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I am delighted to welcome Melissa and Bruno who are Martin’s parents, a beautiful baby and exclusively breastfed by Mom. In addition to authors of the excellent hit Mamá Blues that portrays in a fun way the importance of breast milk, they are totally in favor of exclusive breastfeeding and Melissa is also a donor to the milk bank in her region. Do like her, be a life giver too! Participate in the Donate Life Bottles campaign! Follow how the song “Mamá Blues” came about and also see the clip made by them. Below a photo with the lyrics to sing along with them.
Welcome Melissa, Bruno and Martin!
Changing Diapers: Melissa and Bruno please introduce yourself
Bruno and Melissa: We are a couple who believe that life can and should be lived with pleasure, emotion and healthy and stimulating connections. We are engineers and we know each other in the workplace. A job that provided us with incredible experiences, such as frequent trips to Africa. Since the arrival of our Martin, we have been wanting to have time to experience life with more quality. So, in addition to doing bubbly projects like Mama Blues, we decided to drop everything and move to Uruguay, together with our little Martin. We are looking for a different life, according to our values. We are in the middle of this life-changing process and our experience will be told on the Blog vidaborbulhante.com.br .
Bruno: As for music, it has always been present in my life. My father was the main reference, as he always brought good music to my environment. My house had more guitars than pictures hung on the walls. Since I was little I always did a lot of parody and own compositions, but I’m not a professional in the area. I do it for pure pleasure.
Melissa: Martin means warrior and his name is numerology 3, that is, a cool guy. So, our Martin is our cool chef! It was planned with a lot of love, it was our inspiration for two songs, Mama Blues and Guerreiro Cuca Fresca. It is the light of our lives together with Leo, the older brother, the result of Bruno’s first marriage.
Changing Diapers: How did the idea for Mama Blues come about?
Bruno: One day, I was playing with the guitar while Melissa was breastfeeding, and she had the idea of making a song about the theme. We had already made a song together for Martin before he was born and that experience was very rewarding. With the arrival of World Breastfeeding Week, the idea gained momentum. Thanks to Mel’s encouragement, one weekend, I wrote the lyrics and music, and we recorded with a cell phone camera at my parents’ house.
Melissa: Our idea with music was to transmit some of the contagious and delicious energy that breastfeeding provides. It is a great pleasure to see our Martin suckling. Different positions emerge each day, funny ways when breastfeeding. There are days he devours, others he is paying more attention to everything around him. Not to mention the health benefits that breastfeeding provided for him and me. Bruno participated in breastfeeding making Martin burp, reaching for me, and staying there together, keeping company.
Made music, came the challenge of dissemination. After all, to have any impact, to really be able to help spread the importance of breastfeeding, it was necessary to share the video as much as possible. We are both reserved. At the same time that we wanted to show the result of our dedication and support this very important cause, we were afraid of people’s reaction. At the same time that we wanted to spread the video to four corners, we were afraid of exposure, of ridicule. We took a deep breath and started to share, initially, with friends via Facebook, on blogs about breastfeeding, we went out promoting and asking people to help spread the word. Anyway, as we are in a movement to seek new emotions and adventures in life,
Just a few days later, the video already had a few hundred views (discounting our 50s or so…. The reactions were relatively timid, but all very positive. Then the Ministry of Health invited us to sing the song at the launch of the breastfeeding campaign 2014. We couldn’t expect any more achievement… contributing to the campaign was great!
Changing Diapers: Melissa, have you always wanted to breastfeed? How was the concept of breastfeeding before pregnancy?
Melissa: When I got pregnant, every month of pregnancy, I read and discovered several important questions about the world of pregnancy and motherhood. In the first months of pregnancy, you don’t think much about breastfeeding. His concern is that everything is really healthy and well with the baby. Breastfeeding appeared in my sphere of curiosity and concern around the seventh / eighth month.
Much that is read on this topic involves negative and poorly founded questions: milk that has not come down, weak milk, inadequate nipple, baby that has not caught the breast, nipple cracks, etc. Therefore, in my view, more information about breastfeeding difficulties circulates more often than about the pleasure and benefits of breastfeeding.
Photo: Ricardo Seling
So, at the end of the pregnancy, I had a huge desire to breastfeed and at the same time, very afraid of having some difficulty, of not being able to. I went to a mastologist to talk about nipples, how to prepare the nipple, etc. And he reassured me, nipples do not interfere, the correct grip is what allows breastfeeding, etc. I left the office reassured and with a very positive feeling that I would be able to breastfeed.
At the same time, as I strongly believe in meditation and that positive thoughts attract positive things, I started to meditate on breastfeeding whenever I went to sleep. I lay in bed and imagined a lot of milk pouring from my breasts to the point of generating a sea of milk! And me and my baby swimming in this sea of milk! kkkkk Each one with his madness, isn’t he ?!
Changing Diapers: How was the adaptation of the initial feedings? Was there a setback?
Melissa: Martin was born and then placed on my chest. He didn’t snap, but on the second try he already took the breast. I gave birth in a hospital that follows the advice that the baby should stay in the room with the mother at all times, there was no nursery. So he stayed with me all the time and I had a lot of support from the hospital nurses. I learned how to position him correctly, how to make him loosen when he spent a long time sucking and what care I needed to take with my breasts and nipples.
I was advised that Free Demand was proven to be essential for the baby and from then on I started to breastfeed on Free Demand until… um… until today! And even when he wants to! Initially I was a little distressed when he cried to breastfeed. So, sometimes I ended up rushing to breastfeed and ended up unbuttoning my shirt in half or just lowering my bra… a little on the run, you know ?! This meant that after a month or so, I ended up having mastitis.
I had a lot of milk (I think the meditations worked and by not releasing the breast well, the clothes were making it difficult for the milk to flow. I went to a milk bank in my city and I was literally hugged by the team. They took care of me and Martin, I received more instructions, I left there more confident and safe.
I used the milk bank services several times and I am currently a donor.
Accompany the clip with the lyrics
Changing Diapers: What has breastfeeding changed in your routine and in your life?
Melissa: Free demand is not easy !! That needs to be said! My baby suckled every 2 hours. The chest was sensitive and you really have to be always available. But, I always saw these difficult moments as phases. It helped me put things in perspective to have the strength to follow what I considered to be the right thing to do and not give up.
Martin was really changing the dynamics of feedings only after 6 months with the introduction of food. Until the age of six, the demand was very high. What has changed in my routine is more the question of having to stay for the first few months because of being there 24 hours a day. But, at the same time, I have always loved breastfeeding and, now that I am already in the baby food phase, I have come to value breastfeeding even more. When he was just breastfeeding, I would go out carefree, knowing that if the hunger beat, I just had to breastfeed! Currently, oh my god, it’s one to carry baby food, bib, water, etc… .that he still sucks…
Changing Diapers: How is Bruno’s interaction as a father in this family routine?
Melissa: Bruno helped me a lot !! Without it, I think everything would have been much more difficult! As he worked during the day, his support (in person) was more at night and on weekends. I got up to pick up Martin and take him to me, he helped to burp and sometimes, I just got up to keep us company.
Now, the emotional support was 24h, every day of the week! I did not have postpartum depression, but in the postpartum phase I became more sensitive. Sometimes I cried for nothing and he gave me a revitalizing hug. Others laughed idly… kkkk… .and Bruno was always there… giving me strength, words of encouragement…, saying that he admired me as a mother, that he trusted my decisions, etc… Okay, he wants something better than his partner to breathe way?! Anyway, I am suspicious to speak, he is the love of my life!
Bruno: The moment of breastfeeding is very much between mother and child. There is a unique complicity and connection. There is little space left for the father, but I have always tried to contribute in my own way, trying to provide the physical and emotional environment conducive to that moment. It is curious how, when Martin is nursing, we stop and breathe. There is no room for problems of the past or the future. There, we live in the present moment, generally enjoying the silence, the calm … it is very good !!
Changing Diapers: A precious tip from mom to mom who thinks, wants and will breastfeed.
A tip that I consider fundamental is, seek confidence in what comforts you. A confident mother is already halfway there. So meditate, read, seek information, talk, go to a milk bank. Connect with people who will encourage you to breastfeed and seek to bond with the good things about breastfeeding.
Vida Borbulhante Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vidaborbulhante
See also: Milk Bank – From Collection to Pasteurization
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
