Road Warrior Mountain Bound Magees

For those of you who are familiar with Seinfeld you may remember the, “Summer of George” episode. In the episode the character George finds out his severance package from his job is enough to allow him to take the whole summer off. He decides he’s going to become very active and do all the things he’s always wanted to do. Instead of becoming active though as he’d planned he becomes very lazy. Never changing out of his pajamas, he stops going over to his friend’s houses and calls them instead to see what was going on and makes them come visit him. I can relate a lot to George Costanza. My maternity leave was from March through June and I had grand plans of this being the, “Summer of Natalie.” I was excited of the prospect of being off work and being able to do what I wanted. In my mind I would hike a lot of 14,000 foot peaks, I would frame photos and make scrapbooks, I’d get lots of work outs in and potentially have dinner ready for my husband every night when he got home from work. Alas my “Summer of Natalie” went about like the “Summer of George.” I stayed home in my robe, barely showering on most days, I had friends come to visit me and I called, texted or facebook’d to keep in touch. Such is the glamorous first three months of life with an infant.

Those that know me best however, know I am not one to stay at home very long. After a hiatus I found myself back in the mountains, back to flying and teaching and of course back to traveling. While the Magee’s enjoy traveling far and abroad we have found ourselves taking more “stay-cations” as of late and enjoying our home state. If you have never taken a stay-cation I highly recommend it especially when living in a state as beautiful as Colorado.

Two weeks ago I had my mom fly out with the intentions of hiking Castle and Conundrum Peak with Chad. Once she arrived in town we packed up the car and headed west towards Aspen. We have gotten pretty good about traveling with Charlotte but what you come to realize is that with a baby things become infinitely more annoying. Sitting in traffic is more infuriating because that’s longer time for the baby to be in the car. You have to prepare with bottles to feed them when they awake and plan for stops to change diapers. In short, a four hour car ride now takes five or six. There were many factors that kept us from hiking those mountains that weekend as I had planned including running out of break fluid and Chad forgetting his hiking boots. No matter, we had a hotel in Carbondale and we were set to enjoy the weekend. My mom has never been farther west than our house in Arvada so she got to see some parts of the state she had never seen before. We enjoyed the Glenwood Hot Springs and the brewery there, we drove to Aspen and took the shuttle to the Maroon Bells, we ate lunch at a fantastic pizza dive bar and drove Independence Pass home. Chad made me realize that the important thing was not standing on top of a mountain but spending time with family. As he put it, “the mountains will always be there and will be the same…Charlotte won’t be.” Sometimes you can get summit fever before even stepping foot on a mountain.

The Maroon Bells are the most photographed mountains in North America

The weekend after this we spent five days up in the mountains again, this time in Steamboat. Unfortunately there are no close 14ers by (I checked) so the trip was all about relaxing, hot springs and a little light hiking. Every year since we moved in separate directions my sister and friends Lisa and Michelle (who are twins which we’ve known since high school) meet for a vacation in various cities. These adventures started out as girls trips and since we have all gotten married have expanded to include husbands. Michelle just had a baby in January and of course I have Charlotte so this year’s trip included babies as well. This is a chance for us all to get together, enjoy catching up and hopefully not fighting too much (as siblings often do). Steamboat was the pick because Lisa’s in-laws own a place there so it made for a nice trip where we had a free place to stay and everyone even had their own bedroom and bathroom. You can imagine 7 friends and two babies being in one condo might be a little tight but there was plenty of activities to do to keep everyone occupied from mountain biking to hot tubing. We tubed the Yampa one day, everyone took turns cooking dinner, we visited Strawberry Hot Springs and took a hike to Fish Water Falls. As far as ski towns go Steamboat is one of my favorites and has plenty of outdoors activities to enjoy without being insanely pricey. I highly recommend the Strawberry Hot Springs which are mineral springs so you do not smell like sulphur after soaking. After dark they are 18 and up because it is clothing optional but don’t worry there isn’t a light there to be found. Be sure and bring a flashlight to find your way around and your own towel. If you live in Denver and want to tube the Yampa I recommend bringing your own tubes as well because the places there charge about $18 to rent one which only includes one ride down the river.

 Before we knew it the weekend came to an end and it was time to head home. Chad and I drove separate since everyone else had to head to the airport and fly home. We decided to drive through Estes Park because of the construction on I70 and the fact we hate sitting in traffic. I highly recommend this as an alternative although it will cost $20 to enter the park (which is good for seven days admission afterwards). We started from the Winter Park side and drove through Estes which took us down to the I25 and 36 junction. On our drive we saw moose, elk, big horn sheep and deer as well as some amazing views of tundra and Longs peak. I will say, if you are a tourist driving through the park please don’t stop in the middle of the road to check out the wildlife or get out of your car. There are designated spots to pull off so take advantage of those. Nothing is more annoying because of a traffic jam due to an out of state license plate driver gawking at the wildlife. The temperature at the top of the pass was around 40 degrees I noted as we were driving and we were treated to some icy slush raining down on us.

Longs Peak

Traveling with an infant is never easy but a better alternative than staying at home on your couch for the first half of their life. You just have to remember that you are now on someone else’s schedule and not your own. Be sure to pack more diapers and outfits than you need and bring plenty of milk and bottles with you for the drive. Sometimes Charlotte would get upset because she just wanted out of her car seat so after a quick pit stop she was fine again. Once you realize that the journey is what is important, not the destination it makes it easier to relax and enjoy the sights along the way even if you must stop more often for your baby. Enjoy this time now while they are young to get out and do things because as they get older they are more alert and more prone to meltdowns! Traveling with Charlotte takes more planning and work but I look forward to sharing photos with her some day of all the adventures she joined us on….

But Trust me on the Breastfeeding...

August is Breast-feeding awareness month. I know, I wasn’t aware of this either. In fact, like most people before I had a child I wasn’t aware of a lot of things. Birth, babies, breastfeeding and everything in-between was like another country on the other side of the world that I had never researched and had no intention of visiting. Of course this all changed for me this year and even though Charlotte has been delivered and continues to grow and thrive my interest in pregnancy, birthing and breastfeeding has not changed. Every time I have a friend or acquaintance become pregnant I find myself either on the receiving end of their questions or doling out my unsolicited advice. To borrow from Mary Schmich (author of the “Wear Sunscreen” speech”), “Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.” But where she says, “Trust me on the sunscreen,” I’m going to offer a different nugget of wisdom:

Trust me on the Breastfeeding.

A new book is due out next week called, “Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong – and What You Really Need to Know” by Emily Oster. She is an award-winning economist, University of Chicago professor and a new mom. Safe to say she is probably more qualified than me to dole out advice. In her book, she combs through a lot of medical studies to debunk many widely followed dictates of pregnancy: no alcohol, no caffeine, no changing the kitty litter etc. I haven’t read her book yet because it hasn’t hit the shelves but from what I can tell she is trying to help women escape the confines of check lists of what pregnant women feel they can and cannot do. I am way ahead of this lady because let me tell you I didn’t follow half the recommendations from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of what not to do. I ate my eggs runny, I drank Red Bulls and coffee, I had blue cheese salad dressing, ate Jimmy John’s turkey sandwiches almost every other day, had bacon, hot dogs and sausage, sipped some wine here and there, took hot baths, colored my hair, did headstands at 38 weeks, forgot to take my prenatal vitamins, rock climbed, started yoga two weeks postpartum and an intense bootcamp four weeks post partum. Did I mention how many cupcakes I ate?

And despite all this (or maybe because of?!) my baby and I both turned out fine. I am not advocating you ignore what books or what the ACOG says but I do encourage my pregnant and new mom friends to go with their guts. Remember that gut feeling? It is the same knowledge and intuition that helped our ancestors evolve and reproduce and thrive long before the internet or, “What to expect while you’re expecting.” I know women who have done everything “right” and have had miscarriages and seen women who smoke, drink in excess and do drugs (my top three no-no’s obviously) have babies. I am often asked about the things I did while I was pregnant and I am here to say I did not follow all the rules but I did follow my instincts. I can’t give better advice than for other women to do the same.

My one piece of advice I will give to new moms however is breastfeed and stick with it.

Please for the love of it breastfeed. If you just found out you are pregnant than learn all you can about breastfeeding. The birth will happen, breastfeeding...not so easy.

I don’t care so much how women give birth, whether they eat sushi or if they take spin classes or not but I do care that women breast feed. At least try. Seek a lactation consultant or a free support group at your hospital or learn how to pump correctly if nothing else. Honestly it is a wonder anyone breast feeds anymore. Women have to return to work after 12-16 weeks to conditions not conducive for breast feeding. Flight attendants are shaming women on planes for feeding their children. Women are discouraged BY OTHER WOMEN in public places and told to cover up or leave. I hear things from people like, “Well I support breast feeding if…..”

“she uses a cover”

“she does it in private”

“she pumps a bottle and feeds from that”

“she goes in the bathroom and does it”

“I support breast feeding if I don’t have to see it…”

No YOU don’t. NO you don’t. NO YOU DON’T.

If your support is conditional than that is not support. No wonder so many women turn to formula early on. If you have to go back to work and cannot pump enough or you don’t feel comfortable nursing in public or never got the hang of nursing to begin with how else are you supposed to feed your child? I’m not judging, I’ve had to use formula myself in emergency situations but reading the label on that stuff makes me ill. Here’s what’s in Similac Advance: nonfat milk, lactose, high oleic safflower oil, soy oil, coconut oil, galacto-oligosac-charides, whey protein concentrate, c. cohnii oil, m. alpina oil, beta-carotene, luten, lycopene….and that’s just the first 12 of 55 or so ingredients. You know what my breast milk has in it? Proteins, Self-digesting fats, hormones and enzymes, vitamins and minerals and immunoglobulins. All ingredients that my body, not some lab, produces specifically for my baby. As I’ve said, yes I’ve had to use formula before but to me it is no substitute for what the body can produce for my child. If you do chose formula than do your research and know what you are feeding your baby.

Knowing how wonderful breast milk is for babies I cannot believe how many people do not support nursing mothers. Before I had a baby when I saw a woman nursing I’ll admit my first thought was, “Wow there’s a boob with a baby on it.” Then I would go on spring break and see more tatas in a wet t-shirt contest than I ever cared to see in my life. You can go to Hooters, watch the Miss USA pageant on national television or see just about any movie with Jennifer Love Hewitt or Scarlett Johansson these days and see more boobs than you will when a woman is breast feeding. Now when I see a woman nursing her child I don’t get embarrassed or grossed out, I think, “Wow what an amazing thing the human body is that it can grow and nourish a child.” Why are we so immature as a society? What's the big deal with breasts? Have you been to a water park lately? Go there and see the amount of people that should be required to cover up then defend to me how breast feeding weirds or grosses you out.

In honor of National Breastfeeding Awareness Month and to raise awareness of the importance of breastfeeding I wanted to feature some beautiful women breast feeding. I hope by looking at these photos you will see the beauty in them as I did. I wanted to solicit photos and stories from other women but I realize that not everyone has a photo of them breast feeding. I encourage you to take one yourself or have a spouse take one for you. There are many photographers now who will take an entire photo session of you breast feeding. If you would like me to feature your photo or story on here feel free to email me at natalieallen72@yahoo.com.

Enjoy your pregnancy. Enjoy your labor and delivery however it happens. Workout, eat healthy, be happy and don’t be scared if you don’t do everything by what some book says.

But trust me on the breast feeding.

 My beautiful strong mom inspirations and some very happy healthy babies:

"This picture was taken at my sister wedding; my youngest, Coraline, was 2 months old.  I take pride in that I nursed both of my daughters for their first year of life. In a culture where we are constantly told what a woman should be or look like, every time I nursed one of my daughters I was affirmed at what MY body was doing, despite its softness and imperfections. My body was sustaining life" 

 

How could you say no to this face (pictured above). One of my friends gorgeous second daughter. Even with a toddler she finds the time to nurse because it's so important to her.

This is the face I see when I feed Charlotte And that makes it all worth it