I'm now breastfeeding my 3rd baby. (3?!?!?) When it's all said and done I will have spent more than 3 years of my life nourishing my babies with my breast. I've definitely learned a LOT since my first baby almost 8 years ago. I thought I would share some tips that helped make my breastfeeding journey a success.
1.) Decide & Commit
I LOVE to breastfeed my babies! It has been one of my favorite parts of being a mother. With that being said, it can be difficult the first few weeks. When the adrenaline has worn off, the sleep deprivation has set in, your body is sore and your breast are engorged, and your hormones are trying to level out, it's just too easy to give up. Breastfeeding is not something you can go in to saying, "I'll give it a try and see how it goes." You have to be 100% committed to it. When that feeling of "something's gotta give" shows up, you have to be willing to give something else up. I promise if you commit and stick with it you will not regret it.
2.) Prepare
After you've committed to breastfeeding and BEFORE your baby gets here, prepare yourself as much as you can. Read all the books,articles, blogs and Pinterest pins you can get your hands on. Breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world, but it usually doesn't come without a few problems and a lot of learning for the both of you. Knowing what to expect and knowing that what you're going through is completely normal makes everything so much easier.
The best thing I did for myself before my first baby was taking a breastfeeding class at one of the local hospitals. It was a one day "hands on" class taught by a nurse/lactation consultant. It was so informative and it gave me everything I needed to commit. I would strongly encourage any mom-to-be to take one!!
3.) Support
Most likely at some point during the early days of breastfeeding you're going to find yourself up in the middle of the night crying while holding your screaming newborn. You've tried everything you know to do and even though you've committed and prepared yourself, you're at a loss about what to do and your convinced your failing at being a mother and your baby is surely going to starve. That sounds dramatic, but thanks to your postpartum hormones that will be a very legit concern. Having a support system is crucial to your success!
When I had Ezra 2 months ago he had a slight latch problem a couple of days after he was born. I had given birth to him just 4 days earlier with no pain medication and didn't shed a single tear, yet I found myself nursing him and bawling because the poor latch he had made it so painful to feed him. Without the support of my husband I would have for sure given up.
I know not every woman has a partner or even any family to support them, but there are so many other people and resources that can be utilized! Midwives, nurses, lactation consultants, your local LaLeche League, and even Facebook breastfeeding groups are all there to help and answer any question you have. Don't be afraid to ask questions! Believe me, they've heard it all!
4.) Days 3 & 4.
If you think of breastfeeding, in terms of challenges, as a roller coaster, days 3 and 4 are the very highest and most difficult days. That is when most women throw in the towel. You're tired, your nipples are sore, your breast are engorged and you've got milk pouring from you like a waterfall. If you can push through and make it past those days it will be down hill from there!
5.) Get Ready and Get Comfy.
For the first few weeks of your baby's life you will spend a lot of time breastfeeding. I mean a LOT! If you're going to be spending so much time doing something you may as well be comfortable. When your baby shows signs of waking up to eat get yourself ready. Go to the bathroom, get something to drink, and sit down in a comfortable chair with your baby and nursing pillow. Also make sure you have the remote, your phone and whatever entertainment you desire. Most newborns can take their sweet time when it comes to dinner time.
If you have older children then it's also important to get them ready before you sit down to nurse. Ask them if they need to use the bathroom, get them something to drink and/or snack on and find them something to do that will keep them occupied. This is important because without fail they will wait until you've sat down and gotten really comfy before they will ask you to get them something to drink or suddenly be unable to hold their bladder another second.
6.) Enjoy!
Even though the first few weeks can be hard, soak it up. It is such a special time in your life and no matter how many people tell you, you wont believe how quickly it goes by. Take time to watch your baby nurse and memorize all of their sweet features. Talk to them, sing to them and let yourself love what you're doing for them. During those first days use your baby's meal time as an opportunity to steal your baby back from all of the visiting admirers and sneak away and love the precious time that you have them all to yourself. Sometimes it can feel like a chore and sometimes you'll feel like you've had a baby attached to you every second of the day, but remember to take the time to enjoy it. It will be something you cherish the rest of your life.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Ezra's 2 Month Update
Our sweet boy is 2 months old already! He is growing like crazy! He weighs over 15 pounds and is 24 3/4 inches. He is >97% in both his height and weight!
This month has brought lots of sweet smiles and lots of "talking". If you're a parent you know how exciting this milestone is! Waking up to his smiles makes being up all night totally worth it :)
Speaking of sleep, he has gotten a little better. He has one good stretch from about 10:00 to 2 or 3:00 and then he's up every 2-3 hours. He does like to sleep in though. He's not ready to be up for the day until around 11:00 and takes really good naps. He also puts himself to sleep, which is really nice. So other than his frequent waking at night, he is a great sleeper!
Breastfeeding is still going great. He has become very efficient and can finish in about 10 minutes. I've also been able to pump quite a bit and I've now got a good amount of milk saved up in the freezer.
He is such a sweet baby and really easygoing which is a huge help to me! His two energetic sisters keep things going and he's always happy to just go along with what ever is happening.
His first fireworks show! He LOVED it!!
Ezra with his very loving sisters <3
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Six weeks postpartum update.
It's already be 6 weeks since I gave birth to my sweet baby boy! I'm going to be giving monthly updates on him, but I thought I would do a update on myself as far as how I'm feeling and my reflections on my birth experience now that I've had some time to think about it out of the moment.
As far as how I'm feeling, I feel great! Obviously, I'm pretty tired, but within 2 or 3 days of giving birth I felt completely back to my old self. It was amazing! With both girls it was 2 weeks before the soreness went away so I was definitely shocked to be feeling to so good so soon.
I've lost almost all of the weight I gained. I have about 4 pounds left to loose. I only gained 30 pounds so thanks to having a huge baby and breastfeeding the weight came off in about 3 weeks. However, I'm not even close to looking how I did when I got pregnant. It's amazing how the same weight can look completely different. For a couple of different reasons I wasn't able to workout like I wanted and I definitely let myself indulge with sweets! I still ate healthy foods, but certainly didn't deny myself dessert! And needless to say, it shows. I'm frustrated that I worked so hard to get where I was and just let it go. I realize I carried a baby and it's only been 6 weeks, but I could have done much better! I am proud of what my body accomplished. Now I'm working hard to get back to where I was.
Looking back to my birth experience my opinions haven't changed. I would still do it all again exactly the same way! I would recommend a water birth to anyone who will listen! I truly believe that because of the water and not pushing in a lying position is the reason I had no tearing and the reason I had zero soreness after 2 days. The soreness I did have was more in my back a legs because of the odd position I held myself in. I'm also so pleased with my decision to use a midwife. I just loved them and the care they provided me with!
It was the most perfect birth I could have wished for. While I was pregnant I thought for sure Ezra would be our last baby. But after his birth it makes me sad I'll never get to do that again. So, for now I'm choosing to believe that another one isn't out of the question ;) I'll get back with you in a few years on that!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Sweet Karoline is 3!
Last Monday was our Karoline's 3rd birthday! I cannot believe that 3 years has already flown by!
I like to make a big deal about birthdays in our house. Not a big party or expensive gifts, but I just put a lot of effort into making them feel celebrated and special. Their birthday is special to me because it's celebrating the day I fell in love them. It's the day they came into my life and I really try to let them know how special they are to me. I always make sure they wake up to some simple decorations like streamers and balloons and make them a special birthday breakfast. We make the day all about them and let them decide what we do or eat. Karoline still doesn't quite understand, but we still celebrated her big day!
I had a dentist appointment that morning so she got to spend the morning with Nana Donna. She even brought her a birthday muffin and sang her happy
birthday.
The rest of the day was a pretty low key regular Monday. She did get to open one gift from us. She is obsessed with horses so of course we added another horse to our enormous collection. She has played with it nonstop since so it was worth it :)
On Saturday we had her birthday party. It was just a small family party and of course it was horse themed! She had a blast and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. She was SO excited about her horse cake! She talked about it for weeks and could not wait to eat it!
I kept the decorations simple since a lot of my time is devoted to baby boy, but I think everything turned out cute. Karoline said it was perfect so that's all that matters :) My favorite decoration was definitely her birthday banner.
We are so blessed to have her in our life! She is our sassy wild child with a huge heart. She's so smart and funny. Seriously, she's hilarious! She loves her big sister and copies her every move. And she is obsessed with her baby brother and has settled right into being a great big sister!
Here are few things about our Sweet Karoline:
- She's super smart! (I know all parents say this:) She knows all her colors and shapes. She can count to 10 and can almost get to 20. She know most of her letters, but doesn't quite get them in order :)
- At this time she will ONLY wear dresses or skirts. I'm sure it's just a phase...I hope.
- She has a great vocabulary! But there are a few words she mispronounces and it really funny. I don't correct her because I think it's cute and she'll figure it out on her own.
Polka dots= coconuts
Unicorn= hornicornChocolate milk= chocolate milk and milk
Cinderella= Sunbrella
Before Ezra was born she called him Bezbra :)
- She's a good eater and will try mostly anything. She does have a sweet tooth though and loves ice cream!
- Over the past year she has grown really attached to a purple blanket. She loves it and always sleeps with it.
- She loves books! She loves being read to, going to the library and atory time every Wednesday!
- She's a great sleeper. She sleeps 12 hours at night and still takes a good nap most days.
- She is the complete opposite of her big sister, but they (mostly) get along great.
- She doesn't go to school or day care, but she does really well with other kids! She loves going to story time and church to play with her friends.
She's such a sweet blessing. I love watching her grow and learn and I can't wait to see what the next year holds!
Friday, May 30, 2014
One Month Update of Ezra Jett
I'm a few days late, but a month has already passed since we were blessed with our sweet boy!
All dressed up for church :)
Napping <3
Ezra is doing great! He is growing like crazy. At his 2 week check up he weighed 10 pounds 9.5 ounces. That's a 2 pound gain in 2 weeks! We haven't weighed him since, but I don't doubt he's keeping up the trend. He also grew 1/4 of a inch. He grew out of the few newborn outfits he had in about 6 days and is now busting at the seams of his 0-3 month clothes.
As you can tell by his growth, he loves to eat! Breastfeeding is going fantastic! He did have some latching issues the first few days, but we were able to correct it pretty quickly.
His sleep is about as good as you can expect from a newborn. He sleeps a lot, but not for long stretches. He wakes up every 2-3 hours for the first half of the night. For some reason from 3-6am he wakes up every hour. Which, of course, makes for a VERY sleepy mommy! Luckily, right now he and Karoline are napping at the same time so I can usually sneak one in myself.
My girls have done great with the addition of their baby brother. They both adore him and can't get enough of him. I was a bit worried about how Karoline would do, but it hasn't phased her one bit :)
This month has flown by, but I honestly can't remember life without him. It seems like he's always been with us. He is such a joy and blessing. I'm so excited to watch him grow and learn. I know how quickly it will go so I'm trying to cherish every second!
Of course, here are a few pics of our beautiful boy <3
Chubby cheeks!
He has lost most of his hair on the top of his head :(
Monday, May 5, 2014
The Birth Story of Ezra Jett
This is the birth story of our beautiful baby boy. It is somewhat detailed, so if birth related details gross you out then I suggest skipping this post:)
It's taken me several days to get this done. My sweet newborn eats every two hours so all of it has been typed on my phone. Please excuse any typos or errors :)
I realize this type of birth isn't for everyone. Every birth is beautiful. I in no way think my way is better than anyone else's. :)
It all started in the early morning hours of April 27, 2014. I had a strong feeling that it was the big day. Besides being 1 day shy of 41 weeks, I had been having some mild cramping all night. I woke up with what I knew, without a doubt, was a real contraction at 5:30 am. Another one followed 9 minutes later. I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and tried to make myself look presentable. During this time I had a couple more contractions all around 8-10 minutes apart. I woke Chance up at exactly 6 am. He got up, took a shower and started on the short list of things I had for him to do around the house. I called my midwife at 6:20 am to give her a heads up about what was going on. I told her that today was the day and that I would call her when my contractions were closer together so she could start our way. Over the next 20 minutes things started to speed up.... a lot. By 6:40 I called my midwife back and told her to leave now. My contractions that were 8 minutes apart just 20 minutes earlier, were now around 3 minutes apart. She said she was leaving right away and it would be anout an hour.
Now, I have to mention that for the past 8 weeks I had been practicing Hypnobabies as the way in which I was going to manage my labor. I was fully committed to it, practiced it daily and was very confident that it was going to work. My intentions were to get a few things done around the house during early labor and then when I started active labor I would start using my hypnosis. This plan was great except that I all but skipped active labor. By the time I realized how quickly things were progressing, I couldn't get myself into my hypnosis. Even though I didn't use the hypno anesthesia, I was able to use tools such as positive thinking and deep, controlled breathing. Both were very beneficial and made the course worth it.
While waiting on my midwife to arrive I was trying everything I could to get comfortable. It wasn't pain that was so uncomfortable, it was the crazy amount of pressure!! I tried every position I could think of. Nothing helped relieve the pressure. The only thing that took the edge off was walking. So I walked in a circle around our living room for a while. By this time I had stopped timing contractions because I was becoming worried about how quickly things were happening and I was so nervous my midwife wasn't going to make it.
Around 7:00 I decided I would try out the shower to see if that would help me relax a bit. I stayed in through 1 contraction, but I couldn't handle being confined and unable to walk around. When I got out Chance suggested I try the bathtub. I tried it out and it was amazing!! It was instant relief! The weightless feeling of the water helped so much with the pressure and the warmth of the water greatly reduced the pain.
At this time my contractions were still every 3 minutes. In between them I felt fine and I was able to talk and converse a little. Around 7:40 I started feeling a bit "pushy". I had Chance call the midwife to see how far away she was. She was only 15 minutes away so I felt much better about her making it in time. That was until 10 minutes later when my body started pushing...on it's own!! There was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. The contractions were right on top of each other. Not only was my body pushing on it's own, but I started making a very deep 'oh' sound. I'm a really quiet person and never thought I would be one to make any noise during labor, but it just happened. I couldn't control it and it seemed to help my body with the pushing. I'm pretty sure this noise made Chance very nervous, but I promised it sounded like I was a lot more pain than I was actually in. Again it was more of the insane pressure than pain.
Luckily, my midwife arrived right at 8:00 just as I was entering the transition phase. Since I had planned a natural, unmedicated birth I had done lots of research on what to expect. I can say everything I read about translation was completely true for me. It was the quickest part. It was the hardest part. I was shaking because of the hormones and I even "shushed" Chance and the midwife. They were whispering and being very respectable, I just needed every ounce of concentration without any distractions. And it was when I had the only contraction I thought I couldn't make it through. As soon as the thought, "Forget it, I'm going to the hospital and getting an epidural" crossed my mind it was over.
After transistion, my contractions spaced out and shortened and were much less painful. Much like they were in early labor. By this time I was actively pushing during the contractions. Pushing felt SO good! It's hard to explain, but it completely took away any pain during the contractions. My water had not yet broken so it helped to slow things down just a bit. When it did finally break things started moving along quicker.
Two things surprised me during the pushing. One, I had no concept of time. It could have taken 5 minutes or 5 hours I would've had no idea either way. I was just focused on getting him here that I'm honestly not sure how long I actively pushed. Second, I was surprised at how sleepy I was between contraction. I have no doubt that if I had been in bed I would have been sleeping between them. I have never felt that tired in my life. That feeling ended as soon as he was born :)
Sometime after 9:00 he started to crown. That was definitely the hardest part of pushing. It burned quite badly and I had to give myself a mental pep talk to push through it. It only took 2 or 3 pushes and his head was out. It was crazy/amazing to see him there, under the water, but still getting all of his oxygen from me. The next contraction his shoulders were born and my midwife told me to reach down and get him. At 9:18 am, 3 hours and 50 minutes after my first contraction, Ezra Jett was born. It. Was. Amazing!!! Reaching down and pulling him out all on my own was my reward for carrying him those long 9 months. I put him on my chest and we cuddled in the water for the next 5 minutes or so. When his cord stopped pulsing, daddy cut the cord and took him to cuddle on our bed. Shortly after I delivered the placenta and then it was time for me to get out. Within 15 minutes of his birth I was in my own bed nursing my son. I was completely overwhelmed. It was one of my proudest moments. It was physically the biggest challenge I've ever overcome. It was empowering and I've never felt as strong as I did in that moment. I would do it a million times over!
While Ezra nursed we laid in bed staring at him and listening to a thunderstorm blow in. My midwife cleaned up the bathroom (so nice!) and then excused herself to our kitchen while she finished up her paperwork. After he finished nursing, she finished his Apgar and took our temperatures and my blood pressure. She also took his weight and length. He was a healthy 8 pounds and 8 ounces and 22 inches long! He also got his Vitamin K shot. His chest was completely clear and his lungs were working perfectly. He was perfect in every way!! My midwife checked my bleeding one more time and gave us our post partum instructions and then she gathered her things and she was off.
I loved every single thing about my home birth. I loved how comfortable and safe I felt in my home. I loved that I was allowed to birth my baby the way I wanted. I loved that I didn't have anyone taking him or interrupting every 20 minutes. I could not have dreamed of a better experience!!
We spent the next several hours just enjoying him all to ourselves. The girls had just happened to stay with my mom the night before so it was just the 3 of us. After church my mom brought them over. They were instantly in love!! More family followed and we all sat in our living room adoring our newest addition.
The entire day was absolutely perfect!! The only thing I didn't get were the beautiful pictures. Things just went too fast and we didn't give it much thought until after. I'm okay with it though. I will never forget that experience :) Here are a few that we did take.
Chance snapped this one shortly after I got in the tub.
Our perfect family of 5 <3
I couldn't end this post without giving a huge thank you to my sweet husband. I didn't want to be talked to or touched or even bothered at all through my labor so he had to just sit back and watch. I know it was hard for him, but he did it wonderfully. He never left me and did absolutely anything I needed. He stayed calm for me and kept my bath water warm :) I seriously couldn't have picked a better partner.
And of course, here is our perfect bundle if joy :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
40 week bumpdate
We'll, we made it all the way to 40 weeks! As of last week I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced, but other than that he hasn't shown any signs of making his appearance :) I'm trying very hard to be patient and trust that he will be born when he should be. It's just so hard!! This is the 2nd pregnancy I've had that has went past my due date. The days following that day just draaagggg! Hopefully not too much longer until we're finally a family of 5 <3
How many weeks along? 40 weeks
How big is baby? He is around 7.5 pounds and 20 inches. That's just the averages so he could be bigger or smaller.
Total weight gain? About 28
Maternity clothes? Obviously.
Stretch marks? Luckily, no!
Anything make you queasy or sick? Nope!
Labor signs? I have lots of contractions, but nothing that has lead to anything.
Happy or moody? Mostly happy :)
Sleep? Not really.
Exercise? I've been walking like crazy the past week trying to get things moving. It's terribly uncomfortable so I don't move very quickly so I'm not sure it's doing any good ;)
Miss anything? I want to wear normal clothes that fit.
Movement? Yes. He takes up all of the space he has so they aren't as acrobatic as they have been.
Cravings? Milk. All the time.
Anything you're looking forward to? Having this baby...anytime now...please.
Here's a final belly picture with big sis :)
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