Milestones and The Top Five

A few weeks ago, we hit the goal we had been working toward for the last year. That's right, we made it! One year. Slow weight gain. Working twelve hour shifts. We made it. No formula, just mama's lovely, albeit skim, milk. I posted previously about my son starting to wean and that has progressed a bit but there are still days that he wants to nurse all day long and I'm totally fine with that. I told my husband today that I thought he would nurse til he turns two, to which he replied, "Are you surprised?". This leads me to my favorite top-five ever. The answers to the question I have been getting since we reached that year mark:

How did you do it?

5. Find a breast-friendly pediatrician

     While this is not number one on my list, I cannot stress how important this is. I've probably mentioned
     a handful of times now how big of a role our pediatrician played in our breastfeeding success. Find a
     pediatrician that you trust. Find a pediatrician who has positive feedback from breastfeeding mothers
     in your area. There are pediatricians in my are who are wonderful and sweet, maybe have shorter wait
     times in the office, but who would have encouraged supplementing in a heartbeat with my son. We
     went for my son's one year check up last week and the pediatrician laughed at the growth chart. Literally
     LOL'd. Maybe it's because it resembles a stock graph or something totally unrelated to infant growth or
     maybe because he was right. Remember I mentioned that our pediatrician, while my son was hovering in
    the second percentile for months, told me not to sweat it and around 6 months he would shoot up? He
    did. He jumped from the 2nd to the 23rd then at a year, he jumped to the 64th percentile for weight. We
    never supplemented with formula and we started solids slowly at 6 months, per the recommendation of the
    AAP. I trusted him and he trusted my body and my choice to EBF. He was a great fit for our family. At
    the end of our appointment, he asked if C was still a breast guy and I said yes. He said that was great and
    that we were in no hurry to wean. Swoon.

4. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

     No one expects you to know all of the answers. I tell first time moms in the hospital all the time: You
     have never done this before and neither has your baby. It is a learning process for both of you and every
     time you sit down to feed, you will both learn something about feeding and each other.

     There is no shame in asking questions. Reach out. Reach out to moms who have done this before you.
     Reach out to moms who will keep it real with you. Positive feedback is great, but if you are doing
     something that will be detrimental to your nursing relationship, it helps to have someone you can count
     on to help bring you back to center. One day, it will be your favor to return and you'll be grateful that
     you asked questions so that you can pass on the wealth of knowledge you have acquired.

     Asking your gal pals is a great idea but these gems will become your best friends:

Kelly Mom - the web's breastfeeding Bible

LactMed Drugs and Lactation Database

     Kelly Mom also has a Facebook page and there are many other social media pages that serve as great

     and informal resources on lactation. Please remember that advice given by friends, bloggers, etc. is 

     wonderful and generally accurate, but it does not replace that of an IBCLC, MD or other professionals

     trained in lactation. 

3. Stand your ground

     You know your baby and your body best. If you aren't comfortable giving your baby a pacifier, don't
     If you aren't comfortable leaving your baby with grandma to take a bottle so you can get some sleep,
     don't. Are you keeping track of wets, dirties and temperament and know that your baby is getting
     enough despite what feels like the rest of the world telling you otherwise? Tell them to shut it! Are
     there times you are going to want more sleep and that bottle will sound tempting? Absolutely. Just
     remember that you made this choice and you are the only one who can decide to go the other route.
     

2. Trust your body.

     Yes, there are women who, for various physiologic reasons, are unable to produce breast milk. The
     odds that you are one of them? Slim. Women tend to start doubting themselves when babies don't
     latch right away, aren't sleeping through the night when other babies of the same age are or may not
     have regular dirty diapers....or a plethora of other reasons. Remember: You were made for this! 
     Women are designed to lactate for our young. Am I saying there won't be stumbling blocks or that
     this beautiful and natural thing will come as easy as your natural labor - oh, wait...just keeping you on
     your toes! There will be times you will doubt your ability to produce wonder food for your baby and
     you will question the strength of your body and mind - nurse on. You've got this!        

1. Surround yourself with people who are supportive of your choice to exclusively breast feed.

    I tell moms in the hospital all the time: You will get a ton of feedback and advice about breastfeeding -           mostly from women who have never breastfed. There are so many support resources available:

    Adventures in Breastfeeding (ofcourse!)

Local Le Leche Groups

...as well as local hospital and community

based support groups.

     Becoming socially accountable for reaching breastfeeding goals goes far. I refer to it as positive peer

     pressure. Of course, there is nothing wrong with giving medically indicated formula, but there is something

     about knowing how your friends will react if you were to bring a bottle of ready-to-feed to a play date

     that keeps a breastfeeding mom motivated to trudge forward, even in the hardest growth spurts or

     sleepless nights.

I am so thankful to have come this far in our nursing journey and cherish each session now. The hardest thing is knowing that any day now I could nurse my sweet boy for the last time but the best thing is knowing how far we have come. When you doubt yourself, remember that you can do this. 

Til next time, mamas...

Keep calm and nurse on.

5 Awesome Breastfeeding Posters

One of the consequences of becoming a "Lactivist" is that I now occasionally have to face accusations of promoting propaganda. It's one of the primary critiques that is most frequently leveled at the breastfeeding community: we like to make breastfeeding seem like it's all sunshine and daises, that it's easy and that the alternative (formula) is inferior.

Well.... yeah. I mean, we obviously chose to breastfeed because there was a compelling case for it, and we like to share that knowledge and enthusiasm with others. In fact, organizations and governments have been promoting breastfeeding to the masses for centuries, producing imagery to inform and inspire (and offend, sometimes). Here are a few of my favorite breastfeeding posters:

WPA Federal Arts Project Poster, 1938 - You may have seen this one floating around the internet for a while. I love it for how direct the message is, and how the art is so clearly grounded in the time period. I can't help but wonder to what "trouble" the text refers (there were just SO many troubles to choose from in 1938), but the almost wartime-phrasing is somewhat surprising in such a tender context. I would love to see an updated version of this poster for today.

Vintage breastfeeding poster located at the WWII / National Uprising Museum in Slovakia - I chose this one because it's contemporary with and thematically similar to the American version above. Unfortunately, I can't read the language and I've been unable to find a translation online, but the imagery is fascinating: firstly, there's the overt religious tones, with Mary and the infant Christ up in the corner, the heavenly rays and the cross opposite. There is a clear suggestion here that nursing the baby is a spiritual duty, but it looks like it may also be a civic one.... see the map behind the figures? And whereas the previous example cuts off the figure so that you can't see much of the nursing infant, this one shows both the baby and much of the bare breast, and even the hold the mother is using to assist his latch. This was clearly a poster for an audience who did NOT find breastfeeding scandalous.

New York City Department of Health Poster, 2012 - This poster is one in a series from the Latch On NYC campaign, which placed them in subways and hospitals, to inform mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding. The text reads "Breast Milk is best for your baby." You can see English versions here, but I selected the Spanish one to make the point that this campaign targeted everyone, not just the affluent white women who continue to disproportionately represent the breastfeeding community. While the images themselves drew fire for being too condescending and heavy-handed, the real controversy was over the accompanying initiative to discourage hospitals from handing out free formula. Read more here.

Unknown Breastfeeding Ad - I cannot find any information about this ad, which popped up on an Australian homebirth site. I have only one thing to say about it, anyway: BALLSY.

Or boobsy?

I have to be honest: if I were the art director on this campaign, I would never have chosen that image. Still, it's an attention-grabber, which I guess is a plus?

World Breastfeeding Week Poster, 2002 - This is my favorite breastfeeding image of all time and forever, because COME ON, FOLKS: IT'S FREAKIN' XENA! The incomparable Lucy Lawless, or Xena/Cylon #3/Lucretia breastfeeding a baby and looking smoking hot while doing it. What's not to love? And the tagline is sheer brilliance, as well.
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To see MANY more posters, check out this incredible gallery over at Paa.la's blog.

And for more breastfeeding in art, both modern and historical, check out my first post on Adventures in Breastfeeding. And let me know what artsy topic you would like me to cover next!

Size of Your Baby's Stomach

This is one of my favorite images out there. It's so helpful to know the size of your newborn's stomach! Especially when you're just starting out!

Here's a hint...it's teeny!

Traveling with a Breastfeeding Baby

Since L has been born he's been on an airplane twice (12 weeks and 1 year) and taken two 5-6 hour road trips (5 months and 10 months).  It's my personal opinion that traveling with a breastfeeding baby is easier than bringing formula with you, but then again, everything about formula seems inconvenient to me so I might not be the best judge!

I will say that breastfeeding a 12 week old when traveling by plane and then breastfeeding a one year old are very different experiences!  And traveling by car certainly has different challenges as well! As we are approaching summer, and therefore the time of family vacations, I wanted to share some tips to make travel, by any means of transportation, a little easier.

1. If you're flying and have a layover, check out the airports website to see if they have a nursing mothers room - the bigger airports (where you're most likely to layover) tend to have facilities for nursing mothers.

2.  If you're a little shy about nursing in public, try and book a window seat.  You're more hidden and will, hopefully, be more comfortable.

3.  Remember you can bring breast milk through airport security and there is no limit to how much you can bring.  You'll most likely have to have additional screening, like checking your hands for explosive residue, but they will let you carry on as much as you have.  Just let them know you have it when you get in line.

4. Since new babies eat a lot, if you're traveling by car in the early days try and plan your stops around your baby's feeding schedule.  No one wants to stop at 12 for the adults to have lunch only to have to make another stop an hour later for the baby to eat.

5. Try and drive around nap time.  Get in a good feeding and then start your trip.

6. When your baby is older, if you get slightly off of their feeding schedule it's not the end of the world.  Your little one will let you know if you need to pull over RIGHT NOW for a feeding.

7.  Pumping in the car is awesome!  They make car adapters for most pumps so you won't go through a ton of batteries.  It's the ultimate multi-taskig!

8. Babywearing can make travel, by plane, car or train, so much easier.  Practice nursing in your wrap, sling, or SSC a few times before your trip and you'll be able to nurse your LO while going from gate to gate or when you stop for a much needed leg stretch.

This was L after we landed in Florida for our recent Disney World trip.

Have you traveled with a nursing baby?  If so, what advice would you give someone doing it for the first time?

You

You.

The one whom I loved before I knew.

The one I wept over

Worried over

Prayed over.

The one I delighted in.

The more I grew the more excited I became

As I whispered to you in my belly.

Waves of pain,

Stubborn brain cells willing fearful muscles to relax

And nervous lungs to breathe.

"Oh my goodness" and then...

You.

Miniature wrinkles and brand new fingers

And those eyes: pools of blue

I stared into

As you lifted your little head with great effort to meet my gaze.

That cord wasn't the only thing tying us together.

You

And me.

We.

A dynamic duo since before day one.

Splish splash,

Rockabye,

Mommy's here,

Don't you cry.

And in the midst of this entropic commotion of

Tears and laughter and seven million pictures

You nestle against my breast

And tuck your smooth, sweet smelling hand underneath my collarbone.

Your cherub cheeks grow still as the sucking slows

And your eyelashes quiver like a butterfly's wing.

My heart wants to whisper a prayer of gratitude,

But the heavy warmth of you in my arms

And the smell of milk on your chin

Make finding words impossible.

Except,

"You."