*click on picture for link
Weaning Mommy
I never saw myself as the breastfeeding type as I’m neither a Stepford wife or a hippie (In my mind those were the only types that breastfed their kids)…
The thought of someone drinking milk produced by my body just never appealed to me, it’s all rather weird and cow like I thought.
Why then am I so sad at the thought of giving it up?
We started the weaning process last week and I find myself feeling so sad about the whole thing.
Growing up I don’t remember seeing people breastfeed much….I know my mom didn’t (Only recently discovered that this was a medical decision not a personal one) and to be honest I can’t even remember if my aunts did.
I remember making bottles for my cousins though and sneaking a spoon of dry formula for myself…it tasted yummy (Nan I think it was) as I clearly didn’t understand the financial implications of my “taste testing” – formula does not come cheap.
I also remember being sent to the pharmacy on the corner to buy teats, nothing fancy like we have now, shaped like a breast and with special vents, just a run of the mill teat that you had to poke a hole into yourself at the risk of messing it up and having to buy another one.
The only breastfeeding I clearly remember was that of the young unwed mothers living in my grandmothers street.
I remember overhearing gossiping old ladies remark that they had to wash nappies and breastfeed because they were not smart enough to wait to have jobs or get guys who could afford kimbies (disposable nappies) or formula —- this was before cloth nappies became the “in thing” again.
So I think in the back of my mind breast feeding was classed as a last option , a go-to because you couldn’t afford anything else.
That view clearly changed. Hearing the health benefits I decided to breastfeed with Logan already (taking the I’ll try my best, but if I can’t I won’t hate myself approach) and by the time Aidan was here I had picked up pumps, special blankets, a feeding chair and a bunch of tips from my already breastfeeding friends.
I had a rocky start, as I just didn’t seem to produce enough. Aidy was in the NICU and I was allowed to stay with the sole purpose of feeding him, so it became increasingly important to “get milk” because if I couldn’t feed him I’d be sent home.
I wanted to stay, so I pumped like crazy (almost being reduced to tears when another new mom requested a second bottle while I could barely pump a tablespoons worth) I drank home remedies and had him practice suckling, I even took meds.
Maybe I was haunted by the fact that I could never feed Logan-he had to have donated milk (Later my friend donated milk on his behalf when she weaned her twins…heart warming to say the least)
By the time we got home I contemplated exclusively expressing because suddenly my milk was too much and feeding him was traumatic for both of us. Milk went everywhere as poor Aidy coughed and sputtered and promptly learned to BITE DOWN….Most mornings I woke up covered in milk despite breast pads and don’t get me started on the pain.
But soon things sorted themselves out and we got into a grove, he ended up having formula in the day (while I was at work) because I could not pump enough and because the specific (crazy pricey) formula was said to help with reflux.
But every morning and evening he would drink from me and it became “our thing”
Something only I could do for him-Our US TIME.
But I had always said I would stop breastfeeding when he turned one, a walking “talking” toddler with a mouth full of teeth was just never part of the deal (personal preference)
I’m hoping this will encourage him to eat more and help him get to sleep without me having to go and cuddle him at 3 in the morning.
So far so good, he is getting used to it, even if he tugs at me now and again asking for “juice” (weird I know-I say milk he says juice) but he seems to be “getting it”
As for me, I guess I will have to find another way to have “us time”
But all being said and done, I’m glad I gave this breastfeeding thing a go and I feel blessed that I could because I’m well aware that many woman are not as lucky.
HAPPY MONDAY ALL!
DIY Hand Warmers
Looking for a quick and easy craft, why not try these hand warmers for those cold mornings…Super cute and quite easy to do….
I initially made this for a competition but that has come and gone, the DIY is still super usefull however. I often make it when I want to add a little something extra to a gift or a care package.
5 things I didn’t know about having a kid
 |
| I don’t know who took the chocolate from your bag mommy |
1. The phrase “sleeping like a baby” is apparently a sarcastic comment, because sleep interrupted by nagging and crying is hardly restful, neither is sleep that can only be achieved when people tiptoe around you, avoiding noisy toys like they are in a low budget spy movie.
2. Babies are quite expensive – I knew they weren’t cheap,but I didn’t expect my monthly “baby budget” to rival the cast of Jersey Shore’s “tan budget”, it shouldn’t, should it?
3. A one-year-old can cause roughly the same amount of havoc as a rock group on tour, in less time. Seriously I can put Aidan down in the family room, go to my bedroom, put down my bag, come back and all heck would have broken lose; he unpacks things, throws and pulls things off, climbs in to things…at any given moment it can look like a toy store has set up a badly organised pop-up store in my house – and I know he is not the only one, many a child I know can take a room from “show house quality” to “I promise I’m not a hoarder” in no time.
4. Kids have multiple personalities… Aidan will go to lunch with his dad, eat a few chips, colour-in, play in play room- awww sweet. He will go to lunch with his mom, throw a few chips on the floor, eat his crayons, get on the table, squirt juice out of his juice box – uhmmm same kid?
Or he will sing along to nursery rhymes with me and repeat phrases, but when I try to get him to do it when someone else is in the room he makes me look like I have a vivid imagination and all he can say is goo-goo gaga.
5. Kids change everything you thought you knew about having kids, every eye roll at a noisy kid on a plane, every judgemental thought about kids throwing tantrums in a shop – your views will completely change…in fact if you have ever as much as thought “My kid will never….” or “I will never let my kid…” chances are you are about to eat those words along with whatever half eaten slightly soggy treat your kid decides to “share” with you (you shouldn’t say no to a baby offering you something apparently- yummmm)
 |
| Aidan’s room, the joys |
Clothing conundrum….
So an interesting thing has happened in my cupboard…. someone seems to have replaced my clothes with those of someone who is clearly not my size.
No I didn’t just pick up weight and now nothing fits (believe me I’ve been there) this is something entirely different. My clothes just don’t suit me.
I’ve been battling with weight gain after babies and diagnosis of IBS and also a liver problem, but through it all I’ve been managing to lose weight. Okay so it’s in drips and drabs with a long way to go, but hey I believe slow progress is better than no progress…
A little bout of Emotion Sickness
On days like today I wish I could go into my old photos and pull loved ones out…I’d have tea with my gran, chat with my Godmother,attend an event with Mso, finally watch that Bollywood marathon with Kayla and cuddle Logan…I’d even let Rob’s dad tease me one more time…
If I had this magic photo frame there are so many people I would borrow it to, I imagine a queue out stretching those at the election polls . People eager for last chats,final hugs…it’s all so sad really.
There’s this legend where a woman asks to have her deceased child returned to her, she is told that to have this happen she needs to bring back a mustard seed from a home that has known no heartache…. and needless to say she could find no such home….
Like I could find no such frame, the best I can do is remind everyone to have those chats and give those hugs to the loved ones still around….
HAVE A GOOD SATURDAY,remember to live like things can change any moment because they can
If I had this magic photo frame there are so many people I would borrow it to, I imagine a queue out stretching those at the election polls . People eager for last chats,final hugs…it’s all so sad really.
There’s this legend where a woman asks to have her deceased child returned to her, she is told that to have this happen she needs to bring back a mustard seed from a home that has known no heartache…. and needless to say she could find no such home….
Like I could find no such frame, the best I can do is remind everyone to have those chats and give those hugs to the loved ones still around….
HAVE A GOOD SATURDAY,remember to live like things can change any moment because they can
