Monkey see, Monkey do....Please

"If a multinational company developed a product that was a nutritionally balanced and delicious food, a wonder drug that both prevented and treated disease, cost almost nothing to produce and could be delivered in quantities controlled by the consumer's needs, the very announcement of their find would send their shares rocketing to the top of the stock market.  The scientists who developed the product would win prizes and the wealth and influence of everyone involved would increase dramatically.  Women have been producing such a miraculous substance, breastmilk, since the beginning of human existence."

~Gabrielle Palmer

Did you know that human beings are the only species that feeds its young milk from other animals?  Every mammal is intended to produce milk for their young, in order to help him or her to continue growing and developing into a mature adult.  The milk we all produce is specifically designed for each individual and their specific needs.  For example, your first child may have been born right in the middle of flu season.  Therefore, your antibodies to fight flu with be at raised levels  in order to protect her health and build her immune system.  However, baby number two may be born during the spring time and an increase in antibodies to fight the flu would not be that beneficial for her.  This is purposeful.  It gives your infant the sustenance and nutrition they need specifically.  

Yes, even elephants!

     The same is true for cows, goats, horses, sheep, dogs, cats, dolphins and even elephants.  Their babies are born with some growing and developing to do as well.  And mothers milk is the perfect food to help them on their way.  However, most other mammals develop a little faster than we humans do, and may require a little different nutrition.  After all, they are expected to stand up and walk in 24 hours, we just want our little ones to wake up!!  It is far more likely that your baby will need antibodies to fight the flu more than they will need them to fight bovine diarrhea.  Likewise, they need the nutrition in mother's milk to help them grow and develop on their schedule, not that designed for babies of other mammals.

Many formula companies use protein from cows milk to make their product.  Now, I am not slamming formula, I am just bringing attention to some things that seem to have been overlooked.  In all actuality, formula was created with the best of intentions.  There were instances when mother and baby weren't able to breastfeed.  If mother wasn't able to make milk, or sometimes not make it through delivery, families were left holding babies with no food source. Even then people wanted these little ones to have something designed to meet their needs more than that of other animals.  The plan, was to take breast milk to the lab, break it down to its basic parts, and duplicate it to create a formula for these infants.  Scientists were trying to come up with something that would sustain these infants and keep them alive.  They were not trying to provide an alternative to breastfeeding so we could maintain the level of convenience we busy mothers have grown accustomed to.  The pros of this plan is that we now had that thing that would help baby to survive the first year.  The cons, however, were that this nutritional substitute could not then and can not now compare to breast milk.  Some ingredients found in breast milk cannot be duplicated and therefore formula is simply missing a lot of the good stuff that our babies need. In fact, while formulas contain a lot of the same things as breast milk like:

Water 

Hang in there!

Protein

Carbohydrates

DHA/ARA

Fat

Vitamins

Minerals

Some formulas even contain prebiotics and/or probiotics

Breast milk contains ALL of the above plus:

Anti-Parasites

Anti-Allergies

Hormones

Disease fighting stem cells

Enzymes

Growth Factors

Anti-Cancer (HAMLET)

Antibodies

Baby needs all of the above ingredients mixed each day, every hour into a recipe designed to sustain their specific health needs.  And Mama, you were designed to make just that!  So hang in there baby, and know you are giving your baby the best that you could give them, to keep them happy, healthy, and whole.

   

Traci

Growing a Family: What the garden has taught me about happy, healthy and whole.

As winter began to fade and my surroundings started to turn green again, I turned to my husband and said, "I think this year, I would like to grow a garden." He said, in his typically Wesley fashion, "As you wish". I cannot brag on him enough for how generously he takes care of me, but as sweet as "as you wish" sounds, he jumped into gardening knowing it wouldn't be a simple task.  See when I decide to grow a garden that really means Stephen has some work to do.We have been blending our rather large family for about 2 1/2 years now and with that comes compromise, struggle, and stress.  But, like all things in parenting, marriage, and gardening we work together and things always turn out just fine.


In order, to have a successful garden, you must first prepare the ground.  The spot we decided would be the best place to plant in, had never been worked up before.  We had to disk up the ground and turn it over, before we could get a tiller in there.  We tilled it 3-4 times before it felt like someplace in which we could plant crops.  All of us worked together long hours of the day, pulling out clumps of grass and rocks, in hopes that our young plants would be able to establish a good root system.  I didn't realize the metaphor that would unfold before me over the next few months, but that preparation was also happening in our home as well.  Steve and I had already, made compromises and rules that we felt would best benefit the children and the peacefulness for our family.   We were essentially laying down the ground work for our home and their future success.  

We built trellis's so that the plants would have support. ( See where I am going with this??)    

And eventually we began to see our little ones emerge and reach for the sun.  Aren't they beautiful?

We even found a few new friends, who seemed like nice "people", but they had to go home to their own families The garden really wasn't the best environment for them, although it did take some convincing.


We learned some valuable lessons as we traveled through this gardening experience.  Like, if you throw some seeds out and cover it with a little dirt, a plant will grow.  It's really not that hard to produce a baby.  




But, as gardeners (aka parents) it is our job to make sure they have a sunny environment to grow in.  It's our job to pull the weeds and spray for bugs (bad influences) keeping their space safe so they can grow strong.  





Sometimes, you have to train them up the trellis if you don't want your cucumbers or tomatoes to grow wild and interfere with the raising of other plants in the garden.  And sometimes children need reminding that they are influencing the others around them and need to continue being a good example even when it isn't the easiest route. 

This guy got a little wild and
had some "bad influences"
getting close, but we were able to
get him back in line and save

the fruit. :)   

 Here's to you and
yours on your journey to
happy, healthy and whole. 

Traci

Because when you put in the effort, knowing it will be exhausting, knowing there will be happy days and frustrating ones, you will end up with some very flavorful fruit that you'll be proud to share with the rest of your family, community, and the world.    

Asparagus beans were a favorite this year.  

My 8-year old thinks they look like snakes. 

Congratulations!  Congratulations!  Congratulations!

Congratulations to Sandra Clinton!  She won the drawing for the May Prize Basket from the Polk County Health Center.  Sandra took home this Stork basket full of goodies.  Winning is easy.  If you are a pregnant or breastfeeding mom in the area, stop by the Polk County Health Center and fill out a drawing ticket.  If stopping by is too inconvenient, there are other ways to enter too:

- Click on the link at the top of this page.

- Click on the 'contact us' link below.

- Call me

- Text me

- Email me 

Traci Volcko, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor

Polk County Health Center

417-326-7250

417-315-2135 24hr Breastfeeding helpline

volckt@lpha.mopublic.org

There is another Breast Feeding Prize Basket, just waiting for you!  Good Luck!