Say No To Routine Circumcision

If I ever have a baby boy, the Knight and I already know that he will remain intact. We feel that circumcision is a barbaric and cruel surgery that is completely unnecessary. For us, any pros to circumcision (and we have found none) are overshadowed by the many negative effects it has on the baby.

In 1998, Mens Health published an article by Mark Jenkins that explains some of the many negative effects of circumcision, and why it should no longer be routinely practiced.

If you want more information, you can also view a video of a circumcision, and also be sure to check out Good Reasons Not to Circumcise and We're Not Born Needing Repairs.

Say No To Routine Circumcision

Babywearing in the News

I came across this short article on babywearing. It's nice to see babywearing getting positive exposure in the media!

The Guppy can be definitely described as a pick me up baby, so babywearing has saved my sanity and allowed me to fully bond with my baby even while doing housework. I love wearing her in my Ellaroo Wrap and in my Kangaroo Korner pouch.

If you want more information on babywearing be sure to check out the Babywearer website and also Dr. Sears has a lot of great info on the subject. And of course, don't forget to check out Stephanie at Adventures in Babywearing, she has a lot of great info on wearing your baby.

If you want a more personal, face to face experience with babywearing, be sure to find a local NINO group near you, where you can meet other babywearing moms!

Babywearing in the News

Baby Fever: When Do You Know To Stop?

Last weekend the Knight and I were able to attend his friend's wedding sans kids. We both had a lot of fun dancing away and being able to do adult things. However something interesting happened to me that has been on my mind since.

At this wedding there seemed to be an unusually large number of pregnant women. The bride herself was seven months pregnant. The Maid of Honor was five months pregnant. The sister of the groom was eight months pregnant. And there were also two guests in attendance who were obviously very pregnant.

While I watched all these pregnant women dance together and generally have a lot of fun, the strong desire to be pregnant again came over me. I am always telling people that I want one more baby but lately I have been wondering if I really do, so this urge took me by surprise. Even more surprisingly is that this urge has continued to stay with me in the days since the wedding.

I have had a lot of women tell me that they decided not to have any more children because they just "knew" they were done. That they kept having children until their instincts told them that their family was complete. Now, the Knight and I want to wait a couple years before having another child so we do have time to think about it. But sometimes I have the feeling that I am done, and sometimes I have the feeling that as wonderful as my family is, something, or someone, is still missing.

So my question is, to all those ladies that have decided that you are done having children, how did you know when you were done? What was your experience when deciding not to have any more children? And to those women who are not done having children, what was your deciding factor in your decision, and how do you think you will know when you are done?

Baby Fever: When Do You Know To Stop?

Fantastic Friday: Woot Woot!

Another week has gone by, and we did fairly well.

Weight: This week for Future MILF, I maintained. And I am very happy about that. Because on Saturday I had gone to a bachelorette party. With lots of alcohol. And lots of food. Including a Chocolate Fondue Fountain with strawberries and other tasty things to smother in chocolate and devour. Then, on Sunday, I went to a wedding. More great food. More alcohol. Then, for the rest of the week I ate pretty crappy and didn't excercise except for walking. So I'm thrilled that I didn't gain any weight (yay breastfeeding!).

House: The house looks great. Did I do it? Nope. The Knight has been doing more than his fair share with housework these days. So although I have been still doing my FlyLady routines, most of the credit belongs to him.

Finances: This is where is gets really fun. Step 2 of the Total Money Makeover is going great for us. At the beginning of the week we paid off another credit card, bringing the total of debts paid off to two. Next we are attacking my David's Bridal card. And now that we are getting our taxes back, we'll be able to pay off most of my car and finally be able to stop paying insurance on it and take it officially off the road (yes, the car that we owe about $5,000 is junked and sitting in our driveway). Fantastic! We'll also be able to buy the Mermaid the Britax Regent and switch the Guppy over to the Mermaid's current seat, yay! Just when we thought it couldn't get better.....my midwife called. Seems like our insurance company decided to pay for about half my homebirth, when before they said they wouldn't pay anything. More yays! We'll use this money to attack our debt. Fantastic!

Environment: This is the one area that hasn't seen too much action. We're still using our recycling system but we plan on expanding it. Also we made a commitment to try to buy products with less packaging.

Well that it's it for this week. In general, a Fantastic week!

Fantastic Friday: Woot Woot!

Our Maternity System: Can It Be Fixed?

Those of you who regularly read this blog know that I am a strong supporter of natural childbirth, especially homebirth, for those women who wish to have one. This is because I personally believe that the maternity system in our country is simply broken and needs to be fixed.

Now, I am not saying that OB/GYN's are evil people who are out to make a profit at all costs. Rather, I believe that it is the system itself that is faulty. It is the system that these people are working in that has created the situation where the Cesarean rate is 30% and where a large proportion of medical students never even see a natural birth during their training. OB/GYN's are simply trained that women need intervention, that they need drugs, epidurals, that they need the doctors help to give birth to their babies and that the women can not do it alone. In what other system would the situation described by Mardsen Wagner in this interview occur?

I learned that in the rural town of Madera, California, doctors had decided that they no longer wanted to attend births in the Madera County Hospital. They complained that it took too much of their time and didn't pay enough. So in 1968 the county recruited two midwives to fill the gap. After two years, the rate of babies dying around the time of birth in the hospital was cut in half. Alarmed that their style of maternity care was being made to look bad, the doctors in town agreed that they would once again attend births in the hospital if the two midwives were fired. The hospital fired the midwives, the doctors returned, and
soon the rate of babies dying around birth rose to its earlier higher levels.

This is horrible. And I think that more and more people are realizing this.

Documentaries are popping up that discuss this problem, such as Birth as We Know It and Pregnant in America. Recently I've received word that Ricky Lake is also planning on releasing a documentary on being pregnant in America, titled The Business of Being Born, in which she will also discuss her experiences with her own homebirth. You can read an interview she did about the documentary here.

Two other articles that have been in the news lately about homebirth and midwives:
Elizabeth Larsen describes how the maternity system needs to be improved.
Darleen Dunn writes about just what services a midwife can provide for an expecting woman.

I think as birth becomes more and more medical, as the rates of intervention increase, women are beginning to take action. I hope this trend continues. I hope women continue to find the strength and courage to take their pregnancy and child's birth into their own hands, and to help "fix" the maternity system.

Our Maternity System: Can It Be Fixed?

Family Walk

I love beautiful weather!

Family Walk

Seven Months Old

My Dearest Guppy,

I had put off writing this letter this morning because I didn't want to admit to myself that you are already seven months old. In a mere five months you will be one year old, very mobile, and getting bigger every day. My heart is so joyous that you are growing into such a strong, healthy and beautiful child but the Mother in me is yelling for you to slow down, things are going way too fast!

This month was quite the month for milestones. You got your first tooth about two or three days ago. The other day you chomped down on my finger and ouch! there it was! I had been wondering if you were teething because although you are still sleeping great at night, you have been a bit fussier than normal during the day. Hyland's Teething Tablets have been helping your fussiness a lot, and you've also been spending lots of time in my Ellaroo Wrap, strapped to my back and watching my every move.
You also had your first taste of solid food! This morning while I was eating a banana you tried to grab it out of my hand, so I put you in your high chair and let you have some. What fun you had! Most of it went on your shirt but you did get a couple of good tastes in and you seemed to like it.

You had your first Easter! While you were too young to enjoy the egg hunt, you did seem generally happy at being able to visit the family and make everyone laugh with your new antics!

This month you also have your sixth month appointment, where you weighed in at 19lbs and 28 inches long! You have just about outgrown all the 6-9 month outfits that we have and are now starting to wear 12 month clothing! You are my little chubbalubba!
Finally, you have also started to blow raspberries! You especially love to blow them at the Mermaid, who delights in this new game! It really warms my heart to see the two of you playing together, you get along so well. The Mermaid is so nurturing towards you, always worried when you are sad, letting me know when you are unhappy, and she is always thinking up new ways to make you laugh. I can't wait to see the two of you play even more games together as you get older! This month has also gotten easier with me working out of the house. I miss you and the Mermaid horribly when you are gone, but it makes me feel more at ease now that you are not as fussy for your father and now that you even take a little breastmilk from the sippy cup. When I get home and you are sleeping, your father loves to talk about all the cute and new things you did while I was gone and while it makes me sad that I wasn't there to see it, I can't help smiling at the joy I hear in his voice at getting to spend some time with both his girls. You are getting closer to your father every day, and you've even begun to reach your arms out to him when he gets home from work!

You are such a blessing to this family, dear Guppy, and we already can't remember how we lived life without you. Everyday you bring joy and laughter into this house, and when you and your sister start playing together the laughter can be heard throughout the neighborhood. Thank you for the joy you bring, thank you for the smiles that your father beams out when talking about you, thank you for the fun and laughter you bring into the Mermaid's day. We love you and can't wait to see what the coming month brings!

Seven Months Old

Nature Walk

The weather these past few days has been absolutely lovely. So, I jumped at the chance of getting the girls outdoors and letting the Mermaid learn a little about nature. We don't have any trails to walk on but our road is pretty slow and safe, so with the Mermaid at my side and the Guppy on my back, we took a little nature walk.

Playing in a Stream

Looking at a Rooster and chickens




Loved the pine cones
CRUNCH!!!!
So excited to be outside!
A little bit of green showing through!
Watching a stream.
Which rock do I like best?

Nature Walk

Reconnecting, Part II

Remember this post? Well.....

We never did go to a restaurant, but we did go to a bachelorette party and a wedding sans kids. It was nice to get out with just the two of us. Not to mention the ride to the wedding was an hour and a half, and it was wonderful not to have to listen to kid friendly songs, or worry about playing the radio too loud, or worry if we should stop to let the kiddos have a break. We were glad to get home though, as enjoyable as it was we did miss the girls!

Reconnecting, Part II

Fantastic Friday: Baby Steps

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Fantastic Friday: Baby Steps

Carnival of Breastfeeding: What I Didn't Expect When I Was Expecting.

Welcome, Carnival of Breastfeeding readers to the sixth Carnival of Breastfeeding! This month's topic is "What I Didn't Expect When I Was Expecting"; prenatal expectations of breastfeeding vs. your actual experience of breastfeeding. You can find my submission below, followed by links to other bloggers' posts on what they didn't expect.

I think most women, when they are expecting an infant, picture breastfeeding as this blissful experience where they are sitting in a rocking chair, relaxing, and nursing their calm, happy baby. With that image in mind, a lot of women are taken by surprise by how hard and challenging breastfeeding can be at the beginning. It takes a while for both you and the baby to learn how to breastfeed successfully, and sometimes, you have to work hard for it.

I never had these blissful expectations. As soon as I knew that I was going to be breastfeeding, I hoped for the best but planned for the worst. See, I didn't know a single person who had successfully breastfed their baby for more than three weeks, and I was determined to make it work. So before the Mermaid was even born, I fully versed myself on how to correct a latch, treat mastititis, and where I could contact a Lactation Consultant. Luckily, after some small bumps in the road concerning weight gain, the Mermaid and I had no problems establishing a successful relationship.

However, there was one area in which my prenatal expectations of nursing were way off from my actual experiences: nursing in public.

See, because I was so determined to make this breastfeeding thing work, I resolved to face any opposition head on, especially when it came to breastfeeding in public. While pregnant, I would imagine being approached while I nursed (modestly) in public and having something said to me, such as "Shouldn't you be doing that in the bathroom?" I would picture myself coming up with all these amazing responses while I continued to confidently, yet discreetly, nurse my newborn.

It didn't exactly work out that way.

Nursing a newborn can be a very awkward experience. Most of the time, I was too busy trying to get the Mermaid latched on right to remember to cover myself and not let my entire breast flop around in full sight. I thought that I would never get the hang of it, and so...I gave up. I started pumping bottles of expressed breast milk to bring along and feed to the Mermaid when I was out of the house. Let me tell you, that was a pain.
One day the Knight and I went with my mom to a local fair. And silly me, I forgot to bring enough bottles of expressed breast milk. There we were, in the tent where the Budweiser horses were being housed, and the Mermaid decided to erupt with hunger. Now, this tent was very crowded. The long line of people started at the front of the tent, wove through and around the entire tent, then back out the front. At the far left of the tent was an empty table and a chair. I had no choice but to breastfeed her there, in full view of everyone. I was extremely nervous, but somehow I managed to get her latched on without showing any skin. Pleased that I was able to accomplish this, I proudly looked up at all the mingling people and dared someone to say something.

Guess what? Nobody noticed. Nobody cared.

From that day on I ditched the bottles and nursed the Mermaid wherever I went. And I never got a dirty look or comment, even when the Mermaid got over a year old. In fact, when she was thirteen months old, the Knight and I were at a friend's house that we hadn't seen in years. The Mermaid toddled over to me while I sat talking to our friend's wife and I nursed her for about fifteen minutes, while continuing my conversation, before she happily toddled away again. So imagine my surprise when, ten minutes later, my friend's wife asked if I was still nursing her."Um...yes, didn't you notice me just nursing her ten minutes ago?""Oh my goodness, no, I couldn't even tell, I just thought she was trying to nap!"

So there you have it. Eventually my prenatal expectations of being able to nurse in public with confidence were realized, but it took some time and forgetfulness on my part. Good thing too, because the Guppy refuses to take the bottle, and so I would have never been able to get away with feeding her a bottle when out in public. I still nurse the Guppy where ever I go, with confidence and discreetness, and I still have never gotten a dirty look or comment worth mentioning.

So I leave you with this: To all moms who are expecting and are planning on breastfeeding, if you feel awkward about nursing in public, try practicing at home. Practice in front of your partner or a mirror. You will be surprised on how little skin you actually show when nursing discreetly.
I hope you enjoyed reading about what I didn't expect when I was expecting. Please be sure to drop by and read what these bloggers had to say:

Tanya at The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog tells us how she prepared for breastfeeding when she was pregnant.
Sinead at BreastfeedingMums Blog writes about the things she wishes she had known about breastfeeding before her daughter was born.
Melanie at Spit up on my Shoulder tells us why "Education is key" when it comes to breastfeeding.
Angela at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 tell us "What I didn't expect when I was expecting."
Ashlee at New Mama's Nest tells us what she didn't expect about breastfeeding her 'early bird.'
Rixa at The True Face of Birth tells what she didn't expect when she was expecting.
Down with the Kids reflects back on breastfeeding as she weans her son in her post “Goodbye Booby”
Heather at The Spice Choir talks about how breastfeeding changed her social interactions.
Andi at Mama Knows Breast shares her top 10 list of things she didn't expect about breastfeeding.
Jen at The Lactivist tells us how "Nursing isn't quite what I expected."

Carnival of Breastfeeding: What I Didn't Expect When I Was Expecting.

New WHO Growth Charts

When new mothers are first starting out with breastfeeding, one problem they may experience is with the baby's weight gain. I myself had to deal with this problem.

The weight charts that the pediatrician's typically use are written with a formula fed baby in mind. In general, formula fed babies tend to gain more weight in the first few months than breastfed babies. This is why it is not uncommon for a breastfeeding mother to be told that her baby is not gaining enough weight and that she needs to switch to formula. If you are told this by your child's pediatrician, pay attention to your child, and not his or her weight. Is he or she wetting enough diapers during the day? Hitting all their milestones? Showing all signs of being a healthy baby? If your child is healthy, then don't worry about his or her weight. He or she will grow just fine on your breastmilk.

Not too long ago, the World Health Organization released new child growth charts that are written with a breastfed baby in mind. If you are worried about your child's weight gain, you can see where he or she stands on the new charts. You can also ask your pediatrician to carry the new charts in order to chart your child's weight gain more accurately.

The important thing to remember is, all children are different. The Mermaid was always small for her age and still is. Meanwhile the Guppy is wearing twelve month clothing at six months old. No children are the same, and labeling a baby that is healthy and hitting all his or her milestones as failure to thrive simply because they don't measure up right on a chart is, well, stupid.

New WHO Growth Charts

Homeopathy for Babies

After our success with homeopathic remedies last week, I was glad to find this article on homeopathic remedies that can be used with babies. This article offers remedies for such ailments as fright, nausea, ear infections, and teething. Definitely a good article to read if you are interested in learning about homeopathy!

Homeopathy for Babies

Fantastic Friday: Belated Joy

I know, I know...it's Sunday. So I am two days late. But it's been crazy around here lately, and this is the earliest I could post.

So, I had a great week this week.

Weight: I'm closer to becoming a Future MILF: I lost two pounds this week. Which brings my total weight loss up to 15 lbs. Fantastic! And, this was after Easter....after eating two pieces of pudding pie....and thinking how great I did...then eating an entire cheesecake the my mother slyly brought home knowing that I have no self control when it comes to cheesecake! Thank goodness for breastfeeding!

House: I've been doing better in this area. I'm slowly getting back into the FlyLady routines and although I'm still a little behind in laundry, we now how clean clothes to wear. Fantastic.

Finances: Step 2 of the Total Money Makeover is going great. We've paid off our first and smallest debt, and our next debt is going to be paid off by the end of this month. Fantastic! We do have a lot of weddings coming up that we had to budget for (and clothes to buy for me to wear to them) but we're still managing to get ahead, yay!

Environment: Not much activity here. But one thing about my work that bothers me is the enormous amount of paper that they waste and throw away. I'm going to talk to my manager about possible setting up a recycling system there so all that paper won't be totally wasted.

That's it for this week. All in all a fantastic week!

Fantastic Friday: Belated Joy

Easter Celebration

Our Easter was pretty good this year. After the morning basket raid and egg hunt, we headed over to the IL's for dinner, followed by dessert at my aunt's house. It was nice being able to catch up with the fam.

My Mom's birthday happened to fall on Easter this year so we had two reasons to celebrate. Being the crazy woman that she is, she decided to dress up as a bunny for the day. She had a lot of fun hopping and chasing the Mermaid around the house!

The girls got a lot of neat stuff: clothes, a tiny bit of sugar free candy, bubbles, toys, etc. The Mermaid had a blast looking for Easter eggs! The video is a little long and poorly shot, but I really wasn't feeling well when I was shooting it (and you can tell, you can hear me sniffling on the video....nice).

Easter Celebration

Infantino Recall

To all those babywearing mamas that own Infantino slings, beware! Infantino recently issued a recall for SlingRider Infant carriers due to a fall hazard. You can check out the details here, and be sure to pass the information along!

Infantino Recall

Breastfeeding Art.

I recently came across a site featuring Breastfeeding Art.

I'm in love with a LOT of these paintings. They even provide a free book of breastfeeding illustrations that you can download and read to your child. How cool is that?

Due to copyright laws I can't put up any of the images here, but be sure to go and check them out!

Breastfeeding Art.

Homeopathic Remedies

This past Friday, the Mermaid, the Guppy and I were all inflicted with a stomach bug. It started a couple minutes after the Knight left the house, with the Mermaid throwing up her breakfast.

It was a rough day. The Mermaid had it the worse, throwing up many times during the day. The Guppy threw up a couple times, and I threw up a little myself as well. But thank God for homeopathic remedies! I did not have to worry about how the side effects would effect my daughters and I, or if it would do more harm than good. By the end of the day, we were all feeling great.

I started with administering Echinacea, in order to boost the immune system and combat the total onset of the bug. I also gave the Mermaid and myself Tummy Aches throughout the day, a natural, homeopathic remedy for nausea and vomiting. The Mermaid grew quite upset whenever she got sick, so I also created a calming mist of Lavender pure essential oil. I also gave the Mermaid doses of Ipecacuanha, a homeopathic remedy for nausea and vomiting. To make sure she was getting plenty of liquids, I also gave her watered down Peppermint tea. Finally, because garlic is great for boosting the immune system, I made us all some garlic soup. Of course, for the Guppy, my breastmilk was the only medicine she needed.

Garlic Soup Recipe:
2 tablespoons or more of minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cups chicken broth (I used vegetable broth)
2 eggs
Serves 2-4
Saute the garlic in the olive oil in a 2 quart saucepan over low heat for 30 seconds or until garlic is pale gold, stirring constantly.
Add broth. Simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Beat eggs in small bowl then add to soup gradually, stirring gently.
Cook for 1 minute longer. Serve immediately.
Yummy!

This was the first time in which I resorted to only homeopathic and natural remedies when we've been sick and I was very pleasantly surprised on how well they worked. Most of the remedies I read about in Natural Family Living, but other great sources for homeopathic research include: Homeopathic Remedies: An Quick and Easy Guide to Common Disorders and Their Homeopathic Treatments and ABC Homeopathy.

Of course, if you are not interested in homeopathic remedies and if you are a nursing mom, you can always check to see which medications are safe for breastfeeding moms to take at KellyMom and at LactMed.

Here's to your health!

Homeopathic Remedies

Baby Milk Action

I just thought I would share this video from the Boycott Nestle blog. Mike created this video when a formula company in the UK changed its logo to get around the new government laws on how formula companies can market their products.

Baby Milk Action

Fitted Diaper

I barely have time to sew anymore, but I did manage to make the Guppy a new fitted diaper. A friend from LLL very kindly put snaps on it for me..

Fitted Diaper

Plastic Surgery

This morning I was reading the new secrets over at PostSecret and I saw this one:

What relief this person must have felt, mailing in that last bill. It made me think how much I look forward to doing the same, to being finally free of debt.

I got my first credit card when I was 16. I thought I was so grown up and cool. For the first four years, I was extremely responsible with my card. I would pay off the balance in full every single month. But, life happens. I got pregnant with the Mermaid and had to quit all three of my jobs. I was unable to pay the balances off in full. By the time I was four months pregnant, I had about $1,000 on the card.

When I was about six or seven months pregnant with the Mermaid, the Knight and I foolishly moved out of his parents house into our own apartment. The Knight was working at a different job and earning less than half of what he earns now, I was still in school.

At first everything was fine. But, life happens. My commute to school was an hour and a half long both ways, so as you can imagine we were putting a lot of money into gas. Gas prices went up. My car broke down a few times. Pretty soon we were relying on our credit cards to get us by. Groceries went on the cards. Christmas went on the cards. We even used the cars to pay utility bills! Pretty soon we were way over our heads in debt. Something had to be done.

My mother offered us the top level of her house to live in so we could pay off debt and save for a house. We stopped using the cards. But because we didn't really know how to go about it, we were unable to save money and put a dent in our debt. Every month we would wonder, where did all the money go?

So we decided to do Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. And we are doing much better. We know where our money is going, because we have a written budget. The first step of the Total Money Makeover is to build a small emergency fund, so that if an unexpected emergency occurs (car breaks down, fridge breaks, etc.) you wouldn't have to use a credit card to get by. It took us almost a month, but we finally have our emergency fund. Which means that we no longer need to keep our credit cards around in case of an emergency. So, Saturday night the Knight and I got plastic surgery. We cut up every single one of our credit cards. How relieving! How empowering! With every snip of the scissors we said NO MORE! No more being a slave to debt! And this is our result:

We are now on Step 2, the debt snowball. I have a great feeling about this. I know that we will get out of debt as soon as possible. And then, I will know what it feels like to be in the same position as the person that sent in the secret. I will know what it feels like to be debt free.

Plastic Surgery

More Moms are Breastfeeding Their Older Children

The Boston Globe recently ran a great article about how more and more moms are breastfeeding their children into the toddler years and beyond...and they are not just the "hippy" moms, either. According to the article:

Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from Abbott Labs' Ross Mothers Survey show a steady increase in the number of women who initiate breast-feeding, from 57 percent in 1994 to 72 percent in 2005. Less well-known is the gradual increase in the age at which breast-feeding stops. In
1997, 26 percent of mothers were still nursing their babies at six months; in 2005, 39 percent were. In 1997, 14.5 percent of mothers were still breast-feeding at 12 months; by 2005, the number had climbed to 20 percent.

I think it's great that moms are breastfeeding their children longer. The benefits of breastfeeding do not simply stop when a child turns one. There are both nutritional and developmental benefits for nursing a toddler, for both mom and baby.

And while we are on this topic, a new documentary on extended breastfeeding was recently released in the UK, called Extraordinary Breastfeeding. Here's a little snippet:



Here is my personal stance on this issue: kudos to the women who do breastfeed that long. Could I breastfeed the Guppy until she is 7 or 8? I can't see myself doing it, but I wouldn't right it off completely. I couldn't see myself breastfeeding a two year old either, before the Mermaid was born. I am NOT stating that moms who do breastfeed that long are wrong, I fully support their decision to continue the breastfeeding relationship with their child as long as their child wishes to as well. My goal with the Guppy is to breastfeed until at least two years old, then let her lead. If she self weans, great. If she doesn't....well, I can see myself going as far as four years old, but beyond that, we'll just have to see when the time comes.

So what is your opinion on extended breastfeeding? What is the longest you've nursed your child/children, and how long is too long for you?

More Moms are Breastfeeding Their Older Children

The Crying Game

A while ago I found this book review on a new book being released, titled The Crying Game. After all the popular books on the market that advocate crying it out, it's nice to see another book that talks about how crying it out can be detrimental to your babies health. You can read the review here.

The Crying Game

Fantastic Friday: But it's Saturday!

I've been really slacking this week with posting in this blog. I've tried, but I've had a pretty hectic week. Then yesterday, on my day off, we all catch the stomach bug. So I was busy picking up vomit and treating the Guppy and the Mermaid and I didn't get a chance to post Fantastic Friday.

Weight: For my future MILF post, I maintained. A little disappointed about that. In fact, lately I've been very frustrated. It didn't take this long to lose the weight on WW after the Mermaid was born! What gives? Total weight loss: 12.5 lbs.

House: Pretty much a mess. I'm barely managing to stay on top of my routines and the laundry. *sigh* FlyLady would be so disappointed.

Finances: This is the one good area this week. We finished Step 1 of the Total Money Makeover and we are moving on to Step 2, yay!

Environment: Eh. Compact Life is pretty much out the window right now with Easter shopping. Hopefully I can jump back into it soon.

The thing is, I've pretty much been in a rut all week. Adjusting to working is hard. I've just been feeling "blah" allll the time. What gives? Please send good thoughts and prayers that I can get out of this rut soon!

Fantastic Friday: But it's Saturday!

Time To Laugh

Thought this video was hilarious. Enjoy!

Time To Laugh

Pregnant in America

Previously, I had given the heads up on a riveting documentary on childbirth called Birth as We Know It. Now I'd like to point your attention to another documentary that looks just as riveting. Pregnant in America explores the system of maternal care in the United States and forces us to ask questions such as, Why is the c-section rate in the U.S a whopping 33%? Why are laboring women subjected to so many unnecessary interventions?
The system of prenatal care in this country needs to change. And it needs to start with pregnant women. Women who are expecting need to educate themselves on their rights, their options, and what is best for them and their baby.
Here is the trailer for Pregnant in America:

Pregnant in America