Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

There has been an awful lot of change and growing up going on at our house, lately. Jackson is now 4 (!) and starting pre-school soon. Despite our decision to start looking for a place as school is starting, we were still lucky enough to find a good pre-school program with one spot available. Once again, I must do ALL things at the last minute.

AND, we now have a 7 month old that is sitting up, crawling, and standing with support. So far I’ve had a hard time taking my eyes off this beautiful baby, and now I have many more reasons why I shouldn’t avert my eyes from him. I really don’t like the sound of Archer hitting the floor, SILENCE, and then an enormous cry. So, I’m always on my toes ready for the catch. Needless to say, I’m much busier.

Another (exciting for me, maybe not for you) milestone that we have reached is breastfeeding for 7 months. I really wasn’t sure how nursing would go with Archer after having a very short and frustrating time with Jackson. I also was not sure how much I would want to breastfeed. It’s quite the responsibility. It turns out I love breastfeeding and it has made so many things much easier. Archer is tired and fussy, he nurses and calms down. Archer gets hurt, he nurses and calms down. Archer is upset that we are going on yet another car ride, he nurses and calms down. It’s amazing how truly handy breastfeeding is!

And by the way, no, Archer is not like your average baby that will fall asleep in the car. He despises the car at certain times of the day. He dislikes it so much that he will cry and cry and cry AND CRY until the situation is compromised by him not riding in that horrible car seat. So, we take many breaks on long trips, and try to avoid car rides of the late evening.

In summary, life is moving quickly and we are having a fabulous time.

Discovery at 2 a.m.

During one of the many nightly feedings for Archer I saw this. Beautiful song.

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Feeding from the Breast

Every morning I wake up to feed Archer. So, while I’m waking up I watch TV for a bit before I start the day. I’ve been stuck on watching a couple of shows on TLC–Bringing Home Baby and A Baby Story. My Bradley Method teacher always told me to stay away from these shows, but I can’t help watching. The shows are getting better. I’m seeing less of the births with interventions and more natural drug free births. Hopefully this is a sign that American women are waking up.

One thing that drives me crazy in these shows is the mothers’ efforts to breastfeed and the insane amount of misinformation they are all getting about it. Most of the moms desire to breastfeed, but the first few days they are feeding the babies formula because they think either they should wait for their own milk to come in or that they don’t have enough milk for the baby. Each show is then concluded with mothers of 10 week old babies being fed with formula and mothers who are disappointed they couldn’t breastfeed due to lack of milk. I am one of these moms that was misinformed as well. With my first son the lactation nurse never told me actually how big the baby’s stomach is the first few days and that the baby will get what he needs with persistent feeding. I was never told that the first 6 weeks you will be breastfeeding ALL THE TIME. I was told the baby will eat every 2-3 hours for about half an hour per feeding. This was way off! I think that moms assume they don’t have a sufficient milk supply because the babies aren’t as quickly satisfied as with feeding with a bottle. Nursing takes much longer. And also, a newborn is used to being fed constantly in the womb; a switch to only eating every 2-3 hours is quite drastic.

Women need better information and truth about breastfeeding. It usually will start out with struggles. We need to get the message out that we as mothers really do have EVERYTHING our babies need, including enough breast milk. We need not get so discouraged. While breastfeeding is natural, it may not come to the moms and babies naturally. It takes some work, but after the feeding has been established, it is more than rewarding and very easy.

adjusting

Archer is officially 1 month old as of yesterday. Yay! He and I are doing well, and finally adjusting. I’ve had some ups and downs getting used to being a mother of 2. Things are slowly becoming normal and routine for all of us now, though.

Breastfeeding was an issue to begin with, of course. I told myself not to get frustrated if there happens to be a difficulty with breastfeeding before Archer arrived. Inevitably, we did have a tiny issue, and I got a bit frustrated. But, now we have both learned how to “master” this nursing thing, and I couldn’t be happier that it’s becoming so easy. And, like all the breastfeeding advocates say, it really is rewarding and brings a special bond to you and your baby.

Jackson has had a hard time as well. He’s not getting the attention he deserves, so we have decided that we will make it our mission to be more conscious of the attention we give him. Negative attention is one thing he’s been getting a lot of–we need to change that. Otherwise, Jackson is being a wonderful son and big brother. He loves his little brother, and he is the best helper his mama could ask for.

John, of course, has had no trouble at all adjusting. He’s been there to encourage me when I’m feeling down. He’s was there for me when I called him to come home on his first week back to work. He’s there for Jackson when I’ve got Archer to feed. He is wonderful.

My new family is wonderful!