Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Kerr's Picture

This is the picture is question. One I found beautiful, tasteful and one full of motherly love.

Breastfeeding Bashing

I just read an article that made me laugh out loud but not from joy... from the absurdity and ridiculousness. I read an article bashing breastfeeding. The article entitled "Breast is best when it's not in public" by Marissa Mackle. She condemns not only breastfeeding in public but goes on to imply that normal women only breastfeed the first few weeks and then slams celeb breastfeeding supporter Miranda Kerr for her gorgeously done and tasteful portrait of her son breastfeeding. I found it shocking.
Her whole article can be found here: http://www.herald.ie/opinion/columnists/marisa-mackle/marisa-mackle-breast-is-best-when-its-not-in-public-2508344.html
The following is excerpts from her article with my own opinion on her words.
"I hate breastfeeding in public. I mean, really hate it." She begins the article with this sentence. Not only is that horrible writing but it's in poor taste.
"It was supposed to be a fun reunion and I'd really been looking forward to it. It was a girls-only get together, but one lady brought along her baby, explaining how she couldn't get a babysitter. Fair enough. Sometimes babysitters do let you down. But the rest of us had arranged childcare weeks beforehand and I was beginning to think the lunch wouldn't turn out quite as planned. I was right." First of all this kind of thinking is so destructive. Children are not meant to be left at home with sitters. Yes the occasional day out is fun but I did not leave my son anywhere before he was probably 4 months old and that was only because I returned to school. Obviously from how it sounds to me the baby was quite young maybe only a few weeks old. Who leaves a newborn who is breastfeeding at home. Not to mention if the infant was EBF than she couldn't leave him at home. What would he eat????
"Although I personally did not breastfeed my baby after the first couple of weeks....." Ok that is fine but most mothers don't give it up that quickly. From how she wrote that it does not sound like she gave it up because of difficulties but rather it was an inconvenience. I am very tired of reading the viewpoints of "mothers of convenience" as I call them. Drop them with a sitter... don't breastfeed... it's just not convienient.
The part that got me the most though was her tearing down of a new mother who is trying to get support for breastfeeding simply because she is a supermodel. So what? She is a mother first and she has made that clear. She is beautiful so she can't be a what people refer derogatorily to as a "granola Mom"?
"So when Miranda Kerr (an actual Australian supermodel married to actor Orlando Bloom) posted a photo on the internet of herself breastfeeding, I have to admit I felt appalled. Not because she was breastfeeding, but because posting this photo seemed like attention-seeking.
Miranda Kerr is a beautiful woman. She is married to a very handsome man. No doubt the baby is gorgeous, too. I was keen to see what he looked like. I am still none the wiser. I couldn't see the baby's face because it was suckling on his mother's breast. She, with perfect make-up and glossy hair was smiling, not at her baby, but right into the camera lens like a Victoria Secrets' pro.
Kerr was also keen to let her public know that she took no pain relief during her labour. Why she needed to make this detail public knowledge I am not sure. My guess is that her message to all the non-supermodel, non-millionaire mums out there is that, not only does she look far better than any of them, she is just all-round better than them, too. Quite sad, really." 
First of all she isn't looking at the camera but at her husband who took the photo. I have seen that look in all my photos when our son was tiny. It is the look a mother gives to the man who helped her create a life. One full of love. You mamn are jealous that someone else with a career actually is trying to be a good mother. I am sorry but this article got me pretty annoyed. It is one of many that condemns breastfeeding in light of Kerr's statement and picture.

Bug is ok!

After many weeks our son has recovered. It took countless tests and hospital visits and medicines but he is ok. Thank you to anyone who prayed for us.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Friday, January 7, 2011

Green Mommy in Crisis

For those of you who follow this blog I have some sad news. For over a month now hubby and I have been dealing with our little man being very and probably quite seriously sick. Bug had been sick for a few weeks on and off but we attributed it to a mild cold or teething. He did not seem that sick just kind of sleepy and run down. It was the beginning of December and between finals and Christmas planning we were really swamped and I guess we just hadn't noticed Bug getting sicker.

On December 15th smack dab in between my first two finals and my last one, My MIL, Bug and I were spending time relaxing. My MIL yelled for me to come see something. There was a very very large lump on the side of my tiny little 14 months old son's neck. I then noticed the circle's under his eyes and his flushed cheeks. I burst into tears and asked her if she minded taking us to the hospital. She of course didn't mind. DH was still at work at we could not get a hold of him so we rushed Bug to the ER. We were seen quickly and the ER doctor was quite taken aback by the size of the lump and shot him with a large dose of antibiotics and prescribed more. December 16th I had to reschedule my last final for the following Monday, meaning my break would not start until the week of Christmas. December 17th we took him to his Doctor. The doctor said that it was a viral infection but as it was so big she said she would continue his antibiotics but perscribed a higher dosage. She also ordered bloodwork and tests. So we took Bug to the hospital where he was needled and poked yet again. December 23rd we went back and this time she said that the tests had all come back negative and to continue the antibiotics. We took our little man to see Santa and a family party. Overall he seemed to be getting better but the lump was not going down. December 30th we took him back to the doctor and she said she was going to try another round of antibiotics.At this point he had been to the hospital 2xs and the doctor 3xs. Still no solid answers. January 7th (today) we took him yet again to the doctor and she told us that the antibiotics are doing nothing. She ordered a chest xray, an ultrasound of the lump and an array of tests for everything. So we headed to the hospital for the 3rd time in the last few weeks. On Monday we go back to the doctor for the results of some of the tests and for him to get a TB test and a CT scan.

So all in all we are looking at hundreds of dollars in doctor bills and hospital bills even after our insurance, and we still know nothing. Our baby boy is so sick and I am beside myself. Amidst all this we had Christmas, friends getting in car accidents, horrible mean neighbors, school work, finals, financial aide drama, possibly having to take a semester off to care for Bug and family drama. Thank God for My MIL who has been my rock through all of this. DH and I are just beside ourselves. DH is so worried. He isn't able to deal with this... Bug is our whole world. All in all we ask for prayers. If I do have to take the semester off to stay home with Bug this spring we will be down to one paycheck with looming doctor bills and no student loans to help out. I honestly do not know what we are going to do money wise.. but Bug's health is most important. I may start knitting kids hats and making breastfeeding jewelry to help pay the bills. I will post updates as we find out more.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Facebook and Breastfeeding

This blog has always taken a sunny approach to looking at living a healthier and more earth friendly lifestyle, but sometimes life isn't always so sunny. Sometimes there are those who oppose basic freedoms that we as Mommies should have. I am talking of course about those who oppose Breastfeeding. I know I haven't written a ton on breastfeeding because I have tried to touch on a broad range of green mommy topics but recently my heart was touched when again Facebook has waged war against breastfeeding mothers by deleting certain pages and the accounts of many of the members of those pages. The main group deleted recently was “The Leaky B@@b”, a great group that has helped many mothers. Facebook claims it was a mistake but they deleted it not once but twice and also deleted any support groups associated with bringing it back as well as many of the main members.
Why do I care so much? I breastfed my son from the first time I held him until he was 9.5 months old. It was the most amazing most beautiful most indescribable thing I have ever experienced. To be able to feed your child with nothing but your own body is the most wonderful ability a person can possess. I just can not tell you how amazing it was. To hold him close and just know that that connection is the strongest thing you can ever feel. My son was a very big baby. He was almost 10 lbs at birth and I exclusively breastfed the first 9 months of his life. He is a healthier, more well rounded and confident baby now and I know breastfeeding had a lot to do with that. I can't wait to breastfeed my second child. Breastfeeding is something that needs more legislation to protect it. You can help the fight by writing facebook and letting them know it is not ok to have pictures of playboy girls all over FB but delete groups even supporting breastfeeding.

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