Go hands free!

I have to admit, pumping has been very tiring lately. I sooo don't want to do it and have found myself skipping too many sessions. It's a major sacrifice that I just have to do, there's no way out of this one. But you know that feeling sometimes when you have to do something but you just don't wanna??? Yeahhhh...that's been me these days. Luckily, I pump hands free, so it makes it a lot easier. I'm just tired of my breasts being messed with all the time. I cannot wait until my boobs are left alone and aaaall to myself. About eight months to go, okay, I can do this!

One of my biggest advice to you, once you graduate into pumping your milk and feeding your baby bottles, is to go hands free! Oh but first, I would strongly suggest you don't give your baby a pacifier or bottle until she/he is at least one month old. See my post "Help, my baby won't take the bottle!" I waited until she was a month and a half old, and she does very well with all three. I haven't had any problems with feeding her at all. She goes back and forth from breast to bottle like nothing, and she's not attached to her binky at all. I feel like she thinks, "I don't care how you feed me, just FEED ME!" Ha ha!

Anyway, I highly recommend you invest in a pumping bra. Best purchase ever! I got the Easy Expressions Bustier, which has recently been acquired by Medela. Medela is THE breastfeeding system. I use all their products and it's great because they all work together—pump, bottles, nipples, freezer bags, and now, breastfeeding bra! I purchased mine at A Pea In the Pod for about $30. It sure makes those 20 minutes go by faster, because I can be on my laptop blogging as I am now while I pump! Hurray! It helps if you have a busy schedule because you can use those 20 minutes to, let's seeee, catch up on emails, put on your make-up, write, blog, Facebook, Twitter, read a book, eat, catch up on texts...it's awesome. I don't use the phone though while I'm pumping because the pump is a bit loud, but I'm sure some moms out there do. So that's your assignment for today, go buy yourself (or make) a pumping bra. Must. Have. Period. Happy pumping!

What am I, a cow?

No, I'm bad ass. And yes, you'll probably see me making a lot of references to cows. I've always loved cows, (which is why I don't eat them) and now, I have so much more respect for them and their chichis. And this past Saturday night, I totally felt like a cow! Because...drum roll please...I expressed milk from my breasts with my hands! Yup. Sans-pump. I didn't think I would be able to do that. I've heard some women who are all crazy natural and shit, talkin' 'bout how easy it is to just express with your hands and not use a pump. I'm not really into it, to be honest, but my husband and I were at church, and had an impromptu invitation to dinner so we decided to go. See, it's just not the same anymore to get up and go on last-minute outings, because we either need to find a babysitter, bring the baby with us, and/or I also have to be mindful of how long I'll be staying out, because I need to pump every 2 to 3 hours. Otherwise my chichis will start to hurt. And that's exactly what happened on Saturday. When I got in the car on our way to the restaurant, I realized that I should carry my small, travel size pump with me in our diaper bag, just in case there are days when we need to stay out longer than I anticipate. I really needed to get some milk out because it was getting painfully uncomfortable. And Zoë had already eaten and was asleep, so I couldn't really breastfeed her right then. So I decided, while my husband was driving and I was in the back seat with baby--oh yeah, we also had to take her to the restaurant with us ha ha! We've become "those people", and this was her first restaurant outing. She did pretty good until the end but it was time to go anyway because it was her bed time. I'm sure some of the patrons were side-eyeing us. Where was I?

Oh yeah, so I decided to try this whole expressing with your hand business, and it worked! I was able to pump some milk out myself into a bottle from both breasts. I thought it was gonna be all lame trickles but no, it actually dripped out fast the way it does with the pump. I only got about 1 1/2 to 2 ounces, but hey, I did it! I was proud of myself. Although I probably won't be doing that much unless I reeeeeally need to. I didn't enjoy it (although I don't particularly enjoy pumping either, but, you get it), it was harder to do that than with the pump. And it seemed to take longer. And it started to hurt after a while. I'll stick to my handy (and quick) double-breast pump thank you :-)

Formula Fed America

Dear Michael Moore,
Have you heard about this new independent documentary in the works titled Formula Fed America? Are you interested in partnering with these folks and taking on this documentary to bring mainstream awareness to the benefits and health of breastfeeding as our babies' first food? I sure hope so. And let me know how I can be of help.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Chichi Power

So yeah, I came across this documentary that's been in the works since February of 2009 I believe. I sure hope it gets released to a larger mainstream audience. Because currently there doesn't seem to be any buzz about Formula Fed America and I would love to see it bring awareness on the power of breastfeeding. You can check out their site with more information on the project at www.formulafedamerica.com.

Sleep schedules? I learned to let go...

 

As a breastfeeding mama, I learned to let go of this false notion of sleep schedules early on. As in, 2 or 3 weeks into this. And you know why? Well, for starters, breast milk is all natural and highly digestible--and this is the choice I've made. So the baby could really be hungry after just an hour after a full feeding, or 3 or 4 hours. That's just how it is. So when I decided to let go of this "sleep or feeding schedule," and be at peace with "whatever may be" and "whatever it wanted to be," my life was so much more peaceful and stress free. Because I thought, seriously, why would I want to let my baby go hungry because "it's the schedule and that's how it's supposed to be 'cause I said so!" Or the "cry it out method" which has been soooo badly misused and don't even get me started on that! But I've never once implemented a "sleep schedule," and yet, the sleep schedule just happened on its own, organically. Nice! Bambina usually eats and goes down at around the same time each night now. She then "sleeps through the night", which in babyland means 6 hours. Once in a while now it varies between every 2-5 hours. Although last night she slept a whopping 7 hours. (She ate a lot yesterday though which is probably why.) But when she gets up at night, I breast feed her on the bed in the lying down position, and when she's done eating, she goes right back to sleep. Then I put her back in her crib. Simple. Done.

I know that some moms (or dads) are really strict with this notion of schedules. Baby needs to eat a certain time, and nap or sleep at a certain time. And it has to be the same way everyday. But I know that as a grown ass adult myself, sure I have a certain time everyday that I wake up, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and hit the hay. But that doesn't mean that on some days I'm hungrier for some reason so I have a snack. Or I'm particularly tired so I have to take a nap. We are natural beings, that's just how it is. I would imagine that formula fed babies (or FF) would be easier to set on a rigid schedule, since "babies don't know when to stop" when they eat formula. So you can feed them tons and have them knock out. It's similar to when we eat junk food or fast food. We get really full and sleepy, and may sleep hard and for a long time. But the food we ate wasn't necessarily the healthiest or will take a while to digest. It's empty carbs and fat. Know what I mean?

My point is, that I let go of trying to establish a rigid schedule, and now I am working towards establishing a loose schedule, based on the patterns that I see my baby taking on. Like, when she wakes up, when she's hungry, when she wants to play or take a nap or when she's ready to go down for the night. She's happy with it, I'm happy with it. Cool. And this is just what worked for me, personally. I believe that having an infant has to be a self-less act. It's all about this baby now. I've been gifted this challenge, so I want to be there for her and her needs 100%. Because, so I hear, before I know it, she will be off to college and I will be wishing I had her right next to me in her little bassinet wanting to be held by mommy. In the end, I've been sleeping good at night and so has she. So there you go. The sleep schedule is a success in my book. Well, at least for now. Teething is in the works, so we'll see how well she sleeps through that. I'll keep you posted :-)

"Help, my baby won't take the bottle!"

I was talking to a new mom this weekend who is also using her Chichi Power and breastfeeding her 3 month old baby girl exclusively. But her problem right now, is that her baby won't take the bottle—bottled breast milk that is. As in pumping, storing and then feeding your baby (or having someone else feed them) your breast milk with a baby bottle. I know of one other mama who was also having that problem recently. It does happen, there are some babies who are just really finicky and love your chichis too much to settle for that plastic bottle. If you try everything and she/he will still not take the bottle, I'm thinking maybe that's just how the baby is, and it will have to be like this for a while. I know it's tough when you have to work, if you're going to have to breastfeed your baby all day and night, and may even be impossible for you. I know one mama out there who's daughter never took the bottle and yet, she breastfed her exclusively for 22 months! Wow...she is my hero right now. Next to her is another mama I know, who has been breastfeeding her baby (bottle and breast) for 16 months. You go ladies!!

But don't fret, I believe that it is possible to get past the bottle hump. I know I did, so I can at least give you some pointers on how I managed to get my bambina to take the bottle. Although I did feel that my baby was like, "I don't care how you feed me, just feed me!" :-D But basically, I just followed all the things they say to do, by the book, and it worked. She goes back and forth between bottle and breast like nothing. Here are some tips:

• I waited until my baby was at least four weeks old before introducing the bottle. She was actually a month and a half old, and I began pumping and storing when she was two weeks old.

• I waited until the breastfeeding was well established. This is why I gave her the bottle until she was a month and a half old, because I was struggling so much in the beginning with proper latching. But once it felt good and smooth, and I didn't have any problems breastfeeding her, then I felt comfortable giving her a bottle.

• I had someone else feed her that first bottle. My husband actually gave her her first bottle, and I left the room while he was feeding her. I was soooo curious and wanted to see her eating from the bottle hee hee! I actually took a little peek once I heard that she had stopped crying and was probably eating. Now, from what I've researched, babies can smell the mom's milk within a 20 feet radius. So if you have a finicky baby, it may help for you to make sure your baby is really hungry, then prepare her bottled breast milk, give it to your husband or partner or who ever can help you give your baby that first bottle, and then leave the house for thirty minutes to an hour, depending on how long it will take the baby to finally take the bottle and finish eating. It also helps to have someone feed her/him, particularly when they are really hungry, because if you're trying to feed them with a bottle, with your breasts so close to them, they'll be like, uummm I don't want this. Why can't I feed off your chichis?? :-(

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. And if it's still not working, I would recommend you try one of those nipples and bottles out there, that resemble an actual breast. They are super wide and flat like mommie's chichis. I was talking to another breastfeeding mom a few weeks ago, and she swore by this Mimijumi nipple and bottle. It's a wide nipple that's a soft brown color and is made from only the safest medical and food grade silicone. She had the "Very Hungry" bottle and said it cost her about $18 bucks...and that it was well worth it. Mimijumi's website says that "With natural colors, textures and forms, the mimijumi baby bottle closely mimics the breastfeeding experience, providing the perfect complement to breastfeeding and the best possible transition to bottle feeding." Based out of Nashville, TN, this innovative company has been around since 2008.

There are other bottles you can look into to, like the Adiri one, or the Tommee Tippee one. I can only say that the Mimijumi one worked for one mother I know first-hand. So I can't vouch for the other two bottles. But please, share with me your experience you've had with any of these, so we can pass the info along to other struggling mamas out there. I hope this is of help and I wish you all the best of luck with introducing the bottle. It can be done, and with a little patience, you'll be pumping and bottle feeding in no time. And you'll be able to, like Mimijumi says, let bottles "help you give baby more of the good stuff longer."

Oh the highs and lows of breastfeeding

I always remember this funny scene when Homer Simpson exclaims "the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles!" I wish I could remember what episode that's from. But today I was thinking of how breastfeeding is sort of like that. Even to this day, 4 1/2 months deep into breastfeeding, I have extreme highs and lows with this. (I mean, I already do have issues with crazy mood swings, but that's been the case since back in college days.) But with breastfeeding, there are some days when I feel like I have mastered this. I got this. Conquered. Done. I'm on top of the world. But then, come morning, and it's a new day, and I am to tears with this sh**t! Wondering how the heck I'm gonna make it through another day of exhausting pumping or feedings at night. Creamy middles? Yeah, I guess there's some of those somedays. Maybe most days. But I sure enjoy those dizzying highs. I had one of those yesterday, when I felt really good about my breastfeeding. Milk was coming in nice and flowey, I had enough milk in the fridge for baby, and my breasts felt full. Today, well I think I'm actually in a creamy middle. And to be honest, it's not a bad place to be. Creamy middles go easy on the emotions...I like that. And now my breastfeeding mamas out there, this is where I leave you. I hear bambina crying...it's breastfeeding to the rescue!

¿Puro pecho?

A woman said this to me this morning:
"¿Puro pecho? Que bien. Te felicito."
I really needed that today. Thankful.

There, I said it...

Men will NEVER understand the passion, commitment and hard work that it takes to breastfeed a baby. And incidentally, if it were up to men to HAVE babies, this world would be filled with tumbleweeds. Tumble. Roll. Barren. That's all I have to say for today. Exclamation point.

Leches and chichis and pumps, oh my!

Come on milk, where are you?! Argggh! Been feeling frustrated again lately at my low milk supply. My baby is 4+ months now and I think she's going through her 4 month growth spurt, maybe, I don't know. My husband and I joke at how her whole existence has been one big growth spurt ha ha! And my chichis can't keep up. Last night I was feeding her and had tears in my eyes again. That hasn't happened in a while. It's been challenging lately to produce or pump enough milk because I'm so tired of doing this, my body is exhausted. And sometimes, it does get challenging to fit in the pumping when you're working, or need to run errands, or need to meet deadlines. From what I've researched, fatigue affects your milk supply as well. You need to be relaxed and calm...breathe in, breathe out...yeah...pffff! Haven't felt relaxed like that in eons. Unfortunately, my body is very tense all the time these days, too much going on. I need that good relaxation, you know. That deep tissue, Swedish massage, sauna, steam room, quiet, Burke Williams, make you go to sleep type of relaxation! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. But alas, no room in the schedule for now.

A few weeks ago, bambina was eating every three hours, almost on the dot at times. And she was only getting up twice at night. But, such is having a breastfeed baby, that just when you think you've got their schedule down, it changes just like that. And all of a sudden, she wants to eat every hour at night...almost on the dot. And during the day, every oh, one and a half to two hours, and oi vei. I was thinking about cats yesterday, when I was washing baby bottles for like the millionth time, and how they have litters of cats. So they have to breastfeed what, six to eight babies! And they have more than one nipple, ouch. We only have two, and one baby. Unless you have twins, or triplets, or quadruplets and OMG, how do women with more than one baby do it?? I bow down to mamas out there who are conquering that, I bow down. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle and very sadly, I think one baby is probably all He knew I could handle. 'Cause this shit is hard! Or like cows, and how all people want them for is their milk. I saw this picture of the cow being strapped to the pump and first: I felt like this cow myself and got sad. And second, I thought of the toll this must have on their bodies every single day all day consumers demanding gimme gimme milk milk now now! As a vegetarian, I already feel for animals and get tears in my eyes thinking of the pain we humans put them through simply to eat them and then shit them out. And now, as a breastfeeding mom, I feel for cows and the pain they have to go though to feed not only babies who aren't their own, but, (gasp!) humans. But boy do I digress. Hormones. Emotions. Whatever, you get it.

I will say this though: that huge smile and thankfulness and glow in her eyes, and cooing I get from my baby girl as soon as she chugs her bottle of delicious white gold down, is worth every grueling pump or feed. Those tears instantly become tears of joy. Love. Hearts. Peace.

Well-baby visits

I took my baby girl to her 4 month well-baby visit. Yup, she's 4 months already! Everything was fine and she's progressing well. These well-baby visits is the schedule your little one will have to get her doctor check-ups. So far I took her at a week old, 2 months, and now 4 months. Her next visit is at 6 months, and then after that, most doctors will see the baby at one year old. She weighed in at 15 pounds and is 25" tall. Apparently that's normal because by 4 months, on average, the babies are a little less than double their birth weight. My daughter is healthy, big and sturdy and has a nice, healthy glow to her chubby cheeks. So don't let anyone tell you that breast milk isn't enough! Breast milk is ALL my bambina has been eating since she was born, and I've never had a problem with her gaining weight. And I've never had to supplement with formula. It can be done, and your baby will grow and be healthy with breast milk alone. Just like our bodies were made to have babies, our breasts were made with milk ducts because they were made to feed your baby, and that's all they need...well, at least for the first 6 months. After that, we get the magic word: solids (along with the breast milk). Hurray! But we'll get into that later. I will wait patiently for that time and continue to enjoy breastfeeding my baby girl and knowing that I'm doing the best for her body and her health. Like Medela says, "Breastfeeding. Best feeding."