By SHARON JAYSON from NYT Health http://ift.tt/1Tku9qJ
via IFTTT
When I was not a mom yet, I will admit, i was probably pretty ignorant to alot of issues that motherhood presents. One in particular is milk sharing. If you would have ask me 5 years ago maybe even 3 (after my daughter was born!) If I knew what milk sharing was, I can say with all honesty that i would have had no clue.
Since I didn’t breastfeed my daughter for long, I can admit that I didn’t know much about breastmilk in general. I tried pumping but looking back now, truely didn’t put in time or effort it required.
When my son was about 6 months old I can across a mother in need of donor milk, I didn’t really know her expect that we had friends and generally the same interests in common. I had a decent freezer stash and remember thinking, “it would be really nice to help her out!”. I went to my freezer stash, and dug out 60 ounces. The mother would I was donating to was out of town and traveling in to the area, I met a family member of hers and the deed was done.
I really can’t even begin to tell you how I felt in that moment. I beamed with pride that I not only provide the nourishment for my own child but helped feed another, even if it was only a few days. I beleive its goes without saying that I didn’t donate for the credit, but sometimes in the shuffle of life especially in parenthood it’s easy to feel unappreciated. I know that this mother genuinely was thankful for this gift of liquid gold and knowing that it helped her daughter was really special moment for me. Anyone who has ever had or wanted to pump knows how much time, dedication and love goes into each and every pumping session, and it certainly isn’t something that comes easy for all lactating mothers.
It is truly a a selfless act to donate and as weird as it may sound, I offer it up to any mother in need. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think that there is anything wrong with formula or giving it to your baby, I also think that’s it’s great for whoever needs it for whatever reason. With that being said, I think that’s why milk sharing is so important. If you have the extra supply and the means, I promise milk sharing will be a rewarding exprience for all parties involved. You can do it informally or privately, through an organization such as Eats on Feets and Human Milk for Human Babies and a more formal setting such as a milk bank.
Let me start by introducing myself, my name is lindsey. I am a mother of two, wife, and an all things baby related advocate. I have a strong passion for birth, babies and breastfeeding and all things in relation to. It only seemed right to name my blog, The B Word, an ode to my favorite things.
So who am I? I am a mother of a four year old and a 10 month old. Being a mother is hands down the best thing I have ever done in my life. I am a stay at home mom, so my day literally begins and ends with my children but i truely wouldn’t have it any other way. As much as I whole heartedly love being a mother and enjoy my children to the fullest, i am ready to delve into my professional being and find my passion outside of the home.
I graduated college in 2014 when my daughter was 2 1/2 years old. i obtained an associates degree in early childhood as well as a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sceince. I have been working with children since 2010 and I have been a nanny since 2012. After graduating, I knew that I wanted to be involved in some shape or form with children but I wasnt sure what my exact calling was.
In may of 2015 my sweet and beautiful son arrived into the world at 2:09 am after what most, including myself, would consider a textbook natural (hospital) childbirth. I knew, without any doubt, I wanted to breastfeed from the moment I become pregnant. I didn’t breastfeed long with my daughter and it was one of my biggest regrets. I was determined to make it work, to give my child the best start to life. My determination and drive to give my child this start was all the motivation I needed for my success. I realized a few months after his birth that I had I not been so adimant I may have not overcome the hurdles I faced along the way.
I am excited to share my journey with you, as well as future journeys regarding all of my favorite “B” words. Hope you enjoyed the first of many!
Lindsey
I always like to start talks on breastfeeding by saying, if you are a formula feeder you are not a failure. I by no means have anything against it. Breastfeeding is a privilege not a requirement.
From day one I was blessed with a child who would gulp milk down like it was no ones business. She had a painful latch due to being tounge tied (see blog) but we got that fixed. After the fact she had trouble feeding. She was use to a small tounge with a shallow latch. This new tounge drew the nipple farther into her mouth causing a gag reflux. As if that wasn’t bad enough she had silent reflux or really really bad gas. She would bow her back anytime I tried feeding her. I tried every position, nipple sheilds, and every other thing I could find on the on the internet.
Nothing was working. My milk supply went from engourged painful DD’s to small barley getting by C’s. I felt like a failure not because at 4 months I thought we were done breastfeeding. I tried giving her formula and it made her gas worse. She is dairy intolerant as well as a few other things. I’d wake up to her covers in vomit choking in her sleep. Which I know people have tobtest and try to find the right one, even the expensive soy and dairy free.
I couldn’t stand it, I wanted to cry all of the time. Not getting sleep, taking tons of pills, drinking mothers milk, water as much as possible. I felt like I made wrong decisions as a first time mom. I thought I failed my husband. How were we going to pay for $30 small 2 day worth of formula? That still made her sick even though it was special. Why weren’t my prayers being answered.
We decided to go to visit my mother who’s in another state. I wanted to invest in a hand pump for the trip there. I couldn’t feed her myself and every 2 hours she drank 4-7 ounces. The drive is about 7 hours. I didn’t know what to do.
We went to Target and purchased a evenflo hand pump. A small $20 pump. I honestly thought that we might be waisting our money. But here is my saving grace. With me pumping manually. I was able to draw so much more milk out, at least 2 ounces extra. My breasts we’re being stimulated enough like it was when she would feed from me!!!
The more I used this little thing the more milk I noticed was coming in. I’m able to pump in half the time, and get double the amount now. I haven’t appreciated full leaky boobs in too long! Once again emotional me wants to cry because this cheap little pump saved me. Its my best friend.
All I can say is before you give up. Try to express manual. I don’t know if its just that pump or if others work better or worse. But please spread the word. I couldn’t find help anywhere.
Here is my scedual if anyone wants to know. Talk to your doctor and see what’s best for you.
1.Fenugreek 3 times a day
2. Prenatal once a day
3. Mothers milk once
4. Hydration
5. Eat laction cookies or granola
6. Hand pump every day every 2 hours
7. At night electronic pump every 3
She also feeds from me at night time, as long as she’s sleepy.
I hope this helps some of you. Happy breastfeeding – L
I was motivated to come up with this recipe because I have received many good feedback from family and friends whenever I bake my regular brownies for them. They love it for the texture (chewy, moist and fudgy) and the taste (bittersweet and chocolatey). Pair this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you will be in heaven! It’s perfect!
So, I attempted and did an experience on converting my regular brownies into a milk-making brownies. Even more ambitious, I did a double-layer lactation brownie with the oat layer and the brownie layer. Both layers are equally loaded with galactagogues: rolled oats, flaxseed meal, brewer’s yeast – all known to increase the milk of breastfeeding mummies.
These brownies definitely work on me! Every time I take a piece for breakfast, I can feel my breasts getting harder. Tried and tested, sure boost! My husband will always be the one trying out my bakes and he loves this one too. It tasted like regular brownies you won’t be able to taste any “extra” ingredients thrown in them. It’s a mommy’s treat with lots of nutritious benefits!
These lactations brownies are always open for order!
The regular brownies are open for order too!
Self collect at Hougang/ Seletar Mall. Delivery can be arranged for $50 and above (you may mix with other bakes).
For order before 30 April 2016, you will be entitled to a 10% discount! Send in your orders to tbm.bakes@gmail.com or leave a comment below!
If you have known me personally, you will understand how eager I wanted to get my milk supply up for my baby boy. I had so much difficulty catching up with his demand. Then, I attempted to try all sorts of milk boosters recommended by other mummies – the green papaya soup, fish soup, fenugreek, papaya, milo, oatmeal… You name it, I tried it and none work for me.
Until one day, I came across this thing called, the lactation cookies! Did I mention… these yummy goodies work, miraculously! My boobs got filled up faster than usual – I was so happy. It’s a mummy’s thing – we will do whatever it takes for our baby.
So here I am… sharing my tried-and-tested lactation bakes with you! It is up for sale too! Do email me at tbm.bakes@gmail.com to order.
These cookies are packed with fibre and galactagogue properties! It is also full of Omega Fatty Acids and B Vitamins! Anyone can eat lactation cookies, even daddies, since they are high in nutrients that everybody needs. It is also important to keep ourselves hydrated especially with such sunny weather in Singapore. Drink lots of waters, mummies and daddies!
If you are wondering what is in these cookies, they are:-
organic rolled oats, organic flaxseed meal, organic brewer yeast, flour, chopped almond, chocolate chips, eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla extract.
Adopting healthier option in using less sugar and butter make my cookies different from others. The guilt of popping cookies is greatly reduced! Less guilt, more happiness! There’s also more texture to my cookies with bits and pieces of oats, nuts, chocolate chips in every bite…
This lactations cookies are always open for order!
Self collect at Hougang/ Seletar Mall. Delivery can be arranged for $50 and above (you may mix with other bakes).
For order before 30 April 2016, you will be entitled to a 10% discount! Send in your orders to tbm.bakes@gmail.com or leave a comment below!
I have been neglecting my logs of late, partly because real life has been unbearably awful for a number of reasons that I won’t go into here, but also because I had got very distracted by a fantastic social media website I stumbled upon called Experience Project.
I had only been on Experience Project for about a month, but it was the best (online) fun I had ever had, and it was, and still is for now, my absolute favourite place on the internet.
I originally joined EP to find friends (preferable female, as I’m married so not looking for a partner) to chat about ANR/ABF and inducing lactation, and there were literally hundreds of groups on this topic on EP, and it was a really nice, friendly place where you could be open about the topic.
Unfortunately, Experience Project announce this week that it is pulling the plug and its virtual doors will close on 21st April. I can’t tell you how sad and disappointed I feel about this; since, although I have Twitter and Facebook I haven’t enjoyed them for a while (and I hate facebook’s tyranny, what a bunch of bleepers), and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere comparable to EP to go to.
RelateToThat seems like the best of a bad bunch. I hope that, if they have a huge influx of new members migrating over from EP, the owners will make some investment and improve the site, as it’s not a patch on EP currently.
I don’t believe the given reasons for EP’s demise, ie trolls and government demands and interference. Anonymity, until facebook came along and ruined everything, was a cornerstone of internet safety, and there is no way that ever site that allows anonymity will have to change. Every single forum that I know of or have ever been part of allows anonymity.
No, I think it’s just a cowardly smokescreen for the fact that EP hasn’t attracted enough advertising revenue or supporter funding, and most importantly, the founder and owner has lost interest. I won’t say how disgusted I am that he did nothing to address the issues or ask supporters and members what we wanted or allow us to suggest solutions.
But there it is. The announcement claims the website and data will continue to be there even though we won’t be able to post anymore. For as long as that’s true, my profile is MrsChakotay.
I had originally planned to post a story in ever single group I joined (over 1000 at the last count) but that doesn’t look possible now, although I might have a good try while I still can. I am toying with the idea of using my EP group titles as potential topics for this blog. We’ll see. I won’t get bored or lost for ideas anyway.
I’d like to thank all my lovely EP fans and friends for making my EP experience a good one (as an aside, I only really had one bad experience, and that was being judged and unfriended by a fellow Christian who wasn’t comfortable with ME being comfortable with MY sexuality, but I’m just going to laugh about that and let it be. Each to their own.). And so I’d like to invite you to join me on Twitter, Facebook, RelateToThat or here on WordPress. I hope we will keep in contact one way or the other.
Yours, Kathryn.
LLAP
How does a workshop customised for new moms and mums to be sound? Great! Right? Mompreneurs and industry experts along with experienced moms have come together to organise this one of a kind workshop which will give you a first hand experience of what lies ahead in the parenting journey. Tag your partner along so that he gets a sneak peak too!
Why should you attend this workshop?
All babies want to be carried but you as a full time caregiver may have limitations.Wearing your baby can be considered as a full upgrade of the precious time you spend with your little one. Baby wearing primarily improves the quality of life for the caregivers as well as new little. Having experienced the benefits of babywearing for themselves, two of India’s top Babywearing brands, Almitra and Cookiie Baby Carriers come together to bring you a workshop like never before.
A beautiful soft structured carrier by Cookiie
A gorgeous wrap by Almitra
You get to learn from the Indian babywearing industry leaders and cloth diapering experts how making a choice to wear your baby and using eco friendly diapers can make life convenient for you and your baby. Meet parents who have been wearing and cloth diapering their little ones right from their infancy.
Some of the primary reasons, new parents are giving babywearing and Cloth diapering a warm welcome are listed below.
• Babywearing gives you freedom to explore life with the little one. You get two free hands and a whole lot of options, while keeping baby safe at all times.
• You and baby can bond better with baby learning how you interact with the world and reading your expressions.
• Wearing your baby excercises some of the core muscles of our body. A happier baby and a fitter you !
• Wearing baby improves lactation and learning nursing cues
• You nurture happier, calmer babies…its that simple !
• Wearing promotes a secure attachment development between caregivers and babies
• It decreases colic, fussiness, reflux in smaller babies
• Holding baby closer enhances neuro functions, brain development and early learning.
• Most of all it keeps you happy ! Wearing your baby is known to release oxytocin – the famous love hormone and decrease stress hormones in the caregiver and babies.
• Cloth Diapering is the most natural and pocket friendly way for baby’s diapering requirement.
• You contribute to the environment and your baby’s wellbeing.
• Breastfeeding lessens risk of breast cancer and post partum depression in younger mothers.
• Breast fed babies are protected against diseases with natural antibodies being passed on from mum to baby.
• Ensures a consistent and safe nourishment for growing babies.
Join them this Easter Sunday to know more and experience the benefits of babywearing, breastfeeding and cloth diapering yourself.