Woohoo for Yahoo!!!

No recent news has made me happier than reading about Marissa Mayer becoming the new, and PREGNANT, CEO of Yahoo. Ok, that's not true. I was happier when that little 3 year-old Columbian boy was pulled to safety from the sewer he fell into. I literally cried uncontrollably about that.  But besides sewer rescues, I was just thrilled to hear about a pregnant woman becoming CEO of such a large, high-profile corporation.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/marissa-mayer-yahoo-ceo-pregnant/story?id=16791606
 
I really don't have any expectations about what will happen; I only have hopes. I don't expect that this is going to change maternity-related issues and attitudes in the workplace as a whole, but I hope that it is a start. What am I saying? It is a start!! This is truly a really big deal, and it's about time that a woman's brain and positive contribution looks bigger than her ever-growing belly. I don't believe that being pregnant makes a woman weak. I never felt stronger or healthier than I did when I was pregnant, and the day after I gave birth, I looked down at my legs, amazed at how toned they were-- from carrying all that extra weight.  It seems that once a woman conceives she is viewed as "delicate" until the baby arrives. But pregnant women are freaking workhorses! They train and grow for 9 months in order to labor for sometimes days on end (marathons typically only last a few hours!).  How, exactly, is that considered delicate?
 
All that to say, it's about time someone recognized that there should be no plausible reason why pregnancy should hinder a woman's proven ability to perform her job.
 
Now, let's consider my favorite pregnancy related topic: breast feeding.  If Marissa Mayer decides to breast feed and pump at the office, how will this affect the way pumping at work is viewed? Will she even choose to take on this challenge? Will she be able to stick to a regular pumping schedule? Will she remember to drink the appropriate ratio of coffee and water, AND eat those 500 extra calories each day in order to maintain sufficient milk output? Will the whole thing be a cakewalk for her, and will she make other women seem like sissies about their struggles in finding a proper balance? Or will she struggle, too, and create more awareness about the challenges of being a breast feeding working mother?
 
No matter what happens, this is all a step in the right direction. Marissa Mayer is free, just like the rest of us, to experience this amazing and life-changing time in her own unique way. No one can tell her how she should feel, think, or behave.  The one thing we should all do is watch.  I’ve only been to Vegas once, and I don’t think I spent more than $7 total in the casino (in nickel slots, mind you), but I’m willing to bet that Marissa Mayer will have an interesting impact on the way America sees the working mother. 

Now, I need to get back to work.  I just finished pumping, and it was a disaster.  I didn’t even get an ounce out of my efforts.  It’s hard to focus on having a letdown while I am focusing on writing.  Yes, admittedly I wrote this while I was expressing milk for my precious little boy.  But hey, we are all given the same 24 hours in our day, and I try to milk them for all they are worth. 

Obviously, my question is:  What do you think about Marissa Mayer coming into this position while pregnant?

Signing off.

BKB

Supply and (Personal) Demands

I am only just now realizing how oblivious I have been to how my normal activity affects breastfeeding.  I've been doing a little science experiment for the past 2 days (so extensive, I know) to see how drinking more water will affect my milk output when pumping at work.  Not surprisingly (and yet I am oddly surprised!), I have already pumped more after 2 pumping sessions today than I pumped after 3 yesterday.  I anticipate that the output will level off at some point, but I suspect that it will continue to rise to that point as I continue to drink more water.

I'm not going to say a lot today (pretty much because I am about to pee my pants from drinking so much water, and I want to reward myself for finishing this post today by using the restroom... gosh, that is strange), despite having much on which to reflect.  Breastfeeding is not a no-brainer activity, even though it has become a very normal and regular part of my life over the past 9 1/2 months.  It still takes a lot of thought and consideration in order to reach a breastfeeding goal.  For example, I have been engaged in an internal struggle about supplementing my Flyweight child's breast milk bottle with some formula.  The reason this has been an issue lately is because I'm watching my freezer supply of breast milk dwindle as I struggle to keep up with the demands of a growing child, yet at the rate I'm going, it looks like I could run out of both frozen and fresh milk before he turns a year old.  I am vehemently opposed to this happening!

So... I decided to do something about it.  And that is why I am about to pee my pants... because I am doing the obvious before I resort to taking more extreme measures.

Stay tuned to find out if the data continues to support my theory.  Well, the theory that I borrowed from someone else’s brain, anyway. 

Signing off.

BKB

Snickering at Snookie

I just read an article which was a commentary on a Good Morning America interview with Snookie.  The commentary was based on the admission by Snookie that she is afraid of breastfeeding because she heard that breastfeeding is painful.

http://www.parents.com/blogs/high-chair-times/2012/06/11/high-chair-times/were-you-afraid-to-breastfeed/?socsrc=pmmfb0611124

I was pretty shocked at the response of the blogger for Parents magazine, because it seemed overly judgmental.  Don’t get me wrong—I am not a Snookie fan.  In fact, I’ve only ever seen one episode of Jersey Shore (if it’s not The Real Housewives of the OC or Kardashians, I won’t watch it.  Ha!), but that was enough for me to know I’d seen enough.  The thing I don’t understand is why this blogger thought it was an appropriate transition to go from bashing Snookie, to then validating her fears of breastfeeding.  I had a difficult time following where the article was going because the blogger makes Snookie seem outrageously stupid, but then in her next breath empathizes with her.

No matter who you are or what you’ve done, of course you don’t know what to expect if you haven’t breastfed.  Even if you have breastfed, there can still be many instances of surprise along the way!  Why would Snookie want to even attempt to breastfeed if people are going to make her feel like she’s already made such bad choices in life, that she will inevitably screw up with breastfeeding, too?  Why shouldn’t she be encouraged to try to breastfeed, because it is a possibility that she could be one of the people who has a rather easy and uneventful go of the experience from the beginning?  And who knows?  Perhaps she might even decide that she’s willing to sacrifice more of herself in the process, in order to be a good mother for her baby.

I know there are many perfect people out there.  After all, Jesus went back to Heaven because there were enough perfect people here on Earth that he could wipe his hands and say, “My work here is done,” right?  Sorry about the sarcasm…  That was ugly.  My point is that Snookie deserves a chance, just like anyone else to do something good for her child.  Let’s encourage her, not tear her down before she even gives it a shot.  Perhaps this is the exact reason why breastfeeding often fails in the U.S.A… because we take every opportunity to tell you why you can’t, rather than why you should.

My one question to you is:  Does Snookie’s reputation change the kind of advice you would give her about breastfeeding?

Signing off.

BKB

Proper Breast Support

Although the end date of my breastfeeding goal is still 3 months away (exactly 3 months to the day, as a matter of fact!), I know this time will pass more quickly than I can imagine.  Because of this, I need to start preparing mentally for how I am going to transition my baby and myself into this new realm.  This is a new concept to me:  I will have a child who will no longer view me as his own personal dairy cow. 

I was talking with my best friend last night about why she decided to stop breastfeeding when she did. She told me that it wasn’t actually she who decided, rather the children.  She said they just didn’t seem to need it anymore, so she basically let them wean themselves.  I thought that was really interesting, because in my mind I have been imagining this being a really tough process where I will be consoling my crying child as he is trying to unsnap my bra against my will.  That didn’t sound ideal, but since I am new to this whole motherhood thing I usually have no idea what to expect.

If I achieve the goal I have set for myself, I will actually be a statistic on the opposite side of the actual U.S. statistics for mothers reaching their breastfeeding goals, according to a recent article I read.  As stated in this new study, most mothers don’t reach their goals, despite having said that they intended to exclusively breastfeed for X months.

http://m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57447515&feed_id=5&videofeed=41

What stood out to me in this article is the fact that regardless of whether it was one month or 24 months, most mothers didn’t reach the breastfeeding goal.   Furthermore, most mothers actually said that their goal was to exclusively breastfeed, yet many of them didn’t even make it out of the hospital before they gave up.

This article brings me back to the concept that in order for women to have success breastfeeding (regardless of the length of time they plan to do so), they need to have support from all aspects of the community.  If many women don’t leave the hospital still breastfeeding, that tells me that the support needs to be heavily focused during those first few days of the baby’s life.  When I had my child, my nurses knew that I planned to breastfeed, and let me tell you—they were on me like a fly on a turd!  That was a totally gross word picture.  Anyway, my nurses saw to it that I took every opportunity possible to foster good breastfeeding habits as long as I was in their care. 

Not only did the nurses encourage me, but my husband did as well.  Despite my mother not having breastfed me, she also encouraged me, and was even fascinated with the whole concept, which made me in turn more enthusiastic about it.  I have friends who were more than willing to answer any of my off-the-wall questions regarding breastfeeding, since they had plenty of experience. 

Now, when I imagine what my experience would have been had I not had the amazing support system those first few weeks of my child’s life, I feel really sad.  It makes me sad because I know that it is reality for many American women.  In this fast-food nation we live in, it probably just seems more convenient to go the formula route, rather than taking the time to properly train mother, baby, and everyone else in their lives to be a supportive part of breastfeeding. 

So my question is:  Did you feel that you had sufficient support to learn to breastfeed while you were in the hospital, and then to continue thereafter?  If not, what do you believe could have changed your experience in a positive way?

Signing off.

BKB

Old Enough to Know Better, Still Too Young to Care

A dear friend of mine sent me a link to Pinterest which shows some basic trends regarding breastfeeding in the United States versus 79 countries surveyed from the rest of the world. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/14918242486104075/  

The thing that caught my attention is the variance between the U.S. and the rest of the world.  Although many U.S. citizens claim to support breastfeeding, most have an “age limit” that they believe is appropriate to stop breastfeeding.  For some people that “age limit” is an actual age, and for some people it’s a milestone (for example, when the child learns to walk or to speak).  I’m curious as to where we come up with this “age limit”, since the variance between the U.S. and the rest of the world is so great.  Why are 56% of babies still breastfed at 2 years of age in the countries surveyed, when only 24% are still breastfed at 2 years of age in the U.S.?  A variance of 32% is a pretty big gap!

I’m interested to know if this gap is the result of mothers returning to the workplace, as I know that the U.S. typically has shorter maternity leave benefits than other countries.  Or, is it simply a cultural issue where mothers just feel judged if they continue to feed their children after the perceived “age limit” in the U.S., and it is just too tiring to justify to the inquiring minds why they breastfeed longer than that point?  Personally, I wasn’t sure how to respond to my boss when he asked how long I planned to breastfeed my child.  He let me know that, in his opinion, it was normal to be finished breastfeeding by the time a child turned a year old.  I thought that was interesting.

So, my question of the day is:  How long do you believe is too long to breastfeed a child, and why?

Signing off.

BKB

Camoflaged Boobies

My husband just sent me an article that made my nipples stand at attention… and perhaps they lactated a few tears of pride.

Again, it all started with a picture.  Is it just me, or are these recent breastfeeding photos causing a lot of ruckus?  As was the case with the TIME Magazine cover, I like the controversy.

http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/30/11955844-military-mom-proud-of-breast-feeding-in-uniform-despite-criticism?lite

In a nutshell, some women on a military base are coming under figurative fire for breastfeeding in public in their military uniforms.  I could go in a thousand different directions with this one, but instead I would like to only point out two things I noticed in this article:

1)      "A lot of people are saying it's a disgrace to the uniform. They're comparing it to urinating and defecating [while in uniform]."  It seems like such a waste of time that every time soldiers need to poop or pee, they must remove their uniforms!  I remember in the movie Saving Private Ryan when that soldier had to pee, so he took off all his clothes and peed in an alley, but before he could get his uniform back on he was shot and killed.  Luckily he didn’t disgrace the uniform, though.

Guys, I am really not good at being sarcastic, but I feel like this concept warrants an ugly tone.  No, that Saving Private Ryan thing I just said never happened in the movie, and the reason it didn’t is because it’s just ludicrous.  Soldiers do urinate and defecate while in uniform, and it is likely that there are many situations where they have no choice but to do it in public!  Now, if they are being inappropriate in how they are behaving while they are performing normal bodily functions, that is another matter to be discussed.  I highly doubt the nursing mothers are trying to be inappropriate while breastfeeding (which is a normal bodily function, mind you).  Anyone who has breastfed knows that multi-tasking in an inappropriate way while breastfeeding is difficult and unlikely.

2)      “We are warfighting professionals. Women before us have worked too hard to earn and retain the respect of their male peers. I don’t want my Marines to look at me any other way than as a Marine.”  First of all, what happened to your motherly instinct?  That’s wonderful and much appreciated that you are a “war-fighting professional”, but why does that professional title mean that is it expected that you suppress the first and most basic natural instinct of a mother, which is to feed your child, and turn it into something that needs to be made more difficult and inconvenient and done in the shadows, out of fear of what SHALLOW MEN will think of you?  I am not a feminist, but I am a realist.  Lady, you seem to be worried about the opinions of the wrong men, and if that’s the case, I seriously question your ability to make adequate decisions in combat.  Have you considered that?  Have you considered that now you not only have many women giving you the stink-eye, but also the men who are actually respectful of women for who they are and not for their ability to become like Ken-Doll-crotched men?  I’m guessing no.

All that to say, my question of the day is this:  What uniform do you believe is ‘too sacred’ to be worn while breastfeeding? And why?

If anyone says the Hooters tank top, I’ll sic that war-fighting professional lady on ya.  I’m sure she’ll gladly take you down.

Signing off.

BKB

McDoubtful's Nuggets of Information

You are probably bored with all my talk about McDonald's after yesterday's post.  I think my mind being focused on McDonald's is a side-effect of eating the spur-of-the-moment 6 piece chicken nuggets on Saturday.  I have no regrets about eating the nuggets, but I am seeing a pattern to my behavior which I believe is nugget-related.

I was surprised to receive a prompt response from McDonald's regarding an inquiry I sent yesterday asking about the breastfeeding policy for mothers who need to pump:

Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's. We truly appreciate customer feedback and welcome the opportunity to share some information with you.

Approximately 85 percent of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by independent businesspeople. As independent owners, McDonald's franchise owners have the authority to make certain operating decisions as they relate to their McDonald's restaurant operations.

Again, thank you for contacting McDonald's. We hope to have the opportunity of serving you again soon under the Golden Arches.

Sara
McDonald's Customer Response Center

I don't know about you, but I thought something was missing... Then I realized that the missing piece was an answer to my question!  That is, Sara obviously forgot to answer my question!  I realize that this is McDonald's defense-mechanism and that the best policy for sensitive inquiries such as this is to give the most generic, automated response possible and move on.  Perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned that 85% of McDonald's restaurant owners are part of a franchise, because that means 15% of the restaurants are managed corporately (in which case, she should have had an answer to supply me).  Let's just do a little calculating based on the numbers we do know:  As of July 2010 there were an estimated 14,000 McDonald's restaurants in the United States. That means approximately 2,100 stores are managed corporately.  Assuming the restaurants are distributed evenly among the states, that is approximately 42 restaurants per state.  If each restaurant only employs 15 people, that is still a minimum of 630 people employed at McDonald's per state. I think it would be safe to assume that at least 10% of McDonald's employees are in their prime childbearing years (that means the remainder of the employees would need to be either male, or they would be women under 20 years old or over age 35), so that would be a minimum of 63 people per state, or 3150 nationally, who would benefit from having a "nursing room" provided by the McDonald's headquarters.  Remember:  Those numbers don't include 85% of McDonald's restaurants which are part of a franchise. 

I am being very conservative with these estimations. 

So what are the 21,000 women of childbearing age who work at McDonald's doing if they need to pump expressed breast milk at work?  Multiply this number across all fast food chains... no, across all businesses!  Do you even realize the numbers we are talking about or how important this is?  What would you do if there was no restroom at work?! 

So, my actual question is:  Why do you believe that designating a private room for nursing mothers at their jobs hasn't been made a priority in the United States?

***Note to McDonald's:  I am not lashing out at you (I happily enjoy your coffee, ice cream, and chicken nuggets as an occasional treat to myself!), but your numbers are just easily accessible and make a good example for my point.  No hard feelings?

Signing off.

BkB