minimum the maximum

do we, as American's, usually consider the recommended minimum as the maximum? do a minimum of 30min of cardio 3x a week, says the doc. What do you think the patient does....only 30 min. get a minimum of 5 fruits and veggies a day, what's on your plate? doubt 6

i ask because a conversation caught me off guard the other day....i was speaking to a fellow mommy about our upcoming GI appt, and the allergies i fear our little guy may have (corn, wheat, dairy, so potentially soy too). the first question out of her mouth was "what will you do when you switch to formula at 1 year?"......ummmmm.......(quick quick, say something) ....ummmmm........(still processing, not realizing that this is a normal question in our country)...."he'll still have breastmilk in his sippy cup" i respond sheepishly to the what appears to be the other mommie's surprise.

the AAP recommends exclusive breast feeding for at minimum the first 6 months of life, but goes on to say that

Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child

there's the key word "At least". I feel like so many in our society see the first birthday as a trigger point to quit BF-ing, as if the AAP saying that its a minimum, that BM suddenly is useless or not a superior nutrition to formula at 366 days old. ah, no - it still rocks at 366 days old and way way way beyond. still keeps their gut flora perfect, passes antibodies, keeps them from getting certain diseases, provides optimum nutrient balance, yada yada yada, would you like me to go on?

i guess i just found it funny, how much i have changed in respect to how i think and feel about all things mommy. a simple question like that made me stumble because i have changed so much. wow. i haven't even thought of alternative liquids for him, even thinking beyond a year besides my momma jug juice and water. like seriously, didn't even cross my mind. i just never envision there being a need - i produce what he needs, end of story (in my head)

well, here is my official, thought out answer because we may indeed be facing this issue.

i'll keep pumping and bf-ing as long as we still both love it as much as we both do. as we introduce new foods and liquids, if he is allergic to the aforementioned types of milk, there is always hemp or coconut milk. how great would that be to tell my super straight and narrow parents their grandson is drinking hippie pot smoker milk. priceless

Wordless Wednesday........*melt*

Reflux, Pain, and the whole crazy thing

Infant reflux is one of the hardest things for new mommies to deal with. Often misdiagnosed as colic, and/or resulting from an allergen consumed by the breastfeeding mother, mommies with newborns will do elimination diets and have multiple pedi visits before a being given a proper diagnosis. And sometimes, it isn't even the proper diagnosis, its an allergy versus true reflux. Any mom dealing with a baby who they think has reflux should see a GI to ensure the proper diagnosis is given.

The struggle doesn't stop once diagnosed. There are 4 different types of meds given to combat reflux, given in order of severity: Antacids, H2 blockers, PPI's, and Pro-Motility drugs. Click here for the Marci-Kids description of each type of drug. What is one of the hardest aspects of having a refluxing infant is that the body builds resistance to the meds as the infant grows, and because infant growth is initially very fast, keeping on top of the reflux via medication requires frequent adjustment and increased dosages. Then, sometimes, they stop working all together, and you need to try something more aggressive.

Chase was diagnosed with reflux at 6 weeks old. He really had been experiencing bad symptoms for 3+ weeks, but I, like many others, attributed most of his crankiness and inability to calm or sleep to just being a cranky baby. I felt like I was doing everything correct for him to be healthy and happy, and yet, he (and yes, we) were miserable. The blood curdling scream-cry from that time is something I hope to never hear again, because I now know how much pain he was in. Luckily, my husband kept saying, "something is not right" and we did eventually figure out that yes, this poor little guy has reflux. We actually found out as a result of last resort. Chase had been crying for 5 hours straight one night, I was about to loose my mind, and I just was willing to try anything to help the poor kid. I found something online about reflux and Mylanta, so I gave him a little and it was the most amazing sight: Chase looked at me, in still silence, relieved, and immediately fell asleep. So my baby has reflux....

Chase was initially put on Zantac, an H2 inhibitor. It worked for a while, but we needed to keep upping the dose frequently to keep up with him. Finally, we reached the peak dosage and it stopped working. We then switched to Prevacid, a PPI, it was working ok for a while and then stopped. After checking the dosing calculator on Marci, the NP at my pedi's office DOUBLED his dose to 30mg a day. That worked up until a few weeks, maybe a month ago, when he started waking up more at night not as a result of teeth (he has 6 already!) and wanted to nurse frequently. Figuring that the high dose of Prevacid he was already on was taking care of the reflux, I assumed his troubles were Milestone and Growth Spurt related, or even another Sleep Regression. I never expected that it could be reflux again, as docs tend to say kids start outgrowing reflux at 6mo. I started cutting out gluten and casein, just in case he had allergies and cut out corn and all corn products because he definitely had a reaction to his cheerios. Nope, not a big change. So two weeks of nearly hourly wakings, horrible supply as a result of all night nursing, sore nipples, frustrated mommy, I started googling again. Google: Arching back, throwing head back, frequent waking, 8mo old, only sleeps when held, crying while asleep.

Why it didn't don on me that all the symptoms I was googling were reflux related were beyond me. Maybe the sleep deprived brain really is useless! But every article I came up with, including the responses to my post on Mothering, pointed back to reflux. DUH! Sometimes when I have these Duh-lightbulb moments, I feel guilty for not being in-tune enough with my child, like I should have known all along it was reflux, but then I step back and remind myself that 1, I am not a doctor, I only play one in my house, and 2, easing reflux is like trying to play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, drunk, and in a zero gravity tank.

So, the plan for now is to survive this week by doling out the Mylanta as needed, on top of the Prevacid. Its not a suggested course of action because it weakens the Prevacid, but for now, short term, the benefits of a good night's sleep for all seem to be outweighing the risk. We have our first GI (Gastrointerologist) appointment next Monday, when we will see what he has to say about the current course of medication, and also get an IGG allergy panel, to see if there is anything Chase is reacting to. Maybe one day we will have it all figured out......

Type A's and Parenting...Sometimes not a good mix

I am your typical type A and anyone that knows me will tell you that. Anything I do, I do it with gusto and drive. Things that aren't working for me, I fix with hard work and determination. I have a remodeled house we worked on ourselves (when I say we, I really mean me while DH watched), and I have two very well trained dogs. I was always so proud of my dogs, the ability to listen to their momma, for them to have picked up on my hand gestures and whistles. My good grades, good education, good job, I worked my tail off. All these things in life, I have worked hard and I get to see, if not immediate, rewards for that hard work. It is gratifying to look at my tile floors or see my dog give "high-5" and know that I played a part in shaping that.

So when it comes to parenting, someone who is so used to that return on investment and somewhat instant gratification, the "failures" of your child hit you like a freight train and take you out at your knees. I say failures, because in American life, the inability to sleep through the night(STTN) or self soothe are seen as such. After all my research, and honestly, re-education regarding infants, I don't see my son as a failure anymore, from the "American" perspective. I understand the biology driving him to wake every 45 - 180 minutes. I understand the anthropoligical evidence that tells me to continue on the path of EBF (exclusive breast feeding), cosleeping, and attachment parenting. But, when we have a rough night, or a few rough nights in a row, when I didn't think anything could be worse than it already was, I personally feel like a failure, that I haven't done something right to help my little guy. And then, the worst in me comes out; I get mad or disappointed. Bad mommy, Erin, bad mommy...

It is just so extremely hard to put so much effort into the multitude of things any parent does, and to get what seems like nothing in return, especially while others you see put the same or even less and get greater returns. Don't get me wrong, my boy smiles and he lights up my world, I know that is my "Thank you" from him for being a good momma, but at 4am when every 15min he squirms awake and screams, and I trying every trick in the book to help our situation (specifically Plantley's No Cry Sleep Solution), I wish I were someone else, someone better able to emotionally handle being a parent. I wish I were not used to the 1:1 ratio of investment and return that I have known my whole life. I wish I were warmer. I wish I didn't get enraged at myself or regret ever move I made in his first 6 weeks of life. I wish I had a do-over. I wish I weren't type A.

its been too long...

in advance, an apology, I haven't written ANYTHING in nearly a month, and there has been so much to cover. Work has been busy busy busy, which really cuts into my blog-ability. I hope in the next few days to come back ad re-hash some of the AP oriented headlines from the last few weeks, like the Omnibus decision, and Octo-mom. I also will have a book review of NCSS, and some funny stories of how this book has been great and horrible all the same. So, until I am back with a brand new post, why don't you take a moment to check out my favorite blog out there.....PhD in Parenting

Happy Activist

After donating our inaugural tickets to the One Campaign, we got a little care package in the mail from them. Now everyone can see we are raising a very happy activist :)

People must think I am a freak

I got pregnant with acupuncture and chinese herbs, I intended to do a natural/hypnobirth, my son is not vaccinated, nor circumcised, and now, I am taking my son to see a chiropractor to make sure his alignment is correct. Yup, in America, I think I would be labeled FREAK.

::Insert a dancing avatar of me grooving to Missy's Get Ur Freak On::

You knew this stuff was good!

Yup, breast milk is helping a cancer patient. Hmmm.....now just think what it does for healthy babies!!!!

http://www.babble.com.au/2009/01/13/breast-milk-used-to-fight-cancer-in-nine-year-old-girl/

Meeting with Representative McGovern

Meeting with Representative McGovern

I AM ONE VERY VERY PROUD WIFE. Pictured to the right is my dear husband, with our Congressman Jim McGovern. Click the link about to see why Phil was there, but man, can I just say.......I love this man!

Breastfeeding Law Passes in MASS

Yay!

I didn't even know it was *illegal* to BF in public in Mass (how sad, the thought), but now, I, and so many other mothers are protected from harassment for doing so. I am almost tempted to go to Starbucks and test this out. You think anyone will spit out their latte?

While this is a great thing, it really is a damn shame that our country even needs laws like this. It shows how twisted our consumerist life has distorted the simple act of feeding a child, making it into a sexual act deemed inappropriate for public consumption. The comments, mostly from men, that follow the article on Boston.com show how uneducated the public is about breastfeeding. The comments of discretion, private act, and "use the bathroom" all point to the greater issue in this country, that we as a general public don't see breastfeeding as BESTFEEDING.

I grew up being told smoking is bad, and when I see people do it, it kinda disgusts me. The same way when I see someone not breastfeeding a baby under 6 months old, I kind of get woozy, because I know its not the best thing for their health. Women wean early because we as a society don't view breastfeeding as a necessary aspect of raising a child, and thus employees feel bad about taking time to pump, or EBF moms regaled themselves to a stall to feed their child. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE!

This just makes me so proud to call myself a lactavist! We are what this country needs so opinions change and breastfeeding is embraced here.