The Vancouver Island Baby Fair is proud to sponsor an upcoming screening of the movie “Babies” this Monday, July 26th at Cinecenta!

The presentation is brought to you by Play Victoria, with support from the Vancouver Island Baby Fair, Tall Tales Books and Mothering Touch Centre.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Balmes, Babies simultaneously follows four babies around the world. Joyfully capturing on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all – from birth to first steps.

Doors open at 6:30pm. The film begins at 7pm – tickets at the door.

There will be a panel discussion after the show and prize giveaways too!

“The first day after my birth,” says the Dalai Lama, “immediately I learned, I experienced mother’s sort of compassion. That is I think the most important part of building a healthy family and that means healthy humanity.”

Happy 75th Birthday to the Dalai Lama!

Every so often it’s a good thing to pause and tell our loved ones how we feel. This is all about Mike, my husband and father of our two kids and a whole bunch of reasons why I think he’s an awesome dad and husband.

It started long, long ago before we had kids, before we were married, about 15 years ago when I convinced you that we should leave our jobs and go on a road trip across Canada and the northern United States in your crappy K-car. It was on that trip, somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania that I turned to you while you were driving and said, “I wanna have your baby some day.”

Years later, after loads of crazy adventures & experiences I realized that you were truly my rock. My mom died. Your patience and unwaivering devotion and support during my epic grieving…. I knew you were a keeper.

Then we decided to multiply. And you came to 100% of my prenatal appointments and you supported my desire to have a homebirth with midwives and you supported my wish to have a doula present. You did the research. You read the books. Knowing that while this was the birth of OUR child, this was MY body’s experience and my deep, deep desire to envelope the birthing room with positivity and trust in my ability to give birth. Thank you for helping to make that possible- twice.

Then when breastfeeding really sucked for a while there, you stayed by me, supporting me in my wish to breastfeed our baby. You knew I could do it, even when I wanted to hand you the baby and run far, far away, yelling, “Good luck with that!”

So I’d like to thank you, for putting family first, for taking night time wake-up calls from the kids (unless breastfeeding is required or there’s vomit involved- those are my jobs) for taking time off work to help me prevent post partum depression the second time around, for reading to the kids every day, for playing road hockey with our son when you’d rather be vegging on the couch after work, for being a human trampoline for hours on end with our two little monkeys and for wearing a feather boa if that is what our daughter requires of you.

You are my hero and an inspiration!

Happy Fathers Day!

Love Shirley

We are very excited to tell you about a great new book called “Hands Off My Belly: The Pregnant Woman’s Survival Guide to Myths, Mothers and Moods.

Expectant mothers are virtual magnets for unsolicited advice. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, sisters-in-law, new mothers, friends, and even strangers offer what seems to be an endless supply of supposedly authoritative opinions on every aspect of pregnancy: A craving for spicy food denotes a boy. Carrying the baby low denotes a girl. And, of course, everyone wants to touch her belly.

In this engaging, humorous, and very informative book, Drs. Shawn A. Tassone and Kathryn Landherr – experienced gynecologists, a husband-and-wife team of physicians, and parents of four children – explore the most common superstitions and myths surrounding pregnancy. With a scientific perspective, the authors not only entertain but provide a great deal of practical information, which will ease the fears and anxieties of expectant parents as well as clear up many confusing notions.

We will be giving away a copy of this book ‘Hands Off My Belly: The Pregnant Woman’s Survival Guide to Myths, Mothers and Moods’ to the first 50 people that come through the doors at the Vancouver Island Baby Fair on both Saturday and Sunday! 100 books in all! Doors open at 10am so be sure to join us at the Vancouver Island Baby Fair this weekend, June 5 & 6 at Beban Park Social Centre in Nanaimo!

By: Shirley Broback, Producer of the Vancouver Island Baby Fair

When you are pregnant, it can feel like it’s open season for unsolicited advice & birth stories from other parents.

In the end of my pregnancy with my daughter (see photo below) it felt like I was as wide as I was tall. I was huge! Everywhere I went there were stares. Everyone wanted to know how a short woman like me could give birth to what seemed would be a gigantic baby or made comments like “looks like you could pop any minute!”  Although these comments started when I was only six months along.

Yes, I knew I had another big baby. (My son had been 9 1/2 pounds)

When the midwife palpated my belly she knew too.

But she was pretty confident in me based on my previous “uneventful” birth experience. (Right, like giving birth can EVER be “uneventful”!)

So all we could do was wait and see. And try to surrender to the labour that awaited me.

When people see a pregnant woman, it’s tempting for some to feel the need to warn her or provide their detailed stories whether she’s interested or not. It is likely that her birth experience will be much different than yours, regardless of the “helpful” advice you provide and even the best of friends might have different fears or make different choices about their birthing options.

Decompressing and sharing our birth stories is a really healthy, natural thing to do. It’s a life-changing experience we have just been through and most women want or need to talk about it, especially in the early postpartum days.

However, I think it’s important to not flood a pregnant woman’s thoughts with our own stories in those last couple months of her pregnancy.  She is busy getting ready for her own experience, physically and emotionally. This is her journey right now.

In the last trimester of pregnancy we need to plant the seeds of confidence in women. Share your own amazing moments & perhaps some good tips- if she’s interested- but save any epic battle birth stories for later during mommy bonding coffee dates.

A friend gave me a little pin to wear that said, “Happy birth stories please. My baby is listening.”