Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Notice how I worded the title?
I didn't say breastfeed, I said give baby breastmilk.
I'm a serious breastfeeding advocate. Wherever I go I talk about my experience with breastfeeding and how beautifully my son has grown thanks to that.
I am NOT against synthetic milk though, I think that we as parents come by difficult times and difficult choices need to be made. If you and your family have gone the formula feeding route, all I hope for is that it was an informed decision and not something you took lightly.
Breast milk is, has been, and will always be the best and most natural way to feed a baby. There is no point in trying to compare it to synthetic milk, it just doesn't compare.
Does that mean that feeding your child formula is bad?
Well no of course.
I just believe that if you can feed your child the best possible thing for him or her to thrive, then you should seriously go all out in trying to make it happen.
This brings me to an interesting story I saw months ago no television.
It was an interview with Sir Elton John and his partner where they talked about their infant.
As you know, they are both male parents and therefore they have no breastmilk to offer their baby.
Still, they understood that the best food they could give their child was breast-milk, so they had the surrogate mother deliver the expressed liquid gold to them.
How insanely wonderful is that?
Not only do they get to bond with their wonderful baby by feeding him together, but they are giving him the nourishment he needs, straight from the mother that carried him until birth.
Yes, they could have gone the easier route and just fed him formula, but no, they went the extra step and decided to give him breast-milk.
That my friends is what you call exceptional parenting. I salute this wonderful couple for understanding how amazing this is for their son.
So how does this apply to you?
Well if you find a baby feeding on your breast gross, or maybe it is too painful.
If you've tried and tried and no matter what you cannot properly breastfeed your child even though in your heart of hearts you seriously want to, maybe bottle-feeding with breast-milk is for you.
If you can express your own breast-milk that would be wonderful. It is time consuming, and it does need to be done around the clock at first otherwise your supply goes down, but it is so totally worth it.
I am both grateful and lucky to have had so much support while I started to breastfeed Luka. I was ready to give up only a couple of weeks into it, but everyone was so encouraging and that helped me keep going.
After all, all the women in my family have breastfed their children, most of them until two years of age. Who was I to break the tradition.
No no, I'm just kidding, I didn't do it to follow a silly tradition, I did because this was the only thing that I could give my child that nobody else could, and it was the only thing that helped him grow to such an enormous size and become such an intelligent individual.
I'm so sorry, I've seem to be rambling.
Breast-milk, the best option.
Expressed breast-milk, the second best option.
Donated expressed breast-milk, the third best option.
Anything else is good, not the best, but good.
I'm very sorry if I have offended anyone with this post. My intention is not to bash or look down on anybody not breastfeeding their little ones. You do what you can as a parent and you should be proud of your decisions so long as you have informed yourself of what you are doing and do not take anything lightly when it comes to your child.
Some amazing breastfeeding communities online are
http://www.facebook.com/TheLeakyBoob - Real women online at all times ready to answer all your questions regarding breast-feeding, co-sleeping and all things baby!
http://www.hm4hb.net/ - You can find local people willing to donate expressed breas-milk. Perfect for premature babies or if your baby is sick and you are not making any milk
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Saturday, September 10, 2011
I'm sure everyone has their stories.
Some were horrified, some were baffled, some like me, were heartbroken.
About a week ago I started seeing the pictures of the event, stories re-surfaced and stories were shared.
It's not about being sadistic or just trying to open closed wounds. It's about understanding how far we as a society, as a country have come.
I am Peruvian by birth, but everyone knows that the US is my second motherland. Sort of like my mom and my stepmom. I love them both, but they both have their own place in my heart.
In 2001 I was in Peru with my mother. I had been there for two years already.
My mother frantically woke me up very early in the morning demanding that I check the news.
Slightly annoyed I got up and watched.
My heart sank.
At first I thought I was watching a movie, you know one of those war movies where the director has visions of destroying NYC?
I changed the channel, same picture, I changed it again, but the picture on the screen didn't change.
One of the towers was on fire...
I demanded an explanation, what was going on?
My family informed me that a plane had accidentally crashed.
Then it happened, another plane hit.
I couldn't bare it, I felt the room spinning, the hair on my arms stood up like thorns. My body ached.
Still groggy I was trying to make sense of it all, why were planes crashing?
You must understand, the news we get in Peru aren't the same as we get here in the US. We didn't have the full story.
After a while of watching the horrific sight I came to an alarming realization.
My family.
My stepmom, brothers, sister...
I wanted to call them but I had no money. I cried so much not knowing.
Were they safe?
I knew that they didn't live close by, but NYC is a place to visit, what if they had decided to visit the city that same day.
All of these thoughts crossed my mind and I was going insane.
I finally found a way to call, but the calls were not going through. There was an emergency number to call but all I got was answering machines.
On top of that worry, I was also experiencing physical pain. My country was hurting and there was nothing I could do about it.
This is one of those situations where you think "Gosh I was I was there!"
I wanted to take a plane, I wanted to go there and help.
At sixteen years old I was ready to come and defend my country.
I know it sounds silly, but there was so much frustration. All I could was cry.
Then next few months were bad.
I did finally managed to get a hold of family, they were all fine.
The thing is, nothing was the same.
I felt hollow, I felt hurt.
Every time the news showed the plane crashing on the towers I had to leave the room.
People were obsessed!
Now, ten years later, it still hurts.
Images bring back memories.
Seeing pictures of the burning towers, people jumping, people running, dead.
It's heartbreaking, our country was broken.
I think now we've healed, but the scars still show.
It is today, ten years later that I realize that even though all of the changes to security do not suit us as well as we'd like to, they are precautions.
Better safe than sorry right?
I wish that we never have to go through something like that again.
I hope that the war end, it's not over yet right?
I hope with all of my heart that the human race learns to have a little more compassion, a little more heart, a little more respect for other human beings.
I'm not sure where I wanted to get with this post, I just felt the need to express how I felt then and how I feel now.
Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me.
Stay safe everyone, always.
Some were horrified, some were baffled, some like me, were heartbroken.
About a week ago I started seeing the pictures of the event, stories re-surfaced and stories were shared.
It's not about being sadistic or just trying to open closed wounds. It's about understanding how far we as a society, as a country have come.
I am Peruvian by birth, but everyone knows that the US is my second motherland. Sort of like my mom and my stepmom. I love them both, but they both have their own place in my heart.
In 2001 I was in Peru with my mother. I had been there for two years already.
My mother frantically woke me up very early in the morning demanding that I check the news.
Slightly annoyed I got up and watched.
My heart sank.
At first I thought I was watching a movie, you know one of those war movies where the director has visions of destroying NYC?
I changed the channel, same picture, I changed it again, but the picture on the screen didn't change.
One of the towers was on fire...
I demanded an explanation, what was going on?
My family informed me that a plane had accidentally crashed.
Then it happened, another plane hit.
I couldn't bare it, I felt the room spinning, the hair on my arms stood up like thorns. My body ached.
Still groggy I was trying to make sense of it all, why were planes crashing?
You must understand, the news we get in Peru aren't the same as we get here in the US. We didn't have the full story.
After a while of watching the horrific sight I came to an alarming realization.
My family.
My stepmom, brothers, sister...
I wanted to call them but I had no money. I cried so much not knowing.
Were they safe?
I knew that they didn't live close by, but NYC is a place to visit, what if they had decided to visit the city that same day.
All of these thoughts crossed my mind and I was going insane.
I finally found a way to call, but the calls were not going through. There was an emergency number to call but all I got was answering machines.
On top of that worry, I was also experiencing physical pain. My country was hurting and there was nothing I could do about it.
This is one of those situations where you think "Gosh I was I was there!"
I wanted to take a plane, I wanted to go there and help.
At sixteen years old I was ready to come and defend my country.
I know it sounds silly, but there was so much frustration. All I could was cry.
Then next few months were bad.
I did finally managed to get a hold of family, they were all fine.
The thing is, nothing was the same.
I felt hollow, I felt hurt.
Every time the news showed the plane crashing on the towers I had to leave the room.
People were obsessed!
Now, ten years later, it still hurts.
Images bring back memories.
Seeing pictures of the burning towers, people jumping, people running, dead.
It's heartbreaking, our country was broken.
I think now we've healed, but the scars still show.
It is today, ten years later that I realize that even though all of the changes to security do not suit us as well as we'd like to, they are precautions.
Better safe than sorry right?
I wish that we never have to go through something like that again.
I hope that the war end, it's not over yet right?
I hope with all of my heart that the human race learns to have a little more compassion, a little more heart, a little more respect for other human beings.
I'm not sure where I wanted to get with this post, I just felt the need to express how I felt then and how I feel now.
Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me.
Stay safe everyone, always.
Friday, September 2, 2011
If you were to randomly come visit us without warning and see my two year old just being himself, you would be horrified!
He would be either dripping wet from his hair, have a big stain on his shirt, or have something mushy around his hands and feet.
Worse case scenario, he would have all three of those things going on at the same time.
No, I am not neglecting my child, yes he does take baths and no I am not spoiling him.
I just let him be messy.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen those mothers either in the park or in their homes (my family) obsessing about their kids getting dirty. I understand that people don't like to see their kids dirty, but think about this, at the end of the day, do they really remain clean? Most likely your answer will be no.
Kids have this amazing ability of getting dirty no matter what you do. They grab things they aren't supposed and stick them in places you wouldn't even imagine they would fit in.
Luka eats on his own, most of the time half of the food doesn't make it into his mouth. Where does it go? Some of it goes to the floor, other parts are on the table and sometimes I even find some in his socks or in his belly button.
Now you may be wondering why in the world would I let him make such a mess?
Well, kids learn by playing and to them getting messy is playtime. Feeling food getting mushed against their fingers, bringing out all of their toys and lining them up in a perfect line, or chewing on a crayon like it's bubble gum, all of those things help develop their senses. Those things give kids a chance to explore, to understand how things work and how far they can push their limits.
I won't lie to you, on several occasions I find myself yelling "no, don't eat that, no don't step on that!" I try to remind myself though, it's only a crayon, it's only a ruined shirt, it's only stained teeth until bedtime when he gets to brush them.
The point is, if it's not going to hurt them, let them be. You're going to have to clean up the mess eventually, so just let them make the mess. If you are worried about your precious walls getting vandalized by your little Picasso, then buy him/her tons of paper for them to express their creativity. If you are concerned about your carpet getting food, put some newspaper or plastic on the floor, or just eat somewhere else where you may find it easier to clean up.
Just give your kid a chance to be his or herself. They grow up so fast and these years when they're little don't last forever.
Encourage them to get messy, it's nothing a shower can't fix right?
Thursday, July 28, 2011
This post is long overdue.
I'm not sure why I put it off for so long.
My baby has been two years old for a week now and I can't believe I didn't start writing this the minute that clock marked 12:19 am on July 21st.
I guess writing about it made it real.
Writing is my outlet, it's what separates reality from the dreams.
So yes, Luka is now two years old and my oh my, what wonderful years they have been.
I am immensely impressed by this small person everyday.
I know, I know, everyone says that about their children, but watching it happen before your eyes is just an amazing experience.
One day you have this little tiny baby who could barely open his eyes, and then all of a sudden he turns into this babbling, jumping, dancing, turning, throw-a-cup-in-the-garbage-because-you-no-longer-need-it toddler!
I mean, he's learned so much, and I know that that's natural human nature, but I can't help feel proud that I've contributed so much to his development.
I've put him on the right path to personal success; to be the best that he can be.
Two years have gone by quickly, just yesterday it seems that he was given to me all wrapped up in a blanket wearing one of those funny hospital caps to keep his head warm. He was so beautiful, I mean, he looked wrinkly and tired and to be honest he looked pissed, but to me he was perfect.
Now he has started to show his personality, his independence, his curiosity and his reasoning.
The other day on facebook I posted that my greatest achievement as a parent was to have a son who at this age would say please and thank you without being told and really mean it.
That means the world to me, because I know that as parents, Ronald and I have given him the best thing we could give him: values.
I know I must sound like I'm repeating myself, but what else can you do for a human being. In the end, when they are older and parents become uncool, they will not come to you when they need to make decisions, they will just make them, but what will help them choose between right and wrong is the foundation which we provide for them since they are infants.
Happy Bday bubba. I hope one day when your older you get to read this and understand how important you are in my life right now while reading this post as well as when I was writing it.
On another note, Peru was great, I mean it did not go too well for me but Luka had a blast. He met his grand-mother and they instantly feel in love. He also met his aunts and uncles and some other family members. There was loads of space for him to run around and many animals for him to play with.
The only sad part is that we had to leave and he is missing his grand-mother so much. It hurts me to hear him wake-up at night crying calling out for her. I know eventually he will forget a bit about her, and it's not that I want him to forget, but the sadness will wither away slowly until he can finally be with her again.
I miss writing about my life I should do it more often.
XOXO
Jeannette
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Today, Saturday July 16th 2011 sitting here typing at 2.23 am., sadness came to me.
It is almost the end of our Peru trip and although I've missed Ronald terribly, I am getting all worked up about leaving my family.
In three days time we will be returning to the states and God only knows when we will be able to come back to Lima and visit family.
I can't say I had the best time in my life here, I spent most of my days at home, the first of them I had no internet access and it was driving me insane!
We didn't really go out, spend our time with my mom and my sisters which is fine, it's what we came for.
I'm oddly satisfied but at the same time mortified, not knowing when I will see these people again is extremely sad.
Well that's about it, nothing more to add to that.
:(
It is almost the end of our Peru trip and although I've missed Ronald terribly, I am getting all worked up about leaving my family.
In three days time we will be returning to the states and God only knows when we will be able to come back to Lima and visit family.
I can't say I had the best time in my life here, I spent most of my days at home, the first of them I had no internet access and it was driving me insane!
We didn't really go out, spend our time with my mom and my sisters which is fine, it's what we came for.
I'm oddly satisfied but at the same time mortified, not knowing when I will see these people again is extremely sad.
Well that's about it, nothing more to add to that.
:(
Saturday, June 25, 2011
So I wrote this big ass long post about Peruvian food and somehow it did not save. I'll just present you with what little did save and some pictures. Please forgive me, it was long and I even considered not posting this at all.
That's about all that got saved from the nearly ten paragraph post I made. Thankfully, I have some pictures to fill out the lack of reading material, enjoy!
Sign announcing the event
Chicharron (deep fried pork) served with Peruvian pop corn (cancha), mote, and an onion mini salad.
Chiffles (deep fried potato chip style banana) in a spiral fashion.
Succulent plate of Ceviche (marinated fish in lime juice and other spices) served with onions, cancha, mote and sweet potato.
I nearly cried when I tasted this, you cannot get it to taste like this in NY.
Savoring the heavenly taste of my ceviche.
Nice lady soaking my Picarones (Peruvian style doughnut made out of pumpkin and squash) in the delicious syrup.
I also had some Chicha Morada (purple corn drink) but I didn't get a chance to take a picture.
The food was amazing and it brought out in me such a great feeling of homesickness. I just wish we could make food as amazing as they make here. Sure we try our best, but lack of ingredients and spices do not make the finished product justice.
I've been promised to be taken to more amazing places to eat some more delicious food.
My tummy can't wait!
One of the biggest reasons to visit Peru has to be the food.
There is so much diversity, so much to choose from and not enough time to savor it all. I particularly have yearned to eat an authentic plate of ceviche for the longest time ever. Yes I have had some in NY, but my taste buds cannot be fooled. The real taste of a local ceviche has a kick to it, something that makes your mouth dance.
Today, I got to experience the biggest orgasm in my mouth thanks to the 1st Annual Fair of Gastronomy of Lima North.
This fair, first of its kind in that area was like a congregation of different restaurants that offered so many types of foods. There was rice, meats of all kids, pachamanca, rotisserie chicken, all kinds of potatoes, some delicious desserts, and my absolute favorite; ceviche!!
That's about all that got saved from the nearly ten paragraph post I made. Thankfully, I have some pictures to fill out the lack of reading material, enjoy!
Sign announcing the event
Chicharron (deep fried pork) served with Peruvian pop corn (cancha), mote, and an onion mini salad.
Chiffles (deep fried potato chip style banana) in a spiral fashion.
Succulent plate of Ceviche (marinated fish in lime juice and other spices) served with onions, cancha, mote and sweet potato.
I nearly cried when I tasted this, you cannot get it to taste like this in NY.
Savoring the heavenly taste of my ceviche.
Nice lady soaking my Picarones (Peruvian style doughnut made out of pumpkin and squash) in the delicious syrup.
I also had some Chicha Morada (purple corn drink) but I didn't get a chance to take a picture.
The food was amazing and it brought out in me such a great feeling of homesickness. I just wish we could make food as amazing as they make here. Sure we try our best, but lack of ingredients and spices do not make the finished product justice.
I've been promised to be taken to more amazing places to eat some more delicious food.
My tummy can't wait!
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
My oh my, so much stuff has happened since I boarded the plane to Peru.
First of all, as soon as I sat down on the seat my left arm broke out in a nasty rash.
Who knows why, but it hasn´t gone away since Friday.
Then we were delayed for about an hour, no big deal for me, but the baby was getting a bit impatient.
Things got better though, the air hostesses found a seat for Luka so I wouldn´t have to carry him on my lap. That was very nice of them.
The flight was calm, a little turbulence happened but nothing major.
Eventually we got to Peru, everything seemed fine until after we collected our baggage. We had to pass through customs because it is customary I think. They opened each of my three pieces of luggage and then took my passport. They informed me that I needed to pay $70 as a fine for brining used clothing as gifts.
They ended up lowering it to $60 which I told them I wouldn´t pay. I really wanted to make a big deal about it and refuse to pay, but even though it is my country, I do not know the laws very well so it wouldn´t have been productive for me to do it.
I ended up telling them that I only had $40 to spare and they accepted.
Seems to me that Peruvian customs only wanted to get some money from me no matter how small. I feel infuriated by this but whatever, I will deal with this later.
Anyway, I was about the last person to finally get out of the area, and as soon as I saw my family they squealed. My mom came and swept Luka away. My sisters came towards me first. Then my brother-in-law and his friend greeted us. I was so frazzled by then, I just wanted to rest. We sat down and started to chat. Afterwards we agreed to come back to my house to sort out the luggage since they had mixed everything up and I didn´t have the energy to do it at the airport.
We got home, chatted some more, they took their luggage and I was finally alone with my mother.
I´m not sure what´s going on but apparently I cannot stay with here for now.
She left me at my grandmother´s house but still won´t tell me why. My sisters hinted that their dad doesn´t want me to stay over there. That´s fine by me, but I wish my mom had the balls to tell me this before I arrived so that I could make alternate arrangements.
Now we are both sleeping in the same room as my aunt. I mean I love my aunt, but I want privacy. I need my own space and most importantly, internet!!
There is no wireless internet connection at home and I am forced to come to a public internet cafe type of thing. I hate this, I don´t like people looking over my shoulder while I check facebook or while I am blogging. They look at me strange because I am typing in English. Anyway, I am trying to be calm for the sake of my mother and my sisters.
Thankfully Luka is having a great time. He has adjustes well and loves everyone. He spends most of his time with my mother and my youngest sister. I couldn´t be happier about that. The food is delicious too, things taste different.
Ok then, I think that´s about it for my Peru report. Hopefully I will have time to update you guys with more info and have pictures to upload.
I miss NY so much, but I am glad we made this trip. It was the best decision we made even though we hit a few snags.
First of all, as soon as I sat down on the seat my left arm broke out in a nasty rash.
Who knows why, but it hasn´t gone away since Friday.
Then we were delayed for about an hour, no big deal for me, but the baby was getting a bit impatient.
Things got better though, the air hostesses found a seat for Luka so I wouldn´t have to carry him on my lap. That was very nice of them.
The flight was calm, a little turbulence happened but nothing major.
Eventually we got to Peru, everything seemed fine until after we collected our baggage. We had to pass through customs because it is customary I think. They opened each of my three pieces of luggage and then took my passport. They informed me that I needed to pay $70 as a fine for brining used clothing as gifts.
They ended up lowering it to $60 which I told them I wouldn´t pay. I really wanted to make a big deal about it and refuse to pay, but even though it is my country, I do not know the laws very well so it wouldn´t have been productive for me to do it.
I ended up telling them that I only had $40 to spare and they accepted.
Seems to me that Peruvian customs only wanted to get some money from me no matter how small. I feel infuriated by this but whatever, I will deal with this later.
Anyway, I was about the last person to finally get out of the area, and as soon as I saw my family they squealed. My mom came and swept Luka away. My sisters came towards me first. Then my brother-in-law and his friend greeted us. I was so frazzled by then, I just wanted to rest. We sat down and started to chat. Afterwards we agreed to come back to my house to sort out the luggage since they had mixed everything up and I didn´t have the energy to do it at the airport.
We got home, chatted some more, they took their luggage and I was finally alone with my mother.
I´m not sure what´s going on but apparently I cannot stay with here for now.
She left me at my grandmother´s house but still won´t tell me why. My sisters hinted that their dad doesn´t want me to stay over there. That´s fine by me, but I wish my mom had the balls to tell me this before I arrived so that I could make alternate arrangements.
Now we are both sleeping in the same room as my aunt. I mean I love my aunt, but I want privacy. I need my own space and most importantly, internet!!
There is no wireless internet connection at home and I am forced to come to a public internet cafe type of thing. I hate this, I don´t like people looking over my shoulder while I check facebook or while I am blogging. They look at me strange because I am typing in English. Anyway, I am trying to be calm for the sake of my mother and my sisters.
Thankfully Luka is having a great time. He has adjustes well and loves everyone. He spends most of his time with my mother and my youngest sister. I couldn´t be happier about that. The food is delicious too, things taste different.
Ok then, I think that´s about it for my Peru report. Hopefully I will have time to update you guys with more info and have pictures to upload.
I miss NY so much, but I am glad we made this trip. It was the best decision we made even though we hit a few snags.
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