Breastfeeding / nursing

I'm not sure yet if I will take this one off the sidebar, but I wanted to dedicate a post to this link. I do not consider myself an advocate, but I am definitely passionate about breastfeeding. There are so many benefits to the mother and baby both.

My own history: I did believe it was important with my first, but for some stupid reason I thought it was inconvenient at the time (I was extremely modest and he was on a schedule), so I gave him too many bottles of formula and was dried up by 6 1/2 months.

By the time #2 came along, I finally realized it was MORE convenient to breastfeed! What a blessing! I nursed her as long as I possibly could, which ended up being 15 months. I would have gone to age 2 or 3 if I had enough milk. :(

Number 3 was pretty much the same, but I only made it to one year. I barely made it. The last time I nursed him was on his first birthday. I was so sad. :(

Number 4 got off to a horrible start because he was in NICU for nearly 3 weeks. I have never tried so hard in my life though. I wanted to make this work and aimed for breaking my record of 15 months. Long story short, I ended up having to supplement at 8 months because he was still under 12 pounds. He had only gained 13 ounces between 5 and 8 months of age. So I threw in the towel and supplemented (even though I was told to STOP breastfeeding), and I dried up and stopped nursing him by 11 months. I was very sad (I cried when he was diagnosed "Failure to Thrive" because I knew he needed more from me), but I was happy that we at least lasted as long as we did.

If/when our Father in heaven decides to bless us with another baby, I am focusing more on a healthy pregnancy to avoid the problems I had before. They are preventable! So I am hoping to have a healthy pregnancy and birth and then finally have that "perfect" breastfeeding experience. But we live in a fallen, broken world, so we'll pray and see what happens!

Check out this site if you or someone you know has any questions at all regarding breastfeeding!

Yahoo group

Quick note....I've decided to leave my "awards" on the sidebar because it's just fun bloggy bling! :) And I only have one.

Okay, so another button I am taking off is one I made for the raw vegan pregnancy/nursing group. I started the group just 3 years ago and it is up to 240 members now! There have been so many women who have had incredibly healthy pregnancies and births while members in this group, and it has been a blessing to read their stories, especially when they can compare the raw pregnancy and birth to previous "normal" diet ones. The difference is amazing!

Raw Pregnancy and Breastfeeding group

How crunchy are YOU?

Take this quiz below and let me know what your granola factor is! :)

Do you have homebirths?
15 points for “yes” (unassisted)
10 points for “yes” (with a midwife in attendance)
5 points for alternative birthing center
2 points for “thinking about/would like homebirth”
0 for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Will you circumcise future sons?
5 points for “no”
-5 points for “yes”.

Do you use cloth diapers?
20 point if you do Elimination Communication (no diapers)
15 points if “yes” (wash and make your own)
10 points if “yes” (wash your own)
5 points if “yes” (diaper service)
2 points if “thinking about it”
0 points if “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you observe your fertility signals using Natural Family
Planning/Fertility Awareness and use that for birth control/trying to conceive?
10 points for “yes” (observe and use for birth control/ttc) or you use ecological
breastfeeding/lactational amnorrhea
5 points for “yes” (observe for trying to conceive)
2 points “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you breastfeed exclusively for the first 6+ months?
10 points if “yes”
5 points for “no” (use occasional bottles of expressed breastmilk)
2 points for “no” (use occasional bottles of formula)
0 for “no” (don’t breastfeed by choice).

Do you co-sleep/family bed?
10 points for “yes” (all night every night)
5 points for “yes” (part/all of most nights)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no”.

Do you use a sling/soft carrier?
5 points for “yes”
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you believe in/practice child-led weaning
(even if that means breastfeeding for several years)?
15 points for “yes” (complete child-led weaning)
10 points for “yes” (up to 3 years)
5 points for “yes” (up to 2 years)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (you’ll wean the baby at 1 year or earlier).

Do you tandem nurse/nurse during your pregnancy?
10 points for “yes” (nurse during pgcy and tandem nurse)
5 points for “yes” (nurse during pgcy, but wean before birth)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no”(wouldn’t consider it).

Do you eat organic/whole/natural foods and limit your meat?
15 points for “yes” (grow own/buy organic, shop only at health food store,
grind own wheat, vegetarian, etc.)
10 points for “yes” (grow some of own food, buy organic,
use whole wheat flour, bake own bread, eat some meat occasionally)
5 points for “yes” (try to buy natural, whole grain foods, etc.)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you use herbal/homeopathic remedies?
10 points if “yes” (very rarely see a regular doctor)
5 points if “yes” (but use a doctor occasionally)
2 points if “thinking about it” (see a doc for now)
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you homeschool?
10 points if “yes” (currently homeschool)
5 points for “yes” (will homeschool)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

What's your take on childhood vaccinations?
15 points for no vaccines
10 for delayed, selective vaccination
5 points for selective, on schedule vaccination
2 points for thinking about not vaccinating
0 points for vaxing on schedule.

Would you/have you ever breastfeed/fed someone else's baby
or has someone else bf your child?
10 points if yes (have or someone has bf your baby)
5 points if yes (would)
2 points if maybe 0 if no (wouldn't consider it).

Do you use cloth/re-usable products for mom?
10 points if yes (make own)
5 points if yes (buy own)
2 points if thinking about it
0 points if no.

Ratings
120 – 140 Super Nutty, Ultra-Crunchy Granola Earth Mama!
90 – 119 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!
60 – 89 Pretty Crispy
20 – 59 Sprinkled with Granola
5 – 19 Instant Oatmeal
0 - 4 Jell-O

I scored a 157. I think the quiz needs to give more options on some of the questions. For example, we do practice EC but we also use diapers! We only EC part-time, I guess you could say. Also, half of us are vegetarian, but we don't always buy organic and we still eat out some. We also unschool which is more crunchy than just homeschooling in general. Maybe I'll customize my own granola quiz. :)

What is YOUR score? :)

Sharing a blog

I just stumbled upon this blog that I wanted to share with you. This lady is quite offensive in some of her posts......I LOVE IT!!!!! :)

Okay, that probably sounds wrong. LOL! I don't think she is out to offend people and make them mad on purpose, but she is passionate about certain topics and not afraid to say so! Like me, only I wish I was more bold. She has a great sense of humor too.

Now, I haven't looked at her entire site yet, so I can't make a blanket statement that I love her whole site......but the parts I have read so far are great! I love it enough to post it here! :)

Some of the topics that she blogs about are attachment parenting, baby wearing (slings, etc.), breastfeeding, cosleeping, elimination communication, frugality, gentle discipline, baby sign language, UNSCHOOLING......and a few more! It looks like I may have a lot in common with someone else in the world after all! LOL!

Ah, I know there are many more crunchy people out there......somewhere. I just don't know anyone quite as crunchy as me IRL. Well, maybe a couple, but no one that I see on a regular basis, at least.