Mulberry girls - new or old - introduce yourselves

[corries2]

Originally Posted by mulberryfloss

I thought the exact same thing!!!! I thought it was maybe women who breastfed beyond when their little ones had got teeth, hence the crunching.....

NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


You put into words the worst nightmare MF.

What's the oldest child you've known still on the breast?

You sound so open-minded and supportive MF. It's not always guaranteed throughout the professionals delivering childbirth & post-childbirth care.

I'm very much live and let live, more on the BC & SJ side of the fence, but respect others' choices. We are much more enlightened in Scotland and don't allow children up chimneys until they are 8 years old.

[mamabenny]

MF - Yikes!!

I had no pain relief when in labour because the midwife "forgot" to check me during the night and then it was too late, I tried and failed to breast -feed, I co-sleep because my DS sneaks in during the night (at least he's not in it when we get into bed!) and my DS would be a veggie if only he would eat vegetables -he's a pastatarian who eats cheese strings, apples and weetabix...
I think I'm not a crunchy or a soggy mama-just a bad one

[Slowhand]

I guess I'm a crunchy. I breast fed DS1 for 2 years following the WHO advice at the time. DS2 for 18 months. Co - sleeping for the first 3 years with DS1 and a year with DS2 -all four of us in an 8' bed I had planned to have a water birth but things went very wrong and I ended up having an emergency c section. Planned c section with DS2 following MRI that showed it was not possible to give birth naturally. Veggie too.

[LovinMyMulberry]

Originally Posted by mamabenny

MF - Yikes!! I had no pain relief when in labour because the midwife "forgot" to check me during the night and then it was too late, I tried and failed to breast -feed, I co-sleep because my DS sneaks in during the night (at least he's not in it when we get into bed!) and my DS would be a veggie if only he would eat vegetables -he's a pastatarian who eats cheese strings, apples and weetabix... I think I'm not a crunchy or a soggy mama-just a bad one

Fabulous!!

[orkneydaisy]

Originally Posted by Flossie

I was a NCT Mummy , breastfed mine until I returned to work , I actually went against my midwife's advice when she told me to supplement with a bottle , no pain relief as I coped with just breathing techniques and hot bathes and that was a long time ago . Four huge babies , largest 10lbs 4 oz and teeny me 5lb 2 oz . Co sleeping only occured through necessity with my daughter who didn't sleep through until she was three and a half . I'm not veggie though although we do eat organic fruit and veg . My kids ate everything and still do . Does that make me a bit crunchy ???

I have had sooo much cr*p both times from midwives telling me to bottlefeed my babies as they were huge (9lb 8oz/8lb 11oz), and from Health visitors telling me '5 months is long enough, you should move onto the bottle now' - I dont think my HV knew quite what to make of me, I stay in quite a 'ned' populated health authority too, she told me I was the ONLY mum she had who on her rota who breastfed

[Poppy bagfan]

Originally Posted by sarajane

^^Totally agree MF. I bottle fed out of choice but my midwife made me feel like the worst mother ever, well, she tried to but I just ignored her! I'm the complete opposite of crunchy I guess. Two planned caesareans because of massive breech babies (both blasted times!), bottle fed, own rooms after a few days. Naturally they were out working at the age of five.....

OOh totally agree SJ!

And like CF i had a horrendous time with mad (sorry) midwives - DD nearly starved to death cos they were determined she would breast feed.....I was so ill I had empty boobs, but it did not stop a male midwife half lying on my bed and twiddling my nipples to try to make them produce something....DD was so ravenous that she kept falling asleep/unconscious!!!

BUT she slept thru the night from 6 weeks! (once on the bottle)

very few breast feeders can claim that....in my expereicne.

[mssw157]

I guess I was more of a crunchy. Had my girls at 36 and 39 yrs, gas/air was the only pain relief, breastfed up to 6 months and co-sleeping only occurred because I was too lazy to get up in the middle of the night and get them out of bed for their feeds... For their first year they only got organic, I was probably more strict with DD1, now they get anything...No vegetarians here but they prefer their veg and don't like meat very much anyway.

Poppy - totally agree re sleeping through! Mine only started sleeping through when they went on the bottle!

[Poppy bagfan]

I was so damaged physically by the O+G registrar who examined me to see if i was inducible ( due to pre eclampsia) that when the midwife came to examine me to see if i was dilating she could not get in - is it called vaginismus?? anyway i had to have an epidural purely so they could see if i was dliating - all becaseu i was assaulted by the doctor!!

Wish i had filed a complaint but it was not the worst thing that happened....

The whole expereicne was just hellish!

Wish i had had MF by my side!

[charliefarlie]

Just adding that I am the veggie, DS gets offered meat, but isn't keen - he is a Cheerioatarian . It was more other Mums who looked down me for not breastfeeding, I live in a very "new age" area, they are all very crunchy here and are not tolerant to soggys! One midwife in hospitl had me in tears over the breast feeding issue, I wish I had reported her. Once I was out, the HVs and MWs were brilliant, think they could sense how close I ws to a break down!

[Flossie]

Originally Posted by mrsvincenoir

Iron fist in a velvet glove eh? Love it!! So nice to 'see' you again, been so busy have had very little me time lately, must remedy that and get my balance right!!

Nice to see you too MrsV .

[mamabenny]

Well whether crunchy or soggy or somewhere else-united colours of Mulberry!!

[hulahoop]

[sarajane]

Originally Posted by Poppy bagfan

OOh totally agree SJ! And like CF i had a horrendous time with mad (sorry) midwives - DD nearly starved to death cos they were determined she would breast feed.....I was so ill I had empty boobs, but it did not stop a male midwife half lying on my bed and twiddling my nipples to try to make them produce something....DD was so ravenous that she kept falling asleep/unconscious!!! BUT she slept thru the night from 6 weeks! (once on the bottle) very few breast feeders can claim that....in my expereicne.

I have nothing but admiration for midwives and nurses (a couple of each in my family & friends) but my experience of them was sadly lacking. First time around most new mums are so unsure of themselves and look to the medical profession for advice.
I ended up kicking a HV out of my house when she told me son no 1 was just being difficult (at six days old) when he wouldn't feed. Turned out he had a serious urinary tract infection and was rushed to ICU.
My faith went downhill fast after that and I didn't bother with any of them second time around.

[klp0213]

Wow, what a great thread!

My name is Kellan, I'm 28 and American, born and bred. I met my DH on the internet, the same website as my mom and step-dad. We had a whirlwind courtship and were married six months after meeting. I emigrated a few months later and have been here ever since. I miss home a lot, especially around the holiday, but we're thinking of moving back in a few years.

I have a 17-month-old daughter who keeps me on my toes. I was dead-set on breastfeeding, had bought loads of breastfeeding tops, but she was born a month early on the day before my birthday..... The birth was straightforward and very fast - six hours from waters breaking to 7lb 11oz baby in my arms - no drugs at all, laboured in water but the midwives made me give birth on dry land. Unfortunately she had a severe case of jaundice - had to have phototherapy in an incubator and IV fluids for nearly a week. The jaundice made her so tired that she couldn't muster the energy to breastfeed and I was so desperate to get her out of the hospital that I said we'd bottle-feed. I'd had about 12 hours sleep in five days after the birth thanks to docs & midwives storming in at all hours to check on us. It was the best and worst week of my life.

I was and still am so disappointed not to have breastfed but we tried and tried and Miss M just wouldn't have it. I don't feel guilty but do feel a lot of regret and failure about that. I hope to breastfeed baby number 2 whenever we can face having another one!

When I was in high school I was quite a hippy, even acted in a community theatre production of HAIR the summer after graduation. I love animals, cats in particular (we have one very skittish cat named Sam, and a couple lovely visiting cats too), and will go out of my way to make sure an animal is being cared for.

I used to be a vegetarian but no longer - though occasionally I'll go off meat completely and won't eat it for weeks. I'm an incredibly fussy eater, so much so that it's easier to give a list of what I can eat rather than what I don't like.

I'm an artist though haven't done much in a few years. My art is what I would call abstract tribal - kind of like those tribal tattoos you see on people's biceps. I use black ink on white paper. I'd upload a pic but am using DH's laptop as my hard drive crashed!

I dabbled in jewellery making but gave up as got too impatient. I've worked in hotels at the front desk, in offices as the manager/receptionist and in restaurants. I always wanted to be a mum and now that's what I do full-time. It's the hardest job I've ever had, but also the most rewarding.

I love to travel, to be near the sea/ocean, look at stars, go hiking, see movies, go to concerts & comedy shows. Music is a big passion of mine - I love Dave Matthews, Beck, Ani Difranco, Coldplay, U2, Keene, Frank Sinatra, and loads of others. I'm the treasurer for my local NCT group and love meeting up with all the other crunchy mamas. I love to bake and cook - Thanksgiving and Christmas afford me the opportunity to cook lots of yummy food.

And, most importantly (in this forum anyway!) I love Mulberry. I once saw a photo of an oak Roxanne in a magazine quite a few years ago and fell in love. Couldn't afford one at the time so waited and waited and eventually sprung for an oak Emmy in the June sale 2007. Found tPF in September of 2008 and haven't looked back! I love the chat, seeing people's reveals and the fact that we're all so different and yet still have Mulberry obsession in common.

Sorry, didn't mean to write a novel!

[flyvetjo]

Great novel KLP!!!

Back to the crunchy earth mother topic. I tried breastfeeding my twins and then number 3 when he came along but ended up topping up with bottled milk each time. Felt alot of pressure to breast feed and felt a complete flop when it didn't work out.
A friend of mine has had 3 boys, successfully breast fed no 1, couldn't feed no 2 at all and ended up bottle feeding, no 3 is being breast fed successfully. Sometimes it's the mother/ child combo, NOT all the mothers fault!
No co-sleeping in this house except me and DH. They've been in their own beds since day 1!
Did try cloth nappies with no 3 and thought they were fab!
Maybe I'm slightly crunchy but mainly just a slummy mummy!!!!! Main thing is that the whole family is happy with the choices made,there is no perfect parent, it's all a learning curve.