In a message dated 6/23/03 10:17:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

> Congratulations, Jennifer and Chris!  What wonderful news!  Jennifer, when
> you have time, can you tell us more about how you've adapted to parenting?
> As a wheelchair user who is interested in having children one day (hopefully
> far in the future), I'm interested to learn more about how others do it.
> Take care of yourself!  Hugs to Ava Rose!

Thankyou!!
And I'd be happy to share with you and the rest of the list the techniques I
have used to make parenting w/ a disability a bit easier....
For one thing (and the most important, imo... is that I breastfed Ava from
day #1 and continue to do so this very day...There are no bottles to fix, no
nipples to sterilize, so it is fairly easy on me physically to nurse.... A baby
sling works great to hold the baby in your arms as the baby nurses, or the
boppy pillow is REALLY good too...
Cloth diapering (believe it or not) is something i had just recently
discovered and wish i had done so months ago...  diapering has never been so easy!!
they make some of the diapers (which are called aio's, or all in ones) so easy
to use... the cloth diaper is all in one piece and has velcro closings... and
they are sooo much easier to open up then the disposables!!
Physically ... your child would learn to know what mommy can or cant do...
Ava comes to me to be cuddled now since she has learned to climb up on my lap...
but in the beginning it was so hard on me emotionally because she only wanted
to be held or carried by Chris (and i honestly feel that breastfeeding helped
me bond w/ her in *my own way*)...
her bed has been adapted for me and as is everything else!!
overall, i think every parent has their own obstacles to overcome... and mine
is the CP... I've learned to adapt, and I think I've done a pretty good job
thus far!! ::wink::

~Jenn