Weaning? Maybe?
Hope I'm not jinxing myself, but the little gal has not nursed in 3 days now, by her own choosing We had been cutting back gradually, 5 minutes at bedtime, 4 minutes, and then she sped up the process and went 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute in rapid succession (with one two-night break when I was out of town), and then agreeably told me "Zero minutes of nonnies at bedtime!" So we shall see. Maybe a "mammyogram" (as some of the woman who called up the radiology dept where I used to work referred to them as) is 6 months in my future...
- posted by Anne @ 3:12 PM (0) comments

 
So it's been 2 years
Since I posted on this blog and I was about to delete when I saw that I had a comment on it--a very old one, I'm sure! LOL. But I'm willing to keep it up, I'm sure. So what is this slightly crunchy Mom up to these days? Still nursing a "big kid," for one thing. I nursed my son until he was 3 years, 4 months, and I thought that he would hold the record, but my daughter has broken it and has been nursing 3-1/2 years as of today. Granted, she's down to once a day, at bedtime, for 5 minutes or so. But she steadfastly hangs on. So in the neverending dilemma of a slightly crunchy mom, I've been hearing from my doctor for the past couple of years "it's time to get a mammogram." My Mom had breast cancer in her late 40's, so it's a good idea for me to get a baseline mammo, soon. I always figured that I would get one by the time I turned 35, but then breastfeeding got in the way. I have to have not nursed for at least 6 months prior to getting a mammo (milk in the ducts gets in the way of an accurate reading). To many it may seem nutty that I'm still reluctant to totally wean a child this age and belive me, I feel conflicted. I probably COULD wean her without too much difficulty at this point, but I hang on because I still believe (whether accurately or not) that my breastmilk boosts her immunity a fair amount. Last winter my son was sick numerous times and she only had a few mild colds. I had a stomach bug and she didn't even get that! And now she's in preschool so I want to give her immunity whatever help I can. I probably will wean her in the next few months. But then that's it. No more kids, no more breastfeeding, I'm done. Part of me screams "FREEDOM!!!" and part of me feels the tears coming on. Such is life.
- posted by Anne @ 3:27 PM (0) comments

 
Sleep "problems"


This is what I need to remember!
- posted by Anne @ 8:00 PM (0) comments

 
Personality DNA
This is pretty cool, apparently I am a faithful idealist:

As an IDEALIST, you are distinctive for your integration of confidence, imagination, willingness to explore, and desire for competence over style.

You have a strong capacity to comprehend the inner workings of things, finding new ideas and innovative insights to feed your curious nature.

You are quite comfortable in the realm of abstract thought. You don't need a practical solution to every one of life's questions.

You are comfortable with the decisions you make in life. You don't need to second-guess yourself, or seek a lot of opinions before you make up your mind.

You enjoy the routines that you have created in your life, and don't feel the need to shake things up just for the sake of change.

You generally succeed at what you do, and others would describe you as successful.

It is important to you that products be efficient – looking good has to come second to working well.

You aren't the kind of person who needs to collect stylish items in an attempt to create an attractive environment – you know that what matters most is function, not style.

You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

You much prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute. Your decisions are well thought out, and you're not the least bit impulsive.

You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.


If you want to be different:

You take time to explore your own thoughts and ideas, but this experience would only be heightened if you opened yourself up even more to others' ideas.

Your faith in yourself and your lifestyle is well-founded, but the occasional foray into the unknown might broaden your perspective and help you see things differently.

From Personal DNA
- posted by Anne @ 7:41 PM (0) comments

 
I love breastfeeding
As if you couldn't tell from previous posts. :P But I do, I really do. I did eventually sometimes get a little weary of nursing my son, but I found ways to make it so that I could continue to nurse him, like cutting back and nightweaning. Nursikng him when I was pregnant was hardest, the sore nipples, the skin-crawling feeling--I did come close to weaning him at times then, but he still needed it. And now he's done! I think part of it all for me is that I really love nursing a baby and when they get to one I can't imagine weaning them! So I kept going with my son and I'll keep going with my daughter. I'm in this for the long haul. I have to laugh at women who say they want to get their bodies back. I don't think my body will ever really be back--my babies have taken my heart.
- posted by Anne @ 8:03 PM (0) comments

 
Vitamin K2
Will this be the answer that I'm looking for? I remembered hearing somewhere that natto, the fermented bean dish that is a Japanese favorite, apparently has properties that can increase bone density. Not being sure if fermented beans would be to my liking, I did a web search to find out more about this and what in the beans made this happens. Turns out, it's believed to be Vitamin K2. I didn't know there was such a derivative, but sure enough, there is. Here is one of the better articles that I found: Vitamin K2 in bone metabolism and osteoporosis

I'll have to look into this further.
- posted by Anne @ 7:27 PM (0) comments

 
New doctor, bone density, breastfeeding, etc
Just so you know I'm covering a plethora of stuff here. ;) I saw a new family doctor yesterday and he was super-nice, I think I'll be with him for a good long while. We talked about my usual list of health issues, asthma (under control), depression (under control) and bone density--kind of hanging here, not sure what we're doing. As mentioned, I have osteogenesis imperfecta. I have low bone density. It's always been low, but it was quantified two years ago when I had a bone density scan. Why didn't a doctor suggest that I get one sooner? I don't know. Maybe I could've been on a bone-building drug a long time ago and not be worrying about this now. Or maybe not. I've had some indications that it's not good to be on one of those and get pregnant later. But I'm not sure about it. It's all so confusing. I'm sure it's not safe to take Fosamax (the most likely thing for me to take) while pregnant. What I'm not so sure about is whether it's okay for me to take while breastfeeding. I saw an OI specialist in Baltimore (Dr. Jay Shapiro at Kennedy-Kreiger, great doctor), and he felt that because of the high molecular weight of Fosamax, it wouldn't pass into the breastmilk easily and should therefore be safe to take while breastfeeding. It's also eliminated from the body within 6 hours of taking it. So, since Fosamax is only taken once a week, it seems logical that all I would have to do is get up in the morning, nurse my daughter, take the medicine, and not nurse her again for 6 hours, at most. She's 11 months old now, and goes longer between nursings (sometimes). Plus, she'll be eliminating the morning nap before too much longer (she nurses before napping). This should be okay, right? Well, my new family doctor, my old one, my GYN, all don't want to prescribe it for me because there's almost no research on a breastfeeding woman taking Fosamax. And no wonder, it's mainly for post-menopausal women. I wonder what the 37-pound woman who just had a baby takes and if she's breastfeeding. Probably not since her baby was so early.

So...here's another slightly crunchy conundrum...what do I do now? For many women, this would be a no-brainer. Wean her. She's almost a year old, no big deal, right? It's not that easy for me. My 3-year old son just weaned a little over a month ago. I want to nurse my daughter for awhile longer, too. I don't know how long, but I really, really want to keep nursing her. She loves nursing and it's so good for her. My sister has already hassled me about "doing what's best" for me. I DO want to do what's best for me, and maybe that includes continuing to breastfeed my daughter. Well, to be continued...
- posted by Anne @ 7:42 PM (0) comments