Today is my grandfather’s 96th birthday. He has shown us what it is to be a kind, loving, wonderful man. He has shown us the kind of man we should marry, and the kind of man we want to be the fathers of our children. As he is fond of saying, “I’m so lucky I was born into such a great family.”
Happy Birthday!
Just finishing up the January series and ready to announce our next group Hypnobabies Class!
BlossomBelly Hypnobabies and Birth Doula Services will be teaching a group class in Santa Cruz, CA
starting March 18th, 1:30 – 4:30pm.
Please contact me to reserve your spot!
Motherhood and fatherhood are new roles that need to be learned together. Keep the lines of communication open!
Contact with other breastfeeding mothers is important for confident breastfeeding.
Don’t keep concerns to yourself. There are many groups and individuals available to help you, including: public health nurses, lactation consultants, the La Leche League, your doctor or midwife, family members, or friends who have breastfed. Do something fun every day; relax in the bathtub, take a walk with your baby, keep in touch with family and friends – don’t become isolated.
- excerpted from Public Health Agency
Thoughtful Reminders
Try to sleep when your baby sleeps.
Accept and/or ask for help with housework and meals from your partner, family and friends.
Invite visitors only when you feel ready.
Eat healthy and drink when you feel thirsty. You’ll find you may be extra thirsty, so have a glass of water, milk or juice every time the baby nurses.
While you are breastfeeding, you may gradually lose some of the extra weight gained during pregnancy as it provides part of the energy needed to produce breast milk.
Remember that cigarette smoke is harmful, especially to babies. If you smoke, it is still important to breastfeed but look for ways to decrease your baby’s exposure to cigarette and second hand smoke.
Alcohol and other drugs can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby. Check with your doctor, nurse, midwife, lactation consultant if in doubt about any medications or other substances you are using that might affect your breast milk.
-excerpted from Public Health Agency
Working and Breastfeeding
Your baby can have all the benefits of your breast milk even if you plan to go back to work or school. When breastfeeding is well established, you can express milk and leave it with your caregiver for feedings throughout the day. Your breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator (3 days) or frozen (about 6 months). Refrigerate or freeze breast milk in clean bottles or bags and date them. Warm up the breast milk by standing it in hot tap water before it is used. Microwaving breast milk, or heating it on the stove, is not recommended because it can cause a loss of Vitamin C content and some of the milk’s special anti-infective properties. Microwaving and stove heating also causes the milk to have hot spots that can scald your baby.
Ask your employer about some flexibility to have breastfeeding or pumping breaks, and access to refrigeration to store your breast milk. Some mothers have childcare facilities at their place of work, school, or nearby, so they can breastfeed during their breaks.
–excerpted from Public Health Agency
Looking After Mom
In the early days, try to rest when your baby sleeps.
Eat healthy meals and drink when you feel thirsty. When your baby feeds, you may want to have a snack and something to drink.
If your nipples are tender, make sure your baby is latched properly to your breast when feeding (see tip #1). Ask a nurse, midwife, lactation consultant or a successfully breastfeeding mother for help to achieve a comfortable breastfeeding technique.
For the first few days, expose your nipples to air or light after each feeding. Allow some breast milk to dry on your nipples; it has lubricating and anti-infective properties.
If your breasts get swollen and painful (engorged), cold compresses decrease swelling, then gentle massaging and warmth (warm towels or taking warm showers) will help the milk to flow. Expressing some milk before feeding to relieve fullness and breastfeeding more frequently will help your breasts to feel more comfortable.
–excerpted from Public Health Agency
The Complete Food
Research shows that breast milk is so important that it is the only food or drink your baby needs for the first 6 months of life. Remarkably, as your baby grows your milk will also change to keep up with your baby’s needs and continues to have just the right amount of nutrients. Breast milk also contains antibodies and other immune factors that help protect against infections and disease — benefits that last a lifetime.
Beginning at 6 months of age babies need to replenish their iron reserves by adding a variety of foods in addition to breast milk, which continues to provide nutrition and protection. Many mothers continue to breastfeed until their babies are two years old or more.
Breastfeeding has many health benefits for mom too, including nurturing a special relationship between mother and baby. Breast milk is convenient, always the right temperature, economical and better for the environment!
–excerpted from Public Health Agency
A few days ago we “sprang forward” into Daylight Saving Time. Only I haven’t been springing anywhere since. I’m tired. I swear at the alarm clock in the morning. I crawl out of bed complaining and grumbling that I should be allowed another hour (or more) of sleep. Why doesn’t work just start an hour later? Why should I be punished this way?
This morning, 2 days after the time change, I somehow dragged myself out of bed at the usual time. Once I’d spent a few minutes freshening up and allowed my thoughts to turn to something other than my misery, I got to thinking about ……. babies.
What is their birth day like for our sweet little babies? Birth has got to be the ultimate time change. Do they feel punished? Would they swear at us if they could? Some babies cry a bit, a few a lot, but most are immediately quieted by their mamas and papas, embraced, fed, loved, cooed at. And they respond by quieting, watching, taking it all in so openly. It’s remarkable really. The zen-like quality that babies possess, the acceptance to all that is so new. What a huge leap these babies make, and how beautifully they take it, all things considered.
I then considered that maybe there is a lesson in these thoughts for me, remembering how I angrily fumbled for the snooze on the alarm just a few minutes before. But no, I didn’t want to go there. So instead I thought about what we can all do to help our babies’ births be as beautiful as possible – for them. Surely their transition from inside the womb to the great big world can be less unpleasant than my transition to DST. I am convinced that the steps we take to create a calm, comfortable and peaceful environment for our babies’ births can make a huge difference in their transition. So, whenever possible, let’s take those steps. Lower the lights, quiet the voices, put on soft music if you like it and your baby is used to hearing it from the womb, and lots of skin-to-skin contact after birth.
What a beautiful transition it can be. Now that has me thinking that tonight I could take a warm bath, with candles and music. And then get to bed an hour earlier. Bring it on, DST!
Pregnancy is not always easy. I remember experiencing nausea, heartburn, and swollen ankles. It seemed like aliens had taken over my body. And gremlins had taken over my mood.
And yet I look back at my pregnancies as some of the best times of my life, moments that I will remember forever. And I catch myself smiling. The day I found out I was with child, hearing my baby’s heartbeat for the first time, feeling those first fluttering movements, and all those baby hiccups.
If you are pregnant, be sure to tune into these precious moments. Feel confident and powerful. You are growing a baby! That is a miracle, and it’s so much fun. Remember, joyful mommies grow joyful babies.