Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A second chance

So I read this, and then I read this.

Apparently the mayor of NYC wants to basically ban formula from the maternity ward in hospitals there and anyone who wants to use it has to sign it out like it is a restricted medication.

Ok, so yea, breastfeeding is awesome and great, but its not for everyone and people deserve to make their own choices without being scolded for them. Moms use to be scolded for WANTING to breastfeed their babies. Now moms get scolded for everything. Using a crib bumper. Not carrying your baby in a carrier instead of a stroller. Not making your own baby food from organic fruits and veggies bought from your local farmers market.

I am kind of torn on this whole breastfeeding thing. I tried with Liam, it didn't work. I won't go into the gory details again, but in short it ended with me in a ball crying my heart out because I failed him as a mother the day I decided to switch to formula. The writer of the article in my second link says a lot of how I felt when Liam threw his booby boycott and refused to nurse. Her situation was different, but the feelings are the same.

Since then, I have gotten over that guilt. He is just as well adjusted, smart and has been LESS sick than most breastfed babies I know. He is FINE. I didn't fail. I made the choice to feed him and NOT wear myself to a shade trying to pump after he had a bottle and live on 45 minutes of sleep between two hour awake sessions trying to get him to nurse, giving up, giving him a bottle and then getting him to sleep before filling up the next bottle, trying to fall asleep myself and then in a few moments waking up to do it all over again.

But now, here comes Evie. It is a chance to try again. And you can bet that I plan on trying again. If it works, awesome... if it doesn't work, well, that is that. I am not going to wear myself to a thread trying to nurse her. I am going to give it an honest go and that needs to be enough.

And as far as hospitals and formula... well, I wasn't offered ANY formula at Providence Portland. No samples, no nurses suggesting it, nothing. But I bet if I asked for it I wouldn't have been treated like a drug addict seeking a shot of Demerol. In truth, if you want to formula feed from day 1, then bring formula when you go to the hospital to have your baby. If you go to a hospital and people are pushing it on you, either accept it with good graces and say thank you and tuck it into your bag to be given away to someone else, or just ask them to stop and say that you have made your choice and would like for them to respect it.

No one should be belittled or scolded for their choices in how to feed their baby. Even the La Leche League has their first rule as something like "The baby needs to be fed".

Either way, I wish the dirty looks and Mommy Wars would just stop. You are looked down upon if you whip out a bottle when your baby cries, people look at you weird when you whip out a boob when your baby cries, no matter how discreet you are. Babies need to eat, and people need to stop giving moms shit about how they feed their babies.

Monday, July 30, 2012

For the love of Blankie

Liam is getting more and more attached to his Blankie. He still just calls it "Blankie" though he did call it "Bew" for a week or so. It is a beautiful one made for him by his Grandma Julie and we are also lucky enough to have this cute little star shaped wash cloth made in the same yarn which is his "mini Blankie" now, so we have that one to take out in the world when he refuses to leave the house without his Blankie. The only down side to all this is that the dentist needs for him to stop sucking his thumb within the next 6 months, and part of Blankie is that he snuggles it and sucks his thumb. I guess I will just see where this all goes and take it from there. I love seeing him all snuggled up with his Blankie, and it is nice to know that we have something to help him be comfy anywhere we go. I pray the day never comes when Blankie starts to come apart!


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A quick update

Evie is almost here! Just a little under 8 weeks and she will be keeping me up at night with cries instead of kicks. All in all the whole thing has progressed with minimal problems once we got past that first few scary as hell months.

Liam is still not sure what all is happening. He sees the baby swings and the baby chairs and is learning that they are not for him because he is too heavy now! He is such a big boy and these things are for little tiny babies.

He is growing up so much lately. He talks a lot more, has so many words that he says and puts them together in really interesting ways. He adds about a word a day, sometimes more, and his comprehension of concepts is stunning and rather startling at times.

We have all been busy this summer with trips and visits and fun things to do around town. We go to the farmers market a lot and we found some new parks that are pretty fun. I have been spending time with the ladies in my moms group and enjoying their company more than I thought I would.

Right now we are cleaning up the house for Dan's mom Julie to come visit and also for my mama, she will be here the same weekend. It is always nice having people come visit because it is a reason to finally DO that deep cleaning that needs to happen from time to time. You know, the kind of cleaning where you sit on the floor and scrub the edge of the bathtub with an old toothbrush to get out all the "eeew" that has gathered there since you last scrubbed it. The kind of cleaning that just can't happen all the time.

Nym, our mini Aussie, turned one this summer, on June 14th. She is a good dog and already starting to mellow out into her adult personality. She is dedicated to her baby, Liam, and loves him. Every morning she comes in his room to help me get him up and greets him with kisses. She puts up with a lot of torment from him as he learns how to be nice to his puppy.

Liam is also learning about how to behave with people as well and that some things are ok and some things are not OK. We have started doing time outs for some offenses, and his reaction to those vary from indifferent to a situation fit for screaming about.

But all in all we are doing well and helping Liam learn to grow up into a kind little boy who hopefully will someday soon stop trying to drag his cat around by the tail.


Things Only Parents Get to Say - #2

"Oh, is the giraffe eating my feet? I don't mind if he eats my feet, but please don't shove his head between my toes!"

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Things Only Parents Get to Say - #1

"That's a fork, not a doggy brush. Where did you even find a fork?"
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