JaeByrd’s Nest

A few myths that were going around 10 years ago and that are still going around today:

I have inverted nipples so I couldn’t.
http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/invertednipples.html - Women BREASTfeed, not NIPPLEfeed. With knowledge and help most women can go on to breastfeed and many do. For some the problem corrects itself as the pregnancy progresses and for other there are things you can do while still pregnant to prepare for breastfeeding when the baby is born. http://www.breastfeeding.org/articles/beforebaby.html

I got sick so I couldn’t.
http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/mom-illness.html - Short of a few serious illnesses you can and should continue to breastfeed. Your milk won’t make the baby sick, BUT it does give him antibodies to your cold/flu etc. Just be sure any medications you may take are safe while breastfeeding.

I didn’t have enough milk/a little supplementing won’t hurt/he only wanted a bottle.
http://www.kidsnutrition.org/consumer/archives/supply.htm
http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/supppit.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t023200.asp - Most people don’t understand the system of supply and demand. (Just look at the debt issues in our country today…) Breastfeeding is very much a matter of supply and demand… or actually baby demands and your body supplies! When you introduce bottles the demand on you falls and your body gets the message and your supply drops. Continue this trend and soon you’re not making enough.

Yeah, I know some people do fall into the small minority of women that are UNABLE to breastfeed because of a real problem. But, the majority of those that I’ve seen that have claimed an “inability” to breastfeed were because of a failure to seek out/be provided knowledge and support, not a failure of their body.

You know it has been almost a decade since I’ve read up on the whole breastfeeding scene. What amazes me is that with all the time that has passed the lack of understanding that is still out there.

With as big as the Organic craze has gotten you have people who will shop at the natural foods store while pregnant, so baby has the best, but still have no qualms about giving their baby a bottle of formula. It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Not only does it show a lack of understanding of the supply and demand nature of breastfeeding, but if organics are good enough for your unborn baby and yourself why isn’t it good enough once the baby is born? After all what is more organic than breastmilk? Human milk for human babies.

Yes, yes… “babies do just fine on formula,” but breastfed babies do so much better. It’s the optimum best you can give your baby. Who actually does the optimum and best these days? They say formula is good enough. No it’s not! Saying breastfed babies do better is saying Formula is the norm and breastfeeding is better. (See my rant: Breast is Norm - Bottle is inferior for list of reasons.)

We need to reset our meters as to what is normal. What is organic? What is the God given and natural way to feed a baby? How were babies fed before formula? Why Breast of course. Which means that Formula fed babies aren’t as healthy as breastfed ones. Formula fed babies have more problems than breastfed babies. Formula fed babies aren’t as smart as breastfed babies.

What if you can’t? From what I’ve seen over the past 10 years is that only a very small amount of women can’t breastfeed given the proper knowledge and support. I’ve seen women overcome amazing obstacles to breastfeed.

If you really are in that minority of those truly unable to breastfeed, then that is what Formula should be for. To feed babies who aren’t able to get breastmilk who would otherwise starve. It should be a substitute for when the natural process doesn’t work. It should NOT be the default choice.

My Pregnancy and Early Parenting page has some more links for Breastfeeding info.

In light of recent news about animal-human embryo research and
Britain Destroys More Than 1 Million ‘Excess’ Embryos

I thought I’d share this story/excerpt from a book I just heard about:
What Is at Stake in the Embryo Experimentation Debate

There are families willing and waiting to give these little lives a womb to grow in. A home and family to welcome them with loving arms. That loves them before they are pregnant or give birth to them.

These are just a few links with more information:
http://www.nightlight.org/snowflakeadoption.htm
http://www.embryoadoption.org/
http://www.embryodonation.org/

An Embryo is a life waiting to be born, not just a Blob of matter.

As we close out the week I thought I’d share an article about Secondary Infertility. The struggle to conceive again. When you are stuck between the infertile, and the fertile of the world, yet not really part of either. A road that is both easier because you’ve been down it before and at the same time harder because you now know what you are missing.

In keeping with this week’s theme here is a song/video I thought I’d share:
“I Would Die for That” by Kellie Coffey.

In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week, we hope that you will read this document from RESOLVE and share it with others. Please keep in mind that this medical condition affects 1 in every 6 couples.Things we wish our family/friends knew about infertility …

1. That it is probably the most devastating thing that we will ever experience.
2. That it deeply affects our self-esteem.
3. That it affects our relationships with everyone that we know.
4. That it interferes with our day to day functioning.
5. That the medications make us moody and emotional and cause us to gain weight.
6. That it makes us feel violated.
7. That it is very expensive to go through treatment and to adopt.
8. That it is emotionally draining.
9. That it changes our lives forever - We will never again be the same people that we once were.
10. That people experiencing infertility have depression rates that are equal to those experiencing cancer.
11. That it is a life-altering experience.
12. That it makes us question everything we ever believed in.
13. These are medical issues, not lifestyle issues. Talk to us as you would someone who has heart disease, diabetes, or any other medical condition. Be a sounding board for the tests, results, side effects, etc of the treatments. NEVER suggest relaxing or having sex more often, or adopting (ie: if you adopt, you will become pregnant).
14. Realize that a pregnancy that results from infertility is not the same as others. Infertile couples may have a hard time easing up and enjoying their pregnancy. After being used to receiving disappointment, pregnancy is not yet the end of the road.
15. Even though your intentions are good, you will probably say something that is offensive to us because this is such a sensitive subject.
16. No matter how close the friendship, it will be hard to completely connect with fertile friends.
17. There is always something there that others cannot understand, even when you do try so hard to empathize.
18. Infertility affects all aspects of your life and the pain is inescapable. You are confronted with it at work, at the mall, walking down your street, on television, with family and friends when they don’t even know it. Kids are life’s common denominator. When you can’t participate in these conversations (and they are everywhere) you just don’t fit in anywhere.
19. Baby showers are one of the most painful events that we can be asked to attend.
20. In this day and age people need to be more cognitive that some people may want kids and are having trouble and some people may not want children for certain reasons. It is not up to family/friends to provide a running commentary on the issue. You never know the situation of the person you are talking to (some people are not open about their infertility treatments) so it’s better to err on the side of caution and not make a lot of pregnancy comments/questions.
21. To remember that if I am acting mad at times, I am not mad at you, I am mad at my life.
22. That I will talk about things that are happening with my treatment when I am ready and your probing and questions do not make me any readier to discuss “what I am going to do next.”
23. It’s hard to know what I will be doing next. If there were a script, it would be easier to predict the future, but everyone is different.
24. That unless you have done what I’ve done and been through what I have been through, you can’t possibly know how I feel and can’t possibly know what to tell me to do about the pain and frustration that infertility brings.
25. That I will be okay again, but I don’t know when. So when I seem okay, just accept that as a good thing for the moment, and don’t press me, because I don’t know how long the feeling okay again thing will last.
26. Going through infertility is like being on a roller coaster. There are constant ups and downs and surprising drops We never know what is around the next curve and work very hard to just stay fastened in our seats.
27. Infertility is a journey that will take us to many places we never thought of or knew about and it will shape us into new people (some of our newness will be good and some will not be) and change how we look at and deal with everything in our lives. Once you’ve been on this journey you are never the same again.
28. The thing that I wish people knew is that the sadness that accompanies infertility sometimes comes unexpectedly and at the most awkward moments. I wish I could plan my depression! But unfortunately, it just doesn’t work out like that. Of course, these moments come when I’m surrounded by other people– watching TV with a group and you see a commercial with a couple holding a baby– totally unrelated to parenting, pregnancy or whatever, but it’s just the image that is devastating. Or driving in a car and a song comes on the radio that talks about babies, parents: “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder, “She’s Having My Baby”.
29. For me (as I’m sure it is for a lot of people experiencing infertility) the greatest fear is that I will never have a child. Each failed treatment cycle, especially as your treatment gets more high-tech, makes this fear even larger. If we could just somehow know that we would have a child, a lot of the stress would be alleviated.
30. I wish family and friends could understand why holidays, baby showers, and just hearing about or being around other people’s children and pregnant woman, can be so hard sometimes.
31. That medical treatments are very painful, emotionally and physically That infertility is a degrading experience. We often feel like failures, like our bodies our not our own, like everyone in the world has touched us, and most especially that the most private part of our lives (our physical relationship with our spouse) has been completely invaded.
32. That infertility treatment is very clinical and definitely is not “fun.” That treatment cycles move very slowly, so try to be patient. We are at the mercy of the medical world.
33. That grief is a VERY important part of the healing process for us. Please let us be sad when we need to be. We have to mourn our losses.

For those of you who like to weigh yourself every morning don’t be overly concerned if you have a sudden weight gain.

Why the Scale Lies:
http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/scale.htm

Remember you want to lose Body Fat, not weight, and muscle weighs more than fat.

Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage:
http://www.healthchecksystems.com/bodyfat.htm

Stick to weighing in on a weekly basis. Or go by how clothes are fitting/measurements.

And set a realistic goal. I remember reading once that most women have a goal that is under the ideal weight for them.

I didn’t go to my martial arts class last night. In part due to being upset over yesterday morning’s find of what happened to my car the last time I was in class. So now I’m feeling the “I blew off my workout- and I really need to workout- feeling lazy blues”. But not guilty enough to go and workout.

Which isn’t all that unusual. Gyms make their money on people wanting to workout, but not actually showing up to workout.

I’ll admit it. I got suckered into signing a contract to one of “those” gyms. I worked-out for about 3-6 months and now I pay monthly for a gym that I never go to. And will till my contract runs out. Which is exactly what they want you to do and how they make their money.
http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/6/84/172/

I even have the usual home gear, magazines, and DVDs cluttering up my house. I have the weights, stability ball, bands, and I even have a punching bag. I can pull up Taebo, pilates, or boot camp on my TV. All this in the privacy and convenience of my own home. Do I use them? Rarely.

Why is it that we don’t love to exercise? Here is an interesting article. Nice pictures too.
http://shorterlink.com/?7QIXWO

Here is a very nice listing of Free Online Workouts:
http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/a/workout_center.htm

And after all that… will I workout today? Does surfing the net count?