"... the phenomena of creation are based upon love..."

We would like to introduce you to our dear friend Dr Diana Farid.

Now then, for those of you who just want to skip to the good stuff, jump forward to the start of her blog marked … otherwsize here is a little background on our favorite family doctor:

Rarely does a week go by when I don’t get a call from a friend asking me a question about a health issue, and usually it’s about kids.  And, why not?  I am a doctor, specializing in family medicine.  My professional life rides on how much I know about health and how well I convey that information.  So, it’s a part of my life that has become quite normal.  The amount of questions I got rose sharply though after my friends started having kids, no surprise.  And it reminds of why I went into medicine in the first place…

We were all about 12 years old, hanging out, and my girlfriends and I were having a grand time.  My friend’s younger sister ran into the room crying with a scraped knee.  Most of the girls would have rather run in the other direction, and did.  Dealing with blood is not high on the list of a young girl’s fun activity list.  But I relished in the chance to comfort, clean and apply the necessary band-aid to the wound.  No life saving feat, but fun in my book. It was one of my first public shows of a desire to help and has, in part, translated itself into me connecting to you through Titi. 

At Titi, we want you to be nourished.  Let me help guide you through the maze of information out there, and hopefully give you some understanding and peace when it comes to the health of moms and children.  Nourish yourself with some great information while online with Titi!

 I will also alert you to the best resources I know of on particular health topics so that you don’t have to be Google freaked out when you put that search word in and don’t know which link to muddle trough first. 

 Let’s start out with what I think is the fundamental question about feeding our children in those early months and years.  “How should I feed my baby?”  For healthy children, this seems almost too fundamental to discuss: nipple, of some form, with milk behind it, into mouth of baby.  But this seemingly simple “how” has become the topic of much writing and discussion.  Breastfeeding, at least for a year, is what the American Academy of Pediatric supports. This leads many breastfeeding moms to ask: “How often?,  How do I know my baby is getting enough?, What about the pain I sometimes feel?”.  For others,  this goal is practically, physically, mentally, or emotionally just not possible.  So then we turn to formula, and we are introduced to more questions: “which one, how often, and how much?” 

Thankfully, there are some simple and sound resources to help us answer these questions.  Check out the links below for some great answers to these questions.  In the coming months, I will help translate this information for you as well. But here’s what I think is the real bottom line to many of our feeding questions for our children: RELAX.  I know, this is much easier said than done when a sensitive infant is in our care.  But I have found this to be fundamental to most of the conversations I have with my patients and friends on the topic.  Here are the key notions that will help you relax:

1. Your baby will tell you when she is hungry, usually by being upset.
2. Your baby will tell you when she is done eating, usually by turning away from the food source.
3. Unless advised by your doctor for treatment of a problem, do not push your baby to finish her food.
4. If your baby is gaining weight, urinating transparent urine and having regular non-bloody bowel movements, your baby is likely getting enough to eat.
5. Do not use food as a reward or punishment.  This will also increase the chances that your baby will develop an unhealthy relationship with food.

What’s the point of this simple advice?  I have seen it forgotten over and over again.  The point is to create a healthy experience with nourishment, weather the source be breast or bottle or both.  Your baby learns how to manage its needs for nourishment by how you respond to her feeding time.  If it is full of force and stress, and she cannot dictate when she should start and stop, she may be on the road to having an unhealthy relationship with food.

 So let’s start this relationship between our baby and food out to be a healthy one.  Look for my blogs every few weeks on the Titi website to help guide you.  Together, let’s tend to the scrapped knees of motherhood, both our children’s and our own!

 For information on breastfeeding, check out:

1. Familydoctor.org by the American Academy of Family Physicians: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/women/pregnancy/birth/019.html
2. The Nursing Mother’s Companion by Cathleen Huggins
3. La Leche League: http://www.llli.org

For information of feeding with formula, check out:

1. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/infants/178.html
2. Also, I just read a great article: Infant Formula, by Dr. Nina R. O’Conner published in the April 1^st issue of the American Family Physician.  Unfortunately, right now, it’s only available by subscription at: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/internal/journals.html, but it will be available for free in about a year.  And, you can likely read it at a university or medical library near you.  Either way, I look forward to digesting and sharing with you some pearls of information from this article and other late breaking articles like this one in the blogs to come.

Dr. Diana Farid

beauty is everywhere

Aloha! Thanks for visiting our new blog! After spending 6 months getting our brand name out there, we thought it might be time to give a big, warm, personal HELLO and THANK YOU to our website visitors!

Woohoooo! Here we go… it’s time to blog!

Having spent the last few days caring for my 2 year old with a temperature, it seemed wise to start out with a little mommy heart to heart. I mean really? Before having kids the only time I ever saw a thermometer was when I went to the doctor! Now it seems that every other week I have to rummage around the medicine cabinet for the trusty device! All I can say is that I often find myself thanking the stars that I am a mom in the 21st Century, and that there are alternative options to the thermometer stick you have to put where the sun don’t shine on your wiggley riggley little one! Phew! We have so many extra helpful gadgets, products and information aids to get us through the tricky challenges of parenthood; I mean I actually remember my mom washing out terrycloth diapers… so glad to have even earth friendly options that don’t involve actually touching poo! That’s right, I said the “p” word! Its pretty much on the tip of my tongue most days! Anyway, back to the temperature thing. I know  its a good thing that the little ones have to fight off illness at this age, you know, to build their immune system and all that… but really?? Preschool is a germ factory, no, a germ mecca! Every week there is a new bug that my son willfully smothers all over my loving face.  And so it goes, round and around and around!! My neighbors (who love playing and babysitting) have even created a quarantine policy as they have never had so many colds and bugs ever before!

The point is… when amongst all the “sick days,” whether caring for a family member or sipping on Nyquil myself, do we have time to run a fabulous clothing line?? I don’t know, it’s a mystery… or it’s called AKIA! That’s the beauty of being in a business partnership! Akia! I wish I was able to sing on this blog, although you will be glad that I can’t, because if I could, I would be singing her praises!

Back to the beginning…

First there was the “last cigarette” as the thought of pregnancy  became a reality. Then there were the daily foot rubs from my angel husband, as I groaned my way through nine months of “you are such a radiant pregnant woman” comments (which roughly translates to ” Wow! You gained a lot of weight!”… just kidding).  Fast forward to ready-set-go, baby on board time!  And the still pregnant looking/emotional roller coaster feeling/even more sleep deprived version of myself is looking for something to wear! OK, so for those of you not yet with kids, think of your worst EVER PMS day and trying to put on your skinny jeans to go out to a fashion forward social event… and how you threaten to not go cause you have “NOTHING” to wear!!  Multiply that aggravation by a number bigger than a trillion and you will have an idea of how uncomfortable and hormonal the “4th trimester” feels.  Now, just to be clear, I loved the whole experience and I love all the changes and challenges I have grown through, and I wouldn’t change anything for the world in a hand-basket.  And, to be honest with you, my tone is somewhat due to my direct and “cut to the chase” cultural upbringing… but since we are talking woman to woman about a subjective experience that probably has some universal through lines, I will speak as honestly about my experiences as suitable for a public forum

What I was not willing to do, was to be in sweats and scratchy camisoles for the year I planned to nurse! And so, TITI was born! Or, conceived I should say.  We had a sort of year long gestation period after Akia and I teamed up, and Titi was officially born and thrown out into the world 6 months ago!

So with that, enjoy our website, enjoy our products, and check in with our blog for a more personal experience with Akia and myself.  We will be sharing stories, experiences and whatever comes along that we think might resonate with a few of you out there. In particular, keep an eye out for some of our friends who will be joining us as regular guest bloggers including a medical expert, fitness guru, charity connections and more… we will introduce them as they join the blog.

P.S.  The languages we welcomed you with are English, Spanish, Welsh, Swahili and Mandarin.

P.P.S.  The above photo was taken on my recent trip to Yosemite National Park, where not only did I learn that every member in my family, apart from me, is full blown “outdoorsy”, including my 2year old! But, also that the Sequoia and Redwood trees of the region have been in existence as a species for over 175 million years (or some crazy large number like that). What?! I had to go watch ‘How The Earth Was Made’ just to get some perspective on what a number like that meant! We have only been on this earth as a species for 50 thousand years!! Talk about humbling.

Never forget love, beauty and self care…Nourish Yourself!