I heart breastfeeding!

That is what I am talking about, kid!

Leila is 11 1/2 months now and we are still nursing. And I love it. It is in my top 5 when it comes to all things pregnancy/baby related, right up there with feeling the baby kick in the womb. Leila isn't nursing a ton, we are down to 5 times or so during the day for a couple of minutes each time and maybe once at night. My favorite time is right before bed. It seems like life never slows anymore and nursing is the perfect thing for Leila and I to go and do to settle down before bed. We nurse laying down and I rub her little leg or back and kiss her head. My body still calms as I nurse which is awesome for me- the best medicine after a sometimes stressful day. Being able to nurse a child is just beautiful and so special. It's cool to look as my girls before they had had other foods and think, my body made the milk that nourished this body. It is awesome.

Speaking of breastfeeding, I recently read an article in the New York Times that I thought to be very profound and had nothing but good stuff to say about breastfeeding. The article is called The Breast Milk Cure by Nicholas Kristof. In the article Kristof suggests that breast milk, a free substance that already exists and doesn't need refrigeration, could be the answer to worldwide hunger-related deaths in children. The article states that in Niger only 9% of babies get only breastmilk for the first 6 months as suggested by the World Heath Organization. In America it's 13%. Kristof states that misconceptions that some mothers have such as thinking that babies need water outside of their breast milk (and then giving their child water that is potentially unsafe) is part of the reason that babies all over the world are dying unnecessarily. A statistic that absolutely stunned me was that, according to a British medical journal called The Lancet, 1.4 million child deaths could be averted each year if babies were properly breastfed. That is one death every 22 seconds. Wow!

For complete text see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/opinion/23kristof.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=breastfeeding&st=cse

Baby, you got it right- breastfeeding does ROCK!

It takes a village

I found this picture and thought to myself- how perfect. It is an amazingly beautiful picture of probably a grandmother with her grandchild or great-grandchild. Look at the difference in skin. Have you ever thought about how similar people are in their first years of life and last years of life? I think that is interesting.

It Takes a Village

In my life I have heard the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" many, many times. It was not until I was older and now have a family of my own that I really understand what that means and how true it is.

When I was about 7 months pregnant I felt called to be an advocate at a local organization that provides assistance, support and education to woman who are pregnant and their families. I wasn't really sure about it but I went through with the training. I know for sure now that it was a total God-thing. My volunteering there has grown in my heart a serious love for mothers and children- one I never knew I had before. I have heard the advocate coordinator say before that she believes that God sends specific people through the doors of the organization to talk to specific people there. I believe it. I have met some very beautiful, very broken women. Some with great support systems and some with none. Some who are married and some who have several children by several different people. Whatever it is, the joy that fills my heart to be able to share a glimpse of hope with them is immeasurable. My experiences have really got me thinking, where is this so called village?

In the age of facebook, twitter, myspace, cell phones, status updates, email, etc., we are a nation of comfortable communication. 93% of what we say is non-verbal communication such as body movement, facial expression and eye movement. If we are doing most of our communication through means other than face to face, we are losing a lot of communication. The above mentioned kind of communication is easy. We can fake happiness, excitement, sadness or sympathy over the phone or in an email. I am sure that most of us have at one point or another. The greatest problem is that it is damaging our relationships by keeping everyone a computer screen away.

Here is how this relates to the village. Before the age of computers, women in families actually had to visit each other to find out what was new. They had a meal together and spent time together. Maybe they saw firsthand that a new mom in their family was struggling and found it hard not to offer help. They bonded, experienced community and their children always had someone besides just mom looking after them. Flash forward. A woman and her husband who recently moved to a new town are expanding their family and they have a child. Maybe the woman's mother comes and stays with them for a week at first but then returns home. No need to make the trip for the new mom and dad's siblings (the child's aunts and uncles) because they are keeping up on recent activities and pictures via facebook. The neighbors around them work or have their own children to worry about. See what I am getting at? I don't want to discount the use of the computer and social networking to find other like-minded women. I am a part of some very special groups on facebook that I value dearly.

Another aspect of this is so much bigger. It's getting to be my least favorite time again- election time. Where we watch the people who want to run our country spend unGodly amounts of money on stuff that matters nothing when they could be feeding the poor or housing the homeless or something. It's disgusting. Anyway. I always get honked off that all of the sudden abortion is an issue again. Convenient, eh? Just so that there is no confusion, I am pro-life and I don't identify with any given political party. I hold the idea that if you are truly pro-life then you should also be against the death penalty and for gun control. Most people don't hold these views, I understand. However, back to the point, I find it interesting that people are so concerned about the preborn but once they are born, "you are on your own" and "no way universal health care" and "let's cut funding for welfare." Where is our village? I want to know!

We, in our communities and nationally, need to come together for the good of each other. We need to give people a hand-up and occasionally the hand-out. Especially mothers. Mother's are raising our future workers, teachers, leaders. If we don't start caring for the village, this village will be in ruins. And p.s. you live in it.

If this fires you up, get moving. Look around at how you can support one another. Can you be a support to your own mother or a friend who is a mother? Can you watch your friend's kids so she can have 5 minutes to herself to regroup? Can you encourage someone through a situation they are experiencing that you have already experienced?

Keep your eyes open at the opportunities to start building the village in your community.

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."
-Mother Theresa

Make your own baby ring sling

Luke and Leila- sling time!

At any given time I have a lot of sewing projects going- either physically or in my head :) I am always looking for cool things to make for my girls. When Sofia was little I made a crappy, totally unsafe ring sling and then I wondered why I didn't like it too much. I worked it out this time, though, and I am happy with the result.
If you have a little one or are expecting, you should definitely consider wearing your baby. What do I mean by this, you ask? Well, chances are, you are going to spend a lot of time holding your child. If you already have children, this could be a little more tricky. Why not use something to help you support you and your child during those times... and maybe even give you a little more freedom with your hands? The ring sling is very versatile and you can wear your baby in it for a long time- even then he/she is a toddler if you want.

Here are some ways to carry baby in a ring sling:

To make my ring sling I first sourced fabric and safe rings. I ended up with a light-weight woven fabric, no stretch, from Jo-Anns. It is important to think about when and where you will be using your sling most and purchase fabric accordingly. I knew that I would be outside a lot and I wanted it for summer time so I went with something lightweight and breathable. I sourced by rings from http://www.slingrings.com/. They have a ton of colors and are very reasonably priced. The pricing is per ring set and you can choose from different sizes of rings as well.

Next I decided how I wanted to pattern the shoulder. This was a big mistake with my first try- I didn't think about the shoulder at all. I decided I would go with some close knife pleats (pleating in one direction all the way across).

Before I began to stitch anything I played around with the length and width. I ended up going with 2 1/4 yards for the length (which was more than enough) and 34 inches wide (32-33 inches after hemming).

Here is roughly what I did:

1: Measured and cut appropriate length and width

2: Double-folded 1/4 inch and hemmed sides and one short end.

3: Pleated unhemmed short edge until it was 6 inches across. I pinned each pleat in place and basted near the raw edge and then approximately 7 inches from it. Basting is just a long stitch that hold stuff in place.

4: Threaded the pleats through both rings. This is a little tricky to explain but.... next, I folded the raw edge under about 1/2 inch and folded it up to meet the other basted stitch. I stitched that in place with a standard straight stitch. Then I stitched it again about a sewing foot width apart. Lastly, I added a decorative stitch in between.

5. The final step is to thread it. I folded the free end up accordion style and looped it up through both rings from underneath. Then I folded it over the first ring and back down under the second. From this point you can adjust as needed. The sides of a sling are known as "rails." When you place your child in the ring sling, one rail will be under the child's bottom and legs and the other up over their back.

There are several  websites on how to use a ring sling and or baby wearing in general . These are a couple of my favorite!

http://zolowear.com/Wearing.aspx
http://www.wikihow.com/Wear-Your-Baby