"I just don't make enough milk"

This is going to be me on my "soapbox"

I can not fathom any mother not trying to give their child the best. Personally I think that makes you a worse mother than one that will try. Yes, it may be hard and gross you out and be inconvient but for God's sake it is your child. You are going to have to do a lot of gross and hard things over the years. That is part of being a parent. Breastmilk is a MILLION times better than formula and can protect your baby from so many diseases and actually MAKE THEM SMARTER! Why on earth would you not even try to give your baby the best? How freaking selfish are you?

I know people will chime in and say "well I just couldn't do it" " I didn't make enough milk" and the various excuses that are completely false.

It is VERY rare that a woman CAN NOT breastfeed. Breast reduction is one of the leading reasons because the milk glands have been removed and a lot of times it is true that THESE women can't nurse but 99% of the rest of the world is equipped.

People that turn to me and say "well it just wasn't as easy for me as it was for you"...PISS ME OFF.  having a baby attached to me 24/7 when I was recovering from MAJOR surgery that I could feel with no pain medicine that would work IS NOT EASY. I wouldn't send him to the nursery to rest as was suggested. I wouldn't give him "just one bottle" so I could get a break. None of this was easy but I knew that this was what I had to do to make it work. So none of it was easy and do not tell me I am "lucky" that I worked my ass off.

Those first few days are CRITICAL. You can not supplement. You simply can't. Your body needs the stimulation to set up your prolactin receptors in your brain and to set you up for milk production for the duration of your nursing. One bottle can and will throw that off. Your body and your baby's body were designed in this way. Their stomach is the size of a marble and all they need is that coating colostrum. Its what they need. They don't need a two ounce bottle of processed cows milk. This will make them full and then they will not want to nurse and your body will not continue to do what it is supposed to.

So yes, when people say "I can't make enough milk" ... they really can't...because of thier actions, not because of their physiology . Had they not given a bottle of formula the very first day their body would not have told their breasts to produce less milk beacuse the baby didn't need it. So, I am sorry if it is hard to hear. But you did it to your self. Those first couple days are horrible. HORRIBLE and it is not easy so don't anyone tell me how "lucky" I was.

I may be saying how hard it is but it is SO worth it. Even if it doesn't help you bond or you don't enjoy it. You should enjoy what it is doing for your child! You would have to be a bad mother to not.

I can not tell you how many times I have heard people say after a couple weeks "well I just didn't make enough milk" and then you look over pictures of the baby in the hospital and they always have a bottle in their mouth... really? You are right, you don't make enough milk because you told your body that you didn't have a baby because your baby was drinking from a cow!

* I know a lot of women that need to supplement when they return to work because of supply problems and that is not what I am talking about here*

People seem to be so freaking upset when this gets talked about but why would you not want the best for your baby? Why would you not want to try again? Yes formula has a place in this world but if it were not so covienent for people to use just because "breastfeeding is too hard"... maybe we could all be healthier.

It's been proven that breastfed babies grow up to be leaner, healthier adults. Perhaps if we could get breastfeeding rates close to 100% we would not be such a sick nation.


Where would you rather be?

 

 

Magic Boobies

Goodness I learned so much I don't even know where to start! I am not sure anyone would want to hear everything I learned but I am so full of amazing information I need to put it somewhere! Poor Tim knows more about boobies than I think any man in the world. Ha.

Did you know breastmilk actually fights cancer??
Breastmilk contains a substance called a-lactalbumin which ingested to the stomach of an infant/toddler binds to oleic acid and becomes "HAMLET" Human a lactalbumin made LETHAL to tumor cells. "HAMLET" induces cell in vitro death in tumor cells, but normal cells survive.

Here is a link to pub med that talks about it some more http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7644538

The human body is simply AMAZING!

Not breastfeeding increases the risk of high cholesterol later in life. Cholesterol is in human milk but is not present in formula. One would think this is a bad thing but in fact its not! The baby's body will compensate for the lack of cholesterol in the formula and will start to make its own. This turns the system on overdrive because this is not they way they were designed to be fed. Because of the formula, later in life the body is already set up to make extra cholesterol which we all know is a very bad thing when it comes to heart disease!

We learned about how milk actually protects against the specific germs and bacteria that the mom and baby come into contact with on a day to day basis! It actually goes through the babies body and binds to specific germs and flushes them out in the GI tract about every two hours! The science behind all of this is so cool.

If breastfeeding rates just jumped 7% in the hospital we would save 3.8 BILLION dollars on treating only 3 illnesses. Ear infections, respiratory infections and diarrhea. That is simply amazing. That is not even counting everything else out there that breastfeeding protects against like obesity, leukemia, diabetes, high cholesterol etc.

We are just now beginning to find out everything there is to know about breastmilk but it is already being used in chemo patients around the world so clearly there are healing properties we have only begun to find.

I am trying to space out everything so I don't overwhelm anyone so I will continue to post on the matter for a while!


Use those boobies God gave you!

Principles of Lactation Management

I had a wonderful WONDERFUL day! I have never been so excited to learn anything as I was today. I was listening to every word from the instructors and it was awesome being around people that care about breastfeeding! I can not wait to make this my work. Right now my work is Tyler of course but one day I will have to be back to work and I am excited at the thought of helping moms or even promoting breastfeeding. My good friend Lauren works for the Lance Armstrong foundation and is always promoting healthy lifestyles and I know they would love to hear about the vast benefits of breastfeeding.

It is shocking to me that anyone would not breastfeed their children. It truly is. I understand that there are circumstances beyond control but generally people just don't try at all or don't try hard enough and I simply don't understand. I even prayed about it on the way to the class because it is simply the way our Heavenly Father designed our babies to be fed. Its simply physiology.

I can and will keep going on this topic but I am pooped today!

This blog

This blog will be a mix of studies I find interesting regarding our parenting and my personal stuff.

The topics will consist of:

Breastfeeding including extended
Natural Childbirth
Extended Rear Facing Car seats
Herbs, homeopathic medicine
Non Cry it Out
Delayed, Non Vaccinating
Pregnancy
Trying to Conceive

I realize these are topics that not everyone sees eye to eye on but this is my blog and I will post what I want! Ha.

TTC #2

Well we are currently TTC. For those that are not in with the lingo that means Trying to Concieve. Thats right... we are trying for number 2. I know most of you already know this because 1. I don't even know if I have any followers and 2. I share all my life with everyone and their mom. Literally. :)

This seems to be trickier than last time because of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding does a few things to decrease your fertility.

• Increases prolactin which inhibits ovulation so I am ovulating VERY late.
  
• Decreases progesterone which shortens your luteal phase ( the time after ovulation) and makes it difficult for a fertilized egg to implant even if conception took place!
  
• Decreases your sexual libidio ( in some women)
  

So pretty much we have our work cut out for us! I have started acupunture so it has helped me out tremendously so far! My cycles were about 45-60 days and now they are in the 30's which is getting almost close to normal! I love my acupuncture time. It is very relaxing and I know it is doing good things for my whole body. We have technically been trying for 8 months now! We concieved in July but it was very short lived as I started bleeding the very next day after the positive test. It was hard on us but I know things happen for a reason as Tyler is no where near ready to wean or share and I would be due in two months if that were the case.

It is a pretty common misconception that you can not nurse during pregnancy or nurse two! I fully plan on responding to Tylers needs and if that means continuing to nurse him we will do it!

This month we are pulling out all the stops on our TTC journey.

• Taking Vitex to help regulate my cycles
• Tim is on Maca Root and Zinc
• Charting as usual. www.fertilityfriend.com/prettygirls
• We are planning on using raw egg whites as lubrication as instructed in "Taking charge of your fertility"
• We will have "together time" every other day starting on day 10 of my cycle until we confirm ovulation with a temperature shift
• I will be taking ovulation predictor tests starting on day 10

Now that you know more than you could ever care to about my sex life and lubrication I am out for the day.

We are doing a raw vegan detox this weekend so I will update about that as well. I also am starting my journey to become a lactation consultant and I have my first class next week!

Well here I go!

I am not sure what I am going to really type about on here because my previous journals have been so random. I am sure I will talk a lot about Tyler and Tim and breastfeeding etc!

I never knew I would turn out to me the kind of mother I feel like I am. I love breastfeeding and love learning about it. It is such a miraculous thing! I almost wish I could be a lactation consultant I enjoy it that much. I am not sure if it will pass once it is not all I do but for now... Tyler and breastfeeding are my world! It is such an amazing feeling to know that he is growing and getting the amazing benifits from the breastmilk. After typing that I get to wonder if it will change some once I am forced out of my "mommy bubble".

I am sure it will once I am back in the real world and I have to deal with business stuff and interact with adults again but I am very happy where I am right now. I would love love love to be able to stay at home with Tyler but it sadly is not in the cards financially. I feel that leaving him will be the hardest thing I EVER have to do. I really like our childcare provider and I hope that he will respond well to her. Some of my chief concerns are the fact that I do not let him cry and he nurses all day! I am not sure how he is going to handle not being the center of attention and being able to be on a boob all day. I really hope it goes well. I have two more months before I need to freak out about it though. I start working from home 20 hours a week on the 15th. I am so not looking forward to it. I have loved not working. I suppose anyone that thought I would be bored on bedrest has no idea just how lazy I really am! Tyler being here has certainly changed things and I have plenty to do all day! I will work from home until November 1 and then go in full time. I am hoping that the teaching job will play out the way we hope and I will start there soon. I really hate to do that to my office because they were so great to me over the course of my pregnancy and leave but I know I need to do what is right for me and my family and I would be happier teaching.