"12 Days of Solids: Day 11"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 11:
On the eleventh day of solids my baby sent to me,
Butternut squash for freezing,
Fresh peas for first food,
Sippy cup for training,
A veggie steamer,
Magic Bullet for mashing,
Homemade purees recipe book,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 10"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 10:
On the tenth day of solids my baby sent to me,
Fresh peas for first food,
Sippy cup for training,
A veggie steamer,
Magic Bullet for mashing,
Homemade purees recipe book,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 9"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 9:
On the ninth day of solids my baby sent to me,
Sippy cup for training,
A veggie steamer,
Magic Bullet for mashing,
Homemade purees recipe book,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 8"

 

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 8:
On the eighth day of solids my baby sent to me,
A veggie steamer,
Magic Bullet for mashing,
Homemade purees recipe book,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 7"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 7:
On the seventh day of solids my baby sent to me,
Magic Bullet for mashing,
Homemade purees recipe book,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 6"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 6:
On the sixth day of solids my baby sent to me,
Homemade purees recipe book,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 5"

 

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 5:
On the fifth day of solids my baby sent to me,
Fiiiiiiive feeding spoooons.
Booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

“12 Days of Solids: Day 4"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 4:
On the fourth day of solids my baby sent to me,
A booster seat with feeding tray,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

"12 Days of Solids: Day 3"

“12 Days of Solids” by Chichi Power
Day 3:
On the third day of solids my baby sent to me,
Organic peas recipe,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

It is time, it is time, it is almost time, for my bambina to be introduced to solids! Yeay, something other than my breastmilk for my hungry hungry baby girl. I realized today that we have 12 days left until that fine day. No no, really, I'm not counting :-P  Since we are in the middle of the holidays, I couldn't help but think of the famous "12 Days of Christmas." So, here goes, for the next 12 days as we "not" countdown, I'm gonna write my own little song on my "12 Days of Solids." I hope you like it :-)

"12 Days of Solids" by Chichi Power
Day 1:
On the first day of solids my baby drank all the milk,
Stored in the freezer and fridge :-(

"12 Days of Solids: Day 2"

"12 Days of Solids" by Chichi Power
Day 2:
On the second day of solids my baby sent to me,
A beer to increase my milk supply,
And drank all the milk in the freezer and fridge.

Chichi Power for your brain!

 

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

My husband sent me a link to yet another L.A. Times article on the benefits of breastfeeding. Woo hoo! Go the Times! And okay okay, as much as I vent during my "terrifying lows" about men and babies and not knowing diddly squat about how tough breastfeeding is, my husband is actually very great and supportive in this. And he does a lot of research on all things baby. I can see the desperation in his eyes sometimes, of how much he wishes he could help me in that department, when I'm at my wit's end with this. And he says, "if I could, I would breastfeed Zoë too." And I really believe he is sincere.
Anyway, so this article is talking about how breastfed babies, in a new study from Australia, have higher academic performance than non-breastfed babies. And, in particular, boys. Australia is actually the leading country in breastfeeding awareness and education. 90% of women there breastfeed. America needs to get on that shit for reeeeals.

So, there you go, yet another thing to add to my Benefits of Breastfeeding section. Check out the L.A. Times article.

The L.A. Times is listening...

 

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

...and publishing more and more articles on the benefits of breastfeeding. Me and my bambina likes! Saw this article today on this new Affordable Care Act of 2010, which is a new law where "employers must provide nursing breaks and a private, sanitary place where mothers of children younger than 1 who work as nonexempt employees can express breast milk." I never knew that breastfeeding was a social status issue. I would think all women would want to breastfeed, especially low-income women, since you save so much money on food for your baby. But for some reason, formula I guess is pushed to low-income families more than wealthy women. And wealthy women of higher social status, are the ones that are mostly breastfeeding in America? WTF is that about? In third world countries, all women breastfeed there out of necessity. Maybe America sees that as a bad thing. Like, oh, poor them, they can't afford formula so they breastfeed. U.S. women, according to this article, rank well below even other developed nations. But breastfeeding is the BEST thing you can do for your baby! How weird is that?? I will never understand some of the mentality in this country. This article is talking about this new law providing "breastfeeding opportunities" in the work place. That should've already been the norm from the get-go. It's like telling me I now have the "opportunity" to pee and shit in private in the work place. As in a bathroom, for that normal, natural, human thing. Gee wiz. But, I digress. Here is the link to the article in today's L.A. Times. Very refreshing and I hope, the beginning of a new movement of more powerful breastfeeding awareness :-)

So far so good...

Only 21 more days until I get to introduce solids...but who's counting? Although it sounds nice to be able to give my baby something other than breastmilk to eat, somehow I think that's going to be another challenge/bump in the road in itself. But, I'm up for it. I have been exclusively breastfeeding successfully for the past five plus months. I think I can handle a mashed carrots mess, c'mon son!

This week has been good though, I have enough milk in the fridge for bambina, and have also been breastfeeding her successfully. And that's even though she's already moved up to 6 ounces! Yikes! For a while now she was eating 4 ounces of bottled breastmilk, maaaaaybe 4.5. But now, she's doing about 5 to 6 ounces during the day, and for sure 6 ounces at night when I put her down to bed. Wow, I'm so glad solids are just around the corner because I know for sure I wouldn't be able to keep up with feeding her 6 ounces every 3 or so hours with my milk supply. Like I said before, I can baaarely get 3 ounces out when I pump. Sigh. I guess it's just the way thing happen right? The perfect science that is creation, babies, breastfeeding. Works for me. So now, I've had to move up from the 5 ounce Medela "starter bottles", as I like to call them, to these Playtex VentAire bottles. The ones I have hold 6 and 8 ounces. They are a lot thicker than the Medela ones, and the nipple is a little larger as well. And they're supposed to keep the air out of the bottles better. Although I never really had any problems with that, with the Medela ones. But I do hear a difference when I feed her with both bottles. With the Medela one, I can hear the air bubbles a lot when she's eating, but with the VentAire one, it's very quiet, I can't hear any of the air bubbles sound. So I know it's doing something. But overall, my baby hasn't ever had lot of gas or was uneasiness after eating like I hear, with either of these two bottles.

We'll see how it goes in these next several days. Last weekend I was supposed to go out to volunteer at an event and I couldn't go because I just could not save up enough milk for baby girl to eat, so I had to stay home :-( Such is the life of a breastfeeding mama. But, tonight was much better. And, there is enough milk in the fridge that I get to freeze the milk I'm currently pumping as we speak! It's days like today that make breastfeeding so darn easy. Ooh, and there goes my 20 minutes, time's up! Bye for now :-)

Oh, men...

"Every baby that is born is proof that God has not yet given up on humans."

Awww, I read that on Twitter a couple weeks ago. How nice. And hurray! A new baby has been born into the world! A dear friend of mine recently gave birth to her baby girl. And she has told me she plans to breastfeed and use her Chichi Power! Double hurray!! Her husband though, oh what a funny guy. He told us that on one of the baby's first nights at the hospital, she was a little feisty and they only got one hour of sleep. That's funny, you see, because he actually thought he would be able to sleep at all with a newborn LOL! AND, while still in the hospital! Hahahahaha (breathe) hahahaha! :-) Men, you gotta love 'em though (but only when they stick around to be a father for the baby right??). Breastfeeding moms know first-hand that sometimes it's not about getting sleep, it's about making sure your baby is fed. Or is that sometimes, or ALL of the time? And I know those first few days, the baby is very very hungry, since all you have is colostrum in your breasts. So yeah, I would consider yourselves lucky if you were able to sleep an hour at the hospital. And the baby wasn't "feisty", the baby was very hungry! I remember those days, oooh wheee I was so tired I wanted to cry! I did cry actually, a lot. But you know my story...

Anyway, bless his heart that new daddy who has no idea what's in store. But a big congratulations and kudos for taking on that venture of being a wonderful father to this baby girl! We need more of those que no? Pero you know what, I think that most husbands that get asked if "the baby is letting you sleep at night," and especially if their wife is a breastfeeding mom, they will say "Yes?", question mark, and then look at their wife. Because clearly they have no idea. Husbands usually sleep at night just fine and I mean, what can they do really, if you're the one who has to breastfeed the baby. They can bring the baby to you in the bed. Okay cool, that's nice. They can change the baby's diaper. Oh yeah, another good one. Fine. But have you noticed that for some strange cosmic mystical reason, men can't hear when the baby is crying? It's so weird because I hear it. I hear it just fine, it's pretty loud. The neighbors probably hear it. But husbands, I don't know, their ears just don't hear the sound of babies for soooome reason...insert a bit of sarcasm here. Smile.

Let's hang in there my breastfeeding mamas. It'll all be worth it to commit to this exclusive breastfeeding for your baby. And soon enough, baby will be done with having to be breastfeed, healthy, vibrant, solids, smart, running around, solid foods, off with daddy to the park, solid foods, or the zoo, solid foods, aaaah *sigh*, and you can kick back, relax, and have yourself a mimosa (or three). Can I get an amen!

5 months deep in this...

"Breast-feeding is sometimes considered a lifestyle choice, but Bartick calls it a public health issue."

This is from an article that my sister-in-law forwarded my husband who then forwarded it to me (isn't technology great?), that says that "breastfeeding could save lives and money." I like those odds. Because today my daughter turned 5 months old, which means, drum roll please...I have been enduring breastfeeding exclusively for 5 months now! Woo hoo!! Five, as in, The Jackson 5, Hawaii Five-O, high five, five members in your average boy band, the five sense, the five elements in nature, five fingers and toes, Five Guys Burgers and Fries...  Yeay for me, and yeay for my baby who is super charged healthy from her Chichi Powers. If I think of all the stress and tears and pain and sleepless nights I have been through by committing to breastfeed, 5 months is a long time yo. But guess what?? I am almost halfway there, 50% done! Aaaand, in exactly one more month, 31 more days, we get to introduce the magic word: SOLIDS! Hurray! I am so so happy that I have stuck to my breastfeeding goals for my baby girl, and that I will make it through the first 6 months with only feeding her breastmilk. Remember my post "Oh the highs and lows of breastfeeding"? And how I talked about Homer Simpson's “the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles!"? Well, today I am going through a dizzying high with this breastfeeding b***h thank you very much, woooh! So please please, hang in there with me if you're breastfeeding too. WE CAN DO THIS! I wish I had some champagne to celebrate. No no, I will do that when she turns 6 months. I see a Sofia Coppola Champagne in my future (around my breastfeeding schedule of course) :-)

Now, I will still continue to breastfeed her pues claro, but I hear that when you begin to introduce solids, it takes the stress off of breastfeeding a little, because now the baby will get full on the solids which they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Note to self: research introducing solids and making homemade baby food. And you know what else, deep down inside, I really believe that I will go past my one year mark. That I will actually continue to breastfeed my little bambina a lil' longer than one year. Call me sadomasochist, but all the torture I have endured is well worth the health benefits my daughter has gained from me choosing this route. We shall see. For now, I am so thankfully enjoying this milestone while my little chica is doing her tummy time and trying so hard to crawl. Love. Hearts. Joy.

Oh, by the way, here is the link to that article I mentioned which was published by USA Today "Breast-feeding would save lives, money." Now go on wich yo' bad self and yo' Chichi Power! I LOVE all my breastfeeding, Chichi Power using mamas out there!!

Adoptive mothers can breastfeed too?

 

 From The Hangover

"It would be so cool if I could breastfeed." I watched that movie The Hangover this weekend for what, the third or fourth time now. Still funny! And how Zach Galifianakis' character Alan, takes care of the baby they find in their hotel room. And when they're riding in the cop car they stole (but the baby's not in a car seat eeeeek!), he says, as part of all his random dialogue which I loved, "It would be so cool if I could breastfeed." Ha ha! Yes, yes it would, but you can't boo hoo! 'Cause you're a man—insert Nelson from The Simposon's "ha ha!". What's my point? Men may not be able to breastfeed, only women. But not only that, it turns out that women who've never even had a baby can breastfeed too! Who knew. In the end, we are all born with milk ducts. Whether we have a baby or not, our breasts were made to produce milk and breastfeed. And according to this story I read on La Leche League, adoptive mothers can breastfeed too. Hurray! I always wondered about that and I wish there was more information about this out there to mothers who adopt. I would think it does take a lot of commitment and hard work on your body to make it happen. But according to this article, it can be done. You just have to pump every 2-3 hours like any other breastfeeding mom. But instead of the milk already being there from being pregnant, you would just have to train your body to start producing the milk. Supply and demand, if you will. And you will be demanding milk for your new adopted baby, so that you don't have to be forced to only give your baby formula, just because you decided to adopt. You can give that new baby your healthy healthy breastmilk.

The article says to begin the pumping before the baby even comes, if the mother has already started the adoption process (which can take up to a year), or after the little one arrives. The key is to stimulate the breasts to produce the milk. They also suggest using the Medela Supplemental Nursing System or the Lact-Aid Nurser Training System. I wonder if this is what wet nurses do, hmmm. Note to self: research wet nurse. The amount of milk a mom who adopts would produce this way may not be enough, so they might need to supplement with formula. But they will be able to produce some milk for their baby which is still great. Better than nothing right?

Fascinating. I just continue to be so amazed at our bodies as women and the miracle that is breastfeeding. You go girls with your Chichi Power—adoptive mamas and all!