Delicious vegan chocolate cake...
This cake is so easy to make, so hard to flop and so, so yummy!!!
My thoughts, inspirations & adventures
This cake is so easy to make, so hard to flop and so, so yummy!!!
As Helen Shanahan(our lovely Cornish NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor) says in her article about co-sleeping:
You don’t find cats, dogs, monkeys etc putting their young to sleep in a separate place - they sleep beside their mum, where it is warm, where the milk is, where the mum can attend to the infant quickly if it stirs or is hungry or cold.
In our 21st century life, there is a great emphasis on getting the baby to be independent, to sleep on its own, and to sleep through the night as soon as possible, and many parenting books, websites and chat rooms devote reams of space to this subject. A human baby is very immature at birth, and is seeking warmth, food and contact/reassurance as much as possible day and night in the early weeks and months. If these needs are satisfied, he or she can grow both physically and in emotional and psychological security, and become more independent later.
Bedsharing may be one of the ways in which the baby can have these needs satisfied at night, with as much rest as possible for mum too. Bedsharing enables mum to tune into the baby’s feeding cues quickly, so that the baby doesn’t have to resort to crying and getting upset to get attention. A breastfeeding mum can feed in comfort, especially if she learns to feed lying down. Sleep hormones are released during breastfeeding, which means both mum and baby fall back to sleep quickly. Also, bedsharing mums are more likely to breastfeed for longer – or perhaps we could say mums who breastfeed for more than the early weeks/months are more likely to bedshare? Either way, breastfeeding itself has many health benefits for mum and baby, not least reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), so anything which supports breastfeeding is a positive thing.
I was also in a rush to stop breastfeeding Erin...almost being manipulated by societys common (and when I think about it, rather strange) belief that when a child is walking and talking you should take them off breastmilk and instead put them on milk designed for a calf (who gains around 1.5 to 2 lbs per day), or else on milk made in a factory. Why do we have this very peculiar notion? Do any other mammals do this??
I wondered how I would breastfeed through pregnancy. So far I have not had any problem (and I'm 27 weeks pregnant). I worried about how I would breastfeed two children. Mammals do it and so do many other moms out there, and thanks to local groups like Wishing Well I do not feel so alone and weird anymore. Just google "tandem breastfeeding".
Bottom line...know that I have managed to let go of preconceptions - It feels right. Erin and I enjoy the closeness of breastfeeding, plus Erin is reaping massive benefits nutritionally. As a result she has a reduced chance of getting Leukemia, and I have reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancer. I feel angered when breastfeeding is thought of as obscene in some way...it is the most natural thing in the world, and because breasts have been sexualised, it's somehow thought of as the most unnatural thing in the world. Isn't the human race quite strange, if you think about it?
Anyway, what matters is that I feel at ease about still breastfeeding. I don't worry as much about what others think. I feel I am doing what is right for Erin and I.
Spring has somehow made me feel more relaxed about life, about letting things flow as nature intended rather than fighting and struggling to conform or do what would please others the most, even if it's against gut instinct. I am happy and life is fantastic!
We spent a lovely week on our friends farm, farmsitting. We fed alpacas, horses, sheep, chickens, goats, dogs, cats, fish, llamas, ponies, hens, wild birds and a mule. We milked goats, collected eggs, planted seeds, watered plants, lit fires and more. This is the farm where we used to live, where Erin was conceived. This is where our very dear farm family live. This is another reason (possibly the main one) for me feeling so blessed. Knowing I am loved and cared for, and that I love and care equally. Feeling my hands in the earth, the sun on my back, watching flowers blossom, birds tweet. There's nothing quite like it. Aah spring. The new life, new beginnings.
Happy Spring Everybody!
No not mothers milk...that happens naturally when you have a baby! The wonders of nature!