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!

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?

Attachment Parenting

16 years ago I took steps to become an attachment parent.
I was raising my ex-husband's 4 year old daughter at the time and I was struggling.  Every thing I did was wrong for her.  She lied, she stole food, she argued about everything.  I was at my wits end.
My precious step-daughter was suffering from an attachment issue.
It took awhile, but I finally got pregnant.  I knew I was going to breastfeed so I started attending LLL.  That's where I got my first issue of Mothering Magazine and came across an article that discussed Jean Liedoff's book The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost (Classics in Human Development).  I couldn't find the book but I did find Jean and called her to see if she could give me help with my step-daughter.  I couldn't afford her consultation fee but she sent me a copy of her book, which then put me on the path of becoming an attached parent.
Armed with The Continuum Concept, Dr. Sears The Baby Book and numerous issues of Mothering Magazine I set out on my quest to make sure my son and I became attached.  I was known in the neighborhood as the crazy mom.  I breastfed until my son was 2 even though my ex-husband objected, I used cloth diapers, I defied the doctors and co-slept with my son. 
The biggest thing I did that turned everyone's head was I wore my son.  I think I was the only mom on Mountain Home Air Force Base that wore her baby.  You could find me walking down the aisle of the commissary with my son in his ring sling.
I was CRUNCHY back before it was called crunchy!
Fast forward to now...My son is shy but he is a caring, kind young man with good manners.  He gets good grades, he's a cautious driver, he is rarely contentious.  He's a good kid, and I'm proud of him and the adult he is becoming.  
When I explained to him that we would be bringing a little baby girl into our lives he commented that we didn't have very good luck with girls.  He has two "sisters" and they haven't turned out so well.
My response to him was that I didn't get a chance to raise his sisters from birth, that they came into our lives already slightly damaged.  He shook his head and went back to reading his book.
I have brought a newborn into his life and he has stepped up to the plate.  He starts the dishwasher if its full, he mows the lawn without me asking, he told me that if I need help he's here to help me-all I have to do is ask.
Is this all because of attachment parenting?  I don't know but I'd like to think so!
I do know this, the little girl that's laying beside me sleeping is going to get the same chance that my son did 16 years ago.  I can't breastfeed, but I can wear my LO everyday and make sure that she learns how to properly bond with her caregiver.
I can give her the one thing that will affect her life forever whether she spends it with me or is placed back with her birth mother.  I can give her the gift of ATTACHMENT and it seems to me that is the most important thing a baby can be given.