Why I Chose AP

I knew since I was 14 years old that I wanted to birth in water. Years later, I was newly married and discovered I was pregnant, and began reading up more on this birth I instinctively knew I wanted.

I started read books by Ina May Gaskin and watching documentaries like "The Business of Being Born" and discovered I not only wanted to birth in water, I wanted to birth at home as well.

I won't go into the details here, I'll save that for another time, but while homebirth isn't for everyone, it was most certainly for me. In the course of my pregnancy I read countless books, articles, and studies, and in turn decided attachment parenting was for me. Dr. Sears calls attachment parenting "a style of caring for your infant that brings out the best in the baby and the best in the parents.  Attachment parenting implies first opening your mind and heart to the individual needs of your baby, and eventually you will develop the wisdom on how to make on-the-spot decisions on what works best for both you and your baby. A close attachment after birth and beyond allows the natural, biological attachment-promoting behaviors of the infant and the intuitive, biological, caregiving qualities of the mother to come together. Both members of this biological pair get off to the right start at a time when the infant is most needy and the mother is most ready to nurture. Bonding is a series of steps in your lifelong growing together with your child."

To me, attachment parenting is exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months or older (food before one is just for fun), baby-led weaning (and if that means still nursing, even for comfort, at 2, so be it), co-sleeping (sleeping in the same room, commonly confused with bedsharing), natural preventative health measures, and more. Attachment parenting means no Ferber method baby training (cry it out methods). I will also be making my own baby food when the time arises. 

I've always been a "crunchy" person, never quite fitting in with the mainstream, never sure where my niche was. I didn't know I wouldn't find it til I was a mom. I knew as a child God's call on my life was to be a mommy, and now I'm on the journey to fulfill that calling.

While I have read countless books and articles, and will continue to, I do not pretend to know everything. I'm still learning, and my child is still new to this world. But I have learned a lot, and plan on using this new found knowledge in my parenting journey. And as I journal this process, you get to join me!