Here are the books you will find my nose in during the nine-months of baby making. I devour these books! I read them over and over, so as to gain knowledge, encouragement,and crowd out the often negative voices on childbirth and rearing.
Here is a short caption on each from bottom to top.
Spiritual Midwifery and Guide to Childbirth:
Ina May Gaskin is one of the leading mid-wives of North America and has compiled hundreds of Women's stories about pregnancy and birth. Each story is written with the hope to pass on a positive attitude and joyful expectancy of your bodies ability to birth. In each book there is also a great amount of information on pregnancy and childbirth. Be warned though, it can come across as very new-age, if you can discard the funny-hippy-words like 'psychadelic' then you'll be just fine. Oh yes some pictures may be wee-bit graphic for a young'n running around your home. So if you have a 'booky' like I have in my six-year-old, do put these books in a discrete spot or you might be having a 'special' conversation!
Susan Weeds Herbal for the Childbearing Year:
A wonderful informative book on herbs that are safe and useful for pregnancy and childbirth. I have always loved the way Susan writes about herbs and in this book her confidence and expertise is easily communicated in a helpful way.
Baby Wise:
I am a very systematic person, who likes things organized and planned...I know that you can not 'organize' a new born! But with the help of the wisdom and guidelines of this book I have had two babies sleeping through the night by eight weeks. Both my girls were praised over and over again as peaceful, HEALTHY babies...often the compliments were followed by "you're so fortunate" I do know better, that my babes were not born this way but with the information in this book -applied- I found a way that brings joy into the new-born stage. I am not frantic and baby is not frantic. A very valuable gift!
Ofcourse the Bible:
Nothing can compare to the hope and peace that comes from this book. I have this deep urge in my pregnancies to be intimate with God. As he knits a miracle in my womb...I want and crave to be part of the movement of God over my body, not just in the physical but in the spiritual also. I often envision God piecing my babies together cell by cell, miracle by miracle. With each development he writes heavenly blessings, promises, words of love, gifts of heaven, gifts of a Father embedding them on the DNA of my babes spirit.
As a parent it is my role to find the mysteries God has placed into my child, this is my vocation, what I have devoted my time as a mother to doing, yearly, daily, moment-by-moment. I love that God and I whisper secrets we know of this child. He to me showing who this child is that heaven is creating.
I pray my whole pregnancy that God will give me (or Roger) a passage from his words, that is for my child. I can use those words to understand the soul of my child, it is a tool I use to speak over my darling, it is a promise from heaven that I use as a compass to teach me who God sees in my child. Just this week the passage came...and I am in love with this God willing enough to bless me with such a child and such a promise!
So there you have the books I read while making baby number three.
