Apparently, this is 'breastfeeding week' and Moms are invited to 'Go for the Gold' by basically pressuring new Moms to breastfeed their kids, give them the number for La Leche League, etc. This is supposed to generate awareness about breastfeeding.
I really don't think there's any problem with awareness in this country about the benefits of breast-feeding. I think that point has been hammered in often enough.
In fact, I think there's an almost militant stance by some pro-breastfeeding organizations, like La Lache League, that borders on making women feel inadequate and ashamed just for having problems with breast-feeding. Or, even worse, if they end up using formula instead of breast-feeding. Actually, I think they DO make a lot of new Moms feel ashamed if they don't say how wonderful breastfeeding is.
My oldest son wouldn't nurse, and I thank God for the formula companies out there, because even with the help of the "lactation consultant" in the hospital, he simply wouldn't take my breast milk. He started losing weight, and we would have to wake him up every two hours just to try to feed him. We went to the doctor EVERY SINGLE DAY for weigh-ins. He was labelled as "failure to thrive." I felt like a horrible Mother. Finally, when I was completely falling apart, my husband and Mother, who were supportive of ME AND MY BABY, convinced me it would be okay to go to bottles.
And I am SO glad we did. Formula-feeding made him into a strong, healthy, happy little boy.
I don't have any problem with breast-feeding. If you can do it, that's fine. I know that there are all kinds of benefits to breastfeeding as well. But don't look at Moms who aren't breastfeeding like they are pariahs, either.
Because, the thing is, EVERY SINGLE MOTHER I have ever spoken to personally has found it is far more difficult than she was led to believe to breastfeed. Some were able to breastfeed successfully after trying and trying and beating themselves up over it and feeling, as I did, that they were somehow not good Moms. Others, like me, could not. So they fed their kids formula. And I think that's okay.
There's a movement to keep formula out of hospitals?! Wow. That's real nice. Way to support women's choices and let them make decisions about how they raise their own children, people!
Shame on you.
I was a bottle baby. So was my husband. We're good, honest, conscientious, well-educated people.
So I would much rather see some REAL stories about how difficult it can be to breastfeed, and that it is okay to feed your baby with formula if you need to, than more stories pushing breastfeeding onto women as if it is something they MUST do or fail as a mother. We have enough of those already.
]]>First on
the agenda, Senator Obama responded to the controversy surrounding
recently-retired church pastor Jeremiah Wright. Obama is taking fire
for remaining in the church after the pastor's controversial antics: as
early as 1993, Wright called for the primarily African-American
congregation to sing, "God Damn America," rather than God Bless
America, as well as placing responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist
attacks squarely on the United States itself.
Obama is on the
record as "categorically" denouncing any rhetoric "that disparages our
great country." His impassioned speech on racial relations, as
Hasselbeck noted, "crossed party lines," and won many undecided
supporters over, calling for an open-minded, inclusive discussion of
the issues.
Still, the shadow of Wright's legacy hangs over
Obama's head, and as he has remarked before, "I can no more dismiss
this man [Wright] than I can my white grandmother." Barack's outspoken
and independent wife, Michelle, didn't help matters when, in February,
she passionately cried out during a campaign stop in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, "For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my
country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." No
doubt her words were intended as praise for her husband's success;
however, her poorly-worded comments only sparked outrage over what many
saw as further denigration of America.
In addition, continuing
to attend Wright's church for 21 years suggests to many a tacit
approval with Wright's divisive sentiments; opponents argue that Obama
only distanced himself from the pastor when the relationship was
brought out into the open.
This morning on the View, Obama
weighed in with, "I'm not vetting my pastor. I didn't have a research
team during the course of 20 years to go pull every sermon he's given
and see if there's something offensive that he's said." Obama went on
to say that the picture the news media has given the American people is
merely, "a snippet of the man."
Obama also went on to address what he considers the three major focal points of his presidential campaign:
Removing our military force from Iraq "as carefully as we carelessly went in."
Putting forth a bill that will "allow every family to receive affordable health care."
Dealing
with the nation's economy. Earlier this week, Obama railed against
Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain for taking, as he put it,
"a sit back and watch" approach to the failing economy in the midst of
what analysts say is an economic recession. Obama denied that he would,
as McCain suggested Tuesday, raise taxes. Instead, he plans to "remove
tax breaks from the richest Americans", who, he points out, don't need
the breaks as much as the average worker needs to hang on to his house.
After Barack's stint on the view, Sherri Shepherd, former
comedienne and survivor of the infamous "flat earth" discussion in
which she disavowed evolution, declared herself won over by Obama's
appearance and declared herself willing to campaign for him.
Hopefully, after facing down all this controversy already, the Senator is savvy enough not to take her up on her offer.
]]>Here's an excerpt of my post about it from my blog (you can read more here: http://coolmomsrule.blogspot.com/2008/03/camp-baby.html):
]]>Here's an excerpt of my post about it from my blog (you can read more here: http://coolmomsrule.blogspot.com/2008/03/camp-baby.html):
"Now, having read the invitation thoroughly, it came as no surprise to me that Mothers are not expected to bring their children with them for the weekend, as the activities on the agenda suggest that the Camp getaway is intended as a opportunity for Moms to get together, discuss their lives, their successes and disappointments, their challenges and their frustrations and all their methods of coping with the huge responsibility that is Motherhood. It's a chance to let go for a little while, vent and share and even let yourself be pampered for a change, along with other Moms who can understand and support just where you are coming from.
But not everyone came away with the same reading of the situation as I did, and some other bloggers have pointed out that at an event entitled Camp Baby, it seems counter-intuitive that babies and small children cannot be accommodated."
In my post, I link to what some other Mommy bloggers are saying about Camp Baby, and include Johnson & Johnson's e-mailed response to the controversy.
]]>I've had a fantastic time interacting with all the other women (and men, too!) here at BlogHer '07. BlogHer has done a fantastic job of not only arranging quality presentations and bringing in the very best exhibitors (who, I have to say, are incredibly generous with all the swag they are passing out--it's like trick-or-treating!), but also creating opportunities for all of us to get together and socialize.
]]>I've had a fantastic time interacting with all the other women (and men, too!) here at BlogHer '07. BlogHer has done a fantastic job of not only arranging quality presentations and bringing in the very best exhibitors (who, I have to say, are incredibly generous with all the swag they are passing out--it's like trick-or-treating!), but also creating opportunities for all of us to get together and socialize.
And, sorry if I am gushing here, but they really couldn't ask for a better venue than the Navy Pier here in Chicago. Once I realized that I needed to take that trolley all the way out to the very end, I was set. Note to future attendees: the Navy Pier is lo-o-o-o-ng! There's the entrance, where you find the Children's Museum and restaurants, the center full of shops, a Ferris Wheel and lots of family activities, and then finally the Grand Ballroom at the end, with beer gardens outside and sometimes music.
Tonight, though I will be flying home, is Venetian night at the Navy Pier, and I hear that the the parade of boats with their lights all lit up is just beautiful.
More soon, live from BlogHer '07!
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