THE COMPLEAT MOTHER NEWSLETTER MOTHER�S DAY
� JULY 31, 2003

July 2003

//-- Greg�s Notes --//

//-- The Weaning of Amy Grace -//

//-- Person Found Inside Someone --/

//-- Under a White, Stone Lamb --//

//-- Humor --//

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//-- Greg�s Notes --//

Not long before Catherine�s death, she sent me the electronic version of the chapters in her book �Breastfeed Anyway�. She told me that she wanted you all to have this for free. You can now view most of her book online. Just click here for the table of contents and links to the chapters:

http://www.compleatmother.com/articles2/breastfeeding/main.shtml

Can you believe how close we are to �back to school� routines? This reminds me of an old play called �Stop The World, I Want To Get Off!� Whoever told me that time speeds up as you get older knew something special.

So, on with the newsletter!

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OUR PRIMARY SPONSOR FOR THIS NEWSLETTER

Mission Statement - "Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!"

Web site address � http://www.naturalfamilyco.com

Conference info - Sponsor and Organizer of The 2nd International Husband/Wife Homebirth Conference - Theme - "When Faith Endures" - Keynote Speaker - Laura Kaplan Shanley - This Unassisted Childbirth conference was held in Boulder Colorado in July of 2001 and is available exclusively from the Natural Family Website. Cost - $39.95

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//-- The Weaning of Amy Grace --//

The Weaning of Amy Grace

by Mary-Tim Hare

When Amy Grace was born she latched on, nursed, and stole my heart. I thought it would be easy. I�d been attending La Leche League meetings for months before her birth, I�d read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding over and over and had watched my mother nurse my three younger siblings. But it wasn�t easy. It was very difficult and that was my first necessary lesson in humility.

We visited breastfeeding clinics and sought help from La Leche League dozens of times in the first months. I waited for the dreaded advice, �wean her to formula.� I didn�t get it. I fed from droppers, from Nyquil cups, sprayed milk into her open mouth as I wept and let her suck on my bleeding nipples for hours at a time. She was almost four months old before we had a pain free feed and had figured out that it was a prolactinoma causing me to overproduce milk which had altered her suck to one almost unbearable for me. But we fixed it. And this was my second lesson: trust.

When she was 12 weeks old I went back to work in a maximum security correctional centre. I pumped several times a day with my exposed back turned to the open window into the inmate�s exercise yard. Guards came and stood in my classroom while I left to pump milk for my baby. Some told me how their wives had done the same for their children. Some told me how their milk was �bad� or �weak� so they had formula fed. Female officers told me they weaned because they were embarrassed about milk letdowns occurring while on duty with the inmates. I worked mainly with men incarcerated for sex offenses, most often pedophaelia as well as arson, other psychiatric disorders, and dying from AIDS and hepatitis. Every day I came home from this maelstrom of human suffering and horror and held my baby girl close, close, close to my heart. I nursed her with the joy the prison never housed, and she cleansed me of my day and made me new.

My father would call and say, �Isn�t it about time that girl stopped nursing?� My mother told me that if I visited them in Maryland I should know that nursing in public was illegal. It is not. My beloved mother-in-law still tries to shepherd me into a bedroom to nurse. My best friend told me when Amy was small that nursing after they could ask for it was perverse. Now she says nothing, but she does smile. My very dear brother-in-law used to tell stories about the �weird� family down the street whose four year old would march up to his mother and insist on nursing. He told the stories and laughed, because he knew I would never go that far, despite my verve for breastfeeding. Poor man. He still supports Amy and I, in more ways than this, as at age two she cuddles up to me, lifts my shirt and tells everyone she�s going to have �yummies� and that they are �mmmmmm.� There�s a lot of humility to be found in having both of your breasts exposed by a toddler in the company of your doubtful in-laws on a regular basis.

Now that I have left my outside job and devote my days to Amy, Amy devotes her days to me. She stands in front of me as I pee and nurses. She sits in the seat of shopping carts and nurses as I lift groceries off of the shelves. She nurses in her sling and she nurses as she rides along in her car seat with mommy twisted around beside her. She nurses as I cook dinner and she nurses as I change her diaper. She nurses in the bathtub and she nurses as I read to her. She nurses when she�s sad or hurt and she nurses when she�s happy and flirtatious. She nurses down to nap and she nurses throughout the night.

Weaning? I thought she would wean when she finally took solid foods at 13 months. I thought she might wean when she cut her tongue badly enough to bleed all over her sweater. Weaning? Isn�t that when a mother refuses her baby the comfort of the breast and they both cry endlessly? Nursing Amy Grace has taught me one very important lesson: I�m not smarter than evolution. No book, no study, no �piece of advice� could account for the joy and healing nursing her has given to me or the health and security it has given her. When we started how could I know what the experience would be like? But if I had tampered and been proud in the face of nature�look at what I would have lost!

Weaning Amy Grace? I can�t write about weaning Amy Grace because in my heart, I want to be her nursing mama forever, and ever, Amen.

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Please visit our website at: http://www.labelitorloseit.com/store14.html

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A mother-owned catalog and website supporting breastfeeding

and attachment parenting.

Member of National Green Pages of environmentally friendly businesses

Family Bed discussion groups.

Breastpumps, including payment plans for families in need

Family Bed discussion groups. Mother & Baby E-cards. Fast shipping

Please visit: http://www.littlekoala.com !

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//-- Person Found Inside Someone--//

Person Found Inside Someone

by Jens Naumann

Lorri told me she felt like pushing out Junior. I said I didn�t think it was time yet, but then, what do I know? It wasn�t me who had the baby. Not yet, anyways. Then it began: Junior moved down a couple of inches, I could feel him move, and then his hair began to show. Lorri was still standing with me holding her and urging her to just not worry about making a little mess right here on the bedroom floor, where I could catch the sweet, squirming prize. But she insisted on the sponge mat in the bathroom, so we shuffled our way there together.

We made it fine, and as Lorri lay down in a semi-sitting position, she pushed out his head, and I held it gently by the cheekbones, while Lorri concentrated on that final exertion to complete the beautiful act. My hands were open and waiting, and my thoughts were at a standstill while I tried my best to absorb every minute detail of the moment. Then he slid smoothly out of Lorri into my anxiously waiting hands, all slippery and wiggly, coughed and gave a triumphant cry of health and well-being.

We laughed and cried and hugged our baby, who immediately stopped crying and started searching for his mother�s nourishing breast.

Kyle was quite well. He did not like the bright noon light at first, but once he adjusted he even said that marvelous, �Goo� which made my love and I giggle all over again.

It is now four days later that I type up this event, relishing every moment I can recollect. Not a single tear, unnecessary drop of blood, or regret came from this birth. Better yet, Kyle thoroughly enjoyed coming here this way.

Jens Naumann, Napanee, Ontario

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Please visit our website to see our fun and interesting Tie-dye clothing!

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//-- Under a White, Stone Lamb --//

Under a White, Stone Lamb

Fall 1994 issue

Yes, Ben died, my oldest son, he died.

He got his first shot and he died

at eight o�clock that night same day.

I took him to the clinic for his first shots

and oh, that little one cried.

He was a stron one, Ben Chan

Round black eyes that round baby mouth

He was just starting to stretch that mouth into a

smile, that was all his own.

But he didn�t make it, no, he didn�t make it.

He had good lungs; that boy could cry.

Every night at supper time, singing for a suck

and I�d balance baby, bowl and chopsticks

so I could have my supper hot.

But he didn�t cry that night, no, he didn�t cry.

I was joking with his father, where�s

our Ben Son gone?

He�s not singing for his suck tonight.

He was sleeping in his basket; mouth

cold blue line �

my mouth on his puff breathe puff

breathe puff

It was too late then, yes, it was too late.

Drove him to the hospital, basket and all

Doctors couldn�t help, no one could help

Told me this was better than a bran

damaged child

And they took baby Ben away.

Their autopsy said Sudden Infant Death, yes

crib death.

Something stopped, is all. We don�t know the

reason.

He was strong and he was growing

Took him to the clinic to be weighed and

get his shot.

He died at eight o�clock that night same day.

When I looked into his casket, I thought

that he was sleeping

I thought that I could wake him

But he wasn�t there, no.

I buried him under a lamb,

Ben�s under a white stone lamb.

Wendy Henry

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//-- Humor --//

~Why Parents get Gray Hair~

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whispered,

"Hello?"

Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster the boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?"

"Yes", whispered the small voice.

"May I talk with him?" the man asked.

To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, "No."

Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"

"Yes", came the answer. "May I talk with her?"

Again the small voice whispered, "No".

Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child. "Is there anyone there besides you?", the boss asked the child.

"Yes" whispered the child, "A policeman."

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman"?

"No, he's busy", whispered the child.

"Busy doing what?, asked the boss.

"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.

Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?"

"A hello-copper", answered the whispering voice.

"What is going on there?", asked the boss, now alarmed.

In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper."

Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated the boss asked, "Why are they there"?

Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle,

"They're looking for me!"

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Heard from kids at Sunday School:

1) The first book of the Bible is Guiness, in which Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.

2) Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.

3) Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day and ball of fire by night.

4) Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles.

5) The seventh commandment is "thou shalt not admit adultry.

6) Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.

7) Solomon had 300 wives and 700 Porcupines.

8) The Epistles were the wives of the Apostles.

9) Paul preached holy acrimone, which is another name for marriage.

10) A Christian should only have one wife. This is called monotony.

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I�m Made of Mama's Milk" - The Breastfeeding Book for Children.

available at http://www.maryolsenbooks.com/

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What's New on the Website?

Catherine Young's "Breastfeed Anyway" is not available for free on our website. Stories of courage by women who faced challenges of motherhood and how they overcame them.

by Catherine Young, Mary-Tim Hare & Friends

http://www.compleatmother.com/articles2/breastfeeding/main.shtml

Birthin' N Readin' by Jenny Hatch

http://www.compleatmother.com/articles2/birthin_readin_jh.htm

And much more!

http://www.compleatmother.com/what'snew.htm

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A safe and satisfying birth is not as elusive as we might think. In fact, simplicity may be the key. Published January 2003, The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth by Laurie A. Morgan helps parents recognize and embrace their own inner wisdom for pregnancy and childbirth through inspiring personal stories sprinkled with common sense examination of childbirth practices. Read the book free online, or purchase your own copy today at

http://www.LaurieMorgan.com

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//-- Parenting Experiment --//

Have you ever heard of the Ezzos? This is the husband and wife team who recommend that you let your babies cry through the night�.to train them.

Visit the site to read this interesting take (tongue in cheek) on the Ezzo philosophy. I think you will enjoy this.

http://www.compleatmother.com/experiment.htm

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I�m looking for good recipes to post on this new site and also on the Compleat Mother site. Please send yours to: [email protected] Please check out this site which is not quite finished yet, if you have the time. Click everywhere, even on the ads! Thank you! Greg Cryns

Health and Diet Articles

http://www.diet-websites.com

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Would you like to advertise with us? I have a special offer which might interest you. If you take a � page ad or larger, you will get advertising on our website for free. Take a look!

http://www.compleatmother.com/representatives.htm

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