Something of An Update

Even before I became a mother I had moments where I thought it would be kind of handy if I could clone myself.  When I had kids I really started thinking somebody should be looking into that idea because moms would be a built in market.  But this week?  Woah.  I don’t just need clones, I need a whole staff.  This whole work at home thing kind of means kids make gargantuan messes while mom pretends not to notice.  Or is that just at my house?

As my kids were destroying the house today and Smunchie discovered she could pull all the books off the book shelves as well as empty the baskets of DVDs and VHS (yes, we still have VHS, I know, I know) all over the floor, I was doing all kinds of fun things.  I tackled emails, forum registration approvals, read some articles where my name and/or TLB was mentioned, talked to Sheri (multiply this by 9 and disperse throughout day), did a couple of pre-interview phone calls, burnt a loaf of bread, listened to a pitch idea from a photographer friend of mine (I like the idea), wrote a letter to Facebook (more on that later), read more articles and a few blogs, popped in and out of Facebook and Twitter from time to time, drafted out a few blog post thoughts before I forgot them, made the worst beef soup ever, spent a bit of time playing outside with my girls and had my neighbor come up to me and say “I support boobies.”  That last thing there really made my day.  I’m serious, he’s a grandpa and he supports boobies, he even clarified that he supported breastfeeding, after he made a joke that is.  Which I laughed at because it was funny.

Somewhere in there we even had our Epiphany celebration: chocolate coins found in shoes along with rock crayons, face pencils, a box of maple teething biscuits, and then sitting down to a homemade King’s Cake (courtesy of The Piano Man) to find the Baby Jesus (a raw red kidney bean) and crown the lucky girl who found him (the bean) queen for the day.

Now that the girls are all in bed I sit here with a glass of wine, chunks of the inside of the blackened loaf of bread, and a bit of cheese looking at a to-do list that got longer instead of shorter, a collection of media stories that is more than a little overwhelming, trying to ignore the video tapes all over the floor and feeling guilty that I haven’t called my mom in 5 days.  Tonight my biggest goal is to finish writing at least one piece not including this one.

Tomorrow (today by the time this is published) is another busy day.  Aside from picking up DVDs and books multiple times there are pictures (say CHEESE!), an interview on camera at the park, home, feed kids, emails and website work, Facebook, podcast phone interview with the lovely Tanya from Motherlove Blog, and then I think I’ll be closing my computer for the evening to play a game with my family and watch Grey’s Anatomy with The Piano Man on Hulu.

While the media coverage has been overwhelming, the fast paced growth of the now reinstated Facebook page (which has been up for 36 hours now) has blown me away, and the incredible supportive help of many has humbled and touched me, it has been the comments shared by new Leakies that have energized me, reminding me of why I’m doing this.  These comments speak to the need for places like The Leaky B@@b on Facebook and why Facebook needs to change their method of responding to flagged and reported posts and pages with obscene content.  I leave with a few of these comments.

“As someone who is 9 months pregnant and planning on breast feeding- I love that this is here for us- I have to say I have NO experience breast feeding and honestly, being able to see the different ways babies “latch” is important! I recently got a breast pump- and the instructions were censored, the drawing of the wome…n have their hands in front of of their nipples in every single example, I am still not really sure how to use the pump and exactly what part of my nipple goes where because they censored the instructions! Thank you for a safe place like here to ask questions and see tasteful, non- sexual pictures of real women breast feeding real babies- it gives me hope that I can do it myself and that I will in fact figure it all out!”

“You have come to the right place! Although I just joined these wonderful ladies, I can’t explain how valuable it is to have such a community to come to. I have 4 children, two were formula fed simply because I knew NOTHING about breastfeeding, and had very little support (my mom encouraged me, but FF me, so really had to clue how to help). When I was pregnant with my 3rd I learned everything I could, and successfully nursed for 17 months. Now, we have our 4th, and she is a champion nurser. Education can make all the difference, so you are on the right track! Congrats mama!”

“I am tearing up right now… I just posted days ago that I need more moms in my life. I found you all at the perfect time. I thank you from my heart & soul. ♥ looking fwd to helping others & receiving help as well. Big hugs to all!”

“I’m so glad this page is allowed to stay up..this is my first time breastfeeding..I couldn’t with my first daughter..so any knowledge I can get is very helpful”

“I AM SOOOOOOO GLAD TO SEE YOU BACK!!!!!! I actually cried when i got on to check in and the Leaky B@@b was gone! Thank you to all the Leakies for all their support! I would not still be breastfeeding if it wasn’t for you guys!!!!!:)”

“Hey y’all! I wish I’d known about this page when I was BFing my son! Sad I’m just finding it now! At least I’ll have it for next time!” (This Leakie also shared a link to her own blog post on this, I enjoyed it, made me laugh.)

This is why I do it.

Has TLB meant something special to you?  How do you carve time out of your day to visit the FB page and ask questions and give support to others?  Anyone else’s baby/toddler obsessed with pulling out the DVDs and clearing the bookshelves?

Comments

  1. TLB has made me feel more comfortable in nursing my toddler and letting her self-wean when it’s time. The page is so busy it’s hard to keep up lately, but during my regular browsing sessions, I make it a point to stop by. I am glad you’re back! And it’s nice to see this site up and running so it’s a one-stop shop.
    My LO likes to dump all of her blocks and the legos out. She doesn’t pull the books out unless it’s a kid book to read, thank goodness, but she does like to try to change dvds and of course wants to do it herself. 🙂

  2. My toddler (13.5 months) has a HUGE issue with ANYTHING being on a shelf, in a basket, in a box.. don’t you know EVERYTHING belongs in the floor? Some days it infuriates me.. other days I ignore it for another day… and other days I am able to deal with it just fine and keep up with him lol. We find time for facebook when he is nursing/sleeping (as he sleeps ON me) 🙂 I actually get to spend a LOT of time on the computer as he still nurses quite a bit and still takes 2-3 naps a day 🙂 WHOOT! 🙂 LOL.. When the boys are off playing I can sometimes sneak over here to the computer too.. though I try to use that time for cleaning 🙂

    TLB is SO important. I can’t believe the breast pump instructions are censored! HOW does that help? Latch, support, BF questions.. they all need a place.. TLB is that place! 🙂 Love you Jessica and LOVE The Leaky B@@b : )

  3. Nicole smith says

    Yes my 3 year old and 20 month old tear out everything all day long. My day consist of cleaning up the same books, dvds, and vhs (yes we have them to) at least 5 times a day. Not to mention they tear every toy out of the toy bin daily. Sometimes I have to let it go or it will drive me crazy.

  4. Holly Stewart says

    TLB was an invaluable resource for me after the birth of my daughter in October 2009. Being that my daughter and Smunchie are very close in age, I felt like you were going through everything I was going through – and that was nice.

    Not only did I loose TLB, I lost my account as well – for a breastfeeding photo. I am glad to see TLB is back, but I am still unable to get Facebook to reinstate my account, or hear anything from them at all for that matter. In this time when I am transitioning from having an infant to a toddler (and all the nursing struggles that go with it) and planning to add a second baby to the family this year (and all the nursing questions of nursing while pregnant and tandem nursing) I would feel at a loss with TLB, but without my account, I am lost. Facebook attacking women in their time of needing support is wrong and discriminatory.

    My account has been down since December 8th 2010.

    There is a Facebook group in support of my return. I can only hope that if it gets enough members, maybe Facebook will pay attention.
    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?react=1294424396%3Ac9abb0226287cec66f510c63c156d24d#!/home.php?sk=group_138037516252020

    I have contacted my local news stations in my area, and I have already heard back from 1. I have a tentative on-camera interview regarding this whole issue on Mon or Tues. I plan on mentioning TLB.

    Glad to see you back and I hope one day Facebook wont be as discriminatory as it is today.

    PS – Books, DVDs, Photo albums, you name it, and my daughter rips it off the shelf over… and over…. and over…. and over again. 🙂

  5. My oldest (2 1/2) has just learned where we keep all the dvd and video game cases!! She is driving me crazy!
    I am very glad that this site has been re-instated. While I have never had a FB picture removed for breastfeeding, I feel for every single woman out there who just wants to show her support for the cause, and find other women to connect with over the experience. I unsucessfully breastfed my older daughter, and with my second I probably wouldn’t have made it without sites like this one (I didn’t know of this one until after we had made it past the ‘rough patch’, but a similar site was my saving grace) and it is just awesome to know that the resources are here for women who, unlike me, reach out for support instead of sitting in the dark hoping for answers to fall from the sky.
    I applaud all of you who are supporting breastfeeding, I know that without the support of my own family I would never have accomplished what I have today (my 10 month old is a nursing champ despite what everyone tells me about ‘needing to wean’ her) and I will continue to support breastfeeding however I can.. be it helping someone in a faculty such as this.. or simply by whipping out a boob in public to feed my hungry child!

  6. I am so glad I found the TLB. I would be lost without it. TLB is the only “person” in my life that has helped me with the ups and downs of breastfeeding my children. You have helped me tremendously. I can’t put into words the way TLB has made me feel. I had been so against breastfeeding my baby past one year, but now I am going to nurse till she is ready to be done. Thank you for all the support and help you have given me. Oh and my daughter just turned 9 months old and just discovered the DVD rack. I am constantly picking up the DVDs off the floor and taking them out of her mouth.

  7. Love the photos on the FB page and all the great tips on your page have been a huge help! Great source of inspiration to keep going!

    btw… My 9 month old thinks it is a riot to pull things off shelves now… I can only imagine what she will be like when she is toddler.

  8. I’m currently nursing my 3rd child who is 10 months while writing this. Thankfully, I’ve had tons of support from family, friends, and within our church from the beginning with my first son. He was born 5 weeks early, in NICU for 9 days, and then finally was able to come home. In order to BF him those first few days I had to pump…it was a miserable experience, but I’m glad I did it because breastfeeding became such a wonderful, invaluable experience. When at 5 weeks my son needed surgery, I was able to nurse closer to the surgery and soon after, where if I had to use formula, we would have both been more miserable than we already were! Then, due to some tests I had, I had to EBF for 48 hours….just that was enough to convince me of the convenience of BFing.
    My 2nd and 3rd have both been different BFing experiences, but there have been times where the extra knowledge of what to do or what is wrong (tongue-tie) would have been so helpful. I’m glad there is a support group online that I can easily access from home.
    And, yes, my kids terrorize my house on a daily basis also! The baby has just found the books and thinks they are her personal teethers…

  9. Yes, my house sounds so much like yours, except on a smaller scale…we don’t have reporters knocking on our door! 🙂

    Thank you for what you are doing for women and babies. Each fight, big or small, makes a difference. Breastfeeding moms need the support of other experienced nursing moms. Your facebook page is making a difference one mother and baby pair at a time. Never give up on the fight!

  10. Holly, did that FB take your page down? I tried following the link and it went to my newsfeed instead. Please email me your information and the pics you think were the problem. I really want to help you get your page back.

    Everyone, thank you for sharing how TLB has helped you, it means so much to me. Thank you, I am touched. It also helps to know that I’m not the only one with a destructo-babe. It’s hopeless!

  11. Another page was shut down last night! Earthy Motherhood was an awesome FB page that helped lots of women.. here’s the link to the group dedicated to bringing her back!
    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/Bring-Back-Earthy-Motherhood/117407784999525
    Outrageous!!

  12. I just heard about TLB when it came up on the news and was super excited to learn that there was a breastfeeding support group. I was on the verge of completely quitting & I posted my problem on FB. I immediately received so many words of encouragement & advice that it was hard to respond because more comments were posted. It is amazing to have so many women want to help in just one area. I had a good support team from my sister who nursed successfully to my husband. But to have other women who are so encouraging is…well there are no words. FANTASTIC! Thank you TLB for being so supportive. GO BOOBIES!