Crabby, Pregnant Lady

Oddly enough, I'm in a really hormonal mood and I know it.  I'm super argumentative.  Not with anyone in particular, but mostly businesses, the internet and the people on the internet.  It's sad, but I recognize it. 

To start with, Gap Maternity stinks.  I only say stinks because I'm trying not to say sucks so my daughter doesn't pick that up.  I might be being harsh, but I found out (through my own research and NOT their disclaimer) that they charge more online ($10 per pair of jeans more) than they do in stores and they won't do price adjustments.  It is even more irritating that I TRIED to buy the items in the store (that's 45 miles from my house) and apparently I wear the most popular size so they are frequently out of it.  No problem, right?  So I came home and ordered online to ensure my 40% discount before the end of the day and got charged $20 more before my 'discount.'  Although, I didn't even realize it until I received my purchases in the mail and thought, 'Hmm... that doesn't look right...' The customer service lady was nice and I could tell she thought it was ridiculous too, but 'couldn't do anything about it' even after discussing with multiple managers.  That's the really, really short version.  I'm returning one of my pairs of jeans since prior to this discovery I'd removed tags from the other pair.  And I've already made the situation known to at least 10,408 people thanks to birthing discussion boards and Facebook, plus I wrote a review on Gap.com per each pair of jeans I was overcharged for.  I'm feeling better since then. Well, a little.

Next, birth discussion boards.  I actually really enjoy reading so many of the discussions on these sites, but wow, the opinions.  What shall we tackle first?  How about Natural Child Birth.

First let me say, I think it's great for the people who choose to do NUCB.  The U is for Unmedicated, by the way.  The only times I get super annoyed with these advocates is when they air a sense of superiority for having done it, or make some ridiculous statement that I've harmed my child by taking pain medicine of some sort.  My opinion is however the baby gets out the safest and easiest way is what is actually best for baby.  It would be best for me to stop there.

Next, how about breastfeeding?  Good topic, I think.  Background:  I've breastfed both of my kids and will do so with this one as well.  Why?  Well, several reasons.  Initially, I'd heard it's the most nutritious for baby with all kinds of benefits, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Second, COST.  Holy smokes.  Third, reduced cancer risk (supposedly) for me.  Okay, all that said, this was posted today on a site I read:

http://www.lucieslist.com/breastfeeding-in-america/

Now, I have a major problem with this.  Here is why:  unrelated correlations.  Not all of them are, but several.  Lesson:  What is an unrelated correlation?  Answer:  Two things that correlate, but are not directly related.  Example:  In months children ate more ice cream, there were more childhood deaths.  Possible correlation:  Children die from eating more ice cream.  Wrong.  Correct correlation:  Children eat ice cream more frequently in summer months.  Children are also at an increased risk for drowning in summer months, due to swimming.  The real link is that both happen in summer.

Okay, so here are my points of contention with this article:

1.  Morning milk wakes babies up and evening milk makes babies go to sleep.  Really?!  Oh, I'm sure this will be a comfort to all of those who nurse and their babies still get up throughout the night into the first year or two of life.  No Correlation whatsoever.  I don't even feel the need to explain why this statement is ridiculous.

2.  Formula fed babies are 14x more likely to be hospitalized &
3.  Formula fed babies are 2x more likely to get ear infections, diarrhea and die from SIDS.  Okay, just above in this chart is the statement 'statistics show that low-income mothers formula feed the most.'  If that is indeed true, which I do think is after seeing many of my peers, young and without much income, follow this pattern, then PERHAPS (sarcasm intended) that is the correlation.  Let's think about this:  persons with lower incomes often have addictions.  I'm thinking of smoking right now, as it has been linked to be more prevalent in cases of SIDS-point one.  Next, often people who have lower incomes must work outside of the home or multiple jobs outside of the home.  Little one most likely goes to Germ-land, I mean day care*, and voila-colds that can lead to ear infections, diarrhea and possible hospitalizations-point two.  The third and strongest point is that there are still several breastfed babies that also get ear infections, diarrhea, are hospitalized and die from SIDS.
*(P.S.  I was a daycare kid for a year or two and I survived without harm, but there are definitely more germs in places such as that and EVEN (gasp) in church nurseries and elementary schools.  Same idea:  lots of little kids, small spaces).

4.  Breastfed babies IQ's may be 3-5 points higher than those of formula fed babies.  What I want to say is that I know a lot of adults that were breastfed that are idiots, but that's not nice.  So instead I'll say that I was an exclusively Formula Fed baby and would argue I'm extremely smart about several things that I care to understand and know about.  I could also add that up until some year which I don't know (perhaps someone can help me, but Google was taking too long-Sorry), it was actually discouraged to breastfeed and only became 'popular' or recommended in the more recent years.  Maybe the 90's?  I'm readily admitting my ignorance now, after talking about how smart I am.  You may laugh, for a moment.  I would also like to link that this point could also be linked to lower income status, as many of those parents are not able to spend as much time helping their child develop skills due to other obligations including, but not limited to, working.

Okay, I'm done debunking the chart.  I would like to add that while I think breastfeeding is great and everyone should try it for the same reasons I did, that it in no way makes me a better person for doing it.  My kids would be just as smart and cute without my production of milk, but I prefer to do it and will continue to as long as I'm able.  I can say if I wasn't dead set on breastfeeding I would have given up when Amelia was only a couple days old, but once we (she and I) figured it out, we were good to go.

Wow, do we have time for more topics?  Not really, but others that I see some ridiculous statements and arguments made about include:  circumcisions, spanking, planned inductions/c-sections, family issues, vaccinations... probably more, but maybe we can tackle some of those another day.  I'm feeling much less frustrated and it's well past time for bed for this Mama.  You can send your letters of thanks for this post to my children for sleeping and Andrew, as he had shutdown, enabling me to have so much time to collect my thoughts and rant.  You're welcome! :)