1) When you hear about toothless older folks having to gum their food, you may be left with the impression that this is sad because gums are soft and lack chomping power. This is so very not true.
2) In the first couple of weeks, Small just stared at my armpit while breastfeeding. Now that he is a bit more aware of his world, he often looks sideways up at my face. As only one eye is visible in this position, he bears more than a passing resemblance to a large whale underneath one's boat, gazing upwards at the humans crowding the rail.
3) Wow, do I owe my mother.
15 years ago
15 comments:
LOL that you've been breast-feeding a whale. :) Hang in there, it will get more interesting the older he gets!
I never thought quite as much about how much my parents sacrificed of their lives until I had my own. Maybe sacrifice isn't the right word, but it certainly made me view my parents a little differently.
Welcome to parenthood! :-)
Those little jaws can do a lot of damage without teeth...
Hang in there--it gets easier (and more fun!) Congrats on your new motherhood.
No doubt about having your own kids changing your perception of your parents!
Hope you're hanging in there well enough! The first few weeks are a challenge.
Yes it is amazing how strong those little jaws are. I hope this means that BFing is going well?
Great to hear from you! Again, congrats.
I wish you wonderful, happy times together, a bit of sleep and free flowing momchow.
I tried breastfeeding and the little hungry dude was just not getting enough chow no matter how hard I tried. When he wasn't gaining weight I got the advice to supplement. He got half momchow half powder for 4 months. And now, well, he is certainly not underfed. :)
The first few weeks are a challenge.
UOTY. (understatement of the year)
Small is gaining weight in a gratifying fashion, but then you'd expect that from a goddamn leech/barracuda.
1) +eleventy
2) The booklet that came with my Medela pump mentions different holds, all of which (if done correctly) "allow mom and baby to make eyecontact". I keep getting the vague feeling I'm doing something wrong since I can only see the weirdest expressions (like an eye half open), and eyecontact is totally not happening. But then, my little chomper makes some pretty weird expressions when he's not latched on.
3) +eleventy.
My current favorite quote (from someone my mother worked with):
"Bonding, HA! Bonding just means you never get any sleep"
Becca, I was also baffled by the Dr Sears baby book which goes on at length about how baby's visual focus is 8-12 inches, just the distance from his face to mine during breastfeeding. They fail to discuss what the nipple-armpit distance is, nor how it might contribute to bonding.
I have learned to get excited about 2 hrs of sleep at a stretch. This is deeply weird.
The problem with gumming your food isn't the lack of chomping power; it's that gums have nerves, and chewing anything much harder than bread hurts. Also, the gums are easily abraided, leading to blood and ouchies.
Remote from the breastfeeding that is the point of the post, but still....
cicely
Leech! Ha! That's hilarious. Totally mirrors how I think I will feel about it (despite people telling me how my hormones or instincts will make me feel otherwise. I'll believe that when I see it.) :)
Hi! I followed a link over from FSP. I hope you don't mind if a complete stranger posts on this.
You're probably sick of hearing that it gets easier, but it really does. I had a rough start, and then happily breastfed my daughter until she was 23 months old. We quit when we did because I was pregnant with #2 (who is due any day now). It definitely stopped hurting or I would have quit earlier! As it was, I was sad when it was time to quit.
The book "A Nursing Mother's Companion" by Kathleen Huggins and an awesome support group helped me through the tough times at the start.
And yeah, I remember wanting to hug my mother and tell her she was the most amazing person ever. Actually, I still get that urge every now and then. Becoming a mother has really made me appreciate my mother more. And I thought she was pretty cool to start with!
"3) Wow, do I owe my mother. "
Oh yeah. I had this exact same thought while holding my newborn daughter. My version was "Oh my, my mother looked at me like this and loves me like this, and I'm just so terrible to her."
And, mind you, I'm not actually terrible to my mother. I just had absolutely no understanding of the depth of love that she feels for me, and how much I take that for granted.
That newborn (who is now 8) likes to say to me, when I say "I love you" when I put her to bed, "I love you MORE." I tell her that's impossible, truly impossible. She doesn't believe me or understand either, though.
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