event, truly.

As for holding her for the first time, I don't know what my expectations were exactly, but I know she surpassed them. Getting to know her in a whole new way during the first few weeks was such a precious time. Discovering what a sweet baby she is and how soft and cuddly and cute this little person that relies on me for food and comfort and help in figuring out the world is such a special gift from God. Looking her in the eyes for the first time, feeling her little fingers wrap around one of mine, changing her tiny little diaper, dressing her in the itty-bitty newborn outfits that are still too big for her are just a few of the experiences that give a new sense of wonder and appreciation for what God has done and created. Humanity is a frail, beautiful thing. Love that produces life, what an amazing creation.

Sentiments

http://pinterest.com/pin/91324037/

How God prepares the pregnant woman for life after baby is born...

In the midst of all kinds of weird symptoms common during pregnancy, I have been trying to look for purpose and what God is trying to teach me through the various, odd-ball challenges. What I especially love about pregnancy symptoms is that, more often than not, their is no explanation for what causes them. So, if you ask the doctor or look it up in your pregnancy how-to book, they will tell you that your symptom of, say, the line down your tummy or the weird feelings on your skin or forgetfulness, is common and not to worry, even though they have no idea why pregnany women experience it. Two common effects of pregnancy have struck me as perhapsa funny way of preparation for caring for a newborn baby.

First, my sleep pattern has never been worse - I don't know how people with other children, especially small ones, survive on the amount of sleep you get during the last part of pregnancy. To start, I'm waking up every few hours to use the bathroom - I actually get really excited when I've only used the restroom once or twice in a night. :) It doesn't seem to matter what I do to prepare before lying down for the night, when you gotta go, you gotta go (this could actually be a third side effect of pregnancy, in and of itself, to give me more sympathy when changing my newborn's diaper and then she immediately wets it again...). Then, I get woken up occasionally by a little baby kicking my tummy...really hard. It usually only affects me when I've woken up to use the bathroom, then can't get back to sleep because my little friend has gotten riled up and needs to show off her acrobatics for 30 to 45 minutes before calming back down. She especially surprises and startles me when I'm in that halfway awake/asleep phase and she suddenly gives me a big love-kick. Finally, if those sleep-inhibitors aren't enough, insomnia is a common pregnancy symptom. So, if I wake up two hours before the alarm is going to go off, my body has decided that it doesn't want to go back to sleep, so I lie awake and think about baby things until it's finally time to get up for the day. Well, the good news is, learning how to deal with lack of sleep will be old hat after the baby actually gets born, and instead of just waking up to tinkle, I'm waking up to change a teeny weeny diaper and feed a cute little (crying) baby. This is training time...yay pregnancy :)

The second big preparation symptom, not as obvious, is the raging emotions as a result of the raging hormones. I have probably cried more in the past 7 months than in the 27 years preceding pregnancy. My poor, sweet husband has mastered the art of holding me close and checking whether I'm crying because I'm actually upset about something or because I'm tired or because...who knows, I just got the irresistible urge like I needed to cry. Well, who else cries inexplicably on a frequent basis...newborn babies! So, perhaps my empathy for little baby cries is being built up to better care for our fragile newborn. I'll remember back to my water faucet eyes and really feel for my little crying baby and more sensitive to helping calm her. I'm glad God is getting us ready for that, you know. <sigh> I can't wait to meet our little girl face-to-face, tears and sleepless nights and all.

What Mama eats, Baby eats: part II-Amniotic Fluid

Research suggests that babies' taste buds are not fully functioning until around 20 weeks gestation, so that's when the pressure is on...I don't want to make my baby addicted to cookies and cake! They are going to be more apt to like the taste of healthy foods, such as vegetables and diverse types of food, if they get some exposure in utero. Not that I'm going to start eating lima beans just for the baby, but I am trying to incorporate unique vegetable varieties such as cauliflower, eggplant, broccoli, leafy greens, etc. in order to help her development. Since, of course not only does the food I eat affect her taste preferences, but the nutrients are important for her cognitive and physical growth and development. Lots of junk food don't leave room in my stomach for healthy foods, and food with less nutritional value put her at a greater risk for obesity and cognitive deficits, etc.

Interestingly, the baby tastes what the mom has eaten by swallowing the amniotic fluid. As the baby is floating around in the amniotic sac, filled with amniotic fluid, the baby is practicing her swallowing and digestive system by drinking the amniotic fluid. This liquid reflects what the mother has eaten through its flavor and smell, so the baby is smelling and tasting what the mother has been eating. Delivery room doctors report smelling coffee and Indian food when a woman's water breaks during labor and delivery, based on what she had eaten earlier that day! I think of the amniotic sac almost like a toilet bowl (except much cleaner and prettier) because the liquid actually cycles in and out approximately every three hours. It is unclear how long it takes for what a mom consumes to reach her little baby fetus, but it must be pretty quick since a suggestion to instigate some fetal movement is to drink something cold and sugary and then lie on your left side.

Recently, I've been thinking especially about what I'm eating because my doctor strongly suggested I slow down on the weight gain! At 28 weeks, I've gained close to 30 pounds, so I need to slow down and cap the weight gain at 40 lbs, meaning I can gain 10 pounds over the next 12 weeks. Easier said than done is all I can say, but we'll see how it goes. A few too many fast food treats may be the culprit since we've been traveling a lot on weekends, including a trip to a wedding (who doesn't love eating wedding cake and all the other food that you find at a wedding weekend??). Of course, it doesn't help when your husband and relatives are bringing you anything you want from the food buffet, plus double helpings of cake and punch, and not to mention hotel breakfast food, like waffles with syrup, every morning. Now, I find out that my iron is a tad low, which means I need to incorporate more iron-rich foods and maybe cut down on things containing caffeine (I love the occasional vanilla coke and oreo java shake), so what happened to eating for two and letting loose during pregnancy? I thought you got to indulge a bit! Well, looks like moderation in everything, even pregnancy :)

Poking back, part 2...the hormonal side of fetal movement

So, I love feeling baby Penelope kick, but then, when I don't feel her kick, it makes me CRAZY! Augh!

At 24 weeks, my little bundle of joy has developed somewhat of a schedule as far as when I feel her moving around in my tummy. I expect her to kick and twist in the morning as well as a bit throughout the day and then to go crazy again around bedtime. One day, we did a lot of driving, so she was going all acrobatic while riding in the car. I think she gets riled up when I sit for a long time, and plus, we were singing along to music, including her special playlist. Then, that night, we were up later than usual and got to sleep in a bit. I think that the combination of all that threw her off her schedule because the next day, I didn't feel her kicking all morning or hardly at all throughout the day. I was thinking of all the different pregnancy literature I'd read, about calling your doctor if you feel major changes in the pattern of fetal movement or if you don't feel fetal movement in a 24-hour period... Thanks to crazy motherly worries and high hormone levels, I, of course, was in tears. I wanted to feel my baby. Who knew that fetal movement could bring such highs and lows?

Well, that following night, every time I woke up to go to the bathroom, I felt her kicking like crazy, and the next few days proved for her to be back to her typical movement schedule. Ah, the ups and downs and tender joys of carrying a little child.

Fetal Learning: A Musical Approach

From early on, babies in the womb can start hearing sounds from the outside world. While they are mostly hearing their mother's bodily sounds such as heartbeat and digestion, they also hear mommy's voice and recognize her voice by at least 30 weeks. They can also learn daddy's voice and their native language by around the same time. Furthermore, babies remember sounds and patterns that they've heard in the womb after they are born. One older study showed that babies could remember hearing The Cat in the Hat, read to them by their mothers several times a week during the latter part of pregnancy, after birth and would prefer hearing that over other stories or language sounds (DeCasper & Spence, 1986). The babies were given pacifiers to suck on, that measured and recorded their rate of "sucking," and then learned that whenever they sucked at a certain rate, The Cat in the Hat was played for them, while other stories/readings were played in response to other rates of sucking. Once babies figured out the system, they would only suck at the rate that cued the familiar story to be played for them.

Hearing familiar sounds after birth, or anything that mimics the womb environment, can have a calming and comforting effect on young infants. So, to take a more proactive approach, my husband and I have come up with a playlist for Baby Penelope to hear us sing along to during pregnancy. If we sing them to her throughout the next 4 months, then when we sing them to her after she is born, they should be familiar and provide a way for us to calm and soothe her during those trying times of her adjusting to life outside the womb. I've made a separate post of "Penelope's Playlist" to share the songs we've decided on, with much helpful input and suggestions from family and friends, to sing to her now and after she is born. Enjoy! I'm hoping it really works!

Penelope's Playlist

Lean on Me        Bill Withers

You are the Sunshine of my life

You’ll be in my heart       Phil Collins

My Girl     The Temptations

Don’t Stop Believin         Journey

All I want is you                 Barry Louis Polisar

Twist & Shout                 the beatles

You’re Some Kind of Wonderful             Michael Buble

Isn’t She Lovely                                Stevie Wonder

Daughters                        John Mayer

Goodnight, Sweetheart                             The Spaniels

Just the way you are      Bruno Mars

Come Thou Fount

Be Thou my Vision

I cant help falling in love with you                             Ingrid Michaelson

I’ll Stand By You                             The Pretenders

Mama’s Song                  Carrie Underwood

My Little Girl                    Tim McGraw

In my Arms                         Plumb

Everything                        Michael Buble

Father Daughter Song    Paul Simon

Next to Me                         Sleeping at Last

I saw God today      George Strait

Baby Mine                          Alison Krauss

O Praise Him                      David Crowder
You can't always get what you want          The Rolling Stones

Poking back

Feeling the baby move is probably the most exciting monumental moment during pregnancy!!! There's nothing more magical than feeling the baby kick inside of you, and then being able to share that experience with others is so rewarding. I find myself already trying to show off what my baby can do... It's such an interesting phenomenon since pregnant women will feel the first kick at such different times - there's no predicting, based on maternal weight, whether or not this is her first pregnancy, how fast the baby grows in length, etc. The baby seems a million times more real once you get good at recognizing those baby kicks! My not-so-secret plan for when strangers start wanting to feel my growing belly is to put my hand on top of theirs and hold it in place, asking them earnestly if they can feel the baby kick. :) I use it for my own purposes sometime...like when my husband called her by her cousin's name instead of the name we've chosen for her, I told him that she was giving him the silent treatment - unless she kicked, to which I told him that she was clearly irritated and kicked to show him. Also, if I really want him to sing a song with me to Baby Penelope (our little fetus-baby), then I let him know when she starts kicking with excitement because she likes to hear us sing. She really starts showing her own personality - fetal movement really is measured in many scientific studies of fetal learning and development. So, whenever she kicks in response to my husband talking "to my belly," I know it's because she likes hearing him talk to her and wants to add to the conversation in the only way she can, at this point.

I'm also trying to monitor when she kicks to most often to determine how I'm doing in shaping her wake/sleep cycle, since her circadian rhythm starts showing up at 16 weeks. So, recently, I decided that perhaps my baby wakes up at 5am every morning. However, I think I've felt her earlier than that on occasion, and she seems to get riled up at night, close to 10pm, as well. So, I'm not sure, but if I don't feel her a while during the day, I do try to wake her up.
I also will try poking her to get her to move for other people, but my real experiment with poking is a plan to teach her about turn-taking. When I feel her kick, I try to poke her back in the same spot, in an effort to teach her to kick back so that we can have a pokey conversation-game. Babies are sensitive to cause and effect as well as turn-taking fairly early on, as shown by early language and cognitive development studies. For instance, when infants were presented with a green, fuzzy blob that made beeping noises in a rhythm similar to language/conversations, they would babble back to the blob-looking creature in a turn-taking fashion akin to that of a conversation between two people. So far, I'm not sure if she's catching on yet...more to come.

How many weeks is 9 months?

This is a personal vendetta of mine and does not have to do with a baby investigation, but it does have to do with the pregnancy experience. Normal people talk about women being pregnant for 9 months, but as all pregnant woment know, months are so last season, and we only talk about our baby in terms of weeks or days at this point. Typically, you realize that you're pregnant around "5 weeks," but what does that really mean? Does that mean that the baby is 5 weeks old, measuring age from conception? Well, no. Surprisingly, and trickily, the weeks refer to the time since the first day of a woman's last menstrual period. This makes sense, since doctors can't ask you when you last had you know what or when you conceived, that would get them nowhere. They are left with the question of "when did you start your last menstrual period?" This is a question women get asked about a million times in their life because, for some reason, the doctor's office always wants to know. I have a friend who refers to it as her LMP... So, if 5 weeks pregnant actually equals 5 weeks since the first day of your LMP, then the baby was not conceived 5 weeks ago nor have you actually been pregnant for 5 weeks. In actuality, most women ovulate, or release an egg, approximately 2 weeks after the first day of their period. The released egg only lives 12 to 24 hours, and that is the time when fertilization and conception can occur. Thus, "5 weeks pregnant" actually means that you conceived approximately 3 weeks ago.

Now that we've covered that, let's review the fact that an infant is considered full-term when delivered at 40 weeks. Well, back when I was a normal person, I thought that 9 months estimated to 36 weeks. So how does 9 months equal 40 weeks? Are we really pregnant for 10 months? Absolutely not, thank goodness! First, most months are actually longer than 4 weeks - except for February, which has 28 days, but if a month is 30 or 31 days, that really calculates to almost 4-and-a-half weeks in the month. Secondly, as discussed earlier, 40 weeks pregnant really translates to 38 weeks of actual pregnancy, since conception. As you remember, the first 2 weeks were actually the time from the first day of your last menstrual period to when you ovulated and conceived. So, when you're 20 weeks pregnant and "halfway through your pregnancy;" you have actually been pregnant for just 18 weeks of your total 38 and still have one more week before reaching the true halfway point. The funny thing is, when in the midst of pregnancy, I always know how many weeks I am, but I have to stop and think about how many months along I am - for instance, the first trimester, or first 3 months, are complete at about 14 weeks. Tricky. Nevertheless, in the magic of modern medical terminology, 40 weeks pregnant really does translate into 9 months of pregnancy. I'm enjoying every day, especially now that I'm in my second trimester!

Waking and Sleeping...and not so much sleeping

 Mark Twain said that "A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother." Let's be honest: the bother comes in the middle of the night. Everyone dreads the newborn's nightly feedings every two hours and wants their baby to start sleeping through the night at a miraculously early age. And, doesn't it always seem like newborns are sleeping all day to get rested for their late nights of being night owls? The funny thing is, when a new mom tells you her baby is "sleeping through the night," she could mean the baby is sleeping 5 or 6 hours straight (say 10pm to 4 or 5am); whereas, if an adult without children talks about "sleeping through the night," she probably means a good 8 hours (say 10pm to 6 or 7am). Perspective can really change. I think God's way of preparing you for this magical time of twilight activities is shown by the fact that I now, with my pregnant bladder, wake up every 4 hours to use the restroom, no matter what I do to try warding that off before I go to sleep at night. It's like clockwork, but I remind myself to be thankful that I can go back to sleep after I get up temporarily and enjoy this time when it's only every 4 hours instead of every 2.

Okay, so is there anything we can do during pregnancy to help your baby have an easier transition to sleeping through the night...?
Here's the fact of the matter - experts report that as early as 16 weeks after conception, babies have clear sleep and wake patterns, or circadian rhythms, that start resembling their newborn patterns of sleeping and waking. So, they are already getting set in their ways and sleep patterns during the second half of pregnancy, and those patterns carry over after they are born. The problem is, when babies are in utero, they get rocked to sleep all day while mom is moving and walking around. Then when mom is sleeping and still at night, babies in the womb wake up and are moving around in there. It's always pretty dark in there, so they don't know the difference between night and day. Thus, it makes sense that babies develop a sleep pattern of being awake at night and sleeping during the day. What a difficult pattern to break as newborns! Knowing this, I formulated a plan (very much pre-pregnancy) to help my baby to develop a circadian rhythm more conducive to typical life outside mom's womb, and more similar to my own preferred sleep pattern :). I couldn't come up with a reasonable way of rocking the baby to sleep at night - my ideas of a vibrating tummy-wrap or a water bed just didn't seem feasible, although I may toss and turn in my sleep enough to do the trick. However, at the same time babies start developing their circadian rhythm, they are also becoming responsive to light and dark. Even though their eyelids are closed, they can sense the presence of bright lights versus dark. So, if you shine a flashlight on your belly, babies will move in response to the light. To help my baby wake up during the day, I bought a flashlight to use whenever I think it's time for baby to stop daytime napping. Now, this practice of shining a flashlight on my baby to wake the baby up makes some people nervous, like my mom, who think I may be stressing the baby out or something. Taking that into consideration, I only do this occasionally, not even every day, so I see it as testing the baby's reflexes. Additionally, I'm using a normal flashlight that is not super bright. Besides, I'm helping the baby to prepare for an easier transition to after-birth sleeping patterns :)

What Mama eats, Baby eats

When an expectant mother reads any book on pregnancy or any pamphlet on nutrition to help her little bundle of joy, it is incredibly Overwhelming. There's pages and pages of details describing each area of important nutrients to help all the various aspects of fetal development. How does cantaloupe fall into the green leafies category? How am I supposed to remember 12 food groups and which fish are safe and which fish should be avoided and which fish should be eaten once a week? And how did fish end up being so important for a baby's brain development anyway? And on top of that, how am I supposed to fit all of them in a day's food allowance while consuming just 300 extra calories and keeping my sanity? So, can I just tell you that one night, my pregnancy hormones combined with my overwhelming sense of what all the baby needs nutritionally for proper development overpowered me, and when I looked in the fridge to decide what I wanted to eat for dinner, all I could do was start crying. I laid on the couch and cried while my poor, sweet husband comforted me and then fixed us some dinner. Then my friend sent me some pages from a book about the importance of eating raw egg yoks, cod liver oil, and liver everyday of your pregnancy (GROSS!). Plus, it advised to eliminate sugar, white flour, oils, and caffeine...does that sound like some sort of hazing to anyone else? An initiation into motherhood, perhaps? I thought the morning sickness, nighttime heat flashes, peeing every four hours, and then the actual birth were maybe enough of an intitiation. What about all that first trimester morning sickness and fatigue? Even when the book says not to worry if you can't get all that healthy food eaten in the midst of first trimester ickiness, somehow that does not make me feel any better after reading the pages of nutritional needs for my baby, who is developing all his/her vital organs and brain during those first 3 months. Expectant mothers are NOT supposed to be stressed; I know that - it raises their cortisol levels, which in turn raises their baby's cortisol levels, which can stress the baby and lead to emotional and behavioral issues in a child as late as 4.5-years-old.

So, my solution, knowing what I do about the rapid rate of prenatal development, particularly during the first trimester, was to eat "healthy" and take my prenatal vitamin every day. I also tried to make the most of opportunities to eat seafood, fish listed as safe in at least one of my readings, such as tilapia, cod, and catfish. I experienced light morning sickness, which I combated by keeping a small tupperware of goldfish by my bed in order to eat crackers as soon as I woke up in the morning, before getting out of bed. I now loooove goldfish! I also started craving orange juice like crazy! Conveniently, my normally strong sweet tooth was much diminished, and I started enjoying salty foods more than usual, like potato chips (not so convenient for trying to eat healthy ;). Now, here's where the psychology experiment comes into play. According to a large body of research, tastes and smells that babies are exposed to in utero are then preferred as late as 5.5 months after birth (ex. Mennella, Jagnow, & Beauchamp, 2001; Varendi, Porter, & Winberg, 2002). If you're wondering what babies are smelling, they're smelling the amniotic fluid, which has been reported to smell like coffee or Indian food at birth, based on what the mother had consumed earlier that day. So, I'm expecting my baby to like goldfish and orange juice. As I'm moving into my second trimester, I'm also trying to eat a variety of flavors and vegetables, so that my baby will be exposed to a diverse array of foods - this is my attempt to make my baby less of a picky eater and less likely to develop particular, strong allergies. Of course, I can't report on the outcome of this personal study at this time :) More to come!

An Introduction: Piaget and a Precious Soul

First of all, please do not get the wrong idea from the blog title. We did not get pregnant so that I could run some experiments from home. I do not view this baby as a grand experiment. I have basically wanted to have a baby since I was 6 years old, when my mom was expecting the birth of my little sister. Then, when my sister was born, it was confirmed in my mind that I wanted one of my own. When my sister got older, I tried to talk my parents into becoming foster parents to infants so that I could have a baby around all the time. My mom did not buy into it since she said I would be at school all day, so she would actually be the one taking care of the babies. I didn't lose heart in my attempts at persuasion. However, now that my husband and I are expecting our first child, it seems like a giant, lifelong dream has come true. God has entrusted us with a precious soul to care for and cherish for the rest of our lives.

Now, at the same time, I do plan on testing some theories that I have come across over the years of my studies in developmental psychology. After all, Jean Piaget, the famous developmental psychologist whose findings are still studied by psychologists and educators everywhere, conducted the bulk of his research simply with his own three children. His many contributions to the field of developmental psychology came from a subject pool of 3! So, if he can make major contributions with an N=3, than perhaps I can make some minor findings of interest to a few with an N=1. I absolutely love the study of infant and child development. In the eighth grade, we were given the assignment of a major research speech in our English class. We could choose any subject we wanted, so I chose "how holding a baby affects his/her development." I fell in love with the topic and knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life in the field of child development. Thus, I discovered the pathway of majoring in psychology to follow such a pursuit, and God directed my steps to where it seemed as if I fell into a phD program for developmental psychology. I've enjoyed infant research and teaching Developmental Psychology to college students for the past several years.

Whenever I teach about prenatal development and childhood learning environments, I always talk about what I will do when I have kids of my own and what mini-experiments I will try on my own little blessing. Now that I actually have a little person growing inside of me, some of my viewpoint has changed but I still have lots of plans for trying to apply research findings to real life. This blog will be dedicated to chronicling those attempts and findings and taking an honest look at the joy and emotions of new life.