Use what you learn or stay in bed.

We have all heard of the saying, “you learn something new everyday.” Now it’s probably true, but the truth in the saying comes with what you do with it. We can learn so many things everyday, but if we don’t apply what we learn we might as well have stayed in bed.

What likely happens is that (and for those of you—who like me, love infomercials) we get excited at the time at this fantastic information we’ve learnt and we can’t wait to apply it, but then when we get out of that environment or away from the TV infomercial our motivation is thrown out the window.

Below is a banned Pepsi commercial, it shows application of the a recent learning experience: -How do you apply what you learn?

So my challenge to you is this. Is there something that you have learned recently but have not taken action on? Is there a challenge that you have been facing but cannot seem to overcome a wall in your way?  Take the first step, write it down!!!! The more you see it the more you will do to achieve it.  The next step, surround yourself with like minded individuals. You are only as good as those you surround yourself with. I’ve heard time and time again, that if you take your five closest friends their average salary should most likely equal that of your own.  I’ve also heard the same thing about your friends weight.  If you hang out with overweight people, there is more chance you will be overweight. Now I’m not suggesting not to befriend overweight individuals or cut of friends who don’t make as much money as you as long as they are a positive influence in your life.

You’ve heard of the saying misery loves company? It’s true, how good do you feel about yourself if one of your “friends” calls you and complains the whole time (usually those who do this—always do this, you know the type and probably dread those who call to “dump” on you)— you usually feel crappy afterwards.

Think of this, for negative people, life happens to them.  The positive people create their life. Which do you want to be?

Alcohol and Breastfeeding

I was at a healthy baby group today and the topic of alcohol and breastfeeding came up. In Canada we have a resource called MotherRisk, generally it’s a resource that you can contact to inquire about medical questions you have during pregnancy and beyond. So if you were unsure as to what types of drugs are safe for a cold during pregnancy and you couldn’t get in touch with your doctor, they have a hotline that you can call and they will give you an answer based on scientific research.

Here’s a little more info specifically what MotherRisk does:

The Motherisk Program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is a clinical, research and teaching program dedicated to antenatal drug, chemical, and disease risk counselling. It is affiliated with the University of Toronto. Created in 1985, Motherisk provides evidence-based information and guidance about the safety or risk to the developing fetus or infant, of maternal exposure to drugs, chemicals, diseases, radiation and environmental agents

Recently they had conducted an study to determine just how long women should wait before resuming breastfeeding after having an alcoholic beverage. We’ve all read online that it’s 2 hours for one drink, and one drink being a beer, a 5 oz glass of wine, and 1oz of hard alcohol. But how much you weigh determines how quickly your body metabolizes the alcohol. Below what MotherRisk found in reference to drinking alcohol and breastfeeding:

image

Question:
I recently delivered a healthy, full-term baby and am now breastfeeding exclusively. I abstained form drinking alcohol during my entire pregnancy and am wondering if drinking alcohol now would harm my nursing baby.

Answer:
Nursing mothers who choose to drink alcohol during the postpartum period should carefully plan a breastfeeding schedule by storing milk before drinking and waiting for complete elimination of alcohol from their breast milk after drinking. Mother risk has created an algorithm to estimate how long it takes to eliminate alcohol from breast milk
.

Below is their algorithm:

Alcohol elimination chart

*1 drink = 340 g (12 oz) of 5% beer, or 141.75 g (5 oz) of 11% wine, or 42.53 g (1.5 oz) of 40% liquor.

Here are two of their examples:

Example no. 1:
For a 40.8-kg (90-lb) woman who consumed three drinks in 1 hour, it would take 8 hours, 30 minutes for there to be no alcohol in her breast milk, but for a 95.3-kg (210-lb) woman drinking the same amount, it would take 5 hours, 33 minutes.
Example no. 2:
For a 63.5-kg (140-lb) woman drinking four beers starting at 8:00 pm, it would take 9 hours, 17 minutes for there to be no alcohol in her breast milk (ie, until 5:17 am)

They also note the following:

Because alcohol elimination follows zero-order kinetics, drinking water, resting, or ‘pumping and dumping” breast milk will not accelerate elimination. Unlike urine, which stores substances in the bladder, alcohol is not trapped in breast milk, but is constantly removed as it diffuses back into the bloodstream.

The Bottom Line

If any type of alcohol consumption makes you uncomfortable do not feel that you have to drink, or feel pressured to have a drink. If you are at a party and want to avoid pressure, you can drink soda with lime, or 7-up and add a lime wedge!

If you do decide to drink, the above information is a guideline only and does not replace a medical practitioner’s advice.

Alcohol is never good for a baby no matter in what quantities. An even though an infant is exposed to a fraction of the amount of alcohol the mother ingests, infants detoxify alcohol in their first weeks of life at only half the rate of adults.

One thing to mention is that, you are now responsible for another life, if you choose to drink make sure that someone is sober enough to take care of your baby should baby get ill.

Now after this is all said and done, I do enjoy beverages every now and again, my baby sleeps through the nigh (knocks on wood) so I do not have to feed him during the night. If for some reason I needed too, I always have milk stored in the fridge and freezer. I don’t feel there is anything wrong with enjoying a few drinks responsibly!

For more information on this article please click here, the references to the research articles are on that page as well!

Many thanks to Christy for this wonderful information!

 

For More information on the services that Mother Risk provides:

Motherisk counselors talk to hundreds of women and their healthcare providers each day providing guidance, support and peace of mind. So if you don’t find the information you are looking for on this website, try calling one of our Helplines. Motherisk counselors are available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.

1-877-327-4636 – Alcohol and Substance
1-800-436-8477 – Morning Sickness
1-888-246-5840 – HIV and HIV Treatment
(416) 813-6780 – Motherisk’s Home Line

Twitter for moms? Why of course! Check out Twittermoms.com!

“Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything Better than you.”

Is what Megan Calhoun was singing the night she launched Twittermoms.com—OK probably not, but that’s what she should have been singing.

image

When I was first introduced to twitter, my husband had just come back from a Microsoft Influencer conference and was on his crack blackberry even more (I didn’t think it was possible-but it was) then he usually was. I asked him what on earth he was doing, so he told me he was tweeting. I LMAO at him, telling him he’d gone off the deep end. What on earth was tweeting?

When I first checked out twitter, I thought, who on earth has time for this. But then again, you make time for things you’ become obsessed with. *ahem-facebook sound familiar?*

Twitter

New to twitter? Check out my first posting on twitter 

I thought, are there any mom’s who are tweeting? Because as it stood, the only people who I knew that were tweeting were my husbands’ work colleagues, people who were working outside the home and people with blackberries. Was I the only Internet obsessed mom? Certainly not.

While surfing twitter a couple days ago, I noticed that sittercity had tweeted that if you were a mom you had to check out www.twittermoms.com, so off I went. And what did I discover? A wonderfully addictive website that has me hooked.

So What is Twittermoms.com?

According to Megan’s site:

Twittermoms is an online version of the three martini playdate. Chat about the adventures of being a mom. It’s always happy hour here!

Megan (the creator of this highly addictive site) is a mommy of two, founder of Twittermoms.com and a children’s book author.

When I joined this site, she personally messaged me to welcome me to the group,she followed me on twitter, she read AND commented about my latest blog posting and added that if I needed anything to just message her!

What a wonderfully personal touch, when’s the last time you were welcomed to a site you joined by a personal message from the founder of the site? —I should mention that TotSpot was also very personal when I joined.

 

So what can you do on Twittermoms.com?

  1. Meet and tweet with other moms! This means that you can now have other moms follow you on twitter, find other moms on twitter and check out each other’s blogs!
  2. Advertise your blog! I’m sure we’re all searching for those wonderful things we call visitor’s to up our traffic on our blogs, well ladies this is a great place to do that! Gain exposure and ideas for your latest blog postings.
  3. Post pictures of your friends, family, and yes the kiddies! You can even upload videos!
  4. Start Discussions about topics you may want a little advice or input in.
  5. Start a group to find like minded mommies you may want to chat with!

The Bottom Line

I could probably wax poetic about Twittermoms.com all night, but I think all you social moms should really check this website out. I know as moms we don’t have very much “me” time, but if you do tweet on twitter, or you are a mommy blogger looking to meet some other mommy blogger friends this is the place for you.

I was talking with my husband today telling him that most of the successful blogging women I have come in contact with all happen to be women who at one point or another have been successful career women.  These career women-who have become mommies, are now looking for an outlet to stay creative, to remain in touch with the real world, and hell just be normal for 30 minutes during the day. Even if the blog does revolve around puking, spitting, peeing or poop.

Above all else, these are funny, intelligent women (who happen to be mommies) are singing at the world, “Anything you can do, I can do better, I can do anything better then you.”

So if you are reading this blog and know of some wonderfully smart women who would benefit from something like Twittermoms.com, tell her to log on and get started! I promise you, she won’t be disappointed!

And if you’re not tweeting yet, why not?

Blast from the past: Give up breast feeding?

Here is a posting (from BabyCenter.ca) from when Dominic was 6 weeks old, so for all of you parents who think, Oh MY GOD I can’t do this anymore,  I promise you, you can. I’m proud to say that I’m still breastfeeding 6 months later:

 

I think I’ve reached my breaking point.  I have been EBF since the beginning and I realize that he’s just never going to sleep longer then 3 hours tops.. right now it’s 1.5 hrs and max 2 but he’s super fussy while he sleeps..I know this is his growth spurt but i can’t take it anymore.

 

I went and bought formula but I can’t bare to give it to him. (for all you mom’s who are giving formula I’m not saying it’s bad at all. Most of you are doing it for some reason or another that has to do with what’s best for your child) I’m thinking of giving up BF’ing because it may be what’s best for me.

 

This past week has been really tough with Dom still being sick (still no fever, no cough and his mucous is still clear/white) He was doing so well in his crib but now won’t go in it longer then 10 mins.. I understand it’s cause he’s sick and wants to be close to mom but I’m going to lose it.

 

Today was esp tough as he was waking every 45 mins and it was taking me an hour and a bit to get him to sleep only to have him wake up and feed again for another 30-40 mins (usually 10-20 mins does it) so i started to question my milk supply.. got DH to buy Fenugreek and blessed thistle.. took some tonight to see if it will up my milk supply.

 

But my reason for giving it up or atleast supplementing with formula is purely selfish.. I can’t do this 1.5 hrs anymore… I’m sooo tired.. I’m over tired and he’s so darn fussy when he sleeps that even if he’s in bed I don’t really sleep.  SO i bought some cans of Enfamil… I wanted to get the gentle ease but they only have a big can and it was 30$ so I decided to wait to see if he’ll even like it.

 

Someone once said that if you can make it 6 weeks bf’ing you can do it.. We’ll he’s 6 weeks today and today has been one of my worst days. I"m so flipping tired i don’t even want to go to bed, because what’s the flipping point he’ll wake up as soon as i put my head down. I’m so sick of him sleeping on me or beside me and still fussing.. I JUST WANT SOME SLEEP. I just don’t think i can do this for much longer. I makes me resent him and i hate that because i know he’s just hungry. He won’t take the soother because he’s stuffed. so he just wants to suck on me and i’m tired of it.

 

 

The bottom line

Well ladies, I’m very happy to report that i never gave up breastfeeding, because as they start to sleep longer it was easier for me to offer the breast. It took until he was three months old for him to sleep longer then 3 hours at at time. I promise you that every mom feels lost at one point. This post received so much support from the women on the message boards that i actually cried when i read it. The first 6 weeks are the hardest but the first three months aren’t easy either. After three months it got A LOT easier..

Some words of encouragement, not everyone breastfeeds. There are women out there who are fabulous mommies who for some reason or another could not breastfeed, please take that into consideration.

My husband was reading this post saying "oh I remember that," I said "oh do you?!" and he realized that as bad as it was for him it was worse for us.

If you can breastfeed and are managing to produce enough milk, know that I’m right there with you, frustrated with the latch, the no sleep and the constant feeding, it WILL get better.

If anyone needs support or has questions please email me at erincarrasco@gmail.com

10 things NOT to say to a new mom: Part 1

angry Since becoming a new mom, and having friends who have become moms, there are some things you just should not say to a mom (new or 3rd time around). Here are a few of the top offenders that really grit our teeth when you say them.. you know who you are *gives you the evil eye* now knock it off! Keep in mind these are real statements from real mom’s.. including their comments!

My personal favourite is number 5. Babies cry, they fuss, it doesn’t always have to do with what mommy ate.

**please note that children’s names have been omitted and replaced with X, for privacy sake** Many thanks to the moms on BBC!

 

The Top 10 offenders!

1. “Your baby is still fresh”… I didn’t know kids could be fresh?

2. “Is it a boy or a girl”… Would a girl be dressed fully in blue?

3. “Enjoy her now because wait until she’s a teenager”… (I hate, hate, hate this expression!!!)

4. “Where does he get his length from” – (in context, it is when my husband and I are both with him)…want to say “my husbands business partner”

5.Oh he’s fussy, what did mommy eat today— it couldn’t be that he doesn’t like the way you’re holding him, you smell funny, he’s sleepy or hungry.

6. “She’s so little” Try lugging 15.5 lbs of baby plus a car seat…. She’s not little.

7. Wow three boys???!!! I guess you weren’t fortunate enough to get a girl!!!!!! (I really hate that.) People look at me with sympathy when they should be happy that I have 3 VERY healthy kids.

8. WOW he’s a big baby for his age, he must get that from your side……(I’m a plus size lady…so THAT comment annoys me and surprisingly enough I hear it quite often from complete strangers!!!)

9. “You have a boy and a girl, you don’t need anymore”….isn’t that for me to decide?!?! But do you know what I hate more than what people say….it’s when everyone feels the need to touch **X** ……he’s not part of a petting zoo!!!!

10. “He is such a good baby…always so happy, I never see him cry”…that is because you see him for maybe an hour at a time…Trust me he cries!!!!! I also hate when people feel the need to touch **X** …especially when I don’t know them!!!!

The bottom line

You know what the worst thing is, no one really knows that they are saying these things to offend new moms. I mean, when I was a non mom, I said a few of these things…

 

One of the worst offenders is when they see baby sucking on things, that baby must be hungry.. babies have something called a sucking reflex, if you put something in their mouth or near it, they’ll suck.. it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re hungry especially if I just fed them! It’s like if I hit your knee where you have a kick reflex and I hit that spot over and over again, and kept telling you, you must really want to play soccer because you’re good at kicking ….