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First Time Mom . . . and how it turned out 20 years later

Ada was our first, which means that we were sparkling new parents, trying to imagine how a new baby would impact our lives.

I knew that a baby was a fulltime job, and I quit my job in preparation for this new one.

I knew that I had been born at home and I wanted my baby to be born at home.

I knew that I wanted to breastfeed exclusively. To save money, for convenience, for bonding and health benefits, but also because it’s natural and I wanted to do things the natural way.

I knew that I wanted to carry my baby on my chest, so I had bought a ring sling and a second-hand Snugli in preparation.

I knew I wanted to cloth diaper. For the planet, and also to keep chemicals away from my baby’s parts.

I read that some parents skip diapers all together by teaching their babies to pee and poop on command but I could tell that this was a kooky minority and I read the paragraph about it aloud to my husband as a point of trivia, assuring him that while I had plenty of non-mainstream parenting ideas, he didn’t have to worry that I was entertaining that one!

This was 2004, so of course there was internet but it was before we always looked everything up on the internet first, and before we made purchases on the internet by default. It would still be almost 10 years before I’d get my first smartphone.

So when I was buying cloth diapers, I purchased wool diaper covers from an ad in a magazine (Midwifery Today). I loved the idea of all-cotton diapers and natural wool covers on my pure and organic new baby.

Especially since we lived in hot, humid Florida where the walls grow mildew if you leave your AC off for a day or two. I did not like the idea of a plastic cover holding in heat and moisture around my baby’s delicate region!

I thought I was prepared to be a mother, and I probably was as prepared as I could be.