Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Breastfeeding-Bourbon Edition

I would post a picture of myself nursing but thought you would prefer this

I realize this post is not about the latest from Boden or a review of Lonny, but I feel it is such an important topic and I really want to tell my story.

Before I had Ford I read lots of blog posts on the subject of breastfeeding; some horror stories, some extremely militant, and some that painted a magical booby world. I feared for the worst but didn't make the smart decision to take the class.

Before I headed to the hospital I made sure I had an artillery of products to make me prepared for this task: bras, lotions, tank tops, easy to wear shirts, brestfriend, pump, pump parts, dark beer...etc. And as soon as the first nurse asked, are you planning to breastfeed? I emphatically said YES!

I will save my birth story for another day but my water broke at 2:45am and Ford was delivered at 2:36pm. Epidural-yes, Pitocin-yes, Bourbon afterwards?-yes. All joking aside I had a wonderful birth process and really thank the nurses at CMC Main for the amazing job they did.

After consuming the entire room service menu they brought Ford to me around 3:30pm to try to nurse. This was highly unsuccessful.**Too much information alert. I don't have good ole eraser nipples. There I said it. So he didn't have a good surface to latch on to. This was slightly frustrating. A very nice stranger is forcing your crying new baby onto your huge swollen tatas and he can't latch, your husband is watching slightly confused..and you are exhausted. This goes on for awhile before my lactation consultant tried a Nipple Shield. And BAM, it worked. Now he was only getting colostrum so poor guy was sucking hard forever for a drop, but I guess that is what is supposed to happen. What nobody told me is once they nurse you get HORRIBLE cramps. Just like menstrual cramps but much worse. Thanks for the heads up! Luckily my nurse walked in with an Ibu800 and I was fine for a bit.
My 2nd night in the hospital was absolutely dreadful. I should have taken a class b/c nobody told me how long to nurse. And being worken up every 2 hours (a first for a new mom) was jolting and awful. So I let him nurse for 40 minutes on each side..insanely painful. Finally my Dr. came to see me on my checkout day and said, heck no, give him a pacifier..and all was good.
They load you up with lots of Formula samples at the hospital and again at the pediatrician so we put them away in the pantry because I was superbreastfeeding mom. But his first night home was a disaster. I was still only producing colustrum and he was HUNGRY. Queue up Enfamil 2 oz lifesavers. I had to do it. He was starving and I had nothing and had already fed him the syringe full of colostrum i had pumped at the hospital. I have to admit there was a fleeting moment where I was like..okay, milk don't come in. Let's just do this formula thing, anyone can feed you and I won't have to suffer. We went to the Pediatrician the next day (He was 5 lbs 7 oz when we brought him home so they had to monitor his weight) and they sent me over to the Lactation GODDESS. (If you live in CLT and want to know her info, email me!) She watched me breastfeed and pump and then gave me a million tips on both.
Once we got home I was sitting on the couch pumping out my 1 mm of colustrum an amazing thing happened..my milk came in. I looked down at the snapable and it was FULL of light yellow/white liquid gold. I cried I was so relieved! And then my boobs expanded into another zip code...
Ford was a one side eater, he wanted nothing to do with the other side so I would nurse on the left and pump out the right, etc. My advice to all new moms is pump early and often. I know it will make you produce a little too much but I wish I had double the freezer stash I ended up with.
In a little shamless self promotion, I tracked all of this through a handy Iphone app my husband wrote. You can find it here. **Disclaimer, it is not fancy and has some bugs..but works for what I need it to do.

Milk Coma nap on the Brestfriend


And that is how my breastfeeding story began. Fast forward to when I had to go to work. I would pack up pump, pump parts, bags..etc. and walk through Uptown Charlotte. You have to go to the "Mother's Room" on the 13th floor of my building with all this gear and get leary side eye from all the men in the building. I did this three times a day..it was miserable. And I was not pumping nearly enough compared to what he could put down in a day. I love how Tina Fey calls this thing a "Williams Sonoma Tit Juicer" b/c that is exactly what it feels like. And I hated it. I felt I was always pumping. At the beach I had to go disappear to pump, when we had company over I had to go pump..I was pumping all the time.

My setup. Yes, I borrowed an old pump. Get over it. They cost more than Tory Burch flats.

Seriously? 3.5 oz?

My supply had already dwindled due to Mastitis (awful) and now it was dropping due to stress/using the pump so much. At 5 months he would nurse in the morning and I would pump the rest of the day (6 times) and only produce 2 bottles. I had made a promise to last 6 months breastfeeding and well...here we are.

I think my wake up call about how stressed having enough milk makes me came when someone at work punctured my cooler and my milk bag burst. I cried and lost my sh*t. And I had to step back and say....a happy mom is worth more than a milk crazed psycho mom. I now only pump enough for 1 bottle and that has caused me to use up my freezer supply. I have filled my birth control and am staring at the package not wanting to admit what is next. I'm not sure it is me having a hard time giving up breastfeeding, or is it me not wanting my baby boy to be in the next stage of his life. He used to just gaze up at me and nurse so calmly but now he is alert and curious and wants to look around the room. He is sitting up and cutting a tooth and I know it is time to hang the boobs up to dry. **I know you pro-nursers out there will tell me to continue but to pump all day and make one bottle is hardly worth it. And yes, I took Fenugreek, it was great...I smelled like pancakes. Its just that breast milk is so easy to deal with. I can sit out for hours and you can pre-make bottles and freeze it and it smells better and I could go on and on and on. And not to mention the health benefits for baby.

How do I get past this guilt that I am stopping something so healthy and free and loving? I'm having a hard time. But I have promised my pump to a friend and I believe that is a blessing in disguise. **Yes, sharing pumps is a no-no...but you buy new parts so please don't lecture me. If they really wanted all women to breastfeed they would make pumps cheaper!

That is all...sorry for my lengthy personal ramblings but I have loved breasfteeding (although it is a pain in the ass) and I just need some kinds words to make saying goodbye easier. (just took the birth control).

xoxo

Friday, September 16, 2011

Blog Love Friday: Michelle at Dessert First

Several years ago I worked for a great company in South Charlotte.....and I got laid off. It was one of the hardest things I think I have ever dealt with professionally. It wasn't just me, there were a bunch of us that got the pink slip, but I have never felt so worthless. I had made so many amazing friends at that company and truly loved what I did and I just could not understand why they picked me.

The silver lining is that we stayed in touch with most of the people I used to work with. One particular couple is the G Family. When my water broke at 2:15 in the morning we knew we could call upon this family of one awesome mom and 4 boys to come help us with my stepson.  (Yes T, I just called you a boy) They started as our tailgate buddies but we really consider them close friends.

So after baby Ford came home this is what supermom Michelle brought us.....

Insane right? ALL homemade!!! If you have a friend that is expecting or just brought a baby home you should seriously contact her to do your drop off dinner. So I'm so excited she has started a blog!!!! Please go check her out immediately. She is an amazing mother and fabulous cook. Plus she just posted about Fall which is by far the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR!
Michelle if I was your neighbor I would come steal these!

xoxo

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Confession Tuesday: Missoni Confusion


I must not be a stylish person. I like pretty things but I would not be classified as someone "in the know" when it comes to fashion. So when the world melted down today and crashed the Target site for Missoni I was left speechless.

People went nuts...

For this shit...

Okay, I give you this and only this...the above dress paired with black tights and boots or flats would be cute. But that's IT! (Well maybe the flats, my co-worker got them and they are kind of cute)


Mostly I think it all looks like this!

Did you shop? What did you buy? Email me pics of your outfits and prove me wrong!

xoxo

Pics via google & ScoopCharlotte

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Gameday


Is here! It has been like Christmas today....WHO DAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Should I Gallery Wall it?

I know.....I know, they are so overdone. But I don't care....I really want to do a gallery wall going up my stairs. It's just that I have so many family pictures I love and I've covered every possible table with silver picture frames and I think its overkill. If they were huge and blown up going up my stairs I might be able to tone down the photo-montage around the house. I'm sure a pro would tell me its a little absurd but my family knows how to have a good time and I love reminiscing.

Remember the one from the Movie Life As We Know It? I think it is a little too uniform, but I LOVE the rest of the house....


My dream house has a room like this. We would use the hell out of it. Just add a fireplace. (And a flatscreen..yes I said it..but this would be a great football watching room)

Amazing back yard for entertaining. Ours looks pretty terrible these days due to the excessive heat/lack of gardening/dog poop.

But back to gallery walls...





All images via Pinterest   (And don't you want that runner?!)