National Breastfeeding Month: A Glimpse Into My Breastfeeding Journey

The following guest post comes to us via Cynthia.

breastfeedingBreastfeeding is the most natural, rewarding, challenging, frustrating, amazing, and empowering thing I have ever done. While I was in my second trimester of pregnancy, I was starting to make all kinds of decisions about how I wanted to care for my baby, including diapers, daycare, pediatrician, and breastfeeding. After doing the research and talking to other women about breastfeeding, I decided it was the best decision for me. There are amazing benefits.


I was referred to a lactation consultant. I called this woman my fairy milk mother.


In fact, there are so many great benefits the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a health initiative around breastfeeding and recommends that babies be breastfed through 6 months of age. A breastfed baby gets a nutritional superfood (to use a popular phrase) that is so dense with beneficial vitamins, minerals, and fats that the list of ingredients is long enough to fill several sheets of paper (women’s bodies are pretty spectacular).

Breast milk is powerful stuff, too. Studies show that breast milk will boost the immune system of the baby and benefit the mother’s health as well, in addition to reducing her chance of breast cancer. Additionally, breastfeeding reduces the rate of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and future obesity for infants as they go into childhood and adulthood. Oh, and breastfeeding helps a mom shed her pregnancy pounds quicker — bonus!

Breastfeeding also provides the opportunity to bond with a baby in a close and personal way (the AAP makes note of this benefit too). My favorite times were when I could sit with my son on my lap and just relax. I didn’t do anything else but touch his soft baby skin, look at his toes and fingers, store in my memory the chubby cheeks, little nose, and rosebud lips, and lovingly stroked his back and legs. Thinking about it now, the sweet scent of my little one comes back to me. There is never another moment like when a child is an infant. Soon they will be crawling, walking, and then running. And that close time does wonders for a baby, providing reassurance, confidence, and a closeness that lasts beyond infancy. Continue reading

Let’s Talk Contraception: Using Condom Sense — Safe and Sexy!

Photo: somethingstartedcrazy via Flickr

Photo: Flickr/ somethingstartedcrazy

Condoms. You know you should use them to protect against sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, but somehow the thought of possibly reducing pleasure for that protection may stop a lot of people from using condoms as often as they should.

Originally made from animal skins or intestines, condoms have been used for centuries. Not much about them has changed for hundreds of years. The old one-size-rubber-fits-all mentality, however, is a thing of the past. The sheer variety of new condoms on the market can take your sexual enjoyment to a new level, while still keeping you protected.


Condoms can be flavored, colored, or textured. They can glow in the dark or vibrate, or be vegan or custom fitted. Above all, they protect against STDs and pregnancies.


Condoms now come in an assortment of styles, sizes, flavors, colors, and textures. They can be lubricated or non-lubricated and even made to custom fit. Whatever your pleasure, there is probably a condom for you and your partner that will protect your health and enhance your experience. What to choose? Let’s look at some of the options available today.

Most condoms are made of latex. These are probably the least expensive and they also protect really well against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy. For those with an allergy to latex, there are polyurethane or polyisoprene condoms.  Continue reading