CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATS! CONGRATULATIONS! 

Congratulations to Gloria Ortega!  She won the drawing for the Octoberr Prize Basket from the Polk County Health Center.  Gloria took home this Boppy and a basket full of goodies and you can too.  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 Boppy basket, just waiting for you!  Good Luck!

I Run a Tightly Wound Ship....

The girls making sure Mama is keeping her cool

I Run A Tightly Wound Ship....  

Right now you may be thinking, "What did she say?   I thought the saying is 'They operate a tightly run ship' ".  Well, you are correct, that is how the saying goes, but that is not how my boat floats!!  You see, as much as I would like for everyone to believe that I am this calm, cool, collected, queen bee of a mama, the truth is most of the time I am a mess.  In past blogs I have mentioned how much I adore organization and structure. But without it I get this wide-eyed yet glazed over expression on my face.  I stutter, and frown, and find it hard to think. Sometimes, I dread reaching that frazzled point so much, that I will be reduced to tears at the very thought of the chaos that might ensue.  I am what my husband calls a nervous person.  I tend to fidget....a lot.  When you are this concerned or tightly wound, sometimes the only cure is to get goofy.  Sometimes you just have to let go and realize that if things are not perfect, you can still survive and learn to laugh.  And in my opinion laughter is even better than being organized.
     That being said, I would like to share some pictures of our family being goofy.  Most of these instances are situations that would normally have me nervous and worried about what could go wrong.  But the kids came through for me and helped me end my day with a smile.  Take a look at the funny photos of the potentially stressful situations below:

This picture is of my nephew Tate.  He was so excited to go swimming with his cousins. You all know a day at the pool is so much fun for the kids, but often exhausting for Mom.  The day begins with,"He's splashing me!" and ends with, "I'm hungry... I'm tired... my sunburn hurts...." and you get to hear it all while washing a load of towels.   Pictures like these remind me to smile.

Charlie's Angels recreated for the family Christmas
 dinner at Great Grandmas.

Sometimes it is as simple as bath time before bed.  There are times when the bath time fight takes more strength than I have, but Hayden was in rare form that night and I got this goofy pic.

Finding the perfect pose so you can send out beautiful Christmas pictures, can sometimes take a lot of time and energy.   Now the rule for taking Christmas pictures is: If you give me one good one, you can take as many goofy ones as you need. 

 The first day of school is always bittersweet for this mama.  I love the quiet that comes with the first day of school.  And as you all know, I love the structure and schedule of the day that comes with the first day of school. 
      I always take that first day of school picture. 
      I always cry as the school bus pulls away because I am reminded of how fast they grow up. 
      In this picture Hayden is in kindergarten, Hannah is in second, Alli is in fourth and Abbi is in the sixth.  Just looking at this picture gives me mixed feelings.  Love to see their playful nature ~ hate to see them growing up so fast.

 What happens at the St. Louis Zoo, stays at the St. Louis Zoo..... No, that is not a real cobra that my son is hanging on too, but it still gives me the shivers.  

This trip had me biting my fingernails before we ever left the house. The questions in my head were crazily spinning  around, all the way there.  "It is such a long drive, will it be expensive?  What will we eat?  What if someone follows us around the park? What if we have car trouble? What if someone gets sick? What if there aren't any available rooms at the local motel? What if we get lost?....."

It took a little while for me to relax, but Hayden certainly found the way to get me there.  What a nut!! (The puddle you see behind him came from a nearby waterfall, not from the act that it appears he is committing!) 



 My son and nephews having fun at Grandpa's 60th birthday dinner at church.   If you are ever gonna worry about your kids being on their best behavior, it is at a church dinner around your church family.

Sydney and Olivia trying on glasses at the eye doctors.  Glasses are expensive.  Eye exams are expensive.  I don't like to spend money.   You can probably imagine me wringing my hands and the frown on my face as we stepped into the office.  But turning around and seeing these faces certainly put a new twist in my day.  Aren't they pretty??

Even my husband got in on the goofiness of life.  This picture was taken during a garage sale we were having earlier this Spring.  I was busy worrying about parking, displaying stuff, the money coming out alright, whether it would rain.....and here comes my handsome husband out to help me get organized.  Proudly sporting his peacock pants.  The story on how he acquired these pants is a whole other blog post.  This is not normal attire for my guy, but I think he pulls it off pretty well........  But then he always makes me smile!

June Prize Basket

 

Hannah

 When I was thirty, I found myself sitting in a recliner with a newborn at the breast, a three year old on my lap and a five year old sitting on the arm of the chair beside me.  One arm wrapped around baby with her head in my hand and the other hand holding a story book.  At that time, when Hannah said it was time to eat, my other little girls knew it was story time for them.
     Hannah was (and still is) a cuddley girl.  She wanted to eat at least every two hours, and could see no reason why she couldn't sleep in my arms or at least be held until the next feeding time.  I am not going to say she was needy, but she was over a year old before she walked and I don't believe anyone else was allowed to pick her up or hold her until she was well over 18 months old.  I was a frazzled, tired mess for the next few years after Hannah arrived.
     When you have little kids in the home, you don't stop moving all day long.  From the time your feet hit the floor in the morning, until you finally have them all down for the night, you are in constant motion feeding, bathing, cleaning house, doing laundry, planning meals....the list goes on and on.  And though, I was thankful for the times Hannah required me to sit down and nurse her, it always seemed like there was something I needed that I had forgotten to pick up before I sat down.  Now don't get me wrong, the little girls sitting in the chair with me, loved to be "big helpers" and grab blankets, wipes, diapers, etc. but once the story book was opened they no longer volunteered to help.  It was at this time in my life that I came up with the Breastfeeding Survival Basket.  I cannot tell you how many steps or how much time this basket saved me, but save me it did!  I filled a basket full of diapers, wipes, diaper cream, nursing pads and Lansinoh cream and sat it beside my chair.  Each time Hannah wanted to eat, I grabbed a glass of ice water and my girls grabbed their book of choice.  By the time my fourth baby arrived, the survival basket was a permanent fixture on the side table.  This was probably a good thing, since Hayden didn't mind if we sat in the recliner all day long nursing and rocking.  In those days I think the only time I got out of my chair was to go to the bathroom and feed kids.  
     So, thinking back to those days, gave me an awesome idea for you all.  I have put together a Breastfeeding Survival Basket for this month's prize.  It will help bring a little peace if not organization to the chaos of having a newborn.

Breastfeeding Survival Basket

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 !!

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.

Am I too late?

Recently I received this email from one of my mom's who was having concerns about breastfeeding:

I had my baby boy Friday Morning. We had a lot happen recently and I thought I was going to have to go back to work within the next ten days so I chose to bottle feed. :( so not proud of that decision. I found out today I will be able to stay home for at least six weeks. So now I'm wondering am I to late to try? Is it possible I could still breast feed or did I really mess this up?

This was my response to her:

No worries, it is absolutely still possible.  Many women go through similar experiences and are still able to convince baby to breastfeed.  Baby’s who end up in NICU, Moms who have difficulties and are not immediately able to breast feed, even adoptive parents are sometimes able to breastfeed.  The reality of it is you may have a little struggle but you can do it.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

     1.       First of all, stay calm.  It may be a little stressful latching baby on because he does not realize milk     comes from breasts, he believes that we eat from bottles.  But your breast milk should just be coming in and you will be able to feed him when he figures it out.

     2.       Bottles work because gravity pulls the milk out for baby.  Breasts work because baby massages them with his tongue and milk ejects from the breast so it may take him a few tries before he figures out to work his tongue differently than he has been.

     3.       It is important to keep up your milk supply while we are waiting for baby to come around.  If you have an electric pump, this is a great time to use it.  This will allow baby to eat breast milk, instead of formula, from the bottle if he does not  latch right away.  Also, it will tell your body that you need to make milk.  Whatever you remove from the breasts, your body will put that much milk back plus just a little bit more.  If we don’t remove milk then the milk supply goes away,so keep pumping.

     4.       Don’t give up.  Keep offering the breast first at every feeding.  Baby may fight you at first and there will be tears but he is learning right now and if we give up and give him a bottle when he cries, then he has learned that crying changes things.  He will fight for the bottle and now you have a fussy baby because he believes that he has to be in a fit to get what he wants.  However, if you can endure and keep trying through the crying, he will figure out how to remove milk from the breast and then you won’t have to work so hard to convince him to breast feed at the next feeding.

     5.       Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Jill (IBCLC) and I are here every day.  Feel free to come by the office around feeding times and we will help you get baby latched on and hopefully help you feel less stressed as you go through this.  Also, you can call me 24 hours a day on the breastfeeding helpline 417-315-2135. 

We really want you to be successful.  We have been where you are and felt what you are feeling when we were breastfeeding our own babies.  Please don’t hesitate to call, or come by whenever you need us.  We are here to help.