Courage Is The Price Life Exacts For Granting Peace

By Shannon O’Donnell

“Courage is the price life exacts for granting peace.” It’s one of my favorite quotes, written by Amelia Earhart. This quote has come to mean a lot to me in many areas of my life, including breastfeeding (and for that matter, parenting in general).

The first several months of breastfeeding were very difficult for me – I had to muster up courage (ok, willingness) every day to continue when I wanted to quit. Two and a half years later I got pregnant with my second baby, and I was still breastfeeding my first; again, I had to muster up courage to continue breastfeeding when everyone around me was telling me to stop. I continued nursing and successfully tandem breastfed for a year after my second child was born. This brings me to another “opportunity” – I had to be courageous – breastfeeding my older toddler in a family where breastfeeding past the age of six months is unheard of (and frowned upon). And finally, I had to gather up courage to acknowledge to myself that I was “done” breastfeeding my second baby at an earlier age than I breastfed my first. After continual breastfeeding for over five years, I wanted my body back to myself. I was tired of sharing.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s been courage or plain stubbornness (the “gift” of “passionate persistence”) but either way, I look back on my breastfeeding experience with no regrets and even a few chuckles.
Today I want to celebrate courage, stubbornness, peace of mind, and two beautiful, healthy children. (It’s no surprise that one’s as stubborn as his mom – oh, I mean “passionately persistent!”)

And I invite you to reflect back and celebrate your own moments of courage, even if you didn’t feel very courageous at the time.

Shannon O’Donnell is President of Pumpin’ Pal International, a company dedicated to making pumping more comfortable for moms. She’s the proud (and sometimes overwhelmed!) mom of two very active boys and a breastfeeding advocate. Shannon loves to cook, snow ski, backpack, and paint watercolors of her children. When asked about motherhood, she warmly jokes about the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” In her life, the “village” is women supporting each other through the daily trials of motherhood, enabling each other to be more present, happy, and loving moms. Everyone wins when women support each other (and each others’ kids).

Pumpin’ Pal international is also proud to be a sponsor of the Mommy News & Views Blogiversary Celebration! Please visit the Review and Give-away of Pumpin’ Pal in our Blogiversary section.

Blogiversary Celebration – Pumpin’ Pal – CLOSED

We seem to be on a breast-pumping theme here in my blogiversary this week! Today’s post is about a GREAT company called Pumpin’ Pal! If you are not familiar with Pumpin’ Pal, you can see the features that we did on them a few months ago here and here. Pumpin’ Pal is a company founded by a mom (Shannon O’Donnell) who thought “there has to be a better way!”

And come to find out – there is a better way and Shannon and her partner Jon
Gillian found it!

The problem: When pumping, most women end up with sore shoulders or a sore back because they tend to lean forward while doing it to make sure the precious liquid gold they are collecting goes into the collection bottles and down the front of their shirts!

The Solution: Well, Pumpin’ Pal has found a way around this. They have ANGLED flanges – yes, a very simple concept – but extremely novel and EXTREMELY useful! Now, you can pump sitting back and avoid all of the discomfort and pain typically associated with pumping. And best of all – the Pumpin Pal angled flanges work with ALL breastpumps – so you can use them no matter which type of breast pump you are using! The flanges come in three different sizes too – so there is something for every mom – no matter what size you might need – and all three sizes work with your current breastpump!

In addition to these wonderful, “life saving” flanges, Pumpin’ Pal also has the smallest, most economical hands-free pumping device on the market – and again, it can be used with any breastpump! It is a hands-free pumping strap that doesn’t need sizes to fit properly – you just put it over your head and adjust the straps – and hook up your pump – it’s that easy! Watch the video below for a demonstration of how easy and how convenient the Pumpin’ Pal hands-free strap and angled flanges are.

Well, lucky for us, Pumpin’ Pal is a part of our blogiversary celebration! And they have offered to give one lucky Mommy News & Views reader a Hands-Free Strap, a pair of Super Shields (your choice of size), and Air-Dry Accessory Bag. That is a complete set-up for any mom to pump hands-free without getting any back-pain!! So if you are pumping, know someone who is pumping or think you might be pumping in the near future, you need to sign up for this give-away!

To be entered into this contest please tell us your funniest pumping story by leaving a comment below. If you haven’t had your baby yet or haven’t pumped yet, then tell us what you like best about these items from Pumpin’ Pal – This is MANDATORY in order to be considered for a prize.

But you don’t want just one chance to win do you? How about a few more! You can enter for extra chances to win this pumping prize by doing any of the activities below. Just be sure to come back here and leave us a comment for each one – letting us know which ones you completed.

1) Become a fan of Pumpin’ Pal on Facebook.
2) Blog about this post or our Blogiversary Celebration in general! Help us to tell other new moms about all of our great give-aways this month and into November! Be sure to come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post so that we can find it!
3) Spread the word! Tweet about this post and link back to it – be sure to include @MommyNews in your tweet and a link back to this page, and leave a comment here with a link to your tweet (you can do this once per day during the contest).
4) Spread the word some more! Post about this contest on facebook and tell all of your friends about it! (you can do this once per day during the contest)
5) Don’t have a blog, not on facebook or twitter? No problem, we want you to have extra chances to win too – so go ahead and send an email to any of your pregnant or nursing friends. Be sure to cc: us on your email (blogiversary@mommynewsblog.com) and leave a comment here too! We promise not to add anyone to any mailing lists unless they specifically request to be added.
6) Purchase any item in our Boutique Store - and leave a comment here with the last 4-digits of your order number. You will get 4 extra chances to win for every purchase!

That’s it! Lots of ways to win a great selection of pumping accessories from Pumpin’ Pal!! This contest ends 11/21/09 at 5 PM. All entrants will be verified and must complete the mandatory entry before completing the ‘extra’ entries. Invalid entries will be disqualified. This contest is open to any mom – anywhere – world wide!!. Winner must respond to email within 48 hours or we reserve the right to choose another winner.