Some inspirational videos for the pregnant or breastfeeding mamas out there!

Awesome photo collection of Dads wearing their babies!

A Dad’s perspective of their home birth

Another Dad tells the story of how he navigated the choice between hospital or home birth.

And yet another Dad tells us why, if he had a uterus, he would never give birth in a hospital.

Thought provoking article about first time mothers.. “If I had a dollar for every woman I have heard say “I want a home birth, but the first one is going to be in the hospital, JUST IN CASE” I’d be a midwife with a lot more dollars.”

This is a long read, but so worth it. I remember the first time I learned about how going through all the natural stages of birth actually affected my hormone levels, helped me birth, and even made me a better mother.  Mothering article, The Hormonal Blueprint of Labor.

One mother’s story of why she chooses not to vaccinate

Lies and truth surrounding breastfeeding.

This article finds me nodding in agreement about the tendency moms have to neglect their marriage, but then seething with anger at the man’s completely idiotic conclusion.  It’s an interesting opinion on marriage and breastfeeding.  Ack, what a douchebag he is, though.

Mothering article on preparing your home for a homebirth.

Another Mothering article, about Elimination Communication.

The yuck factor of breastfeeding in the bathroom.

A thoughtful blog post of the safety of home birth.

One in three hospital births are via cesarean section?!

Five questions a pregnant mom should ask her doctor to help avoid a c-section.

I went to Babies R Us over the weekend. I was reminded once again why it gives me a headache.

So
much
useless
overpriced
crap
that
babies
do
not
need.

The brightly lit warehouse reeks of the mass hysteria that overcomes parents of all ages and economic status when they become aware of the fact they will be welcoming a newborn baby into their home.

So why was I there?  I felt an irresistible urge to stand at the entrance and warn entering patrons about the dangers of succumbing to Pastel Fever.

Actually, I found myself wandering the aisles with eight pages of bright yellow paper, sprinkling fellow shoppers with spittle as I muttered hysterically about smiling giraffes.  Yes, you guessed it.  I was purchasing a gift from the dreaded baby registry.

So what does this have to do with boobs?  Well, as I was sorting through my freshly printed registry papers, I could hear a customer talking with the registry counter employee.  They were both pregnant and were enjoying discussing the usual topics two expecting women will talk about when within ten miles of each other.  You know, due dates, labor stories, how many kids they have, and how big/small they are compared to each other and previous pregnancies.

The conversation naturally turned to breastfeeding vs bottlefeeding,  The pregnant customer said she was planning on “trying” it.  The pregnant employee said she did with previous babies, but was not going to with this baby.  When asked why, she replied,

“My daughter is five.  The first thing she’ll ask is, ‘what are you doing?’ and I’m not going there!  So, no way!”

I sat there, forgotten papers in hand, and stared at this mother in shock.  That was actually a serious consideration in whether or not to breastfeed her baby?  I’ve heard lots of  reasons (legitimate and stupid) to not nurse, but this one was a new one.

Why would a mother consider it a bad idea for her young daughter to see her breastfeed a baby?  Why would she be horrified by the notion of possibly needing to explain the natural act of her body creating milk to feed her infant?

There’s lots of unusual subjects that come up with new babies, and I wondered if she will be equally aghast when her daughter asks about the black tarry meconium in the baby’s diaper, or the dried up umbilical cord that eventually falls off.

In my opinion, this mother is missing a very important fact.  Her daughter will see lots of boobs, or varying degrees of boobage, in her lifetime.  Most likely, 99% of the time it will be due to seeing an advertisement or photo of a woman who is showing her boobs in a sexual way, and that doesn’t even count the porn she is likely to come across sooner or later.

Boobs are meant to be sexually attractive.  The Bible says they are to satisfy our husbands.   Boobs are also intentionally functional to feed our babies.

When she goes about her life seeing boobs almost exclusively portrayed in a sexual way and never in a nurturing way, she will miss one of the most beautiful aspects of being a female.

There is an ongoing tension between viewing women as beautiful, nurturing people to be respected and cherished, and as sexual objects to be used and discarded.

The misguided mother in Babies R Us is adding to the current trend in American culture where we think its natural, even cute, to see women degraded on a continual basis, but that its embarrassing, even disgusting, to see a baby sucking from her mother’s breast.

Is this what we are teaching our daughters?

What a bunch of boobs we are.

In light of the recent news, in which a mother at a Flint restaurant was asked to nurse her baby in the bathroom, I am revisiting some older posts I wrote about breastfeeding.

I don’t think there is a place where I would not breast feed my baby if he was screaming in hunger.

I nurse in stores, restaurants, and in church.  I nurse sitting, standing and while walking.  I’m not in-your-face! about it, but I’m not about to go hide in the bathroom stall either.  I am discreet, but I’m not ashamed.

Someone once made the comment that thirteen-year-old boys seeing a breastfeeding woman would be like “oooohhh!” *googly eyes*

What?  Seriously?  I guess I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a young male seeing covered breasts portrayed in a manner besides that of the cleavage-baring, sex-kitten manner that is so prevalent.

Now, with all this being said, you may get the mistaken impression that I ridicule heterosexual males and their fascination with breasts.

You would be wrong.

Breasts are for feeding babies.

Breasts are also for pleasing husbands.

As much as I detest the over-sexualization of breasts (and women in general) in our culture, I am not against viewing breasts as sexual.  They are, and always have been.  That is not the fault of lusty men, it is the the way we’re designed.  The female form was made to entice and satisfy our husbands.

So even though I will defend the naturalness of mothers nursing their babies anywhere they happen to be,  I also recognize that breasts are, by nature, sexual and will keep my assets covered.

I have a medicine chest, so to speak, that I carry everywhere with me, ready to nourish my baby.

And I have a treasure chest, ready to delight my husband.

(These are written in no particular order. So #1 is no more important than #56. If a product is mentioned, I am not getting compensated from some company to review or rave about their product. I’m just a mom sharing, well, things I wish I would’ve known about a long time ago.)

TIWIWKAALTA#5  Most babies don’t sleep through the night for quite a while. And that’s okay.

Out of my six children, only one slept through the night within the first couple months.

As a new mom, I was obsessed with getting “enough” sleep.  Somehow I had gotten the impression that a baby should sleep through the night within a few weeks.  Perhaps it was from hearing a parent brag how their baby slept 9 hours every night beginning the first night. Or maybe it was just from being consistently asked if my baby was a “good” baby, giving the impression, of course, that all “good” babies didn’t disturb their parents during the night.

The more I was determined to get uninterrupted sleep, the more I resented my baby for not adhering to my expectations.  Which then led to misguided ridiculous things such as giving a bottle full of formula and rice cereal just before bed. *sigh*

I wish I knew then what I know now.  Babies love to sleep with their parents, and sharing my bed with my baby is a beautiful thing.  No, they won’t be there forever.  No, you aren’t spoiling them.  And no, it doesn’t destroy your sex life!

With breastfeeding babies, it can be particularly important to nurse your baby during the night.  Breastmilk is designed to be fed frequently, since it contains low protein levels and most babies metabolize breastmilk quickly.  Plus, an 8 week old baby gets about 30% of all food volume between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m.   That’s pretty significant.

Add in learning the reality that more frequent feedings equal better supply while fewer feedings equal lower supply, along with studies that show how frequent sucking motion (ie, nursing) guards against SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and I relaxed significantly about nighttime feedings.

Which was a good thing, since my sixth baby didn’t even begin to sleep more than 4 hours during the night until he was over a year old.

(These are written in no particular order. So #1 is no more important than #56. If a product is mentioned, I am not getting compensated from some company to review or rave about their product. I’m just a mom sharing, well, things I wish I would’ve known about a long time ago.)

TIWIWKAALTA# 4 Nursing babies eat often.  Very often.

I’ve breastfed all of my babies.  I love it.  But I didn’t always love it.

Over 12 years ago when Big Bro was born, I was an exhausted new mother who barely knew which way was up.  If it hadn’t been for my mom there helping me, I don’t know how I would have survived! (thanks again, Mom!)

To top it off, nursing my baby was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.  It hurt.  It seemed like there wasn’t enough milk coming out. My new baby would fall asleep seconds after latching on, then scream in hunger a few minutes later.

My mom was there, either in person or a phone call away, assuring me that all was perfectly normal.  Yes, you have enough milk, she comforted me.  And he was, made evident by his consistently wet diapers.  You’ll only be sore a few days and then it’ll all adjust, she encouraged.  And she was right about that too.

But what I never got through my thick skull was that nursing babies eat very, very often.  I would nurse him, tuck him in his car seat and by the time I got 5 minutes into my grocery shopping he would be screaming to eat again.  The old doubts would rise up with a vengeance and I wondered what on earth I was doing wrong.

If only I knew then what I know now;  Nothing was wrong!  He was a growing infant and they are meant to metabolize breastmilk quickly.  That’s a good thing, not a problem!  Nursing every hour and a half or even every hour is not unusual, especially during growth spurts.

Sadly, I was so frustrated with the seemingly never-ending demand that I weaned him before 4 months.  I deeply regret it now.  If I had just hung in there a bit longer, it probably would not have been long before he went longer between feedings.

Every single one of my babies has had periods where they would go 4 or five hours between nursing, and then other times when 30 minutes later they needed more.  Thankfully, I learned to relax over the years and just rolled with it.  I’ve been known to cradle my baby in a sling and discreetly nurse all throughout the grocery store.

I also changed my perspective on breast feeding.  It’s not simply to nourish their bodies, although it does that well.  Breastfeeding also develops the deep bonding between mommy and baby, through regular skin-to-skin contact.  Not only that, but every time a baby latches on he causes mommy to make “happy” hormones that guard against the baby blues.  (You feeling depressed after a baby? Nurse more!)

Breastfeeding often makes happier babies, and a happier mommy!

Did that get your attention?  Ha.

About a month ago I watched a video actress Salma Hayek’s trip to Africa.  Towards the end of the video, she breast feeds a starving African infant who shared her own daughter’s birth day.

I was deeply touched by the video, and admired her expression of love and nurturing.

As the video gains recognition, I am both amused and disgusted by the reactions of the general American public and media.  Many people are more than a little mortified at the thought of a mother breast feeding another woman’s child.

Why would that be considered disgusting?

Help me out here.  Am I really that granola compared to the average American mom?  I mean, I would nurse another hungry child in a heartbeat!

Breast are sexual.  Americans have that right, no doubt about it.  Salma can parade around showing 3 inches of luscious cleavage and no one bats an eye.

What Americans seem to forget is that breasts are sexual and purposeful.  They make milk.  Really good, healthy, perfect milk.

Ah, but supposedly it’s not so much the breast feeding itself that bothers people, it’s that she’s breastfeeding someone else’s child that grosses them out.

Oh, c’mon.

*sigh*  Maybe I really am a hippie.

You can read the Times article here. And, here’s the video too.

I went to Babies R Us over the weekend. I was reminded once again why it gives me a headache.
So
much
useless
overpriced
crap
that
babies
do
not
need.

The brightly lit warehouse reeks of the mass hysteria that overcomes parents of all ages and economic status when they become aware of the fact they will be welcoming a newborn baby into their home.

So why was I there?  I felt an irresistible urge to stand at the entrance and warn entering patrons about the dangers of succumbing to Pastel Fever.

Actually, I found myself wandering the aisles with eight pages of bright yellow paper, sprinkling fellow shoppers with spittle as I muttered hysterically about smiling giraffes.  Yes, you guessed it.  The dreaded baby registry.

So what does this have to do with boobs?  Well, as I was sorting through my freshly printed registry papers, I could hear a customer talking with the registry counter employee.  They were both pregnant and enjoying the usual topics two expecting women will talk about when within ten miles of each other.  You know, due dates, labor stories, how many kids they have, and how big/small they are compared to each other and previous pregnancies.

The conversation naturally turned to breastfeeding vs bottlefeeding,  The pregnant customer said she was planning on “trying” it.  The pregnant employee said she did with previous babies, but was not going to with this baby.  When asked why, she replied,

“My daughter is five.  The first thing she’ll ask is, ‘what are you doing?’ and I’m not going there!  So, no way!”

I sat there, forgotten papers in hand, and stared at this mother in shock.  That was actually a serious consideration in whether or not to breastfeed her baby?  I’ve heard lots of  reasons (legitimate and stupid) to not nurse, but this one was a new one.

Why would a mother consider it a bad idea for her young daughter to see her breastfeed a baby?  Why would she be horrified by the notion of possibly needing to explain the natural act of her body creating milk to feed her infant?

I wonder if she will be equally aghast when her daughter asks about the black tarry meconium in the baby’s diaper, or the dried up umbilical cord that eventually falls off?

In my opinion, this mother is missing a very important fact.  Her daughter will see lots of boobs, or varying degrees of boobage, in her lifetime.  Most likely, 99% of the time it will be due to seeing an advertisement or photo of a woman who is showing her boobs in a sexual way.

Boobs are meant to be sexually attractive.  The Bible says they are to satisfy our husbands.   Boobs are also intentionally functional to feed our babies.

When she goes about her life seeing boobs almost exclusively portrayed in a sexual way and never in a nurturing way, she will miss one of the most beautiful aspects of being a female.

There is an ongoing tension between viewing women as beautiful, nurturing people to be respected and cherished, and as sexual objects to be used and discarded.

The misguided mother in Babies R Us is adding to the current trend in American culture where we think its natural, even cute, to see women degraded on a continual basis, but that its embarrassing, even disgusting, to see a baby sucking from her mother’s breast.

Is this what we are teaching our daughters?

What a bunch of boobs we are.

I don’t think there is a place where I wouldn’t breast feed my baby if he was screaming in hunger.

I nurse in stores, restaurants, and in church.  I nurse sitting, standing and while walking.  I’m not in-your-face! about it, but I’m not about to go hide in the bathroom stall either.  I am discreet, but I’m not ashamed.

Someone recently made the comment that thirteen-year-old boys seeing a breastfeeding woman would be like “oooohhh!” *googly eyes*
What?  Seriously?  I guess I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a young male seeing covered breasts used in a setting besides that of the cleavage-baring, sex-kitten manner that is so prevalent.

Now, with all this being said, you may get the mistaken impression that I ridicule heterosexual males and their fascination with breasts.

You would be wrong.

Breasts are for feeding babies. Breasts are also for pleasing husbands.

As much as I detest the over-sexualization of breasts, and women in general, in our culture, I am not against viewing breasts as sexual.  They are, and always have been.  That is not the fault of lusty men, it is the design of the Creator.  He made the female form to entice and satisfy our husbands.

So even while I am enjoying a season of breastfeeding my baby and will defend the naturalness of nursing him anywhere I happen to be,  I also recognize that my breasts are, by nature, sexual and will keep my assets covered.

I have a medicine chest, so to speak, that I carry everywhere with me, ready to nourish my baby (and squirt in his eye in case of any infection, hehe).

And I have a treasure chest, ready to delight my husband.