I would like to share my experience with nursing during this time since it is world breastfeeding week. I am not going to give a hundred reasons why it is green and cheaper, but it is. If you want to know why it is go here- http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/stories/6-green-reasons-why-breastfeeding-is-the-best-feeding and http://kellymom.com/pregnancy/bf-prep/bfcostbenefits/.
I had a normal birth experience and Kaira latched beautifully within the first hour of life. Nursing was great until about the third day when my nipples started bleeding. I was in a lot of pain and started using lanolin cream which did help a little at first.
In the second week I got mastitis which is an infection in the milk. I had a fever and was so sick. I also started using a nipple shield because of how painful it was. Even with it, nursing made me tear up every time. My doctor put me on antibiotics for the mastitis. I hated putting any antibiotics in my baby, but I did not know what else to do.
I had mastitis 2 more times after that. One more round of antibiotics and the the third time I looked for help outside the doctors office because I was not going to put my baby on mastitis for a third time before she was even 6 weeks old. I posted on facebook asking (begging) for advice and that is when I realized that I was not alone. I found people who have a wealth of knowledge who I already knew, I just did not know they have been through it as well since breastfeeding is not talked about. What finally stopped the mastitis was cabbage... of all things. Cabbage.
I found that I had an over supply of milk which contributed to the mastitis, and my milk supply did not even out until my baby was about 5 months old. The first 3 months were torture. When people ask how I did during the birth, I tell them that that was not the hard part. Breastfeeding was.
Now that my baby is almost 10 months, I feel that breastfeeding is easy and I love the bond that we have. I would not want to do it any other way.
My only regret is that I did not start asking questions sooner and I took medication. I was given a book on breastfeeding and I had help in the hospital, but I know now that is not enough.
Suggestions I have for new or soon-to-be moms,
Ask lots of questions!
Do not be afraid to talk about it. There is nothing sexual about breastfeeding, so there is nothing wrong with it!!!
Do not think you are alone.
Talk to a midwife or the La Leche league. Doctors have not experienced breastfeeding firsthand.
Use kellymom.com
If you have any questions email me at, Darthalammers@gmail.com. Please have the subject line as breastfeeding.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Girls Only!
If you are a guy you will not want to read any further. If you don't mind learning more about a girls monthly cycle and making it 'Greener', then read on!
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***Turn back now while you can***
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So I have found that most books, even the "greenest" don't talk about a girls cycle even though there is a lot of waste included. Even the best books don't go into enough detail. The only reason I don't ever bring this up is most people think it is gross to use anything down there that you reuse even though in history disposable is a very new concept.
Read more on the history of pads- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitary_napkin
I am not going to get into the history of pads and tampons, there are plenty of other websites for that. For the purpose of this blog just keep in mind that disposable has not been around that long but periods have been around since Eve.
I am not a advocate of tampons because they disturb the balance of yeast and bacteria. If you have to use tampons there are greener choices that Seventh Generation sells. I am sure there are others but I am not an expert on tampons. If you do wear tampons ask yourself this question... Do I really know what I am putting into my body?
Why are disposable pads bad? During you next period count how many pads you use, and multiply that by 12. That is how many you use in a year. Multiply that by 40 (because the average age to start a period is 12 and the average age to stop is 51. I add on a year because not only are multiples of ten easier to work with but also we have more then 12 periods on some years because periods are every 28 days.) For me it was 9600, but I have short periods and light periods.
This website says you will go through 16,800.
http://www.treehugger.com/style/bleed-with-pride-make-it-yourself-menstrual-pads.html
Still not convinced? Here is a great article on what you are putting on your skin. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/22/feminine-hygiene-products.aspx
I started making my own pads about a year ago. There are plenty of designs online. All I did was use a pad that I normally wore and mimicked that one for size. I used old flannel pj's that were falling apart and PUL fabric which is used for waterproofing baby diapers. This was one of the very first things I have ever sewn. You don't have to be good at sewing because no one else will ever see it.
Here are some free patterns on the web-
https://sites.google.com/site/shewhorunsintheforest/0011
http://www.borntolove.com/d-list7-make.shtml
If you want to use reusable pads but don't have the time to make them-
http://www.etsy.com/search?q=reusable%20pads&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&ref=auto5
Here is how I clean my pads- http://www.wikihow.com/Wash-a-Reusable-Menstrual-Pad
*
**
***Turn back now while you can***
**
*
So I have found that most books, even the "greenest" don't talk about a girls cycle even though there is a lot of waste included. Even the best books don't go into enough detail. The only reason I don't ever bring this up is most people think it is gross to use anything down there that you reuse even though in history disposable is a very new concept.
Read more on the history of pads- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitary_napkin
I am not going to get into the history of pads and tampons, there are plenty of other websites for that. For the purpose of this blog just keep in mind that disposable has not been around that long but periods have been around since Eve.
I am not a advocate of tampons because they disturb the balance of yeast and bacteria. If you have to use tampons there are greener choices that Seventh Generation sells. I am sure there are others but I am not an expert on tampons. If you do wear tampons ask yourself this question... Do I really know what I am putting into my body?
Why are disposable pads bad? During you next period count how many pads you use, and multiply that by 12. That is how many you use in a year. Multiply that by 40 (because the average age to start a period is 12 and the average age to stop is 51. I add on a year because not only are multiples of ten easier to work with but also we have more then 12 periods on some years because periods are every 28 days.) For me it was 9600, but I have short periods and light periods.
This website says you will go through 16,800.
http://www.treehugger.com/style/bleed-with-pride-make-it-yourself-menstrual-pads.html
Still not convinced? Here is a great article on what you are putting on your skin. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/22/feminine-hygiene-products.aspx
I started making my own pads about a year ago. There are plenty of designs online. All I did was use a pad that I normally wore and mimicked that one for size. I used old flannel pj's that were falling apart and PUL fabric which is used for waterproofing baby diapers. This was one of the very first things I have ever sewn. You don't have to be good at sewing because no one else will ever see it.
Here are some free patterns on the web-
https://sites.google.com/site/shewhorunsintheforest/0011
http://www.borntolove.com/d-list7-make.shtml
If you want to use reusable pads but don't have the time to make them-
http://www.etsy.com/search?q=reusable%20pads&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&ref=auto5
Here is how I clean my pads- http://www.wikihow.com/Wash-a-Reusable-Menstrual-Pad
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