Mother's Milk

Once upon a time, before the innovation of infant formula, there was only one way to feed your newborn and that was with breast milk; Mother Nature’s invention. My Grandmother told a story of having trouble producing milk with her second child. Her doctor instructed her to go home and ask her husband to make beer in the bathtub. This surprised her, particularly since it was during prohibition. She had heard of bathtub gin but not bathtub beer. Even though she was a “teetotaler”, she followed doctor’s orders without question, succumbing to the home crafted bathtub beer remedy as prescribed. Curious, what could be the rationale behind such professional advice?

Beer has several components that support breastfeeding from the production of milk to the release and let-down. There is a debate over the introduction of alcohol into the bloodstream, which with beer, is minimal once metabolized through the Mother’s system then digested by the baby. Certainly, the consumption of alcohol by a nursing Mother is not promoted, however; the myths are dispelled by LaLeche League International. Home testing kits are available to measure the alcoholic content in breast milk if one subscribes to the “pump and dump” technique.

The grains, barley and hops, in beer have biochemical properties promoting milk production, making non-alcoholic beer an excellent alternative as noted by Berthold Koletzko^* and 1Frauke Lehner

*	Div. Metabolic Diseases and Nutrition, Dr. von Haunersches Kinderspital, University of Munich, Germany

Abstract:

“Traditional wisdom claims that moderate beer consumption may be beneficial for initiation of breastfeeding and enhancement of breastfeeding success. Here we review the question whether or not there-is any scientific basis for this popular belief. There are clear indications that beer can stimulate prolactin secretion which may enhance lactogenesis both in non-lactating humans and in experimental animals. The component in beer responsible for the effect on prolactin secretion is not the alcohol content but apparently a polysaccharide from barley, which explains that the effect on prolactin can also be induced by non-alcoholic beer. No systematic studies are available to evaluate the clinical effects of beer on induction of lactogenesis, and short term studies have shown a reduced breast milk intake by infants after moderate alcohol consumption of their mothers. It is conceivable that relaxing effects of both alcohol and components of hop might also have beneficial effects on lactogenesis is some women, but there is no hard evidence for causal effects. It appears prudent not to generally advocate the regular use of alcoholic drinks during lactation but to rather refer mothers to non-alcoholic beer, even though no adverse effects of an occasional alcoholic drink during lactation have been documented.”

Hops

Hops is a grain present in beer that creates a relaxing and slightly sedative effect. From the genus cannibus, hops is an effective nervine, promoting sleep. Hops has been used medicinally for centuries throughout Europe, to treat these as well as several other conditions.

Barley

Barley is an ancient grain that has algaecide properties and contains all eight essential amino acids. It is high in other nutrients as well. It has been used for many years to increase production of breast milk. This is why beer, with its’ proposed ingredients, is a natural choice for Mother’s who are breastfeeding.

“The Birthplace of Aviation”

July 20, 1969…It was my 7^th Birthday but not like just any other birthday occurring once a year. Today the astronauts would land on the moon, making history. We all huddled around the television for hours, waiting and watching on a black and white monitor of vast nothingness that was our first glimpse of “space”. Being MY birthday, I was irritated at the fact that the attention was diverted from me. The day was dark and the weather was stormy, downright ominous. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mother Nature was upset with people for walking where they shouldn’t have. Somehow, it didn’t seem right. The rains continued to fall and the sky remained dark as night while Dad drove us down the road to the Chagrin River where we watched it rise. We parked on the bridge at the bottom of the street, spanning the feeder creek that ran through our back yard. The water was muddy, moving rocks and boulders with its might and now rushing wildly over the bridge. As it reached the bumper of our 1968 Plymouth Fury III convertible, Dad decided it was time to leave. We returned home with the force of Mother Nature echoing in my ears, scolding us with her powerful wrath only she could conjure. I was convinced “she” was acting as a parent, disapproving of this most unnatural technological event.

I opened my gifts and had cake, Hough bakery cake. I got a tennis racket I still have to this day. Later that evening, when the air cleared enough to catch a fuzzy glow of the moon, I strained my eyes hoping to locate movement of the now heroes who had blasted through time and space. I asked my Dad why we could not see them and he gave me the only answer a Father would give a silly soft 7 year old girl; “Because they’re on the other side” he remarked convincingly.

I have since had a much different perspective of that day in 1969 when the astronauts of Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Every 7 years became a significant birthday to me. For my 14^th, I was old enough to spend the day at Geauga Lake Amusement Park with a group of my closest friends. At age 21, I was a newlywed living in Dayton, OH, home of the Wright Brothers, and celebrated my birthday dinner at the top of a tower hanging in the night sky overlooking the lights illuminating the city. In the next room, Wright Patterson Air Force Base was honoring the first girl to walk with muscle stimulated assistance, pioneering a method of overcoming paralysis. At age 28, we relocated to the Outer Banks, NC and lived down the street, just beyond the Wright Brother’s Memorial. “First in Flight” read the license plates. I anxiously took the airborne tour in a single prop plane above the same dune, nearly 100 years later, from the same perspective. I was awarded a certificate in honor of sharing that historic event. In 1997, the summer my Mother died, she had marked in her calendar on my birthday, “Beth walks on the moon”. That July 20^th, I found myself in the Science and Technology Museum at the Smithsonian. When I hit the Mall, I immediately made a beeline to see the very space capsule that had become a symbol of pride, adventure and our future. A little more than a year later in early November, I landed on the same spot but this time, behind a velvet rope with a small gathering of people, glued to a monitor where we talked with Astronaut John Glenn from space, as he took his tour once again of the moon (coincidentally he was 77!). They presented a moon rock we lined up to view and touch in person. It was a completely spontaneous trip and event that was an absolute thrill and honor. Now its 40 years later and once again, its my Birthday, my 47^th Birthday, and the lunar landing has become personal. I plan to commemorate the day much the same way America and the world did 40 years ago. I will celebrate with family and eat cake, while looking forward to my next “every 7^th birthday” in a couple of years when I turn 49. Who knows what surprises await-maybe that will be the year I finally travel space. Happy Birthday to all the aptly named “Moon Children”…Happy Birthday John Glenn!

I Am My Own Best Muse

Why is it I would rather do artwork than pay the bills, or grocery shop when I have an article due, or even clean the house instead of baking? It is a form of procrastination and although it allows me to still be productive on some level, I am rarely compelled to perform the task at hand.
While working as a Barista some 20 yrs. ago, I studied law so I landed a job as a legal secretary. As a legal secretary at a fast-paced downtown firm, I dreamed of design work so I moved to the OBX, employing my calligraphic design education at a custom flag shop. While creating custom flags in an open-air shop near the beach, I had a drive to pursue nursing. Since there were no nursing schools nearby, I returned home and went through RN school. Coming across as someone who cannot commit, I am, in fact, quite the contrary. I follow through with each of my undertakings and take pride being a “Jack of all trades, (master of none)” as the saying goes. Therein lay the conundrum. I strive to master every task I undertake. I would be naive to claim that I have achieved this status, for mastery of any endeavor is a life-long practice, even with the simplest of chores like making the bed (but with kitty help). The best part is that I can express each facet of being whenever I choose. Years of juggling affords me the ability to multi-task so I can accomplish several smaller duties with a single stroke. I invent my own personal challenges throughout each day. How about you?

It should be apparent that I am supposed to be doing something other than writing this, but what kind of a procrastinator would I be if I did? If you are reading this instead of doing something more pressing on your itinerary, enjoy! I just realized, it has been a while since I practiced the piano…

Pink Bubblegum Lipstick Roses

The pink bubblegum lipstick rose is much happier after spritzing with an organic liquid lavender-mint soap solution mixed with a drop of cinnamon essential oils. The bugs feasting on its leaves, not as happy.