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

YOLO! (You Only Lactate Often)

Photo courtesy of Jackie Johnson Smith

Did you all see this???!!!!  I am so impressed.  My faith in humanity has been restored.  I can totally see me doing this for some one (just as soon as I see someone breastfeeding some place other than my office or a breast feeding conference)!  Please, please visit the site and read his mom's encouraging story.  
     She and her husband were going out to eat for her birthday.  Though she was a little leery of taking the children to a restaurant downtown, they loaded up the little ones and went out for dinner.  As any of you with several kiddos know, when they get a little restless and bored, they find ways to keep busy.  This mama had her hands full and found a great solution to keep her baby happy.  She breastfed!  She also worried about what others would think or say, but was pleasantly surprised at the end of the night to find out her waitress had paid part of her tab, to say thanks for breastfeeding.  
     I am getting a little excited, but I am pretty sure I felt our culture begin to shift a little.  Did you feel that acceptance of beautiful and natural acts?  Maybe it's just me ~ sometimes I am a little sensitive.  Go check out the thread at Yahoo! shine.  I have embedded a link in the picture above.  Yay Jackie Johnson Smith.  Thank you for breastfeeding!

Congratulations to our June Prize Basket Winner!!

Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!

Congratulations goes to Julie Dobbins as our prize winner this month.  She won the Breastfeeding Survival Basket by entering our monthly drawing and you can too.  It is super simple to get signed up, just fill in a drawing ticket at the Polk County Health Center.  If that doesn't work for you, then please don't hesitate to call me, email me, text me or just click the contact button below and fill in the information there.

Check out next months prize:

Need a boppy? How about a basket full of breastfeeding goodies to go along with it?

Contact me as often as you like to sign up for this awesome goody.

Traci Volcko, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor

1317 West Broadway

Bolivar, MO 65613

volckt@lpha.mopublic.org

Polk County Health Center phone: (417)326-7250

Breastfeeding 24 hour helpline (417) 315-2135

May Prize Winner

Congratulations!!   Congratulations!!   Congratulations!!

Congratulations go out to Casey Stinley and new baby Rosie, winners of the May Prize the Sock bouquet.

It is not too late to enter the prize drawings.  I will be putting a new basket together every month.  Watch the blog to get the first glimpse of the latest goodies.  As always, if you would like to enter the drawing, just let me know.  I just need name, address, phone, email, and due date.

24 hour Breast Feeding Helpline: 417-315-2135

Email: volckt@lpha.mopublic.org

Or stop by the Polk County Health Center.  I would love to talk with you!

Good luck and again congratulations go out to Casey.

They've got an app for that!

     In this day and age, everywhere you look people have phones in their hands.  Phones have replaced cameras, watches and clocks, calendars and planners, even gaming systems and you can text and talk on them too!! Some of us still use the basic cell phone, and it surely serves the purpose for which it was intended. But more and more of the time, I see smart phones in the hands of old and young alike.  These tiny computers are amazing tools and I for one, love that I can use it for work, playing games when I am bored and waiting for kids after school, keeping my appointments and remembering important holidays like Mother's day and the kids birthdays! 
     You may be wondering,"What does any of this have to do with pregnancy and breastfeeding?"  Well, I will tell you!  I found some awesome apps that do everything from sends texts during pregnancy to ease a mother's worries to keeping track of diapers in those foggy days of "newbornhood".  Check them out.




 Sign up for the text4baby program and receive free text messages throughout your pregnancy and for baby's first year.  These tips and tricks will make being a new parent simpler and help put your mind at ease on some issues that you may have questions about.

I'm Expecting app is kind of amazing.  It will help you keep track of everything that is going on with you and baby. Get prepared for your baby’s birth. Get weekly updates of your baby's growth, track your symptoms and compare them to other pregnant moms to see how common they are, share info with your doctor, add doctor appointments, get answers to your questions and more! Simply enter your baby’s due date and get started for free today with this pregnancy tracker from Google play.

My Pregnancy Today app.  Simply enter your baby’s due date and My Pregnancy Today turns your Android into an expert guide for your exact day of pregnancy. Free from Google play.
My Pregnancy Today features: 
✔ Your pregnancy day by day: Learn how your body’s changing, what’s ahead, and how to cope
✔ Fetal development images: See what your baby looks like each week
✔ Pregnancy checklist: Reminders to keep you on track with decisions, appointments, and more
✔ Award-winning videos: Watch your baby grow in the womb, and witness moms giving birth
✔ Birth clubs: Connect with other women due at the same time
✔ Due date calculator: Quickly find your due date 
✔ Nutrition guide: Manage your weight gain with tips and recipes to help you eat well 
✔ Track your progress: Countdown to your big day with weekly notifications
Baby Time is an app to help you keep track of baby's last feeding, diaper change and sleep as well as a left right toggle to help you remember the breast baby last fed on.  This is a free app for your windows phone.

EatSleep is an app that tracks when baby eats, sleeps and has a diaper change. It is available for free on itunes.

The Breast Feeding Tabulator is another app designed to help you keep track of baby's feeding frequency and amount of time spent at the breast.  This one is for Android and is free from Google play.

Another one for Android.  Baby Care Plus tracks baby's feeds, sleep, and diapers and is $1.99 on Google play.

These are just a few apps that I found, but I have to admit, if I were expecting again, I would certainly have several of them on my phone.  Check them out or do some research and see what you can find that suits your needs.  Let me know if you find some great ones, I would love the input and I always love hearing from you.

April Prize Basket Winner

April Prize Basket Winner

Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!

Jessica Crouch is our Diaper Cake Winner!!

Jessica Crouch

It is not too late to enter the prize drawings.  I will be putting a new basket together every month.  The May basket is still underway, but watch the blog to get the first glimpse of the latest goodies.  As always, if you would like to enter the drawing, just let me know.  I just need name, address, phone, email, and due date.

24 hour Breast Feeding Helpline: 417-315-2135

Email: volckt@lpha.mopublic.org

Or stop by the Polk County Health Center.  I would love to talk with you!

Good luck and again congratulations go out to Jessica.

Happy Birthday Hayden!!!!

At our house, April is a very busy birthday month, so once again I am giving a shout out to one of my baby's.

At almost 8 months old, he had the look of a cherub and
his mother was convinced that he was an angel.

Happy 7th Birthday Hayden!!! 

 To the child who taught me all about frogs and snails and puppy dog tails, you are certainly what little boys are made of!

It took him less than 4 years to disprove my "angel theory".
 (I know this picture looks pretty scary and the first time I saw it, it took my breath away,
 but I promise it is staged.)

Too bad this wasn't the same day as the
chicken coop experience!  My cherub has
turned into an energetic bean pole.

I wish I could tell you that this
was just mud, but the truth is
 Grandma let him play in the chicken
coop with the water hose.
I will leave you to your own
conclusions...... 

He does clean up pretty good though.  I don't know about you,
but I am a little crazy about this sharp dressed man.

Luvs - Breastfeeding

I LOVE this Luvs commercial!!!!

Have you seen this one?  I don't have TV at my house so I miss out on a lot of the really funny commercials ( I also miss a lot of the crazy, sad, inappropriate stuff that seems to overwhelm the air ways - thus the no TV.  I am not a weirdo, I just choose to raise my kids in a world with as few bad examples as possible).  Anyway, someone shared this commercial with me the other day and it made me giggle.  Hopefully, you will get a kick out of it too.  Enjoy!

March Prize Basket Winner

Congratulations!  Congratulations! Congratulations!

Abby Inglis is our March Prize Winner!!

Abby and Denny Inglis

It is not too late to enter the prize drawings.  I will be putting a new basket together every month.  The April basket is still underway, but watch the blog to get the first glimpse of the latest goodies.  As always, if you would like to enter the drawing, just let me know.  I just need name, address, phone, email, and due date.

24 hour Breast Feeding Helpline: 417-315-2135

Email: volckt@lpha.mopublic.org

Or stop by the Polk County Health Center.  I would love to talk with you!

Good luck and again congratulations go out to Abby.

Bosom Beanies

Check out her Facebook page Bosom Beanies

Local Mom, Laura Reynolds has been hard at work making the cutest little hats for baby.  After all you wouldn't want their little heads to get cold.

Laura sells the hats for $15.00 and can make them in sizes ranging from newborn to toddler.  So they are not only adorable but also affordable.

Look for one of these to "Spring" up in the prize basket for April. 

Let me know what ya think.  Would you put one of these hats on your baby?  In a baby shower gift?

Pumping isn't the same as breastfeeding. Really?

 I don't own a citrus orchard.  If I need an orange, I cannot just go out to the back yard and pick one off of the tree.  So what is a girl to do when that craving hits?  When my body needs sweet, juicy, fiber rich, vitamin C, what can I possibly do?  You are probably thinking, "Go to the grocery store and buy some oranges, idiot!"  And you would be right.  But how appalled would you be if the produce manager at the store told me I didn't need oranges and instead sold me orange flavored gelatin and a vitamin C supplement?  You had better be pretty darn mad!

      Now you may be thinking, "Why on Earth is the Lactation Liaison talking about oranges on the breast feeding blog?"  Simply because I wanted to make a clear comparison to help folks better understand my views on formula vs breast milk.  (You see, you are the citrus orchard, the baby is the consumer, and the breast pump is the store). Breast milk is designed specifically to meet the nutritional and developmental needs of your baby.  The milk you produce varies from hour to hour, month to month, and even child to child.  It is not the same all of the time but it is exactly right.  There are over 200 things found in breast milk that cannot be duplicated.  So when your produce manager, (ahem, Doctor,nurse, friend, etc.) tells you formula is just as good as breast milk, you may want to do a little research. 

     So, what if I can't breast feed? I do understand that putting baby to the breast is not always an option. Babies are sometimes born with cleft palette. Milk supply can be affected by thyroid disorders, diabetes, smoking, etc.  Sometimes getting the latch-on just right, just doesn't happen.  Well girls, if you can't walk to the orchard, let's find another way to get the wholesomeness of oranges to you.  

Pumping is a great way to get breast milk to your baby.  I have heard the comment, "pumping isn't really breast feeding".  Really?  Well, I don't know what their goal in breast feeding was, but mine was to give my babies the best nutrition, vitamins, minerals that I could.  Pumping allows Mom to feed her baby a substance designed to meet the developmental needs of baby, even if it comes from a bottle.  If milk supply isn't enough to fill baby's tummy, you can always add breast milk to formula.  This will allow baby to get antibodies and the calories he needs.  Pumping can even help increase milk supply to a satisfying level for baby.  Remember, exclusively breast feeding baby is defined as baby receiving no other foods but breast milk.  Pumping is a great way to exclusively breast feed and is much less stressful than dealing with all the side effects of formula feeding.