Well, actually, it just makes the kids stare when I am breastfeeding, but you know what I mean. .
When you decide to have a kiddo, and then you decide how the food delivery is going to work, there are some things that nobody tells you. The Nugget and I were super duper lucky to give birth in a very pro-breastfeeding hospital that helped us avoid supplementation from day one. Even with that, there were hurdles at home. If we hadn't had the support postpartum and a lot of encouragement from pro breastfeeding family and friends, I don't know how far we would have gotten. We were just very lucky.
Stuff we now know:
1) Buy some nursing bras and sleep nursing bras before you go into labor. Do not buy the medela nursing bra. It sucks and is not at all supportive. Buy the Bravado Bliss and your boobs will thank you. They don't pay me to say that. it is just plain true.
2) Lily Padz...they are amazing, but be warned if you are in a heat wave. the little drops that leak out that get held in by the lily padz will go sour. quickly. grody.
3) Get the off brand lanolin from the pharmacy. A little goes a very long way.
4) Go ahead and use the pacifier. Your nipples will thank you.
5) Fill a sock with rice, microwave it for 30 seconds and use it to warm your engorged boobs before a feeding.
6) Never go anywhere without a shirt to change into, and something to soak up the excess.
7) covering up while she is latching and eating is a lot harder than it seems it should or would be. I have to dive under there with her and then she quickly gets super hot which is no bueno. No matter how cavalier you expect to be about breastfeeding in public, the social pressure to hide even with the cover in place, is pretty intense. Good thing you lose almost all sense of modesty the first three days.
I still haven't figured out how I will even have enough of a stockpile built up to send The Nugget to day care in 8 weeks. I am hoping I figure that out very soooon.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Baby, Baby I love you
and it's a good thing too, because you never let me sleep. Shortly after my last post, my water broke and I was induced. a whirlwind 15 hours later marked by a bad encounter with Ambien (hallucinations, anyone?) and and halvsie epidural complete with oxygen mask so I didn't stop breathing, they totally handed me a baby. My baby. And we started the journey that has been the last month. Breastfeeding, Not Sleeping, Not Cleaning, Accepting all Help that is Offered, Not Sleeping, Bouncing, Cooing, Shushing, Not Sleeping, Crying, Laughing and Not Sleeping. Things I have learned:
1) A woman's body has limitless potential to do all sorts of things that it never did before having a baby.
We are hardwired to know our child's cry and respond with a single minded NEED to make that cry stop no matter what. We can Stretch without breaking. And if we break, it can be fixed and we can survive it. We are also built with a need to protect that verges on sheer panic. ( Some of us were afraid to put our baby down in the bassinet for three days after arriving home because something might happen to her if we let go. At the time, that was a super rational thought)
2) Breastfeeding. it hurts and it is hard and then, all of a sudden, it is not hard anymore. For the first two weeks, I cried every time fed my daughter and I was convinced I was doing it wrong. Every book you read says it doesn't hurt. They lie. It freaking hurts. Then, one day, you have the hang of it, you stop crying, and it is ok. Now, it is still a little cumbersome when you leave the house because you never really know when the babe will want to eat. You pretty much have to be cool with whipping your boobs out anywhere.
3) It is incredible how little sleep you really need to survive. You really only need naps. You won't be pretty, you won't be clean, you won't be completely rational, but you will live.
4) You know why people have babies in hospitals? So they don't DIE. I actually considered a home birth very seriously. Good thing I didn't do that. I am very glad that we were in a hospital now, though I can safely say I DO NOT recommend voluntary induction or epidural. I was induced out of medical necessity and I was pressured into an epidural after 12 hours of active labor with no sleep. The epidural went very badly and I am still a little traumatized. Hospital? yes. Epidural? no thank you.
5) When someone offers you help, you should really really take it. Your friend of a friend wants to clean you kitchen? say yes. Your mother in law wants to wash your underwear and scour your shower? The answer is Yes. Your neighbor wants to mow your lawn? (this is wishful thinking on my part ) Yes, please.
6) No matter how tired, hungry, thirsty, angry, sore, sad, wild-eyed you are, seeing your little nugget open their eyes after a nap and look at you is worth every nit of it every time. I would totally do this again in spite of the difficulties. And I still have a fairly good recollection of the pain part.
So now. I know a lot more, but still I feel like I don't know a thing and we are a family of 4. The Little Man, The Nugget, Daddy and I are all working it out and couldn't be happier.
1) A woman's body has limitless potential to do all sorts of things that it never did before having a baby.
We are hardwired to know our child's cry and respond with a single minded NEED to make that cry stop no matter what. We can Stretch without breaking. And if we break, it can be fixed and we can survive it. We are also built with a need to protect that verges on sheer panic. ( Some of us were afraid to put our baby down in the bassinet for three days after arriving home because something might happen to her if we let go. At the time, that was a super rational thought)
2) Breastfeeding. it hurts and it is hard and then, all of a sudden, it is not hard anymore. For the first two weeks, I cried every time fed my daughter and I was convinced I was doing it wrong. Every book you read says it doesn't hurt. They lie. It freaking hurts. Then, one day, you have the hang of it, you stop crying, and it is ok. Now, it is still a little cumbersome when you leave the house because you never really know when the babe will want to eat. You pretty much have to be cool with whipping your boobs out anywhere.
3) It is incredible how little sleep you really need to survive. You really only need naps. You won't be pretty, you won't be clean, you won't be completely rational, but you will live.
4) You know why people have babies in hospitals? So they don't DIE. I actually considered a home birth very seriously. Good thing I didn't do that. I am very glad that we were in a hospital now, though I can safely say I DO NOT recommend voluntary induction or epidural. I was induced out of medical necessity and I was pressured into an epidural after 12 hours of active labor with no sleep. The epidural went very badly and I am still a little traumatized. Hospital? yes. Epidural? no thank you.
5) When someone offers you help, you should really really take it. Your friend of a friend wants to clean you kitchen? say yes. Your mother in law wants to wash your underwear and scour your shower? The answer is Yes. Your neighbor wants to mow your lawn? (this is wishful thinking on my part ) Yes, please.
6) No matter how tired, hungry, thirsty, angry, sore, sad, wild-eyed you are, seeing your little nugget open their eyes after a nap and look at you is worth every nit of it every time. I would totally do this again in spite of the difficulties. And I still have a fairly good recollection of the pain part.
So now. I know a lot more, but still I feel like I don't know a thing and we are a family of 4. The Little Man, The Nugget, Daddy and I are all working it out and couldn't be happier.
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