Breastfeeding and the Dentist

Being a stay at home mom, I sort of stay in my own little bubble.

It’s not until I venture out into public that I realize that how we parent, isn’t mainstream or generally accepted by society. I also discover (sadly TOO MUCH) that people are misinformed and uneducated about breastfeeding, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, and more.

A great example of this would be my dentist appointment last week (ugh, going back tomorrow for more work), where the receptionist, upon discovering that I still breastfeed my two year old toddler, informed me I would HAVE to pump and dump my breastmilk because it would be completely unusable after my deep cleaning. Why? Because I’d need a shot of Novocaine.

I tried to gently educate her that having a shot of Novocaine would not suddenly make my breastmilk into a dangerous toxic substance and that by her saying this (to Gods know how many women) she is spreading fear and misinformation.

“But it’s injected, DIRECTLY INTO YOUR BLOODSTREAM!”

I didn’t want to get into a debate and sit there for hours trying to explain as gently as possible to not hurt her feelings that she was… wrong. However I did try to explain she was misinformed, that perhaps she could research it a bit more before giving advice that isn’t correct. I tried to direct her to this article from KellyMom but aside from that, didn’t know what specific resources I should even bring up.

After the appointment, I tried to figure out WHY I let it bother me so much, why it STILL bothers me, that this young woman who admitted to me she knew nothing about children or breastfeeding, as a receptionist, would give MEDICAL ADVICE that was incorrect.

I never know what to say or how to handle situations like these, have you had an experience with someone who was giving incorrect advice about breastfeeding? How did you handle it?

Update 2/6/2012
I went back for my appointment today and brought up to the dentist my issue with the receiptionist. Overall the dentist was receptive and nice about it but she did say this, “But what MEDICAL advice was she giving you?” and I had to explain that her telling me to pump and dump my breastmilk, that it would be toxic from the Novocaine, was indeed MEDICAL ADVICE.

Parenting Resolutions

A new year of learning, growing, thriving… especially now that I have TWO boys!

What do you want to do differently this year as a parent?
Be more active. Ok, I have to give myself some slack in this area. Last year I had hyperemsis, a subchorionic bleed, and symphysis pubis dysfunction. Was on bedrest the entire pregnancy, then recovery from the emergency repeat c-section (failed VBAC). Still. Our awesome friend Jennifer, gave us a Brookfield Zoo Membership that I can’t WAIT to take full advantage of.

I also want us to focus on more of a schedule. As it stands now we are all naturally nocturnal, which is fine for the Winter, but when the warmer Spring starts to happen I want us to have a semi-set bedtime so we can spend our days outside in the fresh air, exploring.

We also, especially with our oldest son, will give even more support and guidance. He came back from living with his bio-dad and bio-dad’s girlfriend sickly, unhealthy, afraid, and with night terrors. After only 5 months with them. It’s been a long year of slow healing for him emotionally and physically.

We will be working on stronger reading skills (we homeschool/unschool), more math skills, and anything else he wants to learn! Already we’ve noticed a huge leap in his language since being back home, especially in the past few months, and we really want to encourage him to speak properly, eloquently, etc. I always have a tendency to get a bit upset in general with people who “dumb” themselves down.

With the baby, there isn’t too much I need to do differently. Naturally this year is a big one for development so I do want to expose him to different music, photography, and textures early on.

What do you want to be the same?
With my oldest son, the love and desire to be a family. So many children I know can’t stand to be around their parents and my son loves nothing more than “family time”. Just on Monday night, he sat on the floor in our bedroom and sang to all of us (the boyfriend aka “real daddy” as my son calls him, the baby, and myself) about how much he loved us individually. His little brother LOVED it. Huge smiles, laughs, and squeals!

With the baby, just his enthusiasm. He is always so excited to see me when he wakes up (yay for co-sleeping) and overall is super chill.

What went exceptionally well in 2009?
Having Danny move back home into a safe, secure, well-loved environment. Giving birth to Tristan. Seeing the love between brothers who are almost eight years apart.

What could you use a do-over?
Well obviously, not have Dan live with his bio-dad heh. I also would have started homeschooling him right away instead of having more damage done by the local public school.

So to recap:
Create more of a structure for not only myself but for my oldest son. Make an effort this year to create some amazing experiences.

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• The Adventures of Lactating Girl
  To Yell or Not to Yell
• Baby Dust Diaries
  It Is All About Empathy: Nurturing a Toddler’s Compassion Potential
• BluebirdMama
  To my babies: this year
• Breastfeeding Moms Unite!
  Mindfully Loving My Children
• Code Name: Mama
  January Carnival of Natural Parenting: Resolutions
• Craphead (aka Mommy)
  Resolutions
• Consider Eden
  Imperfect Mother
• FC Mom
  FC Mom’s Parenting Resolutions 2010
• Momopoly
  Use Love
• Musings of a Milk Maker
  My parenting resolutions
• Navelgazing
  Talkin’ ’bout My Resolutions

• Happy Mothering
  What’s in a Resolution?
• Hobo Mama
  January Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting resolutions
• Little Green Blog
  Natural Parenting Resolutions
• Look Left of the Pleiades
  This year, I will mostly…
• The Mahogany Way
  Parenting Resolutions
• mama2mama tips
  I Resolve to Breastfeed In Public More Often
• Megna the Destroyer
  Moving to Two Kids
• Raising My Boychick
  Invitations, not resolutions
• The Recovering Procrastinator
  No more multitasking during kid time
• Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma
  I need to slow down, smell those roses AND the poopy diapers
• This Is Worthwhile
  Resolutely Parenting in 2010

First Snow, New Sling, Photos Galore!

I’ve been so excited, it’s finally starting to snow!

I took some photos today when my oldest son, Daniel, and I went outside to play for a bit while baby Tristan chilled with daddy.

It’s finally starting to hit us that Christmas/Yule is coming up shortly. We really are trying to make this an awesome holiday, especially for Danny, since last year he spent the holidays with his biological father and it was utterly miserable for him. We plan on getting the Wii for his massive gift since my twin sister promised us some games and accessories she no longer wants so it really helps us out financially. I would love to do something with holiday cards, but I don’t know what exactly, perhaps a holiday card exchange of some sort? We are going to try and get the tree up in the next week or so, I can’t wait, I am ALL about the pretty lights, can we say upcoming bokeh shots!

In other exciting (for me anyway!) news, I received a brand new ring sling in the mail from my friend Gina of The Feminist Breeder. I LOVE IT! Not to mention the bag she included, she picked out the perfect fabric for me!

Tristan adores the new sling, even more than the Moby Wrap! I think because I tend to put him facing forward in the new sling, so he doesn’t get to miss any of the action! What type of baby carrier do you prefer and why?

Lastly, I’ve been curious, for the photographers out there, what do you do with your prints? I don’t have the money to buy frames so we have them up on the walls around the house with just push pins and I feel like I’m not displaying them properly.

Of course, here’s some photos of Tristan being the uber squish today!

Questions Asked: Recap

• Holiday card exchange?
• What type of baby carrier do you prefer and why?
• How do you display your photography prints?

The Awesomeness of Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapering (aside from breastfeeding!) is one of the best financial and health decisions a parent could make!

Oh yes, that is the face of a happy and healthy attachment baby!

When I was pregnant with my oldest son, Daniel, I wanted to cloth diaper him, sadly I wasn’t able to do so (due to his biological father) until Danny was about a year old. With him I used mainly pre-folds and covers with a few pockets and AIO (all in ones).

This time around I pretty much let Keith know from the start we would be cloth diapering Tristan. Explaining the health benefits, the FINANCIAL benefits, and well the cute factor heh, he was totally on board!

My father purchased us a dozen Bum Genius 3.0 One Size diapers and our friend Jen, purchased us another dozen. How lucky are we!

Here are some of my (and Keith’s) favorite aspects about using cloth diapers!

Keith’s Reasons

• The sheer financial aspect
• Zero diaper rashes
• The containment (of the poopy “blowouts”) is really good, no leaks
• They absorb really well
• The versatility of the cloth diapers, by customizing the inserts
• The maintenance is really simple
• We never “run out” of diapers, no 3am runs to purchase disposables
• They’re pretty (he wanted me to make that more manly sounding lol)

My Reasons

• The cuteness! Seriously, a t-shirt, a cloth diaper, and some baby legs, adorable!
• Super comfy on the baby, no rashes either
• Really easy to just do a load of laundry
• No gel bits of who knows what attached to my baby
• Cloth diapers do not have that weird smell/stink
• There is no “dunking” of diapers, Tristan is of course, exclusively breastfed and that is water soluble.

Actually Keith listed most of our reasons, go figure!

Financially, with the option we went with, for an initial cost of $400 approx, we have a set of diapers that will last from newborn until toddler. With disposables that cost would be approx $1800! Also Keith had talked to the water company and the woman he spoke to was shocked. Apparently our family of four uses the same water consumption as a one person household. I was so surprised considering how much laundry we do, my long showers, the billions of dishwasher loads, etc.

We wash the diapers every other day and use powdered Tide for the detergent. Honestly, Keith is the one who does ALL the diapering. He changes all the diapers, washes them, and stuffs them.

His method for washing is:

• Put washer on the largest size setting (ours is super) and add the 1^st measure of detergent
• Put temperature to cold/cold
• Set to highest agitation level
• When that cycle is done, set temperature to hot/hot
• Set to highest agitation level and add 2^nd measure of detergent
• Once that 2^nd cycle is complete, run one more time, without detergent to fully rinse diapers
• Run through the dryer on low temp for 60 minutes

It may sound like a lot of steps, but in reality it’s just moving the dial a few times on the washing machine!

Do you use cloth diapers? What type (pocket, pre-folds, AIO’s, etc)? Do you have a favorite retailer? How did you start using cloth?

Breastfeeding: 6wks : Lots of Photos and Reflections

Today we hit a breastfeeding milestone, 6 weeks of Tristan having nothing but my breastmilk to nourish and sustain him. Now keep in mind, I am sleep deprived as I write this.

It’s interesting for me considering I breastfed my oldest son from birth until he self weaned after he turned 4yrs old. I’ve gone back and re-read all my archives, not only did I sound like a typical blogger at the time heh, but even then I was passionate about breastfeeding and the benefits for both me and my son.

With Tristan we did encounter some issues for the first 3 weeks, mainly that he was a very chill/sleepy baby so he would fall asleep at the breast as soon as he would latch, it caused many worries for me as I had zero issues breastfeeding my first son. Thankfully after week 3 and two visits to a lactation consultant (who loved our BumGenius cloth diapers, and said we were the first parents to use cloth diapers in all her 10+ yrs working as a LC!), he has “woken up” if you will, and we’ve had no further issues.

I do feel a large part of my breastfeeding “success” is that formula/bottles were never an option in my mind. As with my first, I made sure we did not have any artificial nipples in the home, did not purchase formula (which NEVER crossed my mind even when I was pregnant with my first son), and I’ve always had a “this will work no matter what I have to do” attitude.

I also did not let anyone’s opinions affect me. I could care less if my family, friends, hell my boyfriend, supported me in my choice. Granted it’s nice to have that emotional support I’m sure, but at the end of the day it’s a relationship between my child and myself. One worth fighting for.

I remember the nurses being judgmental and downright rude to me as I nursed Tristan. I had almost every single nurse act surprised and even angry that I did not have sore nipples or breasts from letting my newborn nurse as much as he wanted/needed to. I had one nurse (that I “fired”) verbally attack me for letting him stay at the breast for 3 hours one afternoon. That it wasn’t “normal”. I had many nurses try to get me to leave him in the nursery… for no reason at all. I of course declined, and after a certain point, not so politely.

When I had Daniel, the nurses made it their personal goal to try and talk me into giving him formula, one even tried to sneak a bottle into my baby without my knowledge or consent, if it wasn’t for my twin sister noticing and stopping it, who knows what could have happened. I had one night nurse try to tell me that it was ok to give formula because it would be given through an oral syringe, so that made it “ok” in her eyes.

In both cases, no one had a valid reason of why they were so disturbed that I was breastfeeding my new baby. In both cases I did not have one single nurse that was happy to see me breastfeeding.

I do realize I tend to judge, and I am harsh, to those who formula feed by CHOICE. Very few people have a valid reason to not breastfeed. Most of the reasons are selfish, misguided, lazy, or they cave into pressure from those around them to give their babies a dead powdered (possibly recalled) substance filled with corn syrup, oils, powdered vitamins, etc.

I also realize some people that make the CHOICE to formula feed, do so out of ignorance. How many times have we all heard mother’s say they chose to feed their infants formula because the baby was “so hungry!” around 2 weeks, 3 months, etc. It hurts me that simply because their baby was going through a growth spurt, instead of RESEARCHING it, instead of reaching out to their local LLL or LC, they instead cram a bottle of potentially harmful material into their babies mouths.

It’s NOT NORMAL that we have to have LAWS in place to be able to nourish our babies the way our bodies are set up to do. We have milk ducts for a reason.

Now granted I may come across a bit harsh and I fully expect that I will offend/upset someone with my thoughts and opinions. I am not going to apologize for that. Generally those who FEEL attacked, are actually feeling guilty or not confident in their parental choice for feeding their child.

On the other hand, those who have a valid medical reason (of course trying to get donated breastmilk first), should have the ability to use formula to feed their child.

I’ve gotten a bit off track here, suffice to say I plan on breastfeeding Tristan until he self-weans, just like his big brother did, there is absolutely no reason why I would do it any differently.

Thoughts on Babywearing & the Moby Wrap

When I was pregnant with my oldest son, Daniel, I always wanted to “wear” him.

I never got the chance due to his bio-father, instead I simply carried him in my arms… EVERYWHERE. I never minded it although at times I wish I had BOTH hands free… to even just type like I’m doing now! I never EVER wanted to be one of those “baby bucket” parents. I feel that car seats are meant for the car, not as a makeshift parent or sleeping area. Besides, babies are meant to be held and snuggled!

With Tristan however, I really wanted a wrap or carrier, after researching it I decided upon the Moby Wrap as my first wrap (I am also interested in woven wraps, would appreciate any suggestions/thoughts in the comments, and yes I am a member of The Baby Wearer lol.)

I sent Keith over to New Mother, New Baby which is a local store that sells the wrap, the owner was kind enough to stay open late for him as traffic was ultra congested at the time. He purchased me the red wrap which is an awesome color.

The learning curve has been a bit difficult for me, the top rail of the cummerbund never seems tight enough, although the wrap is secure, it always bothers me (this is specifically related to the front pocket wrap cross carry hold). I’ve expanded, just as of today even, to teaching myself to breastfeed in the wrap, and to do the front wrap cross carry hold which I find to be a bit easier/faster to do actually.

I am very pleased with our Moby Wrap, not only is the color of the wrap pretty (I was worried when Keith told me he purchased red, that it would be tomato red or tacky red, instead it’s an autumny maple red!), but I like having the ability to do different holds, it’s soft and snuggly for the baby, and it’s one-size fit’s all so it can fit me and also fit Keith (who is over 6ft tall).

So I am curious, do you babywear? Why/why not? If you do, what are/is your favorite type of carrier and why? Where is your favorite store to purchase from?

I am so interested in the responses!!

At a Loss for Words

Obviously having a newborn makes it difficult to be online, even with a Blackberry and laptop, I am going through withdrawal!

There’s so much more to the birth story than I posted earlier (which was blogged from my blackberry while on pain meds in the hospital). However, I doubt anyone cares to read it and I’m not sure when I would have time to really recall all of it without crying heh.

I am happy to say that when it comes to Tristan, he is solely breastfed, although we are going back and forth with foremilk/hindmilk imbalance issues, he is cloth diapered, no vaccinations, did not get the Vit K shot, Hep B shot, or eye ointment, also he is not circumcised.

It took about a week and a half after the birth, all the while sobbing often, to accept my failed VBAC. I logically understand it was an actual emergency (due to my bleeding out/possible placenta abruption *waiting on those test results still*) and yet emotionally it’s hard to accept that I went through 4 straight days of labor, bleeding the whole time, having contractions every 2 – 4 minutes lasting 1 – 2 minutes, plus a hell of a lot more, just to end up with another c-section after all.

Aside from all the baby stuff, recovery stuff, I’ve been feeling insane! I’m still stuck at home, more so because of the painful c-section recovery, no nursing bra yet, and the weather hasn’t exactly been pleasant either. I just miss being outside! I am already mentally thrilled that this upcoming year (2010) I will again be frolicking outside like mad crazy with the boys!

Keith has been a huge help. I’ve had to change only ONE diaper, simply because he was renewing his driver’s license at the time so he wasn’t here lol. It’s amazing for me because I have to admit, I compare how he is with this baby phase to how Matt was and Keith by far is the better father. He’s a strong advocate for all of us where Matt… well… let’s not get into that. He cooks all the meals, does all the laundry, makes sure to play with Danny, etc. Suffice to say it proves that dating someone with more intelligence reflects more in daily life and parenthood than I originally believed years ago.

I just had my 28^th birthday on October 17^th. It was ok. I got an awesome surprise gift from Keith’s friend which I am still in shock about, my father stopped by and told me he would get us some more BumGenius cloth diapers in November which is awesome, right now Keith is washing diapers 1-2x per day. My oldest son made me an awesome card, photo is below. I still had a hard day though, I never do well on my birthday heh.

Anyway, here are a few recent photos. I would appreciate any feedback on well, everything. I am still emotionally raw from the failed VBAC and such heh.

Vent: Birthing Scare Tactics (long)

Some of you know from following me on twitter that I was in the emergency room at Northwest Community Hospital (in Arlington Heights, IL) for a severe migraine (I’ve been suffering from them for years, they are not pregnancy related).

I had gone originally in the evening on Wednesday night, they tested me for Group B Strep (common to be tested around 36wks, if you test positive, you get antibiotics during labor) of which I am negative for, gave me some pain meds, had the on-call OB take a peek at me. He palpated my belly, made a comment that the baby was average, maybe even on the smaller side size wise. He also said that I was a great candidate for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).

Sadly, the migraine rebounded and I had to go back yesterday (Thursday). We were there for approx 8+hrs. The arrival itself went smoothly, although, like usual, they discounted my very large history of migraines and assumed it HAD to be pregnancy related, naturally, it wasn’t.

The first doctor that came to the room performed a cervical check on me, during the migraine itself where I could not think, focus, etc, (as anyone who has had a migraine can atest to, your brain doesn’t WORK during a migraine) and it was extremely painful. So much so that I am very sore today. He also tried to force my legs open even though I told him I physically couldn’t open them past a certain point, due to my separated pelvis.

I was then declared to be 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. He then started to berate me for choosing to have a VBAC, how HE would NEVER choose that, I wondered how he thought he would ever be faced with that option considering he was male, no uterus, no vagina, etc.

So they finally give me pain medication, once it kicked in they proceeded to do a full ultrasound to check fluid levels and such. The ultrasound tech commented that I was very articulate and “good with your words”. She told me the baby looked great, heads down, and approx 8 1/2 — 9 lbs, measuring EXACTLY on time for my due date (which is today by the way).

I was then put back into the hospital room, where my 7yr old son had fallen asleep, my boyfriend was dozing (he had only slept maybe 3 hrs the night before) and I was pain free so I was focused on getting the heck out of that hospital! The nurse came in, told us that a different doctor NEEDED to speak to us before we would be permitted to leave, we simply assumed he wanted to review the radiology report from the ultrasound.

TWO HOURS LATER, he comes in the room, throws himself in a chair, and proceeds to attack me for not having a repeat c-section.

Fear Tactic #1 He told me it was Illinois State LAW that unless I had “proof” of the uterine incision I had, that I had no “choice” but to have a c-section. I asked him to provide me with written documentation of this law. Twice. He then recanted and said, “well maybe it’s not a law, but I’ll tell you NO hospital will ALLOW you to VBAC without it”. Right ok, so first fear tactic and lie. Interesting.

Fear Tactic #2 He then tried to tell me that my unborn son has macrosomia. Interesting since by all proven documentation the baby would have to be about 10+ lbs for that to be the case, the ultrasound tech GUESSTIMATED 8 1/2 — 9lbs, and ultrasound is the LEAST reliable method to determine baby’s weight, could be off as much as TWO POUNDS. I am not measuring ahead, baby is not measuring ahead.

My oldest son was born at exactly 39wks and was 8lbs 3oz. My twin sister was 6days overdue and her daughter was 8lbs, 13oz. Just to show the general “size” of our babies.

Fear Tactic #3 He then attempted to use my separated pelvis against me, trying to tell me a “large” baby would damage it further. In all actuality, the fact that my pelvis is the way it is, actually gives my body the ability to birth a larger than “normal” baby.

All in all, he spent about an hour trying to scare me, shame me, etc. It didn’t work. All it did was make me utterly furious. He finally left the room and had a social worker come up (due to our health insurance issue), and I told her how he was with me, how upset I was, and she actually recommended we go to a different hospital (that is literally a 3minute drive from our house, as opposed to Northwest which is about 30 min away), that it was his practice who was on-call and they would try to force a c-section on me.

I am so angry still. I had nightmares of being at a social event and watching women be tied down and have forced c-sections performed on them all night. It was horrific.

As it is, I plan on waiting as long as possible before going to ANY hospital, I would prefer to go when in transition or better yet, when I have the urge to push.

There is no way I can be coerced into a RCS (repeat c-section), I am too angry and stubborn heh. I also have a great advocate in my boyfriend. However, not only do I have to fight for the birth ITSELF, but the moment my second son is born, I have to fight to prevent them from forcing formula down his throat, coating his eyes in Erythromycin ointment (the eye drops they use on newborns, is supposed to be used when the mother has gonorrhea or chlamydia for example), giving him the Hep B vaccination which is no longer even recommended for newborns (I don’t think my new infant will be shooting up heroin with dirty needles or having unprotected sexual intercourse the moment he is out of my womb), the Vitamin K shot (to prevent bleeding in the brain, usually it stems from an issue with the liver), and lastly, making sure they do not circumcise him.

I highly need feedback on this entry and encouragement. I would appreciate if you could retweet this as well. I need all the help, advice, encouragement, etc.

Today is my due date with my second son and instead of being mellow and enjoying the feel of him kicking my ribs, I have to worry about the medical profession doing harm to us, or punishing us, simply because I am an overweight mother who had a previous c-section due to my oldest son being a footling breech.

ETA on 09/30/2009 The 2^nd hospital, Lutheran General in Park Ridge, IL, is even WORSE. I explained more in the comments, but this statement from the SECOND OB (they tried to have EVERYONE who was there try and force me to have a RCS), told me that even if I showed up with the baby CROWNING they would “force” me to have a RCS.

I am in VERY early labor and have been since Monday morning. Insane amounts of bloody show, hopefully things kick in soon. Right now it looks like I am going to have an October baby, funny enough my own Birthday is Oct 17^th.

Processing the Negative: Pregnancy and Upcoming Birth #2

It’s interesting how sudden I lost the ability to think, to write. I’m sure this is partly due to the fact that my due date with baby boy #2 is NEXT FRIDAY. Sounds more scary that way, doesn’t it? I feel so unprepared and I can’t quite put my finger on “why?”. I guess I was a bit resigned to the very real possibility that my oldest son was going to be an only child, oh and I still haven’t packed a bag, installed the car seat, do not have enough cloth diapers, etc.

It’s also interesting, when I look back on this particular pregnancy, the cloud of anger and negative attitudes I’ve received.

My former place of employment pretty much threw a fit, (I was hauled in almost daily to “discuss” my pregnancy), I lost pretty much every single friend, (or so-called apparently), I was told OFTEN especially in the first trimester by employees I didn’t even KNOW that I had “options” to “deal” with the pregnancy. I found it so highly offensive considering when I found out I was 27yrs of age, in a solid relationship, working full-time, oh and already was a mother! That’s not even to get into the comments by the management…

I’ve had to deal with such negative and mis-informed thoughts/opinions/attitudes about the birth from family and the few friends I have left. Yes, it’s a big list:

• NOT letting my newborn be given eye drops (they are used to “treat” the baby’s eyes if the mother has a STD) was illegal
• Without having the medical profession TELL me, command me, to push that my body literally wouldn’t know how
• It’s not possible to birth without being on your back
• I would have to (god forbid) sign waivers if I declined the HepB vax (my baby isn’t born shooting heroin/having sex)
• That waiting to go to the hospital for my VBAC would 100% result in the baby being born in the car
• Having a VBAC would automatically mean my uterus would rupture, so why try
• I should have a repeat c-section, because it’s selfish of me to not “choose” my baby’s birthday
• I was told I can’t handle pain, I would “need” the epidural because of how I was after having the c-section & gallbladder removal surgeries. Because labor and birth are exactly like major abdominal surgery apparently.
• That I am “idealizing” the birth, because “what if?!” the baby presents with his hand by his face, his heartrate drops, etc. That I haven’t “prepared” for every single possibility. Somehow my having a VBAC makes all the “what if’s” certain events.

Actually there is a ton more but even just going over those make me testy. I’ve not even gone into all of the actual parenting crap that has been spouted at me regarding breastfeeding, no circ, co-sleeping, no vaccinating, cloth diaper, etc. I really REALLY do not get how people can even TALK to me about breastfeeding in a negative way (for those who know me personally) especially considering my son NEVER had a drop of formula, no bottles, no pacifiers, and self-weaned himself at 4yr. I think I can handle breastfeeding another child the same way. I also don’t understand why anyone would think I would change the way I parent in general.

Oh yes, I am a bit with the rage. What makes it ok for ANYONE to spout crap without doing any research? An “opinion” isn’t FACT.

Sigh. Generally I try to not let it get to me, but lately that’s proven to be very difficult. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have the full support from my boyfriend and son. I know at the end of the day that’s all I really need.

When did it become ok, and even applauded, to attack someone for not being mainstream? Has anyone else dealt with being shunned, verbally attacked, etc, for the way you parent?

Cloth Diapers

We received yesterday (no thanks to UPS, LONG story) our first order of cloth diapers from Jillians Drawers! Mind you this is the first “batch” if you will since we will still need at least another 12+.

And lastly, my son testing one out (yes those are Star Wars sheets), we didn’t have the fancy BumGenius 3.0 one-size CD when he was a baby!

• WordlessWednesday: Hair Fluffs
• Blast from the Past: Old OSN Designs
• Leap into Spring: Finale
• Leap into Spring: Grass/Green
• Bubbles
• May 2012 Julep Maven It Girl Box
• Life Updates
• Leap into Spring: Rain/Water

• For the bloggers out there, are you a niche blogger or a memoir blogger? Why did you choose one over the other (if... fb.me/MCqTXjHk | 4 hours ago
• @TouchstoneZ HAHHA omg flashback! | 4 hours ago
• @ohmyveggies just take ibuprofen and excedrin migraine now, I've given up on prescriptions | 6 hours ago