I knew I wanted to try to nurse until my babe was at least a year old, and to be honest with you, I would have gone longer if she wanted to. Around 8 months she really started to lose interest in nursing during the day, especially if we were around other people. She was like trying to hold a wild cat down – she’d suck for a minute, jerk off to see who was passing, and then wriggle and squirm until I put her down. We’d repeat these steps a few times in hopes to give her somewhat of a feeding, but after a few weeks of this I decided she was ready to cut back.
So it was an easy transition to start weaning her to only morning and night feedings. I worked my way down from two times to one and one time to no pumping at work in a couple weeks… HALLELUJAH! At this point I started introducing formula since I was practically only pumping to keep my production up and not nearly enough to feed my babe. The mere 2-3 ounces I would accumulate at each pumping was used to mix with the formula until she was used to it.
On a side note, can I say how disgusting I think formula is?! I don’t know what it is, but the smell is just about enough to make me sick. I’m not a fan and SO glad we only had to deal with that stuff for a few months.
She transitioned well and we eventually worked down to only one nursing a day usually around bedtime at around 10 months. By the time she was eleven months old I think I held on to the evening feeding just because I wasn’t ready to let go. I just loved being the one to provide this perfect nutrition for my baby (and deep down I wanted to make it to at least her first birthday). I know, call me silly, but I really was going to miss breastfeeding (pumping aside, of course). So we made it! And almost exactly to the day of her first birthday we quit breastfeeding and went straight to cow’s milk. She loved it and didn’t skip a beat.
Now as I look back on the last twelve months – the 2 a.m. feedings, the skipped lunches just to go nurse my babe, the sore nips, the countless hours of pumping, the engorged breast holding out to feed my babe rather than pumping, the milk pads, the leaking, the lack of sleep, the cleaning of pumping equipment after each pumping session… the hours and hours of alone time cuddled up with my babe while she nursed in my arms knowing that I was providing her with the best and healthiest source of nutrients possible. Yep, I’d say it was all worth it!
So before I started writing this post I had a different intent and context in mind. It’s funny how your mind does that. I guess this topic has just been on my heart lately. Hmmm, do you sense someone is possibly thinking about baby #2?! ;) The real topic of discussion, you ask. I’ll save it for my next post! Have a fabulous Thursday my friends!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Some more on the joys of being a new mommy who works… Sore nipples anyone?!
I always knew I wanted to breastfeed my babies. In my opinion, it is the healthiest option for baby (and mom). It amazes me that our bodies produce exactly the right milk for each individual baby. If your baby is premature, the milk your body produces is full of what is essential for your preemie baby. If your baby needs a little extra of something, your body will produce that specific concoction of milk. Truly amazing if you think about it, but of course it is because God designed our bodies that way! So there was no question in my mind if I would breastfeed or formula feed my babe once she was born. And it was just as perfect and amazing as I had hoped for… err, at least after we jumped the 6 week hurdle of unexplainable pain!
Can you say ouch!? I never knew my nipples would hurt the way they did. That every time my little one latched on I would curl my toes and every other part of my body as I felt like the skin was being sucked right off! The books all say if the latch is correct there should be no pain… um, I had multiple nurses look at the latch and everything looked just fine, my little one was getting sufficient amounts of milk and no matter what hold we tried the pain was still there. So my advice, don’t listen to the books and stick it out… it will get better! I have talked to every new nursing mom I know and haven’t heard a single one say it did not hurt like the dickens for the first few weeks! Just think about this, you take these soft perfect nipples and attach a sucker fish (times a thousand) multiple times a day and I think no matter how perfect the latch is the nipples are going to get sore (understatement) and cracked! But with that being said this only lasted for about six weeks, at the longest, and then it was perfect! I don’t mean to scare any soon-to-be mommies, but I want the truth to be told. It will hurt, but it’s worth every ounce of pain! And don't forget how quickly you'll loose that baby weight from nursing... At my two week check up I had lost 29 of the 37 lbs. I had gained during pregnancy! Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP?!
I think it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t pumping on top of nursing. I had to build up my frozen milk supply for when I went back to work. So I was nursing non-stop and pumping non-stop, which was a lot for my newly sucked nipples to get used to. Speaking of pumping, I want to be the first to say (well probably not the first, but you get the point!) I really did NOT enjoy pumping and got downright sick of! I stuck it out for 9 LONG months and have it say it was the only downfall to breastfeeding while working. As I said, I loved and I mean LOVED breastfeeding! I just really hated pumping. It’s no fun to sit there for 15-20 minutes hooked up to a machine like a cow multiple times a day. It really started to get frustrating when I had to pump at work… talk about uninspiring! After spending every single break pumping and only getting, on a good day, 5 ounces knowing your little one will sip that up in no time when you could have been cuddling with her instead of holding two plastic receptacles is just heartbreaking!
Maybe if I was in a more comfortable setting, like on a couch in a nice peaceful and quiet room with soft waterfall sound playing in the background (instead of in a hard upright chair, in my boss’s messy office, where I could hear people walking up and down the hall chatting about their next Statistics class) would have helped! So when I have my next babe, I hope the experience of pumping won’t be too bad. Hopefully I can load my freezer up on milk before I head back to work so I don’t have to pump during every spare minute I get at work. And hopefully now that I have my own, nicely organized and decorated, office where I can play whatever kind of music or noises I would like I will feel a bit more at ease when it comes to pumping at work. Did you choose to pump at work? How did it go and were you successful at it? Will you do it again if the opportunity arises?
Can you say ouch!? I never knew my nipples would hurt the way they did. That every time my little one latched on I would curl my toes and every other part of my body as I felt like the skin was being sucked right off! The books all say if the latch is correct there should be no pain… um, I had multiple nurses look at the latch and everything looked just fine, my little one was getting sufficient amounts of milk and no matter what hold we tried the pain was still there. So my advice, don’t listen to the books and stick it out… it will get better! I have talked to every new nursing mom I know and haven’t heard a single one say it did not hurt like the dickens for the first few weeks! Just think about this, you take these soft perfect nipples and attach a sucker fish (times a thousand) multiple times a day and I think no matter how perfect the latch is the nipples are going to get sore (understatement) and cracked! But with that being said this only lasted for about six weeks, at the longest, and then it was perfect! I don’t mean to scare any soon-to-be mommies, but I want the truth to be told. It will hurt, but it’s worth every ounce of pain! And don't forget how quickly you'll loose that baby weight from nursing... At my two week check up I had lost 29 of the 37 lbs. I had gained during pregnancy! Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP?!
I think it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t pumping on top of nursing. I had to build up my frozen milk supply for when I went back to work. So I was nursing non-stop and pumping non-stop, which was a lot for my newly sucked nipples to get used to. Speaking of pumping, I want to be the first to say (well probably not the first, but you get the point!) I really did NOT enjoy pumping and got downright sick of! I stuck it out for 9 LONG months and have it say it was the only downfall to breastfeeding while working. As I said, I loved and I mean LOVED breastfeeding! I just really hated pumping. It’s no fun to sit there for 15-20 minutes hooked up to a machine like a cow multiple times a day. It really started to get frustrating when I had to pump at work… talk about uninspiring! After spending every single break pumping and only getting, on a good day, 5 ounces knowing your little one will sip that up in no time when you could have been cuddling with her instead of holding two plastic receptacles is just heartbreaking!
Maybe if I was in a more comfortable setting, like on a couch in a nice peaceful and quiet room with soft waterfall sound playing in the background (instead of in a hard upright chair, in my boss’s messy office, where I could hear people walking up and down the hall chatting about their next Statistics class) would have helped! So when I have my next babe, I hope the experience of pumping won’t be too bad. Hopefully I can load my freezer up on milk before I head back to work so I don’t have to pump during every spare minute I get at work. And hopefully now that I have my own, nicely organized and decorated, office where I can play whatever kind of music or noises I would like I will feel a bit more at ease when it comes to pumping at work. Did you choose to pump at work? How did it go and were you successful at it? Will you do it again if the opportunity arises?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Transition.
Reminiscing back to a year ago, I thought this would be the perfect post to start off my series of working mommy posts.
Only two months into mommyhood and my little pumpkin and I headed back to work. I started with just mornings first. We quickly settled into a routine which consisted of us arriving around 8:00 and little missy sound asleep in her car seat for the first hour or two. Then I would nurse her in my boss’s office…
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Please let me clarify with explaining the set up before you start judging me, ahem! At the time I worked in a the Department of Statistics at this university. I was the office manager and first point of contact when students, faculty, staff, and visitors came to the department. So my office was, well, the main office, which equals NO PRIVACY! Off to the right was a door that leads you into the Chair of the Department’s office (my boss’s office). Fortunately he had another office two floors down where he spent most of his time with students and preparing for classes he taught. He would only come up for about an hour a day to check in on the department and sign miscellaneous items. When we discussed the situation of me coming back to work he offered up his office for me to use for whatever, as he put it, “baby reason” I might need it for (aka: diaper changes, nursing, pumping, etc.). It had a locking door and I would always put a note on it saying I was in there just in case he came up and forgot. I think I’d die if I heard keys jingling in the door while I was hooked up to my double breast pump with both boobs getting the life sucked out of them, but that never happened so no worries! =)
Back to the story… So I came back to work just 8 weeks after having my little one. I thought I would take more time off, but the situation couldn’t have been any better. I was only working mornings and my boss was okay with me bringing my baby with me and he offered up his office for my “baby use”. My babe was a trooper. She slept most of the morning. I would sort through my work, nurse her, change her, put her in the front pack, do some more work, walk down the hall to visit faculty members when she was fussy, let her play in her bouncy chair, she’d sleep some more and then it was time to leave. The perfect situation, right? Well, the perfect situation would be: me at home with her full time, but that’s beside the point. We did this for about a month and then she began daycare (we like to call it school) three days a week. I took Tuesdays off and my mom watched her on Thursdays. It made the transition back into work much easier, but I must say it was weeks before I was able to drop her off at “school” without crying the entire way to work. Yes, I was a hot mess most days!
If I had to go back to work this was the best case scenario for me. I was able to slowly introduce myself and my baby to the idea of being away from one another. The childcare center she was at and still currently goes to is wonderful! That also helped with the transition. I am now working full time at a new job that I love which fell into my lap! It really was meant to be that I go back to work, but more on that later.
So tell me, what was your experience like going back to work? Did you have major MOMMY GUILT like I did? Do share! =)
Only two months into mommyhood and my little pumpkin and I headed back to work. I started with just mornings first. We quickly settled into a routine which consisted of us arriving around 8:00 and little missy sound asleep in her car seat for the first hour or two. Then I would nurse her in my boss’s office…
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Please let me clarify with explaining the set up before you start judging me, ahem! At the time I worked in a the Department of Statistics at this university. I was the office manager and first point of contact when students, faculty, staff, and visitors came to the department. So my office was, well, the main office, which equals NO PRIVACY! Off to the right was a door that leads you into the Chair of the Department’s office (my boss’s office). Fortunately he had another office two floors down where he spent most of his time with students and preparing for classes he taught. He would only come up for about an hour a day to check in on the department and sign miscellaneous items. When we discussed the situation of me coming back to work he offered up his office for me to use for whatever, as he put it, “baby reason” I might need it for (aka: diaper changes, nursing, pumping, etc.). It had a locking door and I would always put a note on it saying I was in there just in case he came up and forgot. I think I’d die if I heard keys jingling in the door while I was hooked up to my double breast pump with both boobs getting the life sucked out of them, but that never happened so no worries! =)
Back to the story… So I came back to work just 8 weeks after having my little one. I thought I would take more time off, but the situation couldn’t have been any better. I was only working mornings and my boss was okay with me bringing my baby with me and he offered up his office for my “baby use”. My babe was a trooper. She slept most of the morning. I would sort through my work, nurse her, change her, put her in the front pack, do some more work, walk down the hall to visit faculty members when she was fussy, let her play in her bouncy chair, she’d sleep some more and then it was time to leave. The perfect situation, right? Well, the perfect situation would be: me at home with her full time, but that’s beside the point. We did this for about a month and then she began daycare (we like to call it school) three days a week. I took Tuesdays off and my mom watched her on Thursdays. It made the transition back into work much easier, but I must say it was weeks before I was able to drop her off at “school” without crying the entire way to work. Yes, I was a hot mess most days!
If I had to go back to work this was the best case scenario for me. I was able to slowly introduce myself and my baby to the idea of being away from one another. The childcare center she was at and still currently goes to is wonderful! That also helped with the transition. I am now working full time at a new job that I love which fell into my lap! It really was meant to be that I go back to work, but more on that later.
So tell me, what was your experience like going back to work? Did you have major MOMMY GUILT like I did? Do share! =)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Twinkie Please?
Today I almost ate a Twinkie... almost.
I already ate a jelly filled donut this morning mind you and know I'm going to kick myself for that tonight and maybe should skip dinner now and run a hundred miles (if I could run hundred miles that is), but I digress. So, there have been these Twinkies in the break room for two days now. Yesterday I resisted. I was strong. Having a conversation in my head something like this, "Hm, Twinkies. Wonder who brought those in? I haven't had a Twinkie in years... honestly, I can't remember the last time. Maybe I should try one. Just to see if they are half as good as I remember or don't remember them to be. *Slight pause* Nah, they're full of like a thousand calories... yeah I'm sure at least a thousand. I surely don't need that!" and I walked away.
But then there they were again this morning. Just sitting pawns on the break room table. Only three left. I decided to grab a donut instead (oh, because that has to be much healthier than a Twinkie, ya know. Plus I missed breakfast so it was totally justifiable, ahem.). GAH! I walked passed that break room multiple times today and there they were staring me down, but now sits only two. WALK AWAY! And that I did.
Finally around 3:30 I had to go down the hall to drop off some paperwork and for some reason convinced myself that this was my last chance... my last chance in probably another five years before I have the opportunity to try a Twinkie. I had made up my mind. There was no going back. Today would be the day I try a Twinkie and determine if it was indeed (or maybe not at all) worth it. And what do you know -- they were gone, GONE! It must have been a sign from God. I really didn't need a piddley Twinkie. Besides, it was probably gross anyways! Here's to self resistance (or lack thereof). I think today will mark the day that I start making a more conscience effort to watch what I eat.
Oh yeah, while I write this I'm nibbling away at a Ghirardelli dark chocolate square filled with raspberry filling, but whose keeping track, right? :)
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