***I wrote this post but didn't publish it right away and over Christmas break got a little distracted by a BABY, coming 2 WEEKS EARLY! This is unheard of for Wickoren children so we were a little taken by surprise. More on that to come, but since I had this nice blog post all typed up, I'm going to publish it anyhow because it may still be of use to some of you.***
Something about Christmas and babies just makes me want to blog, so here I am again, two years since my last blog post, and making preparations for celebrating the birth of Christ and the birth of our newest addition, Jasper. We are planning for a bit of a crowd at Jasper's birth - Dad, Grandma, Auntie Sarah, Big Brother Mitch, and Big Sister Violet - so today I'm looking at birth videos to help prep the two members of our group who have never attended a birth before. There are tons out there, but as I sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly, I thought I would post the best of the best here in case anyone else is also trying to prepare children or bachelorette sisters for the blessed event and could use some good resources.
This is the first video the kids and I watched. It's not exactly especially informational, but it's a great gentle introduction to waterbirth - nothing graphic, no screaming or moaning really, no blood. I used this one to show Ivy (who is the ripe old age of 4 these days) how a baby comes out. You get to see the baby come out, but through the water and at a very modest angle. Ivy was pretty impressed and so we watched the pushing stage several times (fast forward to 3:30 if you want to get to the "good stuff").
This video is a decent quick overview of what is happening on the inside during the different stages of labor - a little "behind the scenes" summary. This one isn't embeddable, but you can see it on YouTube by clicking here.
Here's a nice example of some labor moaning, good for explaining some of the kinds of noises that mom might make in labor...
I think it's helpful for kids, if you want to show more graphic videos, to start with animal videos first, so it's a little less shocking. It also gives a good you a good opportunity to talk about the amniotic sac.
What I like about this video is that it shows some graphic bits, and there is some screaming, but both of those parts happen underwater so it is a bit blurry and the sounds is muted by the water, so it's a little less intense. Again, another chance to talk about labor sounds. And as soon as baby is out, mom is laughing and clearly just so ecstatic to have baby there so you can see that while it was painful for her, as soon as the work is done she is feeling quite good again.
Aaaaand... this one's just for fun, not for kids ;-)
Do you have any favorite videos or websites to prepare first time birth attendees for the event?
