Breastfeeding 365

Category: nursing for one year

  • Calling Forth Our Tribe

      nothing separates us from love, I will sit down and nurse my little one for the next 365 days

    A text on a white background Description automatically generated

    Work life balance! Where is pleasure and freedom?

    OR

    Why we cannot wait….To…

    I am giddy with excitement; I celebrated an incredible milestone of having a 70th birthday.    While I am not nursing a little one at the moment, I have recently given birth to what some might call a new idea where I want to pivot….

    I want to commit to anchoring myself.. developing within me an attachment of love … seeing this new entity grow and to keep showing up 365 days in a row. Connection, attachment, balance, love, letting go… spreading seed in the dark unknown the black sun if you can envision such a thing where I bring all aspects of myself as an elder to bring more light and love and community in the world.  

    My children were my best teachers. I learned so very much about love, and myself and that they trusted me and relied on me. I was both the beneficiary and the supplier. I thought I was doing it alone, by sheer will, the giant teat; sustenance for us both at a time when it was so hard to look around and see what I was doing and see if it made any sense at all. How do we encourage ourselves to do or be something? What brings us Joy! How can we be proud of ourselves and have faith in our own mind, body and spirit… just because…

    We do it by just showing up, being gentle and kind with ourselves and others and making space to listen and form our tribe. Can we float and form a space where we gather around  we show how we might listen to the women who have nursed their little ones for 365 days or longer to meet up with someone who feels deeply that this is a milestone for them that they would like to just see what may happen if they could … do something that they want simply for the Joy of it  just because…

    Could we, not I form a foundation a sanctuary, a gathering place, a listening post where folks  might speak and ask not only questions but, the space where they first and foremost would be listened to… no fear, no judgment, just love….

    Would it be OK and important that we take time out to set a priority that was centered around a critical moment of setting the foundation, making the transition and we have that hope and light for our little ones and for each other… but mostly for our selves as women.

    So tonight we take the steps, and have our first meet up where the doors are open and we look around for our tribe, who is there with us and for us…

    I saw so many roadblocks to how I could organize and sponsor a call out a gathering. 

    I saw all the speed bumps and was having trouble with keeping the vision and hearing the voice of wisdom and love.… 

    I got an email birthday card… about reminding me about legacy and birth and what might be what’s calling me to celebrate 

    Feeling like my senses were failing me… when in fact my grace and vision was becoming crystal clear…

    Keep it simple, open your heart, loving kindness and compassion and have the humility to ask for help.

    Do you know one woman who has nursed her little one for 365 days or more?  

    How can you find her?

    Have you ever thought, wondered tried to nurse a baby and felt like you missed the mark or would have benefited from the “tribe” the community that would support you with love no questions asked.  

    Would you like to make a pledge to stay with your little one and nurse for 365 days in a row? Just because you want to…

    What we have in common is who we are and what we want to do. So many mothers came before us… They have such stories to tell.. Your passion , your hearts desire… We honor all mothers and their journey… We celebrate the birth of new ideas with women.

    All are welcome here if you need us and want us. We have been looking for each other… so come by, my brother made pie for the celebration and it is sweet and good…

    See you soon…

         So let us begin!

    “You have touched the lives of so many. May your birthday shine like your life.”

    Midwifery Legacy Project  Honoring Wise Midwives

    http://www.midwife.org/acnm/files/ccLibraryFiles/Filename/000000005631/MLP-ecard-2015-2016.pdf

    https://www.meetup.com/365-breastfeeding-tribe-meetup-group/events/298358291/

    A book on a table Description automatically generated
    our sons our daughters all of them
    LOOKING FOR OUR TRIBE ….MAKING THE PLEDGE

  • Knowing What You Have #2 Key to Success

    “What do mothers need?
     
    The Keys for Success
     
    • Love
    • Knowing What You Have
    • Freedom
    • Mother-Baby Couple
    • Healing
     

    “Shortly after a birth, my postpartum midwifery teacher Betty would switch her focus from the actual act of giving birth to the mother-baby couple. She would always say to those brand new moms just seconds after the baby emerged from her before she ever cut the cord.
     
    “Do you know what you have inside of you?” She would wait for a response and then answer: “Liquid Gold”

    “It is so precious and wonderful and only you have it made especially for your baby and it is ready right now at the right temperature, just the right amount, ready to give your baby a taste of all the sweetness there is to come in this life. And then if she needed any assistance she would support the newborn latching on to mother’s breast for the first time. If you can imagine the delight in the eyes of most of those young mothers and the joy and confidence they felt in hearing those words and feeling that rush of pride. Most times those first few minutes went well, sometimes not. Some would say “oh maam I am not breastfeeding” It’s Ok, I just need your help to coach the placenta out and then we will be all done.” I learned so much about that mother and the family in just those few precious minutes.

    “I was often amazed with what happened in the next few hours, how often they may be asked what are you going to do, do you want to breastfeed, what challenges did they face in bonding with their babies how many hands, visitors, questions later did they have to deal with so that by the time of our next rounds was the wonderment gone, and did she already forget how important she was in the transformation of that pregnancy and the connection between her and her baby.”

    “When you think you have something special and unique that you must give and share with your baby and you are in love, tolerating separation for any reason or for any length of time is intolerable.
     
    Furthermore, seeing, allowing, or just witnessing others interact with your baby and offering other food, water, or equipment in to their mouths or to their skin can bring up many feelings that encourage either attachment and further connection or detachment and further distancing and alienation.
     
    Keeping your baby with you, making sure your baby gets your Liquid gold and can smell you, taste you, feel you, hear your heart beat, and share the substance of you the body the baby just left. This opens the path that establishes the journey for successful breastfeeding and all relationships. The baby orients and synchronizes with you as the mother sharing the space that was their home since conception.
     
    If you know what you have is precious, priceless, irreplaceable, you are unable and unwilling to allow anyone to not have you give it to your baby
     

    Excerpt From: Jacqueline Lois. “Little Black Breastfeeding Book.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/little-black-breastfeeding-book/id529791868

  • Mothers Happy Day 2020

    While not all of us are mothers nor do we wish to be…. we all have mothers! Some we know and love, some we have lost … some at best struggled to be any sort of parent. Today I would like to remember our mother and our Mother Earth and thank them.

    If you took a moment and thought about what would make our mother happy; could you … if it was within your power to give her that with all of your love.

    At this time, we remember those mothers who lost their babies . Dreams of what their children might be. No mother wants to believe that it is their child who might harm someone else … we live in guilt and shame when our children fall from the mark. We believe it is our fault even when that was not our intention.

    Sometimes we don’t know what someone needs or wants ..yet do we have the courage to ask and do what we can to provide …

    We love our mother as the one we hoped would nurture us and provide all we needed. They did the best they could. And we thank them. For some of us we never quite felt good enough but we never ever stopped trying!

    We didn’t mean to break their hearts to disappoint them or make them sad. How they felt most days had little or nothing to do with us. We couldn’t know that as children .. but on this day, we are at peace at knowing we all have done our best.

    Today do something that makes you happy. Today no doubt that would make your mom very proud !

  • Breastfeeding 365


    Do you know one woman who breastfed her baby for one year? 365 days nonstop: her tittie in her babe’s mouth, nursing her little one for one year?  Could you call her on the phone? Text her? Read her journal?  Does she have a blog?  Is she in your family? Your sister, your own mother, mom, your cousin, your grandmother? 

    Has someone actually ever done this before? Can she tell you how it feels?  Are you the only one on the planet that wants this and needs this time with your baby? What is it really like to have someone sucking on you every day, and every night?

    You are so desperately needed by your baby as the primary if not the only source of nutrition.  What if your need to nurse your baby was just as great for your own health and well-being for making that gentle transition after the birth of your baby.  

    We are mammals!  We provide a live birth with warm milk! We shift that fundamental foundational relationship when we substantially change and share the nature of our connection to our baby. We move from the private and hidden space of being  physically attached throughout the gestational period by the placenta.  In an instant the cord is cut and the continuous connection moves to seeing, sharing, feeling, tasting and nursing at our breast.  We enter the public space.  It’s just not calories in and calories in!  There is a compelling need for nourishment, comfort; nurturing; and soothing for emotional growth and development that takes place for both the mother and baby as a couple! 

      What did you get out of nursing your baby for one year? If you haven’t done it yet: what might you get out of keeping close to your baby and nursing your little one for at least 365 days after you have given birth. What would be the perfect 24 hour day with you and your baby?  Everyone seems to agree most days that mother’s milk is good for babies; but what is the supreme benefit for you as the mother to give your baby your milk from your breast? Is it good enough to simply supply the milk by any means necessary and be done with it?

    How do you grow as a woman when you make the choice to become a mother? You are many things, but for that one year, just 365 days: being a nursing mother takes priority. You do what no one else can!  What other things must you balance to make sure that you both survive and flourish as a mother for that first year of your baby’s life?  

    Some people feel we learn to love at the breast. How does this notion  feel to be your baby’s first lover? How does it feel to have your baby show loving and longing for you? It is so not a one way street.  It is a powerful symbiotic relationship that begins at the moment of conception and ends 365 days after giving birth. Can you allow yourself the gift of 365 days of breastfeeding your baby?

    Please share your story.  Did you nurse your baby for 365 days in a row? What was your experience like?  When you didn’t get to nurse your baby just when you wanted to, how did that feel? Might you try to nurse your baby for just one year as an extension of your pregnancy?  It’s just 365 days!  If you had a few questions, who might you ask?  Would it help if you had some help; just a bit of support, someone to call, someone who knew what to say to give you some encouragement? We are here for you!