Hooray for Boobies! (& I don't mean the Bloodhound Gang album)

When faced with the choice of breast versus bottle, there isn’t much deliberation for me. Here are the extremely convincing factors in my decision:

• First and foremost, breast milk is one of the healthiest things you can do for your newborn. There are many all-important antibodies and nutrients passed from mother to child, especially in the first few days. (The extra-special milk produced right after birth is called colostrum, which is thicker and a yellowish hue).
• Of course, there is also the cost savings. If you've ever looked at the prices of formula at the store, you'll know that it is expensive!! I don’t get why anyone would want to spend the money on formula when they have a free supply of nutrition made right in their own body (unless of course there is a sound medical reason or a need to supplement).
• Convenience! How easy is it to just pop a boob into a baby’s mouth at 3 a.m. rather than have to stumble down to the kitchen, mix up the formula, and heat the bottle?
• Lastly, there is also the bonding experience. It is shown that the physcial contact has a postivive effect on babies, and helps them feel more secure. It can also help mothers who may suffer from post-partum depression.

I do have some concerns about being able to breastfeed, though. A common symptom of Down syndrome is hypotonia, or lack of muscle tone. The easiest way I've seen this described is that a baby will feel “floppy” in your arms.

According to my research, a baby with DS often has trouble learning how to suck properly due to hypotonia (since the muscles in and around the mouth are also affected). It typically takes more effort to start milk flow and maintain a latch during breastfeeding. Therefore babies with Down syndrome often have a difficult time getting enough milk. This can in turn affect a woman’s milk production, hence exacerbating the problem.

From all that I’ve read it is completely possible to overcome the difficulties. There are ways of holding the baby which can help mitigate low tone issues as the baby learns to nurse. Also, pumping is often necessary to ensure milk supply is adequate, and can also be used to help with starting milk flow before a nursing session.

Again, from what I’ve read and researched, pumping can be a little tricky at first, and it may be very time consuming. Having a high quality pump can certainly help alleviate any frustration, although they can be quite pricey! I was lucky enough to win the Medela Pump in Style, thanks to All About Baby Charlotte and the Nursing Mother's Place at Presbyterian Hospital.

Now it may sound really strange, but I can’t wait to use it!! (Mainly because that means I will finally be able to meet my little angel).

For mothers who have chosen to formula feed.... what made your decision?

Happiness is a Pumpkin Muffin

In case you missed it, yesterday was the first day of fall. I couldn't be happier, because this is my favorite time of year (and not just because my birthday is in October). Autumn means cable sweaters, cozy scarves, comfortable boots, crisp weather, colorful leaves. It also means pumpkin everything.... can you say yummy?

Being pregnant, of course I had to satisfy the pumpkin craving that hit me yesterday. I initially thought of making bread. Then I realized I didn't have a bread pan, and I was missing a lot of the ingredients included in the recipes I was finding. Yes, these are easy fixes, but I was being lazy and wanted (almost) instant gratification.

Suddenly, I remembered the perfect recipe for pumpkin muffins. It was one my mom had shown me, which she had got from Weight Watchers. Here is it:

Easy-Peasy Pumpkin Muffins

Makes about 24 mini muffins

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 oz) of 100% pure pumpkin
• 1 box cake mix
• Spice Cake or Carrot Cake work best in my opinion, but you could also use White Cake or Angel Food
• Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste
• If using the White Cake or Angel Food, you will definitely use more spice in order to achieve the perfect flavor

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Lightly grease mini muffin tin
• Mix everything together in a large bowl
• Scoop mixture into muffin tin
• Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes
• Enjoy!

Pretty simple, is it not? Pippa was certainly happy with them :)

They are super delicious, and stay moist for up to a week. They also freeze really well!

These little muffins are surprisingly healthy, too. Pumpkin has a ton of fiber in it, and the cake mix isn't too bad when you don't add all the oil and eggs. I was even thinking for the future mixing up my own "cake" mix using whole wheat flour. It would be super easy to make a batch of just the dry ingredients, pre-portion it, and keep it in my pantry for the next time a craving hits.

If you try out this recipe, let me know what you think!

Why My Daughter Will Have a Fluffy Bum

Sometime last year, a coworker of mine told me how he and his wife recently decided to start cloth diapering their three month old son. Immediately I thought of the white square cloths all folded and pinned, and thought this was ridiculous way to diaper a child in this day and age. My colleague surely saw the look of surprise and confusion on my face, because he promptly began to defend the decision.

He told me the main reason was due to a persistent diaper rash that wouldn’t heal, no matter what remedy was tried. They settled on trying cloth diapers after exploring the options and talking with fellow parents. He also began to tell me all about the “modern” styles of cloths diapers. I only half listened since I had no intention of ever needing that information, but I did hear enough to learn that cloth diapers aren’t what they used to be. That and cloth diapers give his son a fluffy bum.

Fast forward to now.....and suddenly I am in my coworker’s position and explaining my decision to cloth diaper my little girl on the way. As I progressed in my pregnancy and started to think of all the upcoming decisions I would have to make about parenting (there are so many!), I recalled the conversation between my coworker and I. Without hesitation I fired up the Google search engine to see if cloth diapers were as great as he made them sound. Anyone that knows me can tell you that I will research the heck out of anything before I make a decision; I am simply not comfortable without some good, hard empirical evidence. What I found was both surprising and convincing. For me it came to three major reasons, which I will briefly touch on.

 

 Number 1: Cost Savings.

Anyone who has children (and even those that don’t) know children are expensive. One of the major expenses in the first couple years of life are diapers. Of course there are a few variables to consider, but based on the information I found $2,000 is a conservative average for money spent on diapers from birth to potty training.
Compare that to cloth diapers. The cheapest option will cost you about $250, and the most expensive option can run about $800. You should also figure the cost of washing all these diapers, which I have seen calculated around $400. Right off the bat you can see a see a cost savings of anywhere from $750 to $1,350!

It should also be considered that well taken care of cloth diapers have great resale value. Depending on the type of cloth diaper and the condition, they can be sold for 50-75% of the original price. Again being conservative, that would be an additional $125 to $400 savings. On the other hand, if you have a second child then you already would have all the diapers you need……that would be an instant $2000 savings!

Number 2: Chemicals in Disposables.

I wouldn’t consider myself hippie by any means, but something about this pregnancy has made me especially conscious of all the chemicals we are exposed to in everyday life. I have become a lot more interested in natural options and any alternatives to super-processed and mass produced items. As far as disposable diapers go, I had never thought much about the chemicals they contain or those that were used to manufacture them. I am not trying to imply that anything about them is dangerous, only that there is a lot of stuff I can’t pronounce that goes into them.

It is not uncommon for parents to being changing their little one’s diaper and find a whitish goo everywhere, only to realize it is the absorbent gel from the diaper. You know, the same type of gel that come inside those little packets in shoeboxes that say “DO NOT EAT”. (Side note: Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer dropped one of those silica gel packets in the salsa at the clothing store?) Anyway, I don’t particularly like the idea of something like that being in contact with my baby girl’s skin.

 

Number 3: The Environment.

Environmental reasons can partly be related to above. I touched on mass production and the chemicals used in diapers, and I can only assume the processes used to make disposables cause some waste and pollution. I am not going to get into too much detail on this topic, as I really haven’t looked up the actual byproducts or such of diaper-making production. Therefore anything I say is pure speculation, but it seems like a reasonable assumption.

What is not a not an assumption, however, are the millions of diapers sitting in landfills. Since the outer liner is made of plastic, it will take a disposable at least 500 years to decompose. Considering all the babies getting changed every minute, that’s a lot poop! (Well, I guess the poop itself would biodegrade, so really it’s just a lot of garbage). Either way, I do my best to reduce my footprint and keep our earth clean. Choosing cloth diapers is just another way of doing so.

Now believe me when I say I am aware that cloth diapers are a little more work and effort. I understand that poop is stinky and messy, and that rinsing off a cloth diaper isn’t exactly a picnic. That doesn’t bother me though, because I realize that sometimes the best choices may not necessarily be the most convenient. A simple metaphor: Just because stopping at McDonald’s for dinner is quick and easy and doesn’t make a mess of your kitchen, it doesn’t make it better than a nice home-cooked meal.

On that note (comparing poop to food), I think I’ve said enough until the next time.