My Baby is a Toddler!

HOLY CRAP! Baby Bear is now Toddler Bear! We survived year one. Still breastfeeding.

Toddler Bear prefers running to walking, even though it leads to more tripping. He finally has teeth! Two on bottom, one out and one just peeking out. I'm actually glad that it has taken this long for him to get teeth, he really hasn't been extra cranky. No tremendous amounts of drool. The only teething related crying was when he fell on his behind and bit his tongue. So thank you Universe for that.

Diaper changes have become a challenge if I try and do them laying down. So lately I've been doing them standing up in the bathroom. I'll put TB in the bathtub and have him pee (I clap and say "Yay, pee pee!" when he pees) then I take him out, wipe him up and let him air dry, then try to snap a diaper on him. Half the time its a breeze, the other half is either difficult or impossible.

We got a Prince Lionheart potty for him for one of his [my] birthday gifts. I'm not trying to potty train him, just get him used to the potty. If pee goes in it excellent. If he goes on the floor next to it, at least he was close. I just like emptying his bladder before I put another diaper on him. Might as well do it in a potty. The only trouble with the potty is that his feet don't touch the floor and it is awkward for him. So I'll probably put it away for a few more months.

Besides that, I'm looking into cloth diaper training pants because I need something that pulls on. This chasing the kid around the bathroom is getting old. Mostly because I'm always hitting my head on the counter. I'm going to have to seel the diapers I already own to afford the pull ups so I want to be sure that I pick the right ones. I've got it narrowed down to the GroVia My Choice Trainer or Sprout Change Cloth Trainers. I've been leaning more towards the Sprouts, but I discovered the GroVia ones today and they look pretty cool. So I'm torn. If anyone has experience with these can you tell me what you liked and did not like about them?

7 Down ? To Go.

BB and I just hit 7 months of nursing and we are looking forward to 7+ more. I feel really lucky that we had miniscule problems that were very easy to overcome with the help of my LC and support from my family. I'm also lucky that I'm able to stay home which makes nursing much easier. I do not have an estimated weaning date. My goal is to let him self-wean.

Slightly related, I attended my first LLL meeting yesterday and I had a great time! There were a few ladies still nursing their 2 year olds and it just made me happy to be around like minded ladies.

I even made friends with the hostess and we're going to get coffee some time. Hooray solidarity!

Breastfeeding - With A Little Help From My Friends

When I was pregnant, I never took a breastfeeding class because I was on strict bed rest when they had the class. I also had two Non-Stress Tests a week. I saw the breastfeeding support group pamphlet twice a week for about eight weeks.

After BB was born the nurses at the hospital were quite helpful. Except for the night nurse who said if BB's blood sugar was low one more time they'd have to supplement, to which I said "Nope, it will be fine next time" (but tiny little poppy seeds of doubt were scattered in my brain). It was unfortunate that I never got to see the LC, as she had pneumonia.

At home I had great support. No one told me to just give formula or anything else that I didn't care to hear. They just helped me. I had read a great book while on bed rest, but books don't give you a sense of sisterhood or community.

At three weeks PP I was still hormonal and crying all the time and my nipples hurt and I needed help. So I found my big girl panties and I went to the breastfeeding group. I made a few friends, had a wonderful time, and I really wish I had gone earlier. The LC (I call her my LC) offered me some advice and a few pointers to help with my discomfort. It was like MAGIC!

I go to group almost every week. I've missed four meetings since my first time going, but even if I don't go, it's okay. I can catch up with our Facebook page. The Facebook page is nice because it is mostly made up of moms who have been to that group, or their friends, and you can ask any question and someone will have an answer or suggestion for you pretty quickly.

If you are pregnant and plan on breastfeeding I highly suggest/recommend that you take a breastfeeding class and attend a few meetings of your local BF group before you have your baby (if you are able). It really does help that extra bit. And if  you are BF now, even if you're doing great with it, find a local meeting and go. It feels great to get out of the house and interact with people who have the same feelings about BF as you do. You get help, and you give help and you may even make a few friends. It's also really cool to watch the other babies grow.

Thanks to going to group, I haven't felt like I didn't have enough milk or that BB isn't eating enough or any of those other fears that breastfeeding moms have. I have an awesome group of other nursing mom's behind me, and I'm behind them. We've got each other's backs, and we help each other out.

Hooray for the sisterhood of boobies!

Multitasking Fail!

I do "multitask" while nursing, but I really shouldn't. ¿Por qué, you may ask? Porque I always end up dropping, plonking, or otherwise bonking Baby Bear on the head with whatever electronic device I happen to be using.

He usually doesn't notice, as his skull is neandertalish like his daddy's, but when he does there is much wailing and even tears. Tears! Tears are awful and they break my heart.

So, yes, I do sometimes multitask and I am terrible at it. And its not as if my multitasking is anything important. I'm not folding laundry or doing anything else useful; I'm dicking around on twitter or Facebook.

I wrote most of this with my phone while nursing, and I nailed him with the phone before I even started. I accidentally knocked it into him when I tried to grab it off the bed. I wont be winning any awards any time soon.

I prefer the times that I'm technology free. He just eats and smiles, plays with his food (sometimes squirting himself in the eyes ) and sometimes falls asleep. I prefer the times that we just are.

Night Weaning: Why I Hope It Never Happens

Obviously it will happen at some point in time, but hopefully not until after Baby Bear is at least two years old. Here's why, Lactational Amenorrhea! It isn't fool proof, especially now that BB is 6 months old, but I never go longer than four hours during the day, or six hours at night without feeding him; I don't plan to for as long as I can help it. We have not yet started solids and I'm not going to give him juice or water when I can BF him, or give him BM in a cup.

We bedshare, which really makes the whole night feeding issue a non-issue. BB will start to get a little restless in his sleep, I barely wake up to put a breast in his face, he latches on and I don't really know what happens after that because I am already back to sleep.

Long story short, I'm not in any hurry to night wean because I get plently of sleep. It will happen in it's own non-stressful time.

WTF!? Wednesday. 9/28/11

Wtf Wednesday did not happen today. I was off in SF at the Picasso exhibit. Although, I could say Picasso, WTF?! A few of my favorites are Massacre in Corea, Cat Seizing a Bird, and a drawing of a family of entertainers. The mother was nursing her baby, and the baby was touching her face. Picasso, not always strange.

Today Has Been Aces

I won one of these awesome pendants from http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/ @teethingbling

Yesterday was a rough day. Baby Bear had vaccines on Wednesday, so he was insanely cranky yesterday (I was going insane, it sucks when you can't help). He cried, and I cried. ¡Que terrible!

On the upswing, today pretty much kicked ass.

Some awesome educational books I ordered from a door to door salesman arrived. My new ERGO arrived, along with a cool book about muscles in yoga. I won a twitter giveaway from @TeethingBling, AND when PB came home he brought Chinese food. PERFECT.

BB has gone on a nursing strike for today and I'm not sure why, maybe he doesn't trust me. He's been burying his face in my shirt and trying to latch onto my face pretty much all day, but when I put a boob in his face he arches his back and gets all fussy. However, I was able to get him to eat by changing his perspective (I flipped him upside down over my shoulder and that worked for a while).

Nature's Perfect Baby Food

This Week’s Topic: Breastfeeding and the Environment

Do you think breastfeeding helps save the environment? Is it the “green” choice for feeding your child?

Breastfeeding isn't the "green" choice for me, it was the only choice. If your boobs can make milk, why wouldn't you use it? Seems like a waste not to.

I don't know that breastfeeding helps save the environment as much as it does not hurt the environment. I know that sounds like the same thing, but it isn't, at least not in my addled brain.

200+ years ago, there was no such thing as formula and breastfeeding was the only way to feed a baby. It isn't as if breastfeeding is some newfangled hippie dippy* idea; It's how you normally feed a baby. 200+ years ago women had each other to lean on and learn from. If someone REALLY** wasn't able to breastfeed (or they were too snobby), someone else could do it for them, a la wet nurse... or the baby would die. Now, we have formula. Formula was developed as a way to feed those babies that would otherwise die without it. It was never intended to replace breastfeeding.

Between a cranky feverish baby and my own decreased brain function I've lost my ability to have a point. I think my point was breastfeeding doesn't help the environment because it is natural and it is what you're supposed to do in the first place.*** It's all this newfangled prepackaged junk that we buy that harms the environment. But that is a tirade for another day.

*I don't think Hippies are dippy, Hippies are awesome.
** 2-5% of women may truly be unable to breastfeed. The rest, with proper education, help, and support could breastfeed if they wanted to. Unfortunately there are so many booby traps, that moms who fully intended to breastfeed and are able to end up formula feeding.
***This is not a poo-poo on FF moms. If FF moms lived over 200 years ago I'm sure they'd BF like champs but, the times they have a changed.

We Need A Special Doll For This?

The thing that annoys me about this doll is that it has a pacifier. It is a doll and therefore does not need to be pacified. Pacifiers are not always necessary and I believe that when they are used in the first few weeks of baby's life it can actually hurt the breastfeeding relationship. Time spent sucking on a pacifier is time that could be spent getting nutrition and building milk supply.

Back to the doll.

I suppose it is a good doll for someone who wasn't able to (or decided not to) breastfeed to get their child. The kid can't emulate the mother so this doll would do a good job. Besides that scenario I really don't see the point. They cost about a bajillion dollars and then there is the cost of batteries.

When my mom was feeding my little brother, I'd go get a doll, sit beside them, lift up my shirt and feed my baby too.

This doll is also only marketed to little girls. I know of a few little boys who feed stuffed animals and action figures and I think that is really cool and important as well. Little boys need a positive view of breastfeeding so that they will be supportive when they are older and have breastfeeding significant others.

Leading By Example

We live in a world where it is perfectly normal and okay to use breasts to sell just about everything under the sun. However, as soon as we use those breasts the way nature designed and intended people throw up their arms in disgust and have something to say about it. I for one don't give a rat's ass about anything they have to say. If it makes them uncomfortable, that is their problem. You don't want to see me breastfeeding my baby, turn your head in a different direction. It really is that simple.

Luckily I have not run into or noticed any opposition to my breastfeeding in public. I got a few weird looks once in the grocery store, when I was readjusting myself after finishing feeding Baby Bear, but to be fair I would have given myself a few second glances as well. The clip on my nursing tank got stuck and I was muttering to myself with my hand in my shirt. I'm sure it looked silly.

Out in the world I really don't have a favorite place to nurse. I just nurse wherever I feel comfortable, which is pretty much everywhere. And if I don't feel all that comfortable, I just do it anyway and pretend that I am. I want people to see that it is normal and doesn't really deserve a second glance. I want other breastfeeding moms that may have reservations to see me out there doing it and hopefully gain some confidence in themselves to do it where ever they may be.

I really can't think of anyplace that nursing a baby would be inappropriate. I can think of a lot of places where I'd rather nurse than have a pissed off and hungry baby. Funeral, wedding, restaurant, pretty much anywhere. I'd much rather be around a content nursing baby or small child than a screaming one. That would be part of my evil plan if anyone ever said anything to me in a restaurant or similar small place where they are stuck in the same space as me. I'd just unlatch BB and let the unhappy protests of a hungry baby do the talking for me for a minute.

I'm leading by example, and I encourage all nursing moms, veterans and newbies alike to do the same. Not feeling confident? Try it anyway, you might surprise yourself and you could inspire another mom to do the same.

Breastfeeding Celebration

When babies attack!

I'm so glad I didn't get my blog going sooner, because if I had I probably wouldn't have discovered Blog Hopping.

When I was pregnant, I knew I was going to breastfeed and that was it. There was no try, only do. It was difficult at first. Baby latched great we just needed to practice. We were doing well, but I was having a few comfort issues so I finally went to a breastfeeding group at my local hospital at 3 weeks. The LC gave me some pointers and they helped pretty much immediately and I now wish I had gone as soon as I could right after baby was born.

My friend had a baby and I told her she should go ASAP, and she did. It was really hard for her because baby was 3 days old and she was emotional and didn't have a good breastfeeding support at home. She later told me that she would have given up if I hadn't told her about it. Her baby is 8 weeks old now, and they are still having a rough time, but she is not going to give up and I am very proud of her. Especially since her family keeps pressuring her to supplement with formula.

I celebrate breastfeeding my doing it everywhere. I hope by doing this I encourage other breastfeeding moms to breastfeed wherever they are and not go hide somewhere. Breastfeeding is normal, not weird or gross, and I want to take it back. I plan to keep pumping after my baby self weans so I can donate. I find that I really love being a milk maker! Doesn't hurt that it makes my boobs HUGE.

I will have breastfed for 5 months this upcoming Saturday. My goal/milestone will be 1 year EBF, so far so good!

This is my first Blog Hop, please let me know if I need to fix anything! I'm still trying to figure out how to add people with the GFC thing. Today I am technologically challenged.