...more resources

Great List of resources/websites
http://www.homebirthmidwifery.com/
http://www.mothering.com/ -- website and magazine for natural.green parenting. Great bboards & current research
http://www.strongbeautifulbirth.com/
http://www.spinningbabies.com/ -- website with how to help get baby in position through excercise. movements really helped during labor as well!

Choosing a backup (or main) hospital:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/statistics/facilities/hospital/maternity/kings.htm This website has all the current statistics for each hospital in NYS. You can see their current c-section rate, the local city rate etc.


My Providers:
Doula: Leda Ward http://www.strongbeautifulbirth.com/
Midwife: Memaniye Cinque http://dyekorasumda.com/Midwives.html
Acupuncture:http://www.pacificcollege.edu/acupuncture-massage-clinic/new-york.html
Childbirth educator: Amadoma Bediako http://www.linkedin.http/://www.linkedin.com/in/amadoma 718-217-4524
Birth pool rental: http://www.greenspancenter.com/ Ben Watts, $250 rental for the month or so before your due date




After the birth:

Whether you go natural, or have a section, it is great to have the following items:
3 bottles of witch hazel
overnight maxi pads
1 pack of depends

You pour witch hazel on the pads, and put them in the depends, it helps decrease any swelling/bruising. It is naturally cooling and soothing. You have a lot of lochia (bleeding) for the first week or two after the birth. I ended up going through 2 packages of depends, and 3 bags of super maxi pads. I wished that someone had told me that in advance, cause i would have stocked up.

Having a "sitz bath" was an awesome 10 dollar investment. It's a little basin that goes on your toilet, and a water bag that you hang up on a hook to irrigate your butt. That way you don't have to wipe, and it helps soak your girly bits. Again, it's not "cute" advice, but I wish someone had told me about it in advance. I ended up sending my mom out to the store a day or two afterwards. OMG it made SUCH a difference! My friend who had a c-section loved hers too.

The hospital will probably send you home with a peri bottle to irrigate with. If they don't, that's helpful too.



Totally not for everyone, but if you are interested feel free to talk to me about:
Cloth diapers:
www.jilliansdrawers.com - has a 21 day trial of cloth diapers
We ended up liking "bummis" prefolds with diaper covers. The disposable diapers kept giving him a diaper rash. Upfront costs on the diapers (and a washing machine that we hook up to the kitchen sink) were a lot, but I think it is already paying itself off. With the cloth diapers you have a big initial cost...but you have them to use for the rest of their infancy (and however long it take to potty train). Otherwise, we'd be throwing $20 or more bucks a week into disposables. At first we used disposables in the diaper bag, but it really isn't all the much more of a hassle with the cloth. What makes it easy for us thosugh is that we have the washer, and we line dry. You can get a portable washer that hooks up to a kitchen sink which works great for apartments.
www.nickisdiapers.com
www.cottonbabies.com

Baby wrap carrier:
Mine is a "wrapsody" I got it at Metro Minis http://www.metrominis.com/ 821 park ave (at 77th) They offer classes on wrapping, cloth diapering, etc. Cute place. They have other kinds of carriers too: ring slings, mai tais, ...the list is amazing, but they really know their stock and how to "fit" your personality.
http://www.wrapyourbaby.com/ has great tutorials on how to wrap or, just check out youtube for wrap tutorials.

Birth Announcements:
Cute ideas at www.tinyprints.com -- but super expensive
We did ours through shutterfly - very easy and they came FAST.