Why Breastfeed? : Babies

It's World Breastfeeding Week! And I will be celebrating... by nursing the kid. And writing a few posts this week about the wonders of breastfeeding.

I totally get that some women, for various physical or emotional reasons, can't breastfeed. I'm not here to bash formula. But if this decision is still in the future for you, I strongly encourage you to try breastfeeding!

Today, let's talk about how it benefits baby. Breast milk is truly a miraculous substance, perfectly manufactured to completely fill a baby's nutritional needs for an entire year! It has been nice to not worry about whether Oscar is getting the nutrients he needs.

And believe me, this 30-pound kid is NOT starving.

One really cool thing about breast milk is that it changes to match exactly what baby needs at each point in his life. The very first newborn milk, colostrum, is highly concentrated with antibodies that help boost baby's immunity right when he's being exposed to the wonderful world of foreign pathogens; as the baby grows older, the fat content in milk gets increasingly higher to meet baby's increasing caloric needs. He may eat the same volume at one year that he did at three months, but ounce for ounce, the year-old milk has tons more fat!! Then, when it gets hot out (like it is in Virginia right now. I think I know now where Satan takes his summer vacation), breast milk actually gets more watery so that baby gets proper hydration! It is amazing how smart our bodies are!

Another absolutely wonderful feature of breast milk, and my personal favorite, is its disease-fighting properties.

Imagine that you have two of these attached to your chest.

Breast milk is chock-full of antibodies manufactured by mom. If a breastfeeding baby is exposed to a viral disease, he has a much lower chance of getting sick himself if mom is exposed, as well. Mom gets exposed = her  mature immune system quickly makes antibodies = baby receives those antibodies through nursing = baby doesn't get sick. I can personally vouch for this: in the first entire year of his life, Oscar has not gotten a single ear infection! He did get two colds this year, but he recovered pretty quickly.

So now you have the skinny fatty on breast milk itself; what else does it do for Junior? Breastfeeding is much more of a jaw workout than bottlefeeding, which aids in proper jaw and tooth formation. Breastfeeding helps with eye development because the baby feeds on both sides, as opposed to usually being just held in one particular arm to bottlefeed. Breastfed babies are less likely to have allergies and be obese later on, and more likely to score higher on IQ tests.

But you're on your own with the fashion sense.

So many moms beat themselves up for quitting nursing early, but I say, hey, ANY breastfeeding, whether it's for four weeks or four years, is an amazing gift to give your child! Especially in those early weeks, when baby is adjusting to the big, scary outside world with all its pathogens and frightening noises, breastfeeding can boost immunity, help with allergies, comfort baby, and give your child a little help towards a lifetime of health.

So maybe the question shouldn't be, "Why breastfeed?" Why NOT breastfeed? :-D


Still not convinced? Just wait until you hear about the benefits involved for mom tomorrow!




For more breastfeeding info, check out these sites:
http://www.llli.org/
http://www.kellymom.com/

Is anybody actually vaccinating their kid anymore?

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

That is the question I need to answer by Baby D's two-month checkup.

After listening to the arguments and doing some research, I'm leaning towards the yes, vaccinate camp.

After years of getting are you crazy? remarks for unusual lifestyle habits I practice, such as attempting a home birth, practicing NFP, and my latest thing, EC-ing, I find it odd to be leaning towards a decision in favor the mainstream-- and still getting the "Are you crazy?" vibe. Almost everyone I've talked to has chosen not to vaccinate their kid, and it almost makes me feel like a sellout, a blind sheep, brainlessly following the system without a thought.

But I have thought it out. I've read books, I've heard the arguments; and I think the benefits of vaccination protection outweigh the risks (especially if no one else is vaccinating their kids, ha ha!). I know that Baby D will not be getting a few vaccinations: Hep B, which is essentially an STD and therefore not an issue for babies; the flu shot, which only immunizes against a few strains; and chicken pox, which is, well, chicken pox.

I'm still not 100% decided. On one hand, these vaccinations are highly recommended by CDC and the AAP, highly trained health professionals who have a much better idea of what's going on than I. They spend their whole lives researching this stuff and practicing it. On the other hand, these "highly trained professionals" have, in the past, highly recommended using leeches for bleeding. Medical science is always changing, and who knows if that will also apply to vaccines.

On one hand, Baby D will have to get these vaccinations to participate in public school activities (unless we're in a state where one can decline for religious reasons), and most definitely to get into college, so why not wait until necessity dictates it? On the other hand, I know from firsthand experience what it's like to get the whole series of every shot your senior year of high school. And believe me, it SUCKS!!! (all my immunization records got lost-- neither my parents nor the doctor's office had them, so I had to get everything all over again-- I'm guessing upwards of twelve shots over a five-month span. I now have no fear of needles, and needless to say, if I go through with Baby D's immunizations, I will guard those records like a rottweiler!!!)

On one hand, I could do what a lot of people are doing, and take advantage of the fact that most other people are immunized, and avoid vaccinations myself-- called "herd protection". Of course, if no one else is immunizing their kids, that's not much of a herd!....And then there's the sibling thing. Anyone who has had a few siblings knows that once one person gets sick, the whole family generally has a mini-epidemic. What's worse than one kid with whooping cough? Four or five kids with whooping cough! On the off-chance that one of my kids got exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease, I think vaccination might be good for my own sanity and the sibling's health.

I'm not too worried about aluminum levels, considering Baby D's size (at six weeks old, he is 12 pounds, 12 ounces!). Even so, there is an alternative schedule that spreads the vaccinations over tons more office visits, but I don't think that's very practical.


I feel like I will be getting tacit condemnation from the moms who are choosing not to vaccinate, as once again, "someone succumbs to the system." Oh, the joys of being a parent-- having to do what you think is best, regardless what Aunt Martha or the next-door-neighbor thinks! All you moms out there, what did you decide about vaccinations? I'm very curious to hear about your experiences!

Adventures in Hairdressing

One aspect of pregnancy that I was not prepared for was the number that it does on your hair. My mom says that her hair lost its curl when she got pregnant, so I always assumed that's just what would happen to me. Well, nine months later, I still have plenty of curl, but almost as soon as those blue lines showed up on the pregnancy test, my hair became extremely coarse and easily tangled into large rat's nests-- not such a great thing for nearly waist-length hair!

Having suffered several traumatic haircuts from hairstylists who have no clue how to cut curly hair, and also being a cheapskate, I procrastinated on getting a haircut for a very long time... until I read about Cool Mum's success with cutting her own hair. The heavens opened and angels sang, "Chop it offffffff.... chop it offffff....."

I figured, why spend money to get a bad haircut when I could get the exact same results at home?

So I bought a quality pair of hair shears for $14 (still less than the cost of a haircut) and took a deep breath! Following the advice of this post on cutting your own hair, I pulled it all back in a ponytail and started snipping away. About halfway through, I got nervous about getting an even cut, so I asked Adam to finish it. Poor guy! I don't know why I thought asking someone with absolutely no experience in women's hair was a good idea. When the ponytail was gone, and I turned around to face the mirror, the ending side was at least an inch shorter than the starting side. Whoops! But I actually really like the shorter length, so Adam is saved from sleeping on the couch. ;-)

The site I just mentioned says to make layers by pulling all the hair into a high ponytail and cutting some length off that, but since I part my hair on the side, it made for some funny-looking layers. So, I just pulled sections all around my part and shortened them to roughly the same length.

Overall, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. There are some litle goofy parts to my haircut, but the price was right!

I will never get those Myspace poses down. :-P

Here's a side-ish view!

I lost a good nine or so inches of hair!

Let me tell you, the absence of hair on my neck is feeling p-r-e-t-t-y good in this 100+ degree heat wave we've been having. And- the best part of all- there are no more tangles!!! I seriously did not care what my hair looked like, just as long as it would stop tangling! So I'm happy with it-- perhaps you could call it shear delight? ;-)

My Sexist Deodorant

I can't help but giggle a little every morning, when I reach for my deodorant and see this picture on the front:

I can't quite decide what message this company is trying to send, but I've narrowed it down to a few disturbingly sexist possibilities.


A: UGH, men need help with EVERYTHING. They can't even apply their own deodorant! Take that, chauvinist pigs!


B: Applying deodorant is women's work! A little to the left, wench! I hope you've learned your lesson about submission!


C: Crystal Deodorant is the aluminum-free, hypoallergenic version of Axe. Just wear this stuff, and you will get the man or woman of your dreams! The obligatory shoutout for Axe, which is so egregiously horrendous in its advertising that it deserves its own post.



And If you look even further, there are other scary messages embedded in that picture:


D: A good time with your significant other involves a darkened room and sensual deodorant play. Oh dear, if this is true, then Adam and I have been doing things ALL WRONG.


E. You have options other than steroids. See that guy's muscles? He totally got those from using this deodorant. Of course, that might be because you apparently need to be flexing and posing in order to properly apply this product.



So that is what I have read into my deodorant label. My college English professor would be so proud! Personally, I use the deodorant for its deodorizing properties, as opposed to a man-attractant or a Women's Lib statement, but, you know, I'm weird like that. What do you think? Have I missed any other important subliminal deodorant messages?

A Brief Life Update

I'm back! Wow, life has been crazy for the past few weeks, and I apologize for being such a blog slacker. So here's what's been going on in a nutshell:

~Adam got sick. And then I got sick. It was some sort of nasty respiratory sickness, which I'm still recovering from as far as sniffling and congestion. Since I'm exceptionally loathe to take medication, being pregnant and all, I tried a device called a Neti pot. It's like a small teapot that you fill with a saline solution and use to rinse your sinuses out. Go here if you'd like to see a weird lady demonstrate it on Youtube. I do not recommend those bending exercises, though, unless you want boogers all over your floor!!! Just sayin'. I'm not entirely sure how effective the Neti pot was for me, but it was nice to feel like I was doing something about my cold.

~My work replacement started with the company last week, so I've been training her. And by "training", I mean playing solitaire while she does my job. Ahhhh, these will be a glorious last few weeks at work.

~My sister's birthday was on Tuesday. Since our birthdays are so close together, she made the three-hour drive down here so we could celebrate it together! Our cake was INSANE. She wanted a raw cookie dough cake, and I wanted an ice cream cake. So we combined and made a ridiculous double-layer chocolate chip cookie dough cake with a full carton of ice cream spread over the top. Calories don't count on your birthday, right? Right?? Oh yeah, and since my sister was turning twenty, and I'm turning twenty-four, we put forty-four candles on the cake. I dare you to find a more ridiculous cake (and one that makes a bigger cloud of smoke).

~So what am I doing on my actual birthday, which happens to be tomorrow? Well, not much-- I'll be spending most of the day at work. I'll also be celebrating Arnold Schwartzenegger's birthday, as well as National Cheesecake Day!!! This is probably going to involve me bringing some sort of cheesecake dish to work tomorrow. Adam probably has some special plan up his sleeve because he's sweet like that, but otherwise, that's what my day looks like.

~Today, we went to the local water park for free, courtesy of Adam's workplace. Since I can't really go on any of the slides, and Adam's favorite ride was closed for maintenance, we hung out there for a couple hours, said, "Well, this is lame," and went home. I am SO glad that we got in for free, because they way overcharge for everything there!!! I highly encourage any readers in the area to find alternative means of entertainment, because you will be charged theme park prices for a less-than-memorable experience.

~We are watching a dog for some friends who are currently out of town. The household menagerie score: DOG +1, extremely happy and excited to see our cats. CATS -2, throwing literal hissy fits and spending the past approximate 36 hours under our bed. ADAM AND MARIA +5, extremely entertained by how much the dog still loves the cats anyway.

~My midwife appointment on Tuesday actually took place at our apartment, so that they could scope things out and not worry about finding the place when B-Day actually arrives. Luckily for me. they did not take one look at my apartment and shriek, "NO WAY are you having a baby in this MESS!!!!" which is probably because I spent the two days before doing some hard-core cleaning. Not surprisingly, my blood pressure was high. Of course I wasn't going to tell them, "Yeah, I was under stress to get the house clean!!!" so now I have to actually formally exercise and eat more protein. Oy veh. On a more positive note, tomorrow marks nine months!

So that's what's going on at the Downright Domicile. Hope you all are beating the heat just fine and enjoying the rest of your summer!

WFMW: Water-Drinking Tips

For most of my life, the extent of my liquid intake was my morning coffee and water with my meals. And I was very happy in my camel-like ways. And then.... I got pregnant.

So you could imagine my response when my midwife matter-of-factly told me that I must start drinking half my body weight in ounces of water every day: "Are you kidding me???"

But after a mere couple weeks of this oceanic experience, having drunk over 1,400 ounces of water already, I am ready to share my water-drinking tips with you. Ready to float away with me?


1. Put your day's worth of water in one large jug. This has probably been the biggest help, because I can see how much I've drunk and how much I still need to drink. If it's getting later in the day, I can tell at a glance that it's time for more "bottoms up!"


2. Use a large glass. When I used a mug, I failed pretty badly. Since it held less water, it gave me a false sense of drinking more than I actually was. Switching to a 12-ounce glass helped immensely! Now, I only have to drink eight glasses, as opposed to sixteen a day.


3. Flavor that water! I will be honest with you: Tang is my new best friend. I don't know why it's easier to drink water when it's not, well, water-flavored, but that's the way it is. In order to not completely rot my teeth out, I use about half the recommended dose. Lemons are also fantastic! Those who are unable to keep fresh lemons during the day, take heart! My mother has informed me that there's this great product called True Lemon-- crystallized lemon sold in packets that tastes just like the real deal. I'm very interested to try it! I've also heard that mint, crushed strawberries, cucumbers, or a small amount of juice helps make water irresistible!


4. Drink it at room temperature. Maybe I'm just weird, but I find it difficult to drink large amounts of chilled water from the fridge.



Is there anything I've missed? Please leave a comment! Remember, I still have about 18,200 more ounces to go till this baby is born! :-D

Be sure to check out the rest of the carnival fun at Rocks In My Dryer!

GladRags: possibly the best thing ever

Well, we still have power, but it has been precipitating all day. Classes are cancelled, and businesses are closed. As of now, at 3:45 p.m., there is not a single tire track in the apartment parking lot, because everyone is holing up in their apartments. And no wonder, because it's so nice and cozy inside! Ahhhh, where's my hot chocolate?

Now, for the topic of the day. I was going to wait a little longer to write this, but circumstances compel me to share the tidings sooner! Read on, read on! FOR THE MALE READERS: this post is all about feminine hygiene, so you probably don't want to read any further. Leave the computer, and go try to wash off all the cooties you have just gained from reading even this far.

About a year ago, I was really hating the whole disposable pad/tampon thing, for a variety of reasons.

ENVIRONMENTAL- Pads are made out of plastic, so those used pads are going to be around till kingdom come. GROSS!!!!!!!! According to an online pad calculator, I would probably use around 7700 more disposable products, starting today. I hate the thought of leaving that much trash behind me! And that's just little old me. According to this page, over 20 BILLION of these products are filling up landfills... EVERY YEAR. Ugh.

Not to mention, think of all the resources and energy expended in just manufacturing them. All that shipping and packaging. Pads are individually wrapped, (and tampons often have all those plastic inserts and stuff), then wrapped together in another plastic package, and then shipped to the store in a box. That's a lot of waste, and overpackaging doesn't necessarily mean sanitization. Read on...

HEALTH- Chlorine and plastic-related chemicals are used in the manufacturing process-- things I would rather not have in such close proximity to my body. And then there's the increased risk of TSS, especially with tampons. They tend to dry out tissue, which makes it easier for microscopic tears to develop, which provides an opportunity for evil bacteria to infect the body. Yikes!

COMFORT AND WELL-BEING- By the end of my period, I was always very raw and chafed from the plastic. I hated having to carry extra pads everywhere and feeling panicked if I ran out. Also, I hated creating more waste. Oh, and perpetually shelling out money for something I was just going to throw away kind of rankled me, too. And... THE DIAPER FEELING!! AAAAAA!!!

And then, last year, I found out about GladRags. And I bought this. And my life has never been the same again. Cloth pads are so amazing! I just wish more people knew about them! They are so comfortable, it's like wearing clothing. Since I use a menstrual cup, I never worry about being without protection when I'm out and about. Sometimes, though, I will carry an extra cloth pad in a Ziploc bag, just in case, but I rarely need it. And here's the best part: no more spending money! I am actually planning on buying a couple more, but that's more for convenience's sake. I'm tired of hand-washing and drying my three pads every day of my period. 

One nice thing about using cloth pads is that it has forced me to get real about menstruation. It's really sad for me to see women try to pretend like it's not happening, to talk about it in hush-hush tones like it's some sort of disease, and watch ads for pads that skirt around the whole issue of menstruation. My last roommate summed the mentality up perfectly when she said, "I don't want to see it [blood], handle it, or know it's there. I hate periods!" What a sad way to approach a perfectly natural and good phenomenon of life. Handling your own blood is not gross. if you think that is too gross to handle, then may I suggest that you not have babies or pets, because you will be dealing with far worse stuff.  Now that I use alternative products, I feel so much more positive about my period. Honestly, how can you not feel happy when you get to wear pretty floral pads?  I feel more feminine now that I feel more free to embrace this aspect of being a woman. And suddenly, leaking in public does not seem like a fate worse than death. Thankfully, this has not happened, but if it did, then I guess everyone would be surprised that I'm a woman or something. 

Sorry to talk you ear off. If there's one thing I would like for you to carry away, it would be this: GLADRAGS IS HAVING A GREAT SALE FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY! You will get 20% off any order of anything when you type in "HappyNewYear09". No, they are not paying me to say this. I am just a very happy convert, spreading the gospel of better women's health.