Looking For a Onesie That's a Bit on the Different Side?

Check out Beyond Adorable! They have tees and tennis shoes as well. It's a super hip store!

Yep I'm in love with their cuteness! New Age Mama is giving away one tee or onesie!

A Healthy Diet For Moms That are Breastfeeding

I think it's important to just eat healthy and drink enough water to quench your thirst. I found a wonderful article put out by Medela on healthy eating.

Stay Hydrated and Stay Away From Caffeine

• Drink a lot of water. Remember that whenever a baby drinks from you, you loose fluids. I made it a practice just to drink a glass water when my babies were eating. There's no need to drown yourself. Just drink enough that you are not thirsty still. Water is the best thing to drink. 
• Try and stay clear of caffeine. That is easier for some then others. For some odd reason with my youngest I had this new craving for coffee. My doctor said it was fine if I had one cup of coffee a day. That's all I would have anyhow. Check with your doctor. Drinking caffeine can make your baby edgy! While it keeps mom up, it does your baby to. The article said to limit yourself to 300 mg per day (about a 12 oz cup of coffee).

Don't Count Your Calories

• If you were trying to loose weight, many moms do so when a baby breastfeeds. Just try and eat healthy. There is little limit to eating veggies. Fruits have sugar in them, but they are natural sugars. You will need protein to produce milk. If you are a vegetarian you can still breastfeed! Tofu and beans are great sources of protein. Enjoy all the food groups! You need a mix.
• Typically, a breastfeeding mom needs an additional 300 to 500 calories per day. Go ahead and increase your food amount. I ate more while breastfeeding, and lost weight. Then when I weaned I gained weight. It's more when you are ending breastfeeding that you need to watch what and how much you eat.
• Eat Cold-Water Fish. They are higher in DHA and Omega-3 Fatty acids. These vitamins help with eye and brain development. They also help reduce postpartum depression. Some milks have added these ingredients to them. Read labels.  

Pay Attention to Food Allergies

• I never had any problems, but my sister did. Her son broke out in hives and was very fussy; when she ate certain foods.
• Other things to watch out for: Wheezing and green stools with mucus. 
• Talk to your child's doctor on this one. They will help with your diet to make your child a happier baby.

 Supplements?

• Ask your doctor. Mine told me to take my prenatal vitamin for the first few months. Then I switched to a Woman's One a Day vitamin. Really they say if you are eating a well balanced meal, you don't need supplements. I would just consult your doctor though. 

Lipase

This is a word I had never heard of. It was really frustrating to go through the work of pumping, freezing, washing all the parts and find out my milk was sour! When I had the problem of having a sour smell to my already frozen breastmilk, one lactation consultant knew what was going on, while another didn't.

Spoiled breastmilk is called "Lipase." It is when thawed milk tastes and smells sour.

There is something you can do to prevent lipase. You just need to scald your milk before freezing it.

When do you scald milk?

When it is fresh; before you freeze it.

How do you scald milk?

To scald milk: Place milk in a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat. Stir occasionally until the milk is just hot with steam and small bubbles appearing around the edges. Do not boil.

I used a double boiler. I put water in the outside pan, and my milk in the inner, smaller pan. I just warmed it up ever so slowly until small bubbles appeared around the edges. You are then done.

Does scalding break down the nutrients in milk?

Yes, but not anymore than freezing does.

For Crying Out Loud!

It seems many parenting techniques change all the time.

It used to be that your baby was to be positioned on their tummy; now it's their back. The time frame in which solids are introduced changes as well.

I think the key thing is to research. You have to know and understand the professionals. Will you agree with everything you read? NOPE!

Of course you get A LOT of opinions. Some wanted, some not wanted.

I have a family with a Grandma that was a nurse, a Mom that was a nurse, 3 Aunts that are nurses, a sister that is a nurse and 2 cousin's that are nurses. Needless to say there are a lot of opinions in my family. Even when I breastfed, my Mom and one Sister were very supportive, while the others weren't as much. Hard to believe that any nurse wouldn't be supportive of that. It is true that some are not. Usually because they never breastfed themselves, or tried it and were unsuccessful.

The "Cry it Out" sleep technique is now under the fire!

You can read a whole article on this topic here. Please read it!

I always felt uncomfortable letting my kiddo's cry and cry some more. It's one thing to let them cry for 15 minutes. There are times where I tried everything and it seemed nothing would calm my little one down. Usually I'd find out later that it was a tooth coming through or a nasty ear infection. Twice, if I would have waited to attend my babies, they would have been closer to death. When my youngest, Isaak had meningitis we acted quickly. We were told that, if we would have waited to get him in the emergency room, that would have been very bad for our 2 month old! My Father was the one who acted quick in regards to our oldest having a staph infection. He noticed Mica's neck getting large. I'm so glad he noticed that! If he was in a daycare, it might of gone unnoticed.

Some parents let their kids cry for hours. They believe in self soothing. That is what many articles talked about just a few years ago. The articles mentioned that if you picked your child up, that was spoiling them.

Think of it this way: Your baby has no way of communicating except for crying when something is wrong. There is no such thing as spoiling a newborn. As they get older, sure you should let them cry in their crib, but not for long periods of time.

Listen to your instinct.

Remember that your baby's only way of communicating to you that something is wrong is to cry.

Some Adoptive Moms Learn to Breastfeed Their Babies

I was looking over this article and am amazed as to how much times have changed with breastfeeding!

My oldest sister was adopted in the 1970's. It was a time were my parents were told that they could not get on a plane because they had an infant. They rode from Oregon all the way to Nebraska on a bus.

My Mother would have jumped at the chance to breastfeed my sister. The problems were that Moms at that time: A) Didn't know that they could. B) Didn't have very good double/affordable pumps.

It's still not the norm for Moms that adopt to breastfeed. It is happening more. Some Moms are making this happen because it adds health benefits for both child and mom. It also builds more of a bond between the two.

“It’s impossible for me to know what our bond would be like if I hadn’t done it, but I could not feel closer to my son,” said Schaeffer, whose son is now 11 months. “He’s got a really wonderful, very secure attachment to me. I don’t know how much (breastfeeding) played into it, but it sure didn’t hurt.” She also said, “It was such a relief, such a consolation that I would be able to have some sort of physical bonding.”  -Schaeffer Article found here.

To produce milk, women take birth control pills for several months, fooling the body into thinking it’s pregnant. The guide also suggests domperidone, a gastrointestinal drug with a side effect of milk secretion.

Domperidone isn’t FDA-approved, and like Reglan, it can cause depression.

With the help of Domperidone and nipple stimulation; breastfeeding an adoptive child can be done. Many women pump a lot the moment they learn they are getting a new baby.

Some women are able to produce breastmilk without the use of drugs. There are also natural herbs like Fenugreek many women use to help produce more milk.

*Consult your doctor when you are taking any medicine to help with breastfeeding.

Many Mom's that attempt to breastfeed an adoptive child do have to supplement. Many that have a natural child have to do the same. Every liquid gold drop counts.

“This wasn’t my biological child, so I wanted to take every opportunity to bond with this baby that I could possibly get,” said Wilder.