We had a nice, relaxing weekend. It was nice to get back to somewhat of a normal life....we were able to go to hang out with friends and even made it to church! Life is starting to calm down, it is very nice....but of course then holidays come and we'll be going crazy again...oh well.
Friday night our friend Bonnie watch Addie and Lincoln so we could go out with Lincoln's mom and dad. It was nice to get out and know that Addie was in good hands.
Saturday my mom, sister, and her boyfriend came to Coralville to meet us ad do some shopping. Addie and I stopped in at the U to see our friend Julie, who just had heart surgery on Thursday. Julie is doing really well, so that is such a praise! We even saw some of the Dr's that took care of Addie in the PICU so that was nice to see them and thank them and let them see how well Addie is doing.
Saturday night we were able to go hang out with friends and have a throw back night playing Nintendo, yes, the original nintendo! It was pretty fun...We used to hang out with our friends almost every weekend someone would be having people over, but since Addie was born we had to pretty much avoid big, group situations to keep Addie healthy, so it was really refreshing to be able to hang out with a group of friends again.
Today we went to church and spent the rest of the day catching up on laundry and doing some relaxing. Addie has been a little fussy, so it was good just to stay in and tend to her.
Unfortunately, Friday I started losing my voice and pretty much have completely lost it. I have never in my life lost my voice, so this is both a wierd and frustrating experience. Now tonight I started coughing too, so pretty sure we'll be making a trip to the Dr. tomorrow and given that Addie was so fussy today when she is pretty content normally, I'm worried she might have gotten some of my germs....so hopefully we can get in tomorrow and everything will check out OK.
I'm curious to know how many mom's out there breastfed or pumped...and if you did, how long?? Addie breast fed well, but I was too OCD and wanting to know how many ounces she was taking to keep breastfeeding and ended up just sticking to pumping and bottle feeding...and now, I'm getting pretty sick of pumping and I have plenty of milk stored in the freezer so am debating if I should quit pumping. Not sure if the fresh vs. the frozen is just as good or if I should keep pumping fresh through the holidays....what do you think? how long did you pump or breastfeed? Advise?
Busy week ahead getting ready for Thanksgiving as we'll be headed to IL to Monmouth on Thursday then up to Naperville for the weekend. And on top of that I'm thinking about looking for a part time job to help with the medical bills and so it will be that much easier for us to pay for the trip to CA for the DS convention in July...so we'll see what comes of that. Hopefully I can get on with the two local hospitals for PRN work with Athletic Training and then maybe start teaching some aquatics classes somewhere, so we'll see what happens...
Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving!
Look at the pics of her below sitting up in the bumbo! She looks like such a big girl :)
ReplyDeleteI breasfed Kayla (and now Lucas too) and it lasted a little over a year. I can't remember when I actually stopped with her! I know for awhile it was just at night before she went to sleep. I pumped too, but only when I was storing up some milk if I was going to be gone and Joe needed to feed her.
Hi Erin! Addie looks wonderful! She has healed so quickly. What a trooper!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to chime in with my two cents on the breast feeding. I exclusively pumped the first two months of Ana's life because she wasn't able to latch correctly (she finally figured it out and now nurses). I am so impressed with the fact that you have kept up this long. I'm not sure I could have lasted as long as you have. You have shown such dedication.
Everything I have read says that breast milk is the most beneficial up to when baby is around 6 months. I have also read that although fresh is "better" than frozen they are both considered to be great for baby. So, really my point is, if you want/feel the need to stop pumping, then do it. You have made it through the most important months and you have a freezer supply all stocked up for Addie so you know she will be well fed. Pumping is hard, and if it will bring relief in your very busy life to stop pumping, then by all means stop.
There is a message board for pumping moms on BabyCenter. If you haven't visited yet, definitely check it out. The ladies there are wonderful and very supportive. There is one frequent poster who is a Certified Lactation Counselor (her screen name is FlowerMommyCLC) who pumped for 8 months or so for one of her children. She is a wealth of information.
http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7115/pumping_moms
Good Luck on whatever you decide to do!
Natalie
I pumped for about 10 months, as Braska was tube-fed from birth. She did nurse in there for a while, but not efficiently. It was draining, I admit. I've not decided what I'm doing with this next one yet... I did use frozen for a while with Braska because I wasn't making enough and had stocked up earlier, and the docs all said it was just as good overall. I think it's great to get them through the early months, but if it's turning into a stress...I don't blame you for letting go. Not at all.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin, well my situation was a little different since I was dealing with twins! Because Nathan had a difficult time with latching on, I breastfed Gabe and then pumped for Nathan afterwards. I managed to pump for Nathan for four months and couldn't take it anymore. It seemed as if I was hooked up to Gabe's mouth or the pump 24 hours a day! In my opinion, you have to take care of yourself too. If it's become a chore, then be done. :-) No one is going to think you are a "bad" mother because of stopping. I'd say to stop brestfeeding and let Zac enjoy feeding her the stored breast milk too!!
ReplyDeleteHey Erin, just checking in to see how you are doing and if you are still at it with the pumping. I hated pumping, but when Penny was around 6 weeks she finally was able to nurse and we are able to do that until shortly after her 2nd surgery. (pumping exclusively for 6 days while she recovered screwed up my suppply and we never recovered from that, oh, and the stress!) It is hard work but rewarding to know that this is one more thing you can do for your baby.
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