The Milk Maid Coeur d’Alene

11/07/2024

I appreciate everything. Thank you so much for making my birthday a fantastic celebration with your thoughtful birthday wishes, which touched my heart. Thank you a million for always considering me when making plans. You made my day special and brightened my spirits on this memorable occasion.

11/02/2024

I was looking back at my birth photos… (because that’s what you do when your baby is sleeping, IYKYK💁🏻‍♀️)

In the first photo you can see Gio is looking purple-y. If you haven’t seen many (or any) fresh babies the color can seem alarming. It’s very normal for babies to come out all shades of pink or purple. We see pale white/grey or blue babies sometimes too.

I thought it’d be a good time to talk about APGAR scoring. If you’ve had a baby before, you might remember hearing the phrase.

APGAR is a system created by Virginia Apgar used to observe how baby is adjusting to life outside of the womb. Babies are given score at one minute, five minutes & ten minutes post birth. The scoring system is zero to ten points with ten being the best. To put it simply babies who score seven or more are adjusting well, babies who score between four & are showing signs of moderate distress & babies who score less than four are in immediate need of resuscitation efforts.

APGAR is a nemonic.
A for activity or muscle tone.
P for pulse.
G for grimace or reflex.
A for appearance or color.
R for respiration.

Each category the baby can receive a maximum of two points.

Gio’s APGAR score was an eight or nine at one minute and ten at five minutes. A perfectly healthy, normal little purple baby. Even though his coloring was off his muscle tone, pulse, reflexes, & respirations were all normal!

Short story long, babies come in a variety of colors fresh out the womb. If you see a purple-y one, there’s no need to be alarmed💜

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10/02/2024

October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. Every year for the past 8 years we have hosted a vigil for our community to gather, remember and honor the babies that have left us far too soon.

In years past, we have hosted the vigil at Sanders Beach in CDA. But this year we have a lovely new location thanks for a wonderful community member who offered up her private lake front home for us to use.

To learn more about the event and RSVP to attend, please fill out the Google Doc in our linktree. If you can't make the event in person but would still like to submit your baby's name to be honored in our hearts release ceremony, you can also fill out the Google form. We hope to see you there. It's an event we wish we didn't need. But grief demands a space to be held, felt and healed. That is why we are so committed to hosting this event each year.

09/11/2024

09/05/2024

My tiny baby slept for five hours last night. Which is a win in the realm of rest, but I woke up with a sore breast/feeling feverish & achy bones. These are usually my earliest signs of a clogged milk duct.

I’m very prone to clogged ducts because I had reoccurring mastitis with my oldest that I believe damaged my breast tissue in my left breast thanks to undiagnosed severe oral ties💁🏻‍♀️

Anyway, I haven’t had a clogged duct progress into full blown mastitis since my first. These are some things that I find helpful.

Happy ducts tincture from is my first step any time I feel a clogged duct coming on. I usually follow that with arnica 30c, & a warm shower. Then I spend the rest of the day, or until I feel better, resting & nourishing my body. I continue to nurse on demand, & sometimes will hand express in the shower or pump to help with engorgement.

If a few doses of happy ducts doesn’t clear the clog, or if my breast begins to turn red, in the past I’ve added in a natural antibiotic. Either colloidal silver, or swallowing whole garlic cloves chased by OJ. I’ve also heard of using Belladonna 30c, Pulsatilla 30c, or Phytolacca 30c but haven’t personally used them myself.

If you spike a high fever, or feel like home treatment isn’t working it’s a good idea to see your provider or head to urgent care.

*Note that this isn’t medical advice, & using heat is no longer part of the clogged duct/mastitis protocol.

Have you had a clogged duct or mastitis?

09/05/2024

08/31/2024

It is the final day of

Tips for your breastfeeding journey from a mama of three:

-Surround yourself heaping amount of support. From wherever you can source it. Family, friends, breastfeeding groups.

-Nourish your body like it’s taking care of you & your baby (or babies!) because it is. You have to hydrate, prioritize protein & eat often. Breastfeeding is hard work for our bodies.

-If you haven’t had your baby yet, plan prenatally. Learn about breastfeeding, not just the benefits but how it’s done before your baby is born! Have information on hand you for people you can reach out to for help if things are tricky. Seasoned mamas, & lactation professionals. There’s a good chance things are going to feel hard in the early days. Encouragement & sound advice goes a long way.

-When in doubt, b**b it out. Fussy baby? Offer a b**b. Tired baby? Offer a b**b. Baby who might be hungry… offer a b**b😂 Skin to skin & snuggles are great for your milk supply. Keep baby on you in the early days & nurse as often as baby wants. Breastmilk is a supply & demand situation. The more milk that’s removed from your breasts, the more your body will make.

The baby in these photos is our newest arrival who made his entrance into the world on August 17th. Nursing this baby has been a breeze, & it’s had me thinking about how much I’ve learned about breastfeeding since I began my own journey in 2020. Since then, I’ve breastfed nonstop! Through bouts of mastitis, through pregnancy, tandem nursing & eventually tandem nursing through this pregnancy. I’ve donated milk & fed a total of eight babies in 4ish years. That’s pretty dang special. Breastmilk really is liquid gold, y’all. It’s love & lifelong disease prevention in liquid form.

Writing this has me feeling pretty sentimental about my sweet husband who has been my number one supporter. The early days of nursing weren’t easy for me. My husband has taken care of me, wiped my tears when I was worried about my supply & is now an actual lactavist😂

Anyway, that’s a wrap on World Breastfeeding Month🫶🏻

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08/23/2024