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
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
New Mama Neighbor!
I met a new dad in the elevator of our apartment building today! His daughter is 12 days old. So of course I gave him one of my blog cards. (They're very cheery, with blue flowers...) I remember how valuable it was to me to have another nursing mama in the building when we brought little Robert home. We were exhausted and terrified, and my nipples hurt and it seemed like I was never going to figure this breastfeeding thing out. We were still working on latching and didn't yet know that I had yeast (ugh), and I was miserable. I dreaded the next nursing, and would procrastinate until the poor little guy was too mad to latch on well. I was convinced it would always hurt. Then my neighbor mama RC told me she hated it at first too, that it was painful and difficult and she was frustrated. "Now I love it," she said, very matter-of-factly.
Mama RC is not one to blow sunshine up one's skirt. She is immensely practical and down to earth and capable - if you have to organize moving the entire country one foot to the left, you want her to do it. So I sort of looked at her incredulously, thinking, "That is not possible. But I know she would not make that up." This is the sort of woman who would not lie if the real answer was "it still sucks and I can't wait for it to be over." But she didn't say that, so it must be true, she loves it. It gave me a glimmer of hope. And of course you all know the result - I loved nursing Robert so much, I cried when it was over, and blogged about it for weeks. Not that it takes much to get me to babble for weeks, but on the other hand my attention doesn't always stay that rapt.
So on I struggled. And it did get better. It got less painful, I got more confident in it, and then one day I realized I had liked it for a while. And soon, I loved it. I got a happy mama bliss moment when we got started nursing, and felt so wonderfully bonded to Robert, and so proud of myself for persevering. And that was while we were *still* fighting the yeast!
So I hope my neighbor hangs in there. I read in one of my nursing books - Companion or Womanly Art, don't remember - an interesting analogy. Quitting after a few weeks is like going to see a movie you are really excited about, dealing with traffic and parking, waiting in a long ticket line, waiting in a long concession line, finally getting to your seat, and then deciding the whole thing is taking too long and going home, just when you were about to get a tremendous reward for your trouble. But the movie is great, will last longer than the unpleasant beginning, and will give you wonderful memories for years.
I promise it's worth it new mama! And I'm in 1402 if you want to talk.
Much love to you all!
Suzi
Mama RC is not one to blow sunshine up one's skirt. She is immensely practical and down to earth and capable - if you have to organize moving the entire country one foot to the left, you want her to do it. So I sort of looked at her incredulously, thinking, "That is not possible. But I know she would not make that up." This is the sort of woman who would not lie if the real answer was "it still sucks and I can't wait for it to be over." But she didn't say that, so it must be true, she loves it. It gave me a glimmer of hope. And of course you all know the result - I loved nursing Robert so much, I cried when it was over, and blogged about it for weeks. Not that it takes much to get me to babble for weeks, but on the other hand my attention doesn't always stay that rapt.
So on I struggled. And it did get better. It got less painful, I got more confident in it, and then one day I realized I had liked it for a while. And soon, I loved it. I got a happy mama bliss moment when we got started nursing, and felt so wonderfully bonded to Robert, and so proud of myself for persevering. And that was while we were *still* fighting the yeast!
So I hope my neighbor hangs in there. I read in one of my nursing books - Companion or Womanly Art, don't remember - an interesting analogy. Quitting after a few weeks is like going to see a movie you are really excited about, dealing with traffic and parking, waiting in a long ticket line, waiting in a long concession line, finally getting to your seat, and then deciding the whole thing is taking too long and going home, just when you were about to get a tremendous reward for your trouble. But the movie is great, will last longer than the unpleasant beginning, and will give you wonderful memories for years.
I promise it's worth it new mama! And I'm in 1402 if you want to talk.
Much love to you all!
Suzi
Monday, March 21, 2011
Preggers!
Okay how many of you already knew because all I can talk about lately is birth? But yes, we are very blessed and happy and grateful and tired, and are now ready to share that we are expecting Kiddo #2 in late September. I have been blessed so far with a fairly easy pregnancy, no barfing (please don't hate me) just queasiness, fatigue, and dizziness. And odd food aversions and cravings. Robert was "bunny" for a long time because all I wanted to eat was nectarines and leaves. This one is some sort of marathon runner, because I've been sucking down Gatorade (which helps with the dizziness) and potatoes. Seriously I have been eating baked potatoes for breakfast. They re-warm in the microwave fairly well, and there's good nutrition in the skins. And of course they make an excellent vehicle for butter and salt.
We are working with a midwife this time, and WOW what a difference. I get an HOUR to see her at each appointment. I actually have THREE midwives, a lead, an assistant, and a student (named Susannah! A good omen.) I can text any of them when I am concerned about something and they answer me as soon as they can (no dice if they are at a birth or sleeping after a birth of course but there are THREE of them so one of them is bound to be awake). We are probably going to birth at their birth center, hopefully in one of their huge, gorgeous birth tubs - like a really big bath tubs. Good luck to them getting me back out of that thing after nine months of no hot baths. Well it won't be hot but still. And if the God forbid happens, which it won't, they stick me in an ambulance and come with me to a great hospital five minutes away. My OB in Cali was a very good man and all, but this is just a totally different model and I like it way better.
So speaking of God forbid, and let me preface this with the fact that protoperson and I are just fine, I managed to scare the foo out of my already nervous mother this weekend by passing out at the farmer's market. Oops. I felt cruddy so I sat down on the ground, which is good because I didn't fall. But apparently I passed out with my eyes open, which is really freaky looking, and my poor mother (who is a little old lady who probably figured at 37 her youngest child was done scaring her) thought I was dead. So I woke up with Mom yelling my name, thinking, "Why is Mom yelling? I'm trying to take a nap. Wait, I'm outside. Who's that other lady leaning over me? Why are all these people looking at me? Huh. This is weird." The paramedics were very nice, my nurse in the ER was a hoot, and the doctor was very reassuring. We got an ultrasound to check the baby (when she said protoperson was fine I was so relieved that I cried and she had to ask me to stop jiggling my stomach - oops. Well, she's an ER doc, she's seen worse than a few tears.) and my Mom got to see the little critter, who waved at her, as if to say "Hi Grandma! See, I'm fine!"
And now I have already taken an ambulance to that very same hospital, and I can tell you they do good work. I'm fine now, it was just a nasty intestinal something or other which cleared up in a few hours. If I wasn't preggers I probably would have just gone home.
In less dramatic news, I'm signed up for the peer counselor training at the Oregon Nursing Mother's Counsel. I'm so excited! What a great outlet for my lactivism - a blog and a volunteer activity might be enough to keep me from babbling about breastfeeding at random parties and doctors' appointments. Well, maybe not, but anyway it's good to put abundant enthusiasm to productive use. I'm sure I'll blog about it after it starts. They've already sent me homework! Hee hee. I have boobjuice homework. A lactonerd's dream!
Much love and happy boobjuicing!
Suzi
We are working with a midwife this time, and WOW what a difference. I get an HOUR to see her at each appointment. I actually have THREE midwives, a lead, an assistant, and a student (named Susannah! A good omen.) I can text any of them when I am concerned about something and they answer me as soon as they can (no dice if they are at a birth or sleeping after a birth of course but there are THREE of them so one of them is bound to be awake). We are probably going to birth at their birth center, hopefully in one of their huge, gorgeous birth tubs - like a really big bath tubs. Good luck to them getting me back out of that thing after nine months of no hot baths. Well it won't be hot but still. And if the God forbid happens, which it won't, they stick me in an ambulance and come with me to a great hospital five minutes away. My OB in Cali was a very good man and all, but this is just a totally different model and I like it way better.
So speaking of God forbid, and let me preface this with the fact that protoperson and I are just fine, I managed to scare the foo out of my already nervous mother this weekend by passing out at the farmer's market. Oops. I felt cruddy so I sat down on the ground, which is good because I didn't fall. But apparently I passed out with my eyes open, which is really freaky looking, and my poor mother (who is a little old lady who probably figured at 37 her youngest child was done scaring her) thought I was dead. So I woke up with Mom yelling my name, thinking, "Why is Mom yelling? I'm trying to take a nap. Wait, I'm outside. Who's that other lady leaning over me? Why are all these people looking at me? Huh. This is weird." The paramedics were very nice, my nurse in the ER was a hoot, and the doctor was very reassuring. We got an ultrasound to check the baby (when she said protoperson was fine I was so relieved that I cried and she had to ask me to stop jiggling my stomach - oops. Well, she's an ER doc, she's seen worse than a few tears.) and my Mom got to see the little critter, who waved at her, as if to say "Hi Grandma! See, I'm fine!"
And now I have already taken an ambulance to that very same hospital, and I can tell you they do good work. I'm fine now, it was just a nasty intestinal something or other which cleared up in a few hours. If I wasn't preggers I probably would have just gone home.
In less dramatic news, I'm signed up for the peer counselor training at the Oregon Nursing Mother's Counsel. I'm so excited! What a great outlet for my lactivism - a blog and a volunteer activity might be enough to keep me from babbling about breastfeeding at random parties and doctors' appointments. Well, maybe not, but anyway it's good to put abundant enthusiasm to productive use. I'm sure I'll blog about it after it starts. They've already sent me homework! Hee hee. I have boobjuice homework. A lactonerd's dream!
Much love and happy boobjuicing!
Suzi
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Back from the Beyond...
Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
I have climbed back over the edge of the planet and returned to my beloved blog. Sorry about that! I think I'm feeling like I'm not lactating at the moment so I can't possibly have anything valid to say to y'all. Which is absurd. How much terrific advice and support have I gotten from mamas who were done with the boobjuicing part of their motherhood? Eight million metric tons. And I still have a lot of great travel stories from mama friends to share. And some tips that have been on my mind. So here we are, a fairly disjointed, well-intended, and as always, enthusiastic post intended to support, help, or at least amuse all the boobjuicers and friends.
I think a lot of expecting mamas, especially first time mamas, wonder what they can do to prepare for the arrival of their babies, and make the amazing, crazy first few weeks and months of life go a little more smoothly. Lots of folks give some very useful practical advice in this regard - make double batches of dinner favorites for a while before your due date so you can chock the freezer full of good, healthful, cost-efficient dinners. (I highly suggest this, especially if you are getting antsy and need something to distract yourself.). You will be (quite rightly) encouraged not to be shy about accepting offers of help - there are even web calendars available now to schedule your well-intending helpers so you don't get three dinners tonight and none next week. But what about planning for supporting breastfeeding?
There are breastfeeding classes available at many hospitals and birth centers. I imagine these vary from helpful and gently supportive to whacking you over the head with a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding until you feel so scared and guilty that you try to crawl under the table and hide. We took one and I think it helped, but it's really hard to teach how to get a good latch when you don't have a baby to work with.
I think it might have been helpful to find a lactation consultant BEFORE you give birth. You may not need her, great, nothing lost. But if you do need her, the web research or phone calls you have to go through to find her when you are uncomfortable and possibly worried may seem excruciating. Note that you don't have to go for the individual consultant style if that's not financially viable for you. Find the local breastfeeding support groups and make a list somewhere on your computer or fridge. Find out if your birth center/midwife/hospital has services - my fairly mainstream hospital had an on-site full-time lactation consultant, and a lot of the nurses were lactation educators. Easier to find on the Left Coast, I grant you. But more and more states are offering breastfeeding support services too - a quick Google search turned up TX, GA, NY, PA, and I didn't even click to the second page. And if you worked with a doula, chances are she has a lot of practice with breastfeeding support.
Another idea I had is to create your breastfeeding support network before giving birth. Who do you know who nursed their babies for at least a year? Yes, she may be a little weird or seem a bit out there to you. I bet you a donut she would be delighted to help you succeed at nursing your little bundle of hunger, er, joy. Who are the mamas you know and respect? It doesn't matter if they are far away, you are an internet maven and you know how to contact these people. Who seems wary of your choice to breastfeed, or maybe even completely against it? Let them know that you are not interested in discouraging comments, or if you don't feel like being that direct with them, give yourself permission now to avoid their phone calls for however long it takes to feel confident in your nursing so you can deal with them without getting upset. Is it someone you can't get away with avoiding? Practice now what you will say to stop undermining comments in their tracks. "I don't want to talk about it." That's good enough. You don't owe anyone an explanation. Or you could burst into tears and ask them to leave. Totally fair game for a new mama, and if you can do it on command, why not?
I will also say that the biggest transformation for me in motherhood, I think, or a top three candidate anyway, was in learning to trust myself with less second-guessing. This is freaking hard. I suck at it, broadly speaking. But out of my mouth I have heard the words, “I am the mama. My word is law.” Spoken to someone older than me, not to my kiddo. Lots of “voices of authority” are going to tell you things that are utter crap. They do not think it is crap, and they are not lying to you. It's just stuff that isn't right for you and your kiddo. These well-intending people may include, but are not limited to:
Your mother
Your mother-in-law
Your partner
Your best friend
Your pediatrician
and possibly even,
Your lactation consultant.
The one that was hardest, though, was when I was struggling with yeast (yuk) and called the lactation support group at a famous, well-reputed So Cal hospital for advice. She listed this completely impractical regimen including smearing athlete's foot cream on my boobs, doing a no-sugar diet (which works great for vaginal yeast, as long as you can spend all weekend on meal-planning, shopping, and cooking), sunning my naked breasts (still illegal, even in Cali), and a bunch of other crap I can't even remember. I hung up and felt like, okay, I'm screwed. Nursing is going to hurt like hell forever. NOT TRUE. And boy do I wish I had known it then. Thank God I am (a) a nerd and (b) stubborn as a pig. Uncle Internet presented me with Dr. Newman, whose yeast protocol I promptly faxed to my Ob/Gyn, who actually thanked me for the “interesting article” and called in exactly the prescription I wanted. Yes, you can boss your doctor around, and if she or he doesn't cooperate, get another doctor. It's your body, they are your boobs, and your kiddo is your kiddo.
Ooo, another example of bad advice – the WOMAN Ob/Gyn who said I would have to stop breastfeeding to take fluconazole (Diflucan). See previous post. Grrrrrr. It would be mean of me to wish a yeast infection of the milk ducts on someone, right?
Okay so this has morphed from “how to prep for baby” to “you are going to get crap advice so be ready to have a thick skin.” But I think that's part of “how to get ready for baby.” And don't worry, I do not have a thick skin naturally. In fact, I'm quite the sensitive little creature. It's sort of a pain in the ass, and a license therapist has assured me that it's hard wired, you can't unlearn it in cognitive behavioral therapy (although like anything you can learn to deal with it). So if you are a bit of a shrinking violet and think that you can't possibly stand up to your mother-in-law, your pediatrician, and the pushy lady at your breastfeeding support group, well, think again Mama. You totally can. And what's better, if you don't feel like it, just avoid 'em. Yep. You have the universe's permission to avoid talking to m-i-l for weeks and just say, “oh, the baby's nocturnal right now, so we're always sleeping when it's a polite hour to call/visit.” And to switch pediatricians. And breastfeeding support groups.
So I hope I haven't frightened anyone. This is an amazing, wonderful ride and you are going to love the heck out of it, even if it takes a while to get there. I think I wasted half the fun of my last month of pregnancy worrying about what kind of mother I would be and whether I had bought enough crap for the kid. People did tell me that all I really need is diapers, a car seat, and my boobs, and the rest can always be bought at Target or borrowed from friends, even late at night. But I didn't believe them. Which would be funny now if I didn't have mint.com telling me what my ignorance cost me. Ah well.
Be well beloved boobjuicers and friends!
Much love,
Suzi
PS - usual disclaimer that none of the above is medical advice, I am not a doctor, and I have no money so don't sue me.
I have climbed back over the edge of the planet and returned to my beloved blog. Sorry about that! I think I'm feeling like I'm not lactating at the moment so I can't possibly have anything valid to say to y'all. Which is absurd. How much terrific advice and support have I gotten from mamas who were done with the boobjuicing part of their motherhood? Eight million metric tons. And I still have a lot of great travel stories from mama friends to share. And some tips that have been on my mind. So here we are, a fairly disjointed, well-intended, and as always, enthusiastic post intended to support, help, or at least amuse all the boobjuicers and friends.
I think a lot of expecting mamas, especially first time mamas, wonder what they can do to prepare for the arrival of their babies, and make the amazing, crazy first few weeks and months of life go a little more smoothly. Lots of folks give some very useful practical advice in this regard - make double batches of dinner favorites for a while before your due date so you can chock the freezer full of good, healthful, cost-efficient dinners. (I highly suggest this, especially if you are getting antsy and need something to distract yourself.). You will be (quite rightly) encouraged not to be shy about accepting offers of help - there are even web calendars available now to schedule your well-intending helpers so you don't get three dinners tonight and none next week. But what about planning for supporting breastfeeding?
There are breastfeeding classes available at many hospitals and birth centers. I imagine these vary from helpful and gently supportive to whacking you over the head with a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding until you feel so scared and guilty that you try to crawl under the table and hide. We took one and I think it helped, but it's really hard to teach how to get a good latch when you don't have a baby to work with.
I think it might have been helpful to find a lactation consultant BEFORE you give birth. You may not need her, great, nothing lost. But if you do need her, the web research or phone calls you have to go through to find her when you are uncomfortable and possibly worried may seem excruciating. Note that you don't have to go for the individual consultant style if that's not financially viable for you. Find the local breastfeeding support groups and make a list somewhere on your computer or fridge. Find out if your birth center/midwife/hospital has services - my fairly mainstream hospital had an on-site full-time lactation consultant, and a lot of the nurses were lactation educators. Easier to find on the Left Coast, I grant you. But more and more states are offering breastfeeding support services too - a quick Google search turned up TX, GA, NY, PA, and I didn't even click to the second page. And if you worked with a doula, chances are she has a lot of practice with breastfeeding support.
Another idea I had is to create your breastfeeding support network before giving birth. Who do you know who nursed their babies for at least a year? Yes, she may be a little weird or seem a bit out there to you. I bet you a donut she would be delighted to help you succeed at nursing your little bundle of hunger, er, joy. Who are the mamas you know and respect? It doesn't matter if they are far away, you are an internet maven and you know how to contact these people. Who seems wary of your choice to breastfeed, or maybe even completely against it? Let them know that you are not interested in discouraging comments, or if you don't feel like being that direct with them, give yourself permission now to avoid their phone calls for however long it takes to feel confident in your nursing so you can deal with them without getting upset. Is it someone you can't get away with avoiding? Practice now what you will say to stop undermining comments in their tracks. "I don't want to talk about it." That's good enough. You don't owe anyone an explanation. Or you could burst into tears and ask them to leave. Totally fair game for a new mama, and if you can do it on command, why not?
I will also say that the biggest transformation for me in motherhood, I think, or a top three candidate anyway, was in learning to trust myself with less second-guessing. This is freaking hard. I suck at it, broadly speaking. But out of my mouth I have heard the words, “I am the mama. My word is law.” Spoken to someone older than me, not to my kiddo. Lots of “voices of authority” are going to tell you things that are utter crap. They do not think it is crap, and they are not lying to you. It's just stuff that isn't right for you and your kiddo. These well-intending people may include, but are not limited to:
Your mother
Your mother-in-law
Your partner
Your best friend
Your pediatrician
and possibly even,
Your lactation consultant.
The one that was hardest, though, was when I was struggling with yeast (yuk) and called the lactation support group at a famous, well-reputed So Cal hospital for advice. She listed this completely impractical regimen including smearing athlete's foot cream on my boobs, doing a no-sugar diet (which works great for vaginal yeast, as long as you can spend all weekend on meal-planning, shopping, and cooking), sunning my naked breasts (still illegal, even in Cali), and a bunch of other crap I can't even remember. I hung up and felt like, okay, I'm screwed. Nursing is going to hurt like hell forever. NOT TRUE. And boy do I wish I had known it then. Thank God I am (a) a nerd and (b) stubborn as a pig. Uncle Internet presented me with Dr. Newman, whose yeast protocol I promptly faxed to my Ob/Gyn, who actually thanked me for the “interesting article” and called in exactly the prescription I wanted. Yes, you can boss your doctor around, and if she or he doesn't cooperate, get another doctor. It's your body, they are your boobs, and your kiddo is your kiddo.
Ooo, another example of bad advice – the WOMAN Ob/Gyn who said I would have to stop breastfeeding to take fluconazole (Diflucan). See previous post. Grrrrrr. It would be mean of me to wish a yeast infection of the milk ducts on someone, right?
Okay so this has morphed from “how to prep for baby” to “you are going to get crap advice so be ready to have a thick skin.” But I think that's part of “how to get ready for baby.” And don't worry, I do not have a thick skin naturally. In fact, I'm quite the sensitive little creature. It's sort of a pain in the ass, and a license therapist has assured me that it's hard wired, you can't unlearn it in cognitive behavioral therapy (although like anything you can learn to deal with it). So if you are a bit of a shrinking violet and think that you can't possibly stand up to your mother-in-law, your pediatrician, and the pushy lady at your breastfeeding support group, well, think again Mama. You totally can. And what's better, if you don't feel like it, just avoid 'em. Yep. You have the universe's permission to avoid talking to m-i-l for weeks and just say, “oh, the baby's nocturnal right now, so we're always sleeping when it's a polite hour to call/visit.” And to switch pediatricians. And breastfeeding support groups.
So I hope I haven't frightened anyone. This is an amazing, wonderful ride and you are going to love the heck out of it, even if it takes a while to get there. I think I wasted half the fun of my last month of pregnancy worrying about what kind of mother I would be and whether I had bought enough crap for the kid. People did tell me that all I really need is diapers, a car seat, and my boobs, and the rest can always be bought at Target or borrowed from friends, even late at night. But I didn't believe them. Which would be funny now if I didn't have mint.com telling me what my ignorance cost me. Ah well.
Be well beloved boobjuicers and friends!
Much love,
Suzi
PS - usual disclaimer that none of the above is medical advice, I am not a doctor, and I have no money so don't sue me.
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