Drink Baby Drink

As most people know, since I'm not shy about telling everyone, I nursed Jake until he was 2...he never used a bottle, never even tasted formula..
And as most nursing moms know breastfed babies eat quite often...sometimes it seems like it never stops..well my experience with breastfeeding has apparently paid off for LO...

How you may ask?  Well I'll tell you...
Since LO was about a 1 1/2 months old she would eat about 3 ounces of formula, never more then that and sometimes even less.  We were feeding her about every 2 hours...it was (is) very tiresome sometimes...but hey...that's what happens when you breastfeed so I just chalked it up to baby behavior..
At her 4 month check up I asked the doctor about LO's feeding behavior...every time I switch her to a faster nipple she seems like she's gagging and yet the slow nipple seems to tire her out and she gives up drinking.  The doctor decided that the best thing would be to have LO go for a Speech Therapy consult to see if there was some issues with her muscle tone in her jaw. 

So off we went to see what was going on..
And well, she has no gag reflex, she doesn't have proper suction/feeding technique, and she is very sensory tactile (which apparently is an issue at this age).  The therapist said we should also keep an eye on her because she might have a sensory processing disorder. 

So what does this have to do with breastfeeding?  Well these are all issues that would have been noticed in the first few weeks of nursing and though they would have caused a nursing mom some issues, a skilled lactation consultant would have been able to help correct some of the issues by proper mouth placement.
Talking to the therapist helped me feel better, I thought I was over reacting..but what really made me feel good was the therapist said that most of the babies that she sees with LO's issues are severly underweight..and the fact that she is at the proper weight shows how well I read/respond to her cues and that my experience as a breastfeeding mother is what helped the most.  Since I was already subconsciously prepared to be feeding almost constantly.

So over the next few months we are doing physical therapy...she has been switched to a different nipple, a different type of pacifier.  We have to use this funky chewy tube thing when ever we are just sitting around. And I have to do this cheek exercise and a lip exercise..and that's just for this week.  Next week there are some other things we have to start..she didn't want to overwhelm me..(ha ha)

So the good thing about this whole situation is that by catching this early her eating, swallowing, and speech won't be affected..

All because I was a breastfeeding mom!

GO BREASTFEEDING!

Topic of the Day: MEN!

I want to talk about men..it seems to be the topic today..Whitney over at Not Merely a Momma talked about her husbands feet and Tiffany (@MomNom) blogged at Scary Mommy about neutering her husband.  I want to talk about how frustrating men can be sometimes...

They fart, belch, leave their dirty socks all over the house, and never put the toilet seat down.  They scratch their privates and pick their butts..and when you bend over to pick something up they butt check you!  (Butt checking is..when they thrust their pelvis into your tush I hate that!!)  I can barely tolerate those things, but I think its programmed in to their DNA so what else can you expect..what I can't tolerate is when grandpa does things just to annoy me.

Like when the LO is sleeping, he comes in and makes loud noises seemingly wanting to wake her up.  I just want to slap him upside the head...I am terrified that she'll wake up and then I'll have to spend hours getting her back to sleep..I threaten him with death if he wakes her but he just smiles and acts like its no big deal.

The other thing he does that pisses me off (I can get pissy pretty easily) is when he brings me the LO with a poopy diaper.  He just smiles and leaves her in my lap..I'm mean jeez..its just a dirty diaper..clean the damn thing.  Poor baby having to wait for me to do it!  I have been half tempted to leave a dirty diaper in his car, just to prove the point..don't mess with the GiGi!

4 Questions

Every morning when I get up I have a four things I do to make my day go better..I take my vitamins, I brush my teeth, put on my makeup, and ask myself four questions.

This has been my morning ritual for years but lately I've had to modify my morning ritual to include bottle washing..those darn things don't wash themselves.  Because I've had to add bottle washing as well as caring for LO to my rituals, sometimes other things slip..I forget to put on my makeup or take my vitamins, I've even forgotten to brush my teeth but I always remember to ask my four questions..They are what keeps me grounded!

They are simple questions but they have a power of their own.  I have them written on a post-it note and stuck to my bathroom mirror.
 

Question 1.  Who do I love?
Question 2.  Who loves me?
Question 3.  What am I proud of?
Question 4.  What do I wish to accomplish today?

I also have them written in my calendar and in my household planner.  I have them stuck in other places so that when I forget who I am, or where I am going,  I can stop and ask the questions again to help me get back on track.

There have been days in my life when I struggle to remember who loves me.  Or I can't find a thing to be proud of, but I never move on to the next question until I have an answer..Someone always loves you and there is always something to be proud of in you life.  As for accomplishments..sometimes just asking the four questions is accomplishment enough. 

Today when I asked the questions these were my replies:

Question 1.  Who do I love?
I love my son and my LO.

Question 2.  Who loves me?
My son and my parents.

Question 3.  What am I proud of?
I'm proud of the way I am raising my children and that I have blogged for 8 days in a row.

Question 4.  What do I wish to accomplish today?
Getting that rack set done in Milwaukee and getting home at a decent time so I can write my 9th post.  

We all have our own rituals, those things that we do rote, so our day runs smooth.  What are some of your morning rituals?  And what would be your answers to the four questions? 

Breastfeeding Regrets

As strange as this may sound, I have this feeling of incompleteness because I can't breastfeed my little one.  Obviously I can't breastfeed her since she is a foster baby, but every time she cries, I feel that tightness in my chest and that let-down feeling (no milk though), I just want to rip off my shirt and attach her to my breast. 
My babywearing group is filled with nursing mothers.  My twitter friends chat about nursing and wanting to nurse for at least 2 years.  Its all around me.  In 2 years that closeness my friends all share with their little ones will be a long lost memory for me.
I do seem to remember though at the 2 year mark I was feeling more like a milk cow then a mom! But I kind of missed that milk cow feeling!
I feel like I can't even support the Nestle boycott because that's the company that make's my little ones formula.
BTW, no matter what anyone tells you...bottlefeeding is 100 times harder then breastfeeding.  Once you get your breastfeeding groove on its as simple as 1, 2, 3..bottles..are more like 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 20..YUCK..and I'm always losing the caps..I have to wonder if the caps go to the same place as missing socks?  
Well I guess I'm going to have to get going because I hear my son in the bathroom with the plunger..this cloth diaper thing is going to kill me yet!
But let me leave off with this question...
What can someone do who doesn't have the option to breastfeed do to keep the closeness nursing mothers feel as long as possible?