Mommas helping mommas the recap

I got busy this weekend and wasn't able to finish the Mommas helping Mommas series...we had Kris, then we had Carla (whose husband had surgery today and came through well!!) and then we had Eri. All of these mommas appreciate any and all help/support you can give them.

Today I'm spotlighting Quinn who is raising money for her 5K/10K walk/run she is doing for the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance. It appears that she has already done the race BUT donations are still appreciated. Quinn's entry about Ovarian Cancer and why she is doing fundraisers for this organization are in the link. It's also got some great info on Ovarian cancer and the signs and symptoms of it.

As always, if you can help support these mommas, that's fantastic, and if not just keep them in your thoughts :)

A Plug

Here's a little thing you need to know about me: I never recommend something that I don't like. I will not tell you that I use Blam-o brand washing soap because it's amazing while secretly thinking it sucks. I will tell you flat out, blam-o brand washing soap sucks. Here's another thing you should know: I'm not particularly brand loyal with the exception of a few things, diet coke being one of those things. I don't run one of those blogs where I'm paid with product or money to promote things (though, honestly, I really think Coke should pony up; I mean, I have a diet coke tag for this blog for frick-n-frack sake! Hey-diet coke people, you could throw me a bone anytime...)

Anyway, I digress, per usual.

My sister in law has recently become involved with the company Melaleuca. It's a company I recently became acquainted with on accident. When we moved, I found a bottle of dish soap with a weird name and being desperate, I tried it out. It was lemon scented, which made me really cautious. I can't stand anything lemon scented that isn't a, you know, lemon but I tried it anyway...and it was really great dish soap. I was kind of shocked.

So Katie got involved with them and I thought "Ok, I'll give it a try, why not?" So I ended up getting a package with random things in it. A few products I'm not so crazy about BUT there are some amazing things in there that I'd like to buy in bulk. Bits has super thick, prone to tangling hair and the shampoo they sent is the first shampoo I've EVER used without needing a separate conditioner on her hair and managed to only have two or three tears out of her rather than the normal twenty minute sob fest that accompanies hair combing.

I just used the mouthwash they sent for the first time and holy cow is it MINTY--in a good way though-and it's a really natural minty taste; not like a fake sucked a breath mint and two seconds later it's gone mint taste.

And then there's Renew lotion. I'd heard of it before even knowing about the product because of Bits-a-roo's eczema. I've heard really good things, like it makes eczema go away darn near completely, it's a heavy duty lotion, it takes the warts off of frogs (I made that one up) I got to try a sample when Katie did her presentation and thought it was ok...I got a bottle this week and holy crap. Here's the thing. I wash my hands A LOT. I do a lot of dishes. I wash things constantly. I am in the pool for about 40 minutes a day three to five days a week. My hands look awful. They're so dry and lotions with scents, while fine on my body, are hell on my hands. They burn and itch and blah. They SUCK. So I tried renew when I got the bottle and I thought "let's see how this REALLY works" and I'm pleased to say that after washing dishes, washing the floor, and multiple hand washings, I could STILL feel the lotion on my hands. I didn't need to reapply it, which was nice, after all I'm very busy and just don't have time for that nonsense (again, I made that up)

So there's my plug for omg amazing products...here's the thing though-even the stuff I don't like works well. I have a thing with scents and some of the scents they use in their products turn me off-but that's alright-I don't need to like all of them. Here's another thing-the products are all NATURAL! NATURAL!! I love that. I don't like a ton of chemicals going where my kids are, hell, even where the cats are. I just don't like the idea of all that crap going into little (or big-or furry) bodies and Melaleuca is safe for all of us. AND it's affordable. It's not like some products that you get hooked on and then it's $50669.23 for one bottle. AND if you get the products and don't like it, they'll give you your money back-without having to return the stuff you don't like (which is awesome because I got a bar of soap that just makes me gag-I'm sure it's amazing but I can't get past the smell-and I'm going to give it to Katie for her presentation and get my money back-that's pretty awesome)

WELL Chrissi, that's all well and good but HOW do we get the product? Dear readers, I'm about to tell you (man, I wish I could wear a headset and say clever things like Vince from Shamwow does. BAM! You're gonna love my nuts! Martini, bikini, fetticini! Sham-WOW)

Simply click on Katie's website address right here! and contact her. Or don't look at her website, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll pass it along. Or email her at katiewit AT gmail DOT com Or email me, send me a smoke signal, send me a text, use Morse code, or even ASL and I'll pass your info along to her. Listen, I wouldn't promo this stuff if I didn't think it was great...so check it out and see what you think-and then let me know how you like it!

Hooray for Boobies!

The other morning when I was in the er, the nurse was scrolling through my chart and said "oh I see you are nursing, ok, we'll be sure to keep the meds we give you nursing safe" as she looked at the kids, sort of perplexed as to which one I might be nursing. I quickly corrected her and said "oh no, I'm not nursing, I haven't for the last year" My sympathetic nurse said "oh, that's okay honey, not everyone can nurse" I suppressed a smile and said non nonchalantly "I was only able to nurse for 21 and a half months" Shocked, the nurse turned around and said "What?! That's amazing, most women don't get to TWO months let alone 21 months, you should be really proud of yourself"

And the truth is...I am proud of myself and my body. After nearly three years of beating myself up because I felt my body had doubly betrayed me with Gabriel (spina bifida AND not being able to nurse after 6 weeks!) I was in the mindset that I would do whatever it took to nurse until Bitsy was a year old, anything after that was a bonus. We had a lot of challenges, to say the least, but once we both got the hang of it, we were golden. We were the nursing dream team (lol) We could (and did) nurse anywhere anytime. Could you would you in the car? Yes. Could you would you with a fox? Yes. Could you would you in a box? Yes. Could you would you anywhere baby pleases? You betcha.

There were two things that made nursing Bitsy happen: A great support system and educating myself.

I went to LLL meetings, I talked with other nursing mommas, I became a community member of more than one breastfeeding group online. I had an excellent support around me; our families were very supportive of nursing and encouraged me when the times were rough.

I read books about nursing; the one that I especially loved was "So That's What They're For" It was humorous and informative. I read all I could about nursing. I told myself I could do it and I would do it. This time around I WOULD be successful at nursing...and I was.

Since having SarahAnne I've been able to help other women nurse-some in person, some on the phone, some on the internet. I love the accomplished feeling of helping a new momma and baby nurse. I've also helped women see that even though they tried nursing and it didn't work that they should NOT beat themselves up. After three years of beating myself up, I realized that it wasn't worth it, because as much as I enjoyed nursing and am so grateful that I was able to nurse Bits as long as I could, my method of feeding her had NOTHING to do with the kind of parent I am or was.

In 20 years, no one will care that one of my children nursed until six weeks and the other till 21 months. In fact, no one cares right now, not even me. Yes, I'm proud of my accomplishments with both of them and I am a vocal breastfeeding advocate, but I think a lot of people seem to forget that feeding the baby is just a small part of what a momma does with their child. Should a momma give nursing her all? Yes, should she strive to give her child the very best start possible? YES. Should she beat herself up if nursing doesn't work? No. Should she accept that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and trying her damnedest to nurse is what is important? Yes.

I've found that a lot of women would rather point out other mommas shortcomings when it comes to nursing than actually do something about it. Those smug nursing women are the ones who give the rest of us a bad name. If someone is struggling to nurse, I'm happy to give help, information, and guidance. Isn't that what it's all about? Shouldn't we be helping one another?

And on that note...if anyone would like to follow our blog on Facebook...feel free to! Witkowski Family Happenings on Facebook

Mommas Helping Mommas

Not too long ago, eight months ago, maybe, I was lamenting the fact that it was hard being an outsider in the middle of nowhere, especially since Geo and I are not "main stream" parents (We're more the barefoot, breastfeeding, co sleeping liberal parents lol)

Children are the great equalizer, though, and we've made some pretty good friends out here, friends who don't think it's weird that I nursed Bits until she was nearly two, friends who have children who sleep in their beds, the whole bit. It's great not being the odd balls :)

A dear friend of ours is pregnant and, like most of us, doesn't have a whole lot of money. It's been amazing to see how quickly our little group of girlfriends has been able to pull together maternity clothes, cloth diapers, baby clothes, and all sorts of things she's going to need in the next few months (years even!)

A friend recently blogged about mothers tearing each other apart on the internet (and in "real" life as well) and it so true. A lot of us (myself included, I'm ashamed to admit) take out our insecurities on other mommas. Formula vs breastmilk, cribs vs co sleeping, cloth vs disposable, heck even naming your child can turn into a major battle.

I'm so thankful that I'm part of a group of wonderful mommas, who rather than cut down or ridicule one another for our parenting choices, root each other on and help each other; we're all of the "village" mindset and have no qualms about asking for help when we need it, whether it's a sitter for the morning (thank you Tiff and Miranda) or a shoulder to lean on when we're having a particularly rough day (thanks Steph) or maybe it's maternity clothes and a reassuring email saying that NO you're not fat, you are a gorgeous momma-to-be.

Women can be their own worst enemies; I'm glad to be part of a group of mommas who don't behave that way...here's to you, ladies!