Boobs and Poop

As you all probably know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) month . THE month to celebrate boobs! As we near the end of BCA month, many news organizations are now reporting on new findings about a racial gap in breast cancer cases. Some boobs are reportedly at a higher risk for fatal breast cancer than ever before. Thanks to so much attention surrounding breast cancer and the efforts of charitable research organizations like Susan G. Komen , great strides have been made against breast cancer. But sadly, new research indicates that African American women have been somewhat left behind. Incidences of fatal breast cancer in African American women are on the rise, in spite of positive medical advances in recent years.  Researchers don't yet know how to account for the increase in diagnoses of breast cancer in African American women, but some ideas have been tossed around. One idea is that there may be a correlation between fatal breast cancer and obesity, and statis...

On a recent trip to visit family, I fed the baby in front of my 5-year-old niece who had plenty of questions. She wanted to know how and why I was feeding my daughter. I explained to her that we are mammals, like cows and dogs and whales. That all mammals have mammary glands and produce milk. Some women feed their babies with the milk, and that's what I'm doing. She seemed to understand most of what I was saying, and she was immediately concerned with my privacy. We were in the women's bathroom of a restaurant and I was just standing in front of the sink as I fed the baby and answered her questions. She began looking for a place for me to sit down, and as we left the bathroom she found a bench in a secluded area of the restaurant and suggested I go there next time. This moment surprised me - I felt a little annoyed at myself for going into the bathroom at all! In this case, I did have my cover but didn't use it at the dining table because my dad and older brother were...

I'd like to share a prayer penned by one of my heroes, Tina Fey, in her book Bossypants .  She so eloquently explains her wishes for her own daughter, I don't dare compete with my own. Plus, there's only one key difference between my wishes for my daughter and Tina's wishes for hers: I'm not worried about tattoos. Baby girl's mom and dad both have ink, so I'm sure she'll find tattoos lame anyway. And now, the immortal words of Tina Fey:  First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. May she be beautiful but not damaged, for it’s the damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the beauty. When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half and stick with beer. Guide her. Protect her when crossing the street; stepping onto boats; swimming in the ocean; swimming in pools; walking near pools; standing on the subway platform...

It has been hard to find good support groups and organizations for new moms out here in the Pomona Valley area! A lot of searching online lead me to La Leche League but I really couldn't find anything else. That is until I stumbled upon two groups using an app called Meetup . MOMS  (Moms Offering Moms Support) is an international organization dedicated to providing support to stay at home moms during the day, when moms are often isolated. I was surprised at how hard it was to find my local chapter (probably because members are busy being moms and not actively marketing the group...). I found a chapter for the next town over via Meetup and contacted them. They directed me to the MOMS web site so I could find the Diamond Bar chapter. I went to the web site, filled out a form and got a response within a few hours. There was some paperwork and a $25 (annual) fee to join. I took care of that part last week and attended my first group meeting yesterday at the Cal Poly Pomona pumpk...

I am so proud of myself for this one! My cousin is having her first child in December and her baby shower later this month. Since I just had my first in August (and am still reeling from the reality of recovery) I wanted to do something to help her in the first couple of weeks home from the hospital. My first two weeks home were quite challenging and I was floored by some of the items I needed to care for myself... like stool softener! So I did my best to put some of these items together in a pretty package for the mommy-to-be. I was able to find everything in a quick trip to Target. But anyone who wants to replicate the idea can do so frugally by making more stops. You can certainly get a cheaper gift box and stickers from Michael's or a party supply store. I went with bright pink from Target because the box was the right size and I love bright colors. It's my hope that she won't even need most of this stuff. But if she does, she won't have to run out to CVS (or ...

I'm sure I'll circle back to this topic often! Breastfeeding in public. I've done it. I love it. I support it for all. I think all places of employment, public bathrooms and more should be retrofitted with Nordstrom-style mommy rooms for breastfeeding. But I can't muster up the gumption to do it in front of any male family members. In fact, while I'm comfortable in front of friends or almost any female visiting me in my own home, there are female family members I'm not sure about. Would I whip out a boob to feed my daughter in front of my mother-in-law? If it were just us and in my home, I probably would. But I might feel a little weird, or pause first. And if we were at her house, I would probably go in the other room to feed the baby. In front of my father-in-law, my father, either of my brothers or any other male family member? Close male friends? No way, man! I have fed the baby in public, in plain view of many a male passerby and it didn't bother me...