Breastfeeding stupidity RANT!

There are so many things I want to say to ignorant people and foolish mothers. But I try to refrain. So I will get it all out here. Where it will HOPEFULLY not offend anyone. And if it does, well, it's their fault for reading it. At least have some supporting evidence and basis to your counter arguments.

So today I am mad because someone said that its terrible to breastfeed in public. She said that "it's a special bonding moment and should be done at home". While I agree that breastfeeding is extremely bonding its more than that. It's how I feed my baby. How I provide my baby with the sustenance to survive. And I also do not spend all day every day sitting at home. Granted much of my time is at home as a SAHM but I do have a life outside of my house.

This person also went on to say that "you should feed your baby before you leave" and I'm thinking, "No kidding! But guess what? Babies need to eat every couple of hours!" And she says, "So pump or bring formula" and this just makes no sense to me whatsoever. For one thing, how is PUMPING in public any better than breastfeeding in public?!?! And Why would I give my child something like formula, which is equivalent to junk food for a meal when I have a healthy supply of breastmilk. Not to mention MY BABY DOESN'T TAKE BOTTLES!

Oh and so she says, "go somewhere designated for nursing, or sit in the bathroom" Ok first of, public restrooms. GROSS. I don't care how clean a public restroom is, I am NOT going to feed my baby while sitting on an uncovered toilet in a stall!

So go to a place designated for nursing. Well super but how often are those even available?!?! I was at the zoo yesterday. They have ONE area designated for nursing. ONE. At the FRONT entrance of the zoo. So if my baby is hungry while I'm at the opposite end of the zoo I'm supposed to trek all the way back to the front, towing my screaming toddler away from the polar bear, so that I can feed my baby just so someone else doesn't get offended by me FEEDING my child? They wouldn't have any protest to me giving her a bottle, or a jar of baby food. So what's the big difference? NEWS FLASH! That's what breasts are FOR!

Ok so I can understand someone (especially males) feeling uncomfortable with it, so out of politeness, I cover up.

But if a MOTHER says something to me about it that just blows my mind. I'm going to say it. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO BE A MOTHER THEN YOU MUST BE WILLING TO BREASTFEED!!! There is simply no excuse not to. Mothers, Can we PLEASE stop this RIDICULOUS excuse of "I just didn't have enough milk." Because its a load of crap!!! It's just an excuse to make you feel better about yourself for not even trying! Only 1% that's right ONE PERCENT of women actually cannot produce enough milk. ONE P-E-R-C-E-N-T!!!! So don't kid yourself that you are one of those.

I get that breastfeeding is difficult sometimes. BEEN THERE! It's hard! So what? You keep trying! You do whatever it takes to feed your baby! It's a LEARNED process. That doesn't mean the first time you try to feed your baby that BOOM! Success! You BOTH have to learn. So give yourselves both some credit and realize that you CAN and SHOULD breastfeed.

Another thing that just really PISSES me off is Formula. Commercials and even DOCTORS make it sound comparable to breastmilk. Well guess what. IT'S NOT! Formula is manufactured in bulk, using the cheapest OILS available to create it. It's jam packed with fillers and empty calories. Its the equivalent of an adult eating only fast food. And we all know what THAT looks like.

While I agree that formula DOES have it's place, for example, adopted babies, it should be a last resort. It should be available by appointment prescription only.

Another thing, people point out all the time that at one year old they get to switch to cow's milk yay they are so excited. Really? How in the world is another animal's milk, an animal who has 4 stomachs or so just to digest their food, better for your child than it's own species milk??? And what is this magical cut off time of a year? Oh my baby has been alive this many minutes, guess he/she doesn't human milk anymore! BAM! Magic. Let your kid decide when they are done. Of course Cow's milk probably is better than formula.

So if you care enough to be a mother then care enough to feed your baby the way you're supposed to. Otherwise, get sterilized.

Angels

This morning when Afton woke up she said, "I'm so mad!" And I asked her why she was mad and she said, "I miss my friends! They had to go." I'm sure that she had some little angels visiting her. She is quite insistent about it and asked me to call them because she misses them. The innocence of children opens up the doors of heaven and gives them peaks beyond the veil. I have no doubt of this.

Crawling

Autumn has been "army" crawling for a couple months now but just the last couple of days she has been getting up and crawling on her hands and knees a few times. Its so adorable. She is still very shaky and hasn't quite figured it out yet so she resorts back to the army crawl when she wants to get anywhere. Afton never really crawled. She rolled wherever she wanted to go. She crawled for about a week and then walked. I don't even remember her crawling. Autumn has also started pulling up on furniture and things to standing. She is growing up so fast! Afton gets quite irritated with Autumn as she gets into whatever Afton is doing. I've had to get stern with her several times for pushing Autumn away. She just doesn't know quite how to handle all this sharing and Autumn suddenly being mobile enough to reach more and follow. Afton will surprise me by doing something really sweet like coming over and touching my face and saying, "you're really such a sweetheart mommy". It melts my heart. Autumn's adorable grin never fails to make me smile :)

Remembering

When I was pregnant with Afton I kept a journal and wrote down how I was feeling and some of the thoughts I had. I really love it and love looking back through it and remembering that time. I meant to do one when I was pregnant with Autumn and just never got around to it. Which makes me sad. But I can't change it. So I thought that as I remember some things from when I was pregnant with her I would write them down :) I remember when I was about 12 weeks along I got a doppler to listen for her heartbeat. We didn't know she was a girl yet of course. I had just found her heartbeat, that beautiful "swish swish swish" sound and Tyler said, "Is that her?!" And I laughed and said, "Oh so it's a girl?" And he just laughed. I felt like she was a girl from the very beginning. There were several times I got out the doppler to listen to her heartbeat and to hear her moving around. One time I could distinctly hear that she had the hiccups and I just laughed and savored the wonderful sound. We had an ultrasound done of her at 16 weeks to find out her gender. She had the hiccups then too. So cute watching her little body bounce with them. I remember the ultrasound tech saying, "Look at her little brain." And I thought, "Did he say her?!?!" And then he showed us that she was definitely a girl. He said, "There is nothing there between the legs! She is definitely a girl!" And Afton was there and I told her, "Afton you are going to have a baby sister!" And she was very excited and cute about it :) Here she is at 16 weeks along. She was so darling already. Ultrasounds really are incredible.

Her sweet little hand

I'll have to write down more as I remember. I am definitely not slacking with my next someday! And at least I have her baby Calendar to write things in as she grows now :)

Fotofly

We recently got pictures done at Fotofly. It's my all time favorite photo studio! They are so incredible. We had Autumn's newborn pictures done there and we were so impressed with the entire process and the photographers. This experience was just as good if not better. They worked with us and our kids and got some amazing shots. I just love their technique and how they treat us. Here are some of my very favorites.


Afton was very good about holding Autumn


Afton spinning. I love her necklace flying :)


This is my favorite of Autumn. She is just so darn adorable!


This is probably my favorite of Afton!


I absolutely love the effect of this one and how it shows how tall she is. So so cute.


Isn't she such a doll!


Family shot :)


My precious girls <3


Last one for now. Me and the love of my life :)

I'll post some more later probably. There are soooooo many adorable ones!

Sitting in the doorway

When I was little my dad used to sit in my doorway at bedtime so that I would go to sleep. Otherwise I would get up and get up and get up. I can still remember him sitting there reading. Well the other day we got a video monitor to watch Afton because she keeps taking off all the clothes and we wanted to know if we needed to go in or not. Well all this time we thought that most of the time she was going right to sleep because she was quite. Turns out she is tossing and turning in her bed for 2 or 3 HOURS! So Tyler suggested we try my dad's trick. Well two nights in a row now we have done it and she has fallen asleep in about 15 minutes both times! Crazy!!! Thank you dad!

Patting

So right now I am laying on my bed as Autumn sleeps in her crib next to me. I seem to be her biggest comfort object and she senses even if I am just in the same room. She will be fast asleep and a few minutes after I leave she is awake again and crying. If I stay in the room she stays asleep. So I am staying in here until she gets into a deeper sleep at least. Silly girl. It gets very frustrating sometimes but at the same time I can't really deny that I love her attachment to me. It's one of the best parts about being a mom.
We are struggling with getting her to sleep. She cries and cries (in my arms or my husbands arms) until she wears herself out and falls asleep. We have tried everything. Rocking, bouncing, singing, nursing (well I have), dark, nightlight, warm, cool, swing, bouncer. I swear nothing works. And then once she does finally fall asleep she wakes up every ten minutes or so for a few hours until she finally sleeps and then she wakes up every one and a half to two hours to eat. I don't really mind that part. But it would be nice to get 3 or 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That would be pure bliss! I heard someone say the other day that, "My baby woke up twice during the night! It was awful! I'm so tired!" And I'm thinking, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! That would be incredible! Ulg! Very annoying. Haha.
So I sit here and pat her anytime she stirs and catch up on my blogging. Which I am not very good at. I don't really have much time or energy to do it anyway.

But look at that face. Who can be annoyed at that? She is so precious!