Breastfeeding can still amaze me

How many more things do you think are good about breastfeeding that they have yet to discover? This is just one more...MedWire News - Ob/Gyn - Two-year lactation duration decreases risk for coronar

Extreme Breastfeeding

Okay so it's articles like this one that give breastfeeding a bad rap....the average person who clicks on this link on aol's homepage will be disgusted Breastfeeding - How Long is Too Long? - ParentDish....I am an avid pro- breastfeeder and plan to spend a lot of my adulthood in the education and support of breastfeeding (as an RN/IBCLC)...BUT even I could not breastfeed one of my children to age 5,6,7. I do support and stand by these woman and know several who do bf past toddlerhood, just not me.

Anyways, I digress.....It is stories like these that make others see breastfeeding moms as weird and extreme and selfish and harming to their offspring. And then....it's cool to click on the link with all the celebrities' pictures who also breastfed, that needs to be more out there to make it more normal and standard. But good grief could they please give another reason they chose to nurse besides WEIGHT LOSS!!

So many pictures!

These all uploaded in the reverse order they happened but we are just gonna roll with that....I got no time to fix them!

We went to see Santa at the mall right after school Monday...no lines, no crowds, we were the only ones there and my little angels are cooperated very nicely! here are a few pictures I might use for our Christmas card this year:

Then Thanksgiving day at John's parents house. Great day for family and I did restrain myself from eating too many cookies! I actually ended up losing a pound this week even after losing almost 4 lbs last week! That puts me at 30.2 pounds gone forever!

Ian having some sweet potatoes (no added stuff, don't worry) These classified as his second try at solids. He enjoyed them but was not liking them all over his face. Just so you know, I do delay solids, we just started last week at 8 months even slightly earlier than I wanted, I wanted to wait until 10 but he was ready. I also don't buy jar foods, only make my own, and I am not into spoon feeding at all! I let the baby feed themselves whenever and how much they want (just like breastfeeding ;P)

My 31st Birthday was the day before thanksgiving! Happy day to me! we celebrated with shrimp dinner at my parents, yum!

My beautiful girls

Johnny getting ready for his Turkey dance at school

Ian and his PopPop at work

Hanging out in the backyard at sunset :)

Ian first official taste of something other than breastmilk! Of course, banana (I don't like to count those few pieces of dog food he has tried on a couple of occasions recently)

LOVED it!

Ava still can't keep her hands off of him!

Those eyes make my heart melt

Just look at him....he seeks trouble! J/K, I let him play in the pots and pans

who is at fault?

Diluted Formula Nearly Kills Baby

I really don't know whether to feel sorry for the woman or be pissed off at her because I think she knew, she knew. She knew and she got caught. Luckily, many in the Bay area have come forward to donate cans of formula for her. Thank God for that baby.

So, who is at fault here? Is it the hospitals who have tried to reduce their education on formula because they are trying to increase their education of breastfeeding? Is it the pediatrician who should have seen this baby at least 4 times since he was born and seen that the child only weighed 8 lbs at 5 months old? Is it the child's father/grandmother/daycare worker who should have seen how the baby was being fed? Or the mother who most likely knew how to read the directions on the formula or at least heard how to make it from WIC?

I will give props to my local paper for putting this right at the headlines:

FEEDING TIPS
•Breast-feeding is the preferred source of liquid nutrition for children in their first year. However, millions of babies use powdered or premixed formulas. Cow's milk is not recommended until age 1, as infant kidneys are unable to process it.

So, because she is claiming stupid, is she free to go on about her business and take her 2 kids home with her to live? This is almost murder/neglect!! I'm sorry but I don't get it!

Just another thing that sucks big balls about this economy....it is making mothers take shortcuts at the risk of killing their babies. So ladies/pregnant mamas/future pregnant mamas, BREASTFEED your babies! Give, give, give, give it all you got....it is so worth it....and it's FREE! God gave you those boobies for something and it is not as a sex symbol, it is to FEED YOUR BABIES!

China and breastfeeding

Formula in China....my rant for the week

Now I don't live in China and know nothing about their advertising/marketing, etc. BUT I do know that the formula companies and the way they are touting formula as being superior to breastmilk is killing babies at an alarming rate. FOUR infants have died recently, 13,000 have been hospitalized, and tens of thousands are seeking medical care. Why? Because as one new mother was quoted, "I fed my baby powdered milk because ads said it was more nutritious then breastmilk. We trusted that the government would provide adequate tests to ensure food quality." Ha! Most of the dairy companies making the formula KNEW that the formula was making babies sick and what was done? Nothing.

Poor, poor, Chinese parents. BUT not just in China, it happens everyday in the good ole United States. If you happen to watch any kind of TV during the day, it is guaranteed you will see a commercial for formula....if you read any kind of family/parenting/kid magazine, you will see several ads for formula (and the best yet....they have hired hunky Ty Pennington to be a spokesperson! HELLO??? He is NOT even a parent!!! How stupid do they think women/moms are? Buying a product based on the hunky qualities of the person in the ad? Seems stupid to me but then again I'm blond, what do I know (tic))

Anyways, back to the ads...every single one of them states at the bottom or in a soft voice during the commercial, "Breastmilk is best, ask your doctor" Soooooooo, you ask your Dr. usually when you are sleep deprived, scared shitless of the little screaming ball of redness you have been handed as your own, and asking for any help your nice-know-everything doctor can give you. He of course oh how so convenient hands you a sample of formula! Here, this will help you! AHhhhhh, it's like receiving a miracle in a can! But really?? Is it?? He gave you that can of formula not to be nice and to be a hero and save the day, but to get kickbacks from the formula companies....nice lunches, nice gifts, travel opps, you name it, they buy it for the nice Dr. who hands out their formula all day long. He doesn't want to help you and your gift from God, he wants to destroy any chance you might have of keeping a breastfeeding relationship going. He wants to make sure that you go out and buy that formula and keep padding the pockets of the company so they can pad the pocket of the dr.

I get so tired and aggrevated with doctors and formula companies and their holier than thou additudes that they know best and they can supply the best. No, you can not. No one can even come close to the purity and quality and health benefit properties that breastmilk can...not even close. They say DHA and brain this and eye that and they have all these great ingrediants that will make your baby better, but no my friend, I am sorry, you can not touch breastmilk with a ten foot pole. Even just "one bottle" can do irreversible damage.

Add this to the babies now dying in China and of course Africa but I can't even go there today.

China used to have a breastfeeding rate of 76%...now it's 47%.....I can only hope and pray that this whole fiasco will scare them enough and push that rate back up to where it belongs.....Babies were born to be breastfed, it is their right, please don't deny them that.

Catch up time

It's been a busy week so I am trying to catch up and add some pics. John was off for the last three days which was awesome and we got some great stuff done. Monday (Labor day) having him off for an actual holiday was quite a change and very much appreciated. It never did rain on us like it was supposed to so we went swimming and out to lunch then had a cook out. Tuesday we did a bunch of cleaning around the house and outside so yesterday we took off and took Ava and Ian to the zoo. It was a great time and both kids had a great time. Ava is not quite sure what to make of having us to herself and is still always asking when we can get Johnny and Madeline!

My 2 little men :)

Check out the chunk on those thighs! See the giraffe in the back?

For some reason Ava really wanted to see the zebras so here they are! (and another giraffe!)

Tiny baby monkey eating "mommy boobies"

And I could have sat here the entire day and watched this mama with her newborn! Look closely and you can see her little head coming up for a break from eating. She was only born a month ago http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/07/baby-orangutan-latest-member-lowry-park-nursery/ and they were the sweetest 2 to watch. FWI, a monkey will nurse for up to 5 years :)

Madeline showing off one of her birthday presents, a Belle outfit.

The whole crew after the Build A Bear Party. Madeline said it was the best party yet! Ava of course had an Ariel bear, Johnny had a Rays bear, and Madeline had a ballet panda :)

My Little Pony Cake

And my boy is "SOOOO Big!"

This girl is thinking pretty hard!