Breastmilk Counts... continued

So last summer I let everyone know that our little family took a road trip to Austin, TX so that I could be interviewed for a pro-breastfeeding website.

Since then, I've had a number of people ask me if I'd ever seen the final product. My answer has always been... "No, I keep checking the website, but still nothing."

Well, last night, Austin asked if I had checked in a while, and it had been a month or two since I'd tried to find the video. Sure enough, it was posted!

So here it is. My 1:14 minute clip about breastfeeding. I certainly hope that my information, along with the other women who contributed, encourages women to nurse their babies/toddlers, even if they are having a hard time, or feel for some reason like they "can't."

Yes, I do nurse Denver briefly in this video. If you are uncomfortable with that, I wanted to inform you in advance. But maybe if you're uncomfortable with it, all the more reason to watch! ;)

http://www.breastmilkcounts.com/community.php

Breastmilk Counts

Did you know that it's World Breastfeeding Week? That's right. A week dedicated to education, encouragement, and awareness for breastfeeding. I guess that makes it pretty good timing to tell y'all what we did on Wednesday of this week.

Austin, Denver, and I traveled down to Austin, TX so that I could give an interview for Breastmilk Counts, a website devoted to educating women about nursing their children.

It was such a neat experience. I actually got paid to do it (yay!), they also gave us per diem for gas, food, etc., (double yay!), and put our family in a really nice hotel right on the river in the middle of Austin (triple yay!).

I spoke to them about my experiences breastfeeding my son. I told them about the trials and joys that breastfeeding brings. I shared that the first month was very challenging, but it was absolutely worth it. And now, eleven months later, I am so glad that I persevered. Nursing Denver is some of the sweetest time that I have with him, and I'm so grateful that God created my body to nourish my son in that way.

My husband was gracious to take some pictures during the filming. Here are some of my favorites...

getting my makeup professionally done. legit.

this is the viewing monitor while we were filming.. of course Denver stole the show :)

After the shoot, Denver was a great little helper. He carried my scarf and water for me! :)

The ultimate goal in all of this was to encourage and educate young women to breastfeed their babies. I pray that my story will help to do that. When they put my vignette online, I will let everyone know.

Denver vs. The Bottle

Denver hates bottles.

It's true. And in the great battle of Denver vs. The Bottle 2011... Denver is victorious.

Don't get me wrong... I am incredibly grateful that I've had the opportunity to breastfeed my son. I believe wholeheartedly that it is the best source of nutrition for him, and it also creates a nurturing relationship between us that he doesn't share with anyone else. It fascinates me that God created my body to not only grow a child, but then to feed that child once he is born.

For those of you who haven't been around babies much, they get hungry A LOT. In Denver's first weeks of life, he nursed "on demand," which pretty much means all the time. Then he started nursing every two hours during the day, and a couple times each night. Now we are into a routine in which he nurses five times each day.

Because he refuses to take a bottle, I have to be with him for every feeding. This means that if I want to spend an evening out of the house, I must be back home by 8:00pm for his last feeding, or I can leave after 8:30. But I can't go to dinner and a movie with my husband from 6:00 til 10:00 like we used to, because my poor child would starve.

I can hear you now... have you tried (fill in the blank) technique to get a baby to take a bottle?! Yes, I assure you I have. I decided in early March that by the end of the month, The Bottle would be victorious in the epic battle. Here is what I attempted....

• different bottle types...Dr. Brown's, Breastflow, and Adiri
• different people feeding him...myself, Austin, a friend, Austin's mom... all without success
• different times of day... morning, noon, and night
• sometimes when he was reeeally hungry, sometimes moderately hungry, sometimes right after he nursed. always uninterested... sometimes downright angry
• I tried "tricking" him. He would be nursing, and then I'd gently maneuver the bottle into his mouth instead, and he was not happy about it
• we tried outside, inside, sitting, standing, walking, rocking....

I tried to give Denver one bottle of pumped breastmilk each day for the entire month of March. I officially feel that I've missed my "window" on bottle-feeding Denver. There will be no four-hour date nights for Austin and me until Denver is weaned. And I feel like I'm finally at peace with that.

As I nursed Denver this morning, I was looking at him, and the way he looks up at me, and the way he smiles at me when he sees me, and the way he waves his arms in the air when I walk into a room like he just won the lottery... and I know that's because I'm his mommy. I'm the one who snuggles with him in the middle of the night when he's crying. I feed him when he's hungry. I have the privilege of being Denver's mother, and right now that means nursing him. Later in life there will be countless other battles. But this little guy is worth it, wouldn't you agree?

So bring on the battles Denver Amerigo Vespucci Hines! (newest nickname for my little crawling explorer)