Thank you to our wonderful friends and family for the awesome messages of love and support! We have so enjoyed hearing from you! I plan to print out every message and save them for posterity. What a tremendous support network we have. Thank you!
We are doing so great. Our little darling entered the world like super woman, with her arm up! Since then she appears to approach everything with equal gusto — especially in the breastfeeding department.
Our 9lb 5oz “Strawberry” (trying this pseudonym on for size) is super cute and so chunky, with lots of fat rolls. She loves to sleep and mainly just wakes up to tell us she’s hungry (she’s pretty good at telling us she’s hungry when she’s asleep too!). She hardly ever cries — usually just during the second half of the diaper change for about 30 seconds (must be getting cold! or has simply had enough, Daddy!) before she’s been swaddled. She’s super strong, can lift her head, and likes to roll from her back to her side and occasionally over on to her tummy all by herself. She makes the cutest sounds (especially when she is sleeping) and smells so delicious. David and I spend hours just staring at her and feeling awestruck that we created this amazing little person. We can’t wait to watch her grow up and see her come into her own. She already has quite the personality and we are just thrilled.
Our home birth experience was awesome! Our midwives were fantastic, David was so incredibly supportive and the absolute perfect, loving, and attentive birth partner. Being at home was a dream. I couldn’t have asked for a more positive birth experience. We feel so blessed.
My all-time favorite book about pregnancy and birth is: 
is another essential read before your baby arrives. It is so important to learn about baby care ahead of time so you feel less overwhelmed once the little one gets here (if that’s even possible!). As someone who has babysat infants and young children since middle school, I know how important it is to feel prepared. 
Breastfeeding mamas across the country seem to be in agreement that this La Leche League guide, 
, is THE breastfeeding book to read (thank you, Ranni and April!). I’ve read it twice and own a copy as a reference guide. It’s easy to read, comprehensive, and makes breastfeeding seem easy (because even if it isn’t easy at times, the book presents hundreds of helpful tips to fix problems so that breastfeeding is doable). Highly recommend it!
Some other great reads:
– We bought and read this one before I got pregnant and I strongly recommend that all vegetarian mamas do the same. The sections on nutrition are must-reads for women who have a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. In our house we also eat seafood, nevertheless the book was incredibly helpful in terms of healthy snack ideas, nutritional and herbal supplements (including lots of information on herbs and essential oils to avoid!). Throughout my pregnancy, I’ve used this as a reference guide time and time again.
I’ve been reading 
for years, possibly since before we were even married. This is hands-down my favorite pregnancy magazine. Yes, lots of the information in it is mainstream, but they do a great job of showing a wide-range of viewpoints, which I really like because I am the type of person who likes to read about everything and then make an informed decision on what works best for me. This magazine has fantastic recipes, awesome fitness tips for prenatal and postpartum exercising, and I love their factoids from recent scientific studies. They are also very pro-breastfeeding, frequently very ecogroovy, and have great fashion tips. I think all pregnant women should at least check it out. (They also have a great 
(discussed above), you’ve assimilated their information and can move on.
as a gift (thank you, Chelsea) and completely loved it. While most women read it for the birth stories, I much preferred the information for midwives (the entire second half of the book). I just soaked up the diagrams and descriptions about prenatal care and birth. I’ve also read excerpts from 
; the pieces about pain management are excellent. Sadly, I never got around to reading the rest of it, but hopefully you can fit it in.
