Mexican-American B@@bies

For our WBW blog carnival on "Perspectives: Breastfeeding From Every Angle" we are pleased to host guest posts from various contributors. Today we are honored to share from Martha, Mexican-American mother working in the US and breastfeeding her daughter.

I am a Mexican-American. My parents are both from Mexico and came to the US before I was born. I was born state-side. My entire life has been a struggle between two cultures. Growing up I wanted to be just an American. I didn't deny my Mexican heritage but being a Mexican wasn't my top priority. I think I always felt like I didn't belong anywhere. I'm never Mexican enough, never American enough.

Then I had my daughter. Audrey has been the piece that made me feel whole. I don't have to belong to anyone but her. Breastfeeding has been an integral part of that journey. Knowing that Audrey's well-being was based on me finally made me rearlize that no one else's thoughts about me and my background mattered. Audrey is number one in my life.

Growing up breastfeeding was just a normal part of life. Boobs were for babies. Who had money for formula? If you had to give a bottle, it had regular cow's milk, not formula. To me, breastfeeding was just normal so there was never a question in my mind that I would breastfeed.

Though I have to admit, I did buy into the whole American bottle thing. I had just about bought the whole American birth/baby thing. You have to buy stuff to raise a kid, right? If you don't spend the money, your child will be weird. I almost fell for it and then my midwife said "All you need for the baby is a blanket, a diaper and pair of boobs." A light went off. I don't need anything else but my breast in order to raise my baby. You can successfully raise a child with just your boobs!

I knew from the start that I would be returning to work after 6-weeks so I was going to have to bottle feed once I returned to work. I was worried that working full-time and breastfeeding were not going to work together. I didn't know anyone that had done it. All the women I had known that breastfed were stay-at-home-moms. I had never heard of pumping! I took a breastfeeding class and that helped put my mind at ease that I could do it. I could work full-time and breastfeed. Maybe it wasn't what I was used to, but I could do it. A true melding of the Mexican and American me.

It hasn't always been easy. At week 5, just as I was sure I could do this. Just as I was getting comfortable with the whole operation, I got thrush. Honestly, it hurt worse than labor. I was sure my breastfeeding days were over. Thankfully my doctor gae me a prescription and encouraged me to continue. After that, the transition back to work went smoothly. Audrey refuses to take a bottle unless she is really hungry, which means a surplus of milk in the freezer. But otherwise, thankfully, we are going strong even after 7 months.

I've learned that my life isn't about being Mexican or American; it's about being me and being the best mother I can be. For me, breastfeeding has been a huge part of me growing into a woman. I'm not a little girl playing dress up, I'm a wife and mother. My body has had a part in creating life and continues to nurture that life. It took my breast living up to their potential to help me see myself as a whole person.

Tips and Tricks for Exclusively Pumping Breastmilk

Gini and her daughter Claire.

We were happy to share a guest post by our friend Gini and her breastfeeding experience. Here are her tips and tricks for Exclusively Pumping breastmilk for your baby.

Tips and Tricks for EPing

1. Talk to a lactation consultant about supplements. I took 600mg of Fenugreek, three capsules- three times a day. It really boosted my milk supply, so much that when I was ready to stop pumping, I quit taking those and I experience very little discomfort weaning myself from the pump.

2. Find a comfortable place to pump. For me it was the bed. I would stack a ton of pillows between me and the headboard, watch tv, read my Bible, or just close my eyes. It was also nice that in the middle of the night I didn’t have to get up and go anywhere.

3. If you choose to EP, buy an extra set of pump parts. Pumping and washing seven times a day while caring for a newborn/ infant is hard enough. And use larger bottles rather than the 4-5 ounce ones that come with the pump.

4. You can store pump parts in the fridge between pumping sessions. When I learned this about three months into it, things became much easier. This was perfect for my middle of the night pumping. I would start with two clean sets of pump parts on my nightstand before I went to bed. I used the first at 1am, and when I was finished I put it in the fridge. I used the second set at 4am and put those in the fridge as well. Then, I would use the 1am pump parts (just clean breast shields) for the 9am pumping, and the 4am set from the noon pumping. This cut my washings down drastically.

Travelling with the Pump

1. Don’t be afraid to pack up the pump and take it with you places. When Claire was 8 weeks old, she and I flew to see my parents in New Orleans, and I successfully pumped in airport bathroom handicapped stall while feeding Claire, who was in her stroller. You can pump anywhere.

2. This brings me to… get a Hooter Hider, or an Udder Cover (www.uddercover.com). Whatever you want to call it, get one. It’s made for nursing mothers, but worked for me as well. I could pump in my car during the first few weeks back at work or in a room with my friends who aren’t quite close enough to see my ladies.

3. And pack lots of extra batteries in the pump. I could pump about two straight days worth on one set (of eight AA) batteries. Consider a car converter- one that allows you to plug in your A/C adapter in the car’s power outlet.

And pack the bag. They give you space there for a reason. Some of the things I kept in there were Lanolin wipes, Lanolin nipple cream, extra breast pads, spare white membranes (http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/pump-accessories/207/extra-membranes), spare breast milk storage bags, an old watch if you don’t wear one to keep up with your time, a little devotional book to help pass those fifteen minutes.

The Milk Pumping Factory

We're happy to share a guest post by our friend Gini and her breastfeeding experience. The story of the breastfeeding journey she and her daughter went on will be shared here in parts. Today we bring you part 1.

Hi, my name is Gini! My husband, Luke, and I welcomed our beautiful baby Claire into our family on October 11, 2009. I also have a step-daughter, Bella who is six, and we live outside of Birmingham, Alabama. I only have a few dozen readers over at The McGlothin Family but I thought I had a pretty good story to share. I hope you’ll agree.

Let me first start by saying that I am not pro-breastfeeding. Nor am I pro-pumping. Nor am I pro-formula feeding. I am pro-baby feeding. I think people that make you feel bad about the decisions you make for your family are morons.Those who give their babies bottles or those who nurse in public are both given the side-eye. Moms can’t win. Now I’ll get down from my soap box.

After a long labor and more than three hours of pushing, I was exhausted but overjoyed, holding this little angel in my arms.I just knew I would cradle her, look into the beautiful blue eyes passed down to her by her father and a glow would surround us as we began the bonding that is breastfeeding. I mean, this is supposed to be natural, right? Women have done this for centuries, right? How hard could it be, right?

Wrong. And wrong some more. Claire would fight the boob like it was poison delivered by a nipple made of broken glass. She would have nothing to do with nursing at all.I broke down and fed her formula (gasp!), which I was perfectly fine with. I was nervous about nipple confusion, but I still was naive enough to think she would come back to me and that glorious glow would find us again and we would both become breastfeeding pros in no time.

Also to consider was, long story short, I was laid off from my job last April when I was 16 weeks pregnant with Claire. Needless to say, I could not find a job given the economy, and on top of that I had an already big belly brewing. I knew I would be out of work at least until early 2010, so we needed to stretch every dollar in order to make it on one salary. Breastfeeding was part of that. We needed to save money at every turn, not spending it on formula when we could feed her breastmilk for free. Not only did I have the pressure I put on myself to be the perfect mom but I also had dollar signs flashing in my mind. The day after Claire was born I said to myself, come hell or high water, I would breastfeed Claire. I would not let her or my checkbook down.(And I am fully aware that this is pressure I put on myselfnot that anyone else put on me.Don’t ever let someone pressure you do something or be someone.)

So I spent lots of time with the lactation consultant in the hospital, and things slowly got better. Claire needed four or five formula bottles while we were there, and other than that, was starting to get the hang of the boob. I was so proud.Proud of myself. Proud of my baby. Really proud of my super supportive husband. We were a family, and we were making it through the first of many obstacles together.

And then we go home. And things got worse. Claire had lost more than the average 7% of her body weight before we were discharged. And when we saw the pediatrician again at 4 days old she was down almost 2 pounds from her birth weight. The pediatrician recommended we up the formula because Claire was simply not gaining enough weight. I began to doubt the idyllic breastfeeding situation I had fought so hard to create.

My milk finally came in when she was a week old. Now, I knew we would get back on track. Wrong again. Even with my crazy-full boobs waiting to be relieved, Claire still wasn’t getting enough to eat. So at ten days old, I packed up my momma and my babe and we trekked back to the hospital for another visit with the lactation consultant. The visit that would change everything.

To be continued...