Family Musings

Bruce here, hijacking Jennifer's blog again. Today is Mother's Day. And I thought I share a little bit about my appreciation for Jennifer. Jennifer and I met in 10th grade history class. And, within one week of meeting Jennifer, I told her that we were going to get married, one day. This is an undisputed fact. But, Jennifer still has trouble believing I really meant it. Of course, she also shook her head "no" when I asked her to marry me 5 years later; she couldn't believe I was serious that time, either. But, I was. So, why would a 15-year old punk be picking out his future wife? It sure does sound pretty absurd. But, even back then, I knew what kind of woman I wanted to be the wife and mother of my future family. Yes, I was a strange kid. Years later, when I actually asked her to marry me, I had already planned out our financial future so that I knew we'd be able to make it. I was only 19, at that time, but I knew people, including Jennifer, would wo...

"What are these for?" Charlotte asked as she pointed to the tiny nipples on her chest. In a moment of what I consider to be good mothering, I told her that they were for when she grows up and becomes a mommy. That one day, she would use them to make milk to feed her babies. Just like I had used mine to give milk to her and Mary when they were babies. I was so proud of my lack of hesitation and the positive tone of my response, I was completely caught off guard when she laid in my lap and said she was pretending to be a baby, and would I please give her some of my milk! Do you have any funny breastfeeding stories? Or funny body discovery stories? Leave a comment with a link so we can all have another chuckle!

When I first realized that Mary was not able to nurse properly I immediately called my favorite lactation consultant and followed her advice to begin pumping so Mary could receive the best nutrition possible.  In the days that followed after visiting speech therapists and trying to nurse repeatedly, it became clear to me that I would become a full-time pumping momma. Never in a million years would I claim those first weeks were easy. In order to establish my milk supply I had to pump 10-12 times a day in the beginning. Each time I thought I had reached my breaking point of feeding my "ugly baby" (the pump), I would consider how expensive quality formula is and decide that if I could just drop one pumping session I think I could make it another month. Now, I've settled into a routine of pumping twice a day, which I feel I could maintain indefinitely. However, if my job as a "full time pumping momma" were to change (and at times I've seriously considered i...

I must be a mom-blogger. Because I took my camera to therapy today so I could get pictures of Mary with her physical and speech therapists, just so I could put them on my blog. Well that, and this blog is my scrapbook of their lives because I just don't have time nor space for a lot of stickers and paper. Mary had her first actual physical therapy session this morning, after the evaluation on Monday. Antoinette (pictured left) is her lovely physical therapist and she seems to really enjoy Mary. Below are some pictures of the various exercises she does with Mary's tiny body. Mary's arms are stretched and her joints are flexed. The basic treatment idea for hypotonis, as I understand it, is to provide sensory input to Mary's nerves and muscles to "wake them up" so to speak.  Antoinette has also recommended we had a second physical therapy session to our weekly schedule. So we are going to try that and see if it helps her improve. I also learned today that...

It has been a few weeks since I posted an update about Mary. In that time, we have continued to visit a speech therapist once a week as well as practicing some oral exercises at home to strengthen her mouth muscles. Additionally, Mary went to her one-month well baby visit. At that visit, the doctor diagnosed her with hypotonia, which basically means she has low-tone in her muscles. This results in delayed milestones and possibly delayed speech. We really won't know what affect, if any, this could have on Mary for the long term. The doctor also gave us an additional referral for physical therapy and we followed through on that just a few days later. The physical therapy (PT) evaluation went well and I was happy to confirm that Mary has just a mild case of hyptonia. We don't know the cause (and may never), but we do believe that with additional exercises, time, and motivation, this is something that we can over come. For those of you who know and love Mary, please don't s...

Today Mary is 1 week old. And sometime in the last week, Charlotte became 25 months old. The whole week is a little blurry in my head. I just wanted to share a couple of things with you before signing off for a little while. First, most of the posts over the last week were written 2 weeks ago. So I haven't been a blogging maniac. Second, Mary has some oral motor issues that we are trying to resolve. In the mean time, she can't nurse so I am having to pump every 2 hours to maintain my supply until we get more guidance from the therapist. This means I also have to give Mary bottles of breastmilk. I thought I'd never have to use a pump again! As for her oral motor issues, we have an appointment on Monday. Hopefully they will teach me some exercises for her that can strengthen her jaw, tongue, cheek, and other related muscles to make latching on possible. Anyone who knows me well enough, or was around the blog when Charlotte was little, knows how important I think bre...

Even though I am a stay-at-home-mom, I don't like to be in the dark about what is happening in the world around me. So, every few days I try to skim the headlines of CNN.com or leaf through the pages of our Reason , Newsweek , or World magazine subscriptions. Often, a headline tells me just enough to know their is a major event going on and I try to read anything that looks extra important. Since I am still nursing Charlotte at 13-months old, and proud of it, when I saw this headline - Fourth baby dies from tainted formula - I had to click over. What I read made me so sad. Apparently, two brothers decided that their financial situation was more important than the health of the thousands or more babies that would drink the milk they processed. Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, the paper repor...

Even though I deleted most of my breastfeeding blogs from my reader, I might still write about it every now and again. Charlotte is 10 1/2 months now and isn't really showing much sign of slowing down either. Though, I would be happy to give up some daytime feedings. Hopefully, we can work towards some daytime weaning now that I am going to be home with her full time and can more closely monitor her food intake. In the mean time... these comics are funny. Click for a larger image to read.

Okay... those who I've talked about this with know I am comfortable with the IDEA of extended breastfeeding (breastfeeding past 12 months of age). However, I think this woman takes the extended part a bit too far. I don't believe she is nursing for her daughter's sake, but rather for her own. There is no nutritional value for the children, and no claims of that are made in this video. But when will she stop the nursing? And WHY, Lord, WHY, encourage them to draw pictures of their mother's breasts??? I just don't understand. There is a thread on one message board I lurk at that shed a little bit of light into how a hyper-extended nursing mother might feel about this. Lori is the mother of a 7 year old boy who was still nursing as of January 2008(he turned 7 in March). When he had gone about 7 weeks without nursing, Lori posted this: He hasn't asking[sic] and truth be told I am tempted to offer. I am not sure why. Maybe because I am not ready to let go of t...

Charlotte and I attended our first tea together today. It was hosted by the Women's Ministry at First Baptist Church of Frostproof (our church). It was a good chance for her to wear her beautiful blue Easter dress again and for the nice ladies to get a chance to coo over and hold her. This tea is almost a yearly tradition at our church. It was a lovely affair and very well done. Each table was decorated by a different woman using china and flat ware that she brought from home. Our table was decorated by Cheryl in beautiful blue transfer ware with a touch of yellow. My friend Carolyn was able to join us, along with her grandmother Anita. Anita was one of the 4 lucky ladies who won one of the door prizes. It was a sweet teapot with matching cup and saucer. I didn't get a picture of it, but it had tiny pink rosebuds all over it and was trimmed with gold on the edges. I am glad one of my guests as able to take something extra special home. Lori Beckler was the guest speaker. S...

Last night Bruce showed me an article on CNN with this headline: More than 3 out of 4 New Moms Breastfeed . This is so exciting! The article didn't mention how long these women nursed their babies for, but even if these moms are just breastfeeding for a short time, it is likely their babies are getting their momma's first milk - the colustrum. This provides them with a great start in life. "The latest CDC report found rates of breast-feeding were also lowest among women who are unmarried, poor, rural, younger than 20, and have a high school education or less." I was not surprised by this. These women have the least amount of support in raising a baby and any breastfeeding momma knows that support is necessary to have a successful nursing relationship. What can we do to help these women make the decision to breastfeed?

To update my post from yesterday : As of yesterday afternoon, all FLDS babies under 12 months who are nursing have been allowed to stay with their mothers. Or rather, their mothers have been allowed to go with them into a foster care setting. I am glad that Judge Walther let common sense prevail and made the state work out something with the affected women's attorneys so the breastfeeding relationship could continue.

Anyone who has read my blog for more than 2 days knows that I am passionate about encouraging breastfeeding in all mothers who are physically able. To that end, I was apalled when I read that the Judge in the FLDS case is refusing to rule on whether or not mothers may stay with their breastfeeding babies. From a blog set up to help these women: Judge Walther acknowledged that she recognizes that breastfeeding has nutritional and bonding benefits and stated: "But every day in this country, we have mothers who go back to work after six weeks of maternity leave." I went back to work when Charlotte was 12 weeks old and I still breastfeed her. It is possible because I am only away from her for about 8 hours a day. I can pump at work and nurse her at home. Our breastfeeding relationship is not harmed in any way by my being at work. Judge Walther needs to realize that just becaues women do something, it doesn't mean that it is the best thing. She needs a reality check into the n...

When we got in the car last week, I leaned over and told Charlotte we had a very special day planned - she is going to Disney! Judging by that grin, I think she is excited! Once we got there, we had to wait for her Grandpa Sabin to show up. He has the secret passes that we need to get into the parks. Charlotte was a good sport hanging out on Carolyn's lap as we waited. Once our happy party made it past the gate, we had to go and check out what kind of legacy we were leaving Charlotte. Yep folks - that is a picture of Charlotte's mom and dad hanging out on a big granite wall in front of EPCOT. I don't think that kid next to us liked getting his forehead squished by Carolyn. Next, we had to hop on the Monorail in order to make it to the Ticket and Transportation Center so that we could take a bus to the Magic Kingdom. This was Carolyn's (and Charlotte's) first ride ever on the Monorail. Sorry the picture is blurry. While we were on the Monorail, Charlotte decided it w...

Is it possible that I need to start a new blog to share all of my breastfeeding and lactivist stories and thoughts? They seem to be pretty prevalent these days here at Family Musings. Today is no exception. While reading a blog I enjoy on Sundays called Post Secret, I came across this secret postcard that someone had sent in. I just don't understand the selfishness of some women. Really, a perfect figure is more important than the future health of your own baby? I can't help but think that this woman's breasts had already changed as a result of her pregnancy and probably won't ever be the same ever again.

I have nursed Charlotte in public more times than I could possibly count. It was never a big deal to me. I have read in various places though that some women have a hard time doing this, due to personal comfort, the baby's needs, or the prevailing attitude towards breastfeeding in their culture. To protect myself, I carry a copy of Florida's laws regarding breastfeeding in my diaper bag. I want to be prepared to back up my right to feed my daughter when she is hungry, regardless of where we happen to be. I have nursed in the mall, at numerous restaurants, while shopping, in my car on the side of the road, in the homes of friends, and now at Disney. Not once did anyone ever say anything to me, though I have noticed that most men try to avoid looking at me at all. I try to nurse modestly, but sometimes Charlotte pulls off and there are moments that reveal more than most people are expecting to see in public. When this happens I try to cover up quickly, but I am not terribly bothe...

If you have been reading this blog for even a small amount of time will know that I am a school teacher. And you will also know that I have committed to breastfeeding my daughter. These two things could be seen as incompatible. Fortunately, I have a great employer who has worked with me to make sure I have time to pump milk at school for Charlotte to take to daycare. To do that, I use a Playtex Embrace . I have been surprised that more people don't use one since it was so much less expensive than the Medela and other pumps I looked at last summer. The Embrace is a double-pump with a single flange size. I am large breasted (D-E depending on how long it's been :p) and find the flanges are comfortable even though I've heard it can be hard to be comfortable pumping large breasts. I have only heard one complaint about this particular pump and that person said it was slow. I can't say if this is true or not since I haven't tried other pumps, but I am fortunate that I can ...

This is a picture of Charlotte's new friend, Colleen, hanging out with her in the back seat on the way to the Polk County Youth Fair on Wednesday afternoon. We I had a lot of fun looking around at all the different submissions from my students. One of my students took a tri-color ribbon in 2 different categories. Another group of students took Judge's Prize in a chili cook-off. Colleen doesn't do Youth Fair, but lots of her friends do so she agreed to tag along. I think it was mostly so she could hang out with Charlotte. This is a picture of a baby cow nursing from her momma cow. Isn't it cute. Bruce won't really let me post pictures of me nursing Charlotte, but I'm sure he won't mind this one. Probably because the momma cow's teats aren't showing. Isn't the baby cow adorable? I'm sorry my picture isn't so great, but I was in a hurry and Colleen was rolling her eyes at me. I won't get on my nursing in public soap box now, but no one a...

I have been challenged to write about the one baby product that I could no survive without. It took me less than 30-seconds to figure out that it was our Arm's Reach Co-sleeper . It makes having a happy family and well-rested momma possible. I knew about half-way through my pregnancy that co-sleeping was the right fit for our family. Dr. Sears' research into the habit is pretty clear that it is best for the majority of families. The biggest reservation I had to co-sleeping was what if Charlotte rolled off the bed, or what if I needed some extra wiggle room and didn't want to wake a peaceful baby. The main reason I wanted it is because I knew going back to work would make getting enough sleep very important. The co-sleeper solved all of these problems for me. When we first brought Charlotte home, she would go down each night in her co-sleeper and stay there until she was hungry. When she woke up hungry, I would sit up in bed and lay my pillow on my lap to nurse ...

I am very please to announce that Charlotte and I made through our first 6 months of breastfeeding! We followed the advice of all the medical professionals knowledgable in the subject and the advice in my heart and made it! I am so happy knowing that I did what was best for Charlotte and also that I can continue to do it even though I have to work outside of the home right now. As some of you know, I've had to pump at work so Charlotte can have momma's milk at daycare. My employer, Frostproof Middle School, has been great in accomodating me. They made sure I had planning periods scheduled so I could pump and no one has looked at me cross-eyed once! I even had a meeting a couple of weeks ago with another staff member while I pumped at my desk. In case you are wondering why the milk in the bottle is gold , "it's colored gold as a reminder that mother's milk is like liquid gold." And anyone who has ever spilled or spoiled a bottle of pumped milk knows that is th...