Nursing, Nursing

I've been reading a very interesting article on nursing (breastfeeding) to keep up my nursing (RN) license. I have to finish up ed credits by the end of the month to renew my license, so why not read about the milk business, eh!;)

By God's grace I've exclusively breastfed our two sons, the first with major challenges, the second going smoothly overall. Naturally, this is a subject I'm very interested in. Some of this research I had already read about when I was scouring the web for help during Abraham's nursing days. Some is new. I thought I'd pass along some of the most interesting info for those interested in learning along with me. Hope this might be fascinating to some other odd parent, too:).

Please note I think there are wise times to use formula (ABM). I think it is sad how over-promoted it is in our country though. My mom and mother-in-law have both talked about how little encouragement there was to breastfeed when they had their babies. It's unfathomable to me how in just a couple generations such a beautiful thing as feeding a little one has become socially uncomfortable and a lost art.

Information and quotes from Breastfeeding, a course by Marie Davis, RN at NetCE.com. Information free to read to all.

Breastfeeding rates have historically dropped in periods of social dazzle and lowered moral standards. However, in times when the society has been stable and hard working, breastfeeding has thrived [1] .

Over half of the women giving birth today either were not breastfed themselves or were breastfed for only a few weeks or months, often with supplementation beginning at birth. For the last 80 to 90 years, women have been ABM feeding in such great numbers that much of the valuable information once possessed has been (temporarily) lost. During the lifetimes of our mothers and grandmothers--due mostly to profound social changes, but also to smart marketing--bottle feeding became the norm.

Following World War II, when artificial feeding became a viable option, the cultural context of a woman's breasts began to shift from functional to purely sexual.

Research has indicated that women who were educated regarding the risks of not breastfeeding were more likely to commit to breastfeeding compared to women who were only given information regarding the benefits of breastfeeding [242] . Therefore, it is vital that healthcare professionals include information regarding the risks and disadvantages of ABM in addition to the benefits of breastfeeding when counseling mothers.

 It is a common misconception that the baby gets nothing when nursing in the first day or two. Although the baby will get only a small amount of colostrum at each feeding, this amount matches what the baby's stomach (about the size of a marble at birth) is able to hold.

No two samples of breast milk are the same, even when taken from the same mother.

Fresh breast milk is a living fluid composed of more than 200 known ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, trace elements, protein, fat, and carbohydrates. It contains 4,000 live cells (mostly leukocytes) per milliliter, which cannot be replaced by artificial feeding.

The components of breastmilk are richer when a baby is preterm. This blows my mind. God designs us to protect the littlest ones in ways we don't even realize - how amazing!

Fat and lipids per deciliter increase as a baby ages. A wonder evolution could never explain...God's beautiful design.

Even the smallest amounts of colostrum should be saved for the baby. Nurses should try to feed breast milk to the baby in the order that it was pumped to assist in the development of the infant gut. (In reference to preterm babies)

All major medical societies in the U.S., including the AAP, have recommended breastfeeding for as long as possible in infancy in order to improve childhood survival rates. The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) guidelines have recommended extending breastfeeding for a minimum of 2 years.


The potential healthcare cost savings from breastfeeding in four medical diagnoses were analyzed. Results showed the following potential savings in healthcare costs:

• Sudden infant death syndrome: $4.7 billion
• Necrotizing entercolitis: $2.6 billion
• Lower respiratory tract infection: $1.8 billion
• Otitis media: $908 million

A total of almost $13 billion in potential savings of healthcare dollars is estimated if 90% of parents exclusively breastfed for 6 months.

Known risks associated with ABM (artificial breast milk) include [1,3,60,62,63] :

• Increased gastrointestinal illness (vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration)
• Increased respiratory illnesses (pneumonia, asthma, and respiratory syncytial virus)
• Otitis media (four times more prevalent in the ABM-fed infant)
• Increased likelihood of childhood obesity
• Increased risk of tooth decay (nursing bottle caries)
• Risk of contaminated formula (either at the factory or at home) and ingestion of "allowable" amounts of insect parts, rat hairs, droppings, iron filings, and accidental excesses of chlorine and aluminum
• Severe illness resulting from improper dilution or home additives
• Increased allergies ranging from skin rashes to asthma
• Increased risk of immune system disorders, such as:

  - Accelerates the development of celiac disease
  - Risk factor in adult onset of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis
  - Risk factor (2% to 26%) in childhood onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
  - Five- to eightfold risk of developing lymphomas in children younger than 15 years of age
  - May impair effectiveness of vaccines
  - Twentyfold increase in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)

• Increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Baby Julia!

Julia Ann
Isn't she precious!! What a beautiful, joyful name, too!

Born to Jonathan's brother David and his wife Nicole late Sunday night.

Amazing how this newborn girl knows her Mama...looks for her...is calmed by her...listens for her voice, the one she's listened to 9 months, waiting to come out to meet. What a wonderful Maker. Thank you God for baby Julia! Thank you for the miracle of a newborn baby.

One more reason to Glory in Christ's mercy

I thank God in his mercy that we live in the time we live in. And that he has taught men (even men that didn't love him) the skill of a Caesarean birth.
Angela has struggled off and on wondering if there is something that she could have done differently that would have resulted in her being able to deliver Abraham vaginally. The doctors have told her there is nothing that she could have done other than possibly having induced labor when she was not so far along.
*disclaimer on being a little graphic*
My brothers Paul and David and I buy and resell diary heifers. About a week ago we had bought a group of dairy heifers. A veterinarian had pregnancy checked all of the heifers before the sale to tell how far along they were or if they were open. They do this through palpation of the heifer. Occasionally they are a little off on their guess as to how far along the heifer is in her pregnancy. We vaccinate the heifers accordingly using different vaccines for pregnant heifers and open ones. Well, a couple of days after we brought them home we noticed that one of the heifers was aborting her calf. We looked on the list and she was supposed to be open. We figured maybe the vet had missed it a little and she was probably short bred, like maybe 30-45 days. Well later on the second day we noticed that she still had cleanings (placenta) hanging out of her so we loaded her in the cattle trailer to she if we could do anything for her. Paul palpated her and discovered much to our surprise that she was probably about 8 months pregnant (cows are pregnant for about 9 months) and that she was still with calf. Normally cows have their calves on their own, but sometimes you have to pull the calf out. They come front feet first and then head and body. They are usually only in labor for a few hours at the absolute most. At 2 days the calf was already dead, and usually a cow that is in labor for that long has a very small chance of survival let alone being a productive cow. Well we (mostly Paul) worked for hours trying to get the calf out of this heifer. *VERY GRAPHIC* Paul was having to (with a long plastic glove that covers the length of your arm) try to get the calf's head in place so that it would come out as David and I pulled on the calving chains hooked to the calf's legs. But nothing would work. And reaching in a cow while it is laboring is very exhausting work for even a short time let alone hours. We pulled until there was nothing left to pull on and the calf was still in the heifer (As I said the calf was already dead and I have never seen this happen before). The heifer was not really able to even walk by the time we were done, and the majority of the calf was still inside. I ended up having to put the heifer down.

As I drove home that night the magnitude of what had just taken place really hit home to me. It was after 11 o'clock at night I had just lost a heifer, and neither of those things really mattered all that much. All I could keep thinking of was how hard Angela had labored with Abraham and then driven to exhaustion she still could do nothing to bring him into this world; he like that calf would just not fit out of the birthing canal. That is when it really hit me how again how gracious God has been to us. It is only fairly recently in history that C-sections are a common practice in humans with a very high survival rate for both mother and child. I do not know why He has blessed us with living in this time or place, when so many through history have not had that, I can only be thankful for the undue mercy He has had on us.
Thankyou! God You have been good to us beyond hope!

Only a few more hours, days, weeks....?

So, Angela gave a prize of cookies to anybody at work that guessed the right day (they also guessed size). Well, all hope is lost for them. Yesterday was the last day anyone guessed. However, many of my family is still in the running. Beings Angela was born almost a month late and her brother too, we mostly would have been exceedingly shocked if it would have been born on or before Nov 2. I personally still have several days left:) hehe but we will see what the doc has to say this morning. Angela has been asking me to take her down one of the local unimproved roads that people use for mud bogging.:) Last night she even helped feed calves and move cattle on pasture (which turned into a long ordeal with much walking). She is holding up well, and other than the fact that she has developed Cankles (the diminished difference/loss of distinction between calves and ankles:) she has almost no swelling. Needless to say I think she is gonna hold out for a few more days. Then I get the extra cookies!! Wahooo

Back in the running!!!

Here is one more prego pic shot! On day 8 overdue. Now that my arm is in a sling, I think I am totally back in the running! What do you think?

Flashback...

I found this picture today while browsing through iPhoto of our first Thanksgiving together - ten years ago! Wowzers!:) It's hard to believe that was ten years ago already. I never like answering those questions on surveys about what do you see yourself doing in 3 yrs, 5 yrs, 10 yrs, etc. I wonder if that Thanksgiving we would have answered, "Hmm, in 10 years I think we will be on the verge of being new parents." Doubt it!:) Somehow, we still don't feel mature enough to raise up a little one. Thoughts we've been having...
Wonder
Excitement
Discouragement
Overwhelmed
Joy
Trepidation
Denial:)
Patience
Impatience
Curiosity
Worry (mostly me - trying to pray through that one!)
Peace

Sigh...I think I'll blame it on hormones for both of us:). 13 days til D-Day! May we rely on God's strength and not our own!

Long awaited "Preggo" Pictures

Since there has been an outcry from our constituents to see some preggo pictures, and the last set of pictures we go most people thought that I was more pregnant than Angela, we decided to do a 35.5 week update. I have been doing most everything in my power to keep up with A, but I am finding it difficult and am not sure that it is entirely fair beings this is a situation of 2 against 1. But in the words of the great Han Solo "NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS!":)


What do you think? I think I still have the edge:)

34 Weeks!

Today marks 34 weeks for our little growing one. The countdown til Nov. 2 is getting shorter everyday. Wowzers! It used to be every Thursday I would think on how many weeks we were and be excited to read about the stage the baby is in for the week. Now as we get further into the 30s, that excitement is mixed with quite a bit of anticipation and for me nervousness. I guess it still hasn't totally hit us that we are going to meet this little babe in roughly 6 weeks. I feel like we aren't prepared, yet I don't know how we ever could really be prepared for such an awesome responsibility.

They say if you think you need to wait until you're "ready" to have a child, you never really will be ready. Things will never be perfect. With major tension and transition on the farm, we wonder how our lives could be so crazy during the season we're expecting a child. Does God really know what He is doing? Our comfort...yes, emphatically yes, He does. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose...Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your understanding...For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things...Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer...Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

I thought I'd share a couple fun pics from the night of the baby shower that my mom and sister-in-law, Melissa threw for us. Melissa and Ben blessed us with a really neat baby carrier, and Jonathan had to try it out. The teddy bear is his from his childhood:)...

A Very Special Mother's Day

A week and a half ago, over Mother's Day weekend, Jonathan and I were highly blessed to be able to spend a few days with 11 awesome couples from our church at a marriage retreat (possibly the first ever such event for our church!). The pic is from a lovely dinner we had the second night to inspire romance. Brian and Lisa, good friends of ours with a young family, organized the event at a retreat type ranch in Southern Michigan, called Manowe. More details and photos to come on the retreat...

The night before we left for the retreat, my loving husband did something very special for me. He brought me home a bouquet of lilacs. Can I just tell you I have an awesome husband? We may not have children to run and laugh with this year for Mother's Day, but Jonathan blessed me with flowers to let me know to him we are parents. A miscarriage is an odd experience to try to explain and so hard to understand unless you've struggled through one, but God did bless us for a short time with the care of two tiny little growing babies. We believe they are now with Him and that is best according to His will. So, I joyfully accepted my first ever Mother's Day bouquet from my fellow sojourner, one who understands and sought to encourage me and not bury and hide our sufferings. There are others out there who also encouraged us that day, and we have been so blessed by the body of Christ. Thank you!!



And sometimes God trades our suffering for blessing. Sometimes He restores our soul in miraculous ways. We are blessed beyond words and cannot describe our emotions toward the little one you see in the next picture. Please join us in praising God and praying for a new little Shupe, expected this fall around November 2. We thank God for 17 weeks (as the doctors count) of health for mom and baby so far. Thank you to so many of you who have lifted us up. We feel we do not deserve this blessing and thank God for His goodness.




So, we introduce to you Baby Shupe:). This a picture at 14 weeks of his head (on the left) and part of his body (toward the right), with one little arm and hand giving you a wave hello toward the top of the picture. We're pretty excited:).

Joy, Joy, Joy!

We are so excited for friends Brad and Kristin, on the birth of their little girl Cora! She was born on Jan. 7 - woohoo! What a great family to be born into!:)

Resting in the hands of Jesus

I don't know how to write this email....
We have known for some time that Angela was pregnant. Then about 3 weeks ago Angela went in for an ultrasound and we found out that she was pregnant with twins! But, there looked to be some possible problems with one of them. She had another ultrasound 10 days later and we found out they are both dead.
This has been a tough few weeks, but Christ is faithful. It is good to be able to rest in the arms of Jesus and be able to trust in His sovereign grace. They have been very tough times, and yet Jesus has been so sweet, it is really hard to explain. This time has been stressful with this and alot of other things that were alluded to in the last post. And yet we have a very real understanding that God is good.
The only way I can really explain it maybe this:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:4-7
We appreciate your prayers to Christ, our comfort...

God's blessings to baby Lily!

Congratulations to special friends, Jeff and Candy in South Dakota on the arrival of their little miracle, Lily! What a blessing! We're so excited for you!!!