WINNER- Essential Guide To Beastfeeding

Big congrats to Sasha, the lucky winner of The Essential Guide to Breastfeeding my Marianne Neifert, MD who wins with her comment...

WINNER- Hygeia Breastpump from Mommy Gear

WINNER- Lansinoh Prize Package

Please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prize!

Sleepy Wrap *GIVEAWAY* Day 6

**CONTEST CLOSED**



The Details: One lucky winner will receive their choice of color of wrap from Sleepy Wrap. The Rules: Visit Sleepy Wrap and tell me what color you'd choose if you won.

Try, Try again... Second Chances:
**Follow my blog and leave a separate comment letting me know.
** Follow This Mom Can Shop on Twitter and tweet RT @thismomcanshop #babywearing #breastfeeding wrap by Sleepy Wrap sling Giveaway PARTY ends 9/19! http://tinyurl.com/lxj5p5 You may do so once a day for extra entries.
**Grab my Best For Breast Carnival Button for your site- and sign the linky 5 extra entries into each contest. Tweet the Carnival info for 3 extra entries to each contest. You may tweet each day for extra entries.
** Blog about this contest linking back to this contest and leave a separate comment.
** Buy any product from Sleepy Wrap for 10 extra entries and send me the link to your purchase.

The Nitty Gritty:
*Winners are chosen randomly, if you want all your chances counted, make sure you leave individual comments, not all of them in one!
*winner has 48 hours to contact me or another name will be chosen.
*contest ends September 19th, 9 pm EST. Winner will be posted within 48 hours.
*open to US & Canada residents only!
*rules for each entry must be followed to be valid.

(Blog) World Breastfeeding GUEST POST by Marianna

Meet Marianna, she's the mama behind Green Mama's Pad. A wife and Mom to three sons, she shares her story with us from Breastfeed Awareness Month on her experience with Soy/Milk allergies and breastfeeding twin boys. Marianna is currently expecting her fourth baby boy (bless her) and looks forward to implementing her gained knowledge into nursing again soon. Thanks so much for allowing me to post this. For more great, Green Mama musings, postings, and tips, please be certain to visit Green Mama's Pad.

August is Breastfeeding Awareness month and I have been meaning to write up my story literally all month. But what can I say, I can be a procrastinator at times. So here it is nearly the end of August and I am finally getting to it. If you wrote one this month, be sure to link up in the Mr. Linky at the end of this post.

I would like to start by saying that while I am very much pro-breastfeeding, I firmly believe it is a personal choice and no one should be judged for the choice that they make. If you want to breastfeed than yay for you! If you would rather use formula, yay for you too! You have to do what works best for you and your family and only you know what that is.

OK, lets get to it. Here are my stories, I will try to not ramble too much. (No promises though). Disclaimer: there will be mention of breasts and nipples so stop reading now if you can't handle it.

First Born
When I was pregnant with my first 5 years ago, I started off with absolutely no desire to breastfeed. None at all. I didn't think it was for me and didn't even plan on trying. I'm not sure what happened in those 9 months to change my mind, maybe it was reading about so many success stories of other moms. But by the time the end of my pregnancy had come along, I was determined to give it a try and set myself a small goal of 3 months.

He was born just after midnight (12:01am) and took to nursing right away. I ended up being at the hospital for 4 days because of the time of the birth (and I wasn't turning down an extra day of help). On day 3 my milk had come in but we started having some latching issues due to flat nipples. Fortunately, the lactation consultant at the hospital was AWESOME. I loved her - she was a doll, extremely helpful and not at all pushy. I think a lot of lactation consultant get a bad rep because of the few crazy ones out there. So she worked with me on multiple holds and when we still couldn't get a good latch, she hooked me up with some nipple shields. With the help of them, we were getting back on track. I was able to stop using them a week later.

When we left the hospital she told me to invest in a good electric pump. Since I had a ton of milk, she wanted me to pump in between feedings to start building up my freezer stash. So after my hubby dropped us off at home, he ran out and got me the Medela Pump In Style Advanced. Excellent pump. I will say though, this is the one piece of bad advice I was given. I actually had an oversupply of milk to begin with so the pumping in between nursing caused me to get severely engorged. I seriously looked deformed and was in agonizing pain. It took a few days for the "buoys" to go back down to a somewhat normal size and from that point we did really good. I went back to work full time at 8 weeks and was able to pump enough while there to send to daycare.

I reached my goal of 3 months with no more issues and I was so proud of us. It was going great. Until we hit a major roadblock. W started getting eczema all over his body and we really weren't sure why. Then things got scary when I started seeing blood in his stool. Our pediatrician told me that this was all the signs of a cow's milk protein intolerance. So I could cut out all dairy from my diet or put him on special formula (expensive). I chose to keep nursing. At first it was hard, you don't realize how much stuff has milk in it until your start reading labels. After about a month of no dairy, we were still seeing blood. Back to the pediatrician we went and I was told that he most likely also had a soy intolerance. Soy is even more food than milk, but I still chose to cut it out.

FYI - a milk or soy intolerance is not the same as an allergy. Basically the proteins aren't broken down and they irritate the inside of the intestines causing them to bleed. They eventually outgrow it.

At this point we were also referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist. This man was a jerk and told me there really wasn't much benefit to breastfeeding beyond 3 months anyway. I wanted to smack him - what doctor says this? I left their conflicted and feeling worse about what I was doing. In the following weeks my supply started to drop, probably due to a combination of dietary changes, stress and pumping. I had to supplement with Nutramigen formula (the most disgusting smelling stuff ever). I was doubting myself and was in tears at night wondering if I should just stop. Then I went to see a different gastroenterologist. Its amazing what just a few simple words can do. She assured me that he was doing great, had a chunky little dude, and that I was doing the right thing and was a great mom. She sent me on my way with a bunch of samples and confidence in myself that I had chosen the right path for us. I felt a million times better.

I continued to to breastfeed him till he was 12 months old. By the time we had gotten to that 1 year mark, I was probably doing about 50/50 of breast milk to formula. He nursed great but my pumping sessions were producing less and less. Then one week before his first birthday he came down with rota-virus and with no appetite he pretty much self weaned. I was bummed but was so happy we made it 1 year, even with all the obstacles.

The Twins
When W was 18 months old I became pregnant with our next child. Or so we thought. We were lucky to find out pretty early on at about 6 weeks that I was carrying fraternal twins. We were totally shocked. I knew that I wanted to attempt to breastfeed them and I had lots of time to educate myself and prepare. People thought I was nuts. Why would I want to nurse 2 babies? How was that even possible? For me, not only did I love breastfeeding my first son, but I hate making bottles and breastfeeding is FREE! My sister-in-law went and bought me the best twins nursing pillow from Double Blessings that was just awesome. No way I could have done it without this.

So when my twins were born I had my nifty pillow at the hospital ready to go. I requested the same lactation consultant and she was once again awesome. Even impressed by me nursing the twins. It went really well right from the start. I again had to use nipple shields for a week, but I had anticipated that and bought a few ahead of time. Knowing that the milk/soy issue is hereditary, I decided to cut milk out from the get go. L never showed any signs of an intolerance, but at about 2 weeks J did with blood in his stool. It was obvious that his intolerance was more severe than W's was. My wonderful gastroenterologist even told me that Nutramigen wouldn't do it this time, we would need an even more special formula, not even sold in stores. Yeah, I don't think so. So I moved ahead and cut out the soy too. It took several weeks for the blood to stop, but it did. At about 2 months old we realized that he also had reflux and so he was put on Zantac. What a difference that made!

From that point on it was smooth sailing. I continued with my milk and soy free diet (which makes you nice and thin by the way) and was able to exclusively breastfeed my twins. Due to my own laziness I rarely pumped which would come back to bite me in the rear because other than their first few weeks, they never took a bottle. Never. They refused. I had planned on stopping when they were 18 months old because that was when we wanted to start trying for #4 (yeah, we're nuts). Well that didn't happen. We did start trying again, but I kept nursing. Have I mentioned that I can be a procrastinator? ;) After 3 unsuccessful months of trying, I wondered if the breastfeeding was having an affect on my cycle and ovulation. They were only nursing 2 to 3 times a day at that point but maybe it was related. So at 21 months we stopped, just like that. They were fine, and we really didn't have any issues or crying. The next month I was pregnant.

I must apologize as that was crazy long, but I wanted to include everything. With baby 4 on the way, I am already setting my goals and thinking of things to do differently. I will cut both dairy and soy out from the beginning and hopefully avoid any issues. I will make a point to pump at least once a day and get new baby familiar with a bottle so I can leave every now and then. While I have absolutely NO PLANS of having any more children, I still plan to wean somewhere between 18 and 24 months but we shall see how it all plays out...

(Blog) World Breastfeeding GUEST POST by Trisha

August began Breastfeeding Awareness Month and was kicked off by World Breastfeeding Week. Several mommy bloggers shared touching tales of breastfeeding success and yes, even failures. Reading the blogs and tweets, I found myself highly impressed with the openness and dialogue many moms were participating in. One such story was written by my friend Trisha, the very talented editor behind the blog Sweet 'n' Sassy Girls and boutique designer and owner of Cutie Covers. She's very generously allowed me to share her story of breastfeeding her beautiful baby girl here on my blog that she wrote for World Breastfeeding Week. I hope you'll enjoy and please be sure to visit Sweet 'n' Sassy Girls blog and twitter for more great reads!


I always knew I was going to breastfeed. I went to a breastfeeding class, learned all about it, and planned on it from the start. I really didn’t have that many problems with getting my daughter to latch on. It took a few tries to get comfortable doing it, but she was on and she was eating. I remember when the lactation consultant finally came in to see us (2 days AFTER she was born) to see if I needed any help. I told her no, I think we were doing just fine. She seemed skeptical since this was our first, and I must not know how to do it right. I showed her our charts of how long she ate and when, and she said OK and left.

I remember stressing so much about those stupid charts. I had to try to remember when I started to feed her, and then remember to look at the clock when I stopped. AND remember to write it all down. After doing this for a week I decided I was done. She would eat when she was hungry and who cared if it was only for 10 minutes? Every kid is different right? Some are snackers and take 30 minutes or so to eat. Not my daughter. She got in there ate and was done.

I was sore when I first started, but I never cracked or bled. I used my Lansinoh every time and it seemed to work.

We continued to breastfeed, and I finally decided to try a pump probably when she was 5 month old or so. This was so I could run to the store by myself and not have to worry about missing one feeding. I probably should have started pumping sooner, but I was afraid if I pumped that she would get nipple confusion and not breastfeed anymore. Um yeah. She was fine. She had no problem taking a bottle occasionally, which was nice for me to get a small break.

I still continued to primarily breastfeed her.

Then came her 6 month visit. She had dropped from the 50th percentile in her weight to the 10th percentile. She had only gained a few oz since her 4 month visit. The doctor was a little concerned, but said she still had gained some, so we were fine. I started her on cereal at 4 months and baby food at 6 months, but I still breastfed her often.

Then came her 9 month visit. She actually lost 5 1/2 oz from her 6 month visit. This time the doctor was really concerned. He had me keep a chart of everything she ate. He also told me to go from feeding her 2 containers of baby food a day to 3. He also wanted me to add 36 oz of formula a day, and continue to breastfeed her. I was feeding that girl every half an hour, and most of it was spit back up. I never was able to get up to that full 36 oz of formula, but I did give her a couple of bottles a day.

We had to go in for weekly weigh ins, and she still was not gaining a lot. We thought maybe it was because she spit up a ton that she just was not keeping the nutrients down long enough. We tried acid reflux medicine and it didn’t do a thing. He suggested stopping breastfeeding all together and just doing formula.

I could not give it up. I was determined to continue to breastfeed until she was a year. I started pumping in between feedings to get more breast milk. This is when I realized that my supply had dwindled so much that I really didn’t have much left. I was lucky to be able to pump at least 1 oz total. Often it was only 1/2 an oz. When before I was able to pump much more. I knew I needed to do something, so I went to the health food store and got the mother milk droplet which tasted terrible! I pumped every half an hour trying to get my supply back. Nothing was working. After doing this for over a month, I decided that maybe I did need to give up breastfeeding and switch to formula and baby food exclusively. This was my child’s health we were talking about.

I cried and cried about being a failure. I could not produce enough milk to keep my daughter healthy. I had enough milk in the freezer to continue to give her at least one bottle until she was 11 months old. Then we were done. I never went through any physical pain weaning her, because my body had been done long before I was.

At her 12 month visit she had finally gained plenty of weight and actually weighed 17 lbs. Much better than the 13 lbs she had been at at her 9 month visit. We started her on whole milk when she turned 1 and did away with the formula. She has been healthy and back up to the 50-60th percentile for her weight ever since.

I realize now that my milk had probably be drying up for a while now, and that is part of what caused her weight loss. She was so tiny you could see all of her ribs. I felt so bad that it was my fault for this. I could always squeeze a little milk out after she ate so I figured I was good. At least she had started on solids at that point in time so she was getting some nutrition, just not enough.

I learned a lot from this, and I plan on trying to breastfeed my next baby. Hopefully I can take what I learned and not repeat my same mistakes twice.

Breastfeeding Tips for Success GUEST POST by Judy Masucci, Phd

Bebe Au Lait *GIVEAWAY* Day 2

Want It? Win It?
Bebe Au Lait and Hooter Hiders is generously giving one lucky winner their choice of nursing cover.

The Details: One lucky winner will receive their choice of style of nursing cover from Bebe Au Lait or Hooter Hiders. The Rules: Visit Bebe Au Lait and tell me which item of theirs is your favorite.

Try, Try again... Second Chances:
**Follow my blog and leave a separate comment letting me know.
** Follow This Mom Can Shop on Twitter and tweet RT @thismomcanshop @bebeaulait Win a Bebe Au Lait Nursing Cover #breastfeeding PARTY all week long! http://tinyurl.com/llla2x You may do so once a day for extra entries.
**Grab my Best For Breast Carnival Button for your site- and sign the linky 5 extra entries into each contest. Tweet the Carnival info for 3 extra entries to each contest. You may do so once a day for extra entries.
** Blog about this contest linking back to this contest and leave a separate comment.
** Follow Bebe Au Lait on Twitter for 3 extra entries!

The Nitty Gritty:
*Winners are chosen randomly, if you want all your chances counted, make sure you leave individual comments, not all of them in one!
*winner has 48 hours to contact me or another name will be chosen.
*contest ends September 16th, 9 pm EST. Winner will be posted within 48 hours.
*open to US residents only!
*rules for each entry must be followed to be valid.

Kickoff: Breastfeeding Awareness Month & Our Story

We struggled through our first several weeks which included flat nipples (resolved by shields) and a lazy latch not to mention negative lactation consultants who discouraged trying due to my surgery. However the BFAR (Breast feeding after a Reduction) was no issue and she was able to nurse without supplementation. And she still does. Yes, our breastfeeding story includes the fact that my three year old extend nurses. Which means she continues to breastfeed.

Now, I am aware this is a controversial subject and perhaps something many do not understand or agree with but I've finally come to realize it doesn't matter what others think. Say I'm perverted, say I need to cut the cord (but trust that I am ready to be done as soon as she is), and say I am harming my child but consider this...my three year old began child care at three months when I returned to work and pumped for over a year... this little girl has never had an illness last longer than 24 hours, never had an ear infection, is bright as can be, and independent to a fault. Add in the fact that I am reducing BOTH of our chances of certain breast and reproductive cancers and I just know Rachel and I have made the right choice for us. So judge me if you like. But I'll respect you for the choices you believe are right for your children no matter how you chose to feed them, how 'bout you do the same for me? I'm just so tired of women being criticized and made to feel like less of a mother for NOT choosing to nurse and at the same time having it thrown back at those of us who nurse "too long". These are our babies and we'll decide what's right for us and for them.

Best For Breast: Breastfeeding Awareness Month Carnival

<br /><a href="http://www.thismomcanshop.com/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6782" title="BestforBreastGiveawayCarnival" alt="" src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b154/atandrade1/erin2.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><br /></a>

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month. I've been loving reading the supportive twitters and blog posts about this important subject and wanted to celebrate all the breastfeeding mamas with my own giveaway and review series. Beginning August 24th, I look forward to sharing some of my favorite products that got me through the early months of nursing my daughter. In honor of my first carnival, I am offering FIVE extra entries into each contest if you grab my button and sign Mr. Linky below letting me know. THREE extra entries if your tweet:
RT: @thismomcanshop #breastfeeding awareness month giveaway @lansinoh @glamourmom @bebeaulait bravado begins 8/24 on www.thismomcanshop.com