Masochistic Mommy

How many children should I have? It’s the question that plagues many of us breeders. Some never fully resolve the budding uncertainty of the “What If…” conundrum. What if I have just one more? What if I stop at the traditional two? What if I don’t give my child any siblings at all? This article will help to alleviate those concerns using leading sociological, economical and even physiological research. 1 CHILD: The pros: The percentage of women having only one child has nearly doubled over a generation ( Kelley 2007 ). In fact, only children are America’s fastest growing family demographic ( Hass 1999 ) so your kid will not be as unusual as they would have been a generation ago. Much of the stigma has been consigned to history ( Blair 2013 ). Only-children tend to have more successes in life. Only-children tend to have a higher proportion of successes in life and that they tend to have higher I.Q.'s than any other family setup ( Goleman 1985 ). Parents outnumber children. Your exis...

Journalist and best-selling author, Florence Williams, was prepared for the blood and pain of childbirth. She was less prepared however, for the blood and pain of breastfeeding. Here, she shares her story with The Alpha Parent. Her journey is as poetic as it is real, as heart-warming as it is painful. It is what inspired Florence to author her bestseller, and Winner of the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, " Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History ". With her characteristically blunt brand of honesty, Williams asks the question "How did humanity ever make it this far?" - what with yellow babies, nipple fissures, clogged ducts, milk fevers, and no ER. But, as we mamma-mammals know, the female body is a resiliently stubborn sod, and Williams' experience is certainly an ode to it... The Birth "I didn't bother to read the sections in the pregnancy books about breastfeeding. I was much more concerned with the pain and blood and gore of childbirth. I got st...

Experts now consider thyroid hormone one of the major ‘players’ in depression. Unfortunately, problems with the thyroid, which are more common in women, often go undiagnosed. Then, when a woman reaches her childbearing years, this can cause extra problems with fertility, pregnancy and lactation. For instance, did you know that thyroid hormones play an integral role in mammary function? During lactation, they aid in the regulation of both prolactin and oxytocin. Thus, excess thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) has been linked to inhibited letdown , for example. Depression and thyroid disorders are often quoted as reasons why moms quit breastfeeding. However, it doesn’t have to end that way, as this brave mother illustrates… “Back in 2009, I was very sick. The doctors diagnosed me with Graves Disease, an autoimmiune condition, and told me that I may not be able to have children . I wasn't even able to go on walks because my disease had started affecting my heart. To improve things, I h...