The First Years Nursing Privacy Wrap
I breastfed each of my two kids for a year each. My kids were only 22 months apart so I was pregnant or breastfeeding for 3 and a half years straight. {Side comment: High-five to self!}
Breastfeeding wasn’t always easy for me. I worried, at first, my babies weren’t getting enough to eat. I worried, at first, about staying “covered up.” I armed myself with responses to offensive comments, which never came. Pumping milk at work was, at best, somewhat relaxing, and at worst, terribly frustrating, inconvenient and degrading.
But holding and nursing my babies was such a wonderful feeling. For that moment, I could provide everything they needed. The cuddling, the closeness, the bonding and the milk that usually resulted in them dozing off. Then I would just hold them, run my fingers across their tiny hands and feet, and just stare at my tiny beautiful babies. Plus I became a pro! I could nurse them anywhere at any time, which rocked.
For these reasons and more, I would do it again. Reflecting on those years, the memories are not always great, but they are mine during this World Breastfeeding Week, I’d like to share a few of my faves with you.
I remember the first latch. For my daughter, born via c-section, it was probably 30 minutes after she was born. For my son, born the old fashioned way, it was within minutes of his arrival. I am forever grateful that they nursed like champs from the very beginning.
I remember being worried that my daughter wasn’t getting enough milk because she wanted to nurse every 90 minutes or so. Our wonderful pediatrician actually listened to me, and weighed my daughter, then asked me to nurse her, then weighed her again to show me that she had eaten plenty.
I remember buying my first nursing “cape”, an awful thing that I now call the “black cape of doom.” After wearing it at a baseball game and almost sweating to death, I took to using a very light piece of fabric…. and then nothing at all. I should have burned that stupid thing. (For my son, I made my own!)
I remember my dad usually left the room when I nursed my kids.
I remember that if I wanted a picture of myself breastfeeding my kids, I had to take it myself.
I remember sitting in various public spaces, alone with my baby, sometimes covered up and sometimes not. The changing room at the JC Penney. The chair in the back corner of the library. A chair in a public bathroom. I usually felt a mix of satisfaction and isolation.
I remember the intricate logistics of scheduling pumping breaks at work. At first, sharing a schedule with several other moms for the nursing room, then having my own office with a door. I pumped and took phone calls, and worried about having to explain the weird sucking noise in the background.
I remember getting upset at Target when we had to buy the first can of formula for my daughter at 5 months’ old because I just wasn’t pumping enough at work.
I remember taking a cooler of frozen breastmilk to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center to donate to a regional breast milk bank, because we couldn’t take it with us when we moved.
But more than anything, I remember the hours and hours of holding my little ones, when I was stressed or tired or happy, and they were sick, playful, sleepy, fussy, eager, or demanding, and sharing that moment which usually made us both feel better.
For more information on breastfeeding, visit: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/breastfeeding.html
For information on Richmond-area events during World Breastfeeding Week, click here.
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Mention this email to get this discount today and tomorrow for the first pick!
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It’s another big sale at Hip to be Round and you definitely don’t want to miss this one. But hurry because it’s this weekend only – June 21-23, 2013. You can save up to 50% on your purchase on some items. They’re also open on Sundays from noon to 5pm – making it convenient to shop all weekend!
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Think our sale prices are great?
While the exact cause of preterm labor is often unknown, there are some risk factors that increase a woman’s chance of having preterm labor. However, it is important to remember that preterm labor can happen to anyone and many women who experience a premature birth have no known risk factors. Some of the risk factors include:
- Preterm labor or preterm birth in a previous pregnancy
- Being pregnant with multiples (twins, triplets or more)
- Certain problems with your uterus, cervix or placenta
- Having little or no prenatal care
- Smoking or drug use
- Abdominal surgery during this pregnancy
- Too much amniotic fluid
- Bleeding or infection while pregnant
- Being underweight or overweight
A preterm labor typically begins unexpectedly. The signs of preterm labor are often no different from regular labor, except that they happen before the 37th week of pregnancy. If you experience any of the warning signs listed below before your 37th week of pregnancy, call your doctor. Sometimes, preterm labor can be stopped. However, there are certain situations and complications that make an earlier delivery safer for the mother or baby. The warning signs for preterm labor include:
- Contractions, where your abdomen tightens like a fist, every 10 minutes or more often
- Change in vaginal discharge, such as a watery, mucus-like fluid leaking from the vagina, or bleeding
- Pelvic pressure; the feeling that your baby is pushing down
- Low, dull backache
- Cramps that feel like your period
- Abdominal cramps with or without diarrhea
Women who are at risk for preterm labor may be advised to take certain steps to prevent preterm birth. At Virginia Women’s Center, we have three maternal-fetal medicine specialists who collaborate with our OB-GYNs in the care of high-risk pregnancies. Read this blog post to learn more about our maternal-fetal medicine specialists and the care they provide to women who are experiencing high-risk pregnancies.
Virginia Women’s Center is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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Join other moms at Hip to be Round for this informative series of Child birth education classes.
A Brighter Birth is an information based childbirth education series offered in Richmond since 2002. We focus on achieving an unmedicated, partner supported birth by teaching alternative methods of pain management, comfort measures, knowledge of possible interventions, laboring positions, and most importantly, building confidence in both the laboring mother and her partner!
For more information or to enroll in a class, contact Melanie Headley at 804-874-4442 or melanie@abrighterbirth.com.
Hip to be Round is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
Hip to be Round is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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Hip to be Round is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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Shop the Hip
to be Round fall preview and get $50!
It’s hard to believe, but fall is already starting to take over Hip to be Round! Shop their new fall arrivals (take advantage of the sale rack too!) and get a $50 coupon when you spend $200 or more in store or online!
Coupon may be redeemed between August 1st and December 31st 2012 on any purchase of $100 or more. (No cash value.)
The New Tea Collection has arrived too!
Tea continues its Nordic trek with Fresh Finland just in time for back to school. Bright prints and Mod silhouettes captures the bold, young energy of Finland.
Who says back to school can’t be bright?
And when you spend $200 this weekend (7/27 – 7/29), you’ll get a $50 coupon* to use on your next purchase.
*$50 coupon is valid from 8/15/12 – 12/31/12 on any purchase of $100 or more. No cash value.
Hip to be Round is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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Hip to be Round makes it easy to get beautiful fashions at great prices. And you’ll love their newest TEA COLLECTION – BALI which has just arrived!Spring has arrived at Hip to be Round with Tea Collection’s gorgeous Bali inspired prints.
Don’t forget to GET ONE FREE – With mix-and-match like this it’s hard to pick just one or two! You can never pick just one favorite. That’s why you can buy 4 pieces and get your 5th piece FREE!
Visit them at 3124 West Cary Street in Richmond and you’ll love what you see. Shopping was never so fun!
Hip to be Round is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com
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