What to Do With Leftover Breast Milk

I found this great article the other day about what to do with your leftover breast milk. Many women pump milk for their babies for times they may be away and often times, there is extra.

Breast milk won't last forever, so this article gives ways to use the breast milk before it's unusable.

Did you know breast milk can cure conjunctivitis (pink eye)? Actually, it's good on all kinds of infections, even ear infections!

If you want to find out more about what breast milk can do, check out the full article:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/454888/things_to_do_with_your_extra_breastmilk.html?cat=25

Happy Reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Quote Give Me Chills

I am in love with this quote about birth!

"There is power that comes to women when they give birth. They don’t ask for it, it simply invades them. Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it." 
Sheryl Feldman

It just gives me chills. So true.

Awesome Pictures of Babies in the Womb

I found this really neat website that has some really neat pictures of babies in the womb. It's geared a little more pro-life. Regardless of your viewpoint, these pictures are neat.

http://www.justthefacts.org/clar.asp

Are You Looking for A Doula?

Then you've come to the right place. If you live in the East Valley of Phoenix AZ, then I'd love to be of service.

I'm a birth doula. My job is to be with you throughout your birth, offering support and answering questions. The range of ways I can be of assistance is quite broad, but my main goal is to help make your birth the best it can be.

For more information, please visit me at http://www.azbirthdoulas.com/.

I also do placenta encapsulation, visit http://www.azplacentaencapsulation.com/.

I look forward to hearing from you!

AZ Birth Doulas, LLC Store

AZ Birth Doulas has an Amazon store! I've loaded up my Amazon store with all types of goodies. There's hundreds of different books that I love (yes I've read that many) as well as things to nourish yourself during pregnancy and postpartum. There's my favorite type of cloth diapers (Bum Genius) in as well as pregnancy jewelry. I also have lots of natural and organic toys that my children loved.

If you're looking to buy any of these things, why not buy them from my Amazon store? I get a small percentage of the commission, which directly helps to fund my ability to offer my services free of charge to teenage mothers as well as run my parenting website. I feel very passionate about these things I do even though financially speaking, they're not very lucrative.

At the very least, go check it out. It's pretty cool!

http://astore.amazon.com/azbido-20

Thanks for your support!

Normal is a Very Scary Word

I took this information from this website here.

"You've probably heard many times that breastfed babies are "healthier". That they have "fewer illnesses." That they have a "special" bond with their mothers. Maybe even that they tend to be "smarter". Some of those reasons may be why you decided to breastfeed.
    
The scary thing is, none of those statements is really true. Breastfeeding is merely the way human infants are built to eat, just as air is what they are built to breathe, or walking is the way they are built to move when they get older. Breastfeeding is nothing extra or special. Breastfeeding is just... normal.

Fine. So breastfeeding is normal. What's so scary about that? Ah, well if breastfeeding is normal, what happens when a baby is not breastfed? The scary reality is... he's much more likely to get sick, in infancy, in childhood, as an adult. His life expectancy is a little bit shorter and his IQ is a little bit lower. His relationship with his mother is different. In short, he suffers from not having a normal start to life.

You probably know breastfed people who are sicker than many formula-fed people. Breastfeeding is no guarantee. It's like the yeast in bread: every loaf turns out differently, because of different temperature, moisture, timing, kneading. But for any particular loaf, if you leave out some of the yeast it's not going to rise as high as it could. 
    
Here's part of the scary list:

People who were not breastfed tend to have:
     poorer vision 
     a lower IQ
     more appendicitis 
     more breast cancer
     more hernias 
     more diabetes
     more childhood cancer 
     less well-developed nerves
     a thymus smaller than normal during infancy 
     a less effective immune system
     more trouble with cholesterol 
     more emotional problems
     more intestinal disorders 
     more allergies
     more risk of crooked teeth or underformed jaws 
     a higher risk of SIDS

Women who don't breastfeed tend to have:
     more premenopausal breast cancer
     higher anxiety 
      lower self-esteem
     more osteoporosis
     more cervical cancer
     less pleasure in early parenting
    
There are about 13,000 studies showing problems with formula-feeding, so why haven't you heard any of this before? Maybe someone thought it was too scary for you, that you would feel guilty, that you wouldn't be interested, that it doesn't really matter that much. But wouldn't you rather know now, instead of finding out later? 

 Breastfeeding. It's just plain normal." 

Pretty good, huh?