They aren't contractions, they're 'birthing waves'. Birth Story according to a Dad.

[hackneybird]

Here is the link

It's actually a craft blog I read regularly, but the owner recently gave birth and the father has written an amazing account.

For those of you that are inclined to alternative teaching methods, you may also find the child's Montessori room interesting, or be totally fascinated/laugh your head off at her intended parenting philosophy, which includes 'diaper free infant hygiene'. Yes, they are American.

[cory]

Ah bless! let's hope she doesn't have a breakdown when the outer world starts intruding.

[ButtercupWafflehead]

Nice room!

But where is she going to put all the plastic brightly-coloured battery-powered musical tat?

[minko]

Oh dear gawd, thank goodness no-one is taking all that seriously... Beautiful room, not like any childs room I've ever seen, but then the litttle bugger hadn't even been born when the pics were taken!

[Hawkmoth]

Nice birthing story. It's good that he wanted so much to be involved and be responsible for some of the process. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for partners going through this as it's TOTALLY out of their hands.

The diaper-free methods... reminds me of my mother getting all excited after hearing something about potty training children as soon as they can walk. Of course it's different, but my response was the same!

[Flibbertyjibbet]

Those dishes are for putting a hairbrush and tissues in when he is older then?
How lovely to plan for a baby that won't pull the dishes down or shred tissues all over the place.

thats where I went wrong, obviously.

And the pictures at child height. Will she raise them up a couple of inches each year? Why aren't they on the ceiling for a lying baby to look at them?

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

"I thought Cher just might not recognize that we were different."

I can't speak for laughing.

[Cerened]

I love the tiny mat she's made for under the potty - do you think she'll start putting newspaper down after a few weeks of attempting EC?

Don't most boys have a great firing range?

[CrouchingTigger]

OMG.
That is scary. I feel sorry for little Finnian. He is his parent's project. How will they cope when they can't control everything?
It is quite disturbing tbh.

[hannahsaunt]

I adore the bedroom. I would love to have that level of imagination and commitment to the cause. Clearly if I achieved a room like that it would be to view from the door only and couldn't be contaminated by persons using it.

[KingRolo]

I'm surprised the dad can remember everything in so much detail. I suspect ny DH's birth log might just go "WWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH a baby!"

[KingRolo]

The mother says on the blog "For both of us, the experience was overwhelmingly positive - for my part, I literally felt no pain - just extreme pressure."

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

Flibbertygibbet, love the idea of a 'lying baby'.....

....no mum, it wasn't me who pulled the dishes off the table, I can't even crawl yet!

[notyummy]

They have faaaaaar too much time on their hands.

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

I always feel vaguely uncomfortable with these men who have to get SO involved, it just feels a bit like "look at me! pay attention to me! I'm The Father! I know what a cervix is!" yes, you are the father, and you play a very important role, but you aren't in pain, it isn't coming out of your vagina, you aren't the star of the show!

That room is both pretentious and dull as shit. I pity the baby who has to spend its days in a beige and white room with nothing colourful or beautiful to look at. Oh but wait, it's probably going to be flashcarded to fuck during the day so at night it'll be glad of a dull space where it doesn't have to be "unique" and "precious" and "gifted" and "different". Fuck me.

I can't wait to see their faces when it's in total disarray, the books ripped to shreds, the pictures pulled down, with the baby wearing the potty as a hat whilst licking the pissmat. And why do they even OWN a potty and a mini-dressing table etc when their baby wasn't even born yet? Odd.

[Cerened]

pmsl James

[Cerened]

"In the Montessori educational philosophy, the child sleeps on a mattress directly on the floor in a child-safe room so that once he can crawl, he is free to get up and explore the room"

I give her until a week after he's really learnt to crawl, and she'll have bought a playpen

[ArcticLemming]

Why has Finn got an ashtray in his room? Did he come out with a forty a day habit?
Agree completely with Notyummy

[MrsHappy]

I wish she would come and tidy my tip house.

[KingRolo]

"Although I would have loved to have provided Finn with an organic mattress, we opted for a cheap mattress"

Aha, true colours!

[KingRolo]

"The room is designed to be aesthetically pleasing to a young child, not to an adult"

What bolleaux!

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

cerened, wonder if they'll let their baby explore the stairs, the drains and the loo too, y'know, in the interests of giving him his "freedom" and not stifling his natural curiosity.

It's the way these kind of parents think that they know better, their children will be different, and that they don't need the kind of equipment and safety precautions that the rest of us use that gets on my nerves. I bet that blog goes surprisingly quiet when they find their nappyless child happily eating his own poo and using his "freedom" to interrupt their every sex session.

[Wallace]

ArticLemming - I though it was an ashtray too The reality was even more worrying...

After reading about that I feel that Idon't take parenting nearly seriously enough

Actually I feel a bit sorry for them that reality will hit hard one day...

[Wallace]

I also reckon that cot-sized mattress on the floor is a mistake. They should have optedfor a full size one because she will end up desperately trying toget the baby to nap by lying on the mattress with him to bf him to sleep.

[Cerened]

Ah but Wallace, don't forget, she won't be desperately trying to get him to nap, as he will sleep there only "if he desires"

[CherryChoc]

Aw, I think it's lovely Utterly unrealistic, but lovely nonetheless!

(From someone who planned to do EC from birth but, er, hasn't, and whose child is currently mashing tuna into his bouncy chair - but I'm just glad he's restrained and it's not the carpet!)