Mission

[susiekline]

I keep seeing references to people and going on/to mission. Can someone explain this to me? I even saw a reference on one of the Law & Orders this week!

I hope I'm not being offensive to anyone! I am seriously curious!

Thanks in advance!

[tpowers]

This is a LDS mission. Usually boys go for 2 years at 19 and girls go at 21 for 18 months. They go to different states or countries depending on where the church sends them. They spend their time teaching others about their religion and doing community service oriented projects. Hope that helps. I don't think asking questions is offensive at all. I am not LDS and only know all of this because I grew up here.

[Sarah Ellsworth]

Definitely don't worry about being offensive. The whole point of those boys going on a mission is to spread the word. Having someone ask about it would be a missionaries dream! :)

[Jenny McDonald]

I LOVE questions!!! Religious, scrapbooking, cleaning, cooking, ANY question! So ask away!
Here is a question for you. I've been wondering why Easter is so early this year. Why or how does Easter's date change every year? I know odd question but its been bugging me.

[Jill]

Okay Jenny, I googled it for you. I was curious too. Here is the official answer.
Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox. It can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.
I think things would have been a lot easier if they always went for the 3rd sunday in April or somehting like that.

[Jill]

Okay here is my question: How much guilt should a mom have if their 3 month old baby won't nurse anymore and they don't want to fight her?:p

[Jenny McDonald]

NONE! Grace won't nurse at all! She screamed and fought with me. I wish I could have but I have no regrets. Just think now your hubby can get up with her at night and feed her. ;)

[Jill]

Amen to that! (the hubby getting up part) Lucy is right there with the screaming and fighting and I am just done trying. Thanks for the kind words Jenny.

[Jenny McDonald]

No problem anytime!

[Shellie]

Okay here is my question: How much guilt should a mom have if their 3 month old baby won't nurse anymore and they don't want to fight her?:p

lol... None!

My son only nursed for a month. He didn't like it. Plus we were supplementing because we had 3 older children and wanted them to feel a part of the "process" (their bio mother told them that we wouldn't want then anymore if we had a baby). He figured out that the bottle was esier and quit nursing.

My daughter nursed for 10 months and would have gone longer but she had teeth and her teeth scrapped on me and it hurt! So I weaned her.

Our youngest lost weight between her 2nd and 4th months appts so I had to stop nursing because she was malnourished. My milk wasn't giving her what she needed. The doctor told me to pur her on formula and take her back in a week. He said that an ounce a day of weight gain would be phenomenal weight gain and he'd be happy with 5 ounces. She gained 2 pounds in that week. :D

Anyway, sometimes you just can't or the baby doesn't want to. There is no need for guilt. ;)

[Jill]

Shellie- how many kids do you have? You sound like a big fun family.

[Shellie]

We have 6. The older 3 are married so I feel like we actually have 9. :D

[peetie]

Certainly don't feel guilty for not wanting to fight your baby with nursing. Before the days of formula, that probably was something to stress over, but not now. I think the more you stress over it, the more stressful eating, in general, will be for her. I know there are things you can do to make her want to nurse, like that being the only thing you offer her and eventually she'll get hungry enough to eat it, but is that really worth it? I tried that with my oldest because I was bound and determined I was going to nurse her until she was 1, but with my boys, when they were done with it, I let them be done. OK, there's my 2 cents.

[susiekline]

Thanks for explaining the mission! What a beautiful concept!

As for the guilt over nursing...I don't think we should ever feel guilty about parenting as long as we're trying our best. We can't/won't always be right and guilt is just too stressful! (I can say this because this week I haven't felt any guilt..ask me how I felt last week when I smacked my son for sassing me [he's 6'2", I'm 5'] or when I missed the track meet where my son broke the freshman shot put record and on and on on!)

[a_c_danica]

Susie, thanks for asking! And as for breast feeding it's such a personal choice and not always the mom's so what ever works! I'm just greatful we have options now, there wasn't formula way back when!

[chryslergreen]

Ahhh, the guilt! I'm pretty sure it's synonymous with motherhood. Should you feel guilty? NO! Will you feel guilty? Probably.

[rizkid22]

There is mommy guilt in most aspects of motherhood so don't let nursing be one that gets ya Jill. And I'm glad you guys have mommy guilt too. Makes me feel a litle better, but not a lot.

[Jill]

Ahhh, the guilt! I'm pretty sure it's synonymous with motherhood. Should you feel guilty? NO! Will you feel guilty? Probably.

I think you are right, that IS the theme of motherhood to be sure. I went out and bought bottles today so it is official. I am done nursing. It makes me feel sad and guilty but also a little excited. There is something to be said about a little bit of freedom.

[susiekline]

I was reading an article somewhere about breastfeeding and how the whole movement to only breastfeed is causing so much stress for new mothers. The gist of the article was that either way is ok.

[peetie]

When my first was born, I had read all these articles about how you should only breastfeed, so that's what I did, and it was a mistake. I was so torn up, that I should have stopped, if even for a few days to let things heal, but I was bound and determined that my daughter would not have any formula (sorry for the overshare).

I got smart for my boys and realized that I could still be a good mother even if they had an occasional bottle. Although, my 2nd was 10 lbs. 2 oz. and 24 inches long, so he came to earth so hungry, that there was no way I could keep up with him.

I wish I could have read an article like that, Susie, when I was a new mom, it would have saved a lot of anguish!

[Jill]

I think the bulk of my guilt comes because I think of our ancestors and how they had no choice but to nurse. They did it so why can't I? But then I remember the infant mortality rate and how it was through the roof. Advancements in science are good things, right?

Do you still have a copy or a link to that article Susie? I would like to read it if you do. I do think that the pressure to breastfeed can be a little intense sometimes.
My new motto is: A happy mommy = a happy baby!

[Shellie]

Jill I used to think that too, but my daughter would have died had I not had formula to give her. Thanks goodness for advancements in science.

[Kelli West]

I LOVE questions!!! Religious, scrapbooking, cleaning, cooking, ANY question! So ask away!
Here is a question for you. I've been wondering why Easter is so early this year. Why or how does Easter's date change every year? I know odd question but its been bugging me.

The Easter thing being early....yeah enjoy it because it won't be this early for like another 240 years or something like that!! That is what the news said! So maybe that will be something to add in the Easter pages!!

[Kelli West]

I keep seeing references to people and going on/to mission. Can someone explain this to me? I even saw a reference on one of the Law & Orders this week!

I hope I'm not being offensive to anyone! I am seriously curious!

Thanks in advance!

Susie, you are so cute, do not feel at any moment that you are being offensive!! I am a curious mind as well!! :) My little brother is actually getting home this upcoming Thursday from serving a mission Argentina. Just so ya know they don't have to go on a mission, but many do. It a choice they make. But it has been a great ecperience for my little brother. It's hard not to see them for 2 years (in that time we can talk to him on christmas and mother days, and he can email us once a week) but they grow so much, and learn so many different things. I am sure you have probably seen 2 young men in suits walking down the street before (those are our boys)...people say they usually look like the government..Lol!! My husband went to Japan on a mission and learned the language, and taught a lot of people. Anyway, sorry for babling on! HOpe you learned something new!!

[susiekline]

Kelli I did learn something new. I think it's an amazing thing to do and am impressed with all who are involved!

I'll try to remember where I read the breast feeding thing. I read so much that I forget where I've seen something! Backtracking my steps...

[supermombritt]

Jill my first pediatrician told me I was just a human binkie and to quit nursing. That was not the answer I wanted to hear so I switched pediatricians (there was more than just that). I found a great new one who told me not to feel guilty if it didn't work. I found different things to try and luckily it worked so I could nurse longer. THe bad thing about my kids is that they never took a bottle. I was tied to them forever. So either way, you may feel guilty about something. You can go to La Leche's site and I am sure they will have a billion things to try. They are the die hard breast feeders so I bet they would have some suggestions if you want to continue nursing.

[Jill]

Brittany
Thanks for the tip! I did check out La Leche and they said to try feeding her with a syringe or finger feeding her. That just isn't possible with 3 little boys and all their buddies running around over here. I am trying to do both (nursing and bottle feeding) as long as she goes for it. Sometime she will cooperate and sometimes she won't. I guess this is my crash course on fickle girls.:p

[supermombritt]

You can get a syringe with a tube on it and then you put the small tube in their mouth just to get the food in there. ONce they know there is food, some are more willing to eat. I had to do every little trick to get mine to eat. I felt like I was dangling a carrot in front of the rabbit.

[Alishaw]

So Jill, I'm confused...are you not producing enough or is there a compatibility issue with you and Lucy?
I know a ton of people that pump and then bottle feed it to their babes.

[Jill]

Production is not the problem.;) There is plenty of that going on. The problem is my sweet little stubborn daughter who won't do what she is supposed to because there is this big fabulous world out there that must be explored. (I don't know if any of you have ever met a stubborn Oaks, but they are a class of their own sometimes.) I am pumping but it is a PAIN in the bum. And a lot of the times with pumping we have a let down issues. Sorry if this is TMI! But this is a really frustrating thing. I don't want to just give up totally and let things dry out, but there is no consistancy on her end or the pumping end so that may just be the way thing end up if I want them to or not. What's a mom to do?:rolleyes:

[Tori Easton]

My little girl did the same thing. I think that she was about the same age also. She would scream when I would try to nurse her. I would be so full that I would be crying she was crying....and my husband would be like"you can stop if you want." I was also stubborn and kept going with it. I would stick the binki or a bottle in her mouth when she would start sucking I would quickly switch. I also pumped EVERYDAY while I was at work, sometimes twice. If I was to go back and do it again....I don't know if I would do it the same way. There are pros and cons to every situation. She did nurse until about a year and then when strait to a sippy cup and milk. I guess that I won the first battle but I am sure that there will be more to come. Don't feel bad just learn to look at the positive and realize that it is not that big of a deal. Your baby will be just great either way!

[Kim Hansen]

I'm smiling Jill--she fits her name---Lucy.

[Jill]

Kim, you are so cute! Yes, she is a Lucy in every way. (minus the red hair, but that runs in our family and she is rather bald right now so that may be true as well.) The other Lucy she takes after is the Peanuts Lucy, bosy, bosy, bosy! ;) I am hoping she takes after the cute Chronicles of Narnia Lucy who is so darn sweet and cute. Maybe she will be a little of all three. We love her!

[Kim Hansen]

Jill, I just love that name--it's full of energy, vim and vigor. With three big brothers, she's got to keep up. I know she will be just perfect.