Welcome to a Bumper Issue of the Bellatin

Grab a Cuppa and have some 'me time'
...or shall we say 'meternity leave'


Since March I have been in the 'Baby Bubble', made possible because MOTL (my one true love, or man of the land..whichever floats your boat) took 10 weeks off work. This honouring of the fourth trimester meant we could slow down as a family, taking time to get to know our new addition and gently transition into this new phase.

Sleep is one of the 'big issues' for parents, with many mixed messages and much misinformation being strewed around.  This article by Pinky McKay, about why babies only sleep when held, proved popular and helpful to many bellabirthers and served as a good reminder to me.  I estimated that I hold my baby for 22.5 hours in 24 (including co-sleeping).  When I am not holding her, MOTL, a grandparent or a sibling is.  As it should be.

This article about how feminist mums do things differently was also very popular with bellabirthers.

We also discussed exercise and movement:
This podcast interview with Katy Bowman is very insightful, along with this article about baby wearing exercise.

This Michel Odent quote (below) appealed to many bellabirthers too.
Some popular items from the facebook page recently:

An  image posted by 'The Milk Meg' See the original post here (including link to photographer Melissa Jean)

If you haven't heard of sphincter law, take a look at this by Anne-Sophie.

Maternal Assisted Caesarean
What is it all about?

 This article about the fourth trimester contains a lovely photo montage of day-one mums and bubs.

This article suggests there is great value in understanding how babies develop.
Who Knew!

And last, but not least, a tongue-in-cheek look at 'metnerity leave'
Just For Laughs 
'Meternity' was introduced into the vernacular in early May, with the release of a book.  
It caused a bit of hoo-ha.
This image (below) gave me a chuckle: a meternity leave photoshoot idea?
Like me, this responder has not read the book, but came up with a 'policy' for how maternity leave without kids should play out. (number 11 is particularly apt)

Yours in Informed Birth Preparation,
Catherine

This is me, Catherine, with a very fresh baby (about 4 weeks old). This picture was taken by my eldest when we went out for a walk on our property.