Glow Mama - New Mother Drink - Healthy Alternative While You Are Expecting and Nursing

No matter how many different formulas out on the market today, the formulas are not exactly the same as breast milk. If you are looking to cut cost, then breastfeeding is the way to go today, saving a parent ~$2000 a year in formula plus extra savings from unnecessary doctor visits.

Benefits for breastfeeding for your baby to help reduce health problems:

• ear infections  - diarrhea   - asthma
• stomach viruses  - respiratory infection     - obesity
• diabetes   - childhood leukemia
• SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
• nectrotizing enterocolitis (affects gastrointestinal tract)

Breast feeding also helps moms reduce their weight & their health risk of:

• diabetes   - breast cancer
• ovarian cancer  - post partum depression

Breastfeeding helps to have a healthy, happy baby.  So why do 1/3 of the ¾ women who start breast feeding only make it to 6 months? I have gathered some tips to help with couple problems you might have during breastfeeding, so you can keep breastfeeding the recommended amount by American Pediatric Association of 6 months to 1 year.

Dealing with sore nipples:

• rub your nipples with some breast milk which has natural healing properties & make sure you air dry and keep them dry
• change positions each time you breastfeed & make sure the baby is on the breast not just the nipple

Engorgement

• make sure the baby is latched on properly; don’t let more than 4hrs go by before breastfeeding again during the first few weeks; don’t overuse the pacifier
• if going back to work, make sure pump about same time; also try pumping some milk out to save for later if filling full
• some women swear by placing cabbage leaf over breast with cut out for nipple & changing the leaf with a new one after old one has wilted

Parenting is a full-time job that requires, time, energy, effort, and of course, lots of love.  Setting a proper example for children can help to ensure that they grow up to be socially conscious, environmentally aware adults.  The world we live in is going to require a lot of effort from our children if they want to live in a sustainable world that will last more than the next couple of generations.

Many people already know the importance of setting the proper example for the children of today.  Here are a few ways you can make sure that you can pass along the “green gene” to your children so that they will continue to help change the face of our planet for the future.

Recycle
This may seem like a no-brainer, but doing everything you can to make sure that you recycle all recyclable goods used by you and your family is a habit that will stick for life.  Separating your trash from recyclables is a duty that everyone should take seriously. Many cities are thinking of cutting recycling programs because they have poor participation, which makes the effort not very cost-effective.  Other cities and smaller towns still don’t have a recycling program in place.  Making recycling part of your every day life can help change this.

Support Companies That Support Sustainability
Children pick up most of their lifelong habits from their parents, including what businesses they choose to patronize.  Make sure that you support companies and businesses that actually care about the future of the planet and explain why you support these companies to your children.  Let them know which companies care about their future and they will learn to spread the word as they grow older

Organic Foods and Products
Try your best to consume as much organic food and use as many organic goods as possible.  Doing this will ensure that your children ingest less harmful chemicals from pesticides to fertilizers.  Additionally, organically grown fruits and vegetables help promote environmentally sustainable growing practices that are catching on and have little negative impact on the planet, if any.

Community Involvement
Of course, getting your community involved or belonging to a community group that holds environmental issues close to heart can be a great way for you and your family to meet others with similar beliefs.  Being part of a community and doing your part for the environment can be another great way to help pass along the green gene to future generations.

This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of online vocational schools She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

Thanks so much Kelly for contributing to the Glow Mama Blog - would you like to contribute too?  Email us at info @ glowbeverages dot com for more details.

1) Recycline plates, cups and tableware from Preserve - made from 100% recycled plastic & diswasher safe.  We also used old jars for cold drinks and mugs for coffee.

2) Favors were customized seed packets and recycled crayons inside miniature garbage bins.

3) No plastic decorations - material remnant for tablecloth & paper hats for the kiddies.

4) Locally sourced, organic & homegrown/made food.

5) Evite instead of paper invitations.

6) Guests were requested to be creative with wrapping - no gift wrap.

Obviously the green food coloring wasn’t natural… but really, who wants an avocado-cream garbage truck cake?

Want to win enough Preserve Tableware to host your own party?  You’re in luck - we’re giving it away!

Not only are we proud to be giving away an amazing Nest sling this month, but we’re happy to be baby-wearing mommies. That’s why we couldn’t let this crazy and insulting Moltrin video ad slip by without us mentioning how poor it is.  Maybe if they’d had some moms in the ad exec/PR team instead of morons?…

Click here for the massive Twitter response on this ad that reached MSN and eventually caused the video to be removed, withdrawn and apologized for. Go Twitter!

And here’s a great video response…

How does a woman with an amazing Hollywood career, four kids, and one famous football husband make us learn, understand and care about one of the serious things she is passionate about… autism?  With laughter, charm and grace. 

I was lucky enough to hear Holly speak recently about her adorable little twin boy and their private and then public battle with autism.  She peppered her anecdotes, experiences and ordeals with hilarious mom and wife tip-bits we could all relate to…. how not to embarass your children, how to stay married for 15 years and how to turn all family meetings in your favor. 

She even has a daily radio show with Oprah and several foundations… now if only she liked the bottle of Glow Mama I slipped into her purse!

Have you ever looked at your neighbor, colleague, or friend and felt, with envy, that they made juggling

Full House at the Working Motherhood Event in SF

family and work look easy? You know, the one with the fresh manicure who is CEO by day, weekend tri-athlete and bakes from scratch?  Well, I left the Working Motherhood New Formulas for Success Event in San Francisco Thursday evening in good company…namely, with over 500 successful women who have all felt that way at some point, including the highly regarded keynote speaker and panel.

After an anecdotal and poignant keynote by Lisa Belkin, the panel of successful women discussed their attempts to balance work and family successfully. I came away with a few good takeaways to share - ones that every working mother can use each day.

• It Will Change: Be prepared to adjust your schedule often, usually in 6 month increments.
• “Don’t confuse activity with results” a great reminder by panelist Valerie Taglio, VP at HP. Be efficient and delegate what you can.
• Carve out family time and stick to it. For one panelist that meant leaving at 5 pm on the dot each afternoon, for another that was turning off the blackberry through the dinner hour. Do what works for you.
• “Be Present” - We loved this idea from Tina Sharkey, CEO of BabyCenter.  It’s simple, but not often executed well.  Our interpretation:  try not to multi-task (ok, try to multi-task *less*) and enjoy the moment.  Now please excuse me while I check on dinner and change a diaper with my other hand.

Whatever your personal situation - SAHM, WAHM, Job Share, CEO, Entrepreneur or Mommy Blogger, all of these reminders apply and can be simple changes you can make every day.

And last but not least, a recurring theme throughout the night.

Take a moment to consider all that you accomplished today, and celebrate.

Congratulations to Moo on her baby shower last weekend - looks like it was a blast. 

“We had Glow Mama as mom-osas- with apple cider. It was great. People wanted to take some home. I gotta tell you, the girls were excited about the amount of fiber in the drink. It drew a lot of excitement. Especially when 5 girls felt like they went to the bathroom 2-3 times in one day. I know you don’t want to advertise that but if I had a blog I would def write about that. I gotta tell you, even the most skeptic girl who doesn’t “go” regularly was regular for 3 days after that. It could be mom’s best kept secret.”

Art Mama with baby in tow

Everyone told me while I was pregnant just how much my life was going to change, how hard parenting was going to be, and how my life will no longer be mine. I took note and basically sloughed it off, since I wasn’t there yet. Well that time has arrived! With my daughter now 10-months-old and happy, healthy and just a pure delight—I am on a mission to find “me” again.

It all started one night when she was crying (teething, I think) and I was holding her because my husband couldn’t comfort her (she wanted mommy), and I found myself crying along with her. I came to the realization then that my entire world revolves around her, this beautiful being, and therefore my own “me” world has been lost in the revolution. Don’t get me wrong—I love my daughter so much it makes my heart hurt. But from someone who has lived 40 great years, had pretty much a “dream” career, a dream husband and a vibrant life as a couple, I am inevitably going to grieve my life as I knew it. I then made a pact with myself to become completely fulfilled as my own person so I can be the best mom I can be to my daughter.

I am still learning as I go along, but I want to share my thoughts so far on how we can begin to be loving and content moms, starting with pregnancy!

During pregnancy MAKE YOUR LIFE ALL ABOUT YOU! It is the last time you can do this for yourself, and it will also create a healthy and happy environment to grow that baby! This means that you can toss that guilt aside as you allow yourself to do things that make you happy, such as:

• Ask your husband or partner to pamper you. Hello nightly foot rubs!
• Rest and nap as much as you want and need. Don’t feel guilty for laying on the couch reading a good book every evening, or watching back-to-back episodes of Grey’s Anatomy! Or simply going to bed at 7:30 without doing the dishes!
• Eat foods that taste good to you at the time, even if it’s only potatoes and avocados. Your body will garnish all the nutrition it needs to nourish your baby. I remember I couldn’t look at a salad or anything green throughout my entire pregnancy, but I loved my dad’s coleslaw and drank gallons of ice water. I still managed to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby!
• Drink lots of ice cold Glow Mama! Everything I drank during pregnancy had to be ice cold and I couldn’t drink anything too sweet. So Glow Mama is perfect! If I knew about Mom-Mocktails back then, I would have been in heaven!
• Buy maternity clothes that make you feel good about being pregnant and having a glorious belly!

Once you have your wonderful baby, there will definitely be months of an adjustment period when you are getting to know your baby. Caring for your baby is a 24-7 devotion, (I refuse to call it a “job”!), so just know that the first couple of months will consist of putting your needs on the back burner. But as you emerge out of your new-baby-fog, it is okay to start adding pieces of yourself back into your life.

I recently read an article in Parents Magazine that said of course you will be listening to lullabies and playing with baby toys trying to merge yourself into your baby’s world. But it’s also okay to merge your baby into YOUR world! I realized I actually had started to do this when she was 3 months old. We took our baby to poetry readings, holiday parties (no matter how cold it was outside) and art walks. We play her music we like, and she loves it! We took her on her first overnight trip in Tahoe for our anniversary, and to her first ballpark! In all occasions, she’s always a joy. It shows us she is interested in social interaction and that she’s adaptable. We are learning that we can be a fun family, doing things together that we all love

Three Generations of Happy Girls in Tahoe

From these early experiences, this is the most important lesson I’ve learned: Don’t be afraid to introduce your baby to the activities/music/food you enjoy, because it is probably THE key ingredient to growing a healthy family life!

Now I am branching out more. I started taking a yoga class where for an hour and a half each week I have time that is solely mine. It feels good to nourish my body and mind this way. And when I get home, I more excited than ever to see my baby girl! I also do a few hours of work during the day, even when my baby isn’t napping. She is really good at amusing herself and playing independently—which is such a healthy experience for baby and mommy!

My husband and I try to have a date night at least once every two weeks. We see now how vital it is to put this focus onto us as a couple. We’ve learned the hard way that if we don’t, our relationship will not progress effortlessly as it may have before! Remember, happy parents create happy children!

Pregnancy and motherhood is the most special, uniquely personal, loving and important time in a woman’s life. Yes, there are sacrifices, but that doesn’t mean you have to lose yourself. You have made this beautiful life, and you deserve to continue nurturing it with all the pleasures in the world.