Breastfeeding, that is.

Now, I already knew breastfeeding rocked, from personal experience:
- I don’t have to mix bottles in the middle of the night
- None of us even really wake up in the middle of the night, since we also co-sleep – no new-parent sleep-dep zombies here!
- I’m not worried about SIDS, because breastfeeding and co-sleeping all but eliminate it
- I don’t have to haul formula-feeding supplies along wherever we go
- It’s cheap
- My baby didn’t get the flu everyone else had (including me, though I’m convinced my comparatively short bout was also thanks to my breastfeeding immune system)
- Breastmilk almost instantly cleared up a slight eye infection (blocked tear duct?) she had
- I already weigh almost 10lbs less than when I got pregnant

What I did not know, at least not in such detail:

Research shows breastfeeding decreases the incidence and/or severity of the following illnesses in childhood (and in many cases also into adulthood):
- Ear infections
- Bacterial meningitis
- Respiratory infections and viruses
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
- Asthma
- Allergies (nasal and skin)
- Urinary tract infections
- Gastrointestinal infections
- Diarrhea
- Lymphomas, leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease
- Autoimmune thyroid disease
- Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
- Necrotizing enterocolitis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Obesity
- Bacteremia
- Celiac disease
- Botulism
- Pneumonia
- Lung disease
- High blood pressure
- Anxiety/stress
- Bed-wetting
- Nearsightedness
- Increased intellectual, developmental, and cognitive aptitude

For the nursing mother, breastfeeding can help protect against the following diseases:
- Breast cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Uterine cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Type 2 diabetes
- Osteoporosis
- Lupus
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Obesity

In fact, just having a baby has been shown to reduce my chances of breast cancer by an average of 7%, with a bonus 4.3% for each year of breastfeeding.

Furthermore:

In 2001, the USDA concluded that if breastfeeding rates were increased to 75 percent at birth and 50 percent at six months, it would lead to a national government savings of a minimum of $3.6 billion.

…

The AAP says each formula-fed infant costs the healthcare system between $331 and $475 more than a breastfed baby in its first year of life. The cost of treating respiratory viruses resulting from not breastfeeding is $225 million a year.

The multi-study report estimated that breast cancer rates could be cut by more than half if women increased their lifetime breastfeeding duration. The National Cancer Institute reported the national expenditure on breast cancer treatment in 2004 was $8.1 billion, meaning extended nursing could save upwards of $4 billion a year.

For each year of breastfeeding, a woman decreases her chances of getting type 2 diabetes by 15 percent, reported a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005. So if we consider the woman from the aforementioned example, in her six years of breastfeeding she’s earned a 90 percent reduction in her risk of developing diabetes.

The National Institute of Health estimates that between 10 and 11 million American women have type 2 diabetes. The estimated cost of their treatment and lost wages is roughly $78 billion a year. This expenditure could be cut drastically by increased extended nursing rates.

For the national Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), supporting a breastfeeding mother costs about 45 percent less than a formula-feeding mother. Every year, $578 million in federal funds buys formula for babies who could be breastfeeding.

A year of purchasing formula can cost a family between $700 and more than $3,000. Many women who go back to work soon after giving birth might think the expense of formula is worth the convenience. The extra medical issues of formula, for mother and child, make the cost more than monetary.

For employers, formula-feeding results in more health claims, more days off for sick children, and decreased productivity. It benefits employers in the long run to provide a time and place for mothers to pump breastmilk. A few minutes off the clock is more than made up for by the lifetime of health enjoyed by nursing babies and mommies.

So, let’s review: Breastfeeding is good for babies, good for moms, good for family finances, AND good for national finances. And, judging from my rapidly-shrinking pant size, it’s MILF-tastic. ;) What’s not to love?

Encourage the expecting moms you know to breastfeed, y’all.

Source for the info in this post: Nursing By The Numbers

…she screwed up.

Idaho Representative Shirley Ringo, that is.

I just fired off this email:

Rep. Ringo,

I was just reviewing the recently-passed Idaho midwifery licensing bill,
and am distressed to see you voted in favor of it.

I realize it’s too late to do anything about it now, but wanted to point
out a key factor that I hope you failed to consider, and didn’t
actually actively impose upon your constituents:

There are no doctors in Moscow that will attend a vaginal breech
birth. The only alternative for women seeking to deliver a breech baby
naturally, with a professional in attendance, was midwifery care. You
have now helped take that choice from us, and ensured the birth
experience for many Moscow women will be reduced to Cesarean section – a
procedure that often causes neonatal respiratory distress, difficult
recoveries for both baby and mother, damaged breastfeeding
relationships, difficult future pregnancies and births, and so on.

I delivered a healthy baby girl at home on January 10th of this year.
For several weeks in late pregnancy, she was breech. I would have chosen
to proceed with my homebirth had she remained breech. You have now taken
that choice from me when I have my next child. Since I do not believe in
submitting to major surgery when breech births with skilled
professionals have positive outcome rates comparable to vertex births, I
will be left with the option of fighting hospital staff while in labor,
birthing unassisted, or trying to find an illegally practicing midwife.

Which option would you choose, Rep. Ringo? What happened to my body, my
choice?

I fail to understand how a representative who believes I should be able
to terminate a pregnancy with an abortion does not believe I should have
equal control over my birth process. Safe, accessible abortions… but
not safe, accessible birth?

For the record, my midwife opposed the bill – so don’t bother telling me
it was the consensus of Idaho midwives. This bill was junk, pushed
through before the medical lobby could get the chance to outlaw
midwifery and homebirth completely. The midwives who worked on this bill
shot themselves in the foot, so as to avoid letting doctors pull the
trigger.

Rep. Ringo, you and I probably see eye-to-eye on very little
politically. That said, I thought I could trust you to stand up for
women’s choice. By voting to pass mandatory midwifery licensing, you
have proven I can’t trust you at all.

Laurel [Mylastname]
Moscow

Here’s the bill. It is a colossal bunch of crap and passed overwhelmingly. Midwives are now subject to an up-to-$1,000 yearly licensing fee. Considering the going rate for midwifery care around here is about $1,700, a $1,000 license is a big chunk o’ change. This bill will almost certainly put some smaller practices out of business.

In addition to the aforementioned outlawing of midwife-attended breech births, the bill also outlaws midwife-attended postdates (42+ weeks) births, multiple births, births with maternal BMI of 40+, vaginal birth after more than one c-section, and several other criteria. It also requires dual-care with a doctor for several conditions.

I also like the part where midwives are required to provide, as part of their initial informed consent materials, information about the procedures, risks, and benefits of homebirth. (Hey, at least they acknowledged there are benefits!) When I pre-registered at the hospital in case of an emergency transfer, I was not presented with any information about the procedures, risks, and benefits of hospital birth. Go fig.

Man oh man, very few things get me in such a tizzy as the government claiming ownership of my body. RAWR!

The Inconvenience and I are proud to announce the birth of the world’s newest rabble-rouser…

Abigail Wyoming

January 10, 2009 (Her due date)
9:42 pm
6lbs, 14oz – 20 inches long

I had the first contractions at about 2:30 am on the 10th. I was able to get a little bit of sleep, but by about 10:00 am things were unmistakably on the move. My midwives arrived about an hour later. Everything progressed evenly from then on out – there were a couple of plateaus, but as soon as I’d change to a new position I’d make progress again immediately. I pushed for 59 minutes at the end, and she came out in one big one – immediately pink, breathing perfectly, and otherwise healthy as a horse.

A.W. was born just as we intended – at home without any drugs or interventions. Her heart rate during the entire labor stayed between 120s and 140s. She was born alert, calm, and with some of the strongest head and neck control my midwife has ever seen – when laying on my chest, she already picks her head up and looks around. She has a very intelligent gaze and is already curious about the world around her.

Needless to say, we’re very proud! It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I am very, very happy to have chosen a homebirth. There is something very powerful about bringing your child into the world that free. Fitting for a girl named after revolutionaries, no?

Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot one detail… We’d just finished watching Terminator 3 when the contractions started. Keep that in mind when A.W. shows up someday and tells you to come with her if you want to live…

Today is my 23rd birthday.

It does not appear it will be my child’s day of birth.

Carry on.

So. My due date – at 40 weeks gestation – is January 10th. White, western, first-time mothers tend to average eight days past their due date – which would put us at January 18th. A “normal” pregnancy will usually last between 37 and 42 weeks – which means a range up to January 24th. A full week post-term (43 weeks) would put us at January 31st.

My point? I am almost certainly giving birth sometime this month. If I’m still pregnant come February 1st… Well, you won’t have to visit PGB to know it – the wailing and gnashing of teeth will likely be audible from sea to shining sea.

Anyway, a January birth is almost certain, and that means January posts on PGB are going to be scarce. I’m not terribly busy right now, but I am trying to sleep as much as possible, discover that “nesting” instict people keep swearing I should have, and come to terms with the fact there’s now a flipping carseat in my vehicle. I definitely intend to announce the birth whenever it happens, but I’ll probably be very scarce for a little while after that. I just wanted to address this so y’all didn’t worry/take me off your blogrolls/send hate mail.

Now, for some fun: I think you should all comment with your birth predictions. You know – date, time, sex (nope, we didn’t find out), weight, length… and anything else you feel like adding.

Warning: The smartass who thinks it’s funny to predict a 12lb/23in baby born on February 10th after 42 hours of labor will be hunted down and killed.

Well, comrades, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting a little ‘08 tax credit. No baby yet, and I don’t anticipate him or her making an appearance in the next four hours. The child has very deliberately ignored my instructions to arrive before midnight so I can spend said tax credit on his/her first black rifle. Fail, baby. Fail.

With that, we’re off to hang out with some friends and ring in the new year in some low-octane fashion. I hope you all have a safe and happy evening of celebration, and may 2009 be a good year for all of us – it’s surely going to be an interesting one.

Keep your powder dry, friends, and happy new year!

Merry Christmas from Laurel, The Inconvenience, The Sister… and the newest one on the way – any day now!

We all hope your stockings were chock-full of ammo.

(I’d have posted earlier, but we had this picture printed up and framed for several family members, and I didn’t want them to see it here first.)

I am home sick today. Were I not pregnant, today would be a tough-it-out day for sure, but I’m a little concerned by the fact that this bug seems to be lodged lower in my throat than a usual head cold. (Plus, I sound like a 40-year smoker trying to be quiet in church.) After finally admitting to myself that yes, I probably do have a somewhat compromised immune system, and no, I don’t want an upper respiratory tract infection or pneumonia, I decided to stay home and attack this thing with both barrels.

And now, a piece I call Why I’ll Be Surviving the Zombiepocalypse; or, Take That, Virus:

1. Cheerios with milk.
2. Orange juice.
3. Pineapple juice.
4. Yogurt.
5. Vitamin C, Echinacea with Vitamin C, prenatal multivitamin, prenatal DHA
6. Gatorade.
7. Banana.
8. BACON!!!

Breakfast of champions, friends.

Now, if only I could find my copy of Glory Road, today’s bug-in preparations would be complete.

Especially when so much political talk is now turning to PREGNANCY! I’m way, way too hormonal to deal with this crap.

Because I feel obligated to say something:

1) The Palin’s-son-is-really-her-grandchild rumors were just STUPID. I’m glad that little DailyKos fit was, apparently, short-lived. It blows my mind that the same folks who come down on the media for portraying women as only beautiful if they’re young and thin were accusing a fit, mature woman of faking a pregnancy because she didn’t get fat, and her teenage daughter of looking pregnant because she wasn’t built like Kate Moss.

What kind of message is being sent to every 15-year-old girl with an average build who looks at this picture and realizes that’s all it takes, size-wise, to make thousands upon thousands of people think you’re pregnant?

Furthermore, as somebody with a summer wardrobe I’d wager is a little less layered and probably more revealing than Sarah Palin’s winter-in-Alaska gubernatorial wardrobe, I’m still – at five months pregnant – having to inform people I’m pregnant, because it’s just not obvious. If I put on a sweatshirt, it’s flat-out not visible. If you can’t comprehend that women carry pregnancies differently, you really ought to just keep your mouth shut, especially if you’re inclined to accuse somebody of faking their gestation. I’m having a pretty easy pregnancy, and I tell you whut – if, after all this, somebody suggests I didn’t really go through it… They’re probably getting punched in the mouth.

2) In more news from the “I don’t know anything about pregnancy or birth but I’m going to run my mouth anyway” crowd, the Trig-is-a-secret-grandbaby rumors gave way to many developing the opinion Sarah Palin is an irresponsible, reckless danger to her children because she flew from Texas to Alaska “after her water broke.”

NEWS FLASH: Despite what you may have seen in the movies, rupture of amniotic membranes does not always occur with a floor-flooding gush followed by immediate active labor. Some women leak amniotic fluid for months. Treatment for preterm premature rupture of membranes can vary from immediate induction or c-section to medication and bed rest to “stay hydrated and wait for labor to start on its own.”

In Sarah Palin’s case, it appears she developed a slow amniotic fluid leak with sparse, non-productive contractions. She consulted her doctor and informed her of her plans to proceed with a prepared speech. Then she consulted with her doctor before flying. She consulted with her doctor again during her layover in Seattle. Upon arrival in Alaska, she proceeded to the hospital, where her medical team decided the best course of action would be to proceed with an induction (since she wasn’t in spontaneous active labor), and her son Trig was delivered some hours later.

Her doctor did not think it unreasonable for her to fly (see link above). A big to-do is being made over the fact she didn’t have her doctor’s express permission to fly. I’ve gotta level with you – I care about myself and I care about my unborn baby, but the idea of getting permission from a caregiver to do just about anything doesn’t go real far with me. Obviously I take information and advice into consideration, as Sarah Palin also did, but seeing as neither of us are the child nor property of the medical establishment, we don’t need their permission to do jack squat. Furthermore, Alaska Airlines does not have a policy against late-pregnancy travelers. Palin was under no obligation to inform the flight staff of her “condition” – and in her shoes, assuming no sudden change or progression, I wouldn’t have either. (Alarming the flight staff over a relative non-issue would probably have only resulted in an even longer delay in her ability to meet with her medical providers.)

Sarah Palin went through four pregnancies and four births before Trig. She, with the advice of her doctor, determined she was not experiencing an emergency and the best thing she could do would be to wrap up her business and return home. Looks like they made the right call. Even if you don’t like Sarah Palin, do you honestly think she would have forgone immediate medical care if there were indications she or the baby were in danger? The woman doesn’t exactly have a record of criminal child endangerment or near-death experiences, and I can’t find anything that would point to some sort of stupid or malicious or reckless behavior here other than vitriolic left-wing accusations.

3) Regarding Bristol’s present pregnancy… meh. I can certainly see the point that it calls into question Palin’s advocacy of abstinence-only education. That said, I don’t think Palin or anybody else claims abstinence-only education is foolproof, any more than the use of birth control is. Teenagers are going to do stupid things, and plenty of teenagers equipped with knowledge of and access to birth control end up pregnant, too. You don’t often hear sex ed advocates suggesting because the pill failed (which happens) we ought to scrap their whole education plan – so I think it’s a little unreasonable to expect folks on the other side of the debate to change their mind just because it hits home.

Anyway, I do think there’s a valid policy argument to be had, but I think that’s a separate issue from the private family issue going on here.

4) In perhaps the most bizarre commentary I’ve seen yet, questions are flying about whether Sarah Palin should have even accepted the nomination with a young special-needs son and a pregnant teenage daughter to consider. How dare she move her family across the country as her daughter becomes an adult, gets married, and has a child? How dare she put on shoes and get out of that kitchen?

Barack Obama has two young daughters. I realize a six-year-old isn’t quite the same as a five-month-old with Down’s Syndrome, but I haven’t heard so much as a whisper about whether it’s appropriate for the father of young children to become President. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the “young children” argument brought up for any male candidate or elected official, ever. Yet, those who claim to be the most progressive and most ardent supporters of equality and women’s rights are those simultaneously suggesting Sarah Palin cannot successfully be both a good parent and a good Vice President.

I’m not much of a feminist, but I admit – this kind of thing sends me into a tizzy. Sarah Palin returned to work three days after having Trig. She also breastfed Trig, apparently bringing him to work with her. Neither her duties as governor nor her family seems to have suffered as a result. In fact, the Palins seem to genuinely love and support one another, and I think between his mother, an involved father, and two older siblings at home, Trig will be just fine.

As for Bristol? Perhaps, as the Palins said, she’s growing up sooner than they would have hoped… but such is life. She’s made some adult choices and will now be living in an adult world. I hope the father/future husband is a good, supportive guy. I think her parents, siblings and extended family will continue to support her as best they all can. The situation seems to be completely under control – and nothing Sarah Palin should sacrifice her campaign for.

So, in sum: Unless you believe an amniotic fluid leak should result in a trip to the ER, followed by an emergency birth or medicated, monitored bedrest for weeks or months – and, better yet, have personal experience with a pregnancy under such circumstances… Unless you think one or both parents should end their careers to care full-time for a special needs child – and would do so yourself or expect it of your spouse… Unless you think one or both parents should scrap travel/relocation plans to live full-time near a budding adult who is becoming a parent himself/herself (and getting married) – and would do so yourself or expect it of your spouse… Unless you think these standards apply equally to male and female parents – and would uphold that in your own life…

Just. Shut. Up.

Parents fret as tots love ‘High School Musical’

Disney’s latest smash, with teen themes, attracts even 2- and 3-year-olds

Choice quotes, for your WTF pleasure:

“It really is insipid and Disney starts early and has some clever ways to get to the kids who don’t even watch movies, listen to the radio or read,” said Jemma’s mom, Jennifer Hawkins of New York.

You mean… like… THE DISNEY CHANNEL ON THAT MAGIC PICTURE BOX IN YOUR LIVING ROOM!?

Jemma, who has a 2-year-old brother, stumbled on HSM at a Target store, where Hawkins bought “what I thought was an innocent toy.” She didn’t know the microphone was preprogrammed with two HSM songs and admits: “I didn’t really look at the packaging.”

…

Hawkins agrees. The microphone Jemma has is bright pink, “looks like a baby toy” and was placed on a low store shelf in a section for young children, she said. And this year’s big-screen movie release “High School Musical: Senior Year” includes three new sophomore Wildcats aimed at keeping the franchise fresh.

“They’re trying to appeal to a much younger child in order to prepare them for being hooked in,” Hawkins said. “One piece of the scenario leads to the next.”

Oh, gee, I didn’t realize that I let my kid roll around in garden fertilizer. I mean, it was low on the shelf in the garden section and had pretty flowers on it, I though it had to be seeds or dirt or something! I didn’t really look at the packaging all that closely…

I mean COME ON. 

Unless there has arisen in this country a class of employed, self-sufficient three-year-olds I don’t know about, I’m pretty sure these parents are a) paying the cable bill to bring the television into their household, b) refusing to turn off said television because it makes such a good babysitter, c) buying the damn toys for their kids or allowing friends/family to do so, and d) in general: failing to say no. 

I just don’t get it. My folks sure didn’t buy me everything I grabbed off a store shelf when I was a kid. I didn’t get to watch whatever I wanted on the television. It didn’t really matter if it was über-popular – if it was stupid, I probably didn’t have it. My kids aren’t going to have a bunch of commercial character shit. Over my dead body will those Bratz dolls ever enter my household. 

I was just on a crunchy hippie parenting forum reading somebody gripe because they allow their two-year-old to “self-regulate” her behavior, and since the kid has discovered cartoons on YouTube, she does nothing but watch them all day every day. Uh… DUH!? This person puts no limits on their child, because they believe the only way to learn self-regulation is by allowing the kid to figure it out on her own. At two. The kicker – they had grown sick of all the cartoon-watching, so they were looking for ways to regulate it without letting the kid know they were regulating it. Several people chimed in with helpful suggestions about how to lie to the child, telling her the internet wouldn’t let her download anymore cartoons that day, putting a timer on the computer without telling the kid they did it, etc… So, lying to your child and letting him/her construct a false reality where they think they’re independent but really fenced by invisible walls you’re too weird to enforce is superior to establishing limits as a parent.

I say again: WTF.