Monday, July 19, 2010

Boobs.

I took an online survey today about breastfeeding and whether today's moms were pressured to do it. Everyone says that "breast is best," which makes the mom who decides not to even try it feel guilty.

I went into breastfeeding with eyes wide open that this was more likely not to work than to work. I was then pleasantly surprised when it DID work, with few problems. And then it worked well for a second child, again with few problems (so far, knocking on wood!). We mainly made this choice because of the health benefits to the baby, but cost was a big huge factor for us too. There are a ton of other reasons that never would've occurred to me:
1. The gaze. E just looks at me with this adoring gaze--Oh Earth Mother, thank you for this nourishment!
2. The poop. It washes out sooo much easier.
3. The waist. Breastfeeding requires more calories than even being pregnant, so the waist whittles faster than you can say Royale with Cheese.
4. The boobs. Breastfeeding is supposed to help protect the mother from breast cancer.
5. The cheeks. "Booby juice" has given my A chipmunk cheeks, and E seems to be on the way to them too (slower, but still there).
6. The smell. The pediatrician at the hospital made me supplement E with formula. I was awed by the smell of his spit up, and the color was gray.
7. The portability. At the grocery store today, E was crying his eyes out. The man in front of me told me that it happened to them lots of times that they were out at baby's feeding time, and they "had a lot of oh shit moments." It's just not the same when Mommy is right there and baby can be fed any time.


None of this is to say that I think formula feeding is a bad choice. I was formula fed! Both my boys have been formula fed! There is a certain tie to the baby that feeding via Mommy's body locks you into--being away from the baby for pretty much any amount of time requires a LOT of planning (will I be home before the baby wants to eat? Do I have enough milk defrosted? When/where will I pump while I'm away?). The things that go into the body require a lot more thought--how much booze (I love that there is now a TEST STRIP, which is used to determine if Mom has had a little too much fun to nurse her babe!), which medicines.

Argh, now I'm rambling. The short of it: I'm so happy that I am able to breastfeed my baby. I feel so fortunate that it works well for us and that we have the means for me to stay home with him and do it. I in no way think I'm a better mom for it, or that my kids will be better because of it.

(One, short, aside... the mom of my students once confided in me she did extended breastfeeding for both of her kids. Her son and daughter were two of the smartest kids with whom I've ever worked. Coincidence? Dunno. She definitely thought there was something to it, though)

The time has come

I promised myself I would return to the gym at 6 weeks postpartum. But then the buts set in- the gym gave me till July 19 to not have to pay & we needed that $, E couldn't go in till 2 months, where would I find time? Today, though, my membership is no longer frozen & I have no excuse.

We WERE doing lots of walks around the neighborhood, but then it got too hot & disgusting.

The interesting thing is that # on the scale. Not trying to brag, but I am very lucky there. The #, of course, means nothing to my jiggle or the width of my hips (I look like oe of those "Botticelli Babes" for sure).

So now it's just a matter of finding the time when M is around (so we don't have to pay the babysitting service).

Wish me luck!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Big Brother

I cannot believe that in less than 2 weeks, A will be a three year old. We hear a lot of "I'm gonna do it MYSELF!" and the other day, he made me teary when he screamed "Leave me ALONE" at me. At the same time, he can be so incredibly sweet, giving hugs to Little Brother and saying, "That's MY baby!" He is such a good helper--he loves to help cook dinner and will help Daddy do just about anything.

When we ask him why he did something, the most common response? Because I did.

He continues to favor Daddy...a LOT. The difference between now and when Little Brother was born is that he will now give me some love. And he says "I love you" OFTEN. It warms the cockles of my heart.

His singing voice is not the greatest you've ever heard, but he picks up on lyrics to songs pretty quickly. If it's just us, he will ask to hear "The Hey La Song," (aka: The Best of What's Around) and can sing the whole first verse. Here he is, singing La La La La Lemon. Apologies for my shushing Little Brother, and that you can't hear the original so well, because it's hilarious--he's waiting for the lyric that comes after La La La... (Ok, that's coming later...the upload isn't working well)

We're preparing for his third birthday party in a few weeks. I took him to the party store and asked him to pick from all the choices for invitations, and he chose Spiderman. This choice always brings to mind this. (Spiderman. Irving Spiderman). I walked into the house today with a bag from the Disney Store. He asked, "Is that for my party?" I told him no, it was a gift for someone else. I asked if he thought the other kid would like it and he said yes. So, of course, I asked if HE wanted it (the bag) and he said yes! This kid loves him some Mickey Mouse! (And Toy Story; they were on the bag too!)

Rockin

Check out Breastfeeding Momma's review and giveaway of Rockin Green (I use it for my diapers, and have used it on stinky, stained socks with great success!).

Update

On Thursday, we saw a pediatric orthopedist about A's collarbone. After about a five minute appointment, we found out he no longer needs to wear the sling or brace, and that it takes kids his age about 4 weeks to heal. That's about it. He looked at the xrays from the hospital (as an aside, technology? Freaking awesome! We forgot the disc with the xrays at home [as if that wasn't cool enough...] and so the doctor was able to access the records online from the hospital. Sweet!). We have an appointment in two weeks to take more xrays and to see how things are healing.

He does still have a slight bruise, but it is no longer scary colors. He doesn't seem to be really holding back as much as he was, and we even put him on some boardwalk rides with success. Phew!

The potty.

We have reached the point at potty learning where A no longer wants to wear diapers! He wore underpants to bed last night, and it was fine...until it wasn't. He came into our room at his normal wake up time wet and soiled. Going #2 has been problematic. He holds it. We give him prunes. He holds it and his pee until he can't hold it anymore. Embarrassing is this situation in a restaurant when he started SCREAMING like we were burning him.

He is getting pretty good about telling us when he has to go, and is good about holding it...so far.

It's getting better, although we still have a long way to go...

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Ouch.

This morning started like many mornings around here, with A waking too early and coming into our room. The strange thing (which we were too sleepy to really take note of) was that he was crying and that he readily went back to bed when I asked him to.

He woke up and started his day, and told M he had a boo boo, pointing to his neck. M took this to mean he had a sore throat, which made sense since A has a drippy nose and M woke up feeling sick. He had a cold. He even fell asleep on the couch around 10am.

Later in the morning, M said to me, "I think we have a problem." He figured out that it wasn't a sore throat, but that A was having pain in his neck area. He also noticed a red mark on his ear on the same side. A had fallen out of bed. We put him down for his nap. He napped for a really longer than normal amount of time, and when I went to get him up from it, I decided it was time to call the doctor. He was having a hard time getting out of the bed, was still telling me his shoulder hurt, and I was worried. So, I called the doctor's office and was told to speak with a nurse. She suggested that we go to the ER since they have xrays.

Rave for RWJ in New Brunswick. We were surprised to discover they have a special pediatric emergency area. Despite the large number of people in the ER's waiting room, we were taken within 20 minutes of arriving. They have a special little people triage area, too, with stickers and other fun stuff around.

When he was examined by the nurse, he was raising his arm and doing things we couldn't get him to do. I was pretty sure that we had just overreacted and that he was fine with just a bruise. The doctor came in, and he wouldn't really move his arm so much for her. She sent him for an xray. It turned out his has a decent sized break in his collarbone.

He is in a sling for potentially 6 weeks. It's July 6. Six weeks from now is about the middle of August--he'll be confined for almost the entire summer.

I'm taking hope from a friend whose son is a little bit older and went through the same thing last month. She told me it was 3 weeks from falling out of bed to full recovery. Hopefully it will be the same way for A.

Sigh.

Of course I'm beating myself up over this one; shouldn't have taken the rails off his crib so early is the biggest echo in my head right now. But, my boy sure is a trooper. He's already aware of his limitations, and got upset with me when I tried to lay down to read his book--Mommy, we have to sit UP!

Independence at G & G's

We went to Mom and Dad's house for the weekend in celebration on the Fourth. For whatever reason, we managed to avoid traffic every time! Wahoo! We did a ton of exciting things with the boys, although I don't think E got a whole lot out of it...

  • Grampy took M & A on the boat to Party Island. They walked and walked and walked. Not so much swimming, but lots of wading, shell picking, and digging.
  • G & G watched E so we could take A to his FIRST MOVIE in the theater! We went to see Toy Story 3, which M & I loved and A just enjoyed the whole experience. He told us today that he wanted to watch TS3, and was upset (Why??) that we couldn't do it for him. Of course we got him popcorn for his first movie!
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  • We took A to Fantasy Island to ride the rides. He had a blast in the arcade, just pushing buttons and looking at everything. E enjoyed the arcade too; flashing lights and colors worked well for him. A really wanted to go on the big pirate ship, and we didn't have the time to take him on the little pirate ship. The rides he DID go on were the carousel, the trucks, teacups (shrieking with laughter on this one!), the Dragon roller coaster (Daddy said they both loved this one), the cars, and the Honey Bees. We had to deal with a pretty substantial tantrum as we left, though. He didn't WANT to leave; he wanted to go back NOOOOOW.
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  • We went to a Fourth of July party. A went in the pool (so did E!), but had the most fun playing with a girl who was a little bit older. They had so much fun together, running around, splashing in the pool. For the most part, he was good about sharing, although there were definitely a few instances of issues. We decided to stay for the fireworks, keeping A up until WELL past his bedtime. He did great, and asked everyone "which one do you like? I like the Blue ones!" We also kept E up, but he slept through the whole thing in my arms.