The Trials of Breastfeeding an 18 Month Old

Can I be honest?  This is not my favorite age to nurse.  In fact, I loathe it!  I know- that sounds horrible!  But he is just so handsy!  His little fingers are all over the place- in my mouth, up my nose, in my belly button, scratching me, picking at me, poking me.  He drives me crazy!

Squinty, silly face!

And he grazes!  A little here, a little there, ten minutes later a little bit more.  As I am nursing him right before bed I feel like I am being slowly tortured to death.

So, if it's that bad, why in the world do I keep doing it, right?!  Well, too many reasons to stop for, obviously.

-I know all the health reasons for a toddler to still be drinking breastmilk and I cannot deny them.

-I know that it should hopefully help ward off ear infections, which he is already prone to, so whatever I can do to help seems worth it.

-It is still such a useful tool!  It helps him (and therefore me) sleep at night and calm him if he is especially upset or crazy.

-There are those rare shining moments that he contently looks up at me, his eyes light up and he smiles (nipple still in mouth) and it is precious. (although he does usually follow such a look up with a slap to the face- kinda ruins it.  Oh, wait- these are supposed to be my reasons to continue... oops)

-I don't feel that he is old enough yet to understand why he would be cut off.  I weened Roman at 2 years old and he "got" it.  I don't think it would be fair to him to sever the supply just yet.

-There are health benefits to me too!  Any less risk I can have of getting breast or other female-related cancers is good by me!  Especially since I wasn't breastfed.

-I would get totally engorged if I quit right now!  I know that over the next 6 months he will slowly nurse less and less which will lead to less discomfort for both of us on quitting day.

First play in the snow!

I know this is all controversial.  Some people look at me in amazement (and as though I just grew a third eye in the middle of my forehead) when they find out I am still nursing him (keep in mind how big he is!).  Others try to force a smile and offer a simple "Hmmm," or "Oh" when they find out that I will not let him nurse until he is 4 (which he probably would if I let him) or whenever he decided to quit.  I find very few people who land in the middle with me, but that's ok.  Offending people has never been a factor in my deciding to breastfeed or not, it has always been about my babies, myself and my family and it always will be.

So for now- I will forge ahead for Lion Cub.  I will tolerate his antics (and possibly resort to putting him in a straight jacket) and deal with it.  I will even do my best to have a good attitude about the whole thing!  Although, deep down, I will probably be looking forward to the day that we are done.

Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Down on the Farm!

This past weekend we finally decided to visit a local farm (Spokane Family Farm) that produces the BEST milk you will ever taste!  Their emphasis on quality, sustainability and genuine care for their animals in unmatched!  This farm has been up and running for about a year and a half and this amazing couple does all the work (or very nearly!!) themselves!  The husband (Mike) milks their 30 cows (all of whom have actual names) twice a day, and bottles 500 gallons of milk every other day, while the wife (Trish) mucks pens, cares for the calves and all the other animals, AND takes care of the two little boys they still have at home (they have 7 kids in total).  Talk about AMAZING!  (I know I am using a lot of exclamation points here, but bear with me because each one of them is deserved!)

Mike comes from three generations of dairy farmers and is so skilled and knowledgeable at what he does that he has actual taught the inspectors of their farm a few things along the way!  Mike is so knowledgeable, in fact, that he very consciously made the decision to not certify his farm as organic.  Being such a small farm, he understood that they simply would not be able to survive if they were forced to sit by and watch as sick cow die instead of treating her with antibiotics.  Instead, he is able to avoid many problems by quickly recognizing issues at their onset since he and his wife have such a close relationship with their cows, thus allowing them to make necessary changes and focus on prevention, then if need be, administer antibiotics.  Any cow treated with antibiotics is kept out of rotation until they are completely free of the drugs, but their life is graciously spared.  These cows are genuinely a part of the family!

In reality the product this farm is turning out is actually higher in quality and purity than organic milk anyway!  Right off the line the milk is immediately chilled to halt the growth of bacteria and then put through a pasturization process that only heats the milk 45 additional degrees above what it is when it is pumped from the cows- thus allowing the bad bacteria to be eliminated but the good bacteria and cultures to remain.

Mike and Trish also only sell their milk in its whole, non-homogenized form.  As Trish put it, milk only comes out of the cow in two forms- cream and skim, anything else is just computerized.  Mike and Trish suggest that if you would rather not drink the milk whole you can put it into a jar with a spigot (such as an iced-tea jar), which allows you to drink the skim milk and save the cream for making things like butter and ice-cream!  I typically drink it whole (since it's so darn delicious and I need the fat!) but would also love to start making things from the cream as they suggest!

Another cool thing is that the water they use to clean the holding tank is also the water they use to heat the pasturization machine (sorry- forgot the name!) and it is then passed into the barrel (I know there is a different and better word for it- forgive me!) that the cows drink from!  Talk about sustainable!  These people have thought of everything!

This family was truly inspirational to be around and talk to!  In fact, our family and the other family that we toured with actually ended up staying at the farm till 8:30pm (the tour was at 5:00pm) just talking, sharing and learning from the remarkable people!  Trish is passionate and full of knowledge herself on a whole plethora of topics.  I just want to apprentice under her to get a real crash course in good, old-fashioned homemaking!  She makes nearly everything from scratch (I am hoping to take a yogurt and cheese making class from her this summer!), homeschools her kids, seems to truly have her feet on the ground and her priorities in order, and so much more!

Being with this family on their precious little farm has only deepened my desire to move to the country- especially after seeing how much R-Man LOVED the experience!  The next day he kept asking if we were going back to the farm!  Which brings me to the really fun part- check out the rest of our pictures!

The "Wanna-be-Country" version of me, feeding a calf!  Woohoo!

Jer and Lion Cub

R-Man and his very good friend L- He thinks he is going to marry her someday... I'm okay with that! (Her mama is one of my best friends and my doula- so, I know she would have my grandbabies naturally!  Hehe!)

R-Man, L & N- checking out the cows- this one was only a week and a half old!!

R-Man trying to ride a donkey with the help of our friend Mr. C!

He was soon bucked off!

Cute donkeys just walk freely around the farm!

Tried to let Lion Cub take a ride too, but he freaked!

What R-Man really wanted to do was ride one of their horses!  Someday we'll have some buddy!

Collecting eggs from the hen house (I really want one of these!  Fresh eggs daily- sounds great!  Now I just have to convince the hubs!)!

Petting the bunny!

Hmmm... can you tell he's from the city?  L was actually the first one to do this and R-Man quickly followed suit!  So funny!

Mike and Trish have recently signed with a distributor which is taking their milk farther than they were able to themselves.  So, if you live in Washington, Idaho or Montana (maybe Oregon too- I can't remember!) you should seriously be on the look-out for it on your grocery store shelves!  It is the one with the black top and is typically found in the natural foods section.  It costs $4.99 a gallon (which is actually cheaper than organic even though its better!), or $3.50 (or 3 for $10) if you live locally and are able to pick it up from the farm.  (Speaking of which, I am working on putting together a small co-op of families to purchase the milk directly from the farm with. So, if you are local, shoot me an e-mail and I can give you more specifics!)

You can find this amazing farm online here and also on Facebook.  I truly believe that you can't find better milk, probably in this whole country (and I'm not exaggerating!), so if you come across it, be sure to pick up a gallon to not only support this amazing family but to also nourish your family the best way possible!

How not to get sick!

There is so much controversy brewing over the Swine Flu vaccine that I just couldn't resist putting up the link to a very compelling and informative video on Dr. Mercola's website.  Make sure you are getting the full story on all vaccines that you inject into yourself or your child's body before you do.  From there it is your decision, I just want to encourage you all to be informed consumers.

In addition I thought I would post an article that I recently received in my in-box that I think has a lot of valuable tips for how to avoid getting sick during these winter months (wish I would have found it sooner since I am now battling a raging cold!).  Enjoy and I hope it helps:

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MMBS,DRM,DNB (intensivist and thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital, Bombay Hospital, Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial, etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and
Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.
While you are still healthy and now showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps not fully highlighted in  most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, * clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. * Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). * If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

*Drink as much warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc.) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

And last of all, I just want to throw this little link out there with lots of ideas on how to combat and avoid the flu naturally.  Get your Vitamin D and Elderberry ladies- they could save you this season!