{"id":319,"date":"2006-09-17T19:11:01","date_gmt":"2006-09-17T23:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/ttc\/?p=319"},"modified":"2006-09-19T23:45:14","modified_gmt":"2006-09-20T03:45:14","slug":"alphamom-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/?p=319","title":{"rendered":"AlphaMom Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday in a bad-mood-induced-by-nothing I flopped in front of the couch and, finding nothing on normal TV, flipped through the OnDemand selections. I of course wandered over to the AlphaMom channel. I was a little bit disappointed by their shows, honestly. The &#8220;Selecting Baby Gear&#8221; episode was <i>only<\/i> on Graco products. Which is great, when you want to compare one Graco stroller to another, but what about all the other brands? I also was a little bit annoyed by the fact that the shows were centered around the Graco specialist showing off their stuff. What about user reviews? Moms talking about what they got? A little lacking, IMO.<\/p>\n<p>But nonetheless, here are some notes.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>Baby Gear<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>invest in a digital monitor. analog have an annoying habit of picking up other things.<\/li>\n<li>most Graco strollers will take either model of infant seats Graco sells<\/li>\n<li>Lovin Hug swing &#8211; has music, nature sounds, 6 speeds, toys, and a mobile (jeez, spoil the kids huh? ;) )<\/li>\n<li>Contempo highchair &#8211; has the slimmest fold on the market (7&#8243; ), a dishwasher-safe tray insert, and adjustable height. (I believe it also has multiple recline positions.)<\/li>\n<li>Graco iMonitor &#8211; digital, so there&#8217;s no static, no weird pick-ups. 2000 ft range. Rechargeable batteries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Graco Strollers<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mosaic &#8211; weighs 18lbs, holds a child up to 40lbs. Has no cup holders or anything. Very lightweight, good for urban living.<\/li>\n<li>Vienna &#8211; Weighs 24lbs, holds a child up to 40lbs. Has an large basket, cup holders and tray for your stuff. Also has height-adjustable handles.<\/li>\n<li>Quattro Tour &#8211; Weighs 24lbs, holds a child up to 40lbs. Has an extra large storage basket, the drop-and-load style. Has cup holders and multiple compartments for your stuff. Known as the &#8220;SUV&#8221; of strollers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Childbirth Preperation Classes<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There has been a shift in the past 10 years. Where once mothers would come into the class asking, &#8220;How can I achieve a natural childbirth?&#8221; now they are saying, &#8220;How can I avoid a c-section?&#8221; (Which personally I believe is because of the increase in c-sections.)<\/li>\n<li>Your partner\/husband knows you the best. So when you&#8217;re in labor, he&#8217;s the one in a position to help you out the most. It&#8217;s helpful for him to understand the physical and emotional signposts of labor to help you get through it.<\/li>\n<li>What to look for in a childbirth class:\n<ul>\n<li>The teacher has gone through a rigorous certification and training.<\/li>\n<li>The class should focus on <i>all<\/i> your choices during labor, not how to achieve birth with a specific method. (Because in labor anything can happen, and the more prepared you are, the better a position you will be in to be in control and to be able to make informed decisions.<\/li>\n<li>What is the class size? Smaller is better.<\/li>\n<li>What&#8217;s the timeframe? The more time, the more information you&#8217;re going to be able to get.<\/li>\n<li>Is there a snack break? (Pregnant women need snack breaks.)<\/li>\n<li>Where are the classes, in a hospital type setting, or in a home?<\/li>\n<li>When should you start the classes? Ideally aim for taking the classes in your 7th and 8th month. During your 9th month you don&#8217;t want to have to worry about classes, but too early in your pregnancy and you&#8217;re not as receptive to the information. (The speaker stated it kind of like this: &#8220;In your first and second trimesters being pregnant is still fun, and labor is still just a concept for the future. By the third trimester you you are <i>so ready<\/i> to hear how to get the baby <i>out<\/i>.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Lamaze = focussed breathing and other coping methods<\/li>\n<li>Bradley = husband-coached childbirth and relaxation<\/li>\n<li>ICEA = national certification, is not a &#8220;method&#8221; but goes over various choices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For strollers I&#8217;m actually considering getting one of the snap-and-go frames with all the stuff I want, they are a <i>lot<\/i> lighter than a full stroller with infant seat. However, then I stop and think, what will I do after the baby outgrows the infant carrier? What kind of stroller will I want? Hmmm. Must think more on this idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday in a bad-mood-induced-by-nothing I flopped in front of the couch and, finding nothing on normal TV, flipped through the OnDemand selections. I of course wandered over to the AlphaMom channel. I was a little bit disappointed by their shows, honestly. The &#8220;Selecting Baby Gear&#8221; episode was only on Graco products. Which is great, when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[12,14],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-gear","tag-labor-delivery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}