As I suspected, my very minor political article below scared-off readers/commenters…what can I say, politics can be polarizing and most folks don’t like getting into those types of conversations.  Maybe it’s because I live in DC and am constantly surrounded by politics and a lot of super-left liberals that are nearly anti-American and hear Europeans, Mid-Easterners, and Pro-Illegal groups cursing us and our country, but I get really tired of hearing what an awful country we are.  Look at how other countries treat their own people, how much poorer their poor are compared to ours, how little other countries help out other members of the global community, how many countries let you be whomever or whatever you want to be, and then come back and tell me how awful we are.  We are generous to a fault.  Our country is like a Mother…just keeps helping and keeps loving and keeps being there for everyone else, even when met with nasty nay-sayers.  We have some of the biggest hearts and deepest pockets.  To paraphrase Dinesh D’Souza, we’re one of the few countries that after we are at war with a country, actually takes the time and money to help rebuild that same country.  Ask Germany (WWII); ask Iraq and Afghanistan (if you can get past the biased media that selectively overlooks the efforts of our troops to rebuild infrastructure and schools).  Look at all the ways we help other countries with their calamities…sending food and aid to those who’ve suffered earthquakes, tidal waves, landslides, droughts, civil strife, etc.  How many countries have come to our aid when we’ve been struck with similar catastrophes?  And you know what?  We’re still “friends” with all those other countries and we don’t ask for anything in return.

And honestly, how bad can we really be when we have 1.1 million legal immigrants each year from all over the world, an estimated 1million illegal immigrants sneaking in, and millions more that are trying to get here (through legal means or otherwise)?  Think about it.  Then give yourselves great big American hugs. 

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By the way, tomorrow Cooper and I are flying out to Chicago to see my family.  I haven’t been in Chicago since last March and haven’t seen any of my family since Cooper’s baptism in September.  Take a peek at see how little he was!  They are all going to be really surprised to see what a huge chunka-munka baby he is now.  Don’t know how much internet time I will have since I won’t have enough hands to carry all my stuff and Cooper and a computer…so you may not hear much from me in terms of reading your posts or creating any more of mine until I return next week.

Just a little.  Don’t want to alienate too many folks, so I generally keep most of my polical views to myself.  Or at least not to the written word on my blog because, well, because that’s just how I want to do it.  It’s my party and all.

So anyways, I was just reading this about the Bhutanese refugees.  Seems the country of Bhutan effectively “cleansed” its country of ethnic Nepalis in the early ’90s by forcing those folks into exhile.  Now, of the over 100,000 estimated refugees living in Nepal, the United States, the great and generous country that it is, has offered to take in 60,000 of these refugees.  Meanwhile, about 10,000 refugees are each going to Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Denmark.   So for all of you anti-American idiots out there, you can all SHOVE IT because look how many people we are offering to take in with open arms!  Considering how large Canada is, look how comparatively few they’re offering to resettle.  Look at all the other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia or Europe or the Mid-East that haven’t offered homes for these people that were persecuted against by their own government.   Many of these people had been born and raised in Bhutan; their families there for several generations, yet their own government put strict sanctions on them about their culture and kicked them out.

To all of you Bhutanese refugees, I hope that you find our country welcoming, with plenty of food on the table, and opportunities for you and your children.

Yep, I am the essence of cool on a Saturday night!  Nothing says “romance” like sitting two feet from your husband as you both feverishly put in a post at 11-something at night so that you can keep your goal of 31 for 21.

So I’m wondering a few things…

1. did anyone besides my equally geeky husband catch the “Zoolander” reference from yesterday’s post?
2. has everyone totally forgotten what we learned in the Great Mofo Delurk of 2007????  I mean, did we seriously only delurk for one day, just to go back in hiding, reading various blogs with nary a comment?  Did you forget that many blogs have reports letting their owners (with tedious self-esteem) know how many people were on their page on a certain day without leaving so much as a “hello”?  I am Most of us are blogging because we feel the need to talk to others, so we need to hear something back that validates our incessant, insane ramblings studious thoughts.
3. I had a third item, but completely forgot while ranting above.  Maybe I’ll come back to it.

Everyone have a great night…and GO BEARS!!!!

In honor of today, the Great Breast Fest, or the Virtual Nurse-In, I have posted a ridiculously conservative photo of me nursing my nearly-3-month old.  I wish I was bolder, but I’m not.  But I TOTALLY believe if there are women out there that are comfortable nearly flashing their nips in an attempt to help bring more awareness to all the close-minded freaks at Facebook who are deleting images and accounts of women who have posted their breastfeeding pictures, then they should (and should be allowed to) do so.  The worst part, it sounds like Facebook is even doing it to women who have posted pictures like mine, where no breast is actually exposed (unless you look REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY close, you can see a sliver….whoa!  nakedness!  bring on the prudes!).

So breastfeeding women (and all the non-breastfeeding supporters) unite!  Flash a little or a lot of baby-feedin’!  Why should we be made ashamed to feed our babies?  That’s like hiding a cow that’s nursing her calf from kids at the farm, or hiding the big mama gorilla nursing her baby at the zoo.  It’s natural and should be viewed as such.

Now I can totally understand non-breastfeeders (men, women who chose for whatever reason to not breastfeed, anyone without children who don’t understand, children, etc.) feeling a little uncomfortable with women who will just whip it out and feed their kid (especially if that child doesn’t really latch on, so there’s a LOT of boob getting flapped around).  You are witnessing someone’s partial nakedness, and you’re witnessing a beautiful bond between mom and baby (or toddler, which even I still feel a little funny about…please don’t kill me LaLeche Leaguers!).  But would you ban the woman from wherever you are?  Prevent her from eating at the restaurant?  Kick her out of the store?  No.  You’d probably just advert your eyes, blush a little, maybe a nervous smile.  So why folks on Facebook (supposedly an adult site…and by adult, I don’t mean ADULT XXX, I mean, a slightly more mature/older community site) can’t just smile and avert their eyes is beyond me.  As it is, I’m one of those women who will actually feed her child in public, but under a light blanket.  As he’s gotten older and more interested in his surroundings, Cooper has gotten a bit more annoying curious and will pop off and on while eating so that he can take a quick break and look around.  As you can imagine, that is (1) not terribly comfortable, and (2) not terribly modest.  So the blanket helps block out distractions and also preserves the little bit of modesty that I am trying to maintain…and that’s modesty about my breast (yes, LaLeche Leaguers, I know it’s my son’s meal, but it’s still my nekid-boobie!) and my funny flabby post-baby belly.  Actually I’m more worried about flashing that crazy, deflated-balloon-looking belly than my breast, but I wouldn’t mind keeping my breasts mostly to myself.

So please, if you feel that women should be allowed to post their breastfeeding photos, breastfeed in public (which they are protected by law in many states), then post your pics and dump your Facebook site (nudge nudge, Justin).

Now for some musings and/or journal entries on breastfeeding:

• I only breastfed Gavin for 6 weeks because I was having a major supply problem…by a week old, I was already needing to give him a bottle following every feeding.  I couldn’t seem to get anywhere pumping milk, so I weaned him by the time I went back to work at 7 weeks.  I felt guilty, but a little relieved.  Now he wasn’t freaking out because he was still hungry and I wasn’t dying of guilt and shame because my body couldn’t figure out how to feed by baby.  I swore I would try harder with the next baby…read up on stuff, etc.

• Friends whom I never thought would even have children went and had babies, and then breastfed them for several months…that also inspired me to try harder.

• I read about Fenugreek, a supplement that is supposed to help increase your milk supply.

• I read about other ways of keeping up your supply (pumping after feeding baby to signal to brain “more milk, please”; not skipping any feedings, if possible; try to squeeze in a pumping session after baby is down for the night; pump as many times at work as you would normally be feeding your baby, etc.).

• So Cooper the Hoover Power-Vac was born (I thought about naming him Dyson, but it turns out there was another baby boy born the same day in our hospital who was legally named Dyson….wonder if his mama’s boobs were as sore as mine!) and I nursed him like a champ!  And nursed him, and nursed him, and doggone-it that-kid-is-eating-again nursed him.

• Since I failed my GBS (Group B Strep) test, I was given a LOT of antibiotics…so I developed a raging complete-body yeast infection that culminated in Thrush, the most amazingly painful thing I have ever encountered in my life (and I’ve delivered two 8+Pound babies).   I even lost skin on my breasts from the infection and bled…to not only painful, but terrifying, too.  But I trudged on by pumping (thanks to my mom for buying my Playtex Double Embrace pump!…I love it…it has been a life (boob) saver!) and giving Cooper bottles so that I could heal enough to feed him at the breast again.

• Around 5 weeks of age, Cooper started eating way more than I could seemingly provide for him (didn’t help he hit a growth spurt and was eating every 2 hours), and I had a re-emergence of the dreaded Thrush (although since I recognized it right away, I nipped it in the bud before I was biting my tongue to keep from screaming while feeding Cooper).  This is also when I was put on Reglan…and OMG!  It was so wonderful to be able to feed my baby and not need to provide a follow-up bottle for him!  Then I was able to sufficiently provide for his nutritional needs in 20 minutes every 2 hours instead of 45 minutes every 2 hours (I let him empty each breast and then STILL had to give him a bottle–and he was colicky–totally exhausting!)

• After I finished my Reglan, Cooper was done with his growth spurt, so it seemed I was doing alright keeping up with his hunger…I usually only needed 2 ounces of formula per day to supplement his last feeding before bed.  But then I started work.

• While I’m at work, I pump 3 times per day (sometimes 2 if my schedule gets crazy), and without the Reglan, I was lucky to get 6 ounces TOTAL…and this is with a hospital-grade pump (Cooper actually eats 4 times in the time that he’s at daycare…so he gets 2 milk and 2 formula bottles). 

• So I called my doctor and begged to have the Reglan again…whoo!  up to about 10 ounces total per day!  Still kept Cooper on 2 milk bottles and 2 formula bottles and froze any extra milk.

• Ran out of Reglan and expected it to be like before…some lingering residual boobie boost where I might not get 10 ounces, but maybe 8…nope.  Within 1 day of being off the Reglan, I was only getting 5 and 6 ounces total again.  So depressing…so I called my doctor again.

• By the way, I’m on so much Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle that I smell like a giant, white,  Aunt Jamima.  I also eat oatmeal nearly every day, and drink a crap-load of fluids.  I am doing all the anecdotal things…

• So the doctor put me on my ‘final’ bout of Reglan and instructed me that I need to call an LC.  I called the LC and told her my tale…she pretty much said, “wow…you actually have a real supply problem because you are doing all that you can and still aren’t getting the results.  Wish some of my other patients were as dedicated.”  She also told me that since the doctor wasn’t keen on giving me any more Reglan, to maybe change my thinking from “I can’t pump enough to feed my baby” to “My baby is eating all I can pump” so that it’s mroe positive and less upsetting.  Nope….not working.

• I cried myself silly all the way home and all the way to the store to pick up my prescription of Reglan.  As an experiment, instead of ramping up to 3-10mg doses per day, I’ve kept it at 2-10mg doses per day and am getting the same results.  At least I have been able to stretch out my medicine.  Once it’s gone, however, I think I might just freak out a bit again…then maybe scale back to only feeding him in the mornings and at night (but of course, with my sensitive supply, I will still need to pump during the day so that my dumb boobs will make sure there’s milk for him at night). 

• I really wanted to go for 6 months, and I’m scared that my body won’t let me nurse him for even 4 months.  I mean, I know I tried, and I have nothing against formula (except smellier poop!), but I really wanted to do the best I could since I copped-out early last time around.  Any other suggestions out there?

So there’s my breastfeeding story.

On a totally unrelated note…happy birthday to my friend, Sany…don’t think I will make the party, bud (too old, too married, too breastfeeding), but wanted to wish you a great day just the same.  Also, happy birthday to Mrs. Sneaky at Precarious Tomato (hope she doesn’t think I’m too weird…but I like birthdays and recognizing others for their birthdays).

Hi folks…I am joining the throngs of people trying to bring more awareness to Down Syndrome (a.k.a. Trisomy-21). In doing so, I will do my absolute best to blog something every day this month. Even though I didn’t start on the 1st, I did blog twice on the 2nd, so I think that counts for something.

So if you’re interested in bringing more awareness, please check out Tricia’s page where she chronicles her life as a mother to a beautiful little girl with Down Syndrome, and grab the button:

I admit, I don’t know a whole lot about Down Syndrome, other than what I learned in Genetics in college. I know it is Trisomy-21, that there are potential problems with the baby’s heart as he/she grows up, varying degrees of other developmental delays, and usually a shortened life here on earth. Tricia has a lot more info, so be sure and check out her site. Meanwhile, I will try to blog every day for Georgia, and all the other gorgeous little babies out there with T-21.

(Okay, and I obviously don’t know much about formatting, yet, since my button LOOKS like it’s in the center when I enter it on my end of things, but on the page is looks all smooshed-in with the rest of the text, no matter how many breaks I build into the code = dumb blonde too proud to bother blogging/formatting Genius Husband; also can’t figure out how to have live button in my text field, but that’s okay since the real button is ovah dare—–> and maybe up a bit if you are reading this any other day than 10/4/07).