#5 of the emergency series: A maintenance plan.

While not the most important of things, it is nonetheless very important to have a maintenance plan for your emergency preparedness, or it may become obsolete and pointless to have gone to the trouble of preparing it all in the first place. For instance, the clothes you packed may no longer fit, or be seasonal. The food may be old or moldy, and the equipment uncharged. So here is the best plan I have. This was compiled from many different maintenance plans I have researched.

Things to do:
Annually or less - Go through the supplies as a family so everyone is familiar with the contents of the bins and how the stuff works. Keeping up to date your fitness and health. E.g if I have a dental problem, I look to it as soon as possible. Increase your knowledge of the area and the region, and in survival. Take or keep up with first aid certification. Change the batteries on your smoke alarms at least once a year. Conduct fire and emergency evacuation drills. Get training from the fire department on how to use your fire extinguisher (A-B-C type), and show family members where extinguishers are kept. Different extinguishers operate in different ways. Unless responsible family members know how to use your particular model, they may not be able to use it effectively. There is no time to read directions during an emergency. Only adults should handle and use extinguishers.
Teach all responsible family members how and when to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at the main switches or valves. Keep necessary tools near gas and water shut-off valves. Turn off utilities only if you suspect a leak or damaged lines, or if you are instructed to do so by authorities. If you turn the gas off, you will need a professional to turn it back on. Paint shut-off valves with white or fluorescent paint to increase visibility. Attach a shut-off valve wrench or other special tool in a conspicuous place close to the gas and water shut-off valves.

Quarterly - Change the water in rain barrels every 3 to 4 months to keep it fresh. Food should be checked for expiration dates, and flashlights and radio checked to ensure they are in working order.
Clothes, diapers and shoes for the children should be checked for size and replaced and all should be seasonal.

Monthly - Add to your supplies monthly through a program called “The Q” at www.atozdisasterprep.com . "The Q" allows us to enter our family size and our goals for food storage to develop a plan tailored for us. Update the inventory and it's location in your supplies as it arrives. Develop and maintain an excel spread sheet that lists all of your supplies or use an Apple/Android application called Prep & pantry

 http://prepandpantry.com/ to inventory your food and supplies. (This application allows you to scan an item, record its calories per serving, number of servings, expiration date, and location. It also allows for setting total inventory quantity goals and generates a shopping list of items needed to meet those goals.) Test your smoke alarms monthly.

With this done you can rest easy that you have calmly prepared, and are ready for nearly everything you can be ready for.

#4 of the emergency series: Good things to do now to be better prepared for coming disasters or emergencies later.

Good things to do now to be better prepared for coming disasters or emergencies:

• Purchase a low cost Kindle Device and load books on various subjects related to disaster planning on it, then place it in the previously mentioned Disaster Box #1 or 2.

• Buy needed things on previous post.
• Learn How to Build a Fire
• Learn How To Use a Compass
• Make a visual or written record of your possessions to help you claim losses in the event of damage. Include photographs of cars, boats and recreational vehicles. Get professional appraisals of jewelry, collectibles, artwork or other items that may be difficult to evaluate.
• Take a wild herb class or research the wild edibles in the area.
• Practice gardening.
• Know how to make a solar water still. (Above right illustration.)
• Know how to Perform Basic First Aid – You don’t have to be a doctor, or a genius, to properly dress a wound or save someone's life.

• First Aid Guide
• Understanding First Aid
• Common First Aid Topics
• Learn CPR
• How To Perform Adult CPR (video)
• How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver (video)


• Know how to swim and how To Teach a Child to Swim (71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Learning to swim might be a good idea.)

• Keep extra gas around for the car or generator in an emergency.
• Keep identification tags on pet's collars and a current picture. Have a plan and stocked up food and water for them too.
• Post emergency telephone numbers (fire, police, ambulance, etc.) by your phone. You may not have time in an emergency to look up critical numbers.
• Have a maintenance plan as discussed in my next post: #5 of the emergency series: A maintenance plan.
• Research, research, research. . .

Good resources:

Books:

Finding your way without Map or Compass  Harold Gatty   

Internet sources:
THRIVE Foods from www.atozdisasterprep.com.

Developing your survival plan
 Ray Mears extreme survival

Dave Canterbury youtube channel 

Online Survival Kit!

Facebook Page "Self Reliance Network" - a constantly updating forum including gardening, self-defense, medicine, etc with numerous reference documents and links to free kindle books.

# 3 of the emergency series: Emergency bins for a healthy and safe family

Emergency bin #1 should contain stuff for being in the home when an emergency happens:

• Candles and a clicker lighter or matches. . .unless your house has gas. (Then use flashlights.)
• Flashlights and extra batteries.
• Duct tape and plastic to seal windows and doors.
• If you don't have rain barrels, use an aqua pod, which stores a 14 day supply of water for a family of four in a bathtub.
• Food grade hydrogen peroxide to safely purify water.
• Green reusable personal products like: cloth diapers, cloth wipes, "mama cloth pads", breast pads or "family cloth". Or packages of paper products like: diapers, wipes, pads and TP. . .not very long lasting or sustainable in any major emergency, but handy.
• BBQ and/or a camping stove. Free DIY one here.
• Fire extinguisher or fire blanket.
• If you have money to burn, get an all-in-one solar generator like this one, to power the necessities in your house. Or get a gas one to run outside, and keep extra gas around.
• Solar, crank or battery powered radio

Emergency bin # 2 for if you need to take to the road and can't go to family or a hotel. Also just a great camping kit. Often called a "bug out bag." (Could even be kept in the trunk.)

• Garbage and ziplock bags 
• A package of unlubricated condoms not only can come in handy for their traditional use, but they can carry water and hold important things you need to be waterproof. 
• Everlasting matches or solar powered electric lighter
• Lara bars 
• Fully cooked dehydrated meals. 
• Cooking utensils, peeler and can opener 
• Plates, bowls, utensils and cups 
• Duct tape 
• Aluminum foil 
• Salt
• One door rocket stove and/or Biolite campstove to cook and recharge cell.
• Solar set to recharge rechargable batteries 
• Lifestraws or a family filter like a Brita and extra filter cartridges. 
• An optional bottle of trace mineral concentrate to add to filtered water. 
• Foodgrade hydrogen peroxide for water purifying. 
• Luggable Loo Seat, Cover and 5 gal. bucket for bathroom
• Umbrella(s)
• sunscreen
• Axe
• Swiss army knife 
• Collapsible saw or "pocket saw."
• Machete and sharpener 
• Work gloves 
• Insect repellent 
• Tarp(s) 
• Ropes of varying sizes and lengths.
• Clothes pins 
• Small kit of fishing stuff and an optional collapsible rod 
• Laundry soap, shampoo and dishsoap. . .unless you prefer cleaning with ashes as some survivalists recommend with little water. 
• Solar shower (preferably one for each person.) 
• Hand siphoning gadget for gas or water. 
• LED flashlights 
• Rechargeable batteries 
• Walkie talkies 
• Solar, crank or battery powered radio 
• Copies of birth certificates, titles, insurances, deeds, cash, passports, SS cards, etc. in a waterproof container. 
• Sharpie to mark bags, leave messages to family members on odd surfaces, etc.

Other things to have handy, but not in trunk.

• Optional blow up boat and ores
• Tent
• First aid kit and if you feel they are needed prescription medications. 
• Wallet with all the cash you can scrape up in the house.
• Toiletry bag, including dentures, extra eyeglasses, and hearing aid batteries as well as diapers if needed. 
• A change of clothes, including hiking sox and underwear and a coat and good walking shoes or work boots. 
• A sleeping bag or blanket and pillow for each household member. 
• Car keys and keys to the place you may be going (friend’s or relative’s home). 
• Cast iron pots, skillets and griddles as well as a steamer basket.

In an emergency, grab the last minute items, possibly turn off utilities, lock your door and go!

(If it's not an emergency though, check out my next post called #4 of the emergency series: Good things to do now to be better prepared for coming disasters or emergencies later.)

#2 of the emergency series: The emergency plan for the healthy prepping family.

The easiest step in preparedness is to agree on a plan . Particularly where to meet if your immediate family gets separated (or even want to stay close to extended family living nearby) in the case of an evacuation with no lines of communication working.

This is an Evacuation/ Meeting plan I have heard is a good idea. In this order:
A) Meet at or right outside your house in a safe, agreed on location.
B) If someone is in town and if those at home felt the house and near by area was not safe they should leave a scarf on the tree outside the house, signaling to the missing family members that it is unsafe and the secondary meeting spot will be used.
C) Have a secondary meeting spot a ways away from the first. 
D) Should you be unable to contact your family, have an “Out-of-Town” contact that every family member knows to call. Ask an out-of-town friend or relative to be your contact. After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance. Be aware that cell phones are often overloaded during and immediately after an emergency, so it is important to know “land line” phone numbers as well. Note: If telephones are not working, try e-mail. Sometimes e-mail gets through when calls cannot. Another good way to do this is utilizing the Red Cross's safe and well website. After you have registered with them, concerned family and friends can search the list of those who have registered themselves as “safe and well” by clicking on the “Search Registrants” button. The results of a successful search will display a loved one’s first name, last name and a brief message.

The next easiest step is your lifestyle choices that will prepare you for practically everything, with no huge effort or investments of money for emergencies that may never happen.

 A natural and healthy way of eating and living will simplify things immensely! If you use and have these things built, planted or roaming in your yard, you will be ready for nearly anything.

• Seeds to plant, sprout, or just soak and eat. They all have a very long shelf life if stored well. (Also look for heritage, non GMO seeds for the garden which set seeds that you can replant. Several prepper sites have cheap heritage seed "vaults" designed for long term planting.)
• Make yogurt, kefir or buttermilk on a regular basis. Adding milk kefir grains to dried coconut milk makes it as good as raw milk!
• Use pickling as a way of preserving fresh produce without refrigeration. Keep the brine to seed new batches. Vinegar, whey or kombucha mothers can be used to pickle.
• Keep a sourdough starter alive to keep your grains digesting well, and to leaven bread easily and sustain-ably.
• Buy a solar cooker or keep handy instructions for making  a simple one and supplies to do it.
• Have chickens. Chickens will lay for two years after which time the chicken can be cooked. But you also need to learn how to butcher and pluck them.
  (Also, eggs that are unwashed of their coating can go without refrigeration so long as they are intact.)
• Make a DIY bucket fly larvae harvester for protein for your chickens.
• Buy foraging and gardening books in paper or e-books to be used with a Kindle.
• Ideally, have an orchard and perennial herb and vegetable garden. The latter set up using permaculture, which takes care of itself basically.
• If you can, do a regular annual garden as well.
• Build or buy a top bar hive or two, and get bees to produce your own honey and help pollinate your garden.
• Let worms eat your garbage. Make a 3 tiered worm bin (3 bin bottoms with holes drilled in the top two, a spigot put on the bottom and a lid on the top) and get worms to put in it to eat your kitchen scraps. You can use the excess worms for both chicken protein and to help the composting process for the garden. This also makes worm compost tea for the hydroponics bin below.
• Make a bin hydroponics system with water and floating styrofoam with holes to fit holey pots in. You can feed the plants in this system with worm compost tea/water and a bit of hydrogen peroxide. This works great in a greenhouse set up!
• In a pinch, you can learn to supplement canned or dried foods with foraged local weeds and homegrown grown herbs or perennial vegetables. (Common weeds can be eaten and cooked like spinach- learn those around you. A weed salad can make freeze-dried meals much more desirable. Dandelion greens, sedum, portulaca, the entire kudzu plant, violet leaves (not too many), violet flowers, dandelion leaves and flowers, yam leaves, stinging nettles (cooked), Japanese knotweed shoots, gallinsoga leaves, cattail roots and shoots or pollen, grape leaves, shiso and many other weeds are edible. Many others like raspberry leaf, sassafras roots or alfalfa also make nutritious teas.
• Own a good manual grain grinder and flaker attachment too, like: Family Grain Mill
• Own a Vitamix, with it you can make your own nut butters, almond milk, make and cook soups, grind grains, etc.
• Learn to cook with whole foods.
• Buy a fire proof safe for your important records.
• Learn to fish and hunt.
• Learn natural remedies for your ills, to be independent of pharmaceuticals.
• Learn first aid and CPR as well as warning signs in an emergency childbirth.
• Keep a first aid kit all in one place.
• Keep your toiletries all in one place. Have a little bag for say, make up, a nail kit, a brush and a few hair things, pads, deodorant, toothbrush and paste. This is great for any trips too.

Stock up on and use regularly and keep extra in a pantry or garage:

• Beans lentils and split peas. Stored in glass gallon jars.
• Quality oils. A liquid like olive and grapeseed oil have a long shelf life. As well as a solid like coconut or palm oil are great. Which double as butter in a pinch.
• Sweeteners like raw honey, dehydrated honey crystals, Succanat, molasses and/or maple syrup. . .although Maple syrup only stores for 1 year.
• Dehydrated veggies, in well sealed individual packs or gallon glass jars (Before storing, the easiest way to kill or prevent any bugs is by adding 1/4 cups of tasteless diotomaceous earth to 1 gallons jars, and roll to distribute evenly.) 
• Dehydrated mushrooms- Ditto above-
• Dehydrated fruit chunks or fruit leather. -Ditto above-
• Glass jars of preferably organic spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, pickles, olives, jams, nut butters, salad dressings, sauces or anything else you have found that you like in glass jars, or that you have canned yourself. (Plastic containers are not as good health wise, or for keeping the food as fresh, or safe from mice, and with canned food we have aluminum and BPA's to worry about.)
• Dehydrated and canned meats and fish.
• Dried coconut milk as a healthy alternative to powdered cows milk.
• Cocoa powder- free trade if you can afford it and or carob powder if you want to avoid the caffeine.
• Whole spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla beans. . . they store well.
• Healthy vegetable or chicken bouillon cubes like the Celifiber brand ones.
• Organic squeezable fruit pouches are very tasty and nice to have on hand, but don't last long at my house, nor are they suppose to store for more than a year.
• Buckets of grains (Lots of them, like: oat groats, wheat, corn, barley, quinoa, rye, spelt, rice-get no American rice, as there is an Arsenic scare right now in anything but organic, which is best anyhow-) in buckets with screw on lids. (Before storing, best to kill any bugs by adding 1 1/4 cups of diotomaceous earth to 5 gallons of grain, and roll to distribute evenly. You can also freeze them.) Also, make sure you are regularly using a sourdough starter, for yeast, to make them actually digestible, a lot more nutritious, while not spiking your blood sugar. See more about why that is needed here.
• White flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, and/ or well sealed coconut flour.
• Quinoa noodles, (gluten free and full of protein) or if you don't care about a little unhealthy splurge here and there, regular noodles.
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• For radiation keep fermented miso and dry seaweed snacks around as well as anti-radioactive iodine.

There is no need to consider any of this emergency stuff, as it is just practical. . .for actual emergencies, you will need to set aside some more specialty stuff. I will discuss that next in # 3 of the emergency series: Emergency bins for a healthy and safe family.

# 1 of the emergency series: Emergency medical kit for a healthy family

Emergencies and disasters strike quickly and often without warning and can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services (water, gas, electricity or telephones) were cut off? Do you know what to do in an emergency? Do you know what emergencies are most likely to strike in your area? Where would you go if your family gets separated?

As of late I have taken a college course and spent much time in researching many ways of being prepared for numerous natural (and otherwise) disasters, as they seem to be happening at an increased rate.
 I believe that if a disaster strikes, you need to know how to take care of yourself and your family. This self-reliance is important because even in the best case scenario, local officials and relief workers won’t be able to reach everyone right away. People can cope with disaster by preparing in advance and by working together as a team. Working with neighbors can save lives and property. Ideally you should know your neighbors’ skills (i.e., medical, technical) and consider how you can help neighbors too. . .especially those with special needs, such as the disabled or elderly person.

One way to be a useful team player is to prepare a natural first aid kit oriented to a group, but you can also just customize it to your family.

One like this:  

• Activated charcoal capsules for poison inwardly or outwardly.
• Coconut water for electrolyte balancing after prolonged diarrhea. (Some people get this with stress, and many get it from bad water.)
• Probiotics not requiring refrigeration. (Also help the gut health.)
• Essential oils in small amounts.  Use topically. 

1. Tea tree –antiseptic, works on MRSA, antifungal.
2. Lavender-universal EO.  Antiseptic, anti burn, antimicrobial, insomnia.
3. Peppermint- for indigestion, nausea, cooling, reduces fever.
4. Catnip/citronella/geranium as mosquito repellent.
5. Rosemary for general immune function. 
• Packets of sugar.  Sugar was a battlefield antiseptic, providing a matrix for wound healing, ulcerations (even diabetic) and festering sores.  Also useful for hypoglycemia or diabetic coma.
• Saline (contact lens) solution for irrigating wounds and a few salt packets.
• Arnica for bruising and swelling.
•  Rescue Remedy for dealing with traumas better.
•  Goldenseal/Plantain/Calendula salve, nature's Triple antibiotic cream.
• Aspirin or Naproxin or willow/yanhusuo tincture for pain.
• Small packet of clay powder.  Can use with water to draw out insect bites, stings or for other skin conditions.
•  Neem oil, for tetnus, topical parasites, birth control/abortion.
• Black walnut extract, for internal parasites, as a gargle to build up teeth, or to treat wounds.
• Yarrow extract for topically for wounds, cuts and abrasions as it slows bleeding. Also intensifies other herbs. 
• Clove oil for numbing of pain in numerous locations. . .
• Bandaids of various sizes, butterfly bandage,  compress packets, sterile dressing, Ace bandage, medical tape and blister protection.
• Tools: scissors, tweezers, some duct tape, safety pins, pocket CPR kit, Non-latex gloves.
• A kit to put it all in.

This may seem like a lot of stuff to keep around for just emergencies, but believe me, this stuff should be in your medicine cabinet anyhow! So presuming you have this in a bin already, it would not be hard to get this out in an emergency. Besides for a medical emergency though, there are other things to be ready for. . .like weather related stuff. Many people go all out here, but even the laziest "prepper"  can and should have a plan. . .so check out my next in the series called #2 of the emergency series: The emergency plan for the healthy prepping family.

Are childless and/or non breastfeeding woman with children selfish for their choice?

The choice to be a career woman instead of having kids, (even when you are happily in a relationship) or to bottle feed kids if you do have them are a lot of things, but I would not say "selfish"! That word would imply a gain or benefit to the woman who makes such choices. So lest you don't know, let's go over some of the reasons why it's actually far more self-serving to have kids and then breastfeed them.

First, did you know that amid the troubles of pregnancy and birth, (of which I have my share believe me!) there are actually health benefits to having children:

Every pregnancy:

•  stops cystic fybroids from growing.
• regulates your progesterone levels with the estrogen dominance that is frequently caused by stress, bad diet, and birth control pills.
•  detoxes you, as evidenced by the fatigue of every woman, and the nausea and throwing up of those who need the most detoxing. Also the bright smelly pee is not just the supplements, it's the junk coming out thanks in part to some of them though maybe. (The body protects the baby as much as it can by detoxing throughout pregnancy.)
• lowers your chances of uterine cancer.

The mental benefits of pregnancy and children:

• gives you purpose/you have someone who can carry on after you/ one to protect
• gives self esteem/makes you feel needed
• humbles you
• teaches you patience
• helps you grow up and be responsible as you care for them by caring for yourself at times
• helps you prioritize your time properly for what matters in life: people
• changes your circle of friends to a more responsible and mature crowd
• bonds you with your mother, and other mothers
• shows you what love and trust looks like in a human
• you feel so womanly and often beautiful
• as you get much more attention and politeness
• sometimes you get special deals, parking spots, tax incentives and help with healthcare, carseats or food from the government. . .adding up to less stress financially and physically.
• and much more. . .

As for breastfeeding, it helps mom in many ways both
Physically:

• Immediately following birth, a mother who breastfeeds will have less bloodloss, (and chance of hemorrhage)  because the sucking stimulates a clamping down of the uterus, shutting off the blood from the placenta site.
• helps mom recover from the bloodloss of birth before the return of a period, (which can cause anemia if started too soon) Menstrual bleeding drains her of a lot more iron then breastfeeding does. (Especially beneficial is doing biological breastfeeding, which practically guarantees a 6 month pregnancy/menstruation free period. . .more typical is a year or so, but closer to two for me!)
• This guaranteed (98-99% according to La Leche League stats) spacing of children ensures a healthier next child with recovery of mom's stores. (Although 2 years in between a birth and the start of the next  pregnancy is more traditionally accepted as healthy, and best for the children's development and mom's mental health.)
• Weightloss, as it speeds up metabolism equal to burning 200-500 calories a day. . .the equivalent of biking uphill for an hour EVERY DAY!
• mothers with gestational diabetes had lower bloodsugar (more regulated) then non breastfeeding ones in studies. . .between the lessened weight and the better bloodsugar, this translates to a long term lessoned risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.
• breastfeeding mothers have good levels of good cholesterol, and lower blood pressure when compared to non breastfeeding mothers. Taking the rest into consideration, this means a lesser risk of heart disease in later life.
• a lessened risk of imbalance of calcium/magnesium, because of the way breastfeeding depletes calcium, which is abundant in the soil and diet. (Whereas magnesium is not abundant naturally, and is cooked out of food, and lost with stress. We need a 1/1 ratio) Excess calcium (especially in indigestible forms) and not equal magnesium amounts is connected to osteoporosis and bone spurs because of calcium deposits.
• a lessened risk of uterine, ovarian and breast cancer, that lessens with each year of breastfeeding.
• regular and on demand feedings from the start will ensure that there is no painful engorgement when the milk comes in. . .a lousy process if you choose to let yourself dry up "right off the bat".

Also mentally and practically:

• breastfeeding produces oxytocin, the "love" or "bonding" hormone that heightens the mother/ baby bond.
• breastfeeding provides skin to skin "kangaroo care".  . .proven to be very beneficial to all ages of babies.
• Breastfeeding also produces a hormone called prolactin, which is known to calm the nerves, an asset in child raising!
• there is a lessened risk of post partum depression, because of more progesterone in the body with breastfeeding. (Sometimes there is still a deficiency though with a bad diet or stress, and a natural supplemental cream is then a benefit to many moms.)

• it creates a stronger brain response to baby's cry, creating more empathy and likelihood of a maternal reaction. (Further helping your bond, and creating trust with baby.)
• With support and knowledge if needed, breastfeeding creates confidence in your body, and it's natural workings.
• you can be confident that you are busty without silicone implants.
• you can be confident and proud that you are doing what's good for the environment.
• Breastfeeding is much more convenient for night feedings, so you get more sleep, especially if you practice co-sleeping!
• Much more convenient for outings too.
• Also much easier for moms nursing a toddler; not stressing about the child eating enough nutritious solid food every day, as many kids are sporadic or picky eaters.
• No worry over formula recalls.
• Much cheaper to breastfeed! 
• No bottles, nipples and pumps to clutter up your house and clean constantly.
• No worry over toxins in the BPAs and formula.
• No issues with constipation or rejection of formula.
• With comfort nursing there is no stress over weaning from pacifiers/soothers or thumb sucking, (or even special blankets or dolls) as those are simply a replacement for the comfort a mom should give with her breasts until naturally outgrown/weaned. . . or the child may revert in desperation to one of those mock mothers for comfort. Studies seem to indicate that comfort nursing decreases a baby’s heart rate and lets him relax. It seems to have a very positive effect on his whole physical and emotional well-being. Don’t be afraid to allow this type of nursing. Breastfeeding is more than just imparting fluids and nourishment. It’s a way to nurture your child as well.
• You'll have a natural all-purpose, incredibly useful liquid at your disposal (Breastmilk has over 58 uses!)
• You can be lazy and lie in bed all day, (at least at first) and be a great mom!
• babies diapers (cloth) and clothes clean up easier if the baby is drinking breastmilk, then if drinking formula.
• you will save money on menstrual pads.

Source source Source Source Source

All these reasons, while good, are simply for the benefit of the mom, but there are a ton of reasons why you should nurse your baby besides these! Check out this resource for

101 Reasons Why You Should Breastfeed Your Baby!

As you can see, even though many would believe that the decision to first not have kids, and then to not breastfeed them if you do have them are usually based on "convenience" or "selfishness", I believe that in most cases of both, it is instead sheer ignorance.

If this article was convincing enough to make you rethink your decision to not have kids, you will not be sorry. I have met plenty of old people who were sorry that they didn't have any, or stopped having kids for numerous shallow reasons, but I have never met one yet who regrets having a single child they did have. If your troubles are not that you don't want them, but that you can't, there are two simple strategies I would suggest: Progesterone cream, and buying a book called "Taking charge of your fertility".

If this article has helped sway you away from not breastfeeding your baby, then let me share with you some great resources for breastfeeding.

One thing that is nice first off is an article of what to expect at different stages of breastfeeding, I stumbled upon a really good article here.

The top breastfeeding websites I have heard of are:


Kelly Mom - evidence-based answers about all things breastfeeding!

La Leche League- World renown resource for all things breastfeeding and child. A little too big of an organization to be as up to date (especially in their old books) as some of the other websites, but over all good info.

Breastfeeding USA, very up to date info on lots of subjects about breastfeeding.

Laid Back Breastfeeding- the only position you need to know about, besides side laying. . .all the rest are just plain not comfortable, and hurt your back. (Unless you are standing and baby is in a sling. . .) Also here.

Human Milk for Human Babies – milk sharing through Facebook, for when there is a rare physical problem with baby or mom.

A quick thought/poem?

"Cut down in their prime", "lost a limb", "useless to society". . .

do I speak of war torn hero's,the disabled, elderly. . .?

  I speak of the old ones, left dead by the side of the road.

The small ones, left standing in the cold.

Many have been experimented on, manipulated, and bled out,

yet we neither asked their permission or much think about-

the ones who give so much; who we depend upon!

Do we even know that they're alive? Will we care when they are gone?

With communication severed, they're often unappreciated and misunderstood,

but I'm hear to speak for them now. Let's live the golden rule. . .

because TREES ARE GOOD!