MaternityShare

The postpartum period of having a baby is proving to be a challenge for me. And for my family too because they are a part of me. Right now I am pumping so that Billy can feed baby a bottle so that I can get some sleep. I have to pump before I go to sleep because baby is taking milk I previously pumped. If I don’t pump now my body will think that it does not have to make as much milk because it thinks baby doesn’t need it. Body doesn’t know that baby is taking a bottle. So, I lose about a half hour of prep time, pump time, and clean up time. Precous time. Then there is my mind. Right now it is frustrated at how things are going. Frustrated at not being understood by Billy. Frustrated that I can’t spend these days loving being a mother and loving my adorable little son.

Due to lack of funds we have also cut back in the food department. So, these days, not only do I have less help with preparing most of my meals but I am also back to eating conventionally grown produce and cheap foods in general. My body does not function as well on these types of foods. Are there ways of eating cheaply with easy to prepare meals in an organic and healthy way? I need to feel good and I need to make my baby’s food… I need to make milk.

Next up: I must change these patterns that are happening.

I went to a lactation support group at Alta Bates Hospital and got some breast feeding tips from the lactation nurse who led the group of a small room full of women and their newborns. I also met some neat moms. I gave the two of them that lingered after the group to chit chat my number and email. One of them ended up inviting me to a Le Leche meeting where I learned more cool facts about breastfeeding and where I met another cool mom who I invited to the tea date mom #1 one and I had set for after the Le Leche meeting.

I don’t ususally get people together in this way but now that I am it feels good. I have really needed this kind of comradere… women who are going through a very similar experince as me. We talked about nipples and all the amazing things they do as a breastfeeding mom, nipple shileds, latching on, thrush, premature babes, etc etc. If anyone was to over hear our converstations they might think us strange but to us we were in great company. Ahhh… this is just what I needed. Oh, I already said that.

Our tea date was at Tumble Tea, a place on Telegraph Street in Berkeley/Oakland area near Emeryville that catered to adults and kids. They even have a dress up area for the kids. I saw a little girl walking around in a mermaid costume and a boy in a horse suit who was posing proudly for his mother’s camera. So cute. Meanwhile us moms with our babes ranging from 4-11 weeks old were breastfeeding and chatting happily away in our little corner.

We agreed that we should meet up again next week. I am looking forward to it.

I have noticed that my spelling skills have decreased a bit after birthing Will. I have to retype many words I write and go back and edit emails and posts. Sometimes I do not even notice until the next day when I reread a post that I have spelling mistakes. Partially this is due to writing my posts late at night or at a time during the day that I am so tired that my eyes are not working very well. I am still sleep deprived and my brain is not working at full thrust.

I have been emailing back and forth with a couple of new moms that I have met and have noticed that they too have this spelling issue. I therefore hypothesize that new moms can’t spell. That’s ok becuase they are doing other things that are more important like caring for the new life that just came out of us.

I would like to send out love and blessings to all the new moms out there. It is quite a challenge and they deserve a lot of love and support. New moms, heres to you: xoxo.

love,
~Christine

I just finished and tried to upload a post about a yoga class we took today. It has vanished. I have been working hard to get chores done and I just finished feeding the baby so now was my time to post. Oh dear. Well, things are getting a bit easier and I am starting to develop patterns in my days but I don’t feel like I get enough done and I certainly don’t get enough sleep. Well, there are lots of things to learn about life through motherhood. I love my little cutie pie and want to be a great mom so I know it will all work out in time. It is working out now, I just feel a bit coo coo now. Well, I better call this good and go be with my family who have been sleeping now for a while. Soon it will be time to feed again.

Goodnight.

Will had his “one month” pediatrician visit today. He weighed in at 8 pounds! We were such proud parents. His weight gain is fine, his jaundice is slowly getting better and everything else checked out good. I asked my usual prepared list of questions and got my questions answered and my fears alleviated. I always feel better after these visits.

I have been keeping a breastfeeding log since Will was about one week old to make sure he was feeding enough and pooing and peeing sufficiently. First it was to get a handle on the jaundice, then it was to make sure the breastfeeding and pumping was working out for Will’s health. So, every time Will did any of these things we had to log it. It feels a bit discombobulating not keeping that log as it was so much a part of my everyday life and I used it to refer to so that I could guess when he would wake and want to feed. It also helped me pick which breast to feed on next. Sometime he would only take a breast for a short time so I would pick the breast that had the least time suckled. There are varying theories of which breast to use next… I think I will try out some different ones now that all is going well and I don’t have to worry about Will’s health.

Here is a early version of the log I created in Excel:

Both yesterday and today I heard the word “hi” in the sweetest little voice ever. I whipped my head to look down at my little boy who I was cradling in my arms. He was looking up at me with his eyes wide open. Adorable.

Did he really say “hi”?

This is word I say to him a lot (often followed by the word “Will”).

Is it too early for him to have actually mimicked me? Is it just that he is making sounds and that this sound happened to sound a lot like the word “hi”? The other sounds that me makes quite a bit is “ahhhh”.

Will loves his Rainforest Delux Gym that Hans gave him. He likes to stare up and look at all the happy little faces on the rainforest critters. I was amazed at Will’s response when we first put him under the canopy because he is so young. He was captivated as he studied the colors and shapes while listening to the soothing sounds of the rainforest fauna.

So when we are trying to soothe him into sleepy time we often swaddle him and put him under the canopy. It works as a place to chill out and grow while he is awake too. He really likes this foresty realm. Thanks Hans!

Courtesy of Billy:

For your viewing pleasure…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billyshipp/sets/72157606360272469/show/

Our little guy is getting chubby! Good job baby!

Today he is 4 weeks old :}