Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Breastfeeding. The second time around. With a Toddler.

I've actually had a couple people ask me to write a post on how to wrangle the toddler while breastfeeding a baby, and somehow {although it did start out in draft}, I never got the words out further than one sentence. That sentence being, breastfeeding with a toddler. Let me clarify here, breastfeeding a newborn with a toddler running around. I was first asked this question when Graham was just a teeny tiny baby, and then again a couple of days ago on instagram when I posted a picture at the pool with the little ones. For four hours. Which of course, naturally, included 2 nursing sessions. Should I also talk about breastfeeding in public during this post? Yes? Why not. And maybe about how I almost had a scare with my supply? Yes? Okay then.

I might as well just lay it all out there. Since I know not everyone wants to read about my boobs and milk coming out of them. So if I'm going to talk about it, then get it over with and do it all in one place.

What should I cover first? Or should I just go with the flow and talk about my breastfeeding journey...

Lets see where this takes me.

When I became pregnant with Graham, I knew there were many things that I was going to do that were similar with what I did with Elliana. Sleeping arrangements, breastfeeding {atleast up to a year, like I did with E}, baby food making, teaching, and so forth. And although there are many things that I have also done differently {a post for the future}, one thing has been pretty much the same... my breastfeeding journey.

So much so, that it brought back so many memories of my first time around. In much detail.

Fast forward to Graham being born. He latched on. Right away. And nursed during the hospital stay no problem. My milk came in on day 2, and I was one happy mama. He gained weight perfectly, and by week 2 he had way surpassed his birth weight. I believe by a pound or so.

It hurt for about a week and a half, and I remember around day 9 things just all of a sudden felt normal. Just like they did with Elliana.

Another thing that was just with E? The right side always produced more than the left. Double the amount. And still does to this day.

Supply wise? I always over-produced. In the beginning, both my babies would choke every time they would feed and could never empty out. In fact they would only eat on one side during a feeding. And another interesting part about my breastfeeding journey, is that it would only take 5-10 minutes to feed. Pumping only takes about 5 minutes.
As far as pumping goes, during maternity leave I would pump every morning and sometimes at night. I could pump more, but my stash was already getting too big that the 3 month rule would leave me with old milk. At work, I try to pump at least 2 times, sometimes 3 if we are slower than normal.

Numbers wise, I could pump about 5-6 ounces every 2-3 hours.

Now. About those scares that I memtioned earlier. It has happened during both breastfeeding journeys and both times I panicked. Both times I had to leave the state. Both times for two days. E was 7 months at the time. G was 5. Both wedding related {eh, one wedding, one bachelorette party}. I pumped every 3 hours, and did not notice a drop until the very end. It's like my breasts just knew that I was trying to trick my demand. So it dropped. And I came home and could only pump 2-3 ounces every 4 hours or so. But, after a couple of days, and lots of time with the babies on the breast, they build my supply right up! Now, I'm back to where I was before.

Breastfeeding In Public?

Much different than the fist. Because well, I've actually done it a few times. At a live show. At a restaurant. At the pool. Zoo. Children's museum. Wherever I need to, I do. Covered, of course, but my head held up high. Not worrying one bit about what other people are thinking. Funny, because the first time around? I would only feed in the car.

Okay, lastly, the reason I even started writing this post: Breastfeeding with a toddler running around. Obviously I never dealt with this the first time around, as E was just my only one, however I have to admit and say it was not something I thought too much about while pregnant with G. During the coming weeks of Graham's arrival, we had focused a lot with E on listening. A lot of talking about the baby and feedings and diaper changes. Listening charts. Listening treats. And so forth. And when Graham arrived, we continued with this journey while on maternity leave.

What did I do?

Well for one, I always tried to make sure that before I started feeding, E had a new activity to start to work on and another one nearby that I could divert her attention to if she were to get bored with the first. That way she was always exposed to what I was doing and understood {to the best of a 2 year old's ability} the importance of what mama was doing and her staying close by. Honestly, she really never has a desire to leave her playroom anyway unless she were to go to the bathroom or kitchen briefly.

Two, I would simply try to talk to E during the feeds. Talking about the day. Talking about the blocks she was building. Singing songs. And any other way I could engage with her during the process. It helped to kill off time and make this seem as "normal" to her as possible.

Lastly, she has never been one to really get into stuff. Anymore at least.  She doesn't go through the cabinets, drawers, climb on tables, refrigerators, or anything else that would get me to jump out of the chair with a baby attached and go running.

However, I have plenty of times done just that. Minus the running. When a toddler needs something... sometimes... just sometimes... they NEED it. Not to mention, we did the whole potty training gig while G was a newborn. So I would be nursing and trying to get undies off all at the same time.

I guess my only advice to any new mom with a toddler running around is to just engage, interact, and keep them busy! They truly "get it" more than we give them credit for.

Monday, June 17, 2013

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: Who I am


I thought about writing about all the different roles that I play. Not play, since it's actually real life. But all the roles that define me. And then as I started writing them out... "I'm a nurse...I'm a mom...A wife..A friend... daughter... writer.." I realized that I did not want to focus on what those titles mean to me, but rather the person I am in those specific roles. Because you see, when I think about who I am, I don't necessarily think, mother, daughter, wife, woman. I think about one word that would best describe me and.. well... who I am.

A caregiver. I've always felt this desire to take care of others. From a young age, I learned to be older than I was. To be more mature. To have bigger responsibilities. I think I had a lot put in front of me from early on, that I had no choice but to.. well.. grow up. And from a young age I knew two things; I wanted to A. Take care of people and B. Have a family to take care of.

I think I have accomplished both A and B. Being a nurse and a mother. But also, much more than just that.

So... who am I? As a caregiver:

I'm a mom that loves her children with every fiber in her body. A mom who would not know what life would be without these children. A mom that would sacrifice everything in this world to provide the best kind of life for them. One that believes that she was put on this earth for this specific purpoes. To be a mother. I care for them. I nurture them. My goal is to provide a life of safety, and one that is rich of positive, happy memories.

I'm a wife that is learning. A wife that needs to learn to be more patient with her husband. One that pictures herself on the front porch, rocking away with a wrinkly old man. One that would, without a doubt, hide his wheelchair or his cane, but would spend her life showing this man just how much she loves him. I've always wanted to be the wife that takes care of her husband. Food on the table. House clean. Children happy. Being a wife is very important to me. But more importantly, being a wife to Andrew, is what I cherish the most.

I'm a daughter. I'm a daughter who although I can be stubborn, although I may hold grudges, and although I have many moments where I could have been better, I would still do anything to take care of my family including my parents, brother and sister, that I possibly could. It's in my nature to want to help. To want to give. 

I'm a friend who doesn't call enough, text back fast enough, and doesn't make time for her friends enough. The little that I have left. But if you called me and were stranded states away? I'd drive in the middle of the night to come get you. 

I'm a person. A person of human nature. Flawed and room for growth. I have good days, just like I have bad days. I have happy days, just as I've had sad days. More good, and more happy, but there nonetheless. However, I am proud. Proud of who I am and what I have accomplished in my life. Strong. Confident. Beautiful and creative. I am everything I ever wanted to be. And more.

And if there is just one piece of advice I could pass onto my children, that would be for them to always be proud of who they are. Fight to be better. But always be proud. I think the only way for us to truly find the beauty in life, we must first find it within ourselves.
So who are you?
For a list of the weeks topics to come visit here. Next week: 10 things I live for

Sunday, June 16, 2013

To The Man


To the man that swept me off my feet from our very first kiss.
To the man that spent every day of college with me. Every day.
To the man that always surprised me with "the little things."
To the man that asked me to be his wife, became my husband, and then gave me the greatest gift out there. The gift of motherhood
To the man that our children's eyes light up to at the sight of his car pulling into the driveaway.
To the man that I look forward to spending the rest of my life with, growing old with, and watching our own children become parents one day.

To the man, the best father to the children, husband to his wife. Happy Father's Day, and thank you for being YOU.

And just because, here is a giveaway you can win for your special someone... or for yourself!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 14, 2013

This & That

Currently THIS

Elliana has been so funny these past two weeks. You know how toddlers do weird things sometimes, and you go... I wonder why she does that? Well, I've had a lot of those moments lately. Recently, Elliana has decided that she wants to take her little "baskets" everywhere and anytime we have to leave the house she says, "Oh no mama, where my baskets? We need to take my baskets with us." Okay, sure we do. And we do. What are in those baskets? Cars, crayons, little nick-nackey things.

Graham has been super fussy lately when it comes to going to sleep. I think his teeth are really bothering him. The teeth that are bound to make an appearance any day now. So interesting how different babies are. With Elliana? We never knew when she was "teething." In fact, I would even go as far as to say she never was. They just showed up one and she was all... "What's the big deal?" With G, it's a complete different story.

We have spent our days this past week going to the pool {for hours on end}, park, the zoo, library, and strawberry picking. As E gets older, we are just loving how expressive and excited she gets with each activity, so naturally... we keep busy. And I wouldn't change that for the world. Plus, G gets exposed to so much more at this age than E ever did.


I've been really taking in time lately. What does that mean? You know, just really trying to get a grasp on time. I don't know if its the warm weather or the fact that my babies are getting older, but I've really caught myself saying over and over again how fast time is going by and how I can't seem to be ahead of it. I guess you never can truly be ahead {I've talked about this before, recently actually}, but I'm just so very much aware of it now. After all, we are almost into the middle of June.


Read That

10 things to stop saying to kids. I'm kind of neutral on this topic. At first, I wanted to like the article. Actually, scratch that, I do like the article. Why? Because it really made me think deeper about what we say to our children. Now, this is a topic that Andrew and I have had since Elliana was born. Well, even since before I was pregnant. About how what we say and how we act is so important. So, that being said, it's not a new topic of discussion. However, I have a lot to say about this topic and decided to write a post on it. Read the article first though, and I'll share my side later.

Made This

Well, actually, Andrew did. He had been craving homemade strawberry shortcake since we went strawberry picking at a local farm, so Sunday night... he did just that. I have it say, it was the best strawberry shortcake I ever did have. Recipe? Sure, why not! Here-->Strawberry Shortcake Recipe : : Recipes : Food Network

VIDEOTAPED THAT

Elliana has really been into singing lately. In fact, there are multiple videos on my phone, on the daily, with her singing adventures. Is there anything sweeter than a toddler's singing voice? Seriously.

You have to watch this one. It will brighten your day. I guarantee it!

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THIS

Link up Monday for Blogging with a Purpose {Show & Tell}. The topic is Who I am. You can go off that however you'd like. Read more here.

SNAPPED THAT


My precious little man at my sister's graduation. I mean seriously.... I can stare at him forever.

OH AND ON THAT NOTE...

Pretty please take a second to vote for this sweet girl so that she wins! It's as easy as two simple steps!  Go here and like the Ubooly page and the picture of precious Alea! Thank you!