Breastfeeding

Now the point of this post is not to scare anybody only to point out that breastfeeding can be more difficult than some may think.

Oh breastfeeding.

Completely natural, good for baby, good for mom, and not always as easy as "they" say it is.
When I was pregnant I was truly honestly excited about breastfeeding. I thought (because I had never heard other wise) that it would be this beautiful, natural, easything.
That right from the start your baby goes to the breast and knows exactly how to properly latch, that your milk comes in right away with no issues, everything is right in the world and you are both able to just relax and bond when you breastfeed.

And you know for some it is just that easy, but the more women I talk to the more I find that it isn't always so.
Honestly, breastfeeding can be really rough, and drain you both physically and emotionally. You can feel as though all you are doing is breastfeeding that you hardly have time to do anything for yourself-like go to the bathroom.

When your milk does come in (usually an average of 3 days after birth) it can also be very painful. Your breasts can become engorged and feel as hard as rocks. You can get clogged ducts which are super painful and if you do not remove the clog (which can be difficult) it can turn into an infection which is even worse.
Your nipples can feel like somebody took sandpaper to them and that they are about to fall off. They can get blisters, crack, and bleed making you crying in pain.
Your baby can have latch issues making it even more difficult.

But if you have determination to stick with breastfeeding and get over each bump that you (may) encounter you can have a great experience and that beautiful picture that is in your head.

But, it is ok to choose not to continue with breastfeeding, not every mom can make it work and you should not feel like a failure because of it. While it is healthiest physically for both mom and baby, you do have options. One being formula, and the other being donor milk through a "milk share" program like Human Milk 4 Human Babies. It may seem odd to some but there are a LOT of women out there who are willing to just give extra breast milk that they have pumped to moms/babies in need.

Demitri and I have hit bump, after bump, after bump on our so far short breastfeeding road. First, he is tongue tied (meaning the tip of his tongue is heart shaped) and he has a short frenulum (the webbing under the tongue). Because of both those issues he could not latch properly and my nipples became blistered, cracked, and bled.
I had to use a nipple shield to nurse while they healed. My milk supply in my left breast just dropped off and we are still working on getting it back up. Demitri started losing weight because he could not get enough milk to satisfy himself and properly grow. And now that I stopped using the shield he had to pretty much learn how to nurse all over again.
It was frustrating beyond belief and I shed lots of tears... but despite all those issues we have stuck it out and things are so much better now! I am so glad that I didn't give it up. Daniel has been super supportive of my breastfeeding the whole time and always tells me that I am a rock star.Ameda Hydrogel Pads

Finally if you want to have success with breastfeeding you MUST have a good support system. As I said breastfeeding is emotionally (and physically) draining you will have tearful days and nights and having somebody that you can just cry to and get a hug from will be a life saver. See if there is a La Leche League in your area that you can get hooked up with. Don't delay in seeing a lactation consultant if you feel even the slightest need to.
And when I was have a really rough time a online friend told me this, "it's ok to stop breastfeeding but don't do it on a bad day when you are feeling emotional and defeated" that was definitely something that got me through a few rough nights.


Products not to be without!
Bamboobies (nursing pads)
Wireless Nursing Tank Tops (Target)
Lansinoh HPA Lanolin
LilyPadz

Before&After

I just entered this picture into a contest with a local photographer (who did our maternity shoot & and has a second studio in Jacksonville NC for anybody located out there) to try and win 6 free shoots! So when voting starts for that I will post details so those of you who want can help us win!
I LOVE these two pictures individually but even more side by side! Every time I look at it I just smile.

6 weeks old & Disneyland

Demitri, at 6 weeks old you had your first trip (outside the womb) to Disneyland! You did so well on your first BIG outing, we got to the park around 2 and didn't get back home till midnight. I had plenty of diapers with us, our couple small travel wet bags, extra clothes, your Star Wars blanket, and the Ergo carrier. I wore you around the park and you slept quite a bit, but as usual when awake you were bright eyed and checking everything out. We even took you on your first ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. The first time on you were sound asleep, the second time you were awake sucking on your paci. with your head on my chest just checking it out.

Dad and I were talking and we cannot (can) wait for you to be older and actually be excited and enjoy going to Disneyland-going on the rides and seeing the characters. We LOVE you being so little and are eating up every single moment and talk about how we don't want you to grow up too fast but we are excited for all those fun stages as you grow...but don't grow too fast! It's already so crazy that you are just a short couple weeks away from being 2 months old.

My smiley man

I love that Demitri has started "interacting" with us more. Yesterday he was making faces at me so I took a ton of pictures.

but after a few minutes of the camera being in his face he was over it.

More pictures from our shoot pt 2

5 weeks old

Demitri turned 5 weeks old yesterday. It was also his first Saint Patrick's day. We celebrated with a special "it's my 1st Saint Patrick's day" onsie and just cuddled inside out of the pouring rain where it was nice and warm.

He seems to have grown a lot over the last week or so. Daniel and I measured him and he is 22 inches long, so he has grown an inch and a half since he was born. However he hasn't put on much weight so he's a long skinny little thing.
This last week he has (very) slowly started to discover his voice, and that it can be used for more than just crying. He will sit and try chatting with us, making lot of different faces and movements with his mouth, and occasionally will get a squeak out-which surprises him and he then makes a "what was that" face. So funny, and it makes me so excited for when he really starts to babble with us.

Today he had his "baby dedication" if you are not familiar with what that is, it is Daniel and I saying publicly that we are committing to raise Demitri as best we can to love God and in the way God would want. It is not a baptism or christening. I called family and told them about it and that after we were having a "meet the baby" potluck luncheon. It went well, it was very short, Demitri didn't cry or fuss at all, and my family all thought he was just the cutest thing ever.

After such a busy day and so many visitors little man is pooped out (literally) and just wanting to nap.

More pictures from our shoot

A few more pictures from Demitri's newborn shoot, still waiting on the rest and I cannot wait to see them! Here are the most recent ones posted...once the rest are up I will show them off as well. Hopefully they are just as cute.

One moth old

Ugh time just needs to slow down!
My baby boy is a month old today and growing up too fast...but I am loving every second of it! Not much has changed in the last week, but so much has changed since his birth. Which is still so surreal to me, every time I look at him as he sleeps I am just blown away by how amazing he is and how blessed I am to be his mommy.

Yesterday we took him with us to "see" episode 1 of Star Wars, he did really well! He slept through half of it and then woke up wanted to eat, and just chilled the rest of the time. Not that it would have mattered if he would have fussed since we had the theater all to ourselves!
My little Jedi all dressed up in his robes.

And of course Daddy was loving his outfit and decided to dress up in his as well.

And our family photo. You have to love (proud) nerdy families.

3 weeks old

3 weeks? That means that next week my little baby boy will be 1 month old! How on earth is that possible? Wasn't he just born, where is the time going?
This last week has gone by rather quickly, somehow.
Celebrating Dr Seuss Day in his Cat in the Hat diaper

Demitri is cluster feeding again, so I think that he is hitting his first growth spurt. He seems to want to eat, or snack, ever 45 minutes to a hour. And honestly it is annoying for me because it really makes it so all I am doing is nursing, but I know that after a few days it will be done with and we will (hopefully!) go back to our 2-3 hour feeding schedule. Even with his wanting to chow down ever hour during the day he is still sleeping well at night...mostly. Daniel and I get 3-4 hours of sleep at a time and when he wakes up we change his diaper and I feed him then it's back to sleep for another few hours.
At his Dr appointment the other day he was back up to his birth weight and is "looking great". I talked with his pediatrician (who was also my pediatrician when I was a kid) about having his frenulum clipped due to his latch issues and possible speech issues later on but he said that he didn't feel it was necessary just from looking at it (that he has seen shorter and that having a short frenulum does not always mean the child will have speech issues) but that he would talk with the Lactation Consultant after our next appointment and discuss with her what she thinks and get back to me. Daniel and I don't want to have it clipped unless it is necessary and would be beneficial.
He was not happy to be undressed

There are definitely times where I am frustrated but I truly love being a mommy! Moments like this make every frustration, late night, early morning and tear more than worth it!