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Welcome back to a new season of the Milk Minute Podcast! Join hosts Heather and Maureen, two experienced midwives and lactation consultants, as they kick off the season after a refreshing summer break. Celebrate Maureen's birthday today and catch up on Heather's breastfeeding journey, Maureen's weaning, and everything in between. Each week, we’ll bring you the latest research, heartfelt stories, and practical tips to support your breastfeeding journey. Tune in for expert advice and a supportive community!

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Transcript

Happy birthday to you. Welcome back to the Milk Minute, everybody. Maureen's 35. I am. And I'm so excited to start our new season of 2024 on my birthday with all of you. I know all your kids are.

Maybe not all your kids, but some of your kids might be going to school. Yeah. That might be very exciting for you. You might be making your new plan to go to the gym now that you have a little free time. You've been with the Milk Minute long enough that you might have a kindergartner now, because we've been doing this for over four years.

Or maybe you're new here and welcome. To the insanity that is this tiny room we record in and just let our brains belch and barf into these microphones. Yeah, we have a new setup. Again, Maureen and I are now side by side again, but we're in recliners, because I also use this podcasting room as an IV room.

Oh, can we do IVs today? I feel a little parched. Yeah, maybe. Do you have any that are about to expire? No. Oh. Because we could just use them up. No, sadly, we kind of go through them. People really like them. Oh, that's really good. I'm actually so glad to hear that. Yeah, any of our breastfeeding moms or patients in general that have stomach viruses, they, and their milk supply starts to dip, they'll come in and we'll just boost them and, you know.

It really helps the recovery process of the milk, which is nice. Absolutely. So yeah, so we're in two recliners with pillows behind us, and we've got these little like TV trays in front of us with our microphones on it. I like it. We've got a little TV dinner. It's weird to talk to you without looking at you, though.

It is. I do keep like kind of looking out the corner of my eye at Heather. And actually, so something new is I got glasses over the summer, which is great. Oh, you're 35 now. I know. Actually, I didn't tell you this, but I, so when I went to the eye doctor who was not my preferred one, my preferred one had a nine month waiting list.

So I was like, I will just book online with this random dude. Can't be that bad. He's like a crazy old hippie and talks a mile a minute. And I was like, Obviously, you need Vyvanse. And I felt like I was, like, at a pop quiz I didn't know the answers to, and he was like, A or B. A or B. One or two. And I was like, I don't the, I don't know.

This is too fast. And then he was really like, well, your vision's not that bad. Like, why are you in here? And I was like, look, like, I'm a medical professional. I really want to see. The bevel on needles that I'm sticking into people. I want to like be able to see clearly when I'm suturing and he was like Oh, those things aren't made for people who are pushing 40 any honey.

I'm like, I was like wait pushing 40. Oh 34 friend You're like 65. So shut your mouth your eye doctor's on meth anyway, but much better I can see crisply although it's not quite So I have an astigmatism. So do I, it's so annoying. Yeah, and I don't think the glasses have changed the way that lights happen at night.

And that is really annoying for driving. So I might need to go back and be like, is that like a different thing? Do we fix that at all? Is there a way? I pisses me off. Anyway. But yeah, so now I'm looking out the corner of my eye at you and you're like fuzzy over there. Maybe I'm just actually fuzzy now that I'm almost 37.

I'm getting fuzzier. Now that you're pushing 40. Oh, Sick burn. Still breastfeeding though, and we'll talk about that in just a second. In a minute, yeah. But before we get into our breastfeeding updates, we have a lot of new patrons to thank. So thank you all of our patrons who have joined, who have subscribed, stuck with us throughout the years who are seeing our behind the scenes content.

My third baby, Marty, Martha, but we call her Marty, is crushing it on Patreon. Yeah, and I'm, I'm sorry that we have like, majorly neglected y'all over the summer because when we said we were taking a break, like, we did, we meant it. We needed it. I'm still behind on sending out people's like, patron gifts and stuff like we'll get there.

It's coming. We haven't forgotten about you. We just needed to prioritize us for a second. Yeah. Yeah. No, we all, everybody, every member of the Milk Minute team, like our audio editor, our assistant, everybody took a break. Which is so nice, and we appreciate them all for coming back. Yeah. Alright, so who are we thanking?

Okay, well, thank you to Rowan Goodman, Paola Paga, or maybe Paja, I don't know. Emily Novit, Alexis Soto, Bridget Driller, Jacqueline Petrov, and Deanna Milano. Yeah, all so much. We greatly appreciate it, and we hope that you all got to take a little break this summer, too. And if you didn't hear a name, but you joined over the summer, I split y'all into a couple episodes because there were way too many.

So don't worry, you're next or next after that. Alright, well let's take a quick break to thank a sponsor and when we come back, we're going to give you all of our updates from our spring and summer. Welcome back everybody. We have some breastfeeding updates for you because yeah, we're still doing that.

Yeah, both of us. Unfortunately, not. Well, I guess not. Unfortunately for me, no. Martha is now 10 months old and she still has no teeth and she eats a ton of solid foods. I mean, a ton. Are you doing baby led weaning right now? Yeah, yeah, we're doing both. I mean, we started with both purees and baby led weaning at the same time, just because sometimes it's more convenient.

Oh, yeah, it's way more convenient. I mean, here's your jar of preprocessed food, or here's your pizza, whichever one works that day, right? It's more convenient, depending on what's happening. So like, Sometimes it's more convenient to do a puree because I don't want to clean up the mess and I can control it a little bit.

Sometimes I don't care and I preload the spoon like you're supposed to and I hand it to her. Sometimes I literally just hand her a hamburger and we see what happens. Yeah, and you're like, have fun, kid. I actually love that because it's a very controversial thing to do in the BLW community to do both.

Yeah. Okay. So I Don't really direct people to like the baby led weaning groups that I did that I was in like with Griffin But they're the kind of groups that are like my way or the highway bitch for what? And are very like if you feed your kid any purees, they will choke and die like it's crazy That is a false it.

Yeah, it obviously right. It's obviously false. In fact Not being dogmatic about stuff is usually the way to go Care less people. Let me give you a hot parenting tip. Care a lot less. So I had a patient the other day who came in for a starting solids appointment and she said, it's just that my, my mom, baby's grandma is going to be watching the baby.

And. She is really anti baby lead weaning and I said, How so? And she goes, I mean, she said she doesn't believe in it and she never did it with us. And I said, Well, that's a lie. Right? And she said, What do you mean? And I was like, Well, do you still eat purees? As an adult? Ma'am, are you buying baby food for yourself?

And she was like, No. And I said, so at some point, somebody handed you something solid. And she was like, Oh, yeah, that's a good point. I was like, Yeah, also, your kid is almost walking. So do you think like her kid was like an early walker, like cruising? Yeah. And I said, Don't you want your kid to know how to manage a solid piece of something that they put in their mouth?

Because they found under the couch, right? Thing. I was like, you wanna make sure that your kid from a safety perspective knows how to handle solid food or solid objects in general in the mouth. Mm-Hmm. . And she was like, okay, well if I present it to my mom as like a safety issue, then I think she'll do it.

And I was like, whatever you need to do. Yeah. I get, I get it. Childcare is rough. Yes. Childcare is rough. So yeah, that's what's going on with Marty with solids. crushing it, loves it. She is, it's definitely changed the breastfeeding. Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. Like, now is she drinking less milk? For sure.

Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And this is that time, right? This is that time everybody calls us after, you know, we fixed their breastfeeding problem at three months. We haven't heard from them in six months or whatever. And they're suddenly like, my baby's trying to wean themselves and they're only nine months old.

And we're like, let's step back and talk about what you mean. Well, and then they say, Google told me that I'm still supposed to be giving my baby 25 ounces of breast milk a day. And I'm like, well, that'd be pretty difficult for a baby to drink. 25 ounces of breast milk, a hamburger for dinner, a ham sandwich for lunch, eggs for breakfast, and 4 to 6 ounces of water a day.

Like, it's just a tiny person. Some babies do it. Some babies just eat anything you give them a drink, anything you give them a butt. But not consistently. No, not every day. Just like you. Some days you have hungry days and some days you're like, I'm just not. Some days it's 95 degrees and you're like, what if I didn't eat till bedtime?

Thanks. Yeah. I can't stomach it. Right. I mean, they become more like real people. People and less like little machines that you have to keep putting quarters in every few hours. Right, and we want them to actually be listening to their own hunger cues whenever it's appropriate. Because everybody's metabolism is different, and everybody's brain is different, and your baby's a unique individual and not, maybe not at all similar to a sibling.

So how's she growing? Good? Oh yeah, she's good. She's like, that's the thing, right? Like, that's what I, that's always my follow up question. Where's her weight at? Where's his weight at? Whatever. Yep. She's good to go. Breastfeeds, like when she actually does it are still pretty long, which is, I would say.

Annoying. Not, no, because she's only doing it like morning when she's sleepy and then she doesn't nap great, but she'll do it before nap and then she'll do it before bed. Okay. And she'll nurse for 30 minutes. And it's, she's not like fully sucking the whole time. She does like the flutter sucking and she just enjoys herself.

You know, she's always been a little bit of a lazy luncher. And I think a lot of the nine, 10 month olds that I see are like under five minute feeders, which is also fine. Yeah. And then, Totally depends on their personality, you know. Mm hmm. And then at daycare, she quit finishing her bottles, so she was doing three, four ounce bottles ish.

And then she kept leaving so much that I was like, all right, well, I'm gonna do three ounces. Yeah. And sometimes she even leaves some of that. Whatever. And the daycare people are like, are you fine with this? And I said, absolutely. And Also, let me just tell you, I am pumping like seven ounces during my workday and she's eating definitely more than that and I don't care because I sometimes when I'm feeling motivated, I'll pump before I go to bed at 10.

I get a few extra ounces to make it up. But also, I have 180 ounces in the freezer left. You'll make it till the end of the year. Oh yeah, but like the milk is getting old in the freezer. Like I need to use it or give it to somebody else. Right, I need to actually rotate it out. Yeah, so like if I pump at 10 o'clock at night, sometimes I'll freeze it and I'll thaw an older bag and I try to just give her a mix of frozen and fresh at school, quote unquote.

Abigail hates it when I call it school. Abigail's my, COO at my company, and she insists on calling Marty's daycare work. She goes, have a good day at work, Marty. And she hands me the diaper bag and she goes, here's your briefcase. That's very cute, actually. Yeah. So that's, we're just chill. You know, we're just not so worried about it.

Sleeping through the night just started happening a little bit ago. And amazing naps are still hit or miss. She's a low sleep needs baby. Yeah. And. That's fine. But I feel like she's just so chill. She is so chill. She's like, I don't actually need sleep because I didn't do that much. I mean, this baby is so pleasant.

So pleasant. I mean, which I'm not bragging my actually she's not here today. I mean, I realized that just us and that would be a pain in the butt. But I really wanted to snuggle her like chunks. She would be like, mama, mama, mama, mama. I really just wanted to like, Smush my nose in her belly and like make her.

You can come over after. Yeah, if I have time, we'll see. Or maybe I'll have Cash meet us here with the kids so he can trim that bush on the side of the office. Oh, actually, let me, let me, hold on. Let me text Ivan because my dog is diabetic now. Oh no. Which means one of us has to be home to medicate and feed her every 12 hours.

Oh. Yeah. And I'm like, oh no, if he's not going to be home, I have to go home early. Reason number 472, I don't have a dog. Yeah, totally understandable. I love my dogs. All my dogs. I love this dog in particular. You know, but when I got them, I was like, I'm going to space their ages out. So they will only be one geriatric at a time.

That didn't work. Okay. My oldest dog is 14. The diabetic dog is 10 and they're both geriatric right now. Aww. So they're both in like, daily medication. Good lord. And like, my oldest one we're doing like, palliative care for. I guess it just depends on the breed, right? Yeah, that's the thing, like, she's a giant breed and he's not, right?

So they ended up Anyway, now I have to give my dog insulin, which she's actually a very good girl for. She's so big I think she gives no shits about the little insulin needles. Good. She's like, Oh, you're poking me again with that little, like, whatever, she's like, give me that thing so I can keep eating carbs.

Yeah, exactly. She's also unfortunately, like a trash dog, like she loves to get into the trash. So I'll be like, Damn, why is your sugar like 500? And then I'm like, Oh, wait, how do you check her sugar? Do you like hold her a little paw? No, no, like fingerpricks. I can do her the tip of her tail, her ears or her paws.

But she has long hair. Oh, and her hair is Her ears and her tail are very, very furry. You can also do their lip. But I just, honestly, like, she's really lazy and if I call her over, she'll just flop down like a mop and be like, pet me. So then I like pet her and then just like grab a foot and poke it. Do you poke the pad?

The pad, not the toes, because there's not a lot of blood in the toes. You get like nothing. I don't really know the difference between the toe and the pad. It's like the, like the heel of your hand. I is where you would poke on the dog. Oh. Because their toes are just so calloused, those little lancets, like, don't go deep enough.

I was gonna say, all the dog paws, I mean, there's not many, but all the dog paws I've ever experienced are, they seem pretty thick. Yeah, no, so basically, like, I go, like, if you were to look at your hand, like, just between where your wrist starts and the, like, Top of the heel of your hand. I poke like right in there.

So it's like just a little softer Hmm, cuz it's all calloused everywhere. All of those spots seem like they'd be very painful tip of the tail, ear, lip Yeah, no, thanks. She doesn't like her ears so much, but they're easier to poke but she's also furry So what happens if I poke next to a hair is like it, like capillary action, like sucks the blood up to the end of the hair, you know, and then I can't get it on the fucking chip because, so I just poke her toes and I have her groomer like shave in between her feet, you know, so she has less hair there.

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. It is you can get like Continuous wear monitor, not one that gives insulin, just the monitor for the dogs, but it's hard to keep it on them. Yeah. Because they like rip them off and they grow hair. You know, so you shave them, they're supposed to stay on for two weeks, but the more hair that grows under, like, it, like, lifts the adhesive off, you know?

Oh, God. So I'm like, whatever. If she'll sit for me to poke her once or twice or three times a day, we'll just do it. You're a better mom than me. Dog mom. You know, it helps that I'm good friends with my vet. It gives me, like, moral support. And like, when she was diagnosed, she was like, just call me at home, and we'll talk about it.

And you know, when I got my first blood sugar reading for her of like 565, I was like, is she gonna die? And she was like, no, no, no, it's not today. Just give her some more insulin and a snack and take her for a walk. And I was like, Oh, my God, oh, Maureen, there's https: otter. ai She's a really cute dog, though.

Yeah, that's how they get ya. I know. They're my friends, okay, Heather? They're my friends. They're good friends. Well, you're still nursing Lyra, right? Yeah. Speaking of. So here's the thing, and I know I've said it on the show before, I was like, I'm gonna wean her by her third birthday because I don't actually like breastfeeding her as much as I did before.

I was also like, oh, she's so much less of like a titty baby than Griffin was, she doesn't care as much. Fucking wrong. I am such a liar. I really did try though, like a handful of times to like gently wean her before her third birthday. Cause I was like, I'm pretty done with this, you know, how'd you try?

Just like, you know, she was, she's seriously since then, she's only been nursing before bed. And like, every other night, okay? So I was like, this shouldn't be too hard. Wait, answer the question. The age old question. So, so far, I've only tried by like, Hey, let's read a book instead. Like, let's distract, let's do something else.

But the problem is, perhaps like Martha, Lyra doesn't care to sleep. Period. And Nursing puts her to sleep. Everything else is like an hour of like trying to get her to sleep. Yep. If I breastfeed her, she's asleep in five minutes. Yeah. And so it's been hard to fully commit because then when I do like not nurse her for a couple nights, I'm like, Jesus Christ, now we're going to bed at like 11.

We're all fucking exhausted. And if I just gave her the tit, she'd be asleep. And then, I don't know, she got sick or something, like something happened, and she just got way more clingy and needy about it. And, and then like that kind of stuck. So now, I don't know. Now we're just in this pattern where I'm like, ooh, maybe she's gonna wean herself, and then she doesn't.

So, the other day I went to Ivan and I was like, Hey, like, I don't know when, but really soon we have to have a real plan of like me just taking myself out of the nighttime equation period and not putting her to sleep. And just weaning, because I'm so done. I'm having, like, I've been having a lot of health problems the past year.

And one of which is just chronic weight gain that makes no sense to any of my healthcare providers. And I'm like, part of it is maybe because I'm still breastfeeding, and I've never been able to lose a fucking pound while breastfeeding. Everyone is now panicking who's listening to this. No, no, no. Don't, don't panic, okay?

We do need to do an episode on this because the research is like, Oh no, breastfeeding is supposed to help you lose more weight overall. No, but it's also not. Turns out that was like one study. And we're going to talk about it. And it's not the experience of everyone. It's not. I feel like When I see people in clinic, it's 50 50.

People who lose weight and gain it. And I'm one of the people who gains weight, more weight breastfeeding than when pregnant, okay? Same. With Griffin, I gained a total of 10 pounds while pregnant. And I gained 35 while breastfeeding. With Lyra, I gained 15 pounds while pregnant and I don't even know how much I've gained while breastfeeding.

And on top of it, I have this thyroid issue, right? Which feels like it's compounding it because I have not been able to find, I have a referral to a new provider, so who, who knows? But the providers I've been working with have not been able to help me in a way that has gotten my numbers in an ideal range.

And while that, while like, just in range might work for some people, it clearly does not work for me. Because I still feel like shit. And I'm still gaining weight. And even recently I got one of the Oura rings. I see that, yes. Okay, because I was like, you know, I've been doing very like intuitive eating and exercise and maybe I should like, look at what I'm doing a little more closely and see if I can change it.

No, girl. No. I got 15, 000 steps two days ago without trying. Okay? Whoa. That's 10 miles. That's a lot. And I'm, and, and I even added in extra exercise in the last couple, like month. I was like, you know, I'm going to really try to just like run on the treadmill for a half hour before bed every night. You know, I gained weight since I did that.

That's crazy. And it's not like a muscle weighs more than fat situation? I don't know. I mean, are you like lifting? No, I'm not lifting. I'm not doing, yeah, I, I'm, I'm just doing like aerobic exercise. That's it. Yeah, that makes no sense. Yeah, I, I gained like six pounds since starting that. How fucking crazy is that?

Yes. Don't love it. So, and like, I am in this place right now where my providers and I are considering medication for weight loss, which is brilliant. Really emotionally difficult for me, actually, because y'all know there's so much stigma around that and just being at a higher weight in general. And I've always like, and it's so frustrating.

Cause I'm like, I'm actually very comfortable with the way I look. Yeah. How to be positive, but also take that step towards, but I am at a point where my health and my weight are interacting in a way that is not good. Yeah, there's a big difference between being like a big bodied person who's healthy and has labs better than, you know, anybody, you know, and who's like really active and, and being a person who's like direct lab numbers and overall well-being is, is affected by weight gain.

Yeah, or like my, I don't know, I just, I'm at this point where I know. My health is, like, something with my health, like, something in my body is causing weight gain that is disproportionate to where it should be. Like, I should be at a place where I'm maintaining, if you look at my lifestyle, and you look at my overall, like, I don't know.

If you just look at my life as a whole, you're like, hey, you should be at a relatively, like, stable weight. For sure. Absolutely. And since I had Lyra, I think I've literally gained like 90 pounds. I mean, that's three years. That's insane. Yeah. Well, and there's also a big difference between when you get to that point of like, do we add more medication to fix your issues?

Or do we try weight loss for symptom management and see if we can get you to a more stable place so we don't have to keep adding medications that have more side effects? Yeah. And I, Have recently reduced the medications that I'm on because I'm sort of preparing to add more and I was like I can't just like I can't just keep adding I have to take some away.

So I'm off while Butrin Which, you know, part of that we had hoped like, oh, maybe that'll help like stabilize your weight. It didn't, didn't do anything to my weight. How would that help stabilize your weight? Well, it's, you know, because of the way that it interacts with dopamine. Oh. Like, it's, you know, when people pair it with naltrexone as like a way to mostly manage like compulsive eating, you know.

And so it does generally, like, lower appetite for most people on its own, even. Yeah. Didn't do anything, so. But I think that's not my problem, right? Like, that, it's, it's not, anyway, that's not the reason I'm gaining weight. So that didn't do anything. But I, A couple months ago was like, you know, I'm feeling really stable, like I'm going to try to go down my dose, and I did, I didn't really feel any different, and then I forgot to take it for like a week, and then I was like, you know, I actually don't feel that different, I'm just going to That's actually crazy, because when I took Welbutrin, my heart was trying to beat out of my chest, it was, my body knew I was on it.

Right. I, I think, I don't know what it was. I really felt very different when I first started taking it. But then I took it for what, like a year and a half or something? Anyway, so I'm not taking it anymore and I feel mostly fine. I can tell a little bit, like my mood is slightly less stable, but still manageable.

I have coping mechanisms. Well, you're walking 15, 000 steps a day. Anyway, you know, so, so I'm off that. I'm trying to like get to the point where I'm like at bare bones medication, like, so that if we add more, it's not like I'm not in like 50 fucking medications and I'm not at the point where I'm like, Oh no, which side effects are medication and which are illness.

And also you are, you're 35. Exactly. I'm 35. I shouldn't. Yeah. So I'm actually like. I do feel like I can add other things now and see if they work better. I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm excited for you, though, to get it figured out. And now, like, you have a three year old as your youngest, so it's like, hopefully you're feeling like you have a little bit of time and space, but will you fill that time and space up with business stuff and growth and certifications or are you gonna, like, I don't know.

That's just how we're built. We're like, what if we hit rock bottom because we keep. Filling all of our space with extra growth instead of maintenance and, you know, recovery. But like, I've been working on sleep and like, for the most part, that has improved. And like, you know, I feel like I'm getting everything else optimal that I'm like, okay, can't do lifestyle changes any longer, friends.

They are all done. I'm at my maximum capacity for lifestyle change. Dude, I feel like that. And I have, I, All I do is drink water now, like that's the only and sometimes I don't even do that, I'm like, wow guys, if you recommend one more self-help book for me, one more off you know, offer to like, join your gym, like, I can't, I can't.

I could, but I'd have to give something up and the things that I'd have to give up are like all priorities right now. I, I get it. I, I feel like I was there like when Lyra was like one. So yeah, like where you're at. It's just not my season. No, you can't do anymore. But like now, yes, now I have a three year old.

It's different. You're almost there. You're getting there. I actually like at a recent doctor's appointment where I went in to get labs and just check in, my doctor was like, You look happier than I've seen you in since I think we've ever been working together and I've been working with her for like nine years.

I feel like you have that light back in your eyes. Yeah, somehow. That sparkle, remember when we recorded one day and I had like a total breakdown beforehand because I lost my sparkle. You're getting your sparkle back, right? Like the flamingos. Yeah, no, I, I mean, I do truly feel like things are getting better, but I've hit a plateau.

Hell. Where I'm like, I can't walk my like autoimmune disease away, you know, like that doesn't happen. I can't apparently also walk weight off. That, that apparently doesn't work either. You know, I, I can't like, like physically get my body to match where my mentality is right now. And I would like those things to be closer.

Aligned. Yeah. And also you're looking at like, what is the rest of my life? Yeah. What do I want it to look like? Because when you're in the childbearing years, you're expecting on some level that things are going to be different and harder and kind of worse physically, especially for a little bit. Yeah.

Especially if you're like, maybe I'll have more kids and just fuck my whole body up again. Right. Exactly. But then when you know you're done and like Ivan has a vasectomy and cash out of a sect to me, it's not the best. It kind of is. It is. And then you're looking down. And then you're on the road to your future and you're like, wait, I am not going to get fucked up again.

So like, what do I want this machine that is my body to be like? I could choose. I could be a bodybuilder. And then you're like, Heather, do you always need to go extreme? No, stop it. But it's okay. We'll, we'll visit it in our mind and then see where we end up in reality. It's okay to try these things on for size.

When you know you're closing your childbearing years. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that actually, but that's another, but bringing it back to breastfeeding, like that is all in why I need to wean. I'm like, I need to be finished forever with that, which actually just made me tear up a little bit unexpectedly.

Maybe I'm not ready. No, no, I am. I am. Yeah, I think mixed feelings are always normal with that. I know. It's so hard. Why is it so hard? I think it's tied up with a lot of different stuff, you know? Yeah. Oh, and I actually, I did get some cute little breast milk earrings. And I have a ton of milk from Lyra in the freezer still.

Really? I think I have like 50 or 60 ounces. Nice. Because I had to stop donating when I started Wellbutrin. But I was still like on the same pumping schedule. Whatever that was. And I kind of didn't really think about it until like they sent me the next survey and I was like, ah, motherfucker. So then I had like a couple weeks of milk that I was going to donate, which we I managed to use a bunch of it for her.

But at this point, I'm like, I'm just not. Digging out, it's like the bags that I put like eight ounces in for no good reason, you know, because I was like, I'm gonna donate it and they're like, so unusable, even for like smoothies and shit, you know, so I don't know, I'm a big ass smoothie. I think like, as I have random extra money for fun things, I'm just gonna.

Buy breast milk, like commemorative, preserved items and then maybe do a review on different companies later. I don't know. I don't know that I am that nostalgic of a person. I, you know, I really like, I had, so with Griffin, since it was so hard to breastfeed and I had like a tablespoon of extra milk ever, you know.

Yeah. I did get a little necklace with that and I really, Feel very emotional about that. Maybe I should think about that. Yeah, it's really nice. They're also just pretty. They are pretty I will say I'm not wearing any of it this morning because I woke up like a fucking bog witch this morning I'm just like rolled out of bed and medicated my dog and drove here, you know And actually when I drove through Sheetz to get breakfast because that's the kind of morning it was The guy was like, oh you had the latte.

Yeah, you look like you need it What? He said it really nicely, like, he's happy to give me my coffee. When I was like, thanks, I think. Ugh, God. That's, yeah. The next season is going to be health, wellness, rest. I hope. My god, we've put in a lot of years of birthing and milking and yeah, child rearing. Yeah, because when, what year was Theo born?

2013. Yeah. He's 11. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's huge. Yeah. Yeah. The penis jokes, you guys. I have to keep reminding him, I'm your mother. You're not supposed to tell me dick jokes. Like, I really Yeah, don't tell them to your father or literally anyone else. He's in the car yesterday and he goes, Oh, my pecker's woodpeckering.

Get it? Oh, God. And I said, I actually don't get it. Is your penis climbing a tree and banging its head against the bark? And he goes, no, it's just, it's, you know, doing that thing. And he's like, and you just never know what it's gonna happen. And I was like, like, and I don't have one. So, oh, and then with Cass's vasectomy, he's got so many questions about Cass's penis, where he's like, he goes, so are they gonna cut your balls off?

And Cass goes, no, they're not cutting my balls off. He's like, so you're getting neutered ? So I said, no. I mean, kind of, yes. Yeah, but no. Yeah, he goes. Neutered but not castrated. Right. And he goes, so are you going to be able to, you know, get a boner? And Cash goes, ah, buddy, I hope so. I actually would love to be a fly on the wall for those conversations because Cash is the most awkward human.

I know. On the planet. I know. And then Thea's like, you know, I've got a lot of peach fuzz on my balls now. And I'm like, oh, good. So I've got that going on. And then I've got, Marty. Who's like introducing solids to a baby. That's. And then Heidi, Heidi, who like walks around shaking her hips and likes to wear little skirts and she like twerks.

And my husband yesterday, she was at the lake and she was just like twerking her little butt. And he looks at his buddy and he goes, I don't think those dance classes are doing us any favors. That's where we're at right now. It's just a wide range of motherhood. Yeah. Well, my oldest. to no one's surprise as my clone and except without any verbal filter.

So like, I, most people don't know this about me, but my internal monologue is kind of judgy and a little mean sometimes, but I learned that those are just not nice things to say. And also not usually what I'm really thinking about somebody like truly just like the first thought in my mind, you know, and then it passes and I'm like, Oh yeah, that was just my gut reaction.

It's not actually what I think about this. Yeah. Griffin just says those things. Oh boy. And I honestly, I'm like, do we have a telepathy going on? Because I swear I will think the same thing. And then it will literally come out of his mouth. And I'm like, no. He's gonna have that like, awkward, awkward truth moment.

Homeschooled vibe. It is. No, he does not. It's not too bad. Not like a culty, like religious, like you have never crawled out of a cave way, but definitely in a way where he is a little bit more comfortable interacting with adults than children. I mean, he can play with kids, but he is like more nervous to tell kids what he's thinking.

Adults. He's like, it doesn't matter what you think about me. I'm going to say whatever I want to you, which I find hilarious. Plus you're an adult, so you have to handle it. Exactly. You're responsible for your emotions. You manage your own emotions. He does say things like that to people. Oh my God. Which is so funny.

And he like very much values his private time, like, you know, we hanging out and he's just like, Mom, I think I need to go be alone for a little bit. And he'll be like, and it kind of looks like you do too. So maybe we should put on a show for Lyra and then we should both go to our bedrooms for a little bit.

And I'm like, you're so on point, kid. Heidi. I'm like, Heidi, where are you? She's like, I'm in my room and I really want some privacy, please. Like something bad's going on in there. Yeah, but. Yeah, so wide range of motherhood. Did want to mention, cause you know, there's been a lot of older baby questions for me lately.

I have had a couple rounds of nipple pain with my older baby. I think the first time I It happened because of a result of the long pull on a hands free pump that I was trying out for the podcast. Was it one of those that's like, zhoop, zhoop, zhoop? Yes. Yeah. And I was at a dinner party, drinking wine. And so I was, I was like, it's a little uncomfortable, but it's probably fine.

So I just like kept doing it. And of course it went on for like 30 minutes before it shut off. So anyway, then after that, like, because. You would think sometimes their latch gets better over time because their mouth gets stronger, but because their mouth gets stronger, they can do that whole, like, side saddle nursing thing.

Oh, and just, and, and I feel like it's because, like, also you lose some nerve sensitivity that you just don't realize how bad it's getting until suddenly you're like, God, my kid just broke. bruised my nipples. It feels bruised. Yeah. And this lasted for a while. So I actually decided to do like a whole anti-inflammatory protocol like I would do for mastitis.

And I was like, okay, every eight hours I'm doing 800 of ibuprofen. I'm doing hydrocortisone on the tips of my nipples. And I'm like really purposefully trying to latch her and get her to not tuck her chin. And I, Pumped only with my good Spectra pump and I kept the suction level low for a longer time. It still took like three weeks to recover from it.

Ew, three weeks? I know. Fuck. And it happened again, so I'm, I'm in another round of it. And it's because of the Spectra Gold portable one this time. And it, it has a long life. Slow pull too. And I think it just like my nipples can't handle the cycle being slow with strong suction, because that's just not how my older baby nurses ever.

So I think those couple times a day that I am pumping my body is like, don't do that. Well, I'm excited actually to do another like pump review episode, just because I'm never using them again. Yeah, I'm trying you guys. See, I'm trying to do all this R& D so I can talk to you about it. And it's literally Bruising my nipples.

Well, we thank you, collectively. Say it with me, guys. Thank you, Heather. Yeah, snaps for me. But yeah, so how do, some nipple pain that we got through, and do you still have nipple pain sometimes? You know, yeah, but only cause Lyra, like, as she falls asleep will just, like, fucking bite me or something. You know, but it's, she never nurses enough that I feel like I get any of that, like, repetitive use pain.

You know what I mean? Because it is literally like five minutes at night or every other night and like maybe once in a blue moon if she hurts herself during the day. Mm hmm. And even then she like latches for a second. She's like, all better. Mommy, medicine. I'm like, oh great. I just took my tit out in public for nothing.

Oh, and you never answered the age old question. Oh, what was it? How much is she getting? How do you know how much she's getting if she's only nursing every other day? I think she's literally getting nothing because I've tried to hand express. Mm hmm. And I get, like, after literal minutes, like, really trying, I get, like, a drop.

Mm hmm. Yeah, so I just want to remind you guys that it doesn't matter how much they're getting after the age of one when they're eating tacos and everything else. And I've only been nursing on one side for the past, like, eight months. Why? Because my righty has always been a little freeloader. Okay? And has never, in her, in her life, in her career, on the right side of my body, made more than an ounce at the peak of performance.

Wow. Never needed to supplement, by the way. So that's fine, guys. Usually when I would pump, right, like, full time pumping at work, I would get like maybe a quarter to a half an ounce from her. And I just stopped even looking and caring. Mm hmm. But Lyra liked to nurse on that side better. Mm hmm. When she was younger, it had a faster letdown.

Oh, yeah. You know? You remember that? Mine's the same way. The whole gulping thing. Yeah. But it started hurting when she nursed on that side at night, you know? So I was like, whatever. I'm nursing once a day. I'll only do it on the side it doesn't hurt on. Mm hmm. And I never felt any pain. Nothing. No milk in there.

I've tried to express a couple times out of curiosity. She's done. She's done. I've always been lopsided anyway, so what does it matter? Do I look more lopsided? No, I look the same. My left has always been literal cup size bigger. Doesn't matter. I just wear sports bras all the fucking time anyway. Like, what does it matter?

But yeah, I, but you know what? She went a couple of days without nursing a few weeks ago, and I did feel discomfort on one side. And I was like, that's bullshit! Because I have, should have no milk in there, right? So obviously she's getting something. How much, I don't know. Don't care. Does it feel like she's sucking hard or does it feel gentle and quick?

It's, it's gentle and quick. Because Marty's is gentle and quick. Like she never has that like long draw anymore. And it's a crappy latch. She's literally using like a straw. Yeah. And I'm just like, thank goodness. I don't think I feel anything on that side anymore. And sometimes she'll get tired and she'll just move her head up and down instead of actually moving her jaw.

She's just like, but you know, at least Lyra is like, she does listen. Like she's a very good communicator, except we can't understand her, but she, she's, her voice is so sweet. I'll have to record it. She sounds like a little chipmunk. But like, if she hurts me, I'm like, Hey, honey, you need to, you need to latch again and make a bigger mouth and she'll go, okay.

And she'll go, ah, and then she'll do it bigger. And it doesn't hurt. She, she like, doesn't want to hurt me. And she cares about that, which is nice. I wouldn't trust Heidi, you know, if Heidi was, Heidi didn't nurse pass like 10 months, but If she did nurse with teeth, she 100 percent would have tried to bite my nipple off.

She is the most aggressive five year old I've ever met in my life. Like, she wants to hurt me. Have you thought about putting her in OT? For that? Yeah. So I recently have had a couple of clients with three to five year olds who just are hyperactive, aggressive, seem to either not care to control their strength or if they're hurting people or they can't and it's kind of hard to tell and they've all done OT and seen good results.

Really? Yeah. And some, you know, one, one woman said like the OT like person had talked about like retained primitive reflexes, like influencing that. I don't know. I mean. So we have those foam block sets, you know, that they can build things with. Every single block has teeth marks in it. Like, she has an oral fixation.

She's bitten the tips off of all of my succulents. Honestly, that alone at that age might be worth a note. She's a biter. Five and a half, she's a biter. Yeah, it's not age appropriate any longer. Okay, good to know. Yeah, I think past four, it's really not. Also, when Marty pulls her hair, she hits her back. Oh, good.

She hits the baby. Yeah, maybe take her down to Cornerstone or something and just like, see if they have something that might help. I don't know, it's a really interesting process. Speaking of that, I'm trying to get Lyra into SLP, which, because she's not, I mean, I don't even know how many kids are in daycare at that age because it's not, you can't, it's not like free from the state here, you know, like there's no like preschool, you can, you have to pay for it all.

It's a lottery, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. Oh, it's by county? Yeah, it's, it's, it's BS. In West Virginia, you don't have, there is no mandate for like free preschool, basically. But you know, it's easiest to get kids SLP through school, but she's not in school. So. Now, to get it, and she's over three, so we can't do birth to three.

It's such a pain in the ass, but her enunciation has basically not advanced since she started speaking, like, three word sentences. It's been the same. So, you know, the last questionnaire I did, which we've done a couple of extra assessments with her because, like, we've, we've got some questions about stuff, but, you know, where they were like, 50 percent of what your toddler says?

Can anyone else do it? And I was like, no to both. We just guess, and then she gets pissed if we guess wrong. So now she has to go in for a hearing test so that insurance will cover SLP. It's all just like, which we had to wait a month and a half for the hearing test, and then we're going to have to wait two months for the SLP.

I'm like, she's going to be graduating high school. Cool, but it's five years old before she gets into SLP. Great. Love it. West Virginia. Keep it up. Keep it up. Yeah. I, you know, and part of me is just so annoyed. They're like, every kid needs a therapy now, but kind of part of me feels a little crotchety about it, but also I'm like, Oh, I am glad we can do these things for our kids.

I know. Like, yeah, maybe we should all have these resources all the time. And then also it's like, Maybe they don't need them all. And then I'm like, no, they do. I just, I can't imagine adding one more thing. Yeah. When you got a biter and a hitter and like, she tried to drown Theo at the lake and she didn't realize he didn't have a life jacket on, but it was still.

Yeah, no. And I do actually though, like. Sometimes really reflect on that, you know, when we're working with the adults we work with and thinking about, you know, issues that they're complaining about or things that are affecting their quality of life. And I'm like, is that what if you had had O. T. as a kid?

Exactly. Oh, she still sucks her thumb, by the way. Yeah, get your thumb on O. T. You could, I bet they would, they would do something. Okay. Well, see, this is why we do this. It is. No, we'll update you on all that. Whenever they get in. All right. Well, we're going to wrap this one up. So those are the quick and dirty updates on our breastfeeding journeys.

Yeah, and we're going to try to have this season be a really good mix of some Like, general some research episodes, some review episodes, we might throw in some case studies, undecided, but I'm kind of excited about that possibly. Maybe some interviews. Yeah, some interviews, and, you know, because we're doing less episodes, I, I think we'll actually have a better balance of all that.

We'll see. That's my goal. I'm really excited, though, for, for this season. Feels good to be back. Yeah, I know. We are so excited. Alright, well let's take a very quick break to thank a sponsor and when we get back we will do our first award in the alcove of the season. Whoop whoop! Welcome back, everybody.

Today's award goes to my IBCLC, who works at Breastfeeding for Busy Moms, otherwise known as Busy Moms Healthcare. She actually finally stopped pumping at work at 18 months. She was still pumping once, just because her daughter still enjoyed having a bottle of breast milk, even though she knew that, you know, we don't really need a bottle of breast milk after that.

It's just that her daughter really, really liked it. And so it was like that tough choice of like, okay, I'm done with this. And it's okay to set those boundaries with your kids after they don't technically need these things anymore. So she's still nursing. They're almost at two years. So I'm just really proud of her for like, most of those things are amazing.

Not just following her baby's Cues and her baby's lead, but also being able to set those boundaries for herself and find a happy medium for both of them. Yeah. What award should we give her? Well, Meredith, I'm gonna give you the Bitchin Boundaries Award because you're a badass. You're amazing. We deeply appreciate the work you do at Busy Moms Healthcare.

And just like you're, you're doing the daily grind as an IBCLC, and that is, That's, that's the work that we support with this podcast. Yeah. And I also love that you were able to look at your patients who are in the older phases and they're like, so you're still pumping at work? And you're like, yes. And so do as I say, not as I do, but also like do as you do.

Yes. Now you can say I did wean from that and it was a good choice. And it is hard and it's okay to like not follow the exact Google guidelines and all of that. So I love it. Thank you so much for serving our patients and our community and thank you for listening to another episode of the Milk Minute Podcast.

We are so excited for this upcoming season where we can give you guys all the best information about breastfeeding, about pumping, about pregnancy, about parenthood, really everything that we want to cover that you guys need to know so you can educate yourself, your friends, your family, sometimes your healthcare providers.

If you found value in the episode that we produced for you today, you can hop over to Patreon. com slash Milk Minute Podcast and become a patron and see all of our behind the scenes goodies. All right, till next time. Bye, everybody. Goodbye.