Pacifier Deportation

Running errands as parents now includes the task of placing child in her car seat. 

Of course she starts to cry.  She rather be held but that is just not going to happen in the car.

Dave turned to me and said:

"I want to use a pacifier.  Just this once. Where are they?"

"I had them deported"

"What?"

"They're not here.  They're gone."



I had a bunch of pacifiers at home. I simply put them in my mom's suitcase before she left from her visit. I don't know if she found them yet but I know she won't go through the trouble of sending them back.  

I've had several people ask if I have a pacifier on me or say I should use a pacifier at the moment Baby begins to peep out a whimper.


*sigh*


I rather deal with one problem: crying

Instead of dealing with more problems resulting from pacifier use--plus crying.

All babies cry.  A  crying baby is not a measure of how one parents and babies don't cry to be annoying.  

I now notice that Baby has different cries for when she's hungry, wet, tired, or wants to be held.  

I just prefer to calm my baby by holding, swaying, talking, or swaddling her instead of popping latex in her mouth.  I think this is normal to do!  

One thing for sure: had I began using pacifiers to serve as an instant tranquilizer to crying, I would have missed witnessing the first of many beautiful flash-second smiles in her sleep.  

Even Dave gave me credit for that one. 

Book Review and FREE Giveaway!!!

UPDATE: Giveaway now closed.  Congrats to Megan D. from Utah on winning!!


The Mommy MD Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling Great now available in paperback!

More information about Mommy MD Guides HERE

I loved, LOVED reading this book; this is a great book for any woman, not just the ones who've given birth.

From the authors:

"The Mommy MD Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling Great is the fourth book in our Mommy MD Guides series. It features more than 500 tips that 50 doctors who are also mothers use to slim down, shape up, fight fatigue, boost mood, look great, and live better."

I think every woman wants to look her best but this book helps women to have REALISTIC and safe expectations for losing weight, taking care of her appearance, and managing stress.

This book was extremely refreshing to read especially since mothers are inundated by advertisements everyday to look "perfect" or be so negative about the challenge of getting back in shape after a baby.

Not all the mothers are OB/GYNs in the Mommy MD Guides (my first assumption) but all are medical providers.

Reading the comments, tips, and the experiences shared, I went through the book thinking "I can totally relate to that" or "Hmm I should try this out" or "Oh! That's good, I better keep this in mind"

What I also liked was that you don't have to read the book cover to cover, you can open a page and start reading.

There is even an index of topics you can turn to if you are looking for something specific to flip through.


There are other books in the Mommy MD series too:

• The Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy and Birth
• The Mommy MD Guide to Your Baby's First Year 
• The Mommy MD Guide to the Toddler Years

"Losing Weight and Feeling Great" would be a great gift to give for the woman who's looking for positive changes for the New Year 2014!

You also have the chance to WIN a copy straight from the authors as a giveaway! Yes!!!  Free present!!!!

So...

Comment on my Facebook page or the blog post below to enter in a drawing:

What is YOUR tip for losing weight and feeling great?

The winner will be chosen at random by me, and announced next Friday, 12/20/2013

Winner gets to pick one of the 4 books of her choosing.

Real Thoughts on Breastfeeding

I thought since I birthed drug-free, that breastfeeding would be a cinch.  

Nope.  

Baby had a couple of problems that made it very difficult to breastfeed.  There were many times during those weeks that I was quite sleep-deprived and at my wits end; quitting would have been a lot easier--and I got a ton of bad advice too. 

Maybe Baby really just couldn't nurse - had I considered that possibility?  It wouldn't be the end of the world anyway if I had to give expressed milk in a bottle and then do formula 100%.  After all, other people had done it, Dave and I were formula-fed too as babies, and everyone turned out fine and happy in the end.  The important thing was that it had to work for me, right?  

The thought of discontinuing breastfeeding earlier than planned was painful but not for reasons most people assume.  Let me explain:  

Deep down, it just didn't seem right or fair to me that I, as her mother could quit whenever it was convenient, but push my daughter to not quit when things were tough.  I wanted to teach my girl to not give up on things that are worthwhile.  I wanted her to gain confidence in learning you can do something you thought you couldn't.  If I quit breastfeeding because it was so hard, what kind of message would I be sending to my child as she got older when she wants to drop out of a tough math course or learning a new instrument?  Not what I wanted to do as her parent!  

Plus I didn't want to risk wondering the rest of my life if I could have tried harder with learning to breastfeed.  I decided to continue to try to nurse because I felt that she was capable of learning and so was I.  

It was A LOT OF WORK to get it down and once I did, I was happy, stunned and amazed.  I couldn't believe how much confidence I gained as a result from that experience, along with an extreme amount of self-satisfaction.  Breastfeeding was now wonderful, not hard, stressful or painful. 

I want every mom to have the excellent support I had and none of the BS!

If breastfeeding is something you want to do and are having problems:

See a lactation consultant ASAP, don't delay 
We started going to one when Baby was 5 days old with several follow up visits for a little over a month.  I had the assistance of a wonderful lactation consultant (Lois at the University of Utah Hospital Outpatient Lactation Clinic).  She was very patient and understanding with me and my baby when I felt no one else wasn't.  And it was affordable. 

The majority of the feedback and advice I received from the LC revolved around something that is underrated: route repetition.  

In addition, we addressed one problem at a time per visit, not everything at once because that is how problems are overlooked.  Each visit it was pretty much: "I followed through with solving Problem X.  I now have a problem with Y and need to address that"  The lactation consultant helped address each issue per visit, and were solved by the time I went back for follow-up.  

Stick to the LC's recommendation plan.  
Follow the plan to a "T"  

Don't throw in the tips/advice your family and/or friends suggested in between the LC's recommendation plan.  I cannot stress this enough!  If a doctor told you to take a medicine at 75mg twice a day, you're not going to take a friend's medicine at 50mg once a day...even though it worked for her, right?  If the LC tells you to do skin-to-skin 20 minutes before every feeding, don't throw in the advice of a friend to use a nipple shield because it worked for her.  

I strongly believe you're more likely to be successful and less stressed out seeking UNBIASED feedback and EVIDENCE-BASED advice from a professional than from family and friends.  I am not putting down or judging family and friends, I simply did not choose to look to them for advice on nursing.  Anyone who hasn't helped a lot of moms and babies, will not help me with continuing to nurse successfully.  I think this is common sense!  

Other thoughts
I do feel a bit conflicted wanting to support women and their choices and not hurt feelings when it comes to breastfeeding advice.  I could say:

"I understand how hard it is to nurse.  I've been there.  Don't feel guilty if it doesn't work out.  

Do what works for you.  In the end, you are a good mom"  

But I really don't think that's good or helpful advice to give to a mother who desperately wants to nurse and is struggling. To me, that is giving the mother permission to quit, and that's bad because if she did quit earlier than planned, she may wonder later on if she could have done more or try harder with nursing.  

I believe the best breastfeeding advice would be to encourage the mother to keep going and to see a qualified lactation consultant because only they have the training and experience necessary to properly assess the problem and develop a recommendation plan for your specific case.  Seeing a lactation consultant was the best and most reliable help I got to make breastfeeding successful.  

Also, nothing is fun until you're good at it.  Things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where most people tend to give up.  A lot of people get annoyed when they're told "Keep trying"
Why not keep trying?  There's the chance it could work out and be surprised that you did better, way better than you thought you ever could.