Masochistic Mommy

Mother Nature is a hypocritical sod. Check this out: The raison d'etre of your existence is reproduction. So why then, does good ol’ Mother Nature muzzle our fertility while we’re lactating? And is there anything we can do to get pregnant without pulling the plug on breastfeeding? In this post I will answer both questions in turn. What gives me the confidence to speak about this issue? Firstly, I've been there (conceived under 6 month postpartum whilst exclusively breastfeeding), secondly, I've conducted a shed-load of academic research into breastfeeding fertility. A word of warning before we begin: As a result of reading this, you may find yourself up the duff, toot sweet. Want closely-spaced siblings? Dream of tandem-feeding? Read on! Aunt Flo takes a vacation While breastfeeding a lot of mothers notice that ‘shark week’ no longer occurs every month. Yet, as with many physiological happenings that appear idiotic, Mother Nature has a plan. You see, every time you bring yo...

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It is late, later than usual. The lights are low and they are alone at last. Soft music is playing, with a familiar cadence. They have made love to this one before. A faint but primal scent is in the air. The origin is certain; the fragrance is an unmistakable blend of the two of them. Everything is perfect, the time is right; intimacy is at its peak. Their gaze is unbroken; their union is penetrating, physically and emotionally; a smouldering combination. It is as though they have waited for months for this very moment, the anticipation is vast. They move back and forth in unison. The energy is building, one can feel the pulsation. She is breathing heavier now; driven by her hormones she is moving to a familiar rhythm, he follows her lead. He caresses her, ever so gently, in all the right places, she lets him know just where. They have been here together before, but never like this. “Oh Yes! Yes please! Yes, thank you, darling. Oh right there, yes, oh baby. You are doing it just right...

I want to share with you a fascinating and empowering story of nature. You are about to discover the emperor moth’s secret... One day a biologist found the cocoon of an emperor moth and took it into his lab for study. It sat on his lab table for quite a while. Finally the cocoon began to tremble as the moth made its efforts to get out into the world. The scientist noticed that the cocoon was shaped like a bottle, wide at the bottom but very narrow at the top. The top was made of a concrete-like substance. The scientist thought, ‘There's no way the moth will make it through that hard material’. He watched anxiously as the tiny head chewed its way into the light of the laboratory.  The moth struggled and struggled, seemingly getting nowhere. Its body was simply too large to fit through the tiny hole in the cocoon. The moth looked tired and laid its head to rest on the shell of the cocoon. The scientist decided to help the moth out. So he took a tiny pair of scissors and carefully cut...

The Daily Mail suggested it was ' horrifying '. The BBC called it ' extreme '. Yet no health agency puts a formal upper limit on the age beyond which it is appropriate or desirable to breastfeed. With the natural spacing between children being 3 years , if we followed our biological imperative, we would all be tandem nursing! But what are the downsides? It can be challenging to get pregnant whilst breastfeeding, and once the baby arrives, public tandem nursing can trigger embarrassment, not to mention being assaulted by your own offspring on a daily basis! All these delights are illustrated in Rebecca's triumphant story: “B reastfeeding my first baby Lizzie threw up its own array of difficulties (you can read about that journey here ). After 6 months of breastfeeding her, my periods finally returned. By this stage we were ready to try for baby #2.  After 4 months of trying whilst fertility charting I suspected I had a luteal phase defect. This is where the lining ...

Did you know that if you follow the standard, “What I need for my baby” list for the next 21 years, then your child could cost you over $200,000 (that’s $9,500 per year, or $800 per month), even without being privately educated. The marketing clout of the baby industry has got a lot to answer for. The reality is that most of the items we are told we should buy for our babies are unnecessary . This timeline will expose the common (and not-so-common) culprits. If you’re new to starting a family, it will hopefully give you the advantage that many second-time parents enjoy. Jump to... Pregnancy 1 Week Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 8 Month 11 12 Months 18 Months 2 Years 3 Years Pregnancy: Maternity clothes: There’s no reason why you cannot wear your normal clothes instead of purchasing ‘maternity wear’ often at inflated prices. Items such as wrap-around dresses, smock tops, tunic tops, dresses ...