Ongoing Alaskan Chat for November! - Page 2

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by dislocator3972

Um, Weird. Do you think the ban on selling rats has anything to do with Rat Island? I heard somewhere that an Alaskan island was overtaken by rats and only recently retaken by humans. Maybe someone was bitter and passed legislation to keep the rats from storming and taking Anchorage too.

I know Rat Island. It is out by Adak. I never heard that story though. Might be worth checking out. I dont know why Anchorage wont allow pet stores to sell Rats, maybe they are afraid of them being dumped by their owners.
I know Anchorage has a lot of strange laws about animals you cannot have here.

found it! http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...om.html?cat=40

If you like the pics, you'll love her videos!
Thanks, I think she's pretty precious myself.

I'll check that out!

[brightonwoman]

just found out that my midwife is catching another baby today, so I guess I'm glad I'm not in labor at the moment...hopefully that baby will hurry up, so midwife can go home and get some rest and I can call her tonight.

[liza-s]

Rats

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

yes, especially pet stores. We had to travel to the Valley to buy ours.

Anchorage, the Kenai, PWS and a few parts of Western Alaska are still rat-free. We are actually some of the only rat-free places left in the world and rats are blamed for the decline even extinction of bird species around the world. It is actually illegal to have any pet rats in the municipality of Anchorage - permits are required even for lab rats at the university. I'm don't believe there is any exception for rats raised as food for other pets. Anything rats except albino rats are illegal statewide. Crazy in some ways, but once established they are nearly impossible to eradicate even on an isolated rock like Rat Island. More info is on the Stop Rats website: http://www.stoprats.org

[dislocator3972]

Originally Posted by liza-s

Anchorage, the Kenai, PWS and a few parts of Western Alaska are still rat-free. We are actually some of the only rat-free places left in the world and rats are blamed for the decline even extinction of bird species around the world. It is actually illegal to have any pet rats in the municipality of Anchorage - permits are required even for lab rats at the university. I'm don't believe there is any exception for rats raised as food for other pets. Anything rats except albino rats are illegal statewide. Crazy in some ways, but once established they are nearly impossible to eradicate even on an isolated rock like Rat Island. More info is on the Stop Rats website: http://www.stoprats.org

That. is. fascinating.

I've never been a fan of rats, but it never occurred to me that they might be an invasive species.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by liza-s

Anchorage, the Kenai, PWS and a few parts of Western Alaska are still rat-free. We are actually some of the only rat-free places left in the world and rats are blamed for the decline even extinction of bird species around the world. It is actually illegal to have any pet rats in the municipality of Anchorage - permits are required even for lab rats at the university. I'm don't believe there is any exception for rats raised as food for other pets. Anything rats except albino rats are illegal statewide. Crazy in some ways, but once established they are nearly impossible to eradicate even on an isolated rock like Rat Island. More info is on the Stop Rats website: http://www.stoprats.org

This is really interesting. There are many people that don't know about this since I know that we are not the only people that have bought rats.
Anyway, they are gone. Snake ate them.

We have been breeding Gerbils! LOL They are cuter and I am not freaked out by their tails. Rat tails creep me out.
We started with mice but they breed to slowly! And now our snake it too big for mice. By the time this gerbil thing takes off we'll have move up to Rabbits. Are there any rules about that?


sigh, there are........nevermind. City living sucks.

[brightonwoman]

No baby.
Mommy is cranky, my appetite is screwy (as though I were in labor), my hips hurt like there's nothign holding them in the sockets, and I keep wandering around chanting "down and out baby, down and out" (if the silly kid will just engage I should go pretty quick...mw says I'm very soft and i can feel it too).
Last night I had a dream that i went and got one of my crochet hooks and broke my water myself I admit it was a terribly tempting notion...unfortunately (or fortunately) the dream continued to a transfer because I'd poked the baby too and hurt him so I'm definitely not going to do something that crazy. Just gotta sit and wait it out...
Today (gestationally) was when I had my last kiddo, so I'm feeling 'overcooked' now, you know? I gotta get me some distractions.

[elvispupy]

Jenni, I'm thinking good thoughts for you!

I haven't posted in ages. We're all doing well. I broke my toe last Friday when I literally kicked the bucket (a mop bucket).

A week from today I'll be flying out to Montana for my sister's wedding. I'm going sans husband and kiddos. She's having a bachelorette party the day after arrive and I'm gonna PARTAY!

[akwifeandmomma]

Subbing!

Just got back from a weekend getaway to Seattle. Can't believe we still don't have snow...

Sending you blissful birthing vibes and prayers for a wonderful homebirth, Jenni! I can't wait to find out what you decided on for his name!

[brightonwoman]

Originally Posted by akwifeandmomma

Sending you blissful birthing vibes and prayers for a wonderful homebirth, Jenni! I can't wait to find out what you decided on for his name!

Benjamin Cedric Brighton.
long story how we got to that...I'd figured DH wouldnt' even consider it because of the guy in Harry Potter (because people would think that's where we got it from, and we didn't), but DH had forgotten that it was even in HP! He only remembered that it's from Ivanhoe...it's a good old Saxon name (and since Saxon=Germanic English it covers both bases!). Anyway, it's the one name we both liked that actually fit in with his first and last names...I gotta tell you, picking a first name that has both the same first AND last letters/sounds as the last name makes it really hard to find a workable middle name!!

[dislocator3972]

So I've been block feeding for a few weeks now and I really hate it. Even at three hour blocks I start to get plugged ducts and it takes forever (forever=2 days, so not really forever) to get them unplugged and comfortable again. DD is 10 weeks now and I am still making a lot of milk. She nurses one breast until she can't drink any more and I can usually still pump about 2oz from that breast. If I pump both breasts after a feeding I can get 4-6 oz no problem.

My freezer is all kinds of full and I don't want all this going to waste. If I'm going to make enough milk for 2 babies, I should go ahead and feed two babies.

MilkShare is the non-profit milk bank right? Does anyone know of any other milk banks I should look into? I'm wondering if some of the national banks might not want to pay for shipping from Fairbanks. I don't know how much cold shipping is, but it can't be cheap.

Also, I'm not consuming any dairy and may be cutting other allergens out as time goes on. Is there a milk bank that could use my milk for other sensitive babies?

[tallanvor]

I don't know, but it is so cool that you are looking into this. I had milk problems with my two youngest and wish I had available milk that was dairy free (how weird that sounds lol).

[onyxravnos]

I looked into several when i had DS and milk share was the only one i was able to find that was totally non profit and wasn't mixing it with formula for selling it overseas... I've heard good things about them.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

Rat tails creep me out.
We started with mice but they breed to slowly! And now our snake it too big for mice.

That's so funny to me. In all the years I've worked around animals, the people who tend to not like rats say their tails remind them of snakes. Yet, here you are, a snake person, who thinks a rat tail is creepy.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by dislocator3972

So I've been block feeding for a few weeks now and I really hate it. Even at three hour blocks I start to get plugged ducts and it takes forever (forever=2 days, so not really forever) to get them unplugged and comfortable again. DD is 10 weeks now and I am still making a lot of milk. She nurses one breast until she can't drink any more and I can usually still pump about 2oz from that breast. If I pump both breasts after a feeding I can get 4-6 oz no problem.

My freezer is all kinds of full and I don't want all this going to waste. If I'm going to make enough milk for 2 babies, I should go ahead and feed two babies.

MilkShare is the non-profit milk bank right? Does anyone know of any other milk banks I should look into? I'm wondering if some of the national banks might not want to pay for shipping from Fairbanks. I don't know how much cold shipping is, but it can't be cheap.

Also, I'm not consuming any dairy and may be cutting other allergens out as time goes on. Is there a milk bank that could use my milk for other sensitive babies?

Well, you could look into the Fairbanks NICU. They might be able to use it.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~

That's so funny to me. In all the years I've worked around animals, the people who tend to not like rats say their tails remind them of snakes. Yet, here you are, a snake person, who thinks a rat tail is creepy.

ha! good point.
Well, I love snakes to LOOK at but I dont touch him. The "food" is my project. Trying to save $

[brightonwoman]

I was talking with one of my neighbors yesterday and we were noticing that there's no breastfeeding support group (like LLL) here in Homer. The nearest LLL chapter is Soldotna/Kenai, and given that it's 90 min away that's pretty cost/time prohibitive for the moms who need the support the most. There are a few people in town who can offer support--I don't know if they are certified lactation consultents or not, but there is at least one person at the WIC office who is pretty educated, there are a couple of nurse-midwives, plus I know of at least a couple moms off the top of my head who would love to be part of such a group and I'm sure we could find more if we advertised a little.

Does anyone have any thoughts about becoming an official LLL group vs just being a breastfeeding support group (not officially connected to LLL)? Are there extra benefits to being part of LLL? What's involved with that? I know there's some expense involved...and like I said I'm fairly certain we have a few trained people in town, as well as experienced mamas who would be happy to share, and imo that's the most important part.
So, this is the project I'm taking on as of today...I need something to distract me from being not in labor, and hopefully this is sufficiently big to do the trick!!!

[roadfamily6now]

okay, so it is November 6th and we have no snow.....what is up with that?

[brightonwoman]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

okay, so it is November 6th and we have no snow.....what is up with that?

No kidding! Last summer I was trying to help my 2yo get a concept of when the baby was coming (we told him there was a baby in mommy's tummy and that it would come out and be his little brother and he concluded it was coming out right then!) Anyway, I told him that first we'd fly on a big airplane back to alaska, then we'd move into our new house, then snow would come, and then the baby... So once since we've been back he periodically has said "we're in Alak-sa" and the other day I told him that the baby would be coming really soon, and he said "no, the baby will come after the snow". Great, maybe HE is holding up labor with his conviction there! Shoot, why did I ever tell him that the snow would come before the baby?! Oh yeah, cuz I wasn't due till November and this is freakin Alaska!!!

[vivalamama]

subbing in for Nov...

Sarah, Adelaide is gorgeous! you have great pics. Hope things start smoothing out with your oversupply issues, a LLL leader might have more ideas for you, have you been in contact with anyone? You can also pm me if you like.

Jenni, sending you many happy birthin' vibes!
As far as what's involved in LLL-- to start a group, you need to be a leader. To apply to be a leader, you need to have met certain prereqs, namely having nursed your baby for at least a year, be a member of LLL, and endorse mothering in a way consistent with LLL philosophy (if you're on mdc, you're probably fine ). Then you can go through the accreditation process, which is mostly self study and reflection, and learning about LLL, leading meetings, etc with a Leader and a member of the Leader accreditation dept. This can be done via phone, email, snail mail, whatever, so it's not a problem if you don't have a leader in your area to work with. If you have more questions (or if ANYONE has more questions!) please PM me and I can get you more info and contacts. Rural Alaska definitely needs more Leaders!!

We're starting to get settled in to our rental. Closing on the 12th--can't wait! DD1 is having her party tomorrow, I can't believe she's 9

ok, well, I have a lot I *should* be doing but wanted to check in...

[spruce]

subbing

Jenni, happy baby vibes to you! Four of my 5 babies went past their EDD, with A going 3 weeks over. That was tough. I hope you are holding a new little one soon. (the fifth of my babies was born on her due date...how weird is that?)

Not much to report here. Homeschooling, 14yo got her permit, 16 yo finally got a real job, 8yo is amazing, newly 6yo is rockin' and rolling, and 3yo (almost 4!) is enjoying the snow as much as her big brothers.

B bought the older two cell phones. Texting is driving me nuts. (Currently, both phones are in my room because they were texting over an hour past their pre-arranged cut-off time). I don't even own a cell phone and refuse to carry one. I *loathe* this instant-contact ridiculousness.

I should have been born in the 1800's or something. :/

love, p