damn, that's something!

Welcome to the July 2010 Carnival of Nursing in Public!

This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Nursing in Public hosted by Dionna and Paige at NursingFreedom.org. All week, July 5-9, we will be featuring articles and posts about nursing in public ("NIP"). See the bottom of this post for more information.
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and now...

damn, that's something!

by Jennifer Boetzer RN

I have been an overt public breastfeeder from the get go. I have an assertive, intense personality when it comes to things I am passionate about and breastfeeding is high on that list. I had my first child in 2001 and have been breastfeeding 7 of the last 9 years. This makes nursing in public a neccesity. I have nursed on planes, trains, and buses; in stores, parks, and restaurants; I have nursed a 3 year old upside down while he was in a hip spica cast. I have been called a breastfeeding militant and relish the title. I am a lactation counselor and I have a breastfeeding app on my phone. I am a girl who knows my public breastfeeding rights (Hooray Wisconsin for passing the right to breastfeed law). Please, ask me to cover up or feed in the bathroom, I dare ya, you will regret it. I am stocked with a plethora of nursing in public comebacks, I know just what to say, until today.

So today, I am at the store looking at baby sunhats, nursing Ira, 7months old, in a sling. A 20 something fella walks by and says, "damn girl, that's something." I am taken aback, but then start thinking alright, maybe he is a forward thinking 20 something who thinks breastfeeding rules. Maybe his mama breastfed him into toddler-hood and he can still remember those sweet, snuggly moments. Whatever the case may be, I dismiss him and return to my choices in baby hats. But oh my, here he is again looping back around the aisle. This time he is fully ogling my chest, dippy smile on his face as he says, "Damn, that's sexy!" What the, what did he just say? Um, did he mean to say I should feed the baby in the bathroom? Because, I have a biting response for that comment. I have had 9 years to have prepared a snappy retort for his comment, but alas, I have nothing. Doofus and his grin walk away.

I am not pleased to have breastfeeding my child seen as sexy by a total stranger, but I am not outraged either. Perhaps it is this stranger's daffy, misguided enthusiasum for what I am doing, but his comment does not feel oppressive they way a stinkeye look and an admonish to cover up does. We have such an incongruent view of breasts, breastfeeding and sexiness in this culture that I often have wondered what would happen if the US culture decided breastfeeding was sexy. I am reasonably certain everyone would be doing it. As I ponder these thoughts, he makes his way around the aisle for a third gawking at my boob and even if he truly does think breastfeeding is the superior way to feed an infant, enough is enough. So I say,"Dude, (yes, he warranted being called dude) you gotta stop it, it is not sexy it is his food!" He smiles goofily and says oh, oh ok and walks off....

This post is just one of many being featured as part of the Carnival of Nursing in Public. Please visit our other writers each day of the Carnival. Click on the links below to see each day’s posts - new articles will be posted on the following days:

July 9 –Your Legal Right to Nurse in Public, and How to Respond to Anyone Who Questions It

light as a feather

the cast is off!!!!
Sy celebrated with a very long bath with candlelight, bubbles, oil, toys....
Olive took the cast to show and tell....

light and floppy...

...that is what Sy feels like with his new LEG CAST!!!! We had been practicing "cast cutting" for days...making loud buzzing noises and jiggling Sy back and forth. Olive orchestrated the simulations, complete with spotlight and an announcement: "attention ladies and gentlemen, now presenting Sy's cast cutting...here is doctor cast cutter (Aaron) and Sy's sister who will hold his hand." Just in case this intense preparation failed him, we also brought 3 suckers as a backup plan.

We had a family trip to Rochester for the big event (really, how could we leave the above named narrator at home?). The "cutting" was brief, but our wait was long. The kids held up well, very patient. Sy had some tears during the actual "cutting." The cast cutter looks like a saw, but is not sharp and does not spin. It vibrates to cut through the cast. Even after a detailed explanation, Sy was not convinced of this. He felt she was going to cut his skin at any moment...the groin area was especially concerning to him. I had to hold my hand over the family jewels while the inner part of the cast was cut or more accurately, vibrated. While I was holding, the cast cutter jumped forward and did get my hand. It did not hurt, just surprising so I jumped a bit. If I was surprised enough to jump, I shudder to think what Sy, already nervous, would have done had the "cutter" bumped the jewels. Hmmm, a moment to be thankful for pomegranate pucker suckers. Eventually, the cutter made it all the way around and the nut cracker was applied. Sy was like a turtle coming out of his shell. It was wild to his little body in full after 6 weeks of not. His skin was lizardy, but pretty clean except for the belly button, peeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww! We had a chance to wash him up before the long leg cast was applied. I could probably get a whole paragraph or two going about the long leg cast application, but motherly duty calls...perhaps a picture is worth two paragraphs worth of words...

Seeing rainbows...

O hooray...
Sy's xray from Friday snail mailed its way to Rochester in record snail time. I was griping over the weekend after I found out that the xray would have to be made into a cd and then slither snail style on down to Rochester. I imagined an xray that traveled through the mysterious intramayonet waves with a push of a button and was thus dismayed to learn it would not be so. I was most worried that we would not be able to get in for the leg cast until after Thanksgiving. This would have given him almost 2 extra weeks in the cast. But alas, my drama and griping was for not. We received the call this morning that his leg is healing really well and he can get the leg cast. So, next Monday we will be having a cast cutting. leg cast replacing party!!! The boy says the cast is now going to be rainbow!
Next Monday Sy sheds his exoskeleton...should be a good story...

xray vision

A brief little update....
Sy is doing well. He has almost no pain these days. He has figured out how to tripod himself and semi stand. He claims he is a prairie dog peeking out of its hole when he does this. The prairie dog is new to his repertoire...don't worry, he is still a baby ginny 90% of the time. His imagination is soaring. Sleep is slightly better. Psychosomatic hurt ankle...starting to heal.
So the big news...xray this Friday! If there is enough bone set up, we can head back to Rochester next week for a leg cast!!!!! Body freedom, bending at the waist, bearing weight on one leg, crutches...sounds dreamy. Cross your fingers everyone:).
ps...big thank yous for all the packages and wishes....it has been so fun for him to look forward to.

sleep, daddy toe, psychosomatic symptoms

O to sleep. Not too much of it going on around here. Want to help us out? Send a nap:). Sy has never been a real solid, through the night sleeper. We have lamented about this on and off through the last year or so, but I guess continual interrupted sleep does prepare one slightly better for a situation such as our current one. It is understandable. I would most likely need to be medicated to sleep if my body stayed in one position all the time. He doesn't complain. He just has needs. To snuggle; probably Sy's greatest desire at night. He squirms, he insists on holding hands, he puts his head as close to my face as he can get with a fiberglass cast in the way. I want to hold him too, almost physically need to, like when he was a baby, but it is giving my body some serious aches and pains. Somehow, Sy has a 6th sense (even while sleeping) for when I roll over. "Nooooooo, I need you to face me...I need to hold your hand." So, for the last three weeks, I have slept on my left side. This is good if you are pregnant or if you need to perfuse your body through the night . Neither of these apply to me. My shoulder is screaming, but I am going to try my best to keep my mouth shut about it (except for the blog of course) because again, I can imagine how uncomfortable it must be for him. So there is snuggling. Then there is needing to pee. He goes in a urinal, without complaint or problems, but he does need help to do this...glasses, light, where is that urinal?, try not to get any on the cast or the bed, "are you done?" "now?" "how about now?" Dump. Rinse. Sleep? Then, then, then, there is the "Daddy toe." This is the great toe on the right, non broken leg, side. The "daddy toe" hurts Sy, especially at night. We can only speculate...he gets toe cramps?...he over uses it while scooching around?...he broke it?...It's numb? Whatever the case, the "daddy toe" often needs to be rubbed for varying snippets of time throughout the night. Also needing to be rubbed is the "itchy spots." I am compliant with this even if I just fell into the nicest, deepest sleep with a dream about tequila and avos on a mexican beach. Seriously, one of dante's level's of hell has got to be a place where you have itches you can not scratch. Ahhhhhhhhh. I am compliant. He gives me the basic location, I reach my finger in the cast crevices as far as I possibly can and rub/scratch until I hear "BEEP." "Beep" means we have relieved the itch (o yes:) or we can not reach it and he is finally ready to give up. He needs and deserves the control over this, but I confess I am often asking "did we get it?" "can we be done?" long before he is ready to give the "Beep" sound.
And finally, there are the psychosomatic symptoms that plague all of us at times, but disproportionately affect the 5yr old sister of the household. Again, it is understandable. It is also trying to be empathetic to complaints that do not have a true physical origin. I never knew just how much having a job that requires me to be empathetic to sometimes irrational people would help with parenting. The most recent ailment involves an ankle that is most likely sprained or strained or possibly broken!!! The ankle needs massage. The ankle makes it difficult to walk here or there, go to gym, go to school. The ankle requires placebo medication and in the name of fairness, the ankle requires movie watching. In all fairness to O, this has been a major adjustment to her lifestyle and she has done very well all things considered.
It is a blog. It is where I vent. It is cheaper and more convenient than therapy. Honestly though, we are doing very well:).

Calus and relief

We returned to Rochester yesterday for a follow up xray. At one week, Sy's bone had moved out of place to its allowable limit. If the follow up xray showed more movement, we would be starting over with reduction and a hospital stay for traction. This would have meant increased pain for Sy and loss of sanity for his parents. I was more stressed out about it then I realized for when they looked at the xray and said it had not moved, I felt like I weighed less and could smile. Ahhhhh. There is calus (the new bone) forming around the break so it is very unlikely that the bones should move anymore. Hopefully four more weeks in the spica cast!!! He says his new leg cast is going to be pink! Watch out for this pink casted boy on crutches.
Tomorrow Sy is going to Olive's classroom for "show and tell.":)