Tuesday, June 30, 2009

ipump



After two years, 6 months, and one day I have decided I am officially done pumping at work. This is a deeply emotional decision, I'll miss pumping (well for the most part).

We began weaning when my daughter started solid foods at six months, that's actually the medical definition of weaning too, and so we now step the process up just a notch. She's still allowed to nurse as much as she wants, but with the decrease in supply I'm sure will follow not pumping during the day I expect she will self wean earlier than she would have if I were to continue pumping.

Anyways, this post is to celebrate our decision (I say ours because my husband and I have both decided it's time and our daughter is nursing a lot less when I am home so she kind of has had a say in this too).

The top three reasons to pump:

1. Staying connected while apart, pumping always turns my thoughts from work to home.

2. Stress relief - sometimes if work got really stressful for me I'd stop and go pump, those hormones really do the trick and calm me down.

3. Weight loss - I gained 50 pounds while pregnant and have lost every single one of them since then and I really do believe the extra effort put into nursing helped them come off easier than just if I had dieted and worked out.

Don't worry this won't be the end of my breastfeeding blog, there are plenty of more exciting events to still talk about!

Friday, June 19, 2009

I make milk. What's your superpower?

(photo from facebook page of the same name)
I work at the Pentagon right now and they have the most awesome nursing program I have yet to run into. They are so suportive and the nursing rooms are comphy and convient (including pumps). Today they had a Health Fair and so I volunteered to stand in the nursing mom's booth for 30 minutes. It was hot and I was melting, but it was GREAT! I got a cute little bag that says " ipump" (took me a while to get it, I'm slow some days) and I got to wear around a sticker that said "I make milk. What's your superpower?" It wasn't exactly uniform regulation, but I was so proud to wear it around. It now has a place of honor on my desk name tag for all to see because yeah; I do make milk!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

You're right to breastfeed

I think it's important for all breastfeeding moms to know the laws in their state that protects their right to breastfeed. For instance some states protect a mother's right to breastfeed on public and private properties, some don't. Sometimes people will challenge you, there are A LOT of STUPID people out there, but if you can quote the law to them I bet they won't know what to say (some states will even fine the person for challenging you right!).

http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Health/BreastfeedingLaws/tabid/14389/Default.aspx

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Inspection, I say again, Inspection


My daughter did something she has never done before. I've had some thrush issues, AGAIN, and so I've been using a cream to get rid of it and then lanolin cream at night to keep the soreness at bay. Well I sat down to nurse my little one last night after I got home from work and she looked at my nipple with dried cream on it (most of it was all gone) and said "Oh, no a mess, a mess!" It was so cute, she said it in a very distraught tone and then promptly took a baby wipe and cleaned me up. Latter I had to apply the lanolin cream in secret because she saw me grab the tube and yelled (from across the room), "You stop it!". Apparently Lanolin cream, while safe for a baby to nurse, taints the taste of the milk.
Being a military member I've stood my fair share of inspections, but this takes the cake as the funniest.