The dreaded breastfeeding……Breastfeeding is always something I said I planned to do.  My mom nursed my two brothers and I and for some reason I just always assumed I would do it.  To be honest, in my mind it seemed like it was something that was very easy, natural, and would just happen.  In fact, Dusko and I skipped our breastfeeding class before Max was born.  Ha!  That joke was definitely on us or me I should say.  Motherhood is definitely something I didn’t have a true vision of until I became a mom, but nursing was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  This is for a few reasons:

+It is P A I N F U L

+It is A 24 HOUR job

+The F E A R of the Unknown

P A I N F U L

To say breastfeeding is painful is an understatement.  Have you ever had someone cut into one of the most sensitive parts of your body and continue to do it???  Probably not, because that just wouldn’t make sense.  Here are my tips for the first week of nursing.

1.  Lanolin or some kind of nipple cream, make sure to find one that is safe for baby.  I used the Medela lanolin and although it gave me relief there are a lot of better ones out there.  The hospital gave me this one in a time of need!
2. Warm washcloths, especially if this is your second or third or fourth.  The milk comes in a lot faster and these help with engorgement.  Basically use as a heat compress for approximately one min before nursing.
3. Pineapple juice-Buy all natural with no added sugars and bring it in your hospital bag! This one I read about on pinterest in a desperate need to feel better.   It either really worked or the timing was there but it’s worth trying in my book.  Pineapple is a natural anti-oxidant so it helps with swelling.
4. Make sure you have a good, supportive, nursing bra.  This was something the first time around I didn’t think was important-wrong!  Some of my favorites are actually from target.

24 H O U R job

1.  Baby is attached to mom pretty much ALL the time for the first couple of weeks. The doctors and nurses will tell you to wake the baby every couple of hours to make sure he/she eats.  In a nutshell, I thought I knew what it was like to feel exhausted.  Well, I didn’t….now I do, and I understand the term-Mombie!  lol
2. Unless you pump, which is truly a hard task when baby already wants you every second, you are pretty much the only one that can feed them.  Thus the exhaustion…
3. Leaving the house for more than a couple hours at time is honestly a real challenge.  But girl, you deserve it!!!  So leave the hubs at home with the baby or children and go to starbucks, or target, or whatever you fancy.

F E A R of the Unknown

1.  Is baby eating enough?  This is always one of the first questions a mom will ask.  Sometimes it can take days for your milk to come in.  Since I am absolutely not a professional, what I have been told is that as long as they are going to the bathroom they are getting something!  And apparently colostrum(what the baby is eating before your milk comes in) is the most magical stuff ever and carries so many nutrients!
2. Is the pain every going to go away?  Yes, yes, my friend, it will, I promise.
3. Will I ever sleep again?  Yup!  not sure how soon as each babe is special and unique in their own way but you will sleep again.  Infact, when you start sleeping again, you will miss those special moments when no one else was awake but you and the babe!

I could literally talk about nursing for HOURS and HOURS, so look forward to some posts in the future, but for now, Have a good week!

XOXO-

Lissa

“So, do you have any other children? Is he your first?” The walk in clinic doctor asks Dusko and I.

YES, Dr. D, he is our first, YES we have been to the doctor 4 times in 5 days(did I just openly admit that?!?!), and YES we are first time parents. But seriously thank you for bringing a semi chuckle to my face that horrible Sunday morning at 7am.

Maxwell was sick this past week and quite honestly I felt completely helpless. This little precious being is in so much pain and there is little to nothing you can do to help him. I mean isn’t there a guide or a manual I can read???? Why is parenting one of the single handed most important jobs, yet one of the only jobs without an instruction manual???? I know, I know, every child is different. I get that and I also get that my friend Google is great when looking for a dress I saw someone wearing that I just have to have, however, not my friend when my child is sick. Ugh. It took everything in me NOT to google anything regarding Maxwell this week. I really do for the most part try not to google much regarding him. His first few days of existence, Google made me this crazy ball of anxiety I didn’t know could ever exist. I am definitely no doctor and for sure not a pediatrician, but I will say that mother’s instinct/women’s intuition, it’s crazy but she does kick in when you need her most. At any rate-The struggle is Real. Very Real. Per Dr. D, I’m fairly confident the second child won’t cause as much anxiety! Haha.

So this wasn’t the topic I was going to write about today but that damn timehop app gets me all nostalgic. A year ago tomorrow was our big gender reveal party. The party I always said I would NEVER have. Ha! Never say never. I’m pretty sure my mom always told me that?. Why did we do it you ask??? Maybe the pregnancy hormones made me crazy? But really, we thought about waiting until the baby was born to find out the gender. Well we all knew that wasn’t going to happen!!! My husband is basically Inspector Gadget, spy camera and all, and I CANNOT handle surprises. So we thought why not have one of those gender reveal parties, but we will only invite our parents, siblings, and grandparents. After all, I do like to throw a good party???. Personally, I think there is a fine line on who actually cares if you are having a boy or a girl. At any rate, we went to our 20 week ultrasound, had the tech put the gender in a SEALED envelope, and brought it to Sweet Mandy B’s(one of the best bakeries in Chicago). It took everything in me to not look in that envelope. Besides the day I got engaged, I’m not sure I have ever really been surprised. I mean my parents got creative hiding Christmas presents but I always found them(sorry mom). Of course I couldn’t stop with just a gender reveal cake, so we had to pop a balloon with confetti in it. Which meant I had to order blue and pink confetti(the confetti bar www.confettibar.com has the CuTeSt confetti). We then brought the stupid envelope to party city and had them fill a black balloon with confetti. That balloon sat, well floated in our living room for TWO days until the party!!!! Lone and behold I had the shock of my life….it’s a BOY! What?!?!? I was 100% sure I was having a girl, I mean she already had a name!!! I’m still laughing at myself now. Good thing we had a party! I probably would have bought all pink just because my crazy pregnant a** thought it was a girl!! Really though, coming from the girl who said she would never do this-I’m so glad we did! Even my grandpa(who does not attend all events) and I’m pretty sure only came for the Portillos spread we were serving said how cool it was!

So, to gender reveal or not?!?! I’m not one to tell people what to do, all I’m saying is, it was pretty cool after all!