(Audience awareness: This blog article may end up talking about breastfeeding… ok, it’s not a "might" it does (LOL). If you’re “squirmish” about this topic then read the first 4 paragraphs for entertainment and be done. What can I say this is a Momma Drama's blog after all so breastfeeding is an inevitable topic (well at least for me, HA!)).
Brett and I got to reminiscing last night after I ruined dinner. It wasn't entirely my fault... while in the middle of cooking our "Houdini" of a dog blew the hidden fence (AGAIN) during the 5:30 rush hour and I had to go chase her down. Thankfully Brett was home from work to watch Drew. During this escapade we learned…. Homemade Alfredo sauce waits for no one! ;-)
Ok back to memory lane... this came up while reminiscing. I have a knack for making even the simplest things look terribly difficult. Brett pointed this out to me one day (LONG AGO) while I was practicing catching pop flies with the boy’s baseball team in high school. Let me paint the picture…. First, I am the only girl out there practicing with the boys high school baseball team on this day and the coach is letting me because A) he is a nice guy and B) I played little league baseball with these boys. So I am out in the outfield with two other guys (twice my size) and here comes my pop fly. I run to the right “oooohhhhhh”, I run to the left "OOOOHHH, oohhhhh”, I run forward baseball mitt in the air “OOOOOHHHHH”, I realize the ball is about to blow over my head because I ran too far forward… I run back…. I DIVE…. "OOOOOHHHHH!" I snag it at the top of my glove! THE CROWD GOES WILD!!! LOL No, they did NOT go wild. They stood there with their mouths hung open because NO ONE had EVER seen a simple pop fly look like only a major leaguer could do it! (HAHAHA) I look over at Brett; he smiles and shakes his head. Yep, Brett’s been shaking his head a REALLY long time (hehehe). Later that day he says, "I have never seen ANYONE make catching a fly ball look so HARD!" lol
Even as a mom, I do my absolute best, but I don’t make it look easy (lol). We moved to PA when Drew was 10 months old and I joined a moms group. Seriously, now it was “I” that was standing with my mouth-hung open, but for the exact opposite reason. So many of my "mom friends" make being a mom look so easy in comparison to my blundering! It’s true; they are AMAZING! (p.s. my moms friends back home are amazing too.)
For example, I was adamant that "breast is best" and Drew would only have breast milk for the first six months at least. Oh and he did, but it was a train wreck to behold (lol)! We had latching problems, then mastitis, which led to feeding from a bottle and then trying again to nurse after a week of bottle feeding… it was not going to happen for us. The result was pumping for five months with a baby that wanted to be fed every three hours. Let me clock this out for you; feed the baby at 12:00, pump at 12:25 to 12:45, wash all the attachments and refrigerate or freeze the milk, now it is 1 or later depending on how content the baby was during all of this (Drew had colic), interact with the baby while he is up and now it is close to 2, he falls asleep for an hour or less, wakes up and it is TIME TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN! Drew and I ran that schedule for FIVE months! =D Now in comparison, countless moms here nurse for the first year or longer, then have baby number two and are able to nurse BOTH. That is a MOMMA SUPER HERO in my book!
Whether you are successful or not at nursing it is not “easy” for most moms at first, even if the mom in question makes it look easy. It is however so worth it for the baby and the mom (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-feeding/FL00133). A great resource that I didn’t know about until Drew and I were well down the road of our nursing drama is the La Leche League http://www.llli.org/. This non-profit organization has local groups all over the world that moms can use for support and resources.
I guess the bottom line is if you are a mom that had or is having difficulty with nursing and is/was successful or not; you are not alone. We all get through it in our own way. There are many resources out there to help us; from the hospital you gave birth at, the La Leche League, BabyCenter.com, Womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding, and so many more.
I hope you enjoyed my trip down blundering lane... I mean memory lane! ;-)
Well....obviously you've done it all right...you have a healthy, amazing, adorable, smart, baby boy and a pretty cool husband who equally shares those same qualities :) Loving these blogs Syl...keep it up :)
Posted by: Margret Eastman | 08/31/2011 at 07:16 PM
snicker... I don''t know about "done it all right"... I can't even type that without giggling =D but thank you Margret for your support and vote of confidence. At the end of each day I know I did my best to be a good Momma for Drew... even if I look like a clutz =P HUGS! Syl
Posted by: Syl K. | 09/01/2011 at 05:34 AM
Only you can go from baseball to breastfeeding and somehow it all makes sense! Lol! Thank you for the giggle and the memories. You are right, if at the end of the day we know we did our best then job well done...I know that NOBODY can love my boy like I do!..and I have said it before, I will say it again, you are my hero SK! <3
Posted by: Mary | 09/01/2011 at 08:57 AM