Greedy Breastfeeding Mothers Featured on NPR

I whipped up this letter in response to a really terrible NPR piece on breast pumps.

Dear Mr. Siegel and Ms. Chace,
I'm amazed that this piece was deemed good enough to air on NPR.  You portray breastfeeding mothers as greedy people trying to get a luxury good for free.  Your economist's opinions were promoted over actual information by breastfeeding and health experts.
 "CHACE: But our economist, Katherine Baicker, isn't so sure that eliminating the cost of the breast pumps really induces much extra breastfeeding. Rather, she thinks most of the money spent will go towards people who would have been breastfeeding anyway."
What is the evidence she has for this?
"BAICKER: So the question is whether the value that those people get from the breast pumps is worth the cost in terms of increased health spending and increased premiums."
Actually, that's not the question.  The question is, is a breastpump, which allows a mother to give her baby the healthiest food possible, full of antibodies and cancer-fighting cells, as important as other aspects of the baby’s medical care?  Of course it is.

Studying Early Man's Cave Art AKA Cured Meat

My students thought this was the famous "red disc" 40,000 year old cave art.
I said, "Uh, guys, that's SALAMI."
Them: "What? Oh.  I thought it looked a little weird."
Then I told them to add the slide to their Powerpoint presentation to the class and see if the class figured it out.  Of course, the class missed it, because that's just how sixth graders work.  In the fall, they are still very literal.  If you show them a slice of salami photoshopped on a wall and tell them it's cave art, they will believe you.  They will also believe way weirder stuff than that.  That's why teaching sixth grade is so fun.

Approaching One Year of Breastfeeding... Again!

Baby Lane; note iPhone with supercharger

Lane’s first birthday is coming up on Tuesday, and I’m getting excited because it means I’ve hit one year of breastfeeding. I want to scream with happiness just writing that, even though I had little doubt I’d meet the goal- she’s my second kid, and in my 2 years and 4 months of nursing her older brother, I became educated about breastfeeding by attending mothers’ groups run by either LCs or lactation counselors, reading books and blogs, and listening to many mothers’ stories of breastfeeding successes and challenges.  I knew that even if I encountered an obstacle such as tongue tie or a baby with food allergies (problems I didn’t even know existed until after I gave birth), I had reliable, expert help just a phone call away.

Still, I knew obstacles were possible.  I could have had a baby born with a medical issue like like an unformed palate or even a health problem that put her in the NICU, both of which would complicate the oh-so important first fews days of breastfeeding.  I could have had problems when I went back to work at 8.5 months, like a care provider who overfed her milk, or even a power outage that ruined a painstakingly built-up extra milk stash in the freezer.  In addition to all of the fascinating science I’ve learned about breastfeeding, I’ve learned just how many societal and medical factors can interfere with breastfeeding.

I'm Getting Older, It's True

I just started trying to get into running. When you start exercising after being inactive for a while, you start realizing just how OLD you are. I'm 37 and my body just ain't young and spry. I'm hoping that as I get in better shape my body will feel better. We shall see.

I'd like to run a half marathon in the next year, but my main goal is just to NOT injure myself.

I was driving to work and thinking about how I'm 37, which is pretty close to 40. And actually, I'll be 38 in a few months, so I'm now closer to 40 than to 35. I'm practically middle-aged now! What the heck! When did THAT happen. Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy to be alive. I'm not complaining about approaching 40. I'm gonna be really thankful for every year I have on this planet.

A couple days ago my sister was at Barnes and Noble and I asked her to look at running books for me. I asked her if she saw a book called Running Until You're 100 by Jeff Galloway.

She said, "Yeah but wouldn't need that. It says it's for runners in their 40s 50s 60s and 70s."
Me: "Katie, I'm OLD. I'm almost 40."
K: "Really?"
Me: "Yes, I'm almost 38. That's practically 40."

I've been thinking about my age because I'm approaching the age where it will be challenging to have another child, both as far as chances of conception and as far as, can my aged, broken body handle another pregnancy? Sleep deprivation I'm fine with, but I've had to do physical therapy for hip and back stuff after having each kid and I'm not sure I'm up for that again. That's part of why I'm trying to start exercising. My body just can't stay as destroyed and rickety as it feels now!

  Even if I don't have another kid, I'm getting old, and I need to keep my body feeling more capable than it is now! I want to feel good, not bad. And it seems like the whole world has run a marathon but me, and I would like to run the NYC Marathon or half-marathon. I'm barely running two miles yet, so I have a ways to go.