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Entry #1:
His Life in Short Story and Haiku
Cries and weeping tears
On my breast he lays his head
Heart beat and dry eyes
My son was failure to thrive at his 2 week appointment. He cried day and night and it wasn’t until then that we found out he was crying from hunger. We found out that he needed tongue surgery, but it was until he was one month old before he could really nurse and feel full. He cried a lot and I cried to. The I discovered babywearing and I wrapped him against my chest. He cried as I wrapped him for the first time but then he stopped. I couldn’t believe my eyes. His head lay against my heart and he was content. For the first time since his birth, so was I.
Sweet scent of baby
Wisping hair tickles my chin
Arms out but held close
I especially loved front carries. I would place the lower mei tai straps under my breast so his head would sit where I could kiss his forehead. I would breathe him in and all my senses were stimulated. As he looked left and right, his hair would cross my chin and tickle me, but I loved every minute. I was finally free to clean my messy home, but I never lost a moment of snuggling.
Santa toss giggles
Wiggle wiggle shake shake up
Small hands full of curls
When I began practicing back carries, my son was so distressed. He would cry and straighten his legs. He was always unhappy until he was secure and even then I would have to bounce him to sleep. I worried that I would never get it right. Then, one day I was at my support groups with some wraps and mei tais, displaying my new babywearing skills. I placed my son on the wrap and got him ready for the santa toss. I threw him over my shoulder and he giggled. I wiggled to get him in placed and shook to scoot him up high. I wrapped him and he laughed the entire time. Then he grabbed my curly hair and I didn’t even care because he was happy and so was I.
Wrapped in tapered love
Carried high he sees the world
So secure he sleeps
I have come to see my carriers as extensions of our bond, our love for each other. I wrap my son with love and always hold him close. He is almost 4 months old and is beginning to really see the world. He turns his head out and I can tell he is taking in everything around us. The tall trees, the smell of spring, and colors blooming around us. And when he has had enough, he no longer cries. Instead, he brings his head back in to me, making sure he is secure, making sure he is safe. And shortly thereafter, he is sleeping soundly. The kind of sleep where his eyes flutter and I know he is dreaming about all of the beautiful things he has seen that day. Now he is happy and so am I.
Entry #2:
How We Came to Babywear...
It was a smoldering August morning when he arrived into this world screaming in protest to everything around him. I was in the delivery room and I am his mother, but I am not the woman who gave birth to him. You see, two months earlier another son was born of my womb without a breath to breathe or a beat to his heart. He was the third baby I had said goodbye to in the previous 3 years. The heartache was extreme, and at that point I decided my family building would have to be built further through the gift of adoption. It was very surprising when we were approached shortly after our loss about adopting a baby to be born very soon. That is where our babywearing story starts, and has created a legacy to be carried on through generations.
Our son’s birthmom was going through a very rough spot in her life. She was homeless with two small girls already, and this pregnancy was unexpected and very unwanted. Her goal was to just forget she was pregnant. Since it helped to use artificial means to help herself forget, she used these substances liberally. Things she used to numb her sensations were high amounts of xanax, vicodin, marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine (to name a few). I had no idea of her self-medication, so I had no idea that those screams at birth would continue into shakes and withdraws along with hours of screaming until he passed out. When he was just a few days old a friend gave use a ring sling to use. It seemed to work miracles, as he was the most calm and content when in the sling.
Over the next year he grew out of the withdrawals and into more serious complications from his in-utero exposure. He had a very weak immune system and was constantly ill. Putting him down was near impossible. He was too big for his sling (well, I thought so anyhow…I never knew you could use them on the hip) so I began to seek out new options and discovered “TheBabyWearer.com”. Through that I learned to use wraps and began my love affair with Mei Tai carriers. He is better now and to this day he still spends some time being “worn” on my back, even though he is almost five years old.
We are now getting ready for another adoption of a baby with special needs and are excited about adding to our family and also to our carrier stash. He will certainly need a lot of carry time, as he will have partial or full paralysis from the waist down.
My older children love to carry, as well as my husband and now our extended family. Even my sister in law (who’s children are teenagers) is teaching her young friends about the wide variety of baby carriers and options for wearing your baby. So, through the birth of our one very special baby, a long line of baby wearers has been created.
Entry #3:
Acronym era
We all live in an era that uses acronyms all the time. Some of the most common that we will come across would be acronyms like LOL, FYI, ASAP to name a few, I know that a lot of us are even saying it in daily conversations to communicate with each other.
When I first started venturing into babywearing world with my baby girl, I was so shocked to be thrown with overwhelming amounts of acronyms out there in the forums and even at babywearing meet ups.
So it got me thinking, what if WRAPSTAR is an acronym, and each letter represents the amazing benefits of babywearing!
W.R.A.P.S.T.A.R.
W- Wailing stops as soon as the baby is worn closely to the caregiver.
R- Rest and relaxation is evident for both baby and the caregiver when baby is snuggled up.
A-Attachment; the best way to encourage attachment with your baby!
P-Play is absolutely fun when baby is worn.
S-Stylish; babywearing products are so fashionable and definitely a trend-setter everywhere.
T- Thrive; babies grow so much better when snuggled up with their caregivers
A-Attitude Shaping; we know that babies learn by watching our behavior.
R- Relationship; babywearing is the best way to bond and build a long lasting relationship!
Entry #4:
Once upon a time, in the land of Ishihara,
Lived a lady, a baby, and their pet Capybara.
The lady was sweet, but overly stressed.
The baby was cranky and quick to protest.
The rodent was large and covered with fur,
And when it would bark it would cause quite the stir!
On the day of our story, it was so very warm,
A humid kind of heat which hints at a storm,
The family, all three, jumped into their pool,
And splashed in the sun in their attempt to keep cool.
The Capybara was the first to turn red.
At the sight of his skin, they all quickly fled
From the pool and the eye of the hot summer sun
Before all of them ended up well done!
The suddenness of their hasty departure
Caused the young baby to lose her composure.
The squeals from poor Capy mixed with shrieks from the child
To create a cacophony anything but mild!
Lucky for Mom, she was a clever young lass,
She'd studied chemistry and was head of her class.
Away to her lab, to whip up a balm
For the cute Capy's sunburn; and to make baby calm,
She stopped by her closet and pulled off the floor
The item that never failed to make baby snore:
Her beautiful Wrapstar, a Storch wrap conversion,
It was just what she'd need for her labtime excursion.
She wrapped her miffed baby high up on her back,
Let the sleepy dust work, then began to attack
The challenge of making the sunburn dissolve.
A challenge that didn't take her long to resolve.
Just a little aloe vera mixed with chemicals X, Y, and N,
Created the perfect antidote for dear Capy's skin.
While the baby was happily sleeping in fluff,
The lady was able to slather the stuff.
The Capy was happy, the baby content,
After working so hard, the lady was spent.
None of these outcomes could have been attained
Without the fine Wrapstar and the lady's big brain!
Entry #5
(sung to the tone of "I Like Big Butts")
I Like Fluffy Wraps (and I Can Not Lie)
I like fluffy wraps and I can not lie
You other babywearers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with a wrap around her waist
And a new squishy baby face to face
You get stoked, wanna pull out your stash
'Cause you notice that wrap was stuffed
Deep in the wrap she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh baby, I wanna wrap just like you
And take your picture
My bw'ing friends tried to warn me
But that stash you got makes me so horny
Ooh, wrap-a-holics
You say you wanna wrap and frolic?
Well, show me, teach me
'Cause this aint no average Snuggli
I've seen them up on the swap
To hell with shoes, its wraps I wanna shop!
They're long and cuddly
When Daddies wear 'em they look so studly!
I'm tired of magazines
Sayin' Snugglis and Bjorns are the thing
Take the average BW'ing Mama and ask her that
She gotta wrap a baby on her back
So, ladies! (Yeah!) Ladies! (Yeah!)
Has your stash got what's hot? (Hell yeah!)
Tell 'em to wrap it! (Wrap it!) Wrap it! (Wrap it!)
Wrap that squishy babe!
Baby got wrap!
Baby got wrap!
