Elemental Flash Cards (Periodic Table for babies)

2012-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

I got Isaac a book on the periodic table and he loves it, the other thing he loves is his flash cards (will go into this in detail later).
So I have combined the 2..... here you guys go also.....

Blackout

2012-01-17T17:44:00.001-08:00

Learn from others!

2011-11-27T18:16:00.001-08:00

http://crappypictures.typepad.com/

Handy advice, thanks @AmberDusick

Objective : Midwife

2011-11-06T01:18:00.000-07:00

Now down here (in NZ) its pretty much the mantra that if your having a baby. You get a government appointed midwife to help you through the birth. This is due to the very simple reason all our doctors get sweet jobs overseas.........leaving only nurses who want to become more.

But this is not all bad. You end up with someone who is dedicated in the study of babies and birth. They are YOURS not 'yours-9-to-5-only'. And most are good at doing the dirty stuff when the stuff get going.

However not all Midwives are equal. You need to pick your midwife wisely. Going with whomever turns up will cause problems for you. So here are some helpful thoughts that will help your decision process when thinking about midwife selection.

1) Does the midwife reflect your own personality?

This may sound strange. But if when you get a headache do you reach for the Panadol or the Arnica? Do you drink herbal tea or 6 cups of coffee?
Midwifes are a decision that should be on the same basis. You need to decide not only on what type of midwife you want, but what birth your going to have, what drugs you want to take, do you want to breastfeed......
Contrary to what most women and midwifes think - these are your choice. There is no law or rule that says you must have a natural birth, you must breast feed. Unfortunately many midwifes get into the business to plant their ideals and personality onto how your going to have a baby.
So getting an alignment of your personality and your midwife is quite important. If your not sure, find someone who appears flexible. Midwives are in it for the money like the rest of us in our jobs. So they will try and get as many "sales" as possible. So like any good salesman, they will make and break promises. Look at their body language when you ask personal questions. Our midwife said "Oh yes thats fine if you want to take drugs.....we can discuss that later" - but her body language basically said "Oh god another couple who want to get drugged up and miss the experience of birth - how terrible". Never mind the fact of how much pain she put my wife through by refusing drugs during labor.
Do you want someone with a flexibile personality, or a strong personality that takes control - removing all decisions from you?
This is a choice you must make.

2) Does age/experience matter?

Once again the lovely bit advice out there is "You must get a midwife that has been a midwife since the beginning of time, and has a million births under her belt". This advice is once again wrong.
I know of cases of doctors whom treated thousands of patients for mental illness.......only to find out electroshock treatment is not such a good idea. Same applies here.
If you are unsure as to if your midwife will follow the book with tried and proven (even new) methods. 'Allow' them to have a student with them. Then they will try and look good in front of the young students. Plus the best way to learn is to teach right?
But very cautious of those who are considered "learned midwifes". They might be stuck in their ways. No sorry change that.......they WILL be stuck in there ways. So if their ways are not your ways.....there will be a problem.
Having a younger, less experienced, midwife, has its own issues too however. They won't be as fluid as the 'old mums'. Likewise they may have not had a child of their own yet.......meaning they know nothing about what your going through. But they have the advantage that when they are out of their depth - they will ask for help. A more senior midwife might let their ego get in the way before asking for help.
Once again this relates back to point one. How do you want to have the baby in a hospital with drugs and doctors surrounding you......or in a pool out the back of a barn. Seems different generations of midwifes will offer you some point between those 2 options.
So no age/experience does not matter. They have all passed their papers. And all have their own advantages and disadvantages.

3) YOU ARE IN CONTROL! Either take charge or give up control

You have every right in the world to request another midwife at any point in time. You have every right to get a second opinion at any point in time.
You have all the control - so think back to point 1. Are you a control freak or someone who needs someone else to take charge?
Does this change? How often and when?
You midwife needs to compliment (no not say nice things - "FIT") with what you want. If you need someone to make the tough calls - do not chose a midwife that can't decide on next meeting time. If you need to tell someone what to do, don't choose a midwife whom wants everything to be according to her plan.
Do you want drugs? Do you want a natural birth? Do you want to use a pool?
DO YOU WANT THESE DECISIONS?
When choosing a midwife - you might wan't a yin and yang approach. Where she OR you makes the calls. Or you might want a situation where there is ideas bounced around and you both come to the same decision. BUT YOU MUST DECIDED IF THE MIDWIFE WILL MEET THIS GROUND BEFORE YOU GO INTO LABOR!
Even in labor, do not be scared to ask for a second opinion for something. We did and it saved our son's life. Obstetrician noted that my wife was full dilated - but he was not coming.....conclusion: something holding him in there (turned out to be the cord twice around the neck).

You are in control, and at any point can ask for help from someone other than you midwife. Or you can release that control. Those are your choices.
Decide now - as it will reflect all future decisions (or lack of if you don't release control).

So picking a midwife isn't as simple as it seems. But there is a reason for this.

A midwife should be your friend, your doctor, your project manager, your nurse and your step-in mother.
Balancing out all these things is difficult. So don't be scared to ask hard question. They could save someones life, and will at least save you some unwanted pain.

"I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature." John D. Rockefeller

2011-10-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Having a kid is like riding a bike..........up the steepest hill........in the rain.........and both your tires are bald. But my god the view at the top is good.
- Stewart Farr

Haha no. In all seriousness its a fantastic thing and the ultimate disaster all combined into one. But you see all literature will tell you one, or the other. This frustrated me completely. When I asked people about it, I would get the following response:
"A but everyone is different, so we have books that show the good things about babies, and ones that show all the troubles"
So hang on a second, isn't that double sided? Does that mean you will get either a good baby whom smiles all the time. Or a bad one that screams all the time thus providing hell on earth?
Why can't we get both sides at the same time?
Turns out - not so much. And the sad thing is that most literature out there will tell you what you should "freak out" about where the reality is if you remain calm.......many of these problems are not problems at all.

So REMAIN CALM people. Its not end of the world, its the beginning.

This is Operation : Offspring. A no bars hold approach to
everything they don't tell you
about pregnancy, babies and kids.

While I (Stew) will be taking the mans perspective lots of the time. I don't admit to knowing the pain of pregnancy, or the love of a mother.......so I won't be talking about that. Likewise I am not a physician.....so I can't talk about blood groups, muscles, pain receptors. In fact I am an Engineer whom also has a MBA. So I will be talking about basic stuff that I have noticed was missing from other snippets of advice out there.
Because lets be honest, if I can see the problems, a lowly MALE engineer. Then they are pretty big aren't they?

I will be getting my wife to contribute when she has time. But rule #1 with kids is you never have time.

"So fall in ranks Mummies and Daddies! This is Operation : Offspring, not some pussy executive meeting!"

Operation Offspring - Everything they don't tell you about having kids

Elemental Flash Cards (Periodic Table for babies)

Blackout

Learn from others!

Objective : Midwife

"I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature." John D. Rockefeller