(Lucy, age 4 months with me while the bridesmaids prepared for my best friend's wedding) photo credit: Jade Pierce Photography After having such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad experience with breastfeeding and creating a secure attachment with our firstborn when I was working full-time that I shared with you yesterday, I was determined to do it differently for round two. When I was … [Read more...]
My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Experience as a Working Mother
(Unhappy Baby Benjamin. This is seriously what he did most of his first year of life, poor child.) This post could also be titled: Why We Chose Mama and Baby Togetherness the Second Time Around. I've been wanting to tell you about our amazing experience with Ecological Breastfeeding, but I feel like I need to describe our experience with our firstborn's babyhood and why we so desperately wanted … [Read more...]
In Defense of Jamie Lynne Grumet and Attachment Parenting
So yesterday I wrote about how I HATED the cover image and the title (Are You Mom Enough?) of the piece in TIME about Attachment Parenting and extended breastfeeding (the cover image is included in yesterday's post). I still hate the cover image and the title (oh, that title!). I still hate that TIME is trying to make AP and extended breastfeeding look as weird and sensational as possible. I still … [Read more...]
The Cover of TIME and the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ok, so I promised I wouldn’t talk about sex for awhile after my two-part ramble on contraception, etc. But then I saw this TIME cover: You guys know that I’m a huge supporter of breastfeeding in public. Breastfeeding is not a sexual act. Breasts are not merely sexual. Breastfeeding in public IS NOT immodest. So, why does this image look so sexual? Some might claim that nursing is an … [Read more...]
Crossroads
(Lucy getting a snack before Ellie's wedding, Photo courtesy of Jade Pierce Photography) Well, I feel like I'm at a motherhood crossroads with my sweet baby girl. I've been following the principles of ecological breastfeeding very thoroughly since her birth. I read Sheila Kippley's The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding and Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood which promote mama and … [Read more...]
Why I Hated Breastfeeding (And How That Changed) Part II
In Part I, I described my horrible experience breastfeeding my firstborn and how after four months I gave up. I was stressed out. My baby was stressed out. It wasn’t working. I am so glad to say that round two has been totally different! Part of it must be due to Baby Number Two's easy temperament, but I think other factors are lower stress, and a shift in my attitude and mothering … [Read more...]
Why I Hated Breastfeeding (And How That Changed) Part I
I am a huge supporter of breastfeeding. I nurse my baby girl everywhere and do my best to promote breastfeeding and support nursing mamas.But, I never judge another mama for choosing to bottle-feed. Some mamas can't breastfeed even after trying everything to produce enough milk for their baby. Sometimes circumstances make it almost impossible. I know this first hand... When I was a few days … [Read more...]
Why I Breastfeed in Public: The Blessed Virgin Mary Does It!
There was an uproar recently when a women was kicked out of a church for nursing her child in the service and the pastor compared her public breastfeeding to a stripper performing. What?! I know. Insanity. A blog I read posted the news article on FB and a commenter expressed her view that nursing in church was very inappropriate and that the mother was wrong to do so. She went on to say that she … [Read more...]