Where Are The Rainbow Farting Unicorns? When Pregnancy and Postpartum Suck. 

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Hello Leakies,

Jeremy from Beyond Moi here, the man-behind-TLB, aka: The Piano Man, or the X-Factor (just kidding, but I’m referring to the fact that we only have girls). Every once and a while I get to write the editorial for our newsletter, where round up noteworthy articles and conversations from the previous week, and we share information on a particular topic. Today, we are zooming in on a tough one: Mental Health, and I am thrilled that we are, as it is so important. (And a special, more in-depth look at how botanicals can help, here.)

As a culture, we spend a whole lot of time making sure that all the physical pieces of our life look presentable to the world. From our homes, our kitchens, our yard, our cars, to our kids, and our own bodies, we want the world to know that we’ve got this. We’re on top of things. We’re not overwhelmed, we are on a surfboard ripping through everything life has to throw at us, and it’s a thrill. We’re having the time of our lives. Our Instagram and Facebook feeds are full of our grand adventure. And even when we let reality encroach on our carefully curated virtual lives, it is done in a calculated way. We know that there is nothing quite as fake as perfection, so a few flaws help to really make our masterpiece shine.

What is it that many of us have to hide?

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.


Jeremy Martin-Weber
Writer, speaker, father of 6 girls
BeyondMoi.com

 

Does Nourishing our babies have to be THIS hard?! Food drama and Allergies- there’s a difference.

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

This email is generously sponsored by our friends at

Mommy Moosli logo

____________________

What do you do when feeding your baby makes them sick? When the very thing that they need to survive is hurting them, maybe even killing them?

Food sensitivities can be a huge challenge. Food allergies can be deadly. All of it can directly undermine a parent’s confidence, not to mention make every day life scary.

There are no easy answers but there are people who’ve been there.

Leaky, RN, and TLBC Facebook group admin Heather Mackles, shares her journey with us and some info on what parents need to be aware of as possible signs of allergies.

Read more here of her journey and information and support for others.

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

And don’t miss out on the amazing giveaway featuring Mommy Moosli, Wean Green, 5 Phases bottles, Evenflo Feeding, Innobaby, and Belibea Bra all supporting you to be fully nourished.

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com

 

Cut the controversy, Fed IS Best!

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Dear Leakies, 

The number one rule in breastfeeding support is feed the baby.

Always.

Sure, how we feed them is important but nothing is as important as feeding the baby. With #TLBnourish we’re focusing on how we’re doing that together recognizing that pressure of how to do so can make that more difficult. Instead, we’re exploring the diversity of what nourishing really looks like.

From breast and bottle to introducing solids to the 21 meals a week (plus snacks), there is so much more involved than simply nutrition.

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

And don’t miss out on the amazing giveaway featuring Mommy Moosli, Wean Green, 5 Phases bottles, Evenflo Feeding, Innobaby, and Belibea Bra all supporting you to be fully nourished.

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com

 

What is it to nourish ourselves- Let Love Flo? And 2 giveaways and a discount code

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Dear Leakies,

Around TLB we talk a lot about the oxygen mask principle, that you can’t help others if you haven’t taken care of yourself because you’re no good to anybody passed out.

But that’s often easier said than done. Our society has such high esteem for the boot strap mentality that self-care is interpreted as weakness when it is anything but.

Leakies, we need to be nourished though. Can we Let Love Flo for ourselves? Many of us are quite literally nourishing our children with our own bodies and coming from a place of being empty mentally, emotionally, and physically isn’t healthy for anyone, including our children.

So what can we do?

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com

 

Parenting Broken and Finding Joy

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Dear Leakies,

Where are the perfect parents? I mean, where on earth are all those perfect parents?

Because they’re not here.

And I can tell you for certain, they’re not there either.

We’re not perfect parents. How could we be? We’re a mess. And those who say they aren’t either haven’t had kids yet, or haven’t had their second kid yet and still think they somehow mined pure parenting gold from the rich mines of their intellect and wisdom. I know because I was one of them. Turns out it was fool’s gold. I mean no disrespect for you first-timers. If it’s really easy for you, please enjoy it. But please don’t make the mistake of thinking that your experience should be everyone’s experience. Because it can’t be. And it won’t be for you if you decide to give your baby a sibling.

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

Jeremy Martin-Weber
Writer, BeyondMoi.com

 

24173d4e-b905-4519-9a03-db53a479d5c1

Don’t Read This If You Don’t Have Time

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Dear Leakies,

Happy Mother’s Day Week. I hope it is everything that you want it to be and you know today and every day that you matter, you’re appreciated, and you are loved.

We’re keeping it short and simple this week because sometimes all we really need is to hear that we’re ok.

So, here you go.

You are ok. You’ve got this. You matter. You are appreciated.

Keep loving on,

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

P.S. Preparing for summer travel, we did a chat about traveling with the breastfeeding baby, find Leaky tips here along with info on Mamava Lactation pods.

We’re Paying It Forward- Are You?

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Dear Leakies,

You’ve probably heard of the idea to “pay it forward”. The concept is that any kindness you receive, instead of repaying, our society would be a better place if we payed it forward to someone else rather than the original benefactor.

Indeed, it is a moving and beautiful idea and has become increasingly popular. From buying coffee for the person in line behind you to cleaning a friend’s house when they have a new baby, more and more of us are experiencing kindness being paid forward instead of repaid. It has more than the power to make someone’s day, it strengthens us as individuals and as a community.

So it goes with support. In many ways there is no way to truly repay the support we experience as we begin our parenting journey. When it comes to feeding support, this feels particularly true. It is vital, truly essential that we feed our children. How could we ever pay the people that help us figure that out?

The truth is, we can’t.

But we can support forward. Drawing from our own personal experiences, we can provide parent to parent support for the next new parents. At The Leaky Boob, it is #TLBsupportForward that keeps us going. Leakies never graduate from TLB, even when they hang up their nursing tanks. Because we support forward.

Whether your experience was everything you imagined, nothing you expected, rainbows and butterflies, or practically the fires of Mordor, your story matters and you have valuable support to offer others. Avoiding unsupportive support that breeds fearinsecuritylays blameunderminesis self-servingcreates doubt for a profit, and shames, with respect and gentleness, you can make a difference by supporting forward. That difference can build up the confidence of a new mother or father.

And that makes us all stronger.

Feed with love,

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

 

…Cause No One Really Gives a Sh*t

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Hi Leakies!

Well hello there wall, didn’t realize you were there until I ran into you… with my face.

Unless you are some kind of superhero, and even the they all have their moments of weakness, nobody can keep going indefinitely. We run out of steam. Burn out. Hit the wall.

Sometimes over and over again.

So when you hit the wall? How do you pick back up?

I don’t know. Well, I don’t know what will work for you. No tried and true way, one-size-fits-all option. There are some steps you can take to prevent hitting that wall, prevention is always the best way to go if you can (and we have some ideas for you here) but let’s be honest, sometimes we can’t prevent the wall-kiss.

Here are a few ways I’ve found to recover. These aren’t feel-good inspiring tips. These aren’t cheap spa pampering tricks you can do on your own at home. These aren’t pretty, flowery ideas of warm fuzzies.

These are the raw, real deal when you’ve smashed into a wall and you’ve got to get back up again.

Let it out. Scream, swear, cry, and throw some punches. On your own, away from anyone or to a safe adult partner who can respect your venting without taking it personally, yell about the wall and the stress that got you there. If it helps, drop a few cathartic f-bombs, punch a pillow, ugly cry, or storm outside and release a guttural yell from your primal side. While this could be scary for your children if it happens in front of your kids, if that does happen- because most of us do blow up at least once in a while in front of our kids- they’ll be ok, so will you. Apologize, share that you too sometimes have strong feelings, and work on recognizing your triggers sooner.

Scrub it out. I don’t love cleaning, I’m not one of those people that feels great satisfaction in cleaning. In fact, I hate it. But I sometimes love aggressively attacking the mold that may sprout in the caulking of our bathtub. It is a safe place for me to take my anger out and eliminate something that is just pissing me off.

Run it out. Or whatever workout helps you sweat and hurt and burn.

Turn it up. Blast the angry girl music of your teens, headbang in your living room, belt out the dance beats until you collapse from exhaustion.

Eat it up. Sure, healthy choices would be best and maybe a carrot will provide you a satisfying crunch (hahahahaha!) but it may require something more extreme such as shoving chocolate in your mouth while hiding in the bathroom. You’ll recover just as soon as you pick yourself up off the floor.

Sleep it off. Getting more of this may have helped avoid it in the first place but once you’ve run into the wall and smashed your head in, whatever it takes, sleep. Family nap time. Skip school to sleep in one day… or two. Make popcorn for dinner and move bedtime for everyone earlier. SLEEP.

Turn it on. The T.V. that is. Get yourself some space to deal with the wall you’ve crashed into by letting your child(ren) get absorbed into their favorite alternate reality. They can handle some binge watching of Sophia the First on Netflix. Everyone will recover.

Pick it up. Grab the phone and call or text someone. Maybe even someone you’ve never considered connecting with. We’re not meant to be isolated and I promise you, you are not the first parent to run into a wall. Someone else is right along with you. Ask for help- company on a walk, a play date, or even someone to watch your kids for a couple of hours so you can cry into a glass of wine.

Breathe it in. Oxygen helps clear our head and a deep breath can slow our heart rate and stop the fight or flight response. Breathe.

The wall sometimes turns out to be exactly what we needed to make changes for more sustainable choices in our lives. It can reveal where our expectations are not in line with reality, where abuse may be occurring, where isolation is defeating. After you recover from the wall, taking stock of what got you there in first place can help you recover more than anything else as you adjust accordingly.

Keep on keeping on, Leakies.

Peace,

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, theleakyboob.com

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

Are You A Brave Parent or a Wimp? Risking the Mess- Getting Creative with your Kids

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Hi Leakies!

Spring Break! Parents of school age children have either been dreading having the kids home for a whole week, or looking forward to it with hopeful expectation. Now that Spring Break is here, many parents can’t wait for school to start again. Even the hopeful ones were grossly underprepared, and they ran through all their fun activities within a day or two. Now what?

Yet other parents are enjoying their time at Disney, or on the beach somewhere, or some other vacation destination full of entertainment for the kids, and cocktails for the adults. Chances are, if you’re reading this newsletter, that’s not you – it’s certainly not me. For the rest of us, we are acutely aware of how many more days we have until the school routine returns with our sanity, while wanting to make the most of the time we actually have with our kids. “Let’s not blow it!” we think. And let’s not forget the work at home parents, who have the extra pressure of still knocking out work with kids underfoot and in their ears – not to mention on their nerves!

How do we keep boredom at bay while encouraging our kids to get creative about play? We have a few ideas for you here.

*This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.

 

Parenting Advice You Can Trash- Take Your Advice And Shove It

LeakyBoobLogo_NoTag

Dear Leakies,

New parent?

ALL THE ADVICE FOR YOU!

It goes with the territory. Annoying, sometimes helpful, usually not, and often completely baffling. Everyone has not just an opinion, no, somehow they’re all experts.

I have one piece of advice to give myself…

Just do you and ignore the advice unless you don’t want to, then don’t.

Ok, I have a second one…

Trust yourself. You’re going to make mistakes but you can learn and you can discern. Trust yourself.

Often, we doubt ourselves and a little bit of doubt can be good, can help us sharpen our skills, educate ourselves better, and double check when making decisions. But too much doubt can leave us completely frozen in our parenting. Children don’t need perfect parents (good thing because that will never happen), they just need parents that are trying and doing so with confidence. (In spite of the conflicting voices in their head!

What to do with all the advice? Pick what works for you and don’t worry about the rest.

And when you’re just not sure, that’s what your community is for. Bounce ideas off of them and see what feels right to you. (Why do moms crowd source medical decisions? See here.) You’re doing fine, you’ve got this.

Keep calm and parent on,

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com

This is an excerpt from our TLB email, to continue reading, click here.