Credit: National Delurking Week logo by Breastfeeding 1-2-3 from Computer Monitor with permission from weirdvis (feel free to copy with link to both)
It’s that time of year again for National Delurking Week, January 4 to January 10, 2009! Heck, why limit it to the United States? Let’s make it International Delurking Week (that was for you, Half Pint Pixie!)
So if you’re out there but rarely or never comment, please do so now! It’s your chance to say hello, say what you like and don’t like about the blog, and give me the inspiration to keep posting! You can even use a fake email address to comment (personally I like anon@anon.com). Regular commenters are welcome to say hello, too! Thanks everyone — lurkers, de-lurkers and regulars alike — for reading and especially for commenting!
The 20/20 feature on “Extreme Breastfeeding” is scheduled to air tonight, Friday, January 2, 2009 (unless it gets bumped again by breaking news). Note that the program will also discuss home birth, including unassisted childbirth.
1. Wondering whether you can ring in the new year with a glass of champagne? Read what La Leche League and Thomas Hale, author of Medications and Mothers’ Milk, have to say about consumption of alcohol by breastfeeding mothers.
2. “Our” own Carnival of Breastfeeding regular Andi of Mama Knows Breast was on the CBS Early Show this morning to talk about the Facebook breastfeeding photo controversy. It’s well worth watching the five minute piece to see how Andi made some excellent points! Congratulations Andi!
How do you pronounce “areola” (the dark circle around the nipple)? Turns out that is a trick question. There are two ways to pronounce “areola” so it really is a matter of how you pronounce the word. You can either put the emphasis on the second syllable (I would sound this out as “ah-REE-oh-lah”) or the third syllable (which I would sound out as “air-ree-OH-lah”). To see the official pronunciation key and listen to how each version is pronounced, visit the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of areola.
Note that the plural of areola is “areolae” (which one might think is “air-ree-OH-lie” but is actually “ah-REE-oh-lee” according to Merriam-Webster). But wait! You can also use “areolas” as the plural, which I suppose invites two more pronounciations by adding an “s” to the “areola” pronunciations above. Much clearer now, huh? You’re welcome.
So how do you pronounce “areola”? My vote is for putting the emphasis on the third syllable, as in “air-ree-OH-lah.” And you?
Today at the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, a relatively small group of dedicated lactivists showed up while nearly 2,000 people were there with them in spirit at the virtual nurse-in on Facebook itself. Jill Asher of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog headed over to Palo Alto to film the following video of the nurse-in. My favorites are the interview with the organizer’s mother-in-law, Sheri Farley, mother of eight breastfed children and grandmother to 19 breastfed grandchildren out of 20 total, and the interview with one of the fathers in attendance.
Breastfeeding is a natural and beautiful act and we’re very glad to know that it is so important to some mothers to share this experience with others on Facebook. We take no action on the vast majority of breastfeeding photos because they follow the site’s Terms of Use. Photos containing a fully exposed breast do violate those Terms and may be removed. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children (over the age of 13) who use the site. The photos we act upon are almost exclusively brought to our attention by other users who complain.
I changed my profile photo! Did you? I have yet to see any reports of breastfeeding pictures being removed by Facebook so far and the virtual nurse-in is nearly over.
I remembered to change my Facebook profile picture to attend the virtual nurse-in at Facebook today. I chose this photo. What do you think? Is it obscene? Obscene by Facebook’s standards? I guess we’ll see whether I get asked to remove it or not….
Whom do I call to notify that I am taking a sick day from this motherhood gig? I know it’s only a cold, and I will get over it eventually, but in the thick of it I find it very difficult! Not only am I sick, but my baby is sick too, and that’s when I am on extra duty, not less! When she wakes, she wants ME — after all, I am her primary caregiver, and her dad just doesn’t have the super ability to comfort her at his breast! If only I could have a day filled with naps (mine, not the baby’s!) alternating with hot baths to steam my sinuses! And then a good night’s sleep!
Don’t get me wrong. I am happy to be breastfeeding during these times. I shudder to think that my baby could be even more sick if she weren’t getting antibodies from my milk. My husband is great (he just got back from doing the grocery run I requested, and he is taking the older girls skiing tomorrow) and I am sure he would stand in for me if he could, but that’s just not how it works!
Do you have any tips for coping when you and your nursling are sick? Do you think breastfeeding makes it easier or harder?
Sometimes a mother expecting another baby worries about how her first child will feel about the time the mother spends nursing the new baby. I can say from experience that it works out just fine (have a set of toys and books and snacks at the ready for nursing sessions, and use the time to cuddle with and read to your older child). Eventually, your child might even come to appreciate the convenience of nursing, just like my 4-year-old has. We had this conversation yesterday:
4-year-old: “Mom, let’s play the elf game when we get home.”
Me: “Okay, after I get Nicole back to sleep.”
4-year-old: “No, Nicole wants to play!”
Me: “We’ll see.”
4-year-old (inspiration striking): “You could nurse Nicole! Nurse Nicole! You can nurse Nicole in the elf house!”
Later at home, in the middle of the game…
4-year-old: “Take Baby Elf to sleep. Nurse her!”
If you celebrate Christmas, I hope yours is a merry one!
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