Hello Dear Readers!
Check me out, having a guest blogger like some fancy Real Blog with ads and stuff. (I'm not trying to make a living off this and I don't want to let Google monetize this blog because I'm sure Similac will get all over it.)
Mama Kathleen shared a profile of a Boobjuice Hero of hers, which is great and I'm really excited to share it. Mama Kathleen is in academia, which is, as far as I can tell, weirdly segmented in how mama friendly and breastfeeding friendly it is. I know another mama in an almost entirely female department (I think there's one man in there or something) who felt like there's a lot of hostility around her needs as a mama, like pumping. And it probably varies by region, discipline, who's in your department... So this profile is inspiring and useful!
Happy reading!
Much love,
Suzi
TL, whose baby A is two months older than mine. I met her here in Central NY state, where she is an academic. When she had baby A she was finishing a few one year positions, so she was on the job market. She went to an academic conference where she had job interviews with tiny baby A in a sling. “Hi, I’m professor TL, this is my daughter A. Let me tell you about my research.” I don’t think even in my entirely pro-nursing world I would ever have considered interviewing with an infant actually attached to me as an option, but mama / professor TL makes it seem totally normal. She lucked out and got baby A into a day care across the street from home before she was 18 months old. TL had a pretty flexible schedule, but was working at least two days a week 130 miles away. I’ve never heard her complain or even consider feeding her baby any other way than nursing and food.
Then she got pregnant with baby G (her girls are 20 months apart), and she got a permanent academic position 130 miles away. Her husband was then unexpectedly not reappointed for his position, and they moved at the end of the school year. Baby A nursed all through her pregnancy, mama TL seemingly never gave it a second thought (“Does it hurt?” I asked “A little, but not like the beginning,” she replied), baby G was born and mama TL went back to work when she was ready with baby G in the sling and (toddler) baby A in day care. Both still nursing. Just like that. This year baby G got to go to the conferences.
Mama TL is lucky to have support, she’s got easy babies, and she knows it, but the really amazing thing about her is that she just doesn’t let anyone else’s way of imagining the way moms go to work get into her head: she’s nursing her babies, she’s supporting her family and that’s that. Her quiet confidence in her own version of professional motherhood, one I personally see no where else, is inspiring.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Boobjuice Class! Lactinerd Heaven!
Hello Beloved Readers!
I am so excited. I have gone to my Boobjuice class, or more properly referred to as peer counselor training for the Nursing Mothers' Counsel of Oregon, twice now. It's awesome! I am so excited that I'm sure I was a hyper pain in the butt for the first class (sorry ladies, I'm trying to contain myself, I swear). It's a really interesting mix of folks. All women - you have to have experience breastfeeding a babe to be a peer counselor, so not too surprising. I think half the class is doulas. One mama brings her little six month old to class and nurses him and lets him play on a blanket on the floor. He is sooooo cute and I got to sit next to them last class and make faces to make him smile. We have a doctor and a nurse and at least one teacher and then there's this random investment consultant, what's she doing in there? Oh wait, that's me.
Our teacher is a lactation consultant, natch, and a really neat lady. She's very patient and encouraging. We've learned a lot about how the breast works (it's so cool!), and we've gotten all fired up about formula companies, and heard interesting stories about her clients (very discreet of course). The book is interesting (boobjuice homework!) and I'm excited to be preparing to be of use to my fellow mamas. Also in addition to peer counseling (on the phones) one chooses another activity. I want to reach out to employers and help them become breastfeeding friendly. There's another person in the organization who's in charge of that and I'll get to meet her at the last class. I'm all fired up to call Nike and check them out. Presuming I can get them to take my call. I bet I can...
Another lactation consultant joined last time to help out, and from her I learned a useful thing. My Medela pump may have been colonized by my resistant yeast. Blech. So she advised me to chuck it. Which sounds expensive, but I gotta tell you dear readers, in the height of my misery if lighting $300 on fire would have cured me I would have done it in a heartbeat. So I may investigate a bit but likely, out it goes. Ameda and Hygeia both make pumps that have a filter between the breastmilk and the pump, so they can be used by another mama (with new accessories) and thus will not be colonized if, God forbid, I get yeast again. So I think I'll try calling Ameda and Hygeia and ask for a free/cheap pump in return for reviewing them and comparing them on my blog. What do you think, will it work? We'll see. Maybe at least a big coupon could be had... Do any of you mamas have experience with these brands?
Also I have been very remiss in getting those travel posts up. I will return to those stories I have collected and finish getting permissions and post them, but in the mean time, one of our readers is going on a week long business trip with her four month old and is seeking tips. Her mom is providing child care (sweet!) but what else can we think of to ease her trip?
And a teaser for an upcoming post - A guest blogger!!! She's really interesting, I'm looking forward to it.
Happy breastfeeding dear friends!
Love,
Suzi
I am so excited. I have gone to my Boobjuice class, or more properly referred to as peer counselor training for the Nursing Mothers' Counsel of Oregon, twice now. It's awesome! I am so excited that I'm sure I was a hyper pain in the butt for the first class (sorry ladies, I'm trying to contain myself, I swear). It's a really interesting mix of folks. All women - you have to have experience breastfeeding a babe to be a peer counselor, so not too surprising. I think half the class is doulas. One mama brings her little six month old to class and nurses him and lets him play on a blanket on the floor. He is sooooo cute and I got to sit next to them last class and make faces to make him smile. We have a doctor and a nurse and at least one teacher and then there's this random investment consultant, what's she doing in there? Oh wait, that's me.
Our teacher is a lactation consultant, natch, and a really neat lady. She's very patient and encouraging. We've learned a lot about how the breast works (it's so cool!), and we've gotten all fired up about formula companies, and heard interesting stories about her clients (very discreet of course). The book is interesting (boobjuice homework!) and I'm excited to be preparing to be of use to my fellow mamas. Also in addition to peer counseling (on the phones) one chooses another activity. I want to reach out to employers and help them become breastfeeding friendly. There's another person in the organization who's in charge of that and I'll get to meet her at the last class. I'm all fired up to call Nike and check them out. Presuming I can get them to take my call. I bet I can...
Another lactation consultant joined last time to help out, and from her I learned a useful thing. My Medela pump may have been colonized by my resistant yeast. Blech. So she advised me to chuck it. Which sounds expensive, but I gotta tell you dear readers, in the height of my misery if lighting $300 on fire would have cured me I would have done it in a heartbeat. So I may investigate a bit but likely, out it goes. Ameda and Hygeia both make pumps that have a filter between the breastmilk and the pump, so they can be used by another mama (with new accessories) and thus will not be colonized if, God forbid, I get yeast again. So I think I'll try calling Ameda and Hygeia and ask for a free/cheap pump in return for reviewing them and comparing them on my blog. What do you think, will it work? We'll see. Maybe at least a big coupon could be had... Do any of you mamas have experience with these brands?
Also I have been very remiss in getting those travel posts up. I will return to those stories I have collected and finish getting permissions and post them, but in the mean time, one of our readers is going on a week long business trip with her four month old and is seeking tips. Her mom is providing child care (sweet!) but what else can we think of to ease her trip?
And a teaser for an upcoming post - A guest blogger!!! She's really interesting, I'm looking forward to it.
Happy breastfeeding dear friends!
Love,
Suzi
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Boobjuice Heroes! Rachael and Eddie
Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
Here is my first Boobjuice Hero interview. Rachael is a family medicine doctor (MD) with a large county health service in Minneapolis. Eddie is currently a stay at home dad. They have three little ones, ages 10, 7, and 3. I asked if I could interview Rachael as a Boobjuice Hero, and she said I should interview Eddie too, because there is no way she could have managed nursing while in medical school and residency without him. This raises an excellent point. Most of the nursing success stories I have heard involve a lot of critical support from the other grown-ups in the mama's life. Their story is no exception.
Sophie was born when Rachael was 28 and 3 years into medical school. She had intended to take 3-6 months off, but after struggling through two unsuccessful pregnancies, she decided to take a year at home with her new kiddo. Eddie switched from custom woodworking, which he liked, to collections, which he did not like, to make this work. His insurance kicked in the week before Sophie was due, and the new position offered flexible hours. When Sophie was 3-6 months old, Rachael started doing some phone interpreting and phlebotomy to make some money and keep up her Spanish and phlebotomy skills. This enabled her to mostly stay home for the first year.
A week after Sophie's first birthday, Rachael returned to medschool in a midwife rotation. This was a very breastfeeding friendly situation but she was still sobbing when she had to leave Sophie. “I think it's probably easier at a year than it would have been at three months, but it's hard whenever you go back.” A lot of her patients say it's a hard transition, even the ones who are not stay-at-home material “Eddie made it a lot nicer because he would bring her to nurse at lunch time. Eddie has been fabulous through the whole thing, with the pumped milk at home, then bringing her to nurse and I'd hand off the milk I'd pumped during the day, nurse in an exam room or the car, and hand her back, pump in the afternoon, and then go home and nurse when I got home.”
Toughest Times
A couple of different times were really hard. When interviewing for residency programs, Rachael got a lot of rather condescending attitudes towards her breastfeeding. “Oh, that won't last long, we can find you a place if you need it but no one continues to breastfeed in residency. It's just not realistic.” One of the reasons she chose the program she did was because they were so supportive. “By Minnesota law, [employers] have to give you a 15-20 minute break* every 3 hours if you are nursing, in a clean non-bathroom place with a plug and a locking door.” But even with this supportive atmosphere, the way Rachael made it work was to make it an “of course,” an assertion, not a “may I” or a question. As in, at the beginning of each rotation, saying “hi, I'm the new resident, and I'll be pumping breastmilk every three hours and where can I do that?” It helped to have a couple of senior residents who were very supportive at the beginning when, as a first-year resident, she was low, low down on the food chain. Once Rachael got further along she did the same for her residents - “Have you had a chance to pump? Okay, go pump and then go admit patient Mrs. So and so,” to show that it was just as much or more of a priority to take care of their bodies and their babies.
Another hard time was when the kids would get sick, and nurse more at night when Mama was more available. One really tough week, Sophie and Sasha had each been sick, and Rachael had been up every hour for half an hour, had three nights of almost no sleep and then was on call for three days on a family medicine rotation which is pretty relentless. “I had gotten 6 hours of sleep in 96 hours, was tired to the point of falling down on my feet and puking. I had reached the point of completely diminishing returns, would have five hours worth of work to do, work for an hour, and still have five hours of work to do. I fell into my boss's chair crying.” After hearing what was up, wise boss woman sent Rachael home with orders to go to sleep, not do anything useful or play with her kids or anything, just sleep. “Burning the candle at both ends with a blow torch doesn't work.”
It helps to be a little bit crazy, which Rachael says is a prerequisite for med school and residency. But she insists, “I wasn't suffering. I felt more connected to my kids for being able to continue that nursing relationship. Eddie would try to bring them to me at lunch or dinner or bedtime so I could check in with the kids. In residency I was tandem nursing Sophie and Sasha, and would nurse them together. Sophie would get done and we would just chat while Sasha would continue on the other side. Just having that time was tremendously important. Many of my colleagues in residency only saw their kids one day a week. It made a big difference to have a spouse who would make that extra effort. Even if Eddie had been working [outside the home] but had been willing to bring the kids at bedtime and dinner, it would still have made a big difference.”
Weaning
“As far as evidence-based medicine goes, the longer you nurse, the more benefit you get. We have family histories of diabetes and allergies. Plus I have ginormous boobs that are difficult to examine, so it's a good thing to reduce breast cancer risk. When they wean on their own it's easy as heck, harder on the mom than the kid.” Rachael didn't even notice when her son Sasha (kiddo #2) weaned, almost exactly when Gryphon was born. “I thought I would be tandem nursing again, and I had mixed feelings about it either way. Sasha would nurse 2-4 times a day at most, at wake up and bed time, and if he had the chance at the start and end of nap, and when he got sick or hurt.” Sasha was just past four years old when he weaned. Sophie weaned at four and a half, when Sasha turned two. Gryphon is three and still nursing. So if you do the math you will see that Rachael has been lactating continuously for ten years.
So we aren't all Rachael and Eddie. I didn't nurse Robert as long as she nursed her kids, and we aren't all as determined as they are. But as I got to know their story, I realized, well heck, if they can do that I can swing a commute and a few meetings and slinging Bessie the Breastpump around. She's also a great example to hold up when your mother-in-law or nosy neighbor is pressuring you to wean your kid. “Hey, I know a doctor whose kids weaned at four and a half.”
You can do this. Rachael and Eddie are rooting for you, and so am I.
Much love,
Suzi
* This is now federal law, praise be. And frankly I need 40 minutes but 20 is better than nothing.
Here is my first Boobjuice Hero interview. Rachael is a family medicine doctor (MD) with a large county health service in Minneapolis. Eddie is currently a stay at home dad. They have three little ones, ages 10, 7, and 3. I asked if I could interview Rachael as a Boobjuice Hero, and she said I should interview Eddie too, because there is no way she could have managed nursing while in medical school and residency without him. This raises an excellent point. Most of the nursing success stories I have heard involve a lot of critical support from the other grown-ups in the mama's life. Their story is no exception.
Sophie was born when Rachael was 28 and 3 years into medical school. She had intended to take 3-6 months off, but after struggling through two unsuccessful pregnancies, she decided to take a year at home with her new kiddo. Eddie switched from custom woodworking, which he liked, to collections, which he did not like, to make this work. His insurance kicked in the week before Sophie was due, and the new position offered flexible hours. When Sophie was 3-6 months old, Rachael started doing some phone interpreting and phlebotomy to make some money and keep up her Spanish and phlebotomy skills. This enabled her to mostly stay home for the first year.
A week after Sophie's first birthday, Rachael returned to medschool in a midwife rotation. This was a very breastfeeding friendly situation but she was still sobbing when she had to leave Sophie. “I think it's probably easier at a year than it would have been at three months, but it's hard whenever you go back.” A lot of her patients say it's a hard transition, even the ones who are not stay-at-home material “Eddie made it a lot nicer because he would bring her to nurse at lunch time. Eddie has been fabulous through the whole thing, with the pumped milk at home, then bringing her to nurse and I'd hand off the milk I'd pumped during the day, nurse in an exam room or the car, and hand her back, pump in the afternoon, and then go home and nurse when I got home.”
Toughest Times
A couple of different times were really hard. When interviewing for residency programs, Rachael got a lot of rather condescending attitudes towards her breastfeeding. “Oh, that won't last long, we can find you a place if you need it but no one continues to breastfeed in residency. It's just not realistic.” One of the reasons she chose the program she did was because they were so supportive. “By Minnesota law, [employers] have to give you a 15-20 minute break* every 3 hours if you are nursing, in a clean non-bathroom place with a plug and a locking door.” But even with this supportive atmosphere, the way Rachael made it work was to make it an “of course,” an assertion, not a “may I” or a question. As in, at the beginning of each rotation, saying “hi, I'm the new resident, and I'll be pumping breastmilk every three hours and where can I do that?” It helped to have a couple of senior residents who were very supportive at the beginning when, as a first-year resident, she was low, low down on the food chain. Once Rachael got further along she did the same for her residents - “Have you had a chance to pump? Okay, go pump and then go admit patient Mrs. So and so,” to show that it was just as much or more of a priority to take care of their bodies and their babies.
Another hard time was when the kids would get sick, and nurse more at night when Mama was more available. One really tough week, Sophie and Sasha had each been sick, and Rachael had been up every hour for half an hour, had three nights of almost no sleep and then was on call for three days on a family medicine rotation which is pretty relentless. “I had gotten 6 hours of sleep in 96 hours, was tired to the point of falling down on my feet and puking. I had reached the point of completely diminishing returns, would have five hours worth of work to do, work for an hour, and still have five hours of work to do. I fell into my boss's chair crying.” After hearing what was up, wise boss woman sent Rachael home with orders to go to sleep, not do anything useful or play with her kids or anything, just sleep. “Burning the candle at both ends with a blow torch doesn't work.”
It helps to be a little bit crazy, which Rachael says is a prerequisite for med school and residency. But she insists, “I wasn't suffering. I felt more connected to my kids for being able to continue that nursing relationship. Eddie would try to bring them to me at lunch or dinner or bedtime so I could check in with the kids. In residency I was tandem nursing Sophie and Sasha, and would nurse them together. Sophie would get done and we would just chat while Sasha would continue on the other side. Just having that time was tremendously important. Many of my colleagues in residency only saw their kids one day a week. It made a big difference to have a spouse who would make that extra effort. Even if Eddie had been working [outside the home] but had been willing to bring the kids at bedtime and dinner, it would still have made a big difference.”
Weaning
“As far as evidence-based medicine goes, the longer you nurse, the more benefit you get. We have family histories of diabetes and allergies. Plus I have ginormous boobs that are difficult to examine, so it's a good thing to reduce breast cancer risk. When they wean on their own it's easy as heck, harder on the mom than the kid.” Rachael didn't even notice when her son Sasha (kiddo #2) weaned, almost exactly when Gryphon was born. “I thought I would be tandem nursing again, and I had mixed feelings about it either way. Sasha would nurse 2-4 times a day at most, at wake up and bed time, and if he had the chance at the start and end of nap, and when he got sick or hurt.” Sasha was just past four years old when he weaned. Sophie weaned at four and a half, when Sasha turned two. Gryphon is three and still nursing. So if you do the math you will see that Rachael has been lactating continuously for ten years.
So we aren't all Rachael and Eddie. I didn't nurse Robert as long as she nursed her kids, and we aren't all as determined as they are. But as I got to know their story, I realized, well heck, if they can do that I can swing a commute and a few meetings and slinging Bessie the Breastpump around. She's also a great example to hold up when your mother-in-law or nosy neighbor is pressuring you to wean your kid. “Hey, I know a doctor whose kids weaned at four and a half.”
You can do this. Rachael and Eddie are rooting for you, and so am I.
Much love,
Suzi
* This is now federal law, praise be. And frankly I need 40 minutes but 20 is better than nothing.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Nurse 'em Here, Nurse 'em There, Nurse Those Kiddos Anywhere!
Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
Just a few quick random items today. I'm working on my first Boobjuice Heroes profile, having interviewed one of my personal heroes for this inaugural missive. Meanwhile, check out this interactive nursing law map.
I am frequently annoyed that mamas have been asked to move from a public spot when caught feeding their kids the best food possible, when we all know if they were giving baby manufactured "food" from a bottle they would be allowed to stay. Grrr. Latest one I heard of was the Walker art center in Minneapolis. Where there are no doubt lots of sculpted and painted bare breasts. The irony here would be amusing if I wasn't so exasperated for my friend. We may call for a nurse in, with extra points for nursing next to said nudes. Stay tuned.
Plus I was in Ikea today, one of the kid friendliest places EVER - they get an A-. Why the minus? They should have a non-bathroom designated nursing area, with two setups for nursing mamas in comfy chairs (which of course are for sale - a good capitalist never misses an opportunity to help customers realize how comfortable their products are, and Robert was nursed in a Poing about a bazillion times.) and some toys for older siblings. Not that a brazen boobjuicer like me couldn't just plop down in one of the existing displays and nurse, but a little tucked away nook would be better for more modest mamas, with catalogues for mama to look through while nursing, and if they want a gold star, a water fountain and paper cups. (Are you listening, o brilliant Scandinavian furniture purveyors? I am your biggest fan. Make me love you even more.) Also, not boobjuice related, but I want that cafeteria in my office building. I like the salad with the little shrimp on top.
But I digress. Nurse 'em where you got 'em ladies!
And lastly, some shopping fun - sexy nursing bras! No, really! Mama A.D. swears by 'em. I'm looking forward to buying some in October.
Happy nursing ANYWHERE YOU WANT everyone!
Much love,
Suzi
Just a few quick random items today. I'm working on my first Boobjuice Heroes profile, having interviewed one of my personal heroes for this inaugural missive. Meanwhile, check out this interactive nursing law map.
I am frequently annoyed that mamas have been asked to move from a public spot when caught feeding their kids the best food possible, when we all know if they were giving baby manufactured "food" from a bottle they would be allowed to stay. Grrr. Latest one I heard of was the Walker art center in Minneapolis. Where there are no doubt lots of sculpted and painted bare breasts. The irony here would be amusing if I wasn't so exasperated for my friend. We may call for a nurse in, with extra points for nursing next to said nudes. Stay tuned.
Plus I was in Ikea today, one of the kid friendliest places EVER - they get an A-. Why the minus? They should have a non-bathroom designated nursing area, with two setups for nursing mamas in comfy chairs (which of course are for sale - a good capitalist never misses an opportunity to help customers realize how comfortable their products are, and Robert was nursed in a Poing about a bazillion times.) and some toys for older siblings. Not that a brazen boobjuicer like me couldn't just plop down in one of the existing displays and nurse, but a little tucked away nook would be better for more modest mamas, with catalogues for mama to look through while nursing, and if they want a gold star, a water fountain and paper cups. (Are you listening, o brilliant Scandinavian furniture purveyors? I am your biggest fan. Make me love you even more.) Also, not boobjuice related, but I want that cafeteria in my office building. I like the salad with the little shrimp on top.
But I digress. Nurse 'em where you got 'em ladies!
And lastly, some shopping fun - sexy nursing bras! No, really! Mama A.D. swears by 'em. I'm looking forward to buying some in October.
Happy nursing ANYWHERE YOU WANT everyone!
Much love,
Suzi
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