Thursday, November 1, 2012

Boobies and Breastfeeding!

babies like to eat! 

I knew from day one I was going to breastfeed and then move on to homemade baby food and then regular food that the whole family eats.

I didn't factor in going back to work and traveling and how that would affect my plan.  but i managed and LD is a nice healthy growing lady.

(warning: personal pics and talk about my boobies and milk ahead).


First stages:

After birth, I immediately started breast feeding. After a couple tries, she latched on pretty easily.
we had nice early feeding sessions in the hospital and she ate and slept around the clock.

Leena-Deen latching on, day after birth

When I brought her home we continued our feeding routine.  In retrospect, I was a little anal about her feeding schedule.  I timed how much time she was on each breast and had a hard time avoiding full and leaky breasts because of how frequently she nursed.  All day, all  night. it was hard and painful the first couple of weeks.  I even feared some feeding sessions because my breasts were so raw.  I used some Lansinoh Lanolin ointment which I had originally received samples of in the mail after registering my email with one of those free baby sample sites.  After a week, nature did its thing and I adapted and it soon became comfortable and beautiful.  Leena-Deen slept like a baby (literally) after her long feeding sessions and I was able to get good sleep too.  (this is why co-sleeping worked very well for us).

When I went back to work, I breastfeed in the morning and then pumped a few botttles for her to have while I was out.    I started off with the Nuby  breast pump my sister-in-law bought for me.  It was cool because I could switch between electric or manual.  Ultimately, I was more comfortable using the manual mode.  As a back up, I also got a Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump.   This was really easy to use, clean, and transport and the bottles were a perfect size.   They also carry the pump and/or bottles in most drug stores, so if I ever forgot a part or bottle when I was on the road, I could easily pick up a replacement.  I also used the breast milk storage bags by Lansinoh.   I later picked up the Target brand, Up & Up Milk Storage bags.  I pumped 2-3 times at work.   And as soon as I got home, I breastfed again.  It sounds like a lot, but it wasn't that taxing.  I usually read or talked on the phone while pumping and had a cute bag and ice pack case to transport my bottles and milk back from work.

The breastfeeding adventure continued on for over a year, until she started walking and eating fruits and veggies and was no longer interested in being attached to my bosom  :(

I was sad.... truly sad, but as they say kids evenutally grow up.  I just didn't think it would happen so fast since I see other kids breastfeeding when they are two and three years old.

I am looking forward to having another baby so I can once again share my love and nourishment while holding an infant who will actually sit still in my arms, unlike my wild toddler, lol!

Did you breastfeed?  What were some of your most memorable moments?


Friday, October 12, 2012

Cloth Diapering

When I was pregnant, hubby and I decided that we wanted to do cloth diapering for our little lady. It's economical, eco-friendly, baby bum friendly and its how mommies used to do it back in the day.

Men and women wear underwear.  Most of the time we wear cotton underwear.  You handle your business in the toilet, clean up, and cover up with undies.  Simple concept right?  When your undies are dirty, you wash them either in laundry or by hand and use them again.  We've been doing this for years.  So that you don't have to do this everyday, you acquire a few pairs of underwear and wash them and your other clothes maybe once a week or every couple weeks or if you're like me, whenever the heck you can get around to it!

So now throw a baby in the mix.  Your baby doesn't now how to get up and use the toilet just yet, so they handle their elimination process wherever and whenever they feel like it.  Back in the day mothers would keep a cloth around baby bottoms so that they wouldn't make a mess on themselves, others or their surrounding areas.  Then they'd remove the cloth, wash and hang dry, and put on another cloth until that one got dirty.  Same concept as our underwear, just with a few more changes.  Eventually, a baby learned that when they peed or pooped, they'd feel uncomfortable in their own mess and then learned to wait until after cloth was removed to go the bathroom, hence the transition to potty training and regular underwear that they could put on and take off themselves.

But over the years, people got tired of doing this and clever people came up with ways to avoid the constant changing and washing and disposable diapers hit the market.  Genious! Convenient!  Easy!  It was like attaching a toilet to your baby's bottom that would soak up the pee and poop so neither you or baby wouldn't feel it.  No complaints there.

The key to disposable is that you eventually have to dispose of it.  All of the sudden you have "shit loads" (literally) of soiled diapers to deal with.   Before, you could just soak cloth diapers in water to get rid of the pee or wipe the poop in the toilet or bury it in the ground and wash off the cloth and start fresh again.  No trash anywhere, ever!

Now with disposable diapers you have stinky trash.  You also have stinky irritable baby bottoms and rashes from whatever chemicals are in these magical attachable toilets.

So with convenience, we have created another set a problems and need for creams and medicines and air fresheners and trash cans.  For some this is a minor issue, for others it's a big problem.

I choose to cloth diaper and my baby's bottom is a beauty!  Of course I've used disposables - during the first few newborn weeks, when traveling, and on some weekends when me and hubby were backed up on cloth diaper washing or other chores.  the disposables i've used are huggies pure and natural, seventh generation, target, and some European brand I picked up when we went to Paris.

I've used and continue to use various cloth diapers, diaper covers, washes, soaps, natural oils, etc.  for my cloth diaper journey read here 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Hello friends.  I'm a new mom.  Last summer, my husband and I were blessed with a little princess named her Leena-Deen.  She's perfectly healthy, beautiful, and happy and I believe this is in part to a higher power as well as the simple techniques I've commited to such as breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, food making, adult interaction, and more.  My husband and I have done research and also discussed different ideas and have come up with some of our own practices which I'll share with you all.  

We're far from perfect and this site is dedicated to sharing my trials and tribulations with raising my infant the way mothers did back in the day.  A "throwback" to older practices that in my opinion are better, cleaner, and healthier for our children.  My stories and ideas are not medically approved or official.  Instead, they are rooted in good old fashioned common sense...doctor's don't know everything,and from my own experience, some of the things the doctors, manufacturers, and other "experts" have to say these days are actually making our babies sick, overweight, and reliant on drugs and other medical intervention.  Let us not forget that not too long ago our mothers and grandmothers had babies without medication, without disposable diapers, without vaccines, and without processed baby food and formula.  And guess what, most of their kids are turned out to be happy and healthy adults. 

So lets rewind the clock and take a look at old school practices that I've injected some new life into today.



~Dominique
"the old school mommy"