a mama of faith...

Before I introduce our next mama, I wanted to say HAPPY 11 months to our beautiful Estella! We are in full party planning mode and can’t believe a year has flown by...stay tuned for a blog next month featuring her totally awesome party! ;)

So I’ve known our next mama since high school! We actually reconnected when we bumped into each other at a restaurant. Estella was a couple months old and she was pregnant! The first thing I remember telling her was “BREASTFEEDING IS HARD BUT YOU CAN DO IT! Get the proper support and don’t give up!”

When her baby was born, I wanted to extend any support I could just to encourage her because I know Estella & I had a whirlwind of a journey..and well obviously I am very passionate about breastfeeding. Anabel has such a sweet personality, very open, and always so positive. I knew that she would do anything and everything to give her beautiful baby the world. So she was completely open to having Estella & I come over and assist in her breastfeeding as well as help give support in other areas too. It was my pleasure to providing her with any knowledge I had from my background plus my breastfeeding experience. Not only do we have this experience together and can connect in that way, we also share the same faith! It’s a beautiful thing!

Here is her story-

“In a perfect world, I would have only gained 30 pounds, had a natural birth, and Kyrie would have latched on right away.  I believe God allows us to have imperfections in order to appreciate our lives and those around us.  As a determined first time mommy, I wanted to breastfeed my son no matter what, I asked for skin-to-skin contact right away, well as soon as possible since that's what was recommended by all the books that I had read.  I had been scheduled to go in for a c-section, which was not my plan.  I went in to c-section with mixed emotions.  I was sad and ashamed that I would not be able to deliver my son the "natural way" but so excited to see him and hold him and let him know how much I love him, as if he didn't already know.

One rockin' mama!

The next mom I am featuring is someone Ryan & I met in our Bradley birth classes last year. Her beautiful baby girl, Diem, is about a month older than Estella. We recently reconnected and found each other on Facebook and it has been great to see how our lives are now that we are both moms...and lovin’ it.

A very vivid memory I have of Ashley in birth class is when she enlightened all of us about “Padsicles”...haha! We don’t know each other very well but from our interaction in birth class, she was always very positive, definitely not shy, and could make us all laugh...genuinely! Needless to say, I went home, research my own padsicles recipe and made them the next day in preparation for the fun post-partum period. I am fortunate that I didn’t have to use any of them (thank God) because healing for me wasn’t a big issue. However, I was very tempted just to use them because of all the work I put into them...haha! If you don’t know what they are, well Google it. I can also post my own recipe I made in a different post too one day!

Anyhow, Ashley has been nursing for as long as we have now, follows baby led weaning technique, and both her and her husband live a very healthy and active lifestyle! It’s great to see a couple so dedicated to their own health as much as their daughter’s health. Ryan and I share that same passion and ambition...although seeing pictures of Ashley competing in Crossfit games motivates me to get back into my own fitness routine!

I am happy to share her story with you as it made me tear up remembering my own story and also made me laugh...since well, that’s who she is! It is a pleasure to know her and I hope our baby girls will become friends one day! Oh and recently, Ashley took the huge plunge and officially has a pretty rockin’ hot Mohawk!

Here is Ashley’s story-

We did it! *PDB accomplished!*

Estella and I put our foot in history along with 4,000+ women/babies across the United States with an event at UrbaBaby in Wicker Park held by the bump for their “Public Display of Breastfeeding Day” (PDB).

When I started this awareness project, I thought that I could just go to a park or something and breastfeed without a cover to take part in the day. However, as the time grew closer, I felt a pull to want to be a part of an actual event, although taking the plunge to drive to the city was not very appealing to me.

The best part of planning was the support I received from my husband who urged me to go and my cousin (that lives in Chicago) who agreed to tag along with me so I wouldn’t go by myself (three of my cousins actually ended up coming!) I took the pledge and posted on FB that I was going to go to this event and actually had fellow breastfeeding moms who were inspired just by that. (Secretly) though I only did that for myself initially because I didn’t want to suddenly back out! (hehe)

I am very comfortable with nursing with a cover...even though Estella has been starting to uncover us. Using a cover has allowed me to nurse anywhere and everywhere. Being a Laotian Christian is kind of a double whammy with being “conservative” and then add in being “very blessed”...well, I always felt nursing without a cover (for me) was not “appropriate”. Weirdly enough, here I am writing about breastfeeding awareness!

While I was deciding on what to wear, I thought about wearing a shirt that could cover the top of my boob plus a camisole that would cover my belly. Well I figured, if I’m going to be all boobs out, might as well be more obvious just cause. So I wore a button up shirt so that I wouldn’t be able to really hide. Traffic was horrific on the way there...so it would have been so much easier to just stay home and not be a part of this movement.

I had no idea what to expect before going to the event. As we walked up to the boutique (we arrived around 1:30p and the event was from 12-3pm), I noticed that we were the only people there at first. I thought to myself, Oh man...I have to do this boob thing all on my own. We were greeted by Danielle (the advertising manager for the bump) as well as the owner of UrbaBaby, Marti. I was shocked at the amazing goodie bag I received just for showing up. It was a pleasant surprise and made me feel rewarded for just taking the plunge and going!

Here’s what everyone got that attended the event:

PDB!!

"Public Display of Breastfeeding" Day is coming up--> 

August 15th!! 

I like using a nursing cover although Estella has made it a bit difficult lately, but I am excited to just bust out on Thursday to show support for a cause that is dear to me!

I could not find an event close to me in the burbs so we will be making the trek out to the city to join moms in a BOOB-OLUTION! If anyone wants to join me, feel free! I will make it into the city before traffic and head out before traffic (*keeping my fingers crossed*)

Here is more information:

Support Public Display of Breastfeeding Day! 

Public Display of Breastfeeding Day at Urba Baby Wicker Park

August 15^th (12:00pm – 3:00pm)

1751 W. Division Street

Chicago, IL 60622

August is officially Breastfeeding Awareness Month and we’re celebrating! On August 15^th, moms everywhere will breastfeed in public to celebrate The Bump’s second annual Public Display of Breastfeeding (PDB) Day.

You can show your support by coming to Urba Baby Wicker Park on August 15 from 12-3pm to breastfeed in public. The first 30 moms will be given a gift bag full of goodies from Boppy, Boon, pediped, Babylegs, Earth’s Best and more!

Why make a big deal out of breastfeeding in public? To empower moms and show the world that if a mom chooses to breastfeed, it’s her right to feed her baby whenever and wherever she needs to. The more people who see moms nursing in public, the less of a big deal it’ll be – and that’s the goal.

Free for moms and babies.

Visit www.thebump.com/pdb to take the pledge! Not a mom yet? You can still join the boob-olution by pledging to breastfeed when baby arrives.

Questions? Email mbach@xogrp.com

For the PSA video, click here!

 Here we are walking around Woodfield Mall (12/2/12). 

Estella was chilling in the Ergo and nursing while I got to walk around with both hands FREE! It was liberating....well and HOT (haha)...I was sweating and she was sweating but once she fell asleep, the cover came off and that's it. 

And yes...I had to watch a couple youtube videos to prep for this hehe!

Let me introduce you to an amazing mama!

I've been a bit MIA.... we’ve encountered some family issues that have been overwhelming for us so I couldn't blog too much but I'm back for now. 

I started this "project" as a fun way to spread awareness for breastfeeding without shoving it down people's throats. I didn't want go crazy posting tons of research or only feature the moms that could appear in Times magazine. I wanted to feature moms that used covers, moms that didn't, and moms that breastfed for different time frames. 

It's all about BREASTFEEDING..and that's it.

some inspiration...

I came upon this awesome project to promote the natural beauty of breastfeeding...

Breastfeeding Art Exhibit

I cannot wait to share more of my breastfeeding journey with you as well as some brave mamas!

To read about my bucket list---> Breastfeeding Bucketlist

my breastfeeding BUCKET LIST!

So I started this project more mentally for myself. I will eventually share my tough breastfeeding story, but long story short (for now), Estella nursed VERY often and I had a tough post-partum with the “baby blues”.

My choices were to hide away and nurse for 45 minutes at time EVERY 2 hours and feel left out of most things OR just whip it out (with a cover) no matter where I was. Yeah I got the awkward stares....turning of heads....and obvious gasps.  I nursed EVERYWHERE and rarely went into a nursery to do so. Honestly, I would go away from a public situation only because I wanted to...it was a great excuse (haha).

After a while, it became more fun. Estella and I had a natural rhythm together and it was this dance we did...every 2 hours. We both knew what to do, she did really well under the cover because she always fell asleep while nursing, and I could still have that closeness with her while being with my friends and family. Then I started to think of all the places I could nurse just cause I wanted to! It wasn’t the typical locations either....so I created this mental bucketlist....some documented and some left in memory.

Since Estella didn’t take a paci for longer than a couple weeks, I became her “paci”. She is a true introvert so when a situation became too overwhelming for her or she just needed a quick getaway, I was there. With every gulp she took, her body slowly released any tension and my body followed.

Breastfeeding has become this whirlwind of an adventure for us and I can’t wait to show Estella this adventure that we took together. I’m happy to share it with all of you!

My bucketlist

*success- stories to follow

Immediately after she was born*

Side-lying in bed*

Cubs game*

Middle of a 5k race in Chicago*

Hotel lobby in a big city

Middle of the flea market in Chicago*

John Hancock Building

In motion* (multiple times)

In the Ergo* (in motion)

Wedding*

In front of my brothers* (with a cover haha)

Farm* (on a tractor I should add haha)

Church*

On a beach

Rooftop terrace

Park*

At Cloudgate (The Bean!)*

Buckingham Fountain in Chicago*

In a foreign country

Chinatown

Viet-town*

Restaurants* (boring!! Haha)

Out in the open (no cover)*

Amusement Park

Museum
In the car (while she was in her seat)*

Library*
On a boat!
Air plane (especially after the dumb American Airline fiasco!)
At "Public Display of Breastfeeding" Day* (updated 8/16/13- story here )

(keep in mind, I tend to add locations to it on the spot when I come upon the opportunity!)

I can’t think of anymore right now. It feels weird to actually write it all down. Any ideas of places I should add?! ;)