Help Dr. Jack Newman!

I know I've been horrible about updating my blog, and I do promise to be better, but for now I want to post about Dr. Jack Newman's Breastfeeding Clinic. If you go to his website, www.drjacknewman.com you'll see that their clinic is in danger of closing. They lost government funding in 2005, and have been running off donations since then. Please, if you're reading this, and are able, follow the directions on their site and make a tax deductible donation to their clinic to help keep it (and their website) open.

Here's the message on their site:

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

AS OF SEPTEMBER 30TH WE WILL NO LONGER BE RECEIVING ANY PRIVATE FUNDING.
(GOVERNMENT FUNDING CEASED IN 2005)

WE NEED IMMEDIATE DONATIONS TO KEEP OUR CLINIC OPEN.
WITHOUT FUNDING, THE NEWMAN BREASTFEEDING CLINIC & INSTITUTE AND THIS VALUABLE WEBSITE AND ALL OUR EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WILL DISAPPEAR.
FOR A CHARITABLE TAX RECEIPT PLEASE SEND YOUR DONATION TO www.canadianbreastfeedingfoundation.org.
Please direct your donation to NEWMAN BREASTFEEDING CLINIC

Thank you for your support.

If you are at all able to help, please do so. This man has done so much to help Canadian women (and women all over the world) with breastfeeding. He has a number of publications currently in print, including "Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding," which is probably the best book on breastfeeding that I've read. He also has a video available titled "Dr. Jack Newmans Visual Guide to Breastfeeding." I personally think both of these should be required reading/viewing for anyone planning to have a child. I only wish I had read this book and watched this video prior to having Jesse. It would have saved me a world of trouble and pain. We're doing great now, but our start would have been so much better!

Anywho, this man is a personal hero of mine right now, and I'll do all I can to help him keep helping women and babies.

Thanks for reading.

"Mama"

It's got to be the sweetest sound in the world. And my little guy started saying it this week...probably Tuesday or Wednesday? (Don't ask someone this sleep deprived to remember ALL the details, please!) I'm convinced he knows what it means, and that it applies to me. It really helps get me through those "sadistic baby" episodes, where he's screaming, pulling my hair, ripping my glasses off my face, and pinching my arm. And it really makes those moments when he's asleep in my arms more real. I have a living, breathing, TALKING baby. He's mine.

Just call me Bridget....

I just figured out how to put into words how I feel as a mother. I said it in a message to a friend of mine tonight and thought I'd post it.

I often feel like I'm the Bridget Jones of motherhood....awkwardly working my way through, arsing things up more often than not, and constantly sticking my foot in my mouth and looking like an idiot. The physical similarities are there too. We're both overweight (though me more so than "Bridget"....I'd KILL to weigh what Renee Zellweger weighed while filming that movie), wear clothes that cling in all the wrong places (though I do have a baby to help show off my ample cleavage by pulling down the neck of all my tops), have limp hair (no matter how much I TRY to find a decent style), and we're both just generally uncomfortable in our own skin.

I really hope the Bridget Jones author comes out with another sequel about Bridget becoming a mother. I'd LOVE to see that. It would really make me feel better.

Here a prick, there a prick, everywhere a prick prick...

Please excuse the title of this post. I'm incredibly tired, and very much lacking in creativity right now. We took Jesse for allergy testing today. The doc's name is Dr. Kamra (not sure on the spelling at the moment). She took a history, and we told her of the three reactions he's had. Then she got herself set up. She did a skin-prick allergy test. She tested him for allergies to bananas, watermelon, oatmeal and penicillin (the 4 things that he was possibly allergic to). She also tested him for allergies to latex, kiwi, barley, rice, fish, peanuts and a few other things. I think there were 9 pricks on his left arm and 16 on his right. Poor little bugger. He did really well though. Steve distracted him, and so he barely noticed what was going on. He noticed when Dr. Kamra did an intradermal penicillin injection. He screamed through that one. When she read the reactions, his only allergies (of those tested) were to penicillin and barley. That's a bit perplexing. But I've heard that sometimes different grains can be cross-contaminated in the packaging process. Then we had to take him for blood work. To be honest, I can't even remember exactly what they're testing. I can't believe I didn't ask. And I didn't even look at the requisition to see what was written on it, since Steve was the one who took it. I know she's doing a CBC. (I asked her to check his hemoglobin.) I guess I'll just have to wait til our follow up visit. She also gave us a script for 1% hydrocortisone cream since his poor little body is covered with eczema. She wants to see him again in September or October.

In the meantime, Jesse had a really bad reaction to bananas. I don't know what that was about. I'm hoping he doesn't have any more reactions. I'm going to wait a bit before starting anything new with him again though. I want his tummy to recover from that round of antibiotics first. Perhaps that could be why he reacted to the oatmeal.

Oh, and then we went to the Janeway for his blood work. NOT FUN! The phlebotomist was quite contrary, and did a lot of digging around with the butterfly needle before finding a vein. Steve had to hold back from clocking her. Jesse screeched through it. The paper on the examination table was soaked with his tears when they were done. I'm just glad it's over and done with. And I'd like to never have to do that again.

HE SLEPT!!!!!!!!

Holy freaking God! My son actually SLEPT last night! I mean, for more than an hour at a time! He fell asleep lying next to me in bed last night around 9 PM. When I was sure he was asleep, I put him in his crib and left the room, closing the door quietly behind me. I went downstairs, turned on the baby monitor, and settled in to watch the second last show of "So You Think You Can Dance." (I always dreamed of being a professional dancer, but never had a chance, so I live vicariously through this show.....it's sad, I know.) Jesse didn't wake until 12:30. Yep, you got that right. That's 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I nursed him back to sleep after that, but he woke up shortly after putting him back down in his crib. Steve tried a couple time to get him back down, but it didn't work. At around 2 am I just gave up and took him in the bed with us and nursed him and he did eventually go back to sleep. I woke up a couple of times after that, and Jesse was STILL sleeping. Crazy. Then, at 5:30 am, the child woke up. He nursed, and then WENT BACK TO SLEEP AGAIN! For another 2 hours! I couldn't believe it! For some reason, Steve felt like crap when he woke up, and thought it was a horrible night. But for me, it was heavenly! I felt more rested when I got up this morning than I have in over a month!

I am NOT, however, expecting a repeat performance tonight. I'm not that naive anymore.

Why I Breastfeed....

In honour of World Breastfeeding Week, August 1-7, 2008, I decided to make a post on breastfeeding. I don't remember how old I was when I decided that I would breastfeed my children, but I can't remember ever NOT knowing I would. Maybe it was because I was breastfed, and my brother was breastfed, and I have an aunt who breastfed both her children into their toddler years. It was just NORMAL in our family to breastfeed, or at least give it a go. My education certainly solidified my resolve to breastfeed. During my behavioural neuroscience degree I took several courses in child developement and developmental psychology. Then I completed my nursing degree. I just couldn't ignore what I felt were the risks of formula feeding. Anywho, here are the reasons I breastfeed:

Formula feeding
-is expensive
-is time consuming
-is wasteful
-is less easily digested by a child's gut
-puts the child at risk from contaminents during the manufacturing process
-increases the risk of infection in the child
-increases the risk of obesity in the child
-increases the risk of the child developing allergies
-increases the risk of developing numerous illnesses in the child, including cancer
-increases the risk of ovarian and breast cancers in the mom

Breastfeeding
-is the biologic norm (human milk is designed for human babies)
-is quick and easy (even though there is often a sharp learning curve in the beginning)
-protects children from illness
-releases hormones that help the mom and child de-stress
-helps mom and baby connect with each other

And perhaps the reason to breastfeed that struck me as incredibly important, but isn't talked about enough, is the overwhelming sense of empowerment and accomplishment that you feel when you look at your baby and know that he or she is THRIVING because of you. I've felt it to some degree at numerous times throughout Jesse's life, but around about 5 months, I looked down at Jesse as he was feeding and just got so overwhelmed that I started crying. I looked at my beautiful, happy, healthy, perfect baby boy, and thought, "I DID THAT." It very much feels like an extension of pregnancy, whereby my body continues to grow my child. It amazes me.

























Sure, breastfeeding isn't always easy. I know that from experience. It was probably on Jesse's 6th day of life that I knew I was in trouble. My nipples were horribly cracked and the pain was so bad that I'd start crying when Jesse would get hungry. I had to breathe through the first few minute of each feeding as if I were in labour, just so I could relax enough for my milk to let down. I'll tell you right now that it didn't feel very "natural." But I was absolutely committed to breastfeeding. Formula wasn't an option for me, unless it became necesary for Jesse's health. So I called my public health nurse and asked her to come see us. We worked out a plan and 2 weeks later, my nipples had healed, and Jesse was nursing like a champ. There was no more pain. Just joy. Had I not had the full support of my husband and my family though, I'm not sure we would have made it through. I'd like to think we would have, but I just don't know.

Why am I sharing all this? It's not because I want to pressure people who don't want to breastfeed into breastfeeding. I've long given up the dream that every child on earth will be breastfed. I'm a bit more realistic these day. I'm sharing this because it's part of how I parent my child, it's part of my life, my identity. And maybe someone who reads this will learn something they didn't know. Maybe someone who wants to breastfeed will be encouraged to give it a go. One of these days I'd love to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and help people overcome obstacles in their breastfeeding relationships. For the time being though, I'm going to be doing a breastfeeding course in order to become a DONA certified doula, and maybe even work towards becoming a La Leche League leader. I want to do everything I can to help those moms who DO want to breastfeed.

No wonder he was such a monster this weekend!

I don't know what possessed me to check this morning, but for some reason, I stuck my finger in Jesse's mouth and felt that tell-tale sharpness....yup, Jesse has his FIRST tooth! But leave it to my child to be different! His first tooth is his TOP left incisor. Most babies get their bottom incisors first. There won't be any pictures of this for a while....he's still being a bit of a monster at the moment!

Addicted to cloth

So, considering I'm a complete cloth diapering addict these days, I thought I'd post about it. It all started when I just found out I was pregnant with Jesse. I met a chick named Sara, and she and I became fast friends. And I found out she used cloth dipes on her little guy. I never even knew people still cloth diapered. But I saw the cute pics of her son, and learned about it from her. My obsession sort of took off from there. I started off with a stash of small Fuzzi Bunz. And that's primarily what I used on Jesse for the first few month. The, before I knew it, they were getting really small on him. I expected to be able to get about 6 months out of them, but Jesse is such a long baby, that he was getting plumber's crack by the time he was 4 months old. So, I needed a new stash. I know a lot of people who use cloth now, and I've seen some really cute dipes and heard what works for other people, so I decided to branch out. I have some Bum Genius 3.0 one size dipes. They're fabulous for overnights. I never get a leak! I also LOVE Blueberry diapers. They're so nice and trim! Baby Kangas are also fabulous. They're a one size dipe as well, and very trim. They also come in some great colours. I've also gotten into fitteds and pre-folds and covers, including wool. I started out on this cloth diapering business to save money, but that's out the window now. But I've since learned a lot about the health and environmental benefits of cloth diapering, and I'm so glad that I'm doing it! It's so much easier than people realize. And they're so freaking cute! I'll post some pics of Jesse's fluffy bum later as proof!

My baby boy is growing up!

Jesse's growing up. I have to face facts. There's nothing I can do to stop it! So I might as well go with it, right? ***pout***

So yesterday my baby boy started crawling! Like, bona fide crawling! Forward crawling! He's been doing the backing up thing for a while now, but hadn't started the forward thing. He'd always look like he was going to. He'd do a bit of that humping-like action, but never actually moved his hands or knees forward. He crawled a little bit yesterday, but today we actually got it on video.




Oh, and Jesse's started solids! He's tried banana twice, but the second time had massive vomiting, and that's a sign of an allergy, so we'll be avoiding banana and anything related to bananas for quite a while (maybe until he can be allergy tested). So last Saturday we tried sweet potato. That didn't go over so well. He hated it! I tried it with him again another two times, and he gagged on it. So we'll be moving on to other foods. I pureed some nectarines yesterday, and tried those, and he liked it! I'll have to add some pics of those too. I think we'll be trying watermelon next.

Here's the sweet potato shots:








































And these are from the nectarines. See the difference?




























Anywho, I guess that's it for now. Must go finish the laundry...

Can we all please just be healthy for a while?

So the whole fam-damily has some medical issues on the go right now.

Steve had day surgery today to remove 2 golf ball sized lipomas (fat tumors) from his back this morning. It was done under local anesethetic. Poor guy. I would have at least scammed some valium out of it had it been me. And they sent him home and told him to take tylenol and/or ibuprofen. What do people have against good ol' narcotics these days?

Jesse has had a rough month. First it was 2 solid weeks of diarrhea....foul, watery green, burnt rubber tire smelling diarrhea. He wasn't "sick" though. No other signs or symptoms. He stopped peeing as much, but with 4-7 diarrhea poops a day, that would be expected. We took him to the Janeway ER, and the ER doc pretty well laughed at us since the kid is the picture of health. He had no idea what was causing the diarrhea....didn't think it was a bug because Jesse was otherwise healthy. Jesse had a vax appointment with our family doc a few days later and she delayed the vax because of it. Had it not gone away on its own a few days later she was going to have us come in to culture it. We had a return appointment this past Tuesday for his vax, but the doc noticed Jesse's tonsils were red while examining him. So she took a throat swab and lo-and-behold, it grew some Group B Strep. Not a big problem. It's usually not even treated unless it's causing problems. But she wanted to be cautious and prescribed amoxil anyways. So we have to wait another 2 weeks and then try again for that vax.

As for me....I've got some weird joint issues going on. About a month after Jesse's birth, I started noticing a lot of joint pain in my knees, hips, shoulders, wrists, etc...I figured it was just the relaxin hormone leaving my system and causing some temporary stiffness in my joints. My doc gave me a req to go get some bloodwork done to rule out any freaky medical conditions, but I never did go get it done. I would have had to find someone to watch Jesse for me, and that's a bit difficult. Plus, I never really tried that hard. Anywho, the joint pain seemed to disappear on its own around 3 month post-partum, confirming (so I thought) my hypothesis that it was the declining relaxin levels. Fast-forward to last weekend, and I woke up one morning with a very sore right hand (this had been going on for about a month). I took a good looks at my fingers and noticed my ring finger on my right hand was different. The proximal joint is rather swollen on the sides....very much like the arthritic hands of an 80 year old granny. And the other joints hurt badly too. So my doc ordered some x-rays of my hands. I got those done last Thursday. I also went for bloodwork on Monday. I still don't have the results back yet, but I have an appointment this coming Tuesday to find out what's up. I'm hoping it'll show something (to explain the pain and swelling) that's easily treated. I would really rather NOT going on any medication right now that would necessitate me having to give up breastfeeding. It's just not an option for me.

I have a lot of catching up to do!

OK, so I'm starting this blog, like, 10 years too late. I think that can be forgiven considering I've only known what a blog is for about a year. So I have a lot of catching up to do. I want to share a little bit about our (mine and Steve's) lives up til now. It'll take a while, since we've been married for eons (well, more like 6 years), and I'm a huge procrastinator, but I'll get there. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to post current stuff as it comes up and post the catching up stuff as I get the chance? Sound good?

Good. Now I have a plan...